When you fall…

Last week I found myself falling flat on my face, slam! This was a humbling experience for me and reminded me that I have not yet reached the stage of perfection that I long for in my walk with Christ.

Sin has devastating effects on the life of a believer and I found my spiritual wifi connection was flickering with an orange light instead of a healthy green. This interrupted my spiritual downloads and uploads from heaven (I’ll speak about this concept in a later blog…) and I found it very difficult to sing praises to God and my prayers were accompanied by a heavy spiritual weight.

I fell because of a trap set by the enemy, one that he had used previously. I felt the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit calling me back on track, but my pride couldn’t resist having a little self-gratification. Yes, I’m confessing my sins one to another!

Apostle Paul echoed my ‘wretched state’…

Romans 7: 19-25

 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;  but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.  What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?  Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Sin is real and separates us from God. But glory be to God! Christ delivers us and sets us free from ourselves (flesh) so we can live above sin!

So what do you do when you fall? Get up!!!

For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again. (Prov: 24:16a)

Get yourself up, recognise you have made a mistake and with a repentant heart, seek forgiveness.

Psalm 103:12 declares ‘as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.’

But we must recognise our sin and seek out forgiveness.

God’s word commands us to be perfect (Matthew 5:48), holy (1:Pet 1:16) and Upright (Ezekial 18:5-9).

Living a continued life of repentence allows us to live up to that high calling.

So child of God get up!

‘Holiness, holiness is what I long for

Holiness is what I need
Holiness, holiness is what You
want from me

 So, take my heart and form it

Take my mind and transform it
Take my will and conform it
To Yours, to Yours, oh, Lord’

(Donnie Mclurkin)

Blessings, Maz x

Credit the Creator

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.(Ephesians 2:10).

 

God has taught me and is continuing to teach me through His Holy Spirit that as the Creator, all credit goes to him.

Now I’m much more Primark than Prada, but say I were to wear a very nice outfit, people may compliment me on it and ask where I bought it from. So in essence they are saying that the clothes shop where I bought the outfit from designs, makes and sells good clothes. I am merely, displaying the workmanship of the designer.

To bring it closer to home, imagine your mother was a real genius at sewing, and she made you the outfit that you were wearing AND she was in the same room as you whilst you were getting the compliments. Would you not proudly say ‘my mother made it for me?’

So likewise, always send the compliments to God first. Credit the creator.

Now I like cooking, I love taking my time to cook a meal with love. When I have made a meal that just hits the spot and looks beautiful, I feel very proud of it. I stand back look over it and smile.

How much more do you think God thinks of you? You are God’s handiwork (Ephesians 2:10a).

Now God created every single cell in your body, He made what is visible and invisible to the naked eye. He knows every hair on your head (Matthew 10:30).

God created your personality; He gave you your intelligence and your passions. He inspired every great idea you have ever had and gave you every good gift that you are in possession of, be it the roof over your head, the children in your arms or the sofa that you are sitting on (James 1:17).

Crediting the creator helps us as the creation to remain humble. This is especially true for those of us in fore-front ministries.

Using us wasn’t surprising for God so always remember the source. Never get puffed up. Instead find every opportunity to credit the Creator. Give Him the glory that He most certainly deserves.

Blessings

Maz x

Respecting the Potential in your brethren

Where you fellowship is of no accident. God has ordained for you to be with your brothers and sisters in Christ in that location on purpose, for a purpose.

One of those purposes is to grow closer together in Christ.

Now part of true fellowship means respecting and nurturing the potential in your brothers and sisters. This isn’t just the responsibility of the pastor. We all have our part to play.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17 NIV).

I have a lot of blunt knives in my kitchen, but there’s this one little black knife that I go to over and over again, it cuts everything so well.

Are you sharp?

A sharp Christian is one that is in the Word, has a consistent prayer life, is a true worshipper and is active in their gifting and calling. They operate in the overflow of the anointing which allows them to affect others.

Now the list above is aspirational for me currently, but I want to get there. I know that I can’t do it on my own. I need help.

We sharpen each other by showing love and forgiveness, and challenging each other to become more like Christ.

Iron-sharpening iron means not wearing each other down. We must support each other, encouraging, praying together and giving and receiving correction.

Never underestimate the power of support. It can make a wealth of difference. My first teaching post was extremely tough for me. Apart from many other factors, one poignant factor for my tough time was poor support structures.

