The Bone Collector

Sometimes I'll take the bus or train to work instead of driving.  Sometimes it's to save on gas, other times it's to get some exercise walking from the bus stop.  In the last 5+ years of this, I have seen an inner city culture that looks all too familiar to me.  Portland Ave South in Minneapolis, between Grant and Franklin Ave, remind me of my old neighborhood in Chicago.  People drunk laying in the street, drug dealers moving product on every other corner, women trying to sell their bodies for money or a fix for her addiction.  In the midst of all this, there are people trying to live everyday life, working, going to school, kids playing in the park, just doing everyday life.  Doing everyday life in the 'valley of dry bones.'  Now the dry bones, doesn't mean that the people that are doing wrong are bad people, they just made a series of bad choices that turn into bad habits, that turn into bad outcomes...addiction, homeless, jail or even death.
But there is one who has come to give life to the one in the valley of the 'dry bones.'  There is one who is the 'Bone Collector.'  Read Ezekiel 37:1-14, 1"The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"  So I answered, "O Lord God, You know." 4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live.  Then you shall know that I am the Lord. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live" ' " 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.  11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.  They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from the graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land.  Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it," says the Lord.' "

• It makes no difference the condition of your "dry bones," God knows.  Verse 11 states that "the condition of the bones are: dried up, all hope is lost, and are cut off."  Think about the tragedy and destruction that had taken place in their lives...hmmm.  Now think about your own personal tragedy that has happened in your life.  Foreclosure, broken dreams, death of a spouse or child, or even a natural disaster, tornado, hurricane.  Something that totally rips your whole life apart.  Shreds you mentally and emotionally so that all you want is to be alone, isolate and be by yourself in your own personal valley.  But God gives us a key to the restoration of our dry bones.  In verse 3, "And He said to me, son of man, can these bones live" And I answered, O Lord God, you know!"  The one the Lord calls the son of man showed great wisdom by not saying something that would make him sound like a bone head.  Something like, "No they can't live or I don't know," the son of man said, "O Lord you know."  You don't need to know the answer to the question as long as you know He knows.  He knows the answer before He asks the question.  So He has the answer to the problem of your dry bones before they become dry.

He will show you what to do with your dry bones.  Verse 4, "Again He said to me, prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Oh dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' " The second thing we need to do is, do what he said.  Whether it's the written Word or a Word in the Spirit, we must do it because it shows your obedience to your heavenly Father and it shows that you trust Him.  The next part of verse 4, "O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord."  Speak the Word of God to your bones.  The Word of God is the seed that starts the process of life for your dry bones.  Isaiah 55:11 (Amplified) "So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

• God will breathe life into you and cause His plans for you to come out of the grave.  Verse 12, "Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from the graves and bring you into the land of Israel."  Visions and dreams that may have gone dormant in your life, goals that you might have let slip, for one reason or another, can now live again.

His Spirit is the water that makes everything bloom.  Verse 14, "I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live." Joel 2:28, "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions."

Let's declare today that God breathes life into our bones and will bring us out of the valley of dry bones.  The Lord has spoken it and will perform it!

God Loves You And So Do I

Don’t Be Another Brick In The Wall

After working in the addiction and recovery field for several years, I’ve noticed something very critical.  There is a place and time when the person who is in treatment begins to make progress in their recovery.  This comes when their mental and emotional being begins to heal, allowing them to start seeing the big picture of their life.  While in this process, they begin to come across obstacles, barriers, and obstructions that attempt to stop them from reaching the point of breakthrough.  Some, not all, may never push down the walls of their life.  Some, when things become too hard, quit and go back to what is easy, what they are used to, what they know.  Proverbs 26:11 KJV, “As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”

In life, we all come across hard times, challenges or obstacles.  It can be a bad report from the doctor, a failed marriage, job loss or financial trouble.  These are all walls that keep us from God’s best in our lives.  The word “wall” is defined as: to enclose, shut off, divide or border (limit your access to.)  So the wall comes to separate you from your goals and dreams of life.  But the good news is that God said that we can win and tear down every wall of life.  Mark 11:23 & 24, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

The wall may separate you from you goal, but not the goal giver.  Genesis 39:19-21, “So it was, when his master heard the word which his wife spoke to him saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner” that his anger was aroused.  Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined.  And he was there in the prison.  But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”  The first thing is, when you’re behind the wall, you’re not alone.  God is with us.  He will show us mercy and favor in spite the wall.

