Experiencing Power...

So Framily, I am definitely on a roll here this week!  And I am just about caught up with all that I have been wanting to share with you!!! And it feels good to be writing again - I miss it very much when I'm away too long... And wouldn't you know it?  I started feeling sick yesterday (and it continues this morning), just enough not to have finished this when I wanted to... 

I had originally decided to use the title of last Sunday's sermon for this post, but this morning when I woke up (feeling awful, I might add), I realized that it really is a question of your experience with God.  Go with me here.

"Who is God?"  was the title of this past Sunday's sermon (May 1st) and it has really stuck with me all week.  I'm sure that everyone, both believers and non-believers, has asked that question at one time or another.  I mean, we can't see Him and yet we're told that He's all around us.   

Now this one may get a little deep, but just try and stick with me as I recap the sermon and then add my own take on it all.   *following is the sermon summation from my notes taken during service except where otherwise noted.* 

Pastor Singleton started the sermon with this statement:  What you believe about God is the most important thing in your life: how you plan, live and end it.  

The text was short, Exodus 5:1-2:  

1Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’ ” 2Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

Of course this is the beginning of the section of Exodus when God told Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people go.  This was the very first time that Moses and Aaron had gone to Pharaoh, and of course, Pharaoh scoffed at their request.  It is clear that Pharaoh didn't know who God was.  (This of course happened pre-plagues and the Red Sea).  According to Pastor Singleton, there are two meanings to Pharaoh's statement in verse 2:  1) who are you talking about and 2) what makes you think I care about obeying Yahweh (one of the names of God used in the Hebrew Bible)?   

Fast forward to today and we have the same problems - people don't know who God is and they don't care about obeying Him.  There has been a domino effect in our world; not knowing God has caused our issues, and instead, "counterfeit Gods" of sex, money, politics, power, and personal success reign.  Pastor Singleton noted that while God made man in His image, today man is trying to make God in his image... meaning that because they don't know God, they make him up based on themselves (meaning that people are deciding what right and wrong is and no longer following any doctrine).

Now back to the text, Pharaoh believed God to be only the low-ranking God of slaves who couldn't do anything, so he probably thought nothing of his response.  Now Moses of course had a very human response to Pharaoh's response, see Exodus 5:22-23, "I did what you said, now the people are worse off than before."  Sidenote:  just because God tells you to do something and you're in the will of God, doesn't mean that you will immediately reap the reward; sometimes you get in more trouble at first but it starts with faith and obedience; the way may be rough, but in the end, God is faithful.  The Word goes on to say in Exodus 6:1 that God said now you will see what I will do; thus was the beginning of the battle between God and Pharaoh (and we all know how that turned out)!

Just like Israel, we serve an invisible God who is revealed by His power.  See here:

Isaiah 44:6-8New International Version (NIV)

The Lord, Not Idols

6 

“This is what the Lord says—

    Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty:

I am the first and I am the last;

    apart from me there is no God.

7 

Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.

    Let him declare and lay out before me

what has happened since I established my ancient people,

    and what is yet to come—

    yes, let them foretell what will come.

8 

Do not tremble, do not be afraid.

    Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?

You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?

    No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

He showed his power again with Elijah:

1 Kings 18:36-39New International Version (NIV)

36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be knowntoday that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

God answers by power; it is the power of God that convinces unbelievers that He is God.  Know that He has not forgotten or forsaken you; He is setting things up so that you will know that He did it.  What you are going through prepares you for the next test  (you need to pass the test and stop being set back).  Remember that power belongs to God and there is NOTHING too hard for God.  All good and perfect gifts come from above- in the old testament, God was invisible but his power from above was always visible; in the new testament, Jesus came from above (John 1:14) and God's power was manifested in the person of Jesus!  Scripture references:  John 10:36-38; Revelations 1:8.  

Great sermon, right?  So while I love the title of the sermon, I have my own question for you:  Have you seen God's power in your life???

