Break It

For those of you who do not know I have recently started working full time again and it just so happens to be on the weekends.

"But what about VTTN and praise and worship???"

My word I can't tell you how many times I have had to answer that question the past couple of weeks and the answer never comes easier.

But thankfully I attend a church where the Spirit is not just there on Sundays but every time His people are there. I get to love on Him just the same and get fed just as much if not more on Wednesday as I would on Sunday.

Tonight Bishop shared a word that struck me pretty deep and that I feel obligated to share. We are coming up on our church wide fast which has people asking quite a bit of questions.

"Why do we fast"

"What is the purpose of fasting"

"What can I expect to take from this experience"

Bishop about summed every one of those questions up with one verse:

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?"

Isaiah 58:6

Still not so sure what this whole fasting thing is about???

Neither was I until Bishop explained it this way.

A farmer uses two things to steer an oxen, a yoke, which is a large leather piece that is placed around the oxen's neck, and the chains or cords that attach to it. By holding on tight to the chains the farmer can control the direction he wants the oxen to go in.

It works the same in the spiritual realm. The enemy is the farmer and we are the oxen, bound by our yokes....addiction, pride, lust....and with those and the chains attached to them he controls the path that we are walking out. It may even seem as though we are going in the right direction but as long as we are bound by those things we are giving the devil full control.

Fasting does exactly what the above scripture says....if we see the whole thing through.

"To loose the chains of injustice..." As soon as we decide to fast and start on our journey the enemy realizes the direction we are heading in and drops the reigns. Our problem is that once we feel this slightest bit of freedom we decide that is all we need and stop there. What we don't realize is that we are still carrying our yokes and dragging the chains behind us and at any moment the devil can slip back in behind us and pick up the reigns again.

"To untie the cords of the yoke..." Our chains are gone and now we are free right??? Wrong. Although we don't bear the weight of the chains anymore we are still bound by our yokes and yet again all the enemy has to do is wait...wait for the moment when our minds start drifting in the wrong direction.... to simply retie those chords and regain control.

" To set the oppressed free..." There! It says it, our yokes have been removed and at last we have freedom! Wrong again. At this point it almost seems real....that we have regained control once and for all. We are dancing and shouting our hallelujahs and glory be to Gods not even realizing what the devil sees....that we have simply removed our yokes from our necks...not our lives. We also don't realize what a patient being the enemy is and that all he has to do is wait....wait for that moment that we let the gossip drip from our tongues....to ever so quietly sneak that weight we thought was gone for good back on to our shoulders.

"To break every yoke...." The moment we decide to let go of the very thing that is holding us back....the moment we refuse to let our heart or eyes wander in the wrong direction...the moment we choose to lift each other up with our words instead of murdering each other with our tongues....when we choose, with our hearts and minds, then and only then will our chains be torn and yokes be broken.

I am so sick of the enemy binding me with weight that I thought I had got rid of long ago. I am tired of finally feeling like I have regained control only for him to snatch the reigns from me yet again. And I am done watching my brothers and sisters fall victim to the same thing. We are suppose to be advancing His kingdom but how can we when our every move is being determined by satan???

 I refuse to allow any yoke, big or small, remain in my life and declare them broken! I will walk in freedom and live a life of purpose....purpose for His kingdom alone!

Will you???

Letting Our Inner Artist Out

This past Saturday a couple of my favorite ladies and I met up and headed out for a night on the town. A couple of people weren't able to make it so we all met at the church and carpooled together. We started off with a little pick me up.

Oh how I love Starbucks, and that beautiful lady up there :). Next we headed out to Dip and Dab to get our paint on. When we got there we noticed that the picture we were painting was not the one on the website and decided we would do it, just in different colors to match our home decor. The instructor did not like this. We were soon dubbed the devious group who didn't follow directions. That's ok though, because I'm pretty sure that ours were the best out of the whole class.

I hate that our group picture is blurry. Two things I learned on our outing- don't let the paint guy take your group picture, he doesn't know what he's doing- and don't ride with Ashley at night :)

Thanks for a super fun night ladies! Can't wait for the next time

I want to share a little something with you that was spoken into me not too long ago by an amazing woman of God who I hold very near to my heart. Ever since the conversation took place it has been heavy on my spirit and calls forth excellence from me and I hope that you can take something from it as well.

We are all called to praise and worship God. No matter who you are, big or small, old or young, singer or not God demands our praise.That's what we were created for anyways was to worship Him and declare His holiness. Many people misinterpret the whole concept into thinking that God needs our praises when actually He doesn't. He can call forth praises from a rock if He has to but that is not the way it was intended to be. But lets face it, there are just some days that we don't feel like worshiping, or praying, or just taking a moment to tell God thank you for everything that He has done. I know I am guilty of it, because the truth is life can get very hectic sometimes and by the end of the week you are just plain wore out. So here you come walking in on Sunday morning, dragging tail, and not in the least bit spiritually prepared to enter His presence. So we ride in on the coat tails of the people who have set the way, and by the end of the service we feel great. But come Monday we have lost it already.

This hits a little closer to home for me because I am involved with the worship team at my church. And I am ashamed to admit that there are many Sundays that I have walked into the sanctuary feeling as far away from God as it gets. Until I came up under the leaders I have now I didn't see a problem with it. I knew by halfway through the practice or at least before first service I would be good to go. But as a worshiper that is not what I was called to do. I am called to prepare the way for Bishop. Just like in the Bible when the kings sent the worshipers out in front of the army and by the time they got there the battle had been won. Whether you realize it or not, there is a spiritual battle going on around you. There is a battle going on for your community, for your schools, for your family, and for your children. So when you bring forth your praise and worship you are setting the way for the people behind you. By the time our worship team steps off the alter there should be no hindrances for our Bishop. In order to achieve this we have to have a true, authentic heart of worship.

We also need to make sure that we don't look down on others around us for their form of worship. Because the fact of the matter is there is no right or wrong way. As long as you are worshiping the One and Only that is all that matters. So to all my crazy people out there who are jumping and shouting along with me, don't be so quick to judge the ones standing in place lifting their hands. And to all you humble ones, don't be so quick to count us all crazy because you don't know what either person had to go through just to get to the place of worship that they are in now.

I challenge you to ask yourself, "which one am I"? Are you the one who is preparing the way for people behind you, or are you the one who is riding on everyone elses spiritual high?