My Crazy is Real

Today I will start the blog a little differently. I’m starting with the story. This story will show carelessness at its best. The story comes out of the book of Exodus 32. The children of Israel where the wilderness waiting on Moses who was at the top of Mount Sinai talking with God. Now God had shown his love for the children of Israel by delivering them out of the Egyptians. He did not allow the 10 plagues that he placed on Egyptians to affect his people (Exodus Chapters 7-12). He delivered them for the hand of Pharoah and his man as they were going to the land flowing with milk and honey by drowning them in the Red Sea (Exodus Chapter 13-14). Once in the wilderness, they cried out to him for food and he rained down manna from heaven (Exodus 16). God even gave them his  Ten Commandments as a law to govern his people  (Exodus 20). They had just received the Torah and  40 days out of Egypt with Moses taking too long to God that they made a request rather a demand on Aaron, Moses second in command and his brother. They wanted an image that they could follow. They became careless. Their carelessness will cost them their lives.

Their carelessness was forgotten that God loved them. They forgot that they cried out to God to be free from the Egyptians and he did it. They forgot that God kept them while the ten plagues hit the land. They forgot God walked them out of Egypt with gold, cattle and all the owned and even some Epygtians stuff and Pharoah did nothing but let them go. Even when Pharoah came for them God delivered a million people across the dry Red Sea and then drowned Pharoah and his men. Doesn’t that look like love? 

He did not finish there. He fed them with manna from heaven. God covered them with a cloud by and night. He kept his people when others could have killed them. So why did they think a Golden Calf would help them?

         WHAT IS YOUR GOLDEN CALF?

What is your golden calf? What is the thing or things that are taking the place of God’s love? Most of us would not look at it that way but that is what it is. If we are not fixed on God we are fixed on something. Often time this happens when we are going through a hardship. When things are not going the way we want them to and we mistakenly believe that God is not with us. That he has turned his back on.That he has left us alone and/or forsaken us.  This is not true. Actually, God is there watching everything. God is right there loving on you. He is right there directing you. He’s right there counseling you. He’s right there guiding you. We need to feel and see everything right now. We need God to show himself in a human way in every moment of our lives. That why we have a terrible tendency not trusting in his love for us.  That why I say carelessness kills.

Carelessness will kill us

 Carelessness leaves us in a place where we can’t comprehend, grow or see. Jesus spoke on this with the seed parable (Matthew 13). Then we will become resentful. We condemn God for not being there for us. We call God an absentee Father and then we acted like we are orphans. We go out looking for other things to replace God.   The Israelis used a golden calf. How many of us have a Golden calf in our lives? How many of us have replaced God with a thing? We replace God with your jobs, with money, or a house.  We replace God with social media likes and love. We want to be influencers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We have replaced God with people. We want people to like and love so bad that we will do anything and everything to get that temporary like or love. We replace God with places. We want to go here and go there and I want to do this and that in this new place. We’ve never contended or happy with where God has us. What God really wants us to be. What God desires for us.

As I finish this, My goal this year is teaching on being careful. You  know I got another acronym for you and here it is :

Caring

About

Real

Effective

Freeing

Unbelievable

Love   

.

The love of God is right there with you every day. Every moment of the day.  God cares for you (1 Peter 5:7) God is about his business which is you (Luke 2:49). He is a very real living God (Jeremiah 10:10). He is effective in freeing you (Joh 8:36).  He’s unbelievable  (Luke 1:37). Last but not least, he is love (1 John 4:8). He is looking out for you in ways you will not know until you reach heaven and see the reel of your life played back to you. God’s love surrounds you in such a way that even the devil has to ask permission to touch you. He loves was a lamb sacrificed on a cross so you can become his child (John 3:16). We are now heir with  Jesus (Roman 8:17) and we can go to the throne of grace and ask for help (Hebrews 4:16).

 My sisters in your pain you may have forgotten that God loved you and your carelessness may have led you down the wrong road. I ask you to turn around and come back home. He is waiting for you. Just like the prodigal son’s father ran to him God will come for you. He probably already has because you are reading this blog. My sisters be careful with your life. It was worth saving.