Your wall is not “an American Idol.”  People love watching American Idol to see who the next big star is going to be.  They talk about it at work, they talk about it with friends, they text in their votes.  And when the idol is chosen, they buy their cd’s, go to their concerts and just talk about how much they love this idol.  People do the same thing with their walls.  They talk about the problem, not the solution.  Jesus only spoke the solution, Mark 11:13-14, 20-24, “And seeing a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it.  When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”  And His disciples heard it.”  Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.  So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”  See, Jesus never idolized his problem, He only spoke the solution.  He never spoke about the wall, He spoke to the wall and got the desired results.


Your wall needs to hear your shout.  It amazes me how many of us will allow our thoughts to run our minds.  A mirage for negative and defeated thoughts that keep us from the victory on the other side of the wall.  When your wall begins to shout defeat to you, you shout your victory in Christ Jesus to that wall.  Joshua 6:5 & 20, “It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat.  And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”  “So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets.  And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat.  Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”

When your wall is shouting at you, you shout back at your wall!

God loves you and so do I!

WHO'S IN THE LEAD

Ok, I like Nascar. Not enough to call myself a fan, but I know most of the drivers and how the point system works. Now with last years' point system, if you had enough top 10 finishes, including wins, you stood a better chance of winning the overall championship than if you had winsbut no top 10 finishes. For example, last year, Denny Hamlin won more Spirit Cup races, 10 total, than any other driver. But Jimmy Johnson, who had the second most with 9, had more top 10 finishes in the series and playoff than Hamlin. Jimmy Johnson became a 5 time champion. Hamlin won more races, but johnson won the overall championship. So who was in the lead?     That's a question we need to ask ourselves every morning before we let our feet hit the floor. Every morning when I wake up, there a war going on inside of me, between God and the devil, both trying to gain influence in my thoughts, actions and emotions. But thank God, years ago I made Jesus christ the Lord and Savior of my life. So the devil may try to gain ground or win in areas of my life, but God the overall lead in my life. Psalm 5:8 "Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before my face." Giving God total access to your life lets him lead your life.  If you're in the lead postion of your life, you're heading for a crash. In Nascar, every driver has a crew chief. The crew chief leads the crew and sits up high off the track to see the overall race. It's gives him an advantage in seeing the whats going on on the track so he can relay information to the driver, keeping the driver from getting into trouble or crashing. So too,the Lord operates as the crew chief in our lives. He sits up high to see the big picture of the race of our lives. He leads us out of the dangers and obstacles of our life. Psalm 23:2 " He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters." If we don't let the crew chief, Jesus lead us in the race of our lives....crash and burn, our lives will be. If your running out of gas, don't panic. GET TO THE PIT! If a driver is in the race but begins to experience trouble with his car, he gets to the pit to see the "pit crew". The pit crew does everything to get the car restored and running right from gas to new tires to taking out the dents or even getting the driver something cold to drink. Jesus does the same thing for us. Psalm 23:3 " He restore my soul, He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake." Joel 2:25 "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you." God will fill you up and restore you so you can finish the race strong. When Jesus is in the lead of your life, you will always finish in victory lane. Every winning driver must drive to victory lane so he can officially be declared the winner. In victory lane he receive his prize, the trophy, money and congratulations from his team and well wishers. When God is the leader in the race of our lives, he will always put us in victory lane. When we trust Him with our lives, he will give us victory in our lives. 1 John 5:4 "For whatever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith." He gives us the victory to win the race every time.  The victory is always yours. But the glory for your victory must go to Him. Now this is where we must stay out of trouble. The victory and benefits of the victory belong to you. But the glory and praise belongs to Him. Wherever I pray for victory in an area of my life, I always ask Him for the victory and the benefit, but proclaim that he get all the praise and glory. When he gets the praise and the glory, people will be drawn to Him and not me. Our victory serves as a witness of His goodness. 2 Corinthains 2:14 "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Chirst's victory] and though us spread and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere."  When people see you winning every race in life, and doing it with God leading you all the way, they will want what you've got. And when they come to you, you can share with them about Jesus, WHO"S IN THE LEAD OF YOUR LIFE! God loves you and so do I.  Please read, meditate and pray these scriptures: Gensis 28:20-22, Romans 8:14, Psalm 23:2-3, Isaiah 48:17 and John 16:13.

The Driving Force of Consistency

Consistency – Steadfast adherence to the same principle, course, form,

a firmness in what you believe.

Every business, every leader, every organization, all have something that they do well.  Something they always do.  They walk in the principle of consistency.  What is consistency?

Abraham is called the father of many nations, and knew how to operate in consistency.  Let’s look at Hebrews 6:13-15,  Abraham received the promise of God by being consistent in what he believed.  He waited long and endured patiently. 

