THE STANDARDS OF GOD

Praise the Lord everybody, for He alone is worthy to be Praised!! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. My wife and I are now in a season of refreshing. God has opened the windows of Heaven and poured out a blessing and relieved some of our burden, has the storm completely passed over us? No, but God has reminded us that  He has heard our cry and that He will see us through to the other side. Praise His holy name,

the other day I was meditating and the Lord brought to mind one of my favorite scriptures, Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. 

This is a scripture I turn to a lot when I'm going through a particularly strong attack from the enemy. I often ask God to "raise up a standard for me against Satan as you promise in your word. When I feel I've been waiting too long for Him to move Sometimes I wonder "where is your standard Father?" In His time He would answer me by delivering me out of the hands of the enemy. This time when I asked "where is your standard oh God?" He revealed to me that He had raised up standards for me throughout my life in Christ and that I had just finished speaking to one on the phone, my Pastor, Elder Johnny Green.

God began to show me that the "Standards" being raised have been the men of God He has put in my Life. True, uncompromising men of God who I could look to in the time of trouble as living examples in order to gain strength and hope to help carry me through my "flood."
These men not only upheld the standard, they were the standard.
The Dictionary says a "Standard" is a flag or emblematic figure used as a rallying point for an army, fleet, etc. The "standards" God has raised and placed in my life over the years let me know just how much He loves me. They were and are men of integrity, gap standing men, men whose one desire in life was and is to live in holy obedience to the Lord. 

Even in my struggles with addiction they taught me how to trust God and never give up, no matter what. When the storms come I think of their testimonies, the testimonies that allowed me to create my own testimonies. Paul once said "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."( 1st Corinthians 11:1) He was a "standard" raised by God, an example for the Church's he planted among the Gentiles and even for us today. He endured many trials and indignities yet he remained steadfast and immovable in his faith walk with God. 
God wants to raise us all up as a "standard" of strength and victory over the enemy, a person other Christians can rally around as a visible example, proclaiming " If God can carry me He can carry you through too!" Let's not just be standard bearers but standard bearers and "standard" all rolled into one, worthy representatives of Christ who can be viewed as a role models by those in need.

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

  

LEST WE FORGET: GOD WANTS TO REMIND US OF SOMETHINGS

Praise the Lord everybody! because He is worthy to be praised! I hope and pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. God is truly moving in my wife and I's life right now. He just blessed us after much prayer, trials and tribulations by opening the windows of Heaven and sending down some financial relief, Praise God. No we did not hit the Lotto or anything but at least we will be able to pay our monthly bills. Now we are waiting on our physical healing to manifest.

Over the past few years God has used me to bring forth some challenging and timely messages for the body of Christ Here in America. They truly blessed me and moved me at the time being the first partaker of the fruit. I like many others, was moved to promise to make changes in my life, and I did, but as time passes the messages and the feelings fade. The commitments we made wane. The Lord says it is time to look back and revisit some of those messages that blessed and moved me and I am asking you to do the same thing.

For me all of them touched me but some really stood out like: "The Weight", "love for god vs legalism", "AT PEACE IN BABYLON", "THESE ARE THEY",  "THE ICHABOD" PARTS 1+2, "THERE WILL BE BLOOD", "DON'T LOOK NOW BUT YOUR SHEEP ARE SHOWING" and so many others. There are well over one hundred life changing messages are available for review on our archives. Go back and re visit those that have blessed you or read something that you may have missed and be blessed.

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

"...HIS CHILDREN", PART 3: TALKING THE TALK AND WALKING THE WALK

Praise the Lord everybody!! because He alone is worthy to be praised! As always I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. God blessed me and my wife last week. We were able to go to church last week for the first time in six months. We  went to Wednesday afternoon's "Hour of Power" because it is a Short service and that is all my sciatica can tolerate right now, it may have only been an hour but God showed up in full power. We were truly blessed and we are believing God for a healing that allows me to go and enjoy a full Sunday service without pain.

In my last post "I know why God calls us His children, part 2: Bar Mitzvah" I talked about coming into the age of accountability where I had to learn there was a price to be paid for disobedience and sin. I talked about how God saved me and cleaned me up and discipled me and gave me a hunger and thirst after His righteousness. He also gave me a love for His word and a gift that allowed me to have knowledge beyond my years in Christ. But some things have to be LEARNED by experience.

