2025 THE SEASON OF GRACE

A SEASON OF DOUBLE GRACE

(GRACE UPON GRACE) IN 2025

“For out of His fullness (superabundance) we have all

received [all had a share of and we were all supplied with ]

one grace after another [grace] and spiritual blessing upon

 spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped]

upon gift.” 1 John 1:16 (AMP)

It is 2025 and those of us who have been graced to enter this new year, those of us who remain can safely say GLORY HALLELUJAH, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, I AM ALIVE. HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE MERCY OF GOD I WOULD HAVE BEEN CONSUMED ALREADY. So many didn’t make it. Right up to the very last day and minute of 2024, many exited and didn’t see this year. I feel privileged. So should you. We have been given another great opportunity to clean up our lives, correct those things and areas that need correcting, and complete the unfinished tasks we are encumbered with.

            So the question we should all ask ourselves even as we rejoice and thank God for sparing our lives, is “Why Me?” When I ask myself that question all I can fathom is that God is not finished with me yet and He is gracing me to complete the assignments He has entrusted to me. Are you thinking the same thing? Is this your answer to your question? This is a great time to reflect, ponder and meditate on our lives going forward.

            This new year of 2025 is where we must each live a purpose driven life, that is designed and orchestrated by Jesus Christ Himself. We are not a people who have no hope but are led by the Holy Spirit of God who guides, instructs and leads us in the way we should go.

The Lord has given the shepherd of the house, Family of Faith Ministries, Pastor Exzabia Dukes, the mandate for 2025:

STRIVE 2 THRIVE

This mandate is founded and established on John 1:16 (AMP) as cited above. When I heard that word I just knew everything was going to be alright in 2025 because the God we service has reminded us that He has equipped and empowered us to THRIVE in 2025. This is a purpose-driven effort. So we pursue this new year with purpose, confidence, boldness, and the assurance that we are ready and able to complete the unfinished tasks of 2024 while embarking on new ventures of 2025.

            The text tells us that Jesus out of His fulness [superabundance] has imputed in us a share of His fulness, grace after another grace which speaks of multiple graces of Christ to do, to accomplish, and dominate in our lives. Then we are endowed with spiritual blessings upon spiritual blessings, the favor of God and man doubly, and most of all gifts heaped upon gifts. Do you realize that we are multifaceted, multi-gifted, multi-talented?

            Everyone needs to read that text over and over again and assimilate it into their hearts, minds, and spirits. So often we are inspired by the Holy Spirit to do so many things but we question our intuitions, we listen to others question our multiple gifts, but here it is, Jesus Christ has given us gifts heaped upon gifts which explains our passion for so many different things. Many times we allow loved ones, friends, and well-meaning people in our lives to restrict us and confine us to a box of one thing (stay in your lane, when you may have many lanes), for God has given us gifts heaped upon gifts to enrich our lives and shine for His Glory. God has endowed us well.

            This is why Jesus said, “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” John 10:10 KJV). Better said, “… I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows” AMP. It is the will, wish, and plan of God for us to live full accomplished lives. To STRIVE to accomplish and succeed. Even for those of us who have passed our prime years, God has a word for us when He said:

¹² The righteous will flourish like the date palm [long-lived, upright and useful];
They will grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic and stable].
¹³ Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ [Growing in grace] they will still thrive and bear fruit and prosper in old age;
They will flourish and be ^[a]vital and fresh [rich in trust and love and contentment]; (Psalm 92 AMP).

            Surely, we are not a people who do not know what to do or where to go in 2025. Abba our Father has spoken and the house of Family of Faith Ministries is guided by this Word which is our mandate into all of this new year. Let us rejoice for Jesus Christ our Helper is here, and we can do all things through his superabundant grace.

            You may have slipped, fallen, or even slept in 2024, but we are reminded to

¹⁸ Remember not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

¹⁹ Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43 KJV).

let us STRIVE 2 THRIVE IN 2025 for the table has already been set before us.

Blessings!

Philippians 4:19

Having an encounter with God through Jesus Christ will transform our lives. Whatever the basis for the encounter, whether it be salvation, healing, deliverance, confusion, or a breakthrough, it will be transformative. It is a personal experience with God that completely alters our situation or condition joyfully or painfully.

These personal experiences of encounter occur in numerous forms, such as:

• A sudden vision: Saul who was later renamed Paul had a sudden encounter with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus bent on imprisoning, killing, and terrorizing the believers of Jesus Christ (Acts 9:3). He was a very religious man who held fast to the laws of Moses and the forefathers, and although the Old Testament prophesied about the coming of the Messiah, he did not understand it and therefore didn’t seem to have received the memo that the Massiah had actually come. He was sincerely wrong in his belief, but he had an encounter with Jesus and he was transformed.

Transformed from a hater of the name of Jesus, a threat to the body of Christ, a cruel and vicious man to a man who not only came to love Jesus Christ but all those who love Christ, so much so that he spent his entire life teaching about the love and mystery of Jesus Christ. He was so transformed that his name had to be changed from Saul to Paul. The Hebrew name Saul means “desired” and its Greek meaning for the word Saulos means “prancing.” Prancing has an arrogant, egotistical, self-opinionated tone to it. Likewise desired, signaling confidence and self-importance.  The name Paul, which is Roman means “little.” In assuming the name Paul, he humbled himself to present Jesus as greater, seeing himself as smaller. It could also be that recognizing his inner transformation with this divine encounter with his Lord, he didn’t want to be associated with the ugliness the name Saul represented. The church which once feared him, now revered him.

• A Quiet Moment of Connection: The woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:2534) had been suffering for twelve years when in her extremities where she had spent all that she had and just didn’t know where to turn came upon a gathering with Jesus. Like so many of us I can imagine her saying to herself, ‘What do I have to lose? I have already lost everything. So she said to herself, “If I would but touch the hem of His garment, I will be made whole.” She then pressed through the crowd until she touched Him and she was healed immediately. Jesus recognized that touch amidst all the other touches he was getting from the crowd that was trying to be as close to Him as possible. He recognized that intentional and purposeful touch that demanded something from Him. It was a touch of need for healing that only He could give and she received it and was made whole in a quiet moment of connection.

• During Ordinary Moments: During ordinary moments like doing the dishes or jogging. I can recall one of those ordinary moments one evening while sweeping when suddenly the Lord told me to call one of my sons and tell him to “stop doing what he was about to do.” So I leaned the broom against the wall and I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed him and I told him what the Lord had told me. I didn’t tell him that the Lord had told me, but I gave him the instruction to stop doing whatever he was into and about to do. He responded with a burst of loud laughter and asked me if I was psychic. I told him no I am not psychic but the Holy Spirit had just told me to tell him to stop. Years later he told me that he did cancel what he was about to do but wouldn’t tell me what it was and I didn’t ask. LOL.

Encounters with Jesus can lead to repentance and conversion, deliverance as in the many cases of demon-possessed persons being delivered in the bible; boldness and a desire to share God’s love; joy and happiness from a life of sadness and depression; secure and confidence in the place of once being insecure and self-incriminating; filled with empathy and humane whereas you were once brash and cruel.

Tanika Marie writes, that having an encounter with God is much deeper than a tangible feeling or emotion. To encounter God is to have your inner Spirit refined and redirected in such a way that completely changes your life. To encounter God is to be welcomed into His all-consuming presence. To encounter God is to discover who you were made to be and who He has always seen you as. Your identity begins to mirror that of Jesus and all He provides for you through His sacrifice, resurrection, and love. Hence one’s encounter with Jesus Christ can be both tangible and/or intangible depending on the purpose of the visitation from God in the moment.

Tamika shares 7 Things That Can Happen After An Encounter With God.

