Join Us This Sunday for Youth Sunday!

 Join us this Sunday,May 29th, for Youth Sunday! It will feature special presentations by our very own Jerome Cuthbertson Jr and Andrea.

Trusting God in the Presence of your Haters By: Charlece Byrd

 

Two years ago, my New Year’s resolution was to pray more, speak less, and trust God to do the rest! To be honest, I’ve done the complete opposite. It’s more like speak first, pray later, trust who? Jeremiah 29:11 states, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I’m a control freak by nature. Trusting in something I cannot see is hard. I hate the uncertainties of life and I seek validation in others versus seeking it in God.

What I find funny is that God knew the plans that He had for my life before I was even born ( as stated in Jeremiah 1:5). He knew I would backslide and be a hotheaded mess. However, He also knew that, eventually, I would change. He would transform me from the inside out. If I know that to be true, why do I continue to want to take control? I ask myself, “Do I really do trust Him like I say I do?”. I say that I trust in His plan but do I really ?

Pastor once preached about people who hold us back. They remind us of who we used to be in order to hold us back. This kind of person is called a ‘hater’. Truth be told, those haters are your irritants. I have a shirt that says, “If I was a Hater I’d hate me TOO!”  I say this to emphasize the fact that when God starts blessing you, your haters begin to irritate you. So let them hate and irritate. God is doing something so awesome that they want to hold you back. They want what you have. They have that ‘if I can’t have it, no one should’ mentality’. They want to remind you why you shouldn’t be blessed. They will make you question the very thing that God is doing in your life. If your blessing wasn’t going to be so great, you wouldn’t have haters! Similar to what my shirt says, I would hate on myself too if I were a hater!

Today I challenge you all to do a self-evaluation. Look at your problem and ask, “Is there anything that is too hard for God?”  Step out in faith. Yes, it’s scary! Yes, the devil will throw opposition your way!  If living in God’s will were so easy, the devil wouldn’t be fighting you as ferociously as he has been!  Therefore, you need to allow the haters to hate. Neither the haters nor the devil can destroy God’s plans and purpose for your life. Give God the wheel and relinquish your control.

Expect Greater from God By: Barbie Pompa

 

Psalm 56:4 NLT: I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
In order to change, I need to be irritated to do so. I can get comfortable with the status quo (maybe even lazy) with just being where I am. Unbothered. But when God is calling you to move and you’re not budging, be prepared to get uncomfortable! I recall hearing God, in the midst of my dream, say “If the adversary is getting on your nerves, expect greater from God!” Immediately, I could think of several areas in my life that I was annoyed with, but not so much that I had to address it, until now.
Here are my top irritations:
• My temple-I have all the equipment and resources, I have been successful in the past-so why am I having difficulty being consistent now?
• My job- I once held a job for 13 years because of fearing the unknown and now I’m feeling the discomforts to move again. I’m waiting for God, but not proactively waiting (there’s a difference!)
• My time-I’m always too busy, too tired, overcommitted and then overwhelmed!
If we look at the adversary’s attacks as irritations (like a mosquito bite) we can use that to fuel determination and motivation to get us through whatever season we find ourselves in. We must also realize that to get through this current season we must learn its purpose so we can move forward and be prepared for the season to come. The same way we cover ourselves with mosquito spray to prevent bites, we can cover ourselves with the full armor of God to repel the attacks the enemy wants to send our way! If the devil knows he can be defeated, it’s time for us to truly harness the power we have when we call on Jesus.
Prayer: God I praise you for what you have promised me, yet I become distracted with the irritations that the devil sends my way. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus, amen.