PASTOR’S BLOG 1.10.2018

This month I am focusing the messages on Poverty to Wealth and Sickness to Health! The Kingdom of God is so large we have to appropriate it in bite size chunks. I try to seek the Lord and listen to the pulse of the body, to choose topically what to teach and when to teach it. As a senior pastor of a church, I desire to see every member to experience God’s richest and fullest blessings and to teach the whole counsel of God for the whole man; spirit, soul and body. I have seen too many Christians stop short in their pursuit of their full potential. The scriptures are personalized by the Holy Spirit in our hearts because He knows our hearts as well as the mind of God for us! (1 Corinthians 2:11)

Years ago, when I was trying to discover God’s design for my own life, I was attending an outreach training meeting at our Church. There was a requirement for my Bible College; that I be involved in a weekly outreach ministry. So, I sat there and looked at a sheet of paper with about twenty different ministries on it, clueless about what to choose. A lady named Sue was teaching the training session and she looked at me and quoted a verse from the Book of Psalms.

Psalms 37:4-5 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. NKJV

The minute she said those words they exploded inside me! I looked back at the paper and saw the words “prison ministry.” I just knew that was what I was supposed to do. So for the next three years I became an Associate Chaplin at the Tarrant County Jail in Ft. Worth, Texas. It was there that I learned to preach and pastor people. The funny thing? I was really nervous about trying to minister to inmates in a jail setting. However, the first time I began to teach them it was like I was designed to do it.

“Delight yourself in the Lord” means to become soft and pliable so that you can be molded. Over the last 35 years I have watched some of the most peculiar matches in ministry assignments. Paul, an educated Jew was sent to the pagans and heathens and Peter an uneducated fisherman was sent to the Doctors and Lawyers of his day and culture. That’s why I believe it is a discovery process to find your ministry gifts and calling. I have purposed in my heart since this time, to be in the will of God and to be faithful in what I have been directed to do. In other words, I commit my way to Him. This means I don’t quit what I start, and believe me that takes the grace of God!

See, our provision is in our vision or where God guides He provides. He will not ask you to do something he will not equip to do. Over the years, I have watched many make attempts at doing something for God that they wanted to do for a wrong motive, and then when there is no provision they blamed others and even God. To me, absence of provision is evidence that you are in the wrong vision. This is not to say we won’t have famines or have to live by faith, but there comes a point in time where you have to say, “God is not in this.”

I have lived by the philosophy, “do what you CAN do and God will do what you CAN’T do WHEN you are in His will.” If God is not helping, then we must discern when we have launched out into self-deception and not the will of God.

A lot of believers live beneath their potential and a lot of believers try to live outside or above their potential. We need to discern the difference. Don’t go to a yes man to get a no answer. Many surround themselves with those who, out of mercy or fear, will not tell them when it is obvious that they are missing their mark. On the contrary, find yourself a trusted spiritual person who will be honest with you regardless of what you want to hear, a person or friend you trust hears from God.

Proverbs 27:5-6 Open rebuke is better Than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. NKJV

I have had a lot of people over the years ask for my opinion on a matter and then I have watched them walk away in offense, and not heed or really even think about the counsel given. I hate to say this, but nine out of ten usually go into some form of failure at what they attempt to do. Believe me, I can miss it, but I will try to be a confirming voice one way or another to those who ask. Prosperity does not suffer fools for long and the earth doesn’t give up her wealth easily. Therefore, it is vital that we discern the will of God for our lives and then walk in His blessing and grace upon that which He has called us to do!

As we dig into the Word this month, I pray that you are encouraged to pursue the Lord concerning your wealth and health! It’s time again for some new beginnings in both of these key and important areas!

Be Blessed!
Pastor Dave