1. Encountering God repositions you on the straight path. The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you” Psalm 32:8 NLT.
2. Encountering God heals the inner parts of your heart. Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28 NLT.
3. Encountering God changes the trajectory of your family and those close to you. “But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord” Joshua 24:15 NLT.
4. Encountering God makes you to be a great Ambassador for Christ. “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the scriptures say, how beautiful and the feet of messengers who bring good news” Romans 16:14-15 NLT.
5. Encountering God strengthens and affirms the power in you to no longer struggle with sin. “Anyone who continues to live in Him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know Him or understand who He is. Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this; when people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous” 1 John 3:6-7.
6. Encountering God ushers in a great desire to build the Kingdom of God. “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the frit that abounds to your account. Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, and acceptable sacrifice, will pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:17-19.
7. Encountering God establishes a deep hunger for His presence and glory to exist, in every area of your life. “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you” Psalms 63:1

As we exit 2024 and welcome 2025 let us seek to have encounters with Jesus that will enrich our lives and make us more of who and what God wants us to be. It is all in the process of perfecting His creation that God seeks to visit our lives in such tangible and intangible ways. Let us become seekers of God. May we find ourselves in such pursuit of God that our transformation will not only please God but those with whom we come into contact with and associate with. Remember, an encounter with God will change us and our situations forever. Blessings!

“For God is not the author of confusion,

but of peace, as in all churches of the

saints” (1 Corinthians 14:33).

Christian unity is designed to be a state of love, harmony, and oneness among Christians that is based on shared beliefs, values, and purpose. Christian Unity evolves from the only foundation Jesus Christ. It is a deep spiritual connection that reflects the relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And so, with this understanding, every believer of the Christian faith, irrespective of denomination (which was never created by God), must be able to see the oneness in and among us.

Let us take a short journey through the writings of the Apostle Paul who actually grasped this concept of Christian Unity and went to much pains to explain it to the church. We must understand that the Apostle Paul, unlike the other disciples, was not present during the three years Jesus was in ministry, but he found it necessary to get to know Jesus in a very personal way. His pursuit of the mystery of Jesus Christ coined the new faith He brought to the world giving us an understanding of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. For here we see a spiritual growth unmatched as he sets out on a spiritual journey to enlighten everyone who believes, that we are all one and must therefore live in Unity.

It would appear that the church at Corinth struggled with walking in unity among the diversity of believers who were beginning to follow Christ, for we see he dealt extensively with this in Corinthians more than any other church. Here are some of Paul’s writings: “We being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread 1 Corinthians 10:17KJV, (that bread being Jesus who tells us that He is the Bread of Life (John 6:33, 35 AMP). For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ 1 Corinthians 12:12. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit (vs. 13). [For] God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him (vs. 18). That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another (vs. 25). There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of our calling Ephesians 4:4. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful Colossians 3:15. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone, members one of another Romans 12:4-5. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

As believers, we are encouraged to be mindful that we are one and there is only one overarching commission that propels us all and it is found in Matthew 28:19-20 which tells us all, not a sector, not the Jews, not the Gentiles but openly to all believers, ¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

The Importance of Christian Unity

Christian Unity is much deeper than simply getting along and matters immensely so that the world will see and know that we are all followers of Christ, one Lord and Redeemer. It is important because it glorifies God, it shows what God is like and it participates in God’s divine life as three-in-one, and it will require believers to be humble, gentle, patient, forbearing, walking in the fruits of the Spirit of God. The apostle Paul commands us in Philippians 2:2 to “be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord.”

Looking into John Chapter 17, we can see the depth of Jesus’ care for there to be unity among us. Jesus demonstrated His deep passion and desire for His followers to be one that is even more powerful than the church being at unity as a witness to the world. Jesus wants us to get along with each other, but to a greater measure that we get along in God. Isn’t that something? He wants us to get along in truth. So the lies and misconceptions that separate us have to go.

This Powerful Prayer of Jesus For Unity among God and The Church:

²¹ That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

²² And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

²³ I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

As the body of Christ, we have been adopted into the family, united to Christ, and therefore united to God the Father. Why then is it so difficult for the believers in Christ to walk in unity? Why is it so difficult for us to rise above our denominations, culture, race, and ideology in the body of Christ? Clearly, any schism in the body of Christ does not bring glory to God. According to Jon Bloom in Why Is Christian Unity So Hard?, “this lack of unity is often derived from countless factors such as “heavy spiritual assault (Ephesians 6:12), infiltrated by wolves in sheep’s clothing (Acts 20:29), plagued by rivalries, dissensions, divisions” stirred up by unbelievers who think they’re Christians (Galatians 5:19–21), trying to tempt immature believers to engage in partisan quarrels (1 Corinthians 3:1–4),”  and very often the lack of commitment to the body, etc.

It is only as the believer; the church intentionally pursues spiritual unity that they begin to grow and vice versa. It is in their Spiritual Growth that they are able to lay all encumbrances aside, the fleshly demands, and are able to embrace and enjoy Spiritual Unity.

Jon Bloom claims that achieving Christian Unity is hard and hasn’t been promised to be easy in the Bible. In his point of view, he sees that since the New Testament records so many Christians struggling and failing to be unified, it should signal to us that unity is anything but easy. To justify his position, he cited a few incidents from Paul’s writings where he,

• He reproves the Corinthians for their “quarreling” and “divisions” (1 Corinthians 1:10–11).
• He warns the Galatians against the dangers of “rivalries, dissensions, divisions” (Galatians 5:20).
• He entreats “Euodia and . . . Syntyche [in Philippi] to agree in the Lord” and pleads with others to intervene (Philippians 4:2).
• He instructs the Colossians, “Forgive each other as the Lord has forgiven you” (Colossians 3:13).
• And he exhorts the Ephesians not to indulge in “corrupting talk” so as to “not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,” and to put away “all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander . . . along with all malice” (Ephesians 4:29–31).

It is difficult and will be an ongoing pursuit as the church matures in its oneness of Christ and understands the connectivity between Christ and the Church. Understand that the church is one wherever it is, accountable to one Jesus, and that Unity among us is His will Jesus the Christ, who is its Head. In all of our distinctiveness as members of the body of Christ, we must reflect and portray something of the oneness in the nature of God among each other and in the world.

Blessings.

There is hardly anyone who has never heard or read Psalms 23. It is the Psalm we continuously run to or pull on when we are in fear, lack, confusion, or illness. It is that Psalm that stands like an arch over our lives. It is the first Psalm we teach our babies when they start to speak. What is it about this Psalm that compels us to call upon it in that time of trouble? What is so compelling about this Psalm is that we not only want to read it but to also know it by heart. It is the first Psalm that we learn by head and heart. This is a powerful Psalm that reveals to us the true relationship between us the believer and our Savior, the church comprising the Head (Jesus Christ) and His Body (the believers).

It is so important that as we remember the birth of Jesus Christ and we go through life in our preparation for this season we set aside time to celebrate His birth, that we remember that Jesus is our Shepherd. He is our protector, our shelter, our guide, and our provider. He will cover us and shelter us through whatever storm we may encounter. Even as we remember and celebrate His birth let us remember foremost that this was the birth of our Shepherd and even though He has ascended into His Heavenly place and glory, He remains our Shepherd at the right hand of the Father. He is interceding for us, defending us before the Father, and strengthening us when we feel spent in what we do. He is lifting up our heads when we feel cast down, being our bright and morning star, putting that light in our eyes, spring in our steps, and comforting us along the way that everything is going to be all right, as sore as it is, because He remains our Shepherd and is right alongside us carrying us through it all.

We encourage you during this season to hold fast to your Sheperd for He will help you to grow in those areas of your life where you are weak and challenged. whether it's with your job or business, home and marriage, finances, your personality, and the way you respond to adverse situations and attacks. Whatever and wherever you are in Christ right now, Jesus the Good Shepherd can and will help you to grow spiritually so that you can be like Him. When He asked us to be holy as He is holy, it was because He knew we couldn’t do it and be it, all by ourselves.  He has assigned Himself that job to teach and nurture us into that holy walk and wants us to rely on Him, look to Him for the know-how and the wisdom in how to walk and live holy. Some say we cannot be holy in this corrupted world, but I beg to disagree. You see the holiness Christ our Shepherd expects of us is not His holiness because He is God and none can be holy as God, but there is a level and standard of holiness he expects of us frail humanity, and which He offers to impute in us because we can be holy only through Him. We cannot wash ourselves clean enough to be holy as He desires of us. This means that we have to hold fast to our Shepherd as the sheep does.

We cannot grow spiritually outside of Christ because we were all born in sin and shaped in iniquity but through our salvation, we have become new persons in Christ our Shepherd, and He has now become the Shepherd to guide us in this newness of life. He who is holy and righteous knows the ins and outs of being faithful and true to the Heavenly Father because He was faithful and true in doing the will of the Father when  He left the splendor of heaven and came and died being that ultimate sacrifice for us. He will not leave us in the struggle to be right before our Heavenly Father. When we are going through pain and suffering that we do not want to go through but have to, He the Good Shepherd will be there to take us through it because He knows firsthand what it feels like.