As a babe in Christ I studied the Bible all day long at Timothy House, there was no television or movie watching allowed not even the News. I carried my Bible everywhere I went and even studied while eating meals and I loved it. I could quote scripture and "scripture whip" with the best of them. Raining down scripture on anybody who happened to "step out of line" in my presence. bringing down my own instant judgement. I knew how to talk scripture but had trouble walking scripture.

In Hebrews 5: 8+9 it says,     8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

This scripture is talking about Jesus, how He "learned" obedience by the things He suffered. You might ask "Why would God who is all knowing and who made everything have to learn anything?" Jesus says in John 8:29  “I do always those things that please him,”  and He never had to be chastised for disobedience as a child as the verse seems to be saying on the surface, but He had to become obedient through actual experience. He “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). That was the ultimate act of obedience and is past our human understanding yet even in this Jesus said  “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done”(Luke 22:42)

In the same way I had to learn what obedience and living holy meant by actually walking this walk . In theory I had vast knowledge but in practice I had none. It took me twelve years after I got saved to learn how to put the drugs down for good after many falls, recoveries and restorations. I learned quickly to stop judging people and stick to judging sin. Not only recognizing other's sin but also my own sins. In the eleven years since then I have continued to "learn" obedience in what I know will be a life long education.

I was a child who was trying to run before I could walk. Like most children I learned "talk" first but I learned "walking" is more important.

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

  

I KNOW WHY GOD CALLS US HIS CHILDREN, PART 2: "BAR MITZVAH"

Praise the Lord everybody!! God alone is worthy of all glory, honor and praise. I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. He is truly blessing my wife and I. He is healing our bodies and strengthening our faith. I'm beginning to lose the weight I gained during the months I was bed ridden, I'm exercising and last week I went out for the first time in six months. I saw my doctor and had blood test and physical. I am waiting on test results please keep me in prayer.

In my last post (I know why God calls us His children) I told the testimony of how I first heard of God and from God. How I turned away from Him and went my own way thinking I knew what was best for me. As I said in my last post I was running again toward the edge of my "roof" chasing what I thought was important to me but this time instead of "commanding" me to "stop" God allowed me to fall off the edge and face the consequences of my disobedience. It was time for me to come of age.

The Jewish people have a ceremony called a Bar Mitzvah when a male child reaches the age of religious accountability. Before this the child is not obligated to follow the Commandments even though they are encouraged to do so so that they will be prepared when they have reached the appropriate age. before that they can not be involved in leading or being a part of a religious ceremony.

I started doing drugs because of my disobedience, I refused to come when God called me. I felt this hole in my soul and instead of filling it with God I chose to seek love in all the wrong places, bars, even though I did not smoke or drink and sought after woman and sex. To the world and my family it looked like I had it all, education, great career and money. Something was missing though and I could not figure it out. Soon I was drinking and hanging with the wrong crowd.

Over a two year period I went from appearing to have it all to having nothing but a title, R.N., a title that I thought would fix everything. I lost my apartment, my job and the respect of family and friends. I slept on park benches and in the Staten Island ferry terminal. I knew nothing about the streets, I came from a stable lower middle class family with both my parents and three siblings, we ate dinner every night together while my father would entertain us with funny stories about his job. I had a stay at home mom who was strict and made sure we went to school and did our home work, she even tried to get us to establish a relationship with Jesus even though she barely knew Him herself.

Still Here I was, in the street, homeless and still I did not call on God for help, I thought that at any moment I would be able to pull MYSELF together if I just put my mind to it. Like a rebellious child I chose to go down my way rather than admit I needed help from my Father. God allowed me to stew in my own juices as I made a wreck of my life. I had reached the age of accountability and a day of reckoning was coming, I was either going to be my father in Heaven's child or a child of the devil.

No longer could I skip through life oblivious to the the spiritual warfare going on around me I was being drafted by both sides. The word of God says in Proverbs 22:6   6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it
I Thank God for a mother who loved us enough to drag us to Church on Sundays when we were young because one day in the midst my self inflicted trial and tribulation I remembered the Lord and I cried out to Him. That day the Lord heard me and brought to my remembrance all the things He had done for me that in the past I had taken credit for. He broke my heart and my will and I cried for what seemed like a month.

During that time God sent true believers my way who prayed with me and blessed me with Bibles and words of testimony. I opened up God's word for what felt like the first time and suddenly the same book I had found unreadable as a child now I could not put it down. God then opened the door for me to be discipled at Timothy House, a ministry of Times Square Church in New York where I was set apart and cleansed through prayer and His word for full time ministry. It was a blessing I will be forever grateful for. That was twenty years ago and I have been pressing toward the mark ever since. Has my walk been perfect? No, I have made mistakes, bad choices and I have paid dearly for them but God has been faithful in that if we confess our sin and repent He will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness and I will continue to serve Him until He calls me Home.

Abba Father I am not worthy to be called your child but you have overlooked my shortcomings and saw my needs. You have given me eyes to see and provided me with a vision, provided me with ears to hear and an obedient spirit. when I was a child I thought as a child but when I came of age you helped me put away childish things and I thank you. Lord continue to mold me and shape me into the image of your son Jesus and I will be careful to give you all the glory, honor and praise, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.  It's "Bar Mitzvah" time for the body of Christ!!
          God Bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

I KNOW WHY GOD CALLS US HIS CHILDREN

Praise the Lord everybody because He alone is worthy to be praised! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. My wife Ruth and I are slowly but surely being led out of the wilderness by God as He gets us ready to takes us to another level in our physical and spiritual renovation. Our foundations are solid but we needed to have our framework and plumbing rehabbed. For myself I know there had been corrosion and dry rot caused by years of riding out storms and ship wrecks without going into Holy Ghost dry dock for repairs during those quiet periods in between.

While God has me in "dry dock" as He scrapes the barnacles off my hull, I have had time to reflect back over the years of our relationship. I remember the first time God spoke to me, I was about 8 years old and on the roof of the old five story walk up I grew up in in the Bronx. I was up there flying one of my home made kite's when the string broke and I took off chasing it without a thought for my safety. All I could think about was all the work I had put into this kite and as I ran just before running right off the edge a voice said "stop" just like that, and just like that I stopped just in time to see my kite slowly float down to the court yard seven stories below.

I did not know God or His voice then but He knew me. It all could have ended right there for me but God said "stop", it was not one of those commands you hear but you don't obey. God said "stop" and just like He said "let there be light" and there was light with that same authority He said "stop" and I had to stop. God had a plan for my life.

As a child my mother made me go to church and I sang in the Children's Choir and went to Sunday school and yet after years I still had no idea who my Father in Heaven was. Like most children in the beginning I knew who my mother was because she was always there for me, feeding and caring for me and dragging me to church but I had trouble making a connection with my Father God. I had no time for Him. I attributed that voice that said "stop" and saved my life to MY subconscious mind and did not put the God at church and the voice on the roof together. But like a true father God had patience with me. He knew the plans He had for me.

When I reached 14 years old my mom gave me a choice on weather or not I had to go to church any more and I chose to stay home. Like the Prodigal Son I decided it was time for me to move on from my Fathers house, the fact that He was the reason for my very existence and had provided for my every need meant  nothing to me at the time. As the years went by I piled up accomplishments including writing and producing records to gaining college degrees and becoming a Nurse. I thought I could accomplish anything I put my mind to. I was the center of my own universe I gave no thought to God's favor or grace. I ignored my Father because I felt I didn't need my Father. Soon that would all change.

God gives us all free will and like children when they first discover they have the ability to say "no" we want to exercise that ability as much as we can. Just like earthly fathers God allows us some leeway by convicting us and gently prodding us in the right direction until we go to far bringing chastisement our way. That is what happened to me. God began calling me back home to Him in the late 1980's, I felt Him drawing me. All of a sudden after many years I had the desire to  go to church. I kept making plans to go every Sunday, even talked to my mother about it but every Sunday morning I couldn't get myself out of bed.

Here I was rushing toward the edge of the roof again with God saying "stop" again but now as an adult with free will He allowed me to run off the edge. As I "ran" through God's stop sign I stepped off the roof and fell head long into the abyss of crack addiction. I could feel God saying like many fathers have to "this is why I was calling you, drawing you, I knew where you were headed. Now you must face the consequences of your decisions." He sent me to my room, the crack house, to think about what I had done.

In the eyes The Great I Am, The Alpha and the Omega we are nothing but a quick glimpse out of the corner of His eye, to call us children is being generous.

I was a spoiled, disobedient child taking for granted my Fathers love and favor. When He allowed me to "fall" into drugs God gave me a wonderful gift, A Testimony. TO BE CONTINUED...

    Till next time, God Bless you All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall        

TAKE HEART: THERE IS A RIGHTEOUS BRANCH!!

Praise the Lord everybody! because He alone is worthy of all praise! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. He is truly a wonder to my soul, a strong tower that I can run into and be safe. With so much going on in the world, shootings almost daily in schools, murders, kidnappings, sex crimes and "mental illness" ever increasing, it is comforting to know we have a savior that is more than able to keep us even when the cares of this world try to disrupt the peace of mind that God has provided for His people.

As we look around and see the body of Christ being watered down by weakened Christians who are bringing in ideas and doctrine infected with worldly values. it is easy to wonder where are the "true worshippers" Jesus mentioned in John 4:23. Some seem to think the word of God is like the Constitution of the United States in that if enough people vote for something it can be added as an amendment to God's word. Some are pushing for an amendment that makes homosexuality no longer a sin. once you do that you might as well throw the whole book away.

It is easy to feel like Elijah these days who after being used by God and living zealously in His service and battling the prophets of Baal began to feel all alone after Jezebel threatened his life and the world clung to evil instead of good. In 1st Kings 19: 14  14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

The body of Christ is under attack from without and within and it is easy for a "true worshipper" to feel persecuted and alone. But God said to Elijah in verse
18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

God wanted him to know that he was not standing alone and that his labors were not in vane. God is saying the same thing today to all the uncompromising holy men of God preaching and Pastoring in little store front churches, on street corners and around the corner and in the shadow of dead dry mega churches that are turning out dead dry "faux" Christians. This may sound harsh to some but this is life and death and I pray we are not all to far gone to see that!

As evil abounds everywhere despite your efforts to be a holy light unto the world, don't worry about who is standing with you and who will ascend unto God's holy hill if you fall. You just stand! Stand knowing that God has set aside others that He can put his trust in at such a time as this. God spoke in Jeremiah 23:1-6 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.
2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.

3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.

5 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness.

Keep living holy, Keep preaching holiness and the full council of God, keep fighting the good fight and take heart you are not alone!

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

WHEN THE DEVIL COMES KNOCKING: LET JESUS ANSWER THE DOOR!!

Praise the Lord everybody!! All glory and honor belongs to Him, He alone is worthy! God is surely moving by His spirit in my life and I need to tell somebody about His goodness and mercy.I wrote in my last post, that I was consecrating until God moved on my wife and I's situation and It worked. After seven days of consecration God Has answered our prayers concerning insurance for my wife, Giving her favor concerning her disability claim and granting us increases in our other financial income, hallelujah!! He also did some life changing work in me concerning my personal walk with Him, God cares and is long suffering, I am a witness.

"WHO IS THE STRONG MAN IN YOUR HOUSE?" A question I felt God begin to deal with me about recently when I continued to struggle with something I had been asking for deliverance from for the past few years. Every time I appeared to be delivered I would fall back into that old behavior and then have to  start all over and try and put that thing back in it's grave where it belonged.

Jesus said in Mark 3:27  27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
The reason why the devil had been able to come into my life( my house) seemingly at will and disrupt what God was trying to do in my life was the fact That at times I have relieved God from his position as the strong man in my life and replaced Him from time to time with my self. Let me tell you the flesh is no match for the devil. If God by His spirit is not the strong man in your "house" then you can be sure that your house will not be able to stand when the enemy comes around huffing and puffing trying to blow your "house" down.

To make matters worse every time The enemy gets put out and then is allowed back in things get worst. Jesus said in Luke 11:24-26    24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. 

A lot of times when we find ourselves in sinking sand with no apparent way out it is because the lamp that guides our feet, God's word, has been turned off. We decide to walk by what we see and not by faith, it's no wonder we wind up in a ditch.
I had to learn that God doesn't need any down time to get recharged, He is always on duty. I had to remember not to keep trying to beat Jesus to the door every time the doorbell rang. When I was a child I would do the same thing and my father would snatch me back and scold me, reminding me about the dangers and that he was the man of the house. When the enemy brings temptation to your door, relax and let Jesus, the strong man, answer it. He can't fail.

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