Do you have the passion to pursue? : satisfied with low standards

Passion: A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger. We all have destinies, but the question becomes how many people have the passion to pursue after their destiny or even have the passion to want to know their destiny? Many people understand that their destiny requires them being saved and living for Jesus, but they still have not made that committment so they never become what they are meant to be. We all have family members that need Jesus, but many people lack the passion to want to see their family members saved so they remain content seeing them unsaved. For some it only takes a small obstacle to discourage them from seeking after their destiny. For others they have decided that no matter what obstacle comes they are going to continue pressing toward their destiny. There are parents who have lost the passion to want to see their children saved so they lower their parenting standards. Passion is not something that you can take a pill for. Either you possess it or you don't. Prayer does change things, but if you lack the passion to pray then how can prayer help? Passion is what separates one ministry from another ministry. Passion is what makes a Christian pursue after a standard of holiness as stated in Leviticus 11:44. We all have passions for many things. I just want to encourage you today to ask yourself "What do I have a passion for". Jesus had a passion to die for us so I have chosen Jesus as my passion.

Spiritual Suicide: choose life not death

What is suicide? The act of causing ones own death. Jesus states in John 14:6 that "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me". If someone makes a conscience decision not to follow after Jesus than are they choosing life or death? Jesus did not leave any other options except "through" Him. When a building is burning and someone intentionally stays in the building knowing the consequences, this is considered an act of suicide in its natural context. What if someone chooses not to surrender their will, mindset, and emotions to God for His personal use; what is the end result? The end result is spiritual suicide. God is not ignorant enough to create us and then not give us an opportunity to choose Him. Whether we choose Him or not is up to our free will. To question the intelligence of God is to question the essence of God. What a testimony it would be to say that "millions didn't make it, but you were one of the one's who did". People die everyday without even knowing that it was their last day here on earth. I just want to encourage you to ask yourself this question "Is the life that I am living now leading to spiritual life or spiritual death"?. How important is your eternal destiny?

Inferior by Association: who are you connected to?

"Birds of a feather flock together"; this is something that has been quoted by people for years. How true is it? Well there is a law called the law of attraction which is manifested (seen) through the relationships that we entertain (connect ourselves to). When we look at the people we connect ourselves to we must ask the question "how does this person reflect who I am?". If you are a man and you prefer to connect to women with a low self-esteem , lack of education, and a lack of morals then you must ask yourself why. The reason could be because the man feels a sense of insecurity around women that are strong in these areas. This is just one example. When we look at this concept from a spiritual perspective as it relates to God it can be stated that there are certain people that will not get into God's presence simply because of their tainted mindset/intentions (lack of belief). Dogs do not attract rabbits and ducks do not attract pigs. What are you attracting in your atmosphere? God is a superior being which means that whatever does not line up with His standard which is His Word is ultimately inferior. Why wouldn't someone want to be connected to a superior God? An inferior mindset desires inferior things (things not of God). Before I got baptized and started living for Jesus I had an inferior lifestyle because of my inferior spiritual condition, but now through reading His Word and letting Him guide me He has given me desires for things of superiority, i.e.Holiness. I just want to encourage you today to seek after God. Matthew 6:33

Desensitized to the voice of God: too many demons speaking in your ear

We live in a day and time where there are so many ways to communicate. Decades ago there were no cell phones, Internet, or cable television. These are things that Christians in today's time must adapt to while also remaining spiritual. As we go throughout our day we hear many voices whether it's from the radio, television, Internet, or cell phone conversations. Many people have cell phone plans with at least 1,000 anytime minutes (16.6hrs). How many of those 16hrs of talk time were used for the Kingdom of God? When we begin to ask ourselves these critical questions then we can get to the root of whether we are in a position to hear God's voice or whether we have too many demons speaking in our ear. What type of music do we listen to? All a demonic inspiration needs is a vessel to operate through. These demonic inspirations can operate through the music we listen to, the websites we visit, the television shows we watch, and the cell phone conversations we have. If you were to take an inventory of the voices that you allow to entertain you and influence you; would you be able to discern the voice of God. The more we allow voices and situations that are not of God to dominate our time, we in turn become desensitized to the voice of God and cannot discern whether He is speaking to us through His Word, through prayer, or through situations. I just want to encourage you to take a spiritual inventory and ask yourself; whose speaking in your ear?

