Tuesday, December 30, 2014

2015: THE SECOND HONEY MOON!!


Praise the Lord everybody and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!! I pray you all had a wonderfully blessed Christmas. As this year comes to an end and I take stock of what God has done in my life this past year I realize He invested a lot of time in preparing me for His work in these last and evil days.
Things did not necessarily go the way I thought they would and proclaimed they would at last years Watch Night service. God has done a great work in me internally, that I expect will now show up externally this year in my ministry.

Again as I thought about what God has done in my life over the past year I couldn't help but think about what I did for Him this past year, was it just the same old song and dance or was there something in my walk with Him that was new and refreshing and showed Him my growth? It is so easy for our acts of love and worship to turn into hollow acts of Religious ceremony. We go from going to church to worship God, hear from Him and bask in His presence to going to Church because that's what Christians do. The programs we put together with love care and affection start to become so over done and by the book that all we have to do is get a copy of last years program, white out the dates and put in the current year and there you have it, this years program.

God is tired of our "left overs". In Lamentation 3: 22+23 God's word says  22 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

God's mercy, grace and compassion toward is are "new" every morning, fresh and new and so should our love and devotion to Him be fresh and new every morning. I want to renew my vows to Him. I want this to be our second Honey moon. I love the Lord and I want that love to shine all over my face like a blushing bride. I want to get Goose bumps again every time I hear His name.

first I have to stop taking God for granted and take a daily inventory of everything God has done for me past and present. Stay and delight myself in His word. Stay before Him in prayer and meditation.
I must remain spiritually alert so that I can hear what the spirit of the Lord has to say to me at all times and then I must be obedient. There is a special joy that comes with being obedient to God and in the center of His perfect will. That is the place I want to abide in 2015 and every year after till He comes.
Psalm 27: 3-5 states  3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.

5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

       HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! and God Bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

Thursday, December 18, 2014

"COME ON IN, THE WATER IS FINE!"


Praise the Lord everybody!! Because He alone is worthy to be praised! I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. I must say that God has been more than gracious in showing His love for me and my wife lately and we can't thank Him enough for what He's doing in our lives. The only way I can think of to thank Him is to live in holy obedience to His will and to His way.  As you may remember I have been attending Wednesdays "HOUR OF POWER" service at my church instead of Sunday services because my sciatica cannot tolerate sitting through a full Sunday service. What God is building at First Church of Christ Holiness USA in Harlem New York is truly a blessing to be a part of. I can't wait to see what God is going to do next. Please keep us in prayer, especially our Pastor Elder Johnny Green as we endeavor to go forth in the name of Jesus.

 There was a time during my walk with Jesus I would find myself from time to time lagging behind, following Jesus from afar off. The same spirit of disobedience and lack of trust that hindered my walk back then is still hindering many in the Body of Christ today. We can find examples as far back as Peter in Luke 22: 52-57   52 Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?
53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

54 Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off.
55 And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.
56 But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him.
57 And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.

Peter, who was always very zealous in His faith when he was with Jesus and the other Disciples suffered a lapse of faith after seeing "the Christ" taken away without a fight and even though Jesus had warned them that this had to happen so God's plan could be fulfilled, he like most of us did not understand God's plan and that lack of understanding led to a lack of trust. After everything, Peter had seen and heard he forgot it all when the pressure was on for him to stand on that faith.

We do the same things when are around our non-Christian friends and co-workers and the conversation sinks to a level where the Holy Spirit says "alright it's time to step away" but we linger until we are caught up in the flesh and Gods spirit is grieved within us. Or we do walk away and then we are asked by someone "why are you leaving? too much for your virgin ears?" and instead of using the opportunity to proclaim whose you are and whom you serve you just smile and say "no, I just have to get back to work." as you walk away basically doing the same thing Peter did, deny Christ
Peter also again while appearing zealous also suffered another lapse in faith and trust in God even before his denial of Christ. In Matthew 14:26-31    26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit, and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

In these verses you see Peter do the same thing we all have done at one time or another, we hear God's voice, we know His voice but still, we ask "Lord, if it be thou..." Jesus said, "my sheep know my voice" still we don't trust Him enough not to "fleece" Him. Then after Peter knew it was Jesus he did step out of the boat on faith and began to walk on the water also but when things started to get a little rough he relapsed and began to sink. When Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the living word by whom everything that is created was created says to you "come" whether it is water, fire, flood, mountain or valley, we ought to be able to step out in faith that He is not calling us to fail!

The Bible says God's will toward us is "good and perfect" and that "without faith, it is impossible to please Him" We also have to TRUST Him. We have to trust in His word and trust that He knows what is best for us. The next time God asks you to "COME" out of the "boat"(0ur comfort zone) don't be afraid, dive on in, the water is fine!

                         God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall



Monday, December 8, 2014

BEFORE WE CAST DOWN OUR CROWNS!!

Praise the Lord everybody because He alone is worthy to be praised!! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. I know my wife and I are truly blessed and grateful every time we open our eyes in the morning, that's where we are right now. As our Pastor always says "I'm all in" for me to live IS Christ. For Christ I live and for Christ I die. Even though I have not been feeling well and just found out why from my doctor(keep me In prayer), I am "all in", I can't thank God enough for all He has done for me His grace and mercy toward me has been unbelievable!


I was reading 2nd Corinthian 10:3-6    3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

As I was reading the chapter these four verses stood out and spoke to me. First reinforcing the fact that there is a war going on in the spirit realm that can't be fought in the flesh. Only God by His spirit can empower us with weapons that can reach up into the high places and pull down strongholds and high minded Imaginations. Where is the battle field? The battle field is the mind. Every time we are disobedient, every time decide not to wait on God every time we decide "I can handle this on my own, why bother God" we are building strong holds and high minded imaginations. We try and take the place of God in our lives. God delivers us from slavery to sin and before long we decide we don't need or trust Him either.

The day Satan questioned Gods authority and thought to himself that he would exalt himself above God and he did not repent, he sealed his fate. Jesus says in Luke 10:18  18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. We all know what is waiting for Satan yet we question God and His word everyday. When He asks us to do something that is out of our comfort zone or beyond our carnal understanding we either question God, or claim that there was "static" on the "main line" or just claim we never heard from Him at all.

Our father in heaven wants to bless us but first we have to trust in Him completely and turn our will over to Him. In a moment of anguish and weakness Jesus Himself asked His Father in heaven if He could complete His mission another way, a less painful way, then He repented of these thoughts and said "...nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.."(Mark 14:36 ) as He remembered all Gods ways are perfect as is His will. In order for us to successfully complete our missions we have to turn our wills over to God, trusting that He knows whats best for us and that He is more than able to take care of all our needs and solve all our problems.

So before we can even think about going to heaven and casting our crowns, we must make sure we cast down those strong holds and high minded imaginations that prevent us from being in obedient relationship to God.
                   God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall