Commitment

I remember twelve years ago when I heard God ask me to leave where I was at, and go to Gateway Believers Fellowship. It was decision time again. I had a choice to make to either follow God, or be rebellious and act like He never spoke to me. I chose to follow Him. You may ask was it easy? No!

I fought for two weeks before I made that commitment. I can tell you when I stepped foot into where God had called me to be, there was such a peace of knowing that I had had obeyed Him. It did not matter what all the other voices I heard was saying.

I wanted more of God, but I had to be willing to pay the price, and do what He told me to do. There will always come a time to go your own way.  Commitment is a continual process, and you will always need His grace to go where He wants to take you.

God told us we are in a new place.We have to be willing to do what is necessary to occupy this place. Making a commitment involves dedicating yourself, to someone, a thing, or a cause. It will require you to do something that you’ve not done before. Before you make a commitment count the cost, because it will cost you something.  Many are called, but few hear His voice. When you hear His voice, it will sustain you to persevere.

You may ask yourself, “What is keeping you from committing your  life fully to His cause?”

~Tammy Sanders

Image Credit: ©Tammy Sanders

The Path

 

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and He will direct thy paths. Proverbs 3: 5 & 6

One of the definitions of path is a track or course. Life is a series of having to make decisions or choices.Many times we find ourselves at crossroads having to decide which way to go. Some of our choices are very easy to make. What to wear, what to eat, or what movie to watch? Living life would be so easy if our choices were that simple.

I remember as a young child wanting to go to my grandmother’s house. My mother would lead me by the hand to the path. There was a well worn path through the field between our house to Grandma’s. Mother would tell me to follow the path. It was easy, stay on course till I got there. As I got older I would stray. I remember getting into a sandspur patch, being bare foot it really hurt. My mother heard me crying and came to my rescue. After pulling out the sandspurs, drying my tears, she said, ” thats why I told you to stay on the path.”

The Lord wants us to rely on Him when we have to make decisions. First we have to trust Him, knowing He has a plan and purpose for our lives. The Lord knows the future and what we are going to face because of our choices.How many times have we made decisions on our own and later regretted it? When we let our emotions take over we usually end up in a mess. Our flesh feels good and off we go. We have all cried out, “Lord please get me out of this mess.”

Thank God for His mercy and grace. As we grow older we are suppose to become wiser. We are to profit from our poor decisions. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Maturing in our relationship with the Lord, learning to listen and obey His voice, Life’s decisions will become more clearer. We have to learn to be led by the Holy Spirit. He will order our steps and direct our paths.

~Ricky Robinson

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Using Your Authority

 

Anybody can praise God whenever things are going great. What about when your children are ill, you lose your job, divorce, death in the family, and the list goes on. What do you do then?

I have had many circumstances over the years come against me and my family.  I had a choice to make to either duck tail and run or go right through the middle of it. To tell you the truth at times I would love to have run, but God on the inside of me just would not let me do that.

He’s always been bigger than anything I have ever faced.  At times I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me, and then I would remember that He was right there with me, seeing me overcome every obstacle that came my way.

I’m so glad that I have learned how to believe God for myself.

Confess His word and watch it come to pass.  Mark 11:24 says, “Therefore I say unto you, whatever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you shall have them.” The devil is just the devil; he will always put up a fight to keep you from the things of God.  Don’t listen to his lies. If the Bible promises you something, you have a right to fight for it. God has given us every tool we need to win.

The sword of the spirit which is the Word of God is one of our greatest weapons against the devil.  Jesus always used it when He was tempted of the devil. Now, it is our turn to do the same thing. The next time the devil comes telling you anything contrary to the Bible, and trying to beat you up, use the Word.

Just like David said to the uncircumcised Philistine, You come to me with a sword, and a spear, but I come at you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, Whom you have defied.  ~1 Samuel 17:45

~Tammy Sanders

Image Credit: Tammy Sanders

Friends for Life

I have a friend on death row in the state of Florida. We met in 1968 in Charlotte N.C. at a military induction center. We had both enlisted in the Marine Corps. Tom and I went through boot camp and Vietnam together. After we got out we stayed in touch, we became life long friends.

One night I was watching the 11 pm. news. The reporter was telling about a man who was arrested for three counts of murder. When I heard Tom’s name it floored me. We have all listened to news reports about tragedys without it affecting us.