I had the occasion on last Sunday afternoon to surprise my aunt on my father's side, Debra Wills, at her annual birthday musical that I can never attend because I always have a conflict.  I am so happy that I rearranged my schedule in order to attend; I had no idea that she had been as sick as she's been.  Amidst the joy in celebrating her birthday and all of the wonderful singing that went forth, what struck me most (and stuck with me this week) was when she took the microphone to personally thank everyone for coming out and to share a bit of her testimony with those present.  She also handed out "thank you's" to everyone and I will share a bit of what it said here:

"God has kept me in ways you would never imagine and I have come through it all 'victorious!'  I can truly say, 'My God is an Awesome God.'  Trials, tribulations, heartache, sickness, financial hardships, etc. will come.  You can make it if you fight... How do you fight?  Prayer, fasting, a righteous and saved life!  Use your weapon called "Praise;" the word says 'In everything give thanks.'  1 Thessalonians 5:18.  Praise your way through!  We are not perfect, but I encourage you to live for God and He'll cause you to LIVE and have it more abundantly.  'Don't faint, use your weapons!'  As (her pastor) Pastor Palms has taught us, you may have to go through a process but God will deliver.  Job 23:10-12.  Have faith, believe it will come to pass; you're going to outlive what you're going through."

What an awesome testimony and outlook!!! Seeing her, the effects of the physical manifestation of her sickness, and the fact that the doctors had counted her yet she's still standing?  I KNOW she has seen the power of God working in her life! She'd kill me if I posted a photo of her, so I will refrain...but how about I post a photo of her musical invitation that was posted on the screen at the church instead- that shouldn't get me in trouble!

Know that when I listened to her speak and read her written words, it confirmed what was in Pastor Singleton's sermon earlier and what God has spoken to me about things in my world. I love my relatives; I am not as close to them as I'd like to be, but I love them dearly.  More on that in another post...

One of my favorite songs in the world is "Power Belongs to God" by Hezekiah Walker and LFC.  I'm going to share it with you hear; it is a powerful, powerful song about God's power.  It's pretty old, it probably was released somewhere around 1999, but still timely.  I hope you enjoy it.

So I ask you again, Have you seen God's power in YOUR life???  If so, Holla @ Darvi and share!  As always, be blessed! xoxoxo    

P.S. - I can't get this text to line up... I need an IT person!!!

See, what had happened was...

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had an amazing week and a half!

So yeah, I know I was supposed to post two Fridays ago, but it didn't happen.  Then Monday didn't happen. Nor did Wednesday.  Thought this post would be ready for Friday, but yea, about that.  Life happened...

Actually, part of it is due to unpacking woes, part is due to adjusting to new schedules, and the rest is the peril of not pre-writing.  But I will do better, promise!

Anyway, this past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to share in the 10-year wedding anniversary celebration of my Sigma daughter (one of) and her husband.  They are such a beautiful couple and it was a joy to be a part of their celebration.  So to Mr. and Mrs. Sean Gallardo, I salute you and your story, which is a testimony of the power of love (and its longevity), and keep inspiring those young people on your youth ministry! Congratulations again!!!  

I also had the opportunity to prepare a "thank you" meal in honor of one of my childhood friends who assisted with the move (even though he had to work) on two days.  He wouldn't take any money from me for his time, but he did agree to a home cooked meal, so I prepared a Sunday Dinner in his honor:  turkey wings and dressing, collard greens and macaroni and cheese!  We all enjoyed a great time fellowshipping together (and I think I followed the conversation about fantasy football?).  Thank you again, Alan Scott, for being a true friend!

So, as often happens when I get ready to write, I had one thing in mind but I've been led to write about something else.  And as often happens, these topics are born out of things going on in my world, or inspiration (or conviction) from my pastor's sermons - this is no exception.

My church, Victory Apostolic Church in Matteson, is launching a huge two-year capital campaign to secure funds to make improvements to the church's campus. In preparation for the launch, yesterday Pastor Singleton spoke on the "The Power of Unity."  The purpose of the sermon (as I gathered it) was to begin the process of unifying the church in thought and action for this campaign.  The text came from Judges 6:1-6. So here are my notations on yesterday's sermon:

If you aren't familiar with the book of Judges, it is an Old Testament book and covers the time when Israel had no kings, only judges.  Pastor Singleton said that the theme of the book of Judges is human failure and divine grace.  I don't know about you, but that sounds like good news to me!  

