Maturity...

Last night after I came from church (after having had to miss Sunday as well as Monday due to the wreck that I had on the 31st) I had the most amazing breakthrough with G-d. You see my insurance company was really beginning to get on my nerves because they were giving me the run around. I mean the adjuster had actually told me yesterday that SHE thought it was my fault and then asked me to draw a diagram of the area and fax it to her. I really didn't get too worked up because I knew that it was a test and I knew how I responded first with my words would establish the outcome. Response as we have been taught, is the first faith word. I declared that this was going to end in my favor. I just had to wait them out even if they acted as if this thing, that was barely a fender bender, was going to go to court.

Nevertheless, when I came home with the tapes from Sunday and Monday, I immediately begin to meditate on the word that had been spoken.It was so powerful as the prophet begin to preach about "trust" that I couldn't even sleep. I ended up listening to it twice and finally at 1:30am I just got out of bed and went to my prayer closet. Last year the prophet taught us that whenever you can not sleep, it's G-d calling you to a watch(see Habakkuk 2:1, Matthew 26:38, Mark 13:33,37-for a few examples) and so you need to get into the word of G-d to see what He is trying to tell you. Most often this is mistaken for insomnia and we waste our time watching movies or TV.

I came to understand that often when we go through it's because of what we are going to. The hold up on manifestation of things in our lives has everything to do maturity. G-d waiting on us to mature in our situations before he can give us stuff. I ended up reading a version of the bible I downloaded with my E-sword.net Bible. This version is called the scriptures--long story short I begin to read Genesis and as I was reading I realized that though the seed for vegetation was put into the earth in Genesis 1:29--there was no vegetation as yet since there hadn't been any rain--Genesis 2:5--more to the point G-d had yet allow the vegetation to grow because there was no man to till the ground. There is a principle in that--in verse 6 the midst went up from the earth and in verse 7 G-d created the man. Verse 8 says that after the man was prepared then God made Eden and placed him there. Eden is that place that "good" for the man--there was nothing missing, nothing lacking, nothing broken. In verse 19 G-d gives Adam some work to do--his ministry--he was tested in his stewardship and his faithfulness. You see even in that season in the life of Adam when he was alone with God learning to talk to him and fellowship--building the relationship that G-d desired--he was still missing something.

But he had to faithful to that which G-d had already given him to do until he could see the manifestation of what he was believing G-d for. You see G-d never gives us something that we didn't ask for. Satan gives us things too. Usually we are unaware of these things--but it's always clear--the word say that every good and perfect gift is from G-d--if it's not good and it's not perfect, but it adds sorrow--it's not from G-d.

Though the initial conversations of G-d and Adam are not recorded--somewhere along the line he asked G-d for Eve. So when G-d finally put him to sleep and pulled Eve out of him--he did so because Adam was ready for her. The principle is this, when we are ready for something we've asked for, it will be prepared and ready for us. When we are standing on the word of G-d for it's not that G-d has told us no or even that he's forgotten it when it seems to be taking longer than we feel it should have. G-d is simply waiting on us to mature. We can have it--but God wants to know that after we get it we will continue to be faithful to him and not replace him with what he has given us. The lesson of the garden is that Adam had replaced his relationship with G-d, with Eve. He listened to her instead of what G-d had told him before she even showed up. When we do that, failure is sure to occur. Some of the things I am waiting on, will still have to wait until some people depart form my life, some habits are overcome, and my faithfulness in that which he has already given me to do is proven. All that being said, I can wait. I don't want anything before it's time to have it.

After staying up all night in prayer and not returning to bed until this morning at almost 6 am, I fasted and watched with a purpose and got a great breakthrough when I answered the phone this morning. My check from the insurance company was in the mail, I was declared not at fault and all is still well. I have a car for the weekend until my car is ready on Monday and I feel at peace.
Be Blessed...Chosen

On another note...

I know I said I was going to discuss Jonah chapters 2 and 3 today but first I have to address something because I strolling through blogs today as I often do just to see what else is out there and I came across a blog that not only infuriated me but is a pretty sad thing to me. I am not going to name the blog because it in itself is not worth mentioning, it was what he spoke against that is worthy of mention because it pertains to G-d. However the man over the blog has absolutely no clue. He's under a spirit of delusion and error. The word of G-d says you err because you don't know the scriptures (Matthew 22:29). If you are looking for truth, you'll find truth--because you'll draw that. But if you are looking for wrong and doubt you'll get that too. The scriptures also say that as a man thinketh in his heart so is he. (Proverbs 23:7) So if you don't want to believe, you won't. It's really that simple.

If you no longer believe in G-d that's one thing--don't lead others to that by false information and misleading "facts". The problem with believing is that it like anything else requires work. And people don't tend to like anything that will cause them to actually have to do something. The bible was given to us for our learning and through the word we would have hope(Romans 15:4). But understand that there are both a natural interpretation to the scriptures as well as a spiritual. There are things hidden within that only a man or woman after God's own heart would see because he would give it to them. Too few people read it as they should--for wisdom, direction, revelation and understanding. Even fewer have read it all the way through. To believe you have to know what the word says.