However, in my new tenure of employment, the support offered is plentiful. As a coincidence of this, I have grown in my skills as a teacher and even feel ready to embrace new challenges in this field.

You see, when you respect the potential in somebody and offer the correct support and encouragement, you allow them to become a leader in their own right and then allow them to replicate the nurturing process.

Another key way to respect the potential in others is by mentoring. Over the years I have had different mentors who have fed positively into my life. Although im still in my twenties, God was calling me to mentor a teen. The relationship is in its initial stages, however, I look forward to the growth that will take place in both of our lives.

There is power in conversation. Monitor your foot traffic. Who do you go and talk with at church? Change it up a little. Just one positive conversation can be the beginnings of sharpening and refining an individual. Within you, you have the ability to sharpen somebody in a way that no one else can. File away.

If there is one thing I learnt this year, it is to have a circle of intensity! I read this in the book Prophetic Praise by Joshua Fowler. EVERY BELIEVER NEEDS A CIRCLE OF INTESITY. Christ had a circle of intensity which was Peter, James and John.

You need your Peter to be a person of passion to you, who will inspire you to walk on water, to die for Christ. Somebody to show you that it’s not about your ability but availability.

You need a James, now not much is said about James ‘the less’. But I’m sure he was special to Christ being part of his inner circle. It was thought he was the first of the disciples to die for the sake of the gospel.

You need a John. A John that will be a DEEP and DEAR friend to you. A tightness, like David and Jonathan that will see you through to the end.

In 2014, God put together my circle of intensity. They have been an immense blessing and support in my life and I thank God for them. You know who you are.

In 1 Corinthians 12, it analogizes the Christian fellowship as a human body. How healthy and effective that body is, boils down to us.

So if the eyes are not seeing right, fulfill the potential in them by offering some glasses to those eyes! Maybe the nails need a manicure. Time to get the nail files out! It’s your body, take care of it, respect it, nuture it. In doing so, the fellowship will be strengthened corporately and individually and we will have a healthy church with healthy believers.

Blessings,

Maz x

Respecting your potential.

Paul  speaking to Timothy in 2 Tim 1:6 (NIV) states:  ‘For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.’

As believers of God, we have the potential to do great things but that potential needs to be fanned/stirred. Respecting the potential within us is the beginning of that process.

We all start the same way, two cells joined together in our mother’s fallopian tubes and that, in my opinion, is where the potential begins.

Eyes are formed, eyes that could see great things happen.

Feet kick in the womb, feet that could travel the world.

Hands flutter, hands that could do many a great thing.

Now all of mankind has a measure of potential, but as a child of God that potential outweighs the average Joe Bloggs.

Why?

Because we have resurrection power dwelling within (Romans 8:11). That equals great potential.

Ephesians 3:20 ESV states.

‘Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,’

 Isn’t that great?  God confirms in His word that we do not even have the capacity in our thinking to comprehend what God can do in our lives and through us.

The power at work within us is God at work within us, and HE is the source of all our potential.

The call of Jeremiah (Jer 1 :4-10) is a lesson for us.  Most likely a teenager, God spoke to him about how he would be used in a powerful way to be His mouthpiece for the nation of Isreal.

‘Who me? I’m just a child!’ he said. But the Lord Himself had to touch Jeremiah’s mouth to show him, it’s not about your skill, intelligence or experience. I AM the source of your potential.

Now, respecting your potential requires vision and faith. Vision to see that you can reach the full potential of what God has called you to be and faith to believe that He will equip you with everything you need to get there.

When speaking of the Kingdom of God in Mat 13:32 Jesus spoke of a tiny mustard seed that becomes one of the greatest trees. Something so small, that turns into something so great.

What potential!

Moreover, Luke 17:21 Blows our mind by letting us know that the Kingdom of God is within us. What more potential can you get than that?

To sit on your potential, is to disrespect your potential. To disrespect your potential is to disrespect the Kingdom of God. To disrespect the Kingdom of God is to disrespect the King of the Kingdom.

So stir up your potential by reading God’s word (Matt 4:4), pray continuously (1 Thess, 5:17), fasting and by putting ones faith in action (Heb 11:6). Most importantly, be obedient to God and submit to His will and purpose in your life.

If you have been warming a bench for a while or stuck in a cycle of mediocrity, complacency or fear. God has great plans for you. Start respecting your potential today.

‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’. Phil 4:13

Blessings,

Maz x