Jesus was preparing to go to the cross, He knew the depth of the suffering He must go through and so he went aside to talk to the Father about it and He said, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death:”… and on his face, he prayed “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” This Shepherd knows what it feels like to go through devastating agony but stayed focused on the big picture, focused on the call on His life and He is qualified to guide us through every pain and challenge we may be facing right now that we don’t want to be a part of. We can grow spiritually only as we cling to Jesus our Shepherd.

We must know who He is so that we may follow Him blindly, effortlessly and uncompromisingly as a sheep does. They do not engage their own ideas and sense of importance without the counsel and guidance of the Shepherd. If the shepherd raises his staff and points in a direction, the sheep never stops and questions, ‘Are you sure?’ or ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’ They sheepishly run in the direction given to them trustingly knowing that He knows what he is doing and he is looking out for their good.

I’m reminded of the apostle Peter, a fisherman by profession, after toiling all night and catching no fish, was washing his net when Jesus came along and told him to cast his net into the deep. He was probably discouraged at the moment with no catch to take to market, but he obediently responded, “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word, I will let down the net” (Luke 5:4-7). That NEVERTHELESS did the work. That nevertheless, he threw out all his experience and knowledge of fishing and replaced them with the directive from Jesus. The sheep are confident in their shepherd’s ability to provide for them, and protect them from the wolves and bears, even when they aimlessly fall into a pit, they are confident that he will search and find them and get them out of their predicament. This is the confidence we as believers and the flock of Jesus Christ must have in our Good Shepherd.

In this season I encourage us to be greater followers of Jesus, our Shepherd. Let us seek a deeper walk with Him even as we celebrate with family and friends. Let those around us see what the true meaning of Christmas is. It is about the celebration of the birth of our Shepherd, their Shepherd who is with us and in us.

Blessings!

            As we continue to delve into the teachings of Growing in 2024, it is important that as the body of Christ, we grow spiritually in the things of Jesus Christ even as we grow naturally. The Apostle Paul in the book of Ephesians chapter 4 gives us a detailed outlook on what Growing spiritually entails. As we look into this epistle, we see that he emphasized two important areas of growth. First, that the believers live a lifestyle of Jesus Christ both physically and spiritually. This is so critical to our identification with Christ as many believers can be seen and heard in a lifestyle that does not line up with the fruits of the spirit of Christ. Spiritually they would be deeply engaged in worship and speaking the word of God but have little control if provoked or displeased. The Apostle Paul beseeches us to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love (vs. 1-2). As a believer, we must grow both inwardly and outwardly. In other words our inward growth must be reflected on our outward living. It is our outward living that becomes an open book to our world as the light and salt of the world.

            Secondly, he focused on the relationship among believers. He says we must endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (vs.3).” Why? Because as believers we belong to “one body, and one Spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism.  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all (vs 4-6).” Paul is making clear to us that as believers of Jesus Christ, we are members of one body. We are a family with one Father, one Spirit with one hope. We all make up the body of Jesus Christ where He is the Head. How can we then be at war with each other? We hesitate in the natural to take our sibling to the court of law because we are of one family, likewise, he tells us to keep the unity among us. Jesus Himself tells us, “Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespasses against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him (Luke 17: 3-4).” When the apostles heard this teaching from Jesus, immediately they said, “increase our faith (vs.5).”

            They understood the depth of the call to unity among them despite their differences. They understood the call to grow out of their natural selves and grow spiritually so that their natural man would be diminished to live the life Jesus was calling them to live. In Galatians 5:24 (AMP), this very apostle Paul tells the believers in Galatia, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.” King James version reports, “They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. This is what it takes to walk in the Spirit and grow spiritually.

The apostle Paul was merely reiterating the principles of Jesus Christ. According to my pastor Exzabia who was teaching on the theme Growing in 2024, his direction for the flock, gave a great takeaway when he said, “when we are out of place and position, then we are trying to undo what Jesus has already completed. To stay in unity of the Spirit with each other we must cease being easily offended especially when correction comes from and through the word of God. There will and must be correction for growth to occur. The Word was inspired for doctrine, correction, reproof, and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). As our older champions of the faith would often say, the Word of God is the single measuring rod or mirror that keeps us all together and in the one mind of Christ. It’s the one and only instruction manual for all believers everywhere, far and wide.

            The Apostle Paul gives us a clear picture when he said, “Christ has put each part of the church in its right place. Each part helps other parts. This is what is needed to keep the whole body together (NLV), So, when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows and builds itself up through love (GNT).” It is in the togetherness where each believer recognizes that they are an integral member of the body and lends itself to the oneness of the body that we each grow into the one hope of Jesus Christ. This brings us into another of his takeaways, “The Church (Body or Local Church) cannot function to its maximum potential until each member has reached their full capacity.” This in itself should fuel our Faith because we all have a part in the ineffectiveness of our brothers and sisters not functioning up to their full potential. The unity of the body of Christ is of such that when one errs or falls it affects every one of the body. When one is jubilant or excels likewise it affects us all. We are one body in Christ Jesus and as we walk close to Him we will emanate His essence and character in our walk with each other in strength and in unity.

Blessings!

            As 2024 comes to an end, and we reflect on our growth process throughout the year, we must recognize how connected our growth in Christ is to His gifts to the Church. The gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers were given to the Church for the growth of the Church, and our growth process never ends. Even as the year comes to an end, we cannot ignore or stop our growth, we cannot become so occupied and distracted that we no longer take care in the things of God.

            As we were taught this week, as we each become a part of the Body of Christ, there is a mandate upon our lives to grow in the things of Christ. There is a necessity to grow in the things of God. These five gifts to the Church also called the Five Fold Ministry of the Church are sadly neglected and omitted from so many houses of the Lord. This is why there are so many misguided and ill-informed members of the Body. There is no one to teach and instruct in the truth and mystery of Jesus Christ. There is no one to teach them and they become prey to all manner of false doctrines even within the Body of Christ.

            This is a grave problem in the Body of Christ. The absence of these gifts to the Church, does not mean that these gifts are not present within each house of God. It is simply that they are not understood and accepted if the pastor struggles with the functioning of these offices, thereby denying the Body the full gifts of the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Very often only the office of the pastor is utilized and amplified. Research shows that there are more pastors than all the other offices, so much so that it is easier to appoint or ordain an assistant pastor when in fact that person may very well be an apostle or an evangelist. So we have pastors, assistant pastors, and associate pastors, but no prophet, no teacher (who is often classified as a pastor), no evangelist, and no apostle. This is one of the main reasons that the church functions in error and the Body are not learned. The members of the Body do not understand who or whose they are and why and what is their purpose.

            Jesus gave these five gifts to the Church because the pastor is not supposed to be burdened with all the functions of the five offices. When each of these gifts is in place, they each share the assignment of edifying and building up the Body. This is division of labor in its purest form as Christ visualized it. We fall short in the Body when we are denied the functioning of these offices.

WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONS OF THESE GIFTS?

1. 1. The Apostle: Establishes new churches, lays the foundation, and provides leadership with authority.
   2. The Prophet: Shares revelatory insights from God, interprets God’s will, and provides guidance to the church.
   3. The Evangelist: Reaches the lost, shares the Gospel message with those who haven’t heard it, and initiates new believers into the faith of Jesus Christ.
   4. The Pastor: Cares for the spiritual needs of the congregation, providing nurture and protection, and leading the church community.
   5. The Teacher: Explains and interprets scripture, equipping believers with biblical knowledge, and developing spiritual maturity.

In as much as these gifts are laid out singularly, it does not mean that each gift is distributed singularly. When we look at the life of Paul, he was more than just an apostle who established churches everywhere he went. Acts 13:1 tells us that at the church of Antioch, there were certain “prophets and teachers, as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul (who was later renamed Paul). So Paul was one of those prophets and teachers in that early church. In that chapter, we can observe the apostle Paul as an evangelist (vs 7), a prophet (vs7-12), a teacher (vs 15-41), and many other places in the New Testament, as well as Peter. If someone discovers that they have more than one of these gifts, they must therefore pray to the one who gives the gifts, Jesus Christ, for clarity and understanding of how and when to function in each so that there is no confusion in their delivery, for God is not the author of confusion. Neither should you be afraid and neglect a gift in preference for another.

            These gifts being present and operative in the body of Christ not only develops and grows the Body, but as part of that growth, identifies and nurtures those gifts in the Body for the longevity of the Body. It is and must be an ongoing process so that the Church will continue to grow in the things of God and the mysteries of Jesus Christ. For as one generation of gifts steps away, another generation of gifts must be already trained and built up in their office for an easy transition.

            The gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher are given to the Church by Jesus Christ the Head of the Church and it is our responsibility to ensure that we receive them, grow in them, and use them to build the church and grow until we all come into the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

BLESSINGS!

            Gift is an attractive noun and verb that has become the focal point of the season we are presently in. There is much giving and receiving of gifts. We give gifts to the ones we love and appreciate and receive from those who love us. Some gifts can leave the recipient either happy or sad and may even result in a return or that gift being put away in a far corner where it is never seen or used. We are in the season of giving, but as we give out our gifts and receive at the same time, let us think about the greatest Gift that was given to the entire world.

            One Gift was given to the world with love and unlike the gifts that we give only to those who love us and were kind to us throughout the year, this Gift was given to each and every one of us on earth by someone we didn’t know and didn’t care to know. The scriptures tell us that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16 KJV). What is much more striking is that this love for us, the world, was not motivated by our love and appreciation for God. The Bible tells us “God commended His love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners (haters of God, did not want to retain God in our thoughts) Christ died for us (the ungodly) (KJV).

            We received this precious gift that we did not qualify for, that transforms our lives for eternity and not for a season. Jesus Christ is the Gift in totality and not in partiality. We may receive a gift that fits into only one part of our lives, like a shoe to walk in, a purse for whenever we go out, or a pant or toy that will either fade or be destroyed in time. However, this Gift Jesus Christ is everlasting to everlasting and never fades or wanes.

            Many years ago, I recall my mom had bought me a lovely white flat shoe. I so loved that shoe that it didn’t matter what attire I had on, I wore that shoe. But I wore it down until it lost its beauty and started to disintegrate with cracks, but I still wore that shoe. One day I went into the city to visit my sister and when she looked at my feet, the first thing she said, was “Jacque what is the matter with your shoe?” I replied, “I know, it has to go but I so love this shoe.” I eventually had to stop wearing it to go out and began wearing it around the house until it ended up in the garbage. My love for that shoe could not keep it from wear and tear.

            Jesus our Gift will never suffer from wear and tear however long we embrace Him and call upon Him in our lives. He will not dissolve into nothingness the more we love Him but He becomes more real, He reciprocates our love for Him, and a relationship is actually developed between us the more we respond to His love for us and call on Him.

            How long have you received this Gift, Christ Jesus? How long have you been loving Him and He you? Has He become useless, irrelevant, or worthless to you over time, or has the fire of love and desire for Him burned greater and deeper in your heart and life? Has He become the only gift that you can and are willing to share with others and not feel deprived, abandoned, or overlooked?  For me, the answer is no, never and never will.

            Our wish for you in this season of receiving and giving of gifts is that you receive Jesus Christ the greatest Gift to the world and that you hold fast to Him for all eternity. He meets not only one area of our lives but every area of our life. He is the gift that causes us to triumph and overcome. The Gift that comforts, provides, helps, and is right there with us when we are alone. It is this Gift that although we may be alone, we do not feel lonely. I wanted my shoe to last me a very long time but it didn’t irrespective of how often I cleaned it and took care of it, Jesus our Gift promises to never leave us or forsake us but to be with us always. In this season we offer you Jesus the Best Gift of the world. Would you receive Him and cherish Him today?

Even as our Heavenly Father gave the Gift of Jesus Christ to the world, Jesus the Gift turned around and not only gave Himself to the world, He has given gifts to the Church, which is His Body. The Gifts keep Giving. The Apostle Paul tells us explicitly in Ephesians 4: 11-16 of the gifts Jesus has given to the church and the reason behind the gifts. He says,

¹¹ And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; ¹² For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: ¹³ Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: ¹⁴ That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;¹⁵ But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: ¹⁶ From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Clearly, Jesus thought it through and through of the needs of His Body, the Church, to mature in Him and survive in this world. Yes, these gifts of Jesus to the Church is for the Church who have received Him as their Gift of life and must now be taught and fed in the ways of God through the gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. These few gifts have the full responsibility to build up the Church, correct it, edify it, and help it grow in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the season more than ever that we receive the Gift of God to not only save us from our sins but to fill us with joy unspeakable and a peace that passes all understanding. It is the time for much rejoicing.

BLESSINGS!

“Find out who you are and be that person.

That’s what your soul was put on this earth to be.

Find the truth, live that truth, and everything else will come.”

—Ellen DeGeneres

Discovering our purpose and becoming our real selves is such an important topic that researchers everywhere have investigated its significance to our lives.  Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, scientist, and polymath, one of the greatest intellectual figures of Western history said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” We cannot help but recognize the importance of knowing ourselves, knowing who we really are, and discovering our authentic selves.

As I listened to Pastor Exavier Duke teach on this topic, he said “The person you are is based on the purpose of you being here.” This is such a profound statement, for it reveals how important discovering our purpose is. Discovering our purpose is therefore one of the most important elements of a happy and fulfilling life that reveals the real you. The heart of discovering our purpose is about helping us live an authentic life for in so doing we are figuring out what unique contribution we can bring to our world.

In his book The Path of Purpose, Professor William Damon, concluded in his long-raging study, that “The most pervasive problem of the day is a sense of emptiness that has ensnared many young people in long periods of drift during a time in their lives when they should be defining their aspiration and making progress toward their fulfillment.” He describes a majority of our youth as “adrift…they are motivated but directionless.” This has become equivalent to a pandemic because it transcends into adulthood or until later in their lives where much time is lost to them. He has found that only one in five young people expressed a clear vision of where they wanted to go, what they wanted to accomplish in life, and why.

The absence of a purpose-driven life has become such a high priority in our society that many researchers and scholars have written books, lectures, and seminars about it. The focus is geared toward motivating our young adults who are plagued with dominant moods of apathy and anxiety, disengagement, or even cynicism to become naturally hopeful with their lives. They are filled with ambitions but no clear way of achieving them. If we find our purpose, we find ourselves, and having found ourselves, we are able to fulfill our lives which ultimately brings us happiness. A recent study by J.L. Buchanan discovered that depression is the most common health problem for college students and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that levels of suicide for youth aged 15-34 years old. This is how important it is for us as God’s creation to discover our purpose and find our true selves from an early age..

When we find our purpose, we find ourselves and our joy. Finding our purpose is not only spiritually beneficial to the human being, but it is also physically, mentally, and emotionally so because it creates a complete balance in the individual. God is a God of purpose, and He has created us with purpose so that having found it we become a balanced happy people. When youth identify their purpose, they make better life choices and avoid many of life’s challenges such as depression, crushing anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide.

Those who have found their purpose in life whether it is working for racial justice, teaching children with special needs, raising awareness of certain incurable diseases, or volunteering in disaster regions in devastating crisis, have found ways to blend their passion, talents, and care for the world in a way that infuses their lives with meaning. Finding your purpose is tied to better health, longevity, and economic success. It really feels good to have a sense of purpose, knowing that you are using your skills to help others in a way that matters to you because God gave you purpose not only for yourself but to serve others.

He told the prophet Jeremiah, that he was created to be a prophet to the nations not to himself, Peter to be fishers of men not to himself, and the apostle Paul to use his acumen of delivery to stand before kings and the Gentiles, which ended up with him giving of himself to nations and eventually the world at large. It is never about us and our importance but of service. Our purpose is for service.

How to Find Your Purpose In Life

Hardship experienced in racism can prompt one to become a civil rights advocate, domestic violence to be an advocate for domestic violence or severe illness, to pursue medicine. But what do you do when your purpose is not easily obvious to you? Thankfully Kendall Bronk in her research in Greater Good’s Purpose Challenge, developed Seven Ways to Find Your Purpose in Life. She posits:

1. Identify the Things You Care About: High school seniors were asked to think about the world around them—their homes, communities, and the world at large—and visualize what they would do if they had the ability to change anything they wanted to change (and why). Afterward, they could use that reflection to consider more concrete steps they might take to contribute toward moving the world a little closer to that ideal. Seniors were asked - What are you good at? What have you done that gave you a skill that can be used for a cause? And What do you care about in your community?

