WHAT IF...I WAS ME

What if...today I was a REAL Christian!

What if...today I decided NOT to tip-toe around the truth so as not to offend, and defend the Word of God that lives inside me!

What if...today I decided not to look like the rest of the world, but to look like Jesus, by whose name I am saved?!

What if...today I told you to your face that you're lying and that to lie is a sin?!

What if...I told you I don't want to hear about the girl, or the guy, that you slept with this weekend and how good the sex was, because fornication is a sin and if you continue in it you risk going to hell?!

What if...I asked you not to curse around me.

What if...I explained that the fruit of the Spirit of Christ is joy, and kindness, and patience, and gentleness, love, and self-control.

What if I told you that you're not a Christian, because by your fruit I don't even recognize you?!

What if...What if...

What if...I lost my patience with compromising my faith to make you comfortable.

What if...I threw you out of my house when you use the Lord God Almighty's name in vain?!

What if...I was loving, yet honest, about how the compromises of this world and the serving of Satan sickens me?!

What if...I dared to be politically incorrect and actually BE a Christian?!

What if...I told you that I refuse to live in secret hoping not to offend your beliefs when you offend me and mine EVRY SINGLE DAY by your words, your deeds, and your actions?!

This would be very dangerous! I know.

Yet, what if...

What if...I dared to be dangerous for Jesus?!

What if...I dared to stand up for my faith by my life, my love, and the depth of His wisdom inside me...and not my words?!

The Kingdom of God suffers so much violence.

What if...we violently, forcefully, took it back?!

What if...I told you that Jesus will do just that?!

What if...I dare to live my life violently taking it back from you, and what you want me to be to be liked by you and accepted by you?!

Because I don't care if you like me or accept me!

What if... I told you that you do NOT define me, you will never DEFINE me, and you cannot even try to define ME?!

What if... I lived ONLY for my Creator by whose will and for whose pleasure I exist?!

What if...

YOUR HIGH!

The following is an email dialogue between myself and someone else, who advocates smoking weed as cool, natural, and from God, that is all to worthy of sharing:

So you think that Rihanna shouldn't have to look over her shoulder when she is on vacation gettin' high?! WOW. This isn't about looking over your shoulder it's about being Godly and living that way because it's truly who you are. She is being who she is. Yes. But, you are lying to yourself, or extremely deceived, if you think GOD wants us smoking marijuana or altering our minds in any way. Jesus drank wine, as did everyone else in that day, with a meal, not to the point of drunkenness and certainly not to the point of debauchery.

• Go to Revelations 21:8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, [fn] abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers (pharmacia), idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
• The word 'Pharmacia and Sorcery" are the same word in the original Greek biblical manuscripts. These are the first words which are the root of what we now call our modern day PHARMACY where we get drug prescriptions. The word Sorcery was originally the word to describe 'someone who mixed or took drugs/potions...witchcraft.' Your typical, and uneducated and uniformed statement about marijuana being from the ground and grown by God is an untrue line of reasoning....a common trick of the enemy/SATAN. There are plenty plants grown from the ground that man knows he should not eat...like poisonous mushrooms!!!! Why don't you advocate eating those? BECAUSE WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO KILL OURSELVES NOR ARE WE TO ALTER OUR MINDS AWAY FROM CHRIST WHICH ALLOWS THE ENEMY TO ENTER IN AND SET UP SHOP IN YOUR LIFE. Seriously? Do you understand what that means? I do!!! You need to look at what fruit you want to produce in your life because success and happiness will ALWAYS elude you if the enemy has the RIGHT to do what he wants to you, your loved ones, and your interests. A RIGHT you provide when you go against the Word Of God whether you even know you are going against His words and warnings or not. God didn't give us the BIBLE as a nice book of poetry, or a book of suggested readings, or a way to crunch our buzz and make us not have any fun. It's a friggin play book for this life in this world because He knows the end at the beginning and because He wants US to live happier and more freely protected from the enemy's attacks and tricks against our lives and our families and our businesses. God doesn't NEED you to BELIEVE. He WANTS, DESIRES, with all His love for you to BELIEVE.... for YOU!!! Not for HIM!
• Read Galatians 5:20-21 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, [fn] drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told [you] in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
• WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
• Read Ephesians 6:10-18...our fight is not against each other but against spiritual forces of deception that will destroy the ignorant. Our armor is the WORD of GOD.
• You need to read it and KNOW it before you speak for God telling others what He's cool with. You bring sure judgement on yourself for such a thing. And, I speak as someone who KNOWS that she KNOWS BETTER about the WORD OF GOD! Nobody is perfect...thank God for Jesus. But, we do have a responsibility after we are saved to not continue on in sin...and certainly not to open our mouths to others advocating it when one is soooo off point, and incorrect, which I am sorry my brother but you are. Yes, we all have fallen. I thought it was cool to smoke pot back in the day...way before I REALLY understood the game of spiritual warfare in this world. But, as a woman of color who is not as famous as Ree...but acquainted intimately with 'celebrity' let me tell you I try never to hold the truth in unrighteousness. A wise man just repents faster.
• So, I am NOT religious. Jesus came to do away with the empty religiosity of the day. I am a sinner, saved by the grace and BLOOD of Jesus Christ the Son of God. And, I am extremely well versed and studied in the WORD OF GOD. So please do not make ignorant statements like yours above saying God wants me to smoke cuz it's natural and doesn't mind me drinking wine. I do, on occasion, drink wine. I don't drink to the point of being DRUNK because we are not supposed to. Did you ever SEE or ever HEAR about Jesus and the Apostles being drunk? C'mon. And, He DOES NOT want us doing drugs, which includes smoking weed, my friend. Educate yourself. Free your mind with the truth...and the rest will follow!