When we are first saved what we have is mental acceptance. Meaning we believe what has been told to us as being true--what causes doubt is the lack of growth in the area of belief. If you don't get in the word and spend time developing a relationship with G-d believing is harder than it has to be. If you have questions ask G-d. Very few men and even preachers have enough word knowledge or understanding to answer valid questions like "where did the dinosaurs come from" or "why is my mother going to church being faithful to her tithes and offering and prayer yet she's still broke?" A lot of people grew up in church and their lives never really seemed to change.

What people have to understand is if you don't get to a place where you depend on G-d to answer questions for you and not wait on a person to do it you'll still be lost. When you get to church--you should already have a word from G-d--the preacher should confirm that what G-d said to you. The problem is many people join churches out of convenience. It's close by, your family goes there, etc. You have to pray about where God wants you to be. You can't chose based on denominations because 99% of that is the doctrine of man and not G-d. That alone is subject to create confusion and so you know that is not of God. So if your preacher can't confirm or deny the word you already have you may be in the wrong place. Church membership is far more important than a good choir, convenient parking and youth activities. Jeremiah 3:15 says that god will give us pastors after our own heart. We are all assigned to someone. You have to find that person.

Some preachers don't believe in women preachers--God bless em'. I'm not here to debate that--But I can! With the word, not my opinion! The church needs revitalization. We need people who genuinely love God and the word of God from Genesis to the maps and beyond! People who are willing to do the work to "tear down, root out and rebuild" things the way it should be. We need people to know what they they believe, why they believe it and who can back every word up with the word of God! I'm a preacher--that's my purpose, that's what I am going to do. Somewhere in these daily musings it's my prayer that you are stirred up to love God and his word as much as I do.

Jonah Chapter 1

This morning in my prayer and study time, I was reading the book of Jonah. I love any of the prophetic books because there is so much more than the natural interpretation hidden within the text. When I first started studying the bible none of the prophets made any sense to me but Jonah! Every child has probably heard the story of the man and the whale that swallowed him up. So it was pretty cut and dry. Or so it seems.

If you study the history of the bible such texts as Josephus there is wealth of information not only into the customs of the bible historically, but a lot of information as it relates to the people or rather the nations mentioned in the bible. I love history. If you have never had the pleasure of reading Josephus, I admonish you to do so, you will be blessed by it.

Back to Jonah...In chapter one we find the G-d has called Jonah to go to Ninevah to preach against it. Interesting enough, he avoids the call of God--not just going to Ninevah. I found this interesting. I remember when I first knew G-d had called me, I acted as if I hadn't heard him. It wasn't that I didn't want to answer him, I simply doubted my ability to do what he was asking of me. That's most of us. I didn't come from a preaching family or even one that went to church except on the occasion of someone's death. So, for him to be speaking to me, I found that to be a little odd. Surely he wanted someone with at least some bible knowledge. I didn't even know most of the old hymns that I hear people sing in church when I started going-I still don't. But God doesn't care about the menial things like we do. Whether I went Of church or not, I believed in God and I always talked to him even as a small child. Where that came from, I have no Idea.
God was asking Jonah to do something specific--the call was greater than just to go and preach he wanted him to go there so that the people would change--that's all repentence is--change.
God asks all of us to do this often in our lives. He wants us to make specific changes for our benefit and for the benefit of others that will be affected by our change.

Back to Jonah...
Oddly enough, Jonah was attempting to flee from God's presence--how can you leave a God that is omnipresent? Go to a place of Ichabod--That's where Tarshish comes in. On that ship were a bunch of mariners who all had their own god. In trouble they sought their god for their rescue but to no avail. That's where most of are when we are in a backslidden position--seeking the aid of something that can neither deliver us or help us in any way.

All through this Jonah was asleep. Sleep biblically represents a sense of spiritual unawareness. Meaning you have absolutely no clue of what God is trying to convey to you or you have no sense of the movement of the adversary's hold in your life.
The mariners cast lots to see why the trouble had come upon them--even they knew that things happened for a reason greater than a normal storm.

So now here we have Jonah on a ship with a bunch of heathens--which fellowship was forbidden so he was hooked up with people he had no business being with--now stop right there--that's it. Ever had a bout of trouble come from nowhere? I know I have. One such alliance caused a great upheaval in my life last year. God had specifically told me not to be hooked up with this person and because they were family and saved, I assumed that God was only talking about not being with them for a particular season. Well, I was wrong. That "hook up" tore my world a part--I am still bouncing back and its been almost 9 months later!

The only way to get the trouble to subside from their life was to throw Jonah overboard. They didn't want to do it but they had to. I faced the same thing. I didn't want to do it, but my life depended on it. I was trying to figure out why I still hadn't seen the results I was looking for recently, and I realized that I was still talking to this person and when God said to disconnect he meant the whole caboodle! Don't even communicate with them. I was still holding conversations with this person up until a few weeks ago. Now I am really not a stupid person--far from it, but family is hard to cut off. I just realized today that this was still my problem.

So, I have finally and officially thrown Jonah overboard! I am sure that I will be able to get a breakthrough now. I will be sure to blog all testimonies I have to share as a result of this act of obedience. ODes it feel good? Nope, but I obedience is yet still better than sacrifice. I want to please him more than people. I know some people won't agree with me, but they aren't partakers of the events of my life--they live somewhere else. AS a woman, I realize that women are always evaluating how others will feel as a result of our actions. That's a good thing. But sometimes we just have to focus on how God will feel at our disobedience. People will get over it.
It may take them some time but eventually, they'll understand. And if not, oh well.

Jonah Chapter 2 later...