DEFEND YOURSELF AT ALL TIMES: THE WAR AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER!!

Praise the Lord everybody! Because He alone is worthy to be praised!! I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. I must say that this year is starting off with high hopes and aspirations concerning my service for the Lord. I'm pushing sixty and my time is in the latter house and in order for the latter house to be greater than the former house I must get to that place in Him, that "Cleft In The Rock" where God wants me to be.

there is one thing I do know and that is that there is a war going on and I'm on the front line fighting "the good fight of faith" that Paul talks about in First Timothy 6: 11-12  11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 

I said this to a Christian friend of mine the other day and his reply shook me up a bit. His reply was kind of sarcastic "you do know we win in the end don't you?" he might have been joking but to me there was nothing funny about it. Too many believers in the body of Christ have this laid back, the battle is over why should I keep fighting, It's all good attitude that is weakening the Church. Instead of remaining alert/vigilant and sober minded as Paul suggested in First Peter 5:8     8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour
A great baseball player once said after an improbable come from behind victory that "It ain't over till it's over", and that is just what the devil is saying right now, he is not going down without a fight and he doesn't want to go down alone. I'm not saying we have to walk in fear or defeat. God wants us to walk in victory, see 2 Corinthians 2: 14+15  14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing

Even in a prize fight the referee tells each fighter to "defend yourself at all times!" because when a fighter is losing he tends to get desperate and turns to dirty tactics and we all know the devil is the father of lies and "dirty tactics". So even though we know the ultimate outcome of the fight as far as the body of Christ is concerned we still have our own personal battles to be prepared for. That is why Paul said we must put on the full armour of God daily, (see Ephesians 6: 11-18) Not to look good but to be able to stand and fight off the attacks of our enemy the devil so that we can enter into God's rest along with all the others who have fought the good fight of faith to their end.

Don't get sucker punched by the enemy, defend yourself at all times. In the end we may have the victory but let us live as if we want to make it to the end.

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

IN THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK

Praise the Lord everybody! Let everything that Have breath praise ye the Lord!! I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. I am truly looking forward to this new year and if God spare my life I'm expecting great things from Him. In my last blog post I laid out my hopes and desires for the coming year and that plan basically is to do whatever He tells me to do. God has tasked me with some assignments for the coming year and by His grace I intend to carry them out. 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 clift 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 would 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 got older it became harder.

I'm tired of 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


           Psalm 91 King James Version (KJV)

91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

King James Version (KJV)

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

"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

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

HOLY GHOST REROUTE!!

Praise the Lord everybody, because He alone is worthy to be praised!! I pray every one of you are enjoying God's blessing. What God is doing with me right now is a humbling experience. When I think back over how much love, teaching, instruction, rebuking and chastening God has invested in me. My attitude of gratitude has grown immensely. It's all about me showing my love for God through my obedience. So let me be obedient by sharing with you what God gave me the other day.

The other day I was talking to my mother about an issue that is being played up big in the media these days and a hot topic on most talk shows. As she became more and more impassioned in her speech my flesh also began to rise up and I found myself ready to join her in the flesh and offer up a worldly view and solution to the problem. Just as I was about to open my mouth I could feel the Holy Ghost reroute my thought process from the flesh to the spiritual and the man of God in me took over. I remembered whose I was and whom I served.

I am a Holy Ghost filled man of God, called by God to be a "Watchman" on the wall. I can't let anybody turn me around, not even my mom. 1st Peter 1: 14-16 states 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

The Holy Spirit will lead you and keep you if you let Him. Temptation can come from anywhere at any time and from anybody. The enemy knows our weak spots and sometimes he catches us off guard and we find ourselves, like I did, "getting into the conversation" our carnal minds coming alive, but if you are truly anchored in Jesus the Holy Spirit will act like rail road switchman and give you a Holy Ghost reroute back to the mind of Christ. David said in  Psalms 73:1+2 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

   This just shows you that it can happen to anyone, even David a man after God's own heart. He was tempted to envy the prosperity of the wicked, I'm sure just like me he found himself at times in conversation with ungodly people and almost slipped and said something he would later regret but as you read further down he had a Holy Ghost reroute as he states in verses 22-28  22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.

24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.

28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.

I strive every day to draw nearer to the Lord so that when my feet almost slip the Holy Ghost will reroute  my mind and my feet back onto the right path.

                       God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

  

STUPID MISTAKES AND CANKER WORMS!

Praise the Lord everybody!! for He is truly worthy to be praised!! I pray every one of you is enjoying God's blessing. I can't begin to tell you all how much God is doing in my life. Last week I was given the opportunity to preach the "Hour Of Power" service at First Church of Christ Holiness USA in Harlem NYC. It was truly a blessing to preach live again. It had been almost twenty years since I last ministered in my calling. Don't get me wrong I am a Watchman of God and God called me to write this blog but I was called to preach even before I knew what a Watchman was.

Writing is my gift but preaching the Gospel, that is my calling. When I look back over the journey I've been on in my walk with Jesus, from God saving me and raising me up to preach to Him sitting me down due to my disobedience and continued struggle with drug addiction, to Him finally raising me up again. I began thinking about one of my early anchoring scriptures Joel 2: 25+26  25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm, and the Caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

I held on to this promise of God as drug addiction and disobedience robbed me of my ministry and the life I felt I should have had. I held on to it and held on to it thinking like most people who are holding on to it even today that all I had to do was wait on God to do His thing. To me the devil was the canker worm, the locust and the Caterpillar all rolled into one. "The devil did it, he stole everything from me" that was my way of thinking for the most part. He tricked me, It took me years to admit my own part in my down fall, that I was overtaken by my own lust and desires and that if I really wanted God to restore the years the "canker worm" had eaten I needed to go back and read the whole of Joel chapter 2.

Joel 2: 12- 18 tells us  12 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:  13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

18 Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

First of all I gave my years to the canker worm to eat and then I asked God to restore what I had forsaken through my own behavior and weakness. Then I just stood around waiting on God, but God said in verses 12 and 13 that we must turn from our wicked ways back unto Him with all our hearts and with fasting, weeping and mourning(Godly sorrow). Fasting, weeping and mourning are action words meaning you just can't sit around waiting for them to happen, you have to make them happen if you want God to make things happen.  

When I sought after God to the point where any sin in my life made me sick, yes I mean physically ill, that is when our relationship grew stronger and He began my restoration. Don't spend your time waiting on God to restore what you gave away to be eaten by various pest, you turn to Him, repent with Godly sorrow and fasting and He will incline His ear to you and begin your restoration. I know, He's doing it for me right now.

                        God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall