"About Patience and Prayer"

In the last few months Christ has taught me the importance of prayer, and in prayer He reminds me about having patience in His plan for me. Both things are valuable topics to write about, because without them life could not be successful. Prayer is our power source to God that gives us direction, and energy to move forward with His plan for us. Patience is a way for us to submit ourselves to His will, and it keeps our priorities a lined with His plan. Living His plan is how believers can be successful, and that is how come prayer and patience are valuable topics to be taught by Christ.

Christ not only said His prayers, but He lived His prayer life. That is why Christ is the greatest example to follow on how to pray, and it is not just memorizing the Lord's prayer. Living a life of prayer like Christ takes discipling, dedication, and desire to follow Christ's plan with your entire heart. All of that is expressed with wanting to pray daily, and it is not to do that to get what we want. We should pray daily to know what the Father wants of us, and that takes patience.

To me patience is keeping your thoughts, and body still. That is where you cut things from what you desire, and you listen to the silence. In that you are waiting to hear what God wants to tell you. That to me is a part of patience.

"Alone Time With God"

“Alone Time With God”

My alone time with God has become my favorite part of the day, and I can have my alone time with God anywhere. My favorite places that I like to use for my alone time with God are my apartment, and the prayer room at Thomas Road Baptist Church. It is not so much the places that my make my alone time with God as my favorite part of the day, but what makes my alone time with my God as my favorite part of the day is God revealing Himself to me. While He is revealing Himself to me He is also revealing myself to me, which gives me an open mind about myself. 

God daily reveals that I am unworthy to be in front of Him, and that is why He had to sacrifice His son for me. That is His grace towards me, and without it I am nothing. God’s revelation of myself by Him brings me to His place of solitude that breaks my heart, and opens my mind to learn about Him in what He wants from me. God’s solitude gives me understanding of Him, so that I am clear in what He wants from me. 

In Mark 4:34 it records Jesus time with His disciples, and it states that Jesus would expound on all things to His disciples when they were alone. Jesus expounding on all things gave His disciples understanding, that would be later use by them in the Great Commission. 

As believers in Christ our alone time with God should be a favorite part of the day, and we should guard it the way a bear guards its cubs. We should not let other things interfere with our alone time with God, and while doing our alone time with God we should give Him the same attention that Mary gave Jesus. Alone time with God gives us a reality check of ourselves, and a reality check of our relationship with Him. That is what we need daily, and without our reality check of ourselves with God we become two things. We either become prideful, and later on we become weak. We become prideful, because we do not need God. For we our contempt in where we are at, and become conceited with ourselves. Than something bad happens out of the bloom, and we panic like weaklings. Instead of standing up in the storm in God’s hand, we crumble like the house that was built on sand. Our alone time with God should be asking Him for His strength, but it should be more to it than that.

In our alone time with God we should be looking for His guidance for ministry opportunities, because ministry to others is our calling from God. It is our command in the Great Commission, and that is something to be obeyed by all believers that claim to follow Jesus. 

God revealing our relationship with Him, asking for His strength, and asking Him for understanding for ministry unto others are reasons why it is important for believers to have alone time with God on a daily basis. 

"Value of Rest"

 On the seventh day God rested from all of His work He did into His creation, and His Son Jesus did not always work while He was on earth. He got away from ministering to others by spending time with His Father in prayer, or He relaxed with people close to Him like His family, and disciples. Christ knew that His body needed rest, because it was the house of His Spirit. If His body did not get enough rest, than His Spirit would be weary. In the last three weeks Christ has taught that rest is very valuable, because it allows the Spirit to be re-energized.

Before Christmas break I was planning to go on a mission trip to Alabama, but I did not spend enough time in asking God to see if He wanted me to go like I should have. I was going to Alabama for the right reasons, but that did not give me any peace about going to Alabama. Because of that I decided not to go, and I am glad that I did not go. I instead used my Christmas time to rest, and relax with my family. That time of rest allow my spirit to be re-energize, because it was weary before Christmas time from ministering to others. God knew that I needed time away from ministering others, so He can minister to me. During my rest time God restored my spirit with His word, my family and friends, and physical training. Those things restored my Spirit, and Christ showed me the value of rest.

Christ does not expect His followers to be like Energize bunnies to where we keep going without rest, because He did not do that. Christ got away from His ministry to spend time with His Father to allow His Father to minister to Him, and also to enjoy life with others. Christ expects His followers to do the same, because He wants us to enjoy what He gave us with His creation. On the seventh day God rested, and there was joy in His heart when He saw all that He created. God expects us also to enjoy what He created, and to enjoy what God created is another added value to rest.

