LIVING BY FAITH: OLD SCHOOL STYLE!!

Praise the Lord everybody! because He alone is worthy to be praised! Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! I'm really enjoying what God is doing in my life. He is doing a work in me, a painful work at times but a work that will be to my benefit in the end. So I say "work on Lord, work on."

The other night I was praying, asking God "When Lord When are you going to move concerning my recent trials and tribulations". He began to deal with me concerning the current shape of His Church and the watering down of the spirit of today's so-called "men of God." He seemed to be rebuking me as He brought the following scriptures to mind, Hebrews 11:32-37      32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.

34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

37 They were stoned, they have sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

God was letting me know what real men of faith endured because of their faith and are still enduring today, but where are today's examples? Where are today's men of faith? Our so-called Church leaders today bend and fold like a Castro Convertible couch when it comes time to stand up for issues that are not popular with the people, for example, the mainstreaming of homosexuality. those willing to stand up for the Word of God are few and far between.

Most of today's "men of God" seem to be only concerned about what can be gained in the here and now, the above scripture talks about men of faith who endured torture "that they might obtain a better resurrection:" We need to be praying less "take this cup" and more " not mine but thine will be done." God knows what's best for us, each and every one of us has a purpose and each and everything we go through has a reason in His plan.

When we ask God to remove us from certain situations we must also ask if it is His will for us to be removed. We must stop saying we trust God, and start proving we trust God. When God allows various trials to come upon us it's because He is trying to make us, mold us and prepare us to go to higher heights and deeper depths in Christ.

It's hard on the flesh but medicine for the spirit, we must remember that we are no longer ruled by the flesh but by the spirit of God. The same spirit that empowered Jesus to drink His "cup" is available to us so that we may drink ours. Jesus drank His in faith believing He would be raised on the third day and God wants to raise us also.

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

SALVATION! : THIS AIN'T MUSICAL CHAIRS!!

Praise the Lord everybody! because He alone is worthy to be praised!! What can I say, God is moving by His spirit in my wife and I's life right now. We are breaking out with a new anointing and we're not looking back at our past trials and tribulations but we are pressing on toward the vision God has shown us concerning our ministry now and our future ministry. We are not giving up and we are not turning back, we are going on in Jesus name and we are not stopping until we hear "well done, well done."

I've been noticing that lately a lot of "Christians" have been playing musical chairs with their salvation and right now they hear the music of the world and they are dancing to the beat, hoping that when the "music" stops and Jesus returns, all the "chairs" won't be taken. How do I know this? because I used to do it myself back in the day. Every time I heard the "music" play I had to get up and dance at the same time making sure that every Sunday I found an empty seat at a church where I pretended to be pious for my church family.
Thanks be to God who gave me the victory,who showed me how to stop playing "musical chairs" with my salvation and my relationship with God. First He brought this scripture back to mind, 2nd Peter 1:5-10 states  5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
It became apparent to me that If I was able to play "musical chairs" with my faith that their must be something lacking in my foundation and the time had come to examine myself and add those things to my life. I no longer have to be concerned about weather I'll have a seat when the "music" stops and Jesus comes. The word says for us to do our due "diligence" to make our "calling and election sure."    
Make your calling and election sure, stop playing "musical chairs" with your salvation and examine yourself. If you are lacking anything in your walk with God including those things mentioned in the above scripture, ask God to help you obtain it. In James 4:2+3 it states  2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

We need to stop asking God for earthly, carnal things and ask for those things that will help us stand, help us be obedient and will help us live Holy, those other things I just pray "Lord let your will be done in this situation." I want my election and calling to be "sure" I never want to play "musical chairs" with my salvation again and neither should any of you.

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

FLESH, GET THEE BEHIND!! I GOT ONE MORE ROUND!!

Praise the Lord everybody, for He alone is worthy to be praised!! I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing because this is the time. God is pouring out His spirit on those who are willing to receive it.

God has got me obeying His will on another level right now and some of the things He has me doing may seem strange to some and you may even question motives and even my relationship with God. Just know this, I am going to obey God no matter how it looks to the world. I have come too far in Him to turn back now. God brought me the hard way, He taught me to say what I mean and mean what I say, a hard lesson for a former low self-esteem people pleaser like myself.

For the last couple of days I have been mulling over the many afflictions I have suffered these last 4 years as I've tried to take my ministry to another level at my church, pressing my way to a certain point and then comes the attack of the enemy, the physical breakdown and the next thing I know I've missed six months of church. After this happens to you about three or four times your flesh starts to talk to you.

Your flesh starts to question the sanity of gearing up one more time for the press. Your flesh starts saying things like "maybe God is trying to tell you something, maybe God wants you to do all your ministry online from home, maybe He wants you to leave First Church." Maybe you even listen to your flesh a little bit until you remember the things that God showed you, the things He promised concerning your ministry and all the events God showed you happened at First Church.

It is at this point that I stopped listening and said "FLESH! GET THEE BEHIND, FOR YOU HAVE NOT IN MIND THE THINGS OF GOD!" When you have a calling on your life the devil will use whatever he can to stop your ministry from going forth.

Jesus once had to rebuke Peter for the same thing in Mark 8: 31-33 when He said     31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him.

33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
The Devil will use your flesh to speak to you, to hinder you because that is what your flesh does best, it talks you into doing things that benefit the flesh and not God and His spirit. I am sure the argument that Peter was making about Jesus not dying sounded good to His flesh but Jesus had to rebuke those thoughts and remember why He came in the first place.

I began to do the same thing. I thought back to every vision, every word of knowledge God had given me concerning my ministry and they all happened at my church, not at home and not at another church. So I'm gearing up one more time, for one more press. I know what God said and I believe God and not my flesh. The word says in Numbers 23: 19 + 20   19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good

20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

I want everything that God has for me and I want to complete all my assignments from here on out, so from now until God calls me home, every morning I'm going to tell my flesh and Satan "get thee behind me because you have not in mind the things of God." I'm going one more round because I believe God and I say to you all don't throw in the towel if you believe God has something out there for you, Go one more round.
       God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall
  

OBEDIENCE: A KEY TO THE KINGDOM!

Praise the Lord everybody!! Lift up your heads oh ye gates!! Be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in!
I need you now more than ever Lord, come and quench this thirsting in my soul. As I am being purged of my impurities so that God can lift me up and use me in these last and evil days. No matter how much you think your living right, there is always something deep inside that God sees that He wants to expose and free you from, and if we let Him have his way in our lives He will purify us for His service.

Deuteronomy 24:1-7 states     And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

7 The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.   

This scripture starts out saying if we would "hearken diligently" unto Gods voice and follow "all His commandments" that we will be blessed in all the ways written above. My desire is to be diligent in my quest to be fully obedient to God. This is no time for half measures, God is calling His soldiers up to the front lines and I am a soldier. An obedient soldier.

The more I search the scripture the more I realize how important holiness and obedience are to God, how important it is that His people separate themselves from the world. Paul said 2nd Corinthians 13:5  5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

The time has come for us to examine ourselves, those of us who call ourselves "Christians" and men and woman of God, I know I am. Jesus said in Matthew 7: 21    1 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

There it is again, the importance of being obedient to God's will. There will be many who think they are getting into Heaven who are going to be greatly disappointed. Jesus said in verses 22+23  22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.   

I do not want to be one of the disappointed, so I examine myself every day and I seek His voice and guidance in all I do and when He speaks I not only listen but I do my best to be obedient. I wish I could say I was always obedient but I'm trying and God is not through with me yet.
        God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

THERE'S BEING CHRISTIAN, AND THEN THERE'S HOLINESS: STEP UP YOUR "GAME"

Praise the Lord everybody!! because He alone is worthy to be praised!!He is Alpha and Omega, the author and finisher of our faith and I love Him. As much as I love him I know He loves me more. God has blessed me with many gifts and has invested a lot of time in me and He has seen, in my eyes, very little return on His investment up to this point. Yet He still loves me and cares for me. I am determined that for whatever time I have left, to put my gifts and my life to good use at whatever He asks me to do. Paul said in Romans 12: 1+ 2       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.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

One of the key words in this scripture is "holy", holy, acceptable unto God. A lot of times we come to God in our "mess", unrepentant, and we expect Him to bless us and our mess(our sin).
Look around you and then look at yourself and then ask yourself, "how many truly holy living people do I know?" Uncompromising, Holy Ghost filled and living everything they know by faith people. The answer for me is very few, but According to everything I've read in the scriptures this is what God expects from His people.

 First Peter  1: 15+16 states 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 dictionary says living holy means   Living or undertaken with highly moral or spiritual purpose; saintly: a holy person; a holy way of life. After contemplating on this a while, I began to realize that I had better step up my game if I want to make it in. My gifts mean nothing unless I use them in a holy way. there are well over 500 scriptures that mention the word holy the term Christian is only mentioned three times in the Bible. There are a lot of people going around claiming to be Christians but how many would dare to claim that they are holy men and woman of God? very few, yet it is obvious that this is what is required of us.

  1st Peter 2:9 states    9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

I'm not trying to burst anybodies bubble but there is being Christian and then there is Holiness, and it is we who have set the tone. With all our compromising and inability to stand up to temptation and our secret sins we have brought forth a sort of Gospel light where "it's all good" as long as we do it with love. Peter was not preaching "Gospel light" neither was Paul or any of the Apostles, just ask Ananias and Sapphira ( Acts Chapter 5).

When you are trying to live holy you will be talked about, called a legalest, a fanatic, a zealot and a religious nut, mostly because people prefer to pull you down rather than climb up to you, just ask Nehemiah. All I have to do is think of Hebrews 12:14    14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

I want to see the Lord in the beauty of Holiness one day and if that means stepping up my "game" so to speak, then so be it.

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

IT'S ME OH LORD: MY OWN STUMBLING BLOCK!!

Praise the Lord everybody!! Because He alone is worthy to be praised. I can't thank God enough for what He's doing in my life, how He's shown me another level of prayer, shown me another level of obedience, another way of seeing things and another way of doing things. The reason I say "He has shown me" is because all God can do is show us the way but it is up to us to follow His lead.
God has equipped me for the journey but it is I who must still walk the path.
In my last post I wrote about obeying God on another level and I must be obedient right now and write about what God Has been dealing with me about these last few days. I was sitting around thinking about my old football playing days in high school and college, how much I loved the game and how different my life would have been Had I not gotten injured in my senior year in High School. I kept going over it and over it in my mind until God began to remind me of what really happened.

He reminded me of how I walked away from my college football career because I was not willing to pay the physical price it took to continue. Of course He was right, I began to look back over my life, my life before Christ that is. Not long after I quit football my sister and I started writing songs together and producing demo records, before long we started our own production company, things were going pretty good until we ran into some financial problems concerning studio time. I walked away from the music business to go in to nursing school, telling myself that the extra income would help us meet our expenses until we had our first hit song. Needless to say I never went back to the music business and despite a successful nursing career I never reached my full potential in nursing because of drug addiction and then physical disability.

I began to feel sad about all the things I did not accomplish over my life, all the missed opportunities but God said not to look back at what I didn't accomplish but look forward to what I still can accomplish. These two scriptures were brought to mind, Philippians 3:13-14   13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And,
1st Corinthians 9:24    24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 

I have decided to not only finish this Christian race but to run a race worthy of winning a prize, verse 25 states  25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

There are so many blessings that God had prepared for me that I blew because I pulled up lame as I came down the home stretch, too many to cover in this post. I am more determined now than ever to  not only to run but to endure to the end. Just as it says in God's word, 2nd Timothy 2:3,4         3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 

I had forgotten that we are all soldiers in God's army and I had to revisit one of my early blog post titled "I am a soldier"(check archives). Also it says in James 1:12    12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
This world is full of temptation, one of those temptations for me according to my history is to give up when the pain or the task becomes to tough on my flesh. Then I think about Jesus, Paul writes in Hebrews 12:1+2         Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

If Jesus can endure the cross for our sins then why can't I endure a few trials, tribulations and temptations for His name sake. I am a soldier and I will endure until He comes or calls me home. No taking down, No turning back.

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

DISOBEDIENCE: A HARD HEAD MAKES A SOFT BEHIND!!

Praise the Lord everybody! for He alone is worthy to be praised! I love the Lord, He has been so good to me and my wife, even in our trials, our tribulations and our acts of disobedience. God's grace and mercies are new every morning. We have tasted and seen that the Lord truly is good. Our feeble works are as "filthy rags" to Him as we try and earn His love and His favor. We alone cannot do it.

As I read through the Bible I see example after example of how disobedience can cause the man or woman of God to suffer many trials and afflictions. I am also a witness to that fact. The trial my wife and I are going through right now is due to me not totally obeying the instructions God gave me years ago, now I am reaping the fruit of my disobedience.

Just as Jonah had to spend three days in the belly of a fish because he didn't want to go to Nineveh, just as Sampson suffered at the hands of the Philistines because he let his hair be cut and he married outside of his people against his parents wishes. There are many more accounts of the consequences of disobeying God, David, Paul as Saul, Moses at the rock and the list goes on and on.

Being obedient is more than just going to Church, paying your tithes and offering and saying all the right things. Being obedient is listening to that still small voice and doing what it says when it tells you to put another $20 dollars in the plate when it comes around, when it says "don't take that job offer" when you've always wanted that job, when it tells you the one you love is not the one for you, when it tells you to quit your good job and go into full time ministry,this is obedience to God.

Fifteen years ago God spoke to me and told me it was "time to get my house in order" meaning my physical body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, I was over weight and my body was just starting to break down. He put me in a position to do so, He gave me favor with the ministry I was \involved with and they provided me with everything I would need, diet, exercise equipment and encouragement and I took advantage of it. Then I was offered a job, a job I really wanted but God said "no". I convinced myself that I had misunderstood and  God's "no" was really a "yes" and I took the Job.

To make a long story short, that was the end of the weight loss program, I eventually relapsed on drugs and my body broke down to the point where I couldn't work anymore and had to get on disability. All Though the relapse on drugs was short lived, I am still on disability and suffering in my body and struggling to lose weight. I am believing God for my healing but all this could have been avoided if I had just done what God had told me to do back then. God knows our future outcomes and what lays in wait for us around every corner. We can avoid these pit falls if we would only take heed of His warnings.

Isaiah 1:16-20 states    16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

If you truly want to be blessed and favored of God learn to be obedient in all things. Like my mom always says "a hard head makes a soft behind."

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