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CHAPTER 1
IS THERE A GOD?
My life hasn't been easy. Although with God's help, I'm conquering the hardest parts.
I'm reminded of the instance in the Bible regarding the lady with the issue of blood. In this story told in Matthew Chapter 9, the woman had been sick for 12 years. When the woman approached Jesus, she did so with "NOW FAITH." She knew that she would be healed.
Just a little faith takes a person so far. In my life, I was forced backwards. I had to ask myself, how do I achieve this "NOW FAITH?" I'm in this empty room and I'm gathering my trials and all my tribulations. How do I find a way around the things that have kept me bound? I needed a breakthrough immediately!
In hindsight, the reality is there are mothers that are raising their children by themselves. Also, there are so many homeless people and countless amounts that are living in poverty. I was led to break my situation down further. I know for sure that the status of my life does not compare to others in terms of pain and suffering. Although, the mental stress was consuming enough to make me feel like I was no different than these people. I was these people. I AM these people.
I remember appearing to be a single parent even when there were two parents in the home. We were both working full time jobs to support our family and our lifestyle. However, there were times that our children needed both of their parents and I was the only one. Our children were not accustomed to having only one parent. Nevertheless, they endured it. I was completely overwhelmed. I've worked many jobs. Some of which are the jobs no one wants to do but being the parent that our children needed was the hardest position I've ever held. Honestly, when you have a spouse that totally checks out that's when you need the Lord to check in.
My mom used to advise me and still does constantly about raising children.
"Focus on your children and believe me your days will be good."
I was now learning firsthand what she meant. She trying to explain to me that issues that I was concerning myself with were irrelevant. Nothing can move forward unless your household is completely stable. We often make the obstacles more complex by worrying about things we have no control over. It did feel like the end of the world, but it was not. Single parents, there are many struggles, but God knows we can handle them, so we do.
During the chaos, we learn very quickly. Therefore, I adapted to going to school meetings, participating in all the kid's sports activities, and financially providing in order to maintain the lifestyle they were accustomed to. It was a tough journey. All my praises go to the Lord. I had to believe in my Father. I had to trust that I would make it through and that God would take care of me. I compare myself to the bleeding woman. My "NOW FAITH" in the Lord, allowed me to ascend on my journey with confidence. It gives me the skills to cope with each struggle.
Don't take back your prayers. Don't listen to the enemy. Listen to Jesus. He will never steer you wrong.
How do you know when God is speaking to you? You seek him diligently. You fast. You pray. One obstacle at a time. One day at a time and when you receive it you can move on to the next trial.
Remember, if you can wake up you can change it.
CHAPTER 2
RELATIONSHIPS ETC....
Relationships are supposed to be a hole in one. This means that healthy relationships require constant work. From time to time you will find that some people have continued their relationships through the good and the bad things. Again, it takes work. It takes God.
How do I meet the people that I'm compatible with? How do I meet my soulmate? In Christian faith, it is believed that God has selected the right one for you.
"I've asked God to send me the right one," we say. Ask yourself. How many times have you taken the wrong turn? You cannot ask God for something and then take it back. We often get misled by the enemy. We let him direct us on things that appear to be good and are not. When you must question the relationship in your head, it may be a clear indication that it is not of God. Be prayerful and that will lead you to answers about your situation.
Relationships deal solely with perception. How do those you are in contact with perceive you? If you project negative energy toward people, you are likely to lose the respect of those people. This is another tool you have access to. Be mindful. As a God-fearing Christian, you must walk the walk and talk the talk. Display to others exactly how you want to be seen. Of course, the enemy is going to try to make you out to be the opposite of your TRUE position but follow your chosen course.
In my experience women are the hardest individuals to adapt in their relationships. They tend to carry all their emotions on their sleeves and it nearly always turns out badly. When women have been scorned, they often have the hardest time in future relationships. They carry the so called "ride or die spirit," diving right in. Women will meet someone they deem to be very likable and then disclose every single detail about their personal lives. This is opening way too quickly. As a man, I am no longer listening. Men want to hear the positive not the negative when they first meet a woman. Your first impression has to be on a positive one.
