Be Faithful through it all

Every journey in life begins with you taking the first step. I want to take you through some examples of the steps needed to build your faith with giving you biblical examples and principles, as well as day to day examples on how to build your faith. Now lets think of a baby who is at the stage in life where he or she begins to walk. No one can teach him or her how to walk but its something within that child that gives him or her the desire to take a step. Its a risk that this child is taking, but this desire was already inside the child at the time of conception. And I believe that we need a generation of Christ followers who are willing to take and be risk takers for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As a child who trust his mother or father who's standing before them with their hand waiting "just-in-case," we have to look at God this way. If God is your father or your partner, then you need to make your plans big, take a step of faith and make it big. But a parents first reaction is to think "safety first." This isn't a motto for the risk takers, nor does it work in the field of faith. Faith, to be biblical faith, has to be courageous. Anyone can believe God once he has all the facts, but courageous faith obeys regardless of the situation. A person who's courageous makes a way where there is no way. We need to break out the box that the world tries to place us in. Boxes are intended for storage and God didn't create you to be put on a shelve or to tuck you away in a corner in the closet. It's time for the people of God to put on their shoes of faith and start to take the incredible journey with God. Gods is looking for women and men who will believe that with Christ nothing is impossible. Henry Ford said, I'm looking for a lot of men and women who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done. Bishop Jack C Wallace would have us confess, I am an awesome spirit being with infinite potential, I am the head and not the tail, I am blessed in the city and I'm blessed in the field, blessed coming in and going out...

But how can one believe this if they have no faith? What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith is believing something that you know with your mind hasn't manifested in the natural but in the spirit it already exist, if you dare to believe. As stated earlier a baby taking his or her first step simply by trusting that his mother or father will be their to catch them. When you began to ride a bicycle, we begin to find out that the bicycle would carry our weight and that as we begin to balance and pedal that it will stay up. Or when you hear your phone ring, you're absolutely certain that you will hear somebody speak on the other side of it. So why is it so hard for Christians to obey God when He speaks? By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going,( Hebrews 11:8) He heard the voice of God and he obeyed. By faith Abel offered the acceptable sacrifice. By faith Enoch walked with God. By faith Noah built the ark. By faith Abraham left His home and traveled to an unknown land. He pulled up roots, leaving everything familiar to obey the voice of God. Where is God calling you?

We have a choice: we can be average or exceptional. The choices that we make will determine the road we take. Choices have consequences and they will reveal our true character. Will you walk with Christ? Can you be identified as a follower of Christ? We have to make a decision to live our lives not based on the world standards of success, but you can ask God to show you who He wants you to be and how He wants you to live your life. Stepping out for God always involves steps of separations. You can't be a coward but you have to be courageous. Courage is a pattern and a path that will keep us going when all around us are is falling and failing. God's calling on your life isn't a vacation but a vocation. When you hear God you have to go hard after Him. When you are believing for a breakthrough this is a turning point or a pivotal moment when you have the opportunity to believe God for something greater to happen in your life. Lets look at some steps needed to help you build your faith in order to inherit the promises God has for you.

6 steps needed to build faith

1. Obedience- the consistency of you responding that goes beyond your comfort level

2. Action- the performance beyond your preference. We must remember the words of Jesus when He called His followers to leave and follow Him (Luke 9:57-62)

3. Decision- the process of determining you will react promptly. God didn't show Abraham everything. Your responsibility is to take that initial step of faith and leave the results to God (Gen.15:1-8)

4. Sacrifice-the destruction of ones own values in order to gain a deeper desire for God. Galatians 2:20 (NIV)²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

 It will require you to commit, worship and to renew/expand your relationship with God by building your "alter." Signs of Abraham's faith were the alters he built. The alter we establish is a relationship with God and to renew our commitments to God daily.

5. Courage- this doesn't mean the absence of fear, but its responding in spite of fear. Courage will place you in a battle that fear would run from, but God is "your shield"Genesis 15¹ After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield,^[a] your very great reward.^[b]”  Be courageous and face the tests of life head-on.

6. Trust- assured confidence that you have placed in the truth of something you do rely in.          (Prov. 3:3-6)Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

When you begin to apply these steps in your life, you're now walking out the faith process. This is something we must do on a daily bases and it's a lifestyle and not just something we do for a season. The actions you then will display are that of faithfulness. Bishop Ben Gibert, pastor of Detroit World Outreach in Redford, MI.(http://www.dwo.org/) defines faithfullness as consistent, reliable, sure, conscientious in commitments to people and principles. Character that is completely credible. My prayer is that you will chose to live a life based upon faithfulness. That you will receive the promises God has for you and you will declare once and forever that you will walk by faith and not by sight. You will not allow the natural circumstance to move you. You live a super natural life and that you are now a target, an instrument for His Glory, and that you will see God manifest in your life like never before, in Jesus name I pray expectantly.

© 2011 GodChoseyou2 Blog All Rights Reserved

Are you ripe to be picked?

As I read a post I came across this statement which led me to think, "Are you ripe to be picked?

"Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top. Men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt instead, they just get the rotten apples from the ground that aren't as good,but easy. So the apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree."

I do have to say that this it quite a statement. But I want to take the time to dig a little deeper and truly find out what it takes to be ready and prepared to be picked. We are going to look at the process of growing an apple with applying the practical biblical principles that can be applied to your life so you can transform yourself to being a child of God that will produce and bear much fruit.

 If you are a women  reading this I want you to examine yourself closely and ask yourself, Am I riped to be picked? And if you are a man, I challenging you to look at yourself  to make sure your are prepared  to pick when God says you are ready and that you won't settle for the first women you see but you will choose to get the very best, the perfect will of God for your life. And my desire is that every person reading this will look at themselves to be that very sweet apple that is ready to get picked, so all can say , Taste and see that the Lord is good..."Psalm 34:8 (MSG) ⁸ Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him.

I do believe that God has the good, acceptable and perfect will for everyone. But ultimately God will give you the chance to choose. As we look at the process of how a seed is produced into an apple, we notice that apples are grown from seeds but the transformation from a seed to fruit producing tree can take upwards to ten years. Some unmarried people reading this will say I've been waiting, it's been ten years, while others may say, it shouldn't take that long, so what gives?
Well some people don't exercise patience and they choose to buy apple tree seedlings instead. Think of it this way, it sounds to me like they chose Gods good will because they weren't willing to wait for the full fruit to be cultivated for the perfect will. They reacted on their impatience. Impatience can cause you not to receive your full promises or the perfect will of God for your life. You can get your apple but its smaller in stature, it didn't get a chance to grow into full manifestation as it might have been intended.  

7 Observations needed to produce Seed, tree, fruit

1. A seed. You must know that you are seed of Abraham, Exodus 32:13 (AMP)¹³[Earnestly] remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.
2. The apple has to be dried out. How many of us experience a dry season? I believe everyone has and if you haven't you are lying, or you are living in a dry season right now and you can't even recognize it. I remember the day that I gave my life to Christ and the day that I rededicated my life totally back to HIM. It was such a dry season in my life. I was living in unforgiveness, I was fornicating, I lived with a man that I wasn't married to, I drank alcohol, I was being physically- mentally and emotionally abused but confused thinking it was love, I was living pay check to pay check, I wasn't happy with my self, I lacked confidence, sick in my body with 3 stomach ulcers and I just tried to live one day hoping I would make it to the next day, but I didn't know how I was going to make it. I was dry!
3. Like a seed it has to be planted. If you want to flourish you have to be planted. After I rededicated my life to Christ I planted myself in a church, the very same church I got saved at the age of 17 years old and then that exact church where I rededicated my life at 22 years old, Detroit World Outreach (http://www.dwo.org/)
4. The seed has to watered. How do we as Christians get watered? We sit under the word, we attend church weekly, Deuteronomy 31:12 (AMP) Assemble the people--men, women, and children, and the stranger and the sojourner within your towns--that they may hear and learn [reverently] to fear the Lord your God and be watchful to do all the words of this law,you pray daily, you listen to worship music, you activate the Holy Spirit in your life! You ask God to reveal your purpose and you start walking it out. You begin to experience His promises for your life.
5. Your seed will then begin to grow. Growing requires pruning. John 15:2 (NIV)² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes^[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. In greek for he prunes also means he cleans. You will have to "clean house." Get ride of any junk you may have. Get rid of baggage and garbage in your life. Specific care is always needed to ensure that the delicate process results in what its been made to produce. An apple tree has to be pruned every 2 to 3 years. Pruning removes the branches that don't produce fruit, splings that may be growing & stealing nutrients from the tree. We prune so we don't delay fruit bearing. You may have to cut some people out of your life, they may be stealing life/nutrients from you. You can't do things that you use to do, you can't go places you use to go. If you want to bear fruit you have to keep growing, don't allow yourself to become complacent. Allow God to stretch you. Have a cadence with your prayer life and seek God first (Matthew 6:33), Be an example of a Proverbs 31 women by learning how to cook good meals, be a good steward over your finances, accrue some money, workout diligently, learn how to plan and have time management skills, take care of yourself physically-spiritually-emotionally-mentally, learn something new(enroll in a class), sow into other marriages and families, these are a few things that we as women (unmarried) can focus on in our season of growing and pruning.
6. Be planted with other fruit bearers. You want to surround yourself with people who are living a life set apart and sanctified. Hebrews 6:12 (KJV)¹²That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.  Make sure that you are able to recognize their fruit, observe them in faith fights, trials and tribulations. What is their response when they aren't in church? What promises have they inherit? Find someone that has the promises you are believing for and learn, gain wisdom and knowledge on how they obtained the promises. 
7. Be a tree that can be transplanted and ready to be picked. At this stage you are thriving and being maximizing to full potential in your life. You have weathered the storms and resisted temptations and flee youthful lust, you have shown yourself to be faithful, you have faith in your faith, your standing on Gods promises and prophetic words in your life, you haven't wavered, you are trusting God and you have no fear operating in your life. Now this is my season, I'm ready to be picked, 2 Timothy 2:21(NIV)²¹ Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

When you begin to apply these principles in your life on a daily bases you are producing a seed that will form into a tree, and then a tree that will bear fruit. This process doesn't happen over night and requires much care. For the bible tells us that to whom much is given much is required. So look at yourself and speak to your situation. Know that there is a season and a time for everything, you are fearfully and wonderfully made in the likeness and image of God himself, God has not forgotten about you nor about me. You are amazing and God loves you so much that while he was cultivating you, he was cultivating your Might Man of Valor...You thought you were ready but God said I have a better plan, I have a better apple and not the bitter apple, I have something sweeter and much taster, one that will satisfy you. He will recognize you from afar, he will be bold enough to come forth, he will be courageous, he will display chivalry, he has abilities, and substance. He will seek God before he seeks to find you, but he will climb if he has to, and find and discover you, Proverbs 18:22 (NIV)²² He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD , the apple of His eye. Song of Solomon 2:3 (NIV)She³ Like an apple^[a] tree among the trees of the forest
is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

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