"God Goes Where He Wants To Go"

Scott Hall was a famous wrestler, who played a character named Razor Ramon. Razor Ramon was a character that was based on a movie character that Al Pacino played in the movie “Scarface”, and it was a Cuban exile that came to Miami, FA. Like Al Pacino’s character in “Scarface”, Razor Ramon was ambitious, and He wanted everything in the world. Razor Ramon also had this attitude in that he believes He can go wherever He wants, and there was no one that could stop him. God’s message is like that in where it can go anywhere God wants it to go, and there is nothing that can stop it from doing so. 

Examples of God’s message going where it wants to go can be seen in the NFL, and UFC. The NFL, and UFC are popular sports programs that are watched by millions of people throughout the world. In the NFL God’s message is being deliver through the Denver Broncos starting quarterback Tim Tebow, and in the UFC God’s message is being deliver through UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. These two athletes, and men of God have a platform to deliver God’s message to millions of people throughout the world. These millions of people watching Tim Tebow, and Jon Jones compete have an opportunity to be exposed of Christ’s Gospel. In God’s word it states that it will not return void, so people cannot have excuse of not hearing God’s message. 

Ever since Tim Tebow took over the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos in week 7 of this season, they have record of 7-1 that gives them an overall record of 8-5 that puts them in 1st place of their division to give them a good chance of making the playoffs for the first time in a while. All of Tim Tebow’s 7 wins have come from behind, and it has created a lot of media attention on him. Through that he is able to share God’s message of His Son Jesus Christ, and what He did for the entire world. God’s message is being deliver on major media outlets like FOX, CBS, ABC, NBC, ESPN, so God is reaching out to the lost through Tim Tebow. God’s message goes where He wants it to go, and there is nothing that can stop it from doing so. 

Jon Jones is a former collegiate wrestler at Iowa Central Community, that has become the 2nd best mix martial artist in the world. He has accomplish that in 3 years, and throughout the time he has won the UFC light heavyweight championship belt with a record of 12-1 at the time of him getting his first title shot at age of 23. At his first title shot he defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the 3rd round with TKO to become the youngest ever to win the UFC light heavyweight championship, and since than he has defended his title twice against former UFC light heavyweight champions. For 2011 Jon Jones has fought 4 times against fighters who are in the top 10 to top 5 of the light heavyweight division, and he went undefeated to have a year that is consider to be the greatest year a fighter has ever had. God’s deliver his message through Jon Jones by him sharing his faith whenever he wins a fight, and Jon Jones has a tattoo on his chest with “Philippians 4:13 on it. Jones use that as a reference point to share his faith with millions around the world watching it, and in his last title defense this past weekend he mention Jesus Christ in his interview in the octagon after he submitted another former light heavyweight champion. And on his fighting trunks he had the scripture of Philippians 4:13 around his waist in the front, and back of it. Through Jon Jones God is sharing His message of what His son is doing in the octagon in front 18,000 that were in attendance, and a million others that watched it on PPV got to hear it. God’s message can go where it wants to go, and there is nothing that can stop it. 

Matthew 24:15

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

"Importance of Prayer"

“Importance of Prayer”

In the last three weeks of being in this bus ministry God has again been teaching me the importance of prayer, because it abides us in Christ to continue bear good fruit. Prayer is the continue power source for ministry, and that is what allows ministries to be dynamic. Without fire dynamite is useless, and church without prayer is useless. One of my favorite statements of Dr Jerry Falwell is “nothing of eternal consequences is apart from prayer”, and that prayers mean more than just have things for ministry.

As believers in Christ we should be praying for the lost, because reaching out to the lost is what Christ called all of us to do. Reaching the lost begins with prayer, and in Luke 9:62 Christ says, “No one, having put his hand to the plow( that is PRAYER) , and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”Praying for the lost to reach out to them is why prayer is important, because without prayer we have no power reaching out to them. It is not by our power that we reach the lost, but it is the power of Christ. Prayer is how we stay connected to the power of Christ, and He is the fire that makes ministry dynamic to reach the lost. Ministry without prayer is like dynamite without fire, but ministry that’s connected to Christ through prayer will have fire to explode to reach the lost. With His power through a prayer a ministry can do anything, but without it a ministry is incapable like the disciples that could not take the mute spirit from the man’s son. He had to bring his muted son to Christ for it to be removed, and Christ’s disciples asked Him privately in why they cannot do it. Christ response to them is found in Mark 9:29 that He says to them-”This kind can come out by nothing but PRAYER and fasting.” To reach the lost it starts with prayer, and that is why prayer is so important. 