When I heard this one I was shocked. They had arrained Tom from N.C. to Florida to stand trial.While he was in jail we were able to communicate by phone. He was convicted of three counts of murder and given the death sentence. Tom was placed on death row in 1981. It took me until 1984 to get on his visitor list because I wasn’t a relative. He has been on death row for 31 years.

Since his incarceration, both of his parents have died and all of relatives have forsaken him. My wife and I are his only contacts on the outside. He was pretty much railroaded through his trial and conviction.  Basically, he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. For 31 years he has maintained his innocence and has been in the appellet system trying to get a new trial. I believe in the power of prayer and the faithfullness of God. My wife and I have been there for Tom and have shown him God’s unconditional love.

As I was meditating on what to write about, the Lord reminded me of his faithfullness. I just want to give God praise and thanksgiving. We take his faithfullness for granted at times. No matter where we are in life his faithfullness abounds. He uses people, things, and circumstances to work his goodness toward us. We need to be greatful every day for his blessings, not just one day each year.

I would ask that you remember Tom in your prayers and never take your freedom for granted.

~Ricky Robinson

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God’s Got This!

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13

This is the verse I have been holding onto. You see, you don’t know how much more you can do until the demand is placed on you. I’ve been doing at least ten hours a week for my internship with a publishing company, starting on my senior project, (which is a twelve-page inspirational disability magazine),helping with publications, along with various papers, homework and tests. After waiting for a month, I will finally start physical therapy for my foot. This will be at least two times a week-maybe even three if they think it’s necessary.

I said all of that to say this. Most people get stressed, hyperventilate, and become grouches when their schedule is piled with EVEN more stuff to do. That’s because they are relying on their ability and not God. I’m so thankful that I don’t have to rely on myself to get all of these things done. My God is on my side, helping me and giving me the grace to take each day as it comes. While my schedule will become more chaotic in the next few days, His grace will remain the same, ready to refresh me each morning.

That’s not to say this week wasn’t a challenge. I was stressed trying to get interviews scheduled, homework done, and just normal everyday stuff. I even freaked out about my senior project thinking I was going in the wrong direction. After a phone call to my mom, things were okay because she reminded me that as much as I love blogging and helping others, those weren’t priority right now. It’s so easy to let the devil steal your energy and time doing “stuff”, but it has nothing to do with your assignment from God. Yes, I was guilty of that! After I said no more, I’ve had a peace I haven’t had, even though in the natural it looks like I should be concerned. I refuse to let the enemy steal my joy. I’ve said, “God’s got this!”

Let Him carry you! I challenge you to rest in Him this week!

~Madison Sanders

 

Image credit: WEIGHTLIFTER VOL 2
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Trust and Obey

God does some strange things at times. The sermon that Sunday morning was on tithing. When it was offering time, I heard God tell me to put my watch in the offering plate. As the plate went from person to person in the sanctuary, I found myself debating with Him. “Why do you need my watch? I need that watch to help me remember to take my afternoon medicine.” All I kept thinking of was the story of Abraham. God tested Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his most prized son, as an offering to him. Just as Abraham obeyed, I sadly and reluctantly flipped it off my wrist and into the plate to sacrifice it to God. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I knew it was best to obey.

It turns out the youth pastor of the church had a metal allergy. He could only wear certain type of watches. Apparently, that particular watch had the right kind of metal for him to wear. God knew he needed it more than I did.

Can you see in the second paragraph above how many times my questions were about me? I must have had a case of me-ismsat that time in my life. God apparently knew I needed a lesson in trusting and obeying in him. I was self-absorbed with my needs instead of what he wanted from me. What I really needed was dependence on him for his help.

In today’s world situation, we need to learn to trust him more with all our needs. Trusting in Him to teach us what we need to learn in life is not easy. and neither is obeying at times. As a child of God, He will take care of us. After all, His Word does promise that He will never forsake us. We must remember that there are others in our own community that do not have that security in God as we do. It is a good time for us to learn to trust and to learn to obey Him. I really believe God will honor us in the process of learning even in the little things of life.

~Gay Dowdy

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WATCH
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Going in The Right Direction

 

Life can be challenging for all of us. Every day we are faced with choices and decisions. We need the right answers. We can use trial, error, and past experiences to make decisions. Being a christian and relying on the Holy Spirit for direction and answers surely helps. I am a firm believer that when we rely on the Lord, He will direct our pathways.

