What are you afraid of????

Happy Tuesday, Blogland!  You cannot BEGIN to imagine the disarray and chaos that has been going on in my world over the past week!!!  Has anyone ever experienced a clogged sewer line from the house (tree roots, packed earth and debris) which keeps ALL of the water from flowing out to the sewer?  Whelp, that was my life for the past week.  Third rodding out today was the charm - we are finally back to normal (had to abandon the house for a few days)!  I am up in the wee hours of the morning (well, technically it's almost time to get up since it's after 5 am) doing dishes and cleaning trying to restore some order over here!  My current situation?  Debating whether to take a day off to sanitize the utility room and lower level bathroom (because I was too tired to do it last night and I am truly afraid of E Coli) or leave work early tomorrow to get home early enough to do it (knowing I have a full evening of activity tomorrow evening).  The jury's still out on that one!  Sometimes I feel like I need a clone!!!

But moving on to today's post: What are you afraid of?  That wasn't the title of Sunday's sermon but was the subject matter.  In my life, I've been afraid of a number of things: rodents (I still am), the dark, scary movies (still won't watch them), worms (ugh!), big dogs (had some bad experiences in my childhood), crowds (still not a fan).  Then there's the fears we don't share with the world:  fear of rejection, fear of not being good enough, fear of failure, fear of being lonely/alone, fear of commitment, fear of not being a good parent, fear of losing your child (wrote about that one at the end of August, you can read it here), fear of sickness, fear of the unknown, fear of losing everything, fear of having everything you ever wanted... I think we can all agree that there are lots of things that people are afraid of, some real, some all manufactured in their own minds.

 But what is fear?  It is defined on dictionary.com as:

noun

1.

a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc.,whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of beingafraid.

Synonyms: foreboding, apprehension, consternation, dismay, dread,terror, fright, panic, horror, trepidation, qualm.

Antonyms: courage, security, calm, intrepidity.

2.

a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling:

an abnormal fear of heights.

Synonyms: phobia, aversion; bête noire, bogy, bogey, bugbear.

Antonyms: liking, fondness, penchant, predilection.

3.

concern or anxiety; solicitude:

a fear for someone's safety.

4.

reverential awe, especially toward God:

the fear of God.

Synonyms: awe, respect, reverence, veneration.

5.

something that causes feelings of dread or apprehension; something aperson is afraid of:

Cancer is a common fear.

6.

anticipation of the possibility that something unpleasant will occur:

Having grown up during the Great Depression, he had a constant fearof running out of money.

This past Sunday we were blessed to hear Evangelist Belinda Cheeks, a minister at Victory, deliver the word in the first service.  It was my first time hearing her speak and I truly enjoyed her.  So as I often do, I'm going to share tidbits from the sermon with you!

Scripture Text:  

2 Timothy 1:7New King James Version (NKJV)

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

(An aside, every time I hear that scripture, I am reminded of my brother and VOP (Voices of Praise) singing this song back in the good day (my brother was the lead singer))! 

I try very hard to always remember this scripture whenever I'm fearful of something, but if I can be transparent for a minute, sometimes it's just hard!  In my experience and in my humble opinion, fear is crippling.  It can keep you standing in one place because you are too afraid to move because of things that have happened and you don't think you can handle another bad thing happening to you.  Fear can also be a motivator.  It can motivate you to work hard because perhaps you have experienced a time of lack and you never want to experience it again.  

As Evangelist Cheeks said on Sunday, fear is a part of life and man's biggest enemy.  She went on to say this:  "Fear of our destiny blocks us from what God has called us to do." That made me stop and think about how many times I've hesitated...

Paraphrasing Evangelist Cheeks, fear comes from three things:  1) Who you are listening to, 2) What you are looking at and 3) What you are thinking.  

Listening:  in Genesis 3:1-8, Eve listened to Satan's chatter that was contrary to God's word. Then she was afraid. How many times have your done or not done something because of the negative voices in your head?  Satan's chatter is always contrary to God's word.  

Looking:  in Matthew 8: 23-27, when the disciples were on the boat with Jesus (who was asleep), a storm came and the disciples were afraid.  They woke Jesus, who spoke to the storm and calmed the waters.  The disciples were on the boat with Jesus and still had a storm.  The storms of life don't discriminate and they sometimes result in fear.  The lesson? It's not the absence of the storm but who we look to during the storm - in other words, look to Jesus, not our circumstances.

