Greetings everyone,
As my pastor mentioned during this past Watchnight service - This is the year to get moving! Note the following scripture:
Exodus 14:15 - And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.
The Israelites had just left Egypt via Moses' leadership after a series of plagues executed on the Egyptians by God. A short while after their departure, the Egyptian Pharaoh had a change of mind (God's will of course) and began to pursue them. Becoming aware of what they thought to be unavoidable danger, the Israelites began to fear. To make matters worse, the Israelites appeared to be completely trapped. With the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptians behind them, what would they do? It looked like they had no escape route or outlet. Staring them in the face was either death or repression, for a second time, by the Egyptians.
But wait...God was with them...and His Word to them was "that they go forward". Neither retreating or not moving was an acceptable option. Regardless of what it looked like in front of them ~ the Red Sea, they were suppose to move forward. So, are you retreating or being stagnant about something that God has told you to move on? By commanding the Israelites to go forward God was saying that he would take care of the seemingly impassable Red Sea in front of them. To put it simply: the handling of the Rea Sea, His way, was His business- remaining in faith was theirs. This is also true for us. Remaining in faith and trusting God is always our PRIMARY responsibility. No matter what things look like, if God has spoken to you about a matter, then He has already planned for your success (Jeremiah 1:12, Isaiah 55:11). For the Israelites, it was the promised land flowing with milk & honey awaiting them, but they had to get moving (Exodus 3:8). What blessings and fulfillments are awaiting you? If you've heard "go" from God, then go! He has already prospered your way (Genesis 24:40a).
Please stay tuned for the next blog "GET Growing".
January 5, 2011
December 30, 2010
Announcing 52 Weeks of Praise!
Greetings everyone,
I am pleased to announce my upcoming blog series - "52 Weeks of Praise" beginning January 2011. I've had this in my heart to do for a few months and determined to start it in the New Year. Praise God, that time has finally come and I'm super excited! This blog series will seek to rediscover and highlight some of the wonderful attributes of the great God that we serve. Oh' how awesome it is to acknowledge His worthiness of continual honor, praise, and adoration. This is sure to be an awesome growing experience in the Word. Please don't forget to contribute with your comments. Your interaction increases the power of what we share! Also, feel free to spread the word via email or social media network (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) as we celebrate the King. Also, as the weeks go along you’ll be able to find previous blog segments within this series in the Archives. Finally, please follow this blog on Twitter at Wordtime Exposure @ Wordman137 as we spread the gospel together.
In His service,
Min. Draper Wright
NOTE: This series has been moved to publication. Stay tuned for updates.
I am pleased to announce my upcoming blog series - "52 Weeks of Praise" beginning January 2011. I've had this in my heart to do for a few months and determined to start it in the New Year. Praise God, that time has finally come and I'm super excited! This blog series will seek to rediscover and highlight some of the wonderful attributes of the great God that we serve. Oh' how awesome it is to acknowledge His worthiness of continual honor, praise, and adoration. This is sure to be an awesome growing experience in the Word. Please don't forget to contribute with your comments. Your interaction increases the power of what we share! Also, feel free to spread the word via email or social media network (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) as we celebrate the King. Also, as the weeks go along you’ll be able to find previous blog segments within this series in the Archives. Finally, please follow this blog on Twitter at Wordtime Exposure @ Wordman137 as we spread the gospel together.
In His service,
Min. Draper Wright
NOTE: This series has been moved to publication. Stay tuned for updates.
December 29, 2010
Love Thinks
Hello good people, this past Sunday morning the Lord woke me up around 4:30 and I began to meditate on how LOVE does not take account or keep records of wrongs. As I laid in the bed I determined, when I got fully up, to locate the scripture and take a deeper look at it. Allow me to share what the Lord shared with me. Here we go...
The Apostle Paul begins his discussion on the exercising of your ministry giftedness through love in I Corinthians 13. Most of us immediately recognize this chapter as the "Love" chapter. It's refreshing because, for a quick evaluation of your love walk, you can start here anytime! Thank God for such a powerful written "love" road map! Besides, as Kingdom citizens, we should be performing scriptural self-evaluations on a consistent basis.