• Here's a good rule of thumb...if it doesn't look, or sound, like Jesus and the Apostles it probably isn't right. That should convict ALOT of Christians and Sinners alike.

BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL!!!

This week a friend from a bible study group I attend, sent me an email about a message I delivered before the holidays, when I spoke at an annual luncheon in Kansas City. She told me that my openness and boldness was inspiring her to be bolder for Christ as well. My reply to her, and to all of you, is this.....

If 2012 is beginning and you look the same as 2011 then I'd deeply analyze my relationship with Jesus. If you're concerned about what 'others' think then you're not concerned enough about what 'Jesus' thinks. If the pursuits of the flesh are still as important as they have always been then it's time to slam on the brakes of your life and beg God to CHANGE you. Trust me. Time IS running out.

I am truly happy that the Lord is pushing you into boldness, if in fact He is. Many Christians today often fall so easily into 'holy complacency' and we don't look to God to be as BIG as He is, so we are rather small about Him in return. I believe that the bolder we are the bigger He will be. I need Him to be HUGE! I need Him to radically shake up my family and change the course of directions on roads traveled on for years. I need Him to truly be the author and finisher of my faith and to bring to pass all the dreams and visions and prophecies He has allowed to be spoken into my life, and my families life, for years! I think we all want that, so I hope to inspire by my own boldness, a holier, louder, bigger, bolder love of Jesus Christ in others. If not we believers kind of look like the rest of the world.

And, that is a big problem with Christianity today. We look way too much like THEM! We want to act like them, dress like them, talk like them, and live like them, and in return we talk about God like them; not at all. We are silent watchers of life, and silent voices in the kingdom who never impact anything, or anyone. And, worse, we sit idly, and sheepishly, by while others go to hell, never allowing them to experience the big, beautiful, beauty of a bold, believing, loving heart for Christ. I don't. I refuse to shut my mouth about Jesus and how He has changed, and blessed, and loosed, and delivered me into total freedom! Tim Tebow sure doesn't. But, sadly most Christians do! They never step out and SHARE boldly the gospel that they say they believe in.

When the first believers in Acts were set on fire on the day of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit fell on them and they all began speaking in strange tongues, which were oddly the native languages of dozens of foreigners in the land, they didn't look like the rest of the community they were in. People thought they were nuts in that Holy Spirit, anointed, time of renewal and promise. They were so in awe of the experience of God's power that they didn't care who thought what, or who said what, they clung to the rock of salvation and jumped in head first, excited, to share what Jesus had done.

Surely, they LOOKED radically different. Surely, they ACTED radically different. They sought to live like Christ; a man-God who healed the sick, cast out demons, and spoke words of love and life in the face of persecution.

WOW, Jesus didn't look like ANYBODY else in the world. He was BOLDNESS personified.

That should be us today! And, I really believe that if God is nudging you in that direction it is because He sees you that way. He sees those you will touch and offend and ultimately serve and save. He sees Himself in YOU. That thought moves me, because it reminds me how truly powerful and wonderful and unique and beautiful He created each of us to be. Your beauty is in your boldness. Your worth is in your boldness. Your freedom is in your boldness. And, surely, your success is in your boldness too.

If you don't believe me just ask the TEBOW BRONCOS. Tim Tebow, is one kid who KNOWS that his boldness has set a nation on fire talking about Jesus. No matter what happens next he has already won the Super Bowl. We all know who Tebow is. He is now a noun, a verb, and an adverb. Are you Tebowing? He has a name attached to good and great things and he has a platform from which to change nations. He is the most talked about player in the NFL hands down, and some of those folks talking, are also recognizing that Jesus is KING! Some are just plain mad, and jealous. And, some, even Christians, are just plain uncomfortable and wish he'd be a little less bold and look a little more like other football players. To that I ask why? Why should he look more like them? What's wrong with them looking more like him? Tim Tebow challenges most people, especially Christians, to look at their own pitiful, mediocre, sheepishness about the subject of Christ, and question themselves and their real belief in Jesus.