Thinking:  2 Corinthians 10:5 - apprehend thoughts that are contrary to God.  Thoughts are critical, they kill our hopes and dreams.  We need to speak God's word (yes, in our own lives) when we are under mental attack (how many of you know that Satan's mental attacks are real???). We need to call on our Heavenly Father, doing so releases our power and our secret weapon (the Holy Spirit) - we already have the victory over Satan, so we must shut him down in our thoughts as well.

I have to be transparent, this is one area that I truly struggle with.  Satan and his minions know your weaknesses and that's where the attacks come.  Negative thinking can be so subtle sometimes that you don't even realize that you're doing it.  Someone gives you a compliment and instead of accepting it, you deflect it:  "this old thing?"  "I've gained so much weight!"  "My hair is a mess!"  And then other times it's loud like a drum; you have a bad day at work, or fight with your significant other, and you feel like the world is ending and your mind can take you places... As I have had to remind myself time and time again, God has not given us a spirit of fear!  Pushing through your fears is hard sometimes, but almost always worth it!  Now, I will probably always be afraid of rodents, scary movies, big dogs and crowds, but I refuse to be afraid of Satan's negative chatter, storms and mental attacks! Why?  Because I know that God has given me something to do and moreover, the Word says that the devil is already defeated so we already have the victory!  See Colossians 2:15, and hear this song here!  

So what am I saying?  Having fears is a normal part of life, but we cannot let them cripple us, stifle us or keep us from victory and our destinies!  God has a special plan for each of us and we cannot allow fear to keep us from discovering it.  Take these scriptures with you:  "No weapon formed against me shall prosper," Isaiah 54:17;  "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me," Philippians 4:13.  Walk in victory!

What about you - what are YOU afraid of????  Holla @ Darvi and let's pray about it!  Be Blessed!!!

Growing up...

Happy Wednesday,  blog land! I hope everyone has been well. I fully intended to post last week but this lack of electronics or Internet access during the day is more than a notion!  By the time I get home, I don't want to see a computer! Plus, I was tied up every evening last week (go figure)... so please continue to pray for me; I've got a month yet to go on this project! 

I don't think I noted when I last posted that I had been up very late two days that week working on a project with the Tween that I was unaware of for her music class.  I didn't know until the teacher emailed her concerns because she thought it hadn't been worked on.  So we had to rework the project and it cost me two nights of sleep!  I'm pleased to report that my sleeplessness wasn't in vain as the Tween got an A on her music project and her extra credit work was kept as an example by the teacher.  So, as much as I wanted to send her to bed and just finish it for her the first night, I'm glad I took the extra time and let her finish it herself (with direction), even though it took an extra day.  She was very pleased and happy that I made her start over (because of the outstanding final result).  Kudos to the Tween!

The Teen received his first grades from the new school; I am pleased with his progress for the most part (he needs to bring up that Trig grade).  I am very happy that he seems to be adjusting to the new school and new instructors and catching up (they started earlier than his old school did).

This past weekend, I had the opportunity attended the homegoing services of a powerhouse woman who attended the church that I grew up at, Ambassadors For Christ, COGIC, where my grandmother served until she died and my aunt is still serving.  Walking in there was like walking into my past; I spent so much of my life there!  It was like a reunion of sorts, and save for the occasion, it would have been!  I almost expected to see my grandmother walking down the aisle at any minute; that's how powerful the memories were!