At that time, the Israelites were living lawless basically, and doing whatever they wanted, which essentially amounted to living outside of God's will.  I think we all know a thing or two about that... but guess what?  While you can do whatever you want, you'll never get what you want without living in obedience to God!  (Don't you love these little nuggets my pastor puts in his sermons???)  Ouch.  See James 1:16-17:  blessings come from God above.  Because the Israelites were disobedient, God stepped back and let them suffer the consequences of their actions and allowed them to live a life without Him.  Let's just say that it wasn't pretty!  And so when it got really tough, they cried out to God and He heard them. Let's put a pin right there!  Despite their abandonment of Him, He still heard their despair and responded.  Isn't that a good thing to know?  I am a witness that even when you are disobedient to what you know is God's will, when you find yourself in trouble (whether due to your own actions or God has stepped back or He's trying to get your attention), when you cry out to Him, He will respond!

In this part of Judges, God raised Gideon to deliver the people.  So the story goes, Gideon took an army of 32,000 with him to battle the vast armies that were constantly attacking them.  God told Gideon that he had too many men.  God make him send away all of the men who were afraid.  So 22,000 left.  Say what?  Know this:  fear is an immobilizer.  If people are fearful, they won't be able to act when the heat is on.  Note that in Revelation 21:6-8 the fearful won't be in the number.  Third note - there are some people you will have to get rid of to go with God.  I'll just sit that right there... 

But God told Gideon that the 10,000 men he had left was still too many.  What the what??? So the next group to go were the stupid (I promise I didn't make that up, Pastor said that yesterday).  Don't believe him?  See for yourself:  Judges 7:4-6.  There's a whole story there about the men who lapped water like a dog (leaving themselves exposed to the enemy) as opposed to the ones who used their hands as a cup to hold the water (allowing them to be on alert while they drank).  After they were gone, Gideon was left with a whopping 300 men. If you're familiar with Gideon's story, you know that Gideon and his 300 men were victorious because of their unified faith that God would be faithful to His word and that they would be victorious!

So as I see it, we are left with two of my favorite subjects and the underlying theme of the message/passages:  faith and obedience.  So per Pastor Singleton, here it is in a nutshell:

1) you don't need to know how HE is going to do something, you just have to be comfortable that the Lord  will do it!  

2) victory starts with obedience to God!

My takeaways for the week?  Obedience to God always yields a greater reward than trying to do things your own way (sounds familiar, right?).  Faith is how you truly get to the next level.  When you are facing those giants in your life and you don't know how you will slay them, your job is to pray about it, then step back and let God handle it, knowing completely that He will.  *you can pause for a praise break now..."

What am I saying?  Same things I've been saying:  listen and be obedient to what you are being told to do and no matter what it looks like on the surface, believe that God is taking care of it.  That's it, that's all.  Easy to say, hard to do.  Work in progress...

Anyhoo, I promised that we'd talk about the cozy house but guess what?  I'm not ready yet! But I did snap a photo of the outside of the house for ya (excuse the overgrown bushes and crazy looking landscaping; I doubt those will be groomed before spring given the shift in our local weather.  Read:  IT'S COLD!)  But, here's the cozy house:

It's cute, right??? The inside is coming along; my storage challenges are immense, but I'm making it work!  Still a lot of unpacking to do, but we'll get her done!  

So until next time, have an awesome week!  Holla @ Darvi- I've missed you!  Be blessed!!!

Obedience is better than sacrifice...

So I guess you know what today is?  That's right, it's Wednesday, also known as Hump Day!  Do the Humpty-Hump, do the Humpty-Hump!   I hope the week has been kind to you; it's been a great one for me. Well, why is that?  Let me count the ways:

1) Both kids are enrolled and settled in their new schools - Amen!  The Teen was the last one, because the high school required different documentation than the middle school, go figure.  But we got him finished and settled in on Monday.  Shout out to his counselor, Mrs. Staples for being able to mirror the courses he was taking at his old school;

2) I (finally) got ALL of the internet/cable/phone issues worked out as of yesterday.  This move order turned out to be more than a notion!  Shout out to two very special technicians from AT &T who handled everything for me, including being familiar with my account and the issues BEFORE they arrived and making sure that everything was correct before they left:  Jorge and Kenneth;

3) I went downtown today for an in-person interview with a recruiter, and after a full 5 minutes (seriously, 5, no more than 7 minutes), I was selected for an upcoming project that begins Friday;

4) We are 98.5% finished with moving everything from the old house.  Yeah, I know that we started this move 3 weeks ago, but it has been slow going because we weren't completely ready (clearly) and we really only had about a week and a half to prepare for it on top of everyday schedules and no professional movers this time.  So this move has been one for the record books!  But, it is almost over!!! Now, to figure out where all of this stuff is going...; 

5) I was able to touch base with an old friend that I haven't seen or spoken with in at least 20 years on last night (we just lost touch).  That was kinda neat! 