By reflecting on these questions, the older adults can brainstorm ideas for repurposing skills and pursuing interests developed over a lifetime toward helping the world.

2. Reflect on What Matters Most: Sometimes it can be hard to single out one or two things that matter most to you because your circle of care and concern is far-ranging. Understanding what you value most may help you narrow down your purpose in life to something manageable that also truly resonates with you.

3. Recognize Your Strengths and Talents: We all have strengths and skills that we’ve developed over our lifetimes, which help make up our unique personalities. If in doubt it may be helpful to ask those who know us well and if their feedback confirms what we already know you can run with it, otherwise discard it.

4. Try Volunteering: Finding purpose involves more than just self-reflection. According to Bronk, it’s also about trying out new things and seeing how those activities enable you to use your skills to make a meaningful difference in the world. Volunteering in a community organization focused on something of interest to you could provide you with some experience and do good at the same time.

5. Imagine Your Best Possible Self: Imagine yourself at 40 years of age if everything had gone as well as it could have in your life. Then, answer questions, like:

• What are you doing?
• What is important to you?
• What do you really care about, and why?

The why part is particularly important because purposes usually emerge from our reasons for caring.

6. Cultivate Positive Emotions Like Gratitude and Awe: To find purpose, it helps to foster positive emotions, like awe and gratitude. That’s because each of these emotions is tied to well-being, caring about others, and finding meaning in life, which all help us focus on how we can contribute to the world.

7. Look To the People You Admire: Sometimes the people we admire most in life give us a clue to how we might want to contribute to a better world ourselves. Reading about the work of civil rights leaders or climate activists can give us a moral uplift that can serve as motivation for working toward the greater good.

It is however important to note that in finding our purpose in life, we don’t need fame but rather to look to our inner compass and start taking small steps in the direction that means the most to us. Every so often I am reminded of John 1: 9 which tells us clearly that the True Light, which is Jesus Christ lights every man that comes into the world. Each of us has that inner Light that will guide and lead us to our purpose if we seek it and pursue it.

References:

1. https://www.discoveringmypurpose.org/support-us/why-purpose
2. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/seven_ways_to_find_your_purpose_in_life

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”

—Dolly Parton

Having a fulfilled life entails taking the time to discover your purpose in being here on earth. In the book of Proverbs 16:4, we are told “The Lord has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for the day of disaster” (NLT). God has created us with a purpose in mind. We understand that God is intentional and was intentional when He created us for His purpose. It therefore behooves us to find out what that purpose is. We need to discover why we are here so that we may find ourselves useful in the world. The responsibility is ours to know our purpose for being alive, and I say alive because it is but for the grace of God that we who are alive are not consumed already.

But it all starts with knowing why God created us. He says in Isaiah 43:21, “This people have I formed for myself: they shall shew forth my praise” (KJV). We must each ask ourselves ‘What can I do to show forth the praise of God?’ ‘How can my life bring pleasure to God our Creator?’ Very often this will require us taking a step back and looking at ourselves, examining what our passions are, what motivates us excessively, and what fills our minds and spirits that even if we want to set it aside we can’t help but return to it. What is it that gives us that joy to get up in the mornings and run to it?

For some discovering their purpose may come naturally from a very early age. This is how we have twenty-five-year-old farmers, doctors, researchers, teachers, counselors, etc. Then there are cases where you just stumble into something that clutches your heart and you find yourself developing a love and affinity for it. The next thing you know, that is what you want to do. As you talk to God in your times of quiet times, He will make it very real to you with prompting to pursue it. However you discover your purpose in life, it is important that you pursue it to make your life purposeful and meaningful.

God has designed us to be fruitful and have dominion not only for ourselves but for our world. But then the question becomes, ‘How do world affairs affect my life? What impact would changes in world dynamics have on my purpose?’ These and many more questions are valid, but we must be a people who know their God because as Daniel 11:32b tells us we will be strong and do exploits. This means that irrespective of the economic circumstances or the political landscape, with the guidance and wisdom of God we will do exploits in the thing He has impregnated us to do.

We find a very good point of reference in the book of Jeremiah. The children in Judea and Jerusalem had been disobedient and God had caused them to be taken into captivity into Babylon under the governance of King Nebuchadnezzar who was not only ruthless but evil. Although they were no longer in their native land, the land that God had promised them for an inheritance, God saw their dismay and concern for their lives and the interruption this exodus from their norm would bring about. So God dictated a letter to the prophet Jeremiah which he sent to King Nebuchadnezzar saying,

 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters, that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And see the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace” (Jeremiah 29:4-7).

            Here God is telling His people that although the circumstances were not what they were accustomed to in a strange land, they were to focus on being fruitful and productive in their lives. They were not to allow the external climate to detach them from their purpose as the people of God. Yes, they were in judgment, and yes, they were not in the environment they knew and were accustomed to, but God was promising to make their purpose come to fruition irrespective of where they were, and how uncomfortable they were. God was telling them to pursue and live their lives so that they are not diminished. Isn’t God good, to be both love and justice at the same time?

            God was letting them know that he judged them to humble them, but he still loved them and would prosper and be with them in their captivity. God who created everything for His purpose is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is King over governments and kingdoms and as we remain faithful and obedient to Him, we can be assured that He will not abandon us under any circumstances. We must never abandon our purpose but rather hold on to the peace of God no matter what.

            It is this peace that we have with God that will give us the confidence to remain steadfast in our purpose whether our job changes, our location changes, or our government changes. God never changes, and neither does our purpose. This should strengthen our resolve in today’s world where so many are disillusioned by our political and economic conditions. We must be encouraged that although there are changes that may be unpleasant to us, our God has not changed. He is still God, King of all kings, President of all presidents, and Lord of all lords, and will be faithful to us in all aspects of our lives. We must discover our purpose in life that will bring praise to Him for in doing so we not only please God, but we bring joy and fulfilment to ourselves. Discovering our purpose leads to a full and peaceful life within.

          When we think of being pregnant, we think of being entrusted with the birth of a child, an idea, a gift, hope, and or a promise. It can be tangible or intangible and today let’s talk about an intangible pregnancy that can only be imparted by the Holy Spirit in us. A pregnancy that must be pursued into fruition only if we acknowledge it. It’s a pregnancy with a divine purpose that requires being searched out and developed for the glory of God.

King David tells us in the book of Proverbs 16:4, “The Lord hath made all things for Himself,…”  In other words, all things that we can or cannot touch were made by God. The apostle John reiterated David’s declaration when he said in St. John 1:3, “All things were made by Him (Jesus), and without Him was not anything made that was made.” We must therefore look beyond the tangible that we can literally touch and wait for, in the natural birthing of a baby from our womb.

          There are the pregnancies of ideas, skills, and dreams that have been planted in us, and like the natural baby, they come with a purpose. We must first believe that we were created for a purpose and with a purpose in the mind of God. What did God Himself say, “For I know the thoughts I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11 KJV). The Apostle Paul explains it clearly when he says, our own completeness is only realized in Christ, who is the authority over all authorities, and the supreme power over all powers (Phillips). We come completely packaged by God for a purpose. We are not empty and we are not diminished, we are complete in God. This is why we do not compare ourselves with others because we all come complete in God for our assigned purpose and not someone else’s.

          Each and every one of us has been created with a purpose and for a purpose and until it is realized and birthed through us we become tormented and restless from within. As we allow God to develop our purpose we must look for expression of that purpose. We must realize it, discover it and seek to develop it for delivery. Our purpose is never chosen or selected by us for us, it is bestowed upon us by the Holy Spirit and as God positions or plants us in His garden, there is where we must express it.

          After a while, it becomes difficult to not do what we were called to do. For our own inner peace we must pursue the purpose we have been impregnated with whether we like it, approve of it or not. A vivid example is seen in the testimony of the Prophet Jeremiah whom God had told that even before he was conceived in his mother’s womb he was ordained to be a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5). This purpose for Jeremiah being born did not always sit well with him because it brought conflict and tension with the people to whom he must speak on behalf of God.