For what is faith if not an action, I ask you?! What is faith if not the happy, willingness, to boldly proclaim His goodness and mercy!

So be bold! You're looking more and more like Christ every day!!!

And, as this Hip Girls journey into 2012 begins I hope that by the end of it I look nothing like even the bold witness I am today! I wanna be radically, over the top, completely, in love and loud about my Savior by 2013.

SMALL CHOICES EQUAL BIG VICTORIES!!!

"...make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance..." 2 Peter 1:5a-6a (NIV)

No matter what your struggle has been, victory is possible today. Sadly, most of us don't think that's true. The problem is we tend to measure long term success while downplaying the absolute victory found in small successes. These small successes equal long term victory.

Sometimes victory seems so far away because we measure it by the end goal. And end goals can seem overwhelmingly huge, daunting and just plain hard to reach. Instead, if we start measuring our victories by the smaller choices we make each day, victory won't seem so impossible. Make small choices to do something to add to your faith in the bigger goal. A small choice to build and strengthen a relationship. A small choice to spend more time working on something.

Big things are built one brick at a time.

Victories are achieved one choice at a time.

A life well lived is chosen one day at a time.

Dear Lord, I know that with You, victory is indeed possible. Day by day and choice by choice. Help me to believe this truth today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

HE PROMISED!!!

Going through something, anything? Tired, weak, Over it all!!!? Whatever the season of issues in your life stand on God's promises. Here are a few of my favorites!

Salvation & Eternal Life

Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.“

God’s Help in Troubled Times

Psalm 91:14-15, “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Peace

John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

His Faithfulness

Deuteronomy 31:y, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

God’s Power

Revelation 12:11, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

Finances & Provision

Malachi 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

Matthew 6:25-26, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Healing

James 5:16, Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

Isaiah 53:5, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

AND REMEMBER THAT AS THE WORD SAYS...."GOD IS NOT A MAN THAT HE WOULD LIE!!!!" THESE PROMISES ARE BANKABLE!!!!

The POWER TOOL of THANKS!!!

We have so much to thank Jesus for. We thank Him for dying for us, healing us, filling us with His Holy Spirit, changing us, giving us a roof over our heads, food to eat, shoes and clothes to wear, a sound mind and body, and the list goes on. And yet, there is another side to Thanksgiving that I only started realizing here lately.

Thanksgiving is a power tool to the children of God! We see this so clearly in His word that says, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:57). In this scripture, we see that if we will begin to give God thanks for the things in our lives that we need victory for, we shall receive victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Our victory begins with giving God thanks for it first. “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory . . .” We give thanks to God, then victory follows!

If your spouse needs to be born again, begin giving thanks to God for it now and victory will follow. If you’re in need of a healing in your body, give thanks now for your healing has come. If there is a need that has to be met, give God thanks that He has met it in full now in Jesus Name.

And don’t stop giving thanks. Keep giving thanks until your victory has manifested. When God hears you thanking Him over and over, His promise to you and I is VICTORY. “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Your thanksgiving in the midst of your need will usher in the victory. Tap into the power tool of thanksgiving every day of the year. There truly is victory in your thanksgiving.

Scripture Of The Day: “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 15:57 (KJV)

Rescue 911

I view my life as if I am running a physical rescue station within a hundred yards of the gates of hell in the spiritual realm, guns loaded and my knees scarred from prayer. This type of rescue station is completely possible because hell is located closer than we often think and because rescuing those in close proximity to it is not impossible for God.

For some, hell is the address they write down when they fill out an application. Some people go to work and can feel the heat as soon as they leave their home. Children wake up all over the world and dread going to school because their education includes emotional, physical and mental torment. There are communities all over the world where the sidewalk isn’t part of the block but part of a war zone. A fight for children’s innocence, women’s esteem, and men’s honor happens every day. Hell is right here on earth waging a war to pull us in, pull us down, and destroy us.

Every one of us has the opportunity each day to be more like Christ, not only as pastors, teachers, evangelists, apostles, prophets, prayer warriors and intercessors inside the four walls of the church but as tangible conduits of God’s love in our local communities. This is the perfect time of year to start a “rescue station” of your own, as a part of your celebration of Christ as the word made flesh. Churches and ministries around the world offer limitless ways for us to have a “rescue station” in the lives of at-risk children, disadvantaged women and weary men. Even if you’ve had a rough year or are currently experiencing hard times, you still have the ability to allow God’s spirit to move through you. Give of your time, talents, and if you are led by the Holy Spirit to do so, your financial resources and become the word made flesh, too.

Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, defeated death and hell. The more like Him that we become the more victory over hell we achieve, the more fortified our 'rescue station' is.

Scripture Of The Day: "You show and make obvious that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, not written with ink but with [the] Spirit of [the] living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." - 2 Corinthians 3:3 (AMP)