6) I ordered my first ever December Daily kit; and

7) I have peace and joy in my world!

And not just for me, prayers for my friends have been manifested as well:

1) a friend from college who has had to undergo two hip-replacement surgeries following an accident last year is recovering nicely after both successful surgeries, still praying for you, Torry!

2) my friend who was diagnosed with cancer almost 2 years ago finished her last cycle of chemo today.  Way to go, Lisa!

3) my friend, my sister, my buddy Pam started her first full week of work on Monday!  Woo-hoo!!!

Isn't that awesome???  I think so.  I'm sure you are scratching your head and trying to figure out how this ties in with the topic for today.  And as usual, I'm glad you asked!

The times up until now have been the best of times and the worst of times (meaning the past few years). They were filled with lots of good things.  But they were also characterized by tremendous valleys and insurmountable chasms!  It has been exhausting, frankly.  There have been so many times that I just couldn't fathom why things were going so horribly wrong... 

But, I'm still here.  I've always subscribed to the theory that God hasn't brought me this far to leave me.  It's what comforted and sustained me through college, through law school, through divorce and other just bad times during my life.  But this time it didn't seem to be true, I thought He had left me this time because this time has been so very different.  

You see, this is the first time in my life I have ever endured a continuous assault; it began in December 2012 and I'm still not free of attack yet.  I mean, I prayed, I cried, I prayed some more, I cried some more, I had low-lows, I screamed, I withdrew, I shut down, I bargained, I begged and I've pleaded.  But, nothing.  Until I took action...

Remember about 6 weeks ago I wrote about being able to "hear?" This year I realized that there was so much noise going on in my life:  stuff, events, people, personal commitments and just all around busyness that I couldn't hear.  So I started clearing out the junk so I could hear.  It has definitely been a process this year, and I've lost some "friends" and other associations along the way, but it's ok, I understand that everybody can't go where I'm going.  So I'm good.  I won't lie and say that the backlash hasn't hurt, but I'm ok. That was all part of obedience.  I can hear again and I'm listening.  Listening allows me to be obedient and so I've been doing that as well, even when I don't understand it... That's the most important thing at the moment.  

Let me break it down.  There were these two huge, huge things in my world that have frankly been sucking the life out of me!  And I was giving them so much time and energy that I rarely had time for much else. And I don't mean to say that they weren't good things, in moderation, but they had taken over my life.  One of them was the thing I referred to in that prior post and I can truly say that He made things so uncomfortable for me with that situation that I had no choice but to move my feet and get far away.  I even tried to negotiate away from what He said and let's just say that it's not happening.  Full obedience... The second thing is something that I felt convicted about, but had no means to fix it.  But you know what?  Once I expressed the desire to be obedient and to have it changed, it happened. Just like that.  Now, I was not expecting it to happen so quickly or in the manner that it did, and I was blindsided just a tad, but you know what?  It has all worked out in my favor and for my good.  In letting those two situations go and allowing Him to take care of them, I exercised obedience and have regained peace and a lightness that I haven't experienced in a few years! The other thing I gained is manifestation of what happens when we trust Him.  The lesson?  He has this, so stop worrying and just do what you're told!  Now of course that doesn't mean that everything is peachy keen, of course not!  But, I'm learning not to question and to just move when He says move, no matter what the circumstance and what it looks like on the surface.  

So all of that to say this:  stop fighting what you are being told to do.  Be obedient.  Move ya feet!

I promise you that what is on the other side of obedience is better than whatever it is that you are holding onto!

So how about it - anyone else like me (translation:  a work in progress) on this faith walk thing and learning to be obedient???? Holla @ Darvi!  Be blessed...

P.S. - Friday we will start talking about the transformation of the cozy house - can't wait!!!