          God did not ask Jeremiah if he would like to be a prophet if he would like to speak to nations on His behalf, it was bestowed upon him, it was assigned to him and it was his responsibility to understand what it entailed and run with it. And he did, but we find as in many instances, there is a particular situation where he was not enjoying his assignment. This assignment was causing him much pain and he decided to talk to God about it. God had sent him to speak to the kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem because of their wickedness, how they had “turned the valley into a place of shame and wickedness (Jeremiah 19:4a). Jeremiah was told to tell them that God said, He “will bring terrible evil upon the place, so terrible that the ears of those who hear it will prickle (19:3).

          Who wants to deliver such a message, however justifiable it is? But Jeremiah had no choice in the matter, this was what he was impregnated with, to speak to the nations on God’s behalf, being the mouthpiece for God and not to be afraid of their faces (Jeremiah 1:8). So here he must execute his assignment against his inner peace because this is what he is called to do and he did. But he didn’t hesitate to let God know how painful it was for him, for after he delivered God’s no-nonsense message to the people, and was imprisoned for it, he turned to the Lord and said,

“O Lord, you deceived me when you promised me your help. I have to give them your messages because you are stronger than I am (meaning I do not have the power to stand against you and say no) but now I am the laughingstock of the city, mocked by all. You have never once let me speak a word of kindness to them, always it is disaster and horror and destruction. No wonder they scoff and mock and make my name a household joke” (Jeremiah 20:6-8 TLB).

Yes, our assignment can be painful, it can be hard and cause us much discomfort and unease, but we have to stick with it because to vacate it brings inner turmoil that far outweighs the discomfort of doing what we are called to do. Jeremiah further says,

“I can’t quit! For if I say I’ll never again mention the Lord – never more speak in his name, then his word in my heart is like fire that burns in my bones, and I can’t hold it in any longer” (Jeremiah 20:9 TLB).

This is what being pregnant is all about. Pregnant on assignment. Jeremiah couldn’t quit because of the inner turmoil or unrest it brought to his inner peace. Earlier when God had informed him of his calling, he reported what God had said to him,

“The Lord said unto me, say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee” (Jeremiah 1:7-8 KJV).

          This brings me to the realization that when we have been impregnated with purpose by God, we do not have the choice of saying no. It is for us to discover what is our purpose, how we must execute it even if and when we do not have the fanfare of the world or we do not feel good about it. What we do not have the privilege of, is to just sit idly by doing nothing. As God’s creation, God’s people, we must take the necessary responsibility to enquire of God what our purpose is by staying connected to Him and then actually begin to do that thing however small or insignificant it may seem.

            God must be able to trust us with the little things before He will entrust us with more and much more. It is so important for us to take the responsibility to discover our purpose and having discovered it, develop in it to the excellence God seeks. Very often it is not even about us but God will choose and assign us to others or for the benefit of others. God said of the Apostle Paul at the time of his conversion, “… he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16).

          We all know what things Paul suffered but not once did he vacate his offices. He endured rejection, imprisonment, beatings, and threats to his life, and he kept doing the will of the Father until at the end he was able to boldly declare, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4: 7-8 KJV). He says the crown of righteousness to be received in our faithfulness is not only for him but for everyone who would be faithful to their assignment as he was at the coming of the Lord.

            Living in our purpose is a sacrifice of ourselves to and for others. Remember we are created for a purpose and with a purpose and it behooves us to discover it and do it to the honor and glory of God. For as Paul indicated there will be a day of reckoning when we would either be crowned or not for what we have done or have not done with the purpose of God. This is the time to get moving and do something.

Blessings upon Blessings.

Let’s talk about being pregnant, and not pregnant in the flesh which pertains to all females, but rather to the pregnancy with purpose through the Spirit of God. In Genesis 1:26 we read where God said: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature; So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself,  and every animal that moves on the face of Earth” (MSG). Here we see God wasted no time in assigning responsibilities to both male and female after their creation. Clearly, it was never God’s intention that mankind sit idly by doing absolutely nothing of importance or significance. In the King James Version, God used the word “dominion,” which implies we were to take leading positions in whatever our assignment.

Again in Jeremiah 29:11, God says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11). Then King David testified of God’s thoughts, when he said, “O Lord, how great are thy works! And thy thoughts are very deep (Psalms 92:5). Therefore, when God said we were to have dominion over every living, creeping, crawling, flying, and swimming thing on and in the earth, He was having deep and far-reaching thoughts in mind for us and built us up to do so. We can do all that God has put in our hearts and minds to do. It may require hard work, research, or much study, but we can and must do what God has called us or impregnated us to do in this lifetime.

Very often as a people, we fall into the trap of thinking or actually believing we are an authority unto ourselves or we are our own bosses, when in fact the Proverbs tells us, “The Lord hath made all things for himself…” (Proverbs 16:4). It will be good for us to note that God made us all for himself which speaks of accountability. We are placed here to do something(s) and it is each and everyone’s responsibility to find out what we were created to do. We all have an assignment(s)even before we were born, and irrespective of whether or not our birth was planned, we were not a surprise to God. Because God, who is Omniscient, knew us before we were even conceived in our mothers’ wombs. Do you recall what He said to Jeremiah?

Jeremiah was a prophet at a time when much was going on, to have someone question their purpose for even being alive.  This was during the time of Zedekiah when the Jews from Jerusalem were being carried into captivity and I can just imagine this prophet asking himself, ‘What do I say to our people? Why is this happening to us or me? What is my purpose for being here at a time like this? What is my purpose as a prophet in this captive situation? But then God saw his thoughts and the questions and struggles of his mind. Jeremiah was probably questioning his ability to do anything, his usefulness or relevance. God understood his distress and stepped in and answered him. God has a way of knowing our thoughts even before we utter them vocally. Jeremiah said, the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out to the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).

I can visualize Jeremiah’s perplexity and joy at knowing that God had organized his life from its inception. God had an assignment for him long before his embryo came along. Look at Adam and Eve, the scriptures says that the Lord had not caused it to rain upon the earth because there was no man to till the ground. The work was already there but man was not yet there to take care of it. But then God created Adam and Eve and assigned them to it. God already had work for each and every one of us whom He has created. It is for each of us to find out what it is and we do that by going to Him and asking for revelation. Some of us will readily discover our purpose for being here on earth by our passions. More often than not our passion is our destiny.

When I think of the word “Pregnant,” it speaks of “rich in significance or implication; having possibilities of development or consequence; involving important issues; abounding in resourcefulness; inventive; fertile, rich, great importance, potential; momentous (Merriam-webster.com), and the list can go on and on. It speaks of a mind pregnant with ideas. How often have you found your mind pregnant with ideas? Where are those ideas? Have you discarded them? Have you written them down but abandoned them into oblivion?

HOW DO WE DISCOVER OUR PURPOSE?

• We must reconnect with our manufacturer, God, who created us. Since He created us with a purpose in mind, it is only natural that we go to Him and enquire of Him. We must develop a relationship with God where He shares His secrets with us. Psalm 25:14 tells us, “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will shew them His covenant.”
• We must get involved and do something. Whether it's in the church, the marketplace, at home, or in our community, wherever you find yourself, the Holy Spirit will show you what to do. Luke 12:48b tells us “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” The more you become exposed, you will develop a love and passion to take something or some aspect of what you are learning or have learned to create and build on. We have to get involved, we must become engaged in something out of which passions evolve. As we begin to do something and become engaged, we will develop a love for it until it becomes a part of us.

Let us remember that in His creative work, God has a master plan for all mankind to give their contribution to the world naturally and spiritually. The Apostle Paul tells us that “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). What good works are you walking in today? Where are you demonstrating His workmanship? Where are you involved? Wherever you find yourself at this point in your life, there is something you can do to add your contribution. Believe it, you are pregnant with purpose not only for yourself but for others. And like Jeremiah and so many of us, the situation may never be perfect for you to jump right in, but let God build your confidence in assuring you of what you are destined to do and He will strengthen you in the call and for the call.

Let us get moving, there is so much work to be done everywhere you turn, or as Jesus declared, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37).

Blessings!

