IN THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK: REVISITED

Bless the Lord, oh my soul! God is great and greatly to be praised! I love the lord and I strive every day to be the man of God I am called to be. Sometimes during that process, I have to look back at some of the lessons God has taught me, lessons I have shared with you all here in my blog. The following is such a lesson, there is a place I need to get to in God and after reading this, I believe you all will want to get there too.

 So here is "IN THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK" I pray it blesses you and re-ignites your fire as it did me.


 I've been very close to some mighty big blessings over the years, then I would self-destruct and miss out on a long awaited blessing that came so close I could taste it. Not this year, this year I want to feel Him all over me like I used to. This year I'm not asking for a little more Jesus, I'm giving Jesus more of me. In other words all of me.

A little over a week ago as I was meditating during my weekly consecration I told God these things and He brought to mind the following scripture and at first I did not get the connection, Exodus 33: 18-23  .18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

21 And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

After awhile I realized God was letting me know that if I desired to get to where I wanted to be in Him,  that there was a place near to Him from which I could see His glory at work in my Life. A safe place where I could stand upon a rock, a rock Named Jesus and God would put me in a place in that rock, a cleft, a hiding place where I could stand and watch God work in my life.

Many times we who name Christ Jesus as our Lord and savior want to see God's full glory pass through our lives but we do not want to get in the place that God wants to put us so that we can watch him work for us and in us in His fullness. we have to get in a cleft of the rock. A cleft is a crack, a crevice, a split in the rock, a small place with just enough room for you to stand with no room for a lot of movement. To many of us want to move around trying to handle our own business along with our friends business instead of doing what God wants us to do "stand still and watch me work". Getting to these clefts is no easy task, it requires much dedication to prayer and fasting, denying oneself in order to experience God's fullness in our lives. When I was younger it was easier to reach those clefts but as I get older it seems to become harder.

I'm tired of just saying and singing "God is my all and all" I want Him to BE my All and All. I want to again abide in the cleft of the Rock, how about you?

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

MARTYR OR SELF-MARTYRDOM: EITHER WAY WE ALL HAVE TO DIE.

Praise the Lord everybody, let everything that has breath praise His holy name. God is moving by His spirit in these last and evil days. I look forward to being a witness as Gods plan unfolds and God willing, I live to see it all happen.

 today I’d like to share with you on the subject of death and dying as it pertains to those of us who are Christians or as I like to call myself a “true believer.” I think every Christian at one time or another has searched themselves over the question of martyrdom. We all wonder what we would do if we had to make that choice of living for self or dying for our faith in Christ.

The thing is God has already called us to die. The dictionary describes a “martyr” as these two things: One who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles.

2. One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.

Let’s look at number two; this describes what makes all true Christians a “martyr”. Jesus said in Mark 8:34-35  34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

Paul also states in Colossians 3:1-4

 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where ChIf ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

3 For ye are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

God has called us to be “self-martyrs.” To Commit self-martyrdom. Paul tells us that we no longer live but it is Christ who lives through us and in us. (see Galatians 2:20) Once we as Christians grasp the fact that “we” no longer live and no longer are subject to our fleshly desires, it becomes easier for us to live a sacrificial life. Romans 12:1 states I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

If you have read Acts chapters 6 and 7 then you are familiar with a true believer named Stephan who was the first Christian martyr. The bible says he was full of the Holy Spirit and his ministry was followed by “signs and wonders.” He was put on trial by the Pharisees and Sadducees for preaching the “blasphemy” of the gospel of Christ. He was found guilty and was taken out and stoned to death. Acts chapter seven states that Stephen did not deny Christ nor plead for his life verses 59 and 60 states 59 and they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord; lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

You see Stephen was already a martyr, he had died to self a long time before this happened. His flesh did not cry out to live because he had already mortified his flesh and all he could see was Jesus as he asked God to forgive his accusers.

When we can get to the point in our relationships with Christ that Stephan had achieved we won’t have to question ourselves about whether or not we would be willing to die for our faith.  We will be ready willing and able to lay our lives down for our faith, and then we will know what Paul was feeling when he stated in Philippians 1:21 for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Finally my Brothers and Sisters, I say give your lives totally to Christ and let Him decide what to do with it.

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

JESUS CHRIST: A LEGACY WORTH PRESERVING

Praise the Lord everybody! Let everything that has breath praise His holy name!! I bless the Lord, I bless the Lord, and His praise shall forever be in my mouth. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate what God is doing in my life. The fact that I woke up this morning in the land of the living is reason enough to praise God, He alone is worthy to be praised.

As I left the weekly "hour of power" service at my church this week began to gaze out the window of the Access A Ride vehicle, and as we rolled through the streets of Harlem on our way home to the Bronx, I began to feel something stir up in my spirit. I began to take notice of all the refurbished BrownStone buildings, some were show pieces while others were still in the process of being renovated. I watched as people struggled to maintain a legacy, an earthly history and something that would bring a certain historic charm to their world.

The Lord began to speak through His spirit, telling me how these people were struggling to maintain a history that can not be saved. He reminded me of what Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 24:1+2   And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

I began to see man as God saw us, struggling to hold on to what can not be held on to, holding on feebly to the natural when we needed to be holding onto that which is spiritual. We are not concerned as much about our spiritual legacies as we should be. Our lives here on earth have become too precious to us, our own creations and ideas fill our hearts and minds. Being out and about our fathers business is something the world rarely thinks about and Christians are following the world instead of Christ.

Paul states in Colossians 3:1-3 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

We need to remember who's we are and whom we serve. For the short amount of time we are here on earth God has a mission for us, It's not about establishing our legacy, it's about building the legacy of Jesus Christ. Jesus died for us so that by His blood we could be saved from ourselves and reconciled with God. The only thing Jesus was concerned about leaving behind as His "legacy" was His Gospel, and the Holy spirit to empower man to spread the Gospel and to live Godly lifestyles.

As men and woman of God, our concern should be that we bear spiritual fruit, rather than worldly fruit. Jesus states in John 15:1-5    I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 

Let us bear the fruit that God requires and not the fruit that flesh desires.
             God Bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking off the wall