Attitude of Gratitude by Araliz Cuthbertson

 

grat•i•tude/ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/
The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

Have you ever taken a moment to think back on your life? I don’t know about you, but when I do I feel blessed. Each one of our lives are marked by a series of events- some fortunate, others not so much.

At the age of 18, I thought I had it all going on. I had a brand new car, some money in my bank account, and I had been accepted to every college that I applied for. The decision to pick which one wasn’t hard at all. I was offered a full ride for one year based on my 4.0 grade point average, to which I obliged. I remember walking on campus on my first day and just taking it all in. I remember how peaceful it was to sit in the courtyard with the sun on my face, full of ambition and a desire to learn.

That same summer I started dating a guy. I was excited; It was my first real relationship and after many years of suffering from low self-esteem, I thought that I would finally find “myself”. Right off the bat there were warning signs, but in my naivety, I decided that I would give it a shot anyway. Five months into my fully paid year, I decided to do a trade program and take a break from school. This was the beginning of a downward spiral in my life. I endured abuse from that man- both physically and emotionally for six years. One could say that I wallowed in regret for many years to come after that. I felt like I was a failure because I didn’t finish what I had started. Moreover, the scars that I was left with after dealing with the abuse were at times too much to bear.

I can stand before you today and say that I now have an attitude of gratitude. I am thankful for my life. That relationship was designed by Satan to take my life, however, I am still standing. I am thankful for my failures because they taught me how to succeed. Most of all I am thankful for grace because without it,I wouldn’t be here.

Whatever your situation is today, I challenge you to give it to God and thank Him for the change that is yet to come. God orders each and everyone one of our steps. No matter how many detours we take, He is there with open arms ready to help us get back on track. Allow Him to take away the stone from where you lay spiritually dead in your life and fill you with His power and love.
John 11:41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me”.
Father in the name of Jesus, I pray for the person reading this right now. Lord I pray that you will do a new thing in their life today. Restore, take away that which is not of you and replace it with your peace that surpasses all understanding. Lord where we have fallen short, You have met us with your mercy. In Jesus name we pray , Amen.

Join us for a Special Service featuring Elder Donald Outterbridge Sr.

Jar of Keys by Clarissa Ortiz

I believe that in life, we are presented with many doors (in this case, they represent opportunities) and keys (which represent that which grants us access to these opportunities). God gives each of us a different set of keys. He has presented me with many keys ,one of them being the ability to speak multiple languages (English, Spanish, French, and Italian).For the longest time, I felt under-qualified. I felt as if my keys or gifts weren’t good enough. I was under the impression that my Spanish wasn’t good enough because my family would always interpret it for me when my Spanish-speaking family would visit. Although they meant well, it made me feel inferior. I was always so self-conscious about my Spanish because I believed that what they thought of my Spanish was true. Recently, God has blessed me with the opportunity to be my Spanish professor’s assistant. He has also blessed me with awards in French and Italian. It’s almost as if He said, “Clarissa, people say that your Spanish is inferior, but what do I say? I say that you are well able”. You see, God has given me these gifts so that I may use them to reach people that He has called me to reach. It isn’t my job to measure my ability based on the opinions of others. I have to trust God’s report because He isn’t a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). I have said all of this to say that if God says you are able, it is because He has enabled you.
Maybe one of your keys is your voice which God will use to reach the hearts of the people of your generation. Perhaps one of your keys is your willingness to serve your church or another community. Your keys could be talents, people who God strategically places in your path, etc. These keys could potentially unlock doors of supreme importance that lead you to fulfillment of purpose.
Although we are presented with these keys, it is our job to put them to use. God isn’t going to come down off of His throne to put the key in the keyhole and turn the doorknob.
He’s a gentleman who loves us so much that He gives us a choice. We can either choose to enter the doors that lead us to life or those which lead us to destructive paths that will eventually result in death.
In conclusion, think about what you are doing with your keys. Do you look at your jar of keys apprehensively and think that they’re no good because of what people say? They may say that you have no right to go through certain doors or that your keys aren’t good enough. However, Jesus died and rose again so that you may live life abundantly (John 10:10). Additionally, Don’t compare your keys to someone else’s. If you needed what s/he has, God would have given it to you. Use the keys that you have been given.

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.

The Eye of the Storm By Clarissa Ortíz

The eye of the storm. It is said to be the calmest part of a hurricane or other natural disaster. An area, which is right in the midst of all of the calamity, but is yet to be effected.  We can compare this natural phenomenon to what we experience in our spirits. For instance, have you ever felt like you were surrounded on all sides by troubles, hardships, etc.? Or maybe it seemed like you were okay, but your whole family was going through some difficult times. It is moments like these that we find ourselves in the eye of the storm. Whilst in it, we have no other choice but to make an imperative decision.  We can trust God and with His help, face the storm or we can wave our white flag and surrender in defeat. If we choose the first option, we are guaranteed the victory in Christ. It certainly won’t be easy, but like a lotus, we will grow in what appears to be an inhabitable environment. If we decide to choose the second option, we are destined to fail. The absence of perseverance- or, the will to go on is in the presence of failure. The presence of failure denotes the absence of faith. In other words, you can’t have faith and fail. Maybe things may not go your way, but you are only a failure when you quit trying. Family, you may feel like your world is tumbling down and like nothing is going the way you had planned. Maybe God is testing your faith like He did with Job. Job lost almost everything that this we consider to be important (wealth, children, etc.), but he gained double for his trouble in the end. Don’t quit! Don’t let the enemy steal your joy! You have come too far to quit now. We sing all of these beautiful songs in church, but do we really understand the lyrics? Do we really believe that ‘He’s able’ or that ‘He sacrificed His life so we could be free and whole”? If so, we should be excited. We should have an expectant spirit and faith to go along with it.

Takeaway:
Know who your Anchor is when in the eye of the storm. The waves will come, the winds will cause you to sway, but it will not defeat you. It may knock you down, but it won’t knock you out. Overall, do you want to a survivor or a fatality? A winner or a loser? A storm chaser or a victim? The choice is yours.

The SOAP Method By Barbie Pompa

In lieu of a devotional, I decided to share a method that has helped me understand scriptures and how to apply it in my life.  The method I have used is called the SOAP method.  S stands for scripture, O stands for observation (how do you interpret the scripture), A stands for application (how can it apply in your life) and P is for prayer.  Below is an example of how to use the SOAP method when journaling:
Scripture: John 5:6 NIV When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
Observation:  The man on the mat responded with an excuse, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.  While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” John 5:7.  Reading this I thought well he’s crippled, I’m sure if he could get up he would of a long time ago, right?  Yet Jesus doesn’t even entertain his excuse and quickly responds, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” John 5:8.  God loves us too much to accept our excuses.  What excuses are keeping you on the mat?  Why do we make “stand up, pick up your mat, and walk” such a difficult task?
Application:  The excuses that keep me on the mat are laziness, procrastination and fears of failure, which later turn into an attitude of “why even bother?!”.  My routine of doing the same thing each day keeps me stagnant and although I want a change, I don’t know where to begin.  I’m also afraid that what I want is not God’s will for me, so I wait on God when in turn, He’s waiting on me to take the initiative.  In order for me to stand up, I must believe that I am able and have a willingness to stand.  To pick up my mat, I must drop my excuses.  I cannot receive a change if my hands are full of excuses.  Walking is activated by faith; forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, even if it makes me uncomfortable.  Philippians 3:13 (emphasis added)
Prayer:  Father, when Jesus asked the lame man if he wanted to get well, I nearly shouted YES!  Help me to see the areas that I need to improve so that I may bring glory to your name. Renew my spirit; allow me to see spiritually what I can’t imagine naturally.  Protect my mind from thoughts of lack so that I may pick up my mat and keep my eyes on You. I praise you for all that you have done, what you’re currently doing and what I have yet to see.  Keep me grounded and faithful when I don’t see how I can be made well.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Fortify your Walls-March 15 2016

Be sure to click the link to read this week’s newsletter ‘Fortify your Walls’.

 

Change of Plans By: Barbie Pompa

For personal enrichment the devotional team and I decided to read a chapter of Proverbs daily for the 31 days in January (It’s not too late to join us!).  We also agreed to base our devotionals this month on Proverbs and I was assigned Proverbs 16.  The book of Proverbs overflows with teaching on how to live our best lives.  As I read through Proverbs 16, it clicked that of course, this was all preplanned by God.  I ended 2015 with a devotional about change and 5 days later, God is laying on my heart that change is my one word resolution for 2016.

Proverbs 16:9 NLT We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.  Have you ever created a to-do list and felt like it was never ending?  The list becomes longer and you’re not crossing anything old off?  I previously relied on to-do list to keep myself organized and what I thought, accountable.  However, I felt overwhelmed and panicked and this year I want to feel productive and peaceful.

Instead of creating a to-do list, I will ask God what I need to focus on TODAY.  God reminds us in James 4:13 that we shouldn’t be planning for tomorrow or even next week.  It’s so easy to get caught up in making resolutions or reservations for what we think we ought to do but,  James 4:15 NIV: Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

By changing my perspective for what I think I should be doing and allowing God to direct my steps, I can guarantee success because it’s God’s word.  Proverbs 16:3 NLT Commit your actions to the Lord and your plans will succeed.  I’m sure I’ll encounter obstacles and struggles but if I praise God through my frustrations it prevents the devil for killing, stealing or destroying the work God is placing in me!

My prayer is Jeremiah 10:23 ERV: Lord, I know that our lives do not belong to us.  We have no control over what happens.  My change is to be more
intentional about my relationship with God.  He has it all figured out, He doesn’t need my help or suggestions.  Today God I give you me, flaws and all, with a willingness for change.

I challenge you to ask God for revelation on your one word resolution.  This one word will be easy to remember and provide growth in the areas you lack in.  I dare you to try!