I don’t know where you are or how you are as you are reading this blog, but I am trusting that God has brought you to this write-up to bless you in so many ways. We had gathered for worship last Sunday and I sat with a very big heart as my pastor expounded on one of my very favorite passages of scripture. It was taken from 1 Chronicle 1:9-10, where the young man by the name of Jabez was not in a good place at this particular time, and was definitely not feeling good about himself. You see his mother brought him forth out of pain and named him Jabez which meant ‘Sorrow, regret, disappointment, and pain” in his Hebrew language.

How many of us have felt the pain of a name given to us by our parents for whatever reason? If I may make my own confession, I named my second son Tyson after seeing the name Tyson in a magazine when I was pregnant. I often wondered why as a Christian and God-loving mother, I didn’t turn to the bible for a name, possibly Joseph or Paul like his dad, but I named him Tyson. Unfortunately for him, by the time he was seven years old and ready to go off to primary school, Mike Tyson the boxer became very famous in my country.

In the second week of his new school, I went to pick him up and he was sitting in the principal’s office. In her office, she explained to me that he was in a big fight that day with another boy and she pointed to the other boy sitting across the room scowling. As I looked at him I was shocked to see how huge he was. He was taller and bigger than my small framed baby. I looked at the principal and asked what caused the fight and before she could answer, Tyson angrily explained that they were in the grounds playing when the boy (I have forgotten his name) came up to him and said, “so you are Tyson, well I am Bone Crusher” and I’m going to beat you up. I don’t know if you remember the boxer “Bonecrusher,” but he was the boxer who held the WBA heavyweight title from 1986-1987, then came Mike Tyson and defeated him and took away his title. This little boy who was burly as I guess his favorite boxer was, saw my Tyson as a way of getting back at the real Tyson for beating up his idol. Tyson could not get away from that kid and was engaged in a fight every day for the remainder of that week and the next until I had to eventually remove him from that school since the teachers had no control of the situation.

As a grown young man, he informed me that he had to fight his way throughout his school years until high school. That is how a wrong name can negatively impact an individual. For some reason, he kept it from me and his dad all those years, until in New York his dad was called to the school at least once every week. I had caused him so much trauma in his school life.

There is no record of what Jabez’s childhood and teenage years looked like, or what he may have endured, but at this point in Jabez’s life, he seemed to be burdened with the significance of his name of sorrow, regret, disappointment, and pain that caused him to cry out to God for help. Under the influence of his name, he didn’t feel blessed even though the bible states that he was more honorable than his brethren. His honorable status did not alleviate the pain of his life, so he cried out to God that God would bless him and enlarge his territory, his coast, and lay his hands on him. He wanted God to lay his holy hand on him and lift the burden of sorrow, pain, and suffering from him. He asked, “And that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me” (vs. 10b).

Jabez understood what the power of the hand of God upon him would do for him. He understood that it would break the yoke of sorrow, lack, and pain from his life and remove all the evil that came with that name. He was tired of the grief in his life that came with his name and he wanted no more of it and the verse ended with, “And God granted him that which he requested.”

Today what is it that you would like God to put his hand on your life and remove? God can do for you what he did for Jabez. In particular, God wants to enlarge your territory, not only to reverse the weight of a name, sadness, sorrow, pain, and lack in your life but also to enlarge you in very critical areas of your life to make you and me better individuals. God wants to enlarge us in the areas of:

1. Our love walk – A love that is not superficial but where we have the capacity to love our enemies. A love that is not based on how we feel, that has no stipulations. We must understand that because God himself is love and gave love, He looks at love with honor and requires us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and we do know how to love ourselves, we do know how we would like to be treated and appreciated. Yes, God has placed His love in us and He looks at love with honor. The Apostle Paul admonishes us to, “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another” (Romans 12:9-10).
2. Our forgiveness walk – We often struggle in this area of our lives when someone hurts us, but God wants to enlarge our capacity to forgive each other and live in love and a free spirit with each other. When the disciple asked Jesus how often he must forgive his brother, Jesus said seventy times seven. This number of four hundred and ninety times is so large that I am very sure you have not been able to encounter anyone who has been able to hurt you that much in a lifetime, much more in a day. In other words, we must walk in a forgiving mode of life daily.
3. Our patience walk – How is your patience walk today? So many of us don’t have the patience to wait on God, or anyone for that matter. We rush to take over and be in control and very often make things worse, but the Psalmist sets a great example for us when he cried out to God, “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress, have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer” (Psalm 4:1). King David knew that only God could give him an answer that will work on his situation. It was in his distress that he called upon God and so must we.

Today God wants to enlarge the areas of our lives where we fall short. He wants to enlarge our capacity in those areas where we are weak so that we can become strong in his strength and wisdom. My prayer is that we all call on him in our distress, failings, or weaknesses in full surrender to His will and purpose.

Blessings

The Weight Of A Woman

Looking back at the creation of God in all of His wisdom, He has made only two species of human beings and that is the man and the woman. God created the woman because He didn’t want the man to be alone. God saw the incompleteness of the man and therefore created her with a purpose. Her creation was intentional. God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him (Genesis 2:18 KJV). So she is his help, suitable, complementary, sufficient, his other half, etc. for him.

As a help to her husband, she becomes a wife, mother, confidant, cook, housekeeper,  and if she goes out to work, financial supporter, and the list goes on. When we speak of the word “weight,” we are reminded of responsibility, importance, influence, and strength. The woman carries the weight of everyone in her life. Helping is an innate quality of the woman. The numerous hats she wears go unnoticed because she wears them effortlessly, willingly, and joyfully.

However, time has shown that a woman can be wise and/or foolish. The book of Proverbs tells us, “Every wise woman buildeth her house: But the foolish plucketh it down with her hands (Proverbs 14:1). So this woman whose purpose is to help, to help build, help create, help support, and help uphold, can actually do so but on the other hand tear it all down. This woman, among all things, is both passionate and compulsive and this is where the wisdom and folly of her comes into play. Depending on her compulsion she can bring out the king in her husband and sons, the queen in her daughters, and the beautiful strength in herself. On the other hand, that same woman can cause a man to not speak or lift his head in his own house, and her sons and daughters to desire to be elsewhere.

A woman whether she bore a child or not carries a lot of weight and according to the scriptures she builds her house. Even though the man may have the blueprint and may have built the foundation, of what the house should look like, how his wife and kids may look, it is the woman who sets the atmosphere and tone for the home and even the church. She carries the brick for whatever the man is building. The brick is the feeding, the clothing, the rearing of the children, bringing things together one after the other, so that the man’s vision is seen clearly. She carries on without complaining exhibiting her power, her capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviors of others or the course of events to bring it all to fruition.

The wise woman is able to effortlessly build because she is building on the Word of God, where comes her strength. She gives the godly design of her out of the Word of God, to come to light and be manifested in and through her. Her beauty is reflected in her home, church, community, marketplace, and what and wherever she touches.

The woman becomes foolish when she steps out of character and wields weapons of destruction through her words, attitudes, and behavior as a whole. But God wants us to be wise even in the face of adverse conditions and experiences. God wants us to build and not tear down; to lift up and not to trample under. That’s the weight of a woman, to just be there with the bricks to see things through and flourish, even without the fanfare and applause. She must build, she must carry, she must support, and she must help.

Woman, know thyself. Woman, know who you are and whose you are. Woman, know your worth and value. Never be out of character. Out of the mouth of a good, strong and wise woman to her son whom she raised to be a king, asks the question, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies…” and she proceeded to relate what that woman looks like (Proverbs 31: 10-31). Two things are very striking here and it is that although we do not know much of her son, he was a king, and she named him Limuel meaning ‘belonging to God’ in the Hebrew language. She raised her family on the Word of God with a godly heart and secondly, she gave him the keys to identifying that wise woman, when she taught him that the woman’s works shall praise her in the gates (vs. 31b).

The weight of a woman is humongous, but it is rewarding when she helps after God’s heart. I encourage every woman to recognize her God-given mandate wherever she is assigned and to whom she is assigned and to run with it virtuously and wisely because this is who she is.

Blessings!

When we speak of GROWTH, we are embracing progressive development.  We look for progressive development in every area of our lives. Whether it is in our children, our jobs, our businesses, or our relationships, we become very concerned when there is no progressive development, when there is no Growth. So, it is with the growth of the Church.