We were living in Jacksonville N.C. at the time and as I was praying, the Lord spoke to my spirit. He told me that he was going to give me a debt free house. Wow! I was elated. Like anyone who has every gotten a word from the Lord, I thought it would happen right away. We faced a decision of whether to stay in Jacksonville or to move back to Hamlet. I wanted to stay in Jacksonville and build the house. I prayed and the Lord said, “Wait.” Just what I wanted to hear.

Time went by, my faith was tried and tested. I grew impatient and discouraged, but I knew deep down in my spirit the Lord had spoken to me. Circumstances started changing. The railroad yard in Jacksonville closed,  and I was able to transfer to Hamlet.

We bought some property, picked out house plans, and prayed for direction from the Lord. One night we were at church, I was called out and given a word of knowledge. The Holy Spirit spoke through a man whom I had never met. He said. “Brother, the Lord didn’t give you that land not to build upon, He’s going to give you a house”. It was a word of confirmation to what the Lord had spoken five years earlier. I had waited on the Lord for direction. The word of knowledge at the right time, through the gift of the Holy Spirit in this man, and gave me the go ahead to build.

Three years later we had the house and best of all it was debt free. All praise to God who performs his word.

~ Ricky Robinson

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ROAD MARKING
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God’s Armor

Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defiled.  Samuel 17:45

David could not use Saul’s armor. It was heavy and just didn’t fit. Just like David we cannot put on someone else’s armor either. Like David we must put on our armor.  In order to defeat our enemies, we must put on the armor of love, joy, and peace. He has provided us with everything we need to succeed in this life.

I remember a time in my life when I walked in fear every day. Inside of me I wanted to be normal, but just like a snake that slips up on you, fear gripped me so tightly at times it seemed like I could not even breathe. Even at night I would go to sleep with a gun on my chest fearing for myself and my children.

Before, I was walking in my own strength trying to fight with the wrong weapons. Now that I’ve put on God’s armor of peace, I sleep like a baby at night knowing the Almighty is protecting me.

If you are living in fear and letting the enemy steal your peace, put on God’s armor for a change! When He helps us, it’s more powerful than anything we could imagine. I’ve broken through that fear and you can, too!

~Tammy Sanders

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The Stroll

My husband and I enjoy the walking trail at the park. The beginning of the trail is more a stroll than a walk. Trees cover the lane with shade. There is usually a cool breeze blowing. It starts out going downhill. Halfway through the trail everything changes.  The shade from the trees is gone. The sun beams down on the walkers. It is uphill the rest of the way. I find it hard to complete the trail. The climb becomes a real challenge.

This morning as I approached the dreaded halfway mark I had a thought. I realized how much like my life this trail experience has been to me. I have had times when hardships were far from me. Then without warning, things would change. I would find myself in a hard place. I would need to find strength and faith to be able to keep going. “Trust in The Lord with all thy heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths; ~Proverbs 3:5,6. I am thankful we have Holy Spirit. He will guide us through these hard places of life. He is also there to comfort us along our way.

I will continue to walk the trail. I know it won’t be easy. I also know I can make it.

~Connie Robinson

 

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Stand Firm

Sometimes it may seem like you are the only one standing on what you believe is right and what you believe is God. I have been struggling with this very thing for a while now. I went through a period of thinking that I was going crazy because how could I be the only one who sees this situation a certain way. I started praying that God would change me and how I felt about it since I must be wrong. The problem must be me.

Well, this is how I went on for weeks and months, but somewhere deep in my spirit I knew what I believed was God no matter who else thought so. It was very hard because it brought conflict and pain in some relationships and just made me feel more distant from a lot of people and things that I really care about.  I went in the prayer line recently because I was just tired of the fight within myself about this whole situation and God spoke to me giving me the answer I had longed to hear but knew in my heart.

There will be times when you are the only one who is willing to stand and fight for what you know is God. As long as you stand firm, God will never let you down no matter how rough it gets. Just hearing one word makes all the difference. It didn’t matter anymore if I was the only one, once I heard His voice and knowing that I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. You or your beliefs won’t always be popular with the world or even other believers. Don’t assume that everyone you trust is going to give you the right advice. Sometimes you have to just rely on what you know you know for yourself.  Listen to your spirit, stand firm, and leave the rest to God.

 

~Michelle Parrish