Now, first Corinthians, chapter thirteen (13); verse five (5) says this:
Upon further review of the verse, particularly in the original Greek language, the phrase "thinketh no evil" is rendered "take not account or not impute evil". The word "thinketh" means to take an inventory, estimate, reason or conclude. Therefore Paul is saying that love, specifically the agape love of God (which all believers possess - Romans 5:5) does NOT: (1) take inventory of wrongs done, bad treatment, or offences similar to how retail stores do when restocking merchandise. Nor does it (2) estimate, reason, infer, or conclude evil motives/actions in a situation where all facts are clearly unknown. Therefore, allowing for the benefit of the doubt (believeth all things - verse 7) is the natural spiritual progression.
So the main idea is this: love ACTUALLY DOES think, take inventory, and/or concludes (as the original Greek language suggest), but NOT OF EVIL, but OF GOOD. Love, being God Himself, takes account of, records, concludes, on the good done. This is exactly how God interacts with us even though we're imperfect. His thoughts towards us are continually good, even when we sin (Jeremiah 29:11). His focus is never consistently on where we've erred but on what we've done well (Psalms 103:12). Therefore since God is the creator and master of love, He is our prime example! Plan to implement His loving approach toward others and continually reevaluate how you're doing.
Begin reflecting on the good done for and toward you. Thank God and someone again today, even if it's been years since they did good towards you! It has been said that people don't have to be nice, but when they do; be grateful for more than a minute. No man is an island to himself, nor is that man on an island with just God! God is indeed great to us personally and through the aid of people!
The Apostle Paul begins his discussion on the exercising of your ministry giftedness through love in I Corinthians 13. Most of us immediately recognize this chapter as the "Love" chapter. It's refreshing because, for a quick evaluation of your love walk, you can start here anytime! Thank God for such a powerful written "love" road map! Besides, as Kingdom citizens, we should be performing scriptural self-evaluations on a consistent basis.
Now, first Corinthians, chapter thirteen (13); verse five (5) says this:
LOVE...doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, or thinketh no evil;What the Lord showed me revolves around the last portion of the scripture - "thinketh no evil". On the surface, this portion of the scripture suggests that love doesn't spend countless hours studying or meditating on evil ideas, wrongs done, bad treatment, offences, and such like. This is a great start for anyone! In other words, it's a complete waste or abuse rather, of time, energy, and capacity to focus much on evil ideas and how you've been mistreated. Candidly, if the truth be told we haven't always treated others especially well either. Sometimes harvest returns to us in unfamiliar places (Galatians 6:7). Nevertheless, this is not the central idea of this verse.
Upon further review of the verse, particularly in the original Greek language, the phrase "thinketh no evil" is rendered "take not account or not impute evil". The word "thinketh" means to take an inventory, estimate, reason or conclude. Therefore Paul is saying that love, specifically the agape love of God (which all believers possess - Romans 5:5) does NOT: (1) take inventory of wrongs done, bad treatment, or offences similar to how retail stores do when restocking merchandise. Nor does it (2) estimate, reason, infer, or conclude evil motives/actions in a situation where all facts are clearly unknown. Therefore, allowing for the benefit of the doubt (believeth all things - verse 7) is the natural spiritual progression.
So the main idea is this: love ACTUALLY DOES think, take inventory, and/or concludes (as the original Greek language suggest), but NOT OF EVIL, but OF GOOD. Love, being God Himself, takes account of, records, concludes, on the good done. This is exactly how God interacts with us even though we're imperfect. His thoughts towards us are continually good, even when we sin (Jeremiah 29:11). His focus is never consistently on where we've erred but on what we've done well (Psalms 103:12). Therefore since God is the creator and master of love, He is our prime example! Plan to implement His loving approach toward others and continually reevaluate how you're doing.
Begin reflecting on the good done for and toward you. Thank God and someone again today, even if it's been years since they did good towards you! It has been said that people don't have to be nice, but when they do; be grateful for more than a minute. No man is an island to himself, nor is that man on an island with just God! God is indeed great to us personally and through the aid of people!
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