The month of Septemeber will be the first month where I will deal with more that one subject. I will talk about strength and showing up. I believe they go together. Your strength comes from three places, God, you and others. This is like the accountability circle I talked about in August. God will always come first but this time you are second and others are last. The Bible has many scriptures that refer going to God for strength or he is our strength. I will use the scripture from Isaiah 40.29.  

They define strength as the capacity of an object or substance to withstand great force or pressure:. This is a what we go through daily.   Pressures that come in the form of marital issues, teen peer pressure, a bad health diagnosis, loss of a loved one, loss of a job you have worked at for years and the list could go on and on. The great force or pressures in our lives would take over us if it wasn't for God's strength,  We would give up and check out. We wouldn't get up in the morning, go to work or be there for our families. In verse 29 it says He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. God shows up to be a support system when it would seem we do not have one. He will assist us when we are faint. When we are drained of all of our strength. He gives us power. The ability to move forward even when we don't want to. He allows us to move little by little. Grace and mercy are there following us so no one gets to close behind us to push us over the edge. Your might have left you but he will increase you. 

God will give the words, people and rest to make it through. 

When my son passed I don't know how I could handle that trauma. I was 20  and my son died at 2 years old on Thanksgiving day. I need God more than ever but instead; I rejected him. He hurt me.  How could a  loving God take my baby away?  God didn't get mad at me but strengthened me. He was keeping me when I did not want to be kept. He was directing my footsteps to my strong tower even when I did not know where I was going. I can say sometimes I lost my mind and if God had not place people where he did I would not have made it. 

His strength goes beyond our weakness and deals with pain. He is there saying "I got it let it go". "I can heal it if you just let it go"." I'm here". "Rest my child".  2 Corinthians 12:9  states  "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  God let Apostle Paul know that no matter the situations he was there with him. His strength is made perfect in weakness. My son death could have stopped me from living. I could have relived his death daily but God strengthened me. At my weak point, God's grace was enough. Every second until I could make a minute he was there. Then the minute turned into minutes. The minutes turned until 5 minutes. From faith to faith. I wasn't perfect but his strength was. 

Trust in the strength of God. It will get you through even when you don't know how you are going to make it.

The month of June will stand for jump. What do you need to jump on? We are in the six months of 2018 have you been jumping or sitting? What are you sitting on that is prolonging your destiny and purpose?  

I couldn't find the word jump in the King James Bible but The Living Bible has plenty. The first scripture will come from one of my favorites books of the Bible, Joshua.  Joshua tells the children of Isreal that they had to jump and enter the city because the Lord has given it to them. In the King James version of this scripture, the word jump means to seize. I love that. We have to seize what the Lord has given us. Notice the Lord has given it to us but we have to jump or seize on it.

In your life, have you jumped before? Have you taken a chance on yourself and the destiny you believe God has given you? Does jumping scare you? I mean what would happen if you jumped and failed? Will you be embarrassed that people sawing you hitting the ground?  This prevents most of us from doing it, other people. Not the falling part I mean nobody wants to fail. We would be okay if we jump and fall and we were the only ones to see it.  When others are watching and judging us it takes on a different feel. Then the next time it seems impossible.

The Children of Israel had to jump. They would never get into the promised land if they stayed put. They had to seize. God would show his might in order for them to fight for power. The walls of Jericho fell by their faith in God but taken the city was by their actions to move on the word of God. They had to seize what was theirs. 

We have a promise from God.  In Jeremiah 29:11 it says  " For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. " God has a plan for your life. He made it from the moment he knows you and it has not changed. You can't alter the plans that God has for you because of fear or doubt. I know this because he says his plans s are for good and not evil.  

The devil and his friends will always try to get you to doubt or even fear your destiny and purpose. He will do the "you couldn't do that talk" and the "what will people say" scare. Don't listen to him remember what God says he wants you to have a future and a hope. Your present is not the end keep going more is to come.

   Jump don't fear the bottom it's just the ground and if you hit it get up there is always tomorrow.