As the Church, we are the body of Jesus Christ who is our Head. Luke 2:52 tells us clearly that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God the Father and mankind. It therefore behooves us as His body to grow and to increase wholly. Jesus requires us to Grow. God wants us, His Church to prosper, to increase materially and outwardly, but most importantly He wants us to Grow from within.

The Apostle Paul implores us to present our bodies as living sacrifices unto God which is our reasonable service, and not to be confirmed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2). As the Church, we must present our bodies, our temples to God and have our minds renewed. This is clearly a growth process from within.

As we meditate on this very foundational text, it speaks of a sacrifice we must make to set ourselves apart from not only the world, but from our old self. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us “… if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” So, we must strive to be more like Christ, not more like our old selves, which were tarnished and had to be washed in the blood of Jesus. We put Christ to open shame and crucify Him afresh when we resort to our old self or become stagnant in our spiritual growth.

God wants to change us from the inside out. As a Growing Church, we must be ever-evolving, updating in our minds and hearts. Renewal means to: make like new, restore to freshness, vigor, or perfection; regenerate, revive, rebuild, etc. These are the things God wants to see happening in and through us as His Church.

HOW DOES THE CHURCH GROW WITHIN?

The Apostle Paul gives us a pivotal strategy in 2 Timothy 2:15 when he said, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that need[s] not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” Don’t just read the Word of God like a history book, but sit and study it, cross-referencing text to build your faith, strengthen your decision to stay in Christ, and to Grow in every area of your life which starts with the renewing of the mind. Jesus Himself tells us in John 15:3, “Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.’ The Word is that water that cleanses our minds as we read it; it is that light that illumines the dark areas of our minds; and it is that sword that pierces asunder every ugly and stubborn thought that tries to contaminate the pure flow of good and healthy thinking in our minds.

THE CHURCH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HER GROWTH

As the Church, we are responsible and accountable for our growth in Christ. We are responsible and accountable for feeding both our flesh and spirit man, it is not anyone else’s responsibility to feed us. This means that our reading of the Word of God should not be confined to only when we gather for worship. We need to read the Word for ourselves on a daily basis, so that we can work and apply it to our lives and watch God perform it in us. Reading the Word daily builds our faith in Christ whom we serve. It builds our spirit, and it kills our flesh both at the same time. This is how we feed both spirit and flesh. The spirit is fed, and the flesh is starved. The more we read the Word, our flesh dies daily and the Christlikeness in us shines so bright that we truly become the Light of our world.

Let me leave you with a Word to ponder. “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit (the Word) shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:8).

WHY CHURCH?

My pastor, Pastor Exzabia Dukes, spoke on a very thought-provoking topic last Sunday morning that left me thinking of how as believers we can say things that have no merit from the word of God. He asked the question, WHY CHURCH?

When one speaks of the Church, the location of a building whether it is rustic, old, or beautiful twenty-first century, comes to mind. We make plans to GO to Church, we invite others to accompany us to Church, and we exude such excitement to be expected when we attend or arrive at Church as if something will happen there to impact us for the better. We stand in awe of the beauty of the building with our imaginations fiercely calculating the possible cost spent to erect such artifice, the workmanship, and the dedication of laboring hands and minds.

And then we enter this beautiful building with its glittering walls and polished floors, but if we just stand there that building does absolutely nothing. It doesn’t smile at us, it doesn’t call out to God, neither does it make a sound. I’m invited to Church with such excitement, but nothing happens until the visitors to that building, the people, open their mouths and sing praises to God. The building doesn’t.

So I’m reminded of the Psalmist David who said, “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honor of His name: make His praise glorious” Psalms 66:1-2 KJV). Then He tells the Lord, “Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed” Psalms 65:1 KJV). No wonder the beautiful buildings are silent and cold until the worshippers come in and make joyful noises unto God.

We are the Church, not the buildings made with hands. We the living breathing temples are the church and as the Apostle Paul tells us, “Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands (Acts 7: 48) and reiterated this point in Acts 17:24 when he said, “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” God intentionally made a special temple for Himself to dwell in and it is our bodies.

Even as we clean and beautify the inside and outside of the buildings where we gather to worship, so must we more importantly take care of the temple of God. For what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? for we are the temple of the living God, as God Himself said, I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (2 Corinthians 6:16).

            So, WHY CHURCH? Because we are the temple of the Living God and He is building us up to become the Unbreakable Church. We become that unbreakable Church when we come together, for with unity there is strength. God has given to us KEYS, not to the buildings we have built, but keys to His Kingdom where we can walk triumphantly in the midst of a world we are in, but not a part of. It is important that we not only know the keys to apply to our lives, but we must understand them.

            Keys to being a holy Church as He, whom we worship, is Holy. Essentially, we are encouraged not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, so that we may exhort and encourage one another (Hebrews 10:25). It is in our unity we gain and develop the strength to be the Unbreakable Church of God. And so, as the Church, we must have a desire to know our God for ourselves, and in so doing our trust for Him will increase. That relationship God seeks to have with each and every one of us will be deepened and enriched so much so that we become that Salt and Light of a world that Jesus spoke of.

            We are the Church., not the erected building. We are the walking Church who assembles to worship, to teach, to be encouraged, strengthened, and built up for the glory of our God.

THIS IS WHY CHURCH!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: We always say, ‘I am going to church.” But we have learned that we are the church. In light of the Word of God, what should we then say? How must we coin the reverse of the Church is going to gather, or the Church is gathering or assembling?

SUGGESTIONS:  

• I am going to the Gathering for worship? 

• Come with me to the Gathering?
• We are gathering at the Family of Faith Ministry building today will you come with me?
• The Church is gathering at the Family of Faith Ministry on 414 N Front Street. Murfreesboro, TN?
• I know, I know, it all sounds so weird, but isn’t it the truth? What do you think?

We would love for you to drop us a suggestion in the comments.

Here are the steps to connect Zoom to YouTube for live streaming:

1. Sign in to the Zoom desktop app
2. Open the Live Streaming app under the Apps tab ,
3. Configure your YouTube live streaming settings before the meeting
4. When you're ready to start streaming, join the meeting and click "Start Livestream to Zoom Events Lobby"
5. This will start streaming your Zoom meeting to the event lobby, and you can then stream it to YouTube ,

Let me know if you have any other questions!

           In the farming world, the farmer plants with the expectation of reaping fruits from every seed planted. However, some seeds will germinate and grow into fruitful plants while others die, still others grow up to be fruitless. These barren trees are usually cut down and thrown out, while the fruitful ones will be harvested, trimmed and pruned for new produce.

            We are reminded of the incident in the bible when Jesus returned to the city hungry. He approached a fig tree in the way and found it bearing leaves only and no fruit. Jesus was not happy and cursed the tree that it bore no fruit in the future and the fig tree withered immediately (Matthew 21:18-19). The fig tree was planted in the way and should have borne fruit but it didn’t. How many of us as believers are planted in the way to be fruitful to others and we bear no fruit? Like Jesus, so many pass us by, into our spaces hungry for a word of encouragement, a smile, a prayer, healing, or salvation and we have no fruit of the Spirit to offer, and they walk away hungry still.

We Are A Solution To A Kingdom Problem

            St Luke tells us a similar story where “a certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth (being in the way or render useless. Merriam-webster) it the ground?” Luke 13:6-7. The tree was not planted for itself, but rather to feed mankind, and Jesus was teaching that in failing to produce, the tree was useless and needed to be destroyed. The lesson was that every believer has been planted by God not for themselves but to be a solution to a Kingdom problem here on earth. Each of us has been given a gift which is our seed to minister one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:10). We must however discover it so that we may fulfill it. Don’t just know your purpose, fulfill it for the Kingdom.

Call To Action

Everyone has something to do in the kingdom of God. The Apostle Paul admonishes Timothy to stir up the gift of God within him (2 Timothy 1:6) and to keep that good thing, that gift given by the Holy Spirit that was in him (vs. 14). It is time for us to shake ourselves loose from every complacency, apathy to the kingdom of God and stir ourselves up in the power of the Holy Spirit and bear the fruits we have been planted to produce. Let not the Lord come and find us wanting.

Other References: Psalms 1:3; Genesis 2:5-7; 2 Timothy 1:6; Jeremiah 51: 21-23; Genesis 2:15; Romans 12:11; Job 23:10.