The services were in honor of Rochelle White, or "RoRo" as she was affectionately known. I of course knew her when I was a child, but as an adult, I had the opportunity to work with her on the Pastoral Expense Committee.  She was such a hard worker, always full of ideas and easy to work with.  I truly enjoyed working with her and it was one of the things I really missed when I changed my membership.  One of my first memories of Rochelle was when she first started coming to AFC and bringing her two little boys with her, Stanley and Freddie.  At that time, she didn't say too much, just sat in her seat (which continued to be her seat over the years), and corralled her boys (who had loads of energy).  As time wore on and she joined the church, I had the opportunity to watch the boys grow up (they are in my brother's age group and they are friends).  I watched them from toddler/primary years up until Stanley went away to college. When that group of young people were teens, they revamped the young people's choir (in the mid 1990s) and really found their own voice and their own place.  My brother was one of the lead singers and directors, and little Freddie was a director, drummer and was beginning to learn keyboarding.  I supported them like the proud big sister that I was. Then as time wore on, I got married and changed churches, they all began growing up themselves, getting married and having their own children.  So when I saw them all grown up on Saturday, particularly Stanley and Freddie, with their own families, I felt a burst of the pride that their mother must have felt every time she looked at them!  I marvelled that those same two little boys who used to come to church and sit with their mother were now grown up, married and parents to their own little ones who they take to church with them.  And that's not all - little Stanley is now a minister and little Freddie has his own gospel group!  I know Rochelle was proud and I am too!  So kudos to the now grown up White boys; you did your mother and all of your AFC family proud!  May God continue to bless you richly as you continue your mother's legacy of hard work for your church and instilling a solid value system in your own children!

Sunday I made it to second service at... wait for it... Victory Apostolic Church!  Pastor Singleton's sermon was on "Growing Up," which was so fitting given my experience the day before.  I will briefly touch on the things that stuck out in the message to me (The scripture text was Ephesians 4:11-16 for reference).  

• Growing up means living long enough to reach adulthood (in light of recent events in Chicago, we know that adulthood is not promised to all children);
• Grown ups accept responsibility without complaint and take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences thereof;
• Spirituality is a large part of growing up (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Hebrews 5:12-14);
• Maturity in Christ is about how you submit yourself to God every day;
• He noted the 3 Hebrew boys of the old testament and how they were spiritually mature even though they were only 17 years old (See Daniel 3);
• Being spiritually mature means making decisions for God irrespective of the outcome (which is pleasing to God);
• Pastor Singleton also spoke of defining moments: they display what you are made of - they don't make you (the opposite of what is often stated today) - they are the intersections in life and others lives' are often impacted by your decisions (sometimes years later);
• live with foresight (looking forward to weigh the consequences to make good decisions today) instead of with hindsight (looking back and wishing for do overs);
• EVERYONE has their own "trial by fire;" even Jesus (when he went into the mountains after his baptism and was tempted by the devil) - while you can't control the fire itself, you can control what you do while in it!
• And after the fire, God will take you higher (see what happened to the 3 Hebrew boys in Daniel 3:30)

What  a great sermon!  And, just what I needed as I prepare to embark on some new chapters in my own life that will require even more growing up than I already have done. After church on Sunday, I signed up for Discipleship 101, the first class in Victory's 4-year Discipleship University.  I was all proud of myself; I didn't actually read the brochure until the next day and I found out that the class is 34 weeks.  Come again????  I was almost ready to pull out!  Which brings me to the second thing - I joined the "Journey Sisters" ministry at church (orientation meeting was on Monday night), where we will have accountability partners for support and encouragement as we work towards our personal goals for the next year.  When I went to the first meeting back in September, I was in such a bad place, but felt that it was where I needed to be.  Today, I'm in a much better place (been watching God move in my life as I have become a tad more spiritually mature and learned to yield in obedience), so I was looking forward to the meeting and just sharing more with the women of Victory (I don't really know a lot of people yet).  So I'm excited about my journeys - they will lead to more growing up, I'm sure.  The third thing, well, you're just going to have to wait for that!

So to everyone that is in the midst of your trial by fire, I say to you, just hold on.  I know firsthand that it is completely unbearable at times and you feel like you can't make it or take not one more step because you are just hurting and feel as if you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.  I've been there more times than I can count, especially in the last 2 years!   But I can promise you that He is there with you, every hard step of the way, and He will send people to you to encourage you.  Some days it's like the song from the old Santa Claus is Coming to Town cartoon:  "put one foot in front of the other," (you can hear it here for a bit of nostalgia).  Sometimes all you will be able to focus on is getting through the one day, real talk.  And that's ok.  One day at a time.  Being spiritually grown up puts you in the direct line of fire, but you have to go through the fire to have your testimony. So stay encouraged!

What does growing up mean to you these days??? Holla @ Darvi and share your thoughts. Have a blessed week!