Now waiting long and enduring patiently is not like waiting for a long time, in a long line, at lunch time, at your favorite fast food joint.  Waiting while the 2 people behind the counter are more interested in discussing what their plans are for the weekend than taking your order.  No, the waiting here, means that while you are waiting for the promise, you are doing the will of God.  Calling someone that God told you to call and say God loves you.  Picking someone up for church or helping someone out who’s in a bind.  Buying food for someone who had a need.  Waiting on God is waiting on, or serving others. 

Former Super Bowl championship coach, and author of the book Uncommon, Tony Dungy, said, “Start with Matthew 6:33, Seek first His kingdom.”  Take a few moments to be quiet and spend time with God.  He will lessen your worries about tomorrow and release you from the breathless pace of the world’s urgent priorities.  Dedicating a few hours of your time for the priorities God has entrusted to you, may not seem significant right now.  But to those who need you, it could make all the difference in their lives, and yours.

Consistency does not give room for retreat, but creates room for advancement.  Hebrews 10:35-39, staying consistent in our conviction, our principle in God, builds our faith causing us to advance and see the promise of God in our lives.

Don’t lose your consistency!  Don’t let the little hidden things keep you from reaching you consistency and receiving the promise of God.  1 Corinthians 5:5-7

Clean out any and all sin that stops you from being consistent to cry out to God.  Ask Him to take them from you.  Cast down wrong thoughts, turn loose wrong desires, so you can be consistent in the things you do for God and others.

God loves you and so do I

Grace, Grace and More Grace

I believe grace is a very wide termed word with a lot of different meanings to all of us.  Whether you sit down for dinner and before you eat, you say grace.  An allowance of time after a debt or bill has become due, known as a grace period.  Or, if a prisoner has been given pardon or clemency from prison, that's an act of grace.  We hear and see grace used in a lot of ways.  But what does God say about grace.  The definitions of grace in the Strongs Complete Greek Dictionary of the Bible is: The spiritual divine influence upon the heart, and it's reflection in the life, a free gift of endowment, acceptable, benefit, favor, indue with special honor, make accepted.  I'll say it like this, grace is God's unmerited favor.  Shown to man for assistance and divine help in every day life.  2 Corinthians 9:8, Amp, "And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]."  Now this may put grace in a different light, now that we see what it is.  But what is grace for?  Lets take a closer look at this scripture:

A. 'Every favor and earthly blessing'...We don't have to wait until Jesus returns to get our blessing.  But God said our blessings are available to us now on earth.
Psalm 84:11, Amp, "For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly."  So grace and favor are available to us now and in the future.

B. 'come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient'...The grace of God allows us to be abundantly equipped in Him to do all things.  Philippians 4:13, Amp, "I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency]." God infuses us with His strength and Christs sufficiency, so we can do everything that we are called to do, in Him.  Grace is His ability in our inability.

C. 'Possessing enough to require no aide or support.  And furnished, in abundance, for every good work and charitable donation.'  The grace of God, or God's grace, is enough to do the work in peoples lives that brings glory to Him, and benefits to them.  Ephesians 3:2, Amp, "Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace (His unmerited favor) that was entrusted to me [to dispense to you] for your benefit."  Ephesians 4:29, KJV, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."  Remember grace is a gift that is freely given.  So grace, grace and more grace to you. 

Read, meditate and pray this weeks scriptures:
Exodus 33:1-17
Psalm 84:11
Zechariah 4:7
Romans 6:1-14
Ephesians 3:2
Ephesians 4:29

God loves you and so do I!

What in your Heart?