Dating in this world is nothing like the old days. Most people are already sexually active, especially older and divorced women. Many of these women have children; therefore, a man must weigh his options and do so very quickly. Some men aren't looking for a ready-made family. This is the only subject to that needs to be addressed on the first date. A woman sharing mental or physical abuse is not necessary. As the relationship progresses, he's going to figure that out anyway. There will be times when the door is open to share things like that. Be aware that the time is not from the very beginning. However, if the subject comes up you can't lie but your delivery is everything.
Last, do not present yourself as a victim. We all know that here were warnings that you didn't yield to.
Instead, talk about how you overcame the obstacles from past relationships. Remember it's all about your timing! These things are not easy at all. It is very necessary to have a spiritual relationship with God because he is your guide to a healthy relationship. Just keep your faith entrusted in him.
CHAPTER 3
GOD ARE YOU THERE?
The older we get the more we can see the equalities toward one another. For instance, look to the story of Job.
The book begins with a discussion regarding Job. "Perfect and upright" man who "feared God and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1). I noticed something interesting. In the first chapter of Job, the Bible speaks of children taking turns throwing parties at their various homes. This was before Satan's request from God. Job had children that were worldly. After every party, Job would send for his children. He would pray for them and offer up a burnt offering for each one of them. Ten children, ten burnt offerings. It's amazing that the more you try it seems like the worst it gets. Then question you ask is, GOD ARE YOU THERE?"
Job felt the need to pray, despite all that sins that his children committed. You would think that Satan would ask for God to give up the children first, not Job. The enemy is always after the strongest in the home. Job went on his passage prepared to lose everything, including his children. Sometimes when we are going through trials, it's training for what's to come. If you can't handle your current trial, he will come along with the answers to all of your prayers. Different levels come with bigger trials.
Job was very close to God. God was so close to him that Job's trials only maimed him but did not destroy him. Only you can let the enemy destroy or overtake you! Stop for a moment and then say to yourself, "it is what it is." This is simply not accepting your troubles as your destiny.
Job kids were idol worshipers. I believe Satan saw this as a household weakness. Household weakness is like a crack in a strong wall. It will eventually expand to take that wall right down. These cracks are called stress cracks. We get them in our house sometimes.
We also can call them," strongholds." The enemy wants to protect his means of attack on you. When we fast and pray, we can cast down every stronghold against us. In Matthew 17:21, Jesus said, "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."
Suffering is a necessary and is normal to Christians. Suffering produces perseverance. Hang on in there. Life says you can't, people say you can't, society says you can't, but you can make it through all obstacles. If you lost all that Job had, would you do what he did? Could you stand up in the middle of carnage and say, "though he slay me yet will I trust him?" Amazing isn't it! Of course, God is there!
CHAPTER 4
"GOD IS NOT DONE WORKING ON ME"
Acts 9 talks about the conversation of Saul of Taurus (Paul)
Paul was a torturer and murderer of the Christians. Jesus stopped him in the middle of a trip to Damascus. When the light from the heavens shone on him, he was quickly stunned and afraid. Especially after hearing the voice of Jesus.
"Why are you persecuting the Saints of God?" He was immediately humbled by the voice of Jesus. At the time Paul was ready to do whatever it took to be obedient to Jesus. (Acts 9:3-4)
Paul asked, "what can I do Lord?" Paul was educated and gave thought to everything that was going on. Paul immediately took the chance to follow God! There was working to be done by Saul of Taurus.
The conversation was the beginning of his walk with Jesus. Our bad beginnings don't determine our destiny! We do! God provides the opportunity, but we must seize it ourselves. It is amazing what God has done for me as well. Taking me from very humble beginnings to where I am now. I've been poor, homeless and friendless. God kept and saved me like Saul was saved.
Being your worst out of ignorance is one thing, God can work with that, but having the knowledge and disregarding is totally different. When God gives it is important to be humble. One of the first gifts that God presented us with was the ability to communicate with him openly. The carnal mind is in enmity opposed against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7 KJV).
Endurance is very important! If you have been able to endure the trials of life you already have what it takes. Endurance means: the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way. This is so important for us in so many ways. For instance, a person running a marathon, that person wakes up daily to train for that race. They know in their mind they have to make it to the finish whether they win or lose. It's a great feeling to know that you completed the goals that you set for yourself. The result being you feel great about yourself and you feel complete.
God wants us to trust him in everything we do. Of course, there are times we doubt God. There are times when we're hard headed, by not listening and we feel ourselves repeating the same tasks over and over. Feeling like you've mastered this process is a mistake! Your walk with God is a constant journey. He's never done with you. Every second, minute, and hour he is dealing with us. Let's say, all day, every day.
God chose you, you must give your total soul to him. No doubts; just surrender. If I can do it, so can you.
CHAPTER 5
SNAP OUT OF IT!
How many of us live in a fantasyland? Fantasyland is a place that is imaginary or that excites wonder. I am reminded of the story in the Bible about the prodigal son. The prodigal son is a character in a parable Jesus told to illustrate how generous God is when forgiving sinners who repent.
The prodigal son was the youngest of two sons. He asked for his inheritance and he left home for a far country. He lived wildly and could not maintain his wealth. He lost it all. When he came to his senses, he returned home to ask his father for forgiveness. The son was so humble at this point that he even asked to work as a servant.
When you realize you make mistake, you snap out of it! Point blank, period! We have people in this world that live a lavish lifestyle from day to day and know they can't afford it. We live beyond our means like it's all right. Eventually it runs out. This leads people to other levels of sin. How far will we go to keep up with this world? Some of us will do whatever we feel we have to do in order to live the fantasies we have created in our head. It's bad when you're forging checks, committing credit card fraud, and robbing. I can go on and on to describe what man will do just to live in the land of nowhere. Snap out of it!
As Christians we must be led differently. We must be humble. God has to guide us to be mindful and to understand how to receive all of the blessings that are right here for us to have. We need guidance that is spiritual and not of the world. There are people who have everything and still are not happy. We don't understand that most people that are wealthy, would trade it back just to have peace and be happy.
Being wealthy also requires being disciplined mentally when spending. We always ask for something from God that we have no knowledge of how to maintain. It's a sense of maturity one has to have to obtain anything of importance. Snap out of it!
It may be hard to accept that you need tools to be fruitful in everything that you do. My biggest tool is Christ. I've tried to maintain life alone it doesn't work, trust me. I've never had the opportunity to be reckless. I've had mentors throughout my life that took the time to show me the way. There were no handouts, and I was given nothing. I've had to work for everything I obtained in life. It was very hard to do.
The options for finding your way years ago were more negative than positive. I couldn't have my life taxed from a bad decision. I'm not saying I've done everything perfect, but I didn't want to have the fear of losing my soul plaguing me on a regular basis. The "snap out of it" is what we do when there is no more hope for the situation we're in. It becomes obvious.
The prodigal son had to "snap out of it" because he realized there were no more options for his life. If you are in a meaningless relationship, in a financial war, taking on the responsibilities of others, and not seeking our father for guidance, my advice for you is to SNAP OUT OF IT!
CHAPTER 6
POWER!!!
How many of us need the power? I would say all of us. How many of us seek spiritual power? I want to say all of us.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV)
"But you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you and you shall be Witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria and on to the uttermost part of the Earth. (Acts 1:8)
These two passages are dear to me, we have power even when we don't recognize it. God granted us that. Some of us use our powers for the wrong reasons. We have people in positions in the world that use power or authority to do their jobs. There are times when that power and authority is abused. We have to use the power that we have in the world to gain spiritual power which we receive from the Lord. We look to the politicians of this world and expect that they would do the right thing because of the positions held but that's not always so. Nowadays, we have to vote. In order to campaign, the world places one person against the next person. Then as citizens we must decide on who is going to lead us. In our mind, we automatically think that the person that's leading us is going to lead us right but that's not always the case. We have been put in the position to only hope and pray that the person that is leading us will do the right thing.
We tend to look at colors, we tend to look at faces, we tend to judge everything when it comes to a person of power. With God there's no color, there's no face, there's no religion, there's nothing unless God is leading the person of power. When it's said and done, Christians must hold up the name of God because of the bad positions that we are put in in this life.
Spiritually, as Christians we do have power. We have the authority. We have a say because we are who we say we are. Sometimes we find ourselves having to pray just as hard as others to adapt to whatever situations are going on in this world. The Power that God gave us it was not meant to use people, it was meant to help us. It was meant to give us that now faith assurance that which keeps us grounded.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "If You Wake Up, You Can Change It!"
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Copyright © 2019 Bishop Alvin Freeman.
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