Spiritual Collision: have you been rehabilitated?

Car collisions occur everyday. Once a collision happens it is recommended that you see a physician immediately. The consequences of not seeing a physician can lead to long term damage/consequences in your body. Many times after a car collision people may not feel any pain or discomfort right away. When we begin to look at this same concept from a spiritual perspective, it is very imperative that we understand the ramifications of spiritual warfare. Many people have been in spiritual collisions with "sin" in which their faith, anointing, praise, worship, or testimony were destroyed in the collision. There are many things in the spirit realm that we must seek to avoid, just like when driving a vehicle there are certain things that we must avoid in order to prevent an accident/collision from occurring. Many individuals have encountered "sin" in the spirit realm whether it was knowingly or unknowingly, and have not been rehabilitated from that spiritual collision with sin. An encounter with sin can have a devastating effect on one's spiritual walk. They may feel that they are okay after the encounter, but the truth of the matter is that the Bible states in Romans 6:23 that "the wages of sin is death". Just because you feel that you survived an encounter with sin does not mean that you have been cleared by the physician whose name is Jesus. Have you seen this physician called Jesus ever since your spiritual collision occurred? There is a Biblical prescription on how to deal with the effects of sin and "repentance" is one of the ingredients in the prescription. I just want to encourage you to examine yourself so that you can walk in the fullness of your destiny.

Detach yourself: The prize is too precious

Throughout my life I have met many people and also been in many unfavorable situations. As I look back I can recall that there has been a very important constant in my life. This constant is the fact that who ever has meant me harm did not remain in my atmosphere. Since I have been living for Christ I realize that even before I committed myself to living for Jesus , He always removed people out of my life that meant to do me harm in any way. Even if I had a bad experience with an individual, eventually the individual would be removed from my atmosphere/surroundings. Now that I am saved I have came into the knowledge of praying certain prayers that can remove certain individuals out of my atmosphere that may not have my interests or the kingdom of God's interests in mind which are also my interests. The sooner that an individual realizes that in life the only prize that matters is the ultimate prize of living in eternity with God, the sooner they should begin to separate themselves from anything that hinders them from reaching this ultimate prize. Family members, friends, and ideas should not be the things that hinder us from reaching the ultimate goal of reigning with Jesus. When an individual has no hope/relationship with Jesus they in turn remain attached to the things that keep them from abiding with Him forever. I just want to encourage you to begin to detach yourself from anything that may cause you to miss this ultimate prize, because the prize is too precious.

Sensitized through His embracing love

As I walk through this life I have experienced many stages in life that have helped catapult me into greater levels. I realize that sometimes the places you want to get to in life take a little more sacrifice and suffering to get to than other places do. Every level that you want to get to involves a process and an element of the process can sometimes be this element called "pain". There are many perspectives that can be used in regards to how one deals with pain. Athletes might feel that pain equals progress. Some others may feel that pain is the limit for them and in turn is a sign that they should "stop". When a mother is pregnant with a child they may feel that the pain is necessary in order to bring forth precious life. Before I gave my life to Christ there were certain things that I was immune/de-sensitized to around me. Now that I am saved though I have became sensitive to many more things in my life and how they effect me, i.e. spiritual condition of unsaved family members, my lifestyle, my destiny, well being of strangers that I don't know, my future spouse and children. Once someone experiences a greater love through Christ Jesus, they in turn should begin to shift their perspective in order to become sensitized to what Jesus is sensitized to. This is a sign that one is truly ready to grow in relationship and in turn experience a greater level of His embracing love