Tuesday Oct 21, 2008

Sometimes we begin to experience great favor in our lives. Our supervisors acknowledge us, our leaders take special notice of us, and our families seem to prosper.

Soon however, it seems that the tides begin to change and the same people who used to favor us now seem to be against us. Does that sound familiar? Maybe those same people have left their position and a new replacement has arrived that doesn't remember us. Well the same thing happened in the bible. Even though Joseph experienced such great favor that he was second in command in Egypt behind the Pharaoh, and everybody in the region knew him. In fact Pharaoh even let Joseph have all the land he wanted for his family (father 11 brothers and their families !)

Not long after, Joseph died and that Pharaoh died and a new Pharaoh came on the scene who didn't recognize Joseph's family. He even sought to purposely oppress the Israelites as to intimidate them. But.... God hadn't forgotten them. Even though it seems like people had forgotten them, (the same ones who used to love them) God's view of them didn't change. After all, isn't that who Gave them the real favor anyway? God.

So I say to you, even though you seem to have fallen out of favor with man, check your true favor with God! God didn't forget Israel, in fact, that's when he decided to prepare to raise up Moses, at the very time when it seems that they had fallen out of favor with Egypt! Do you catch it? God was still at work behind the scenes.

Check your favor status with God, and see how he is at work behind the scenes of your craziness!!


Hope this encourages you...

Mon Oct 20, 2008

I had an event this weekend in Victoria VA and while there I had an encounter with some young men. They were middle to high school age and they were just chilling at the park smoking etc. After the event was over, I walked over to them and just started talking to them. One of them said they were a rapper and shared one of his rhymes with me. For one thing, as the young man prewarned me, his song was full of profanity, and references to violence. He said his favorite rapper was 50 cent.

Then I started to wonder, why is it that someone who doesn't know these kids, has so much influence on them? Why is it that he is the one "mentoring" our kids? (I'm not picking on 50, that's just who the kid said was his favorite rapper). I went on to share with the young men that, unfortunately, even though they look up to the rappers, not one of the rappers knows them to even care about them. I mean they can say that they love their fans, but they don't personally know them enough to invest their time into them. It's funny, here I am, three hours away from home, ministering to these kids, and speaking life into them, but someone they have never personally met, has more influence over them than their parents or teachers?

I told the young men who were full of promise and potential, that the organizers of that local event had cared for them so much, that they designed that event, for them! Can you imagine that for a moment, a stranger throws a party for you in your honor! How awesome is that. I also went on to tell these kids, that the organizers of that event, L.O.C. would love for the opportunity to pour into their lives, mentor them, and help them accomplish their goals. Wow! I then told them that this ministry L.O.C. (Love of Christ) would do all of that and even eventually serve as character references for them for job or college applications. I asked them "What rapper do you know that would give you a recommendation?".

Makes you stop and think for a moment. It's time we stop allowing strangers in the media to mentor our kids. It's time that we become the familiar face in their lives. That we become the source of Godly counsel and wisdom for them. It's time that we stand up and speak life into their rough situations. Do some of them have problems, yeah! But don't you remember what your life was like until someone stepped in that spot, in their rightful place in your life?

Maybe you're reading this post now and are saying, I"m not ready to be that person, hey, I wish I had that person in my life. If that's you, then holler at me. I would love to be that person in your life. I also know that their are a lot of other people out there who want to help you, if you ask them. Again hit me up if you need me!

Luv yall

But God Still Loves ya more