Christ’s plan for His followers is to reach the lost, and it starts in prayer to continue to abide in Him to have His power to reach the lost. That is why prayer is so important, and there is no better example on how to pray than Christ Himself.

"How We Are Suppose to Love others like Christ"

One of the things again that Christ is teaching about loving others like Him, and He defined love through His words, and action. Christ' love is unconditional, and our love should be like that. That's why instructions on how to love others with word, and action like Him is in His word for us to do when we are in relationship with others. The way were suppose love in words, or in communication is found James 1:19. The way we are suppose to love in action is found 1 Corinthians 13.

Love in Communication, James 1:19 ( KJV)
In James 1:19 James writes to church in Jerusalem stating "Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. Swift to hear means that we need to listen, and there are 4 ways for that. They are observation with eyes, and ears. When people speak we need to listen with our eyes as well as with our ears. Next way we are suppose to listen is to concentrate to think about a person is saying to us, and third one is to be considerate. That is to understand to what their words are meaning, and fourth one is clarification into think through in what they are saying( Adrian Roger's sermon of "Dealing with Conflict). Slow to speak, and slow to wrath are related in our actions. God's love needs to be in our hearts to have the right actions in love the same way Christ did.

Love in Action, 1 Corinthians 13 (KJV)
Love in communication, and love in action like Christ are the power of all ministries. Paul opens verse 1 stating that without love that your ministry of speaking tongues will be nothing, but a loud sounding brass. In verse 2 he goes onto state that if you the gift of prophecy, and faith without love, than you are nothing. Christ's unconditional love is the reason why He humble himself by becoming man that was born in a filthy manager to be the sacrificial lamb that was to die for our sins, and God loved us unconditionally to send His Son to the cross while we were still sinners. So God's unconditional love towards us is how we are to love Him, and one another. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul tells what God's love by describing its characteristics.
Love's characteristics are-
Love suffers long
Love is kind
Love does not envy, vaunt itself, nor does it puff itself up
Love does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoke, and does not think evil
Love endure all things, bears all things, believes all things, and has hope in all things
LOVE NEVER FAILS
To abide in God's love is greater than abiding in faith, and hope. Our love for God is what drives our worship, and we will be doing that in His eternal kingdom. In there we will not need our spiritual gifts, so we will not be having them.
The characteristics of love should be the action of our love, and we should continue to learn how to communicate it with others that we love.

"Importance of Balance"

My first blog in this series I started was about what Christ was teaching me in the last 5 months, and has led me to His bus stop ministry. Whenever there is something new in ones life it brings excitement, and with that people start sprinting. That's good, but life's journey equals a marathon. If a person just sprinted through the marathon, than they would get burned out. In order to finish the marathon with success, than a person needs to learn how to how to pace themselves. In ministry that means balance, and that is what Christ has been teaching me in the last week.

When I started doing the bus stop ministry I was so excited, that I wanted to do it 5 days a week. Well after two weeks I notice I was a bit tired when I went out there, and last time I only preached for less than 10 minutes. Prior to that I did spend time with the Lord, prayed He give me strength, and the words to say. When I got there I was still tired, than I quickly to talk to God in asking Him to speak through me. He did, and him speaking through us is not about the length. It is about His message that's composed of His word, love, and truth. In those 10 minutes He did that, and two days after that He has taught me the importance of balance.

Christ and His disciples did not witness every day in Christ's 3 years of ministry, because they would have worn themselves in not being effective.While Christ was God in the flesh His body was bound to the physical laws in where He was hungry, tired, so He needed rest just like anybody else would. In the Bible it states Christ got away from crowds to pray to His Father, and he also got away from the crowds with His disciples. That show's Christ being relational with His disciples to train them in His doctrine to be used after He ascended into heaven. Just like Christ, and His disciples we need balance.

To keep our priorities aligned with God's plan, and having Him be the head of it is challenging to do, which is why it's important for us to guard our time with Him daily. It's also important to use the time of rest with fellowship of other believers to spend time in the word together, prayer, and just having fun with each other. Christ never meant flowing Him to be borrowing, and He wants us to enjoy in what He gave us in His creation, love for Him, and love for one another.

Other things to help us keep our life in balance is being physically active with our body, because it helps us by giving us more energy. It also helps relieve any stress, its good for the mind, and for the spirit. Paul states that our body is the temple of our Holy Spirit, and one of the places we do not want to go to recover is the hospital. With our time with God, fellowship with other believers, exercising to balance things, it is also important to eat right. It is also good to eat things we enjoy, when we are consistent with good eating habits.

When life is imbalance, than eventually it will affect your ministry, so it is important to have balance.