A life of balance & purpose!

Idol or