I know christians that have been walking with the Lord and trying to live their life in Christ. But for some reason have strayed away, backslidden, or God is just not a priority anymore. They say this life as a christian is hard and there are too many rules, or they're too ashamed. They keep making the same mistakes over and over again, or they say, "I don't have the time for God." Now there may have been times that we have found ourselves in this condition and not know why. In 1998 I went thought a divorce that caused me to be so ashamed of myself that i separated myself from God, my son who needed me, my family who didn't know where I was, and friends that thought I was someone dead. Now I take full responsibility for my mistakes and action. That's  when I discovered that the problem wasn't the other people, the devil or unforeseen circumstances. The problem was my heart. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it (perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind)?" Jeremiah 17:9 Amplified. I said I love God, but my actions said differently. I said I'd do good, but focused my attention on doing wrong. I said I'd help other, but put more attention on myself and my needs. I went to church on Sundays, but the church wasn't in me daily.    Open Heart Surgery
I began to ask God to help me.  To show me how to get out of feeling and doing what I was doing.  Then God showed me this scripture in Colossians 3:5, in the Amplified Bible, "So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God)."  God revealed to me, in the broken state I was in, that I had so many things taking up space in my heart that I allowed no room for God.  I needed to get the junk out.  I needed to evict the enemy in me.  "Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion;" Ephesians 4:22 Amplified.
Giving Jesus The Keys To My Heart
Jesus said in Luke 6:45 KJV, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good;"  I began to spend time with God, reading His Word, asking Him for understanding of what I read.  Asking for revelation in me, that it would change me.  Praying to the Father in Jesus' name.  I meditated on the Word day and night, like Psalm chapter 1 says.  I listened to good praise and worship music that confirmed the love of God in me.  I started developing a passion for God that I never had before.  I developed a loving relationship with my heavenly Father, Hallelujah!
Setting My Mind On Things Above
I set a course every morning, before I did anything else, to spend time with God.  I set my mind on Him.  Committed my time to Him.  Gave my finances to Him.  I placed more value on the internal than the external.  I started praising about Him, speaking out about Him and who He is.  The Lord of my life!
So remember, if things in your life continue to weigh you down.  Or if what you're doing is more about you than others, check your heart.  For out of the abundance of the heart, you heart, your life will speak.
Read, meditate and pray this weeks scripture:
Colossians 3:1-5
Colossians 3:10-17
Ephesians 4:20-25
Psalm 119:11
Proverbs 23:7
Matthew 5:45

God loves you, and so do I!

What did you say ?

Christianity is called The Great Confession. But most Christians who are defeated because they believe and confess the wrong things. The have spoken the words of the enemy. And those words hold them in bondage. Proverbs 6:2 says, "Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the word of thy mouth. Charles Capps said: "Faith filled words will put you over, Fear filled words will defeat you, Word are the most powerful thing in the universe.   We need to act like our Heavenly Father. Ephesians 5:1 in the amplified bible says "Therefore be imitators of God (copy him and follow his examples), as well-beloved children (imitate their father)." Jesus is our example. Nobody showed a better way of acting like the father than Jesus. Jesus even went as far as to tell Phillip in John 14:9-10 Amp "Have I been with all of you for so long a time, and do you not recognize and know me yet, Phillip? Anyone who has seen me has seen the father. How can you say then, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that i am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? What I telling You I do not say on My own authority and of my own accord; but the Father who lives continually in me does the ([a]His) works (His own miracles, deeds of power)." Jesus walk in faith and Jesus spoke in faith, speaking like God spoke in Genesis 1:3, "And God said , Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good." Jesus spoke like this in Matthew 17:20, "And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed  , ye shall say unto this mountain,Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall be removed; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Jesus spoke to demons. He spoke to the fig tree. He spoke to the wind and the sea and they all were obedient to what he said. He operated in the God kind of faith. God is a faith. God released his faith in words. Jesus was acting like his father and getting the same results as the father. We are to speak the word of God to get God results. This is not about name it and claim it, or blab it and grab it. NO, this is saying what the Word says about the situation. Most people have used the words of their mouth to hold them in bondage. But when we speak the word of God, the heart will produce liberty it will produce the health and healing the Word said it would.  Train yourself to speak Gods Word. If you wanted to be a doctor or lawyer you couldn't just start operating like one. You must get the proper training. When you study the life of Jesus you will see that defeated the enemy because he trained himself. Here are a few way that he did that:1) He spent much time in prayer. But he never prayed the problem, he prayed the answer, what God said is the answer. 2) He spoke accurately, never with crooked speech. His conversation always consisted of what God said. 3) He always spoke the end results, not the problem. Never did he confess the present circumstances. He spoke the desired results. He used the written Word to defeat Satan in Matthew 4:1-11, Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2.And when he ha d fasted for forty days and forty night, he was afterward an hungered. 3) And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but very word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5.Then the devil taken him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6) And saith unto him , if thou be the son of God, cast thyself down: For it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up less at any time thou dash thy foot against the stone. 7) Jesus said unto him, It is written: Thou shalt not tempted the Lord thy God. 8) Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9) And saith unto him, All these thing will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10) Then then Jesus said unto him, Get thee hence Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11) Then the devil leaveth him, and ,behold, angels came and ministered unto him.      The Word of God conceived in the heart, formed by the tongue and spoken out of the mouth is creative power.       Read, Meditate and pray this weeks scripture: Proverbs 4:20-22, Psalm 91:10-11, 1Cornthians 12:27, 2 Corinthians 2:14, Mark 11:23-24, Psalm 119:89 and Revelation 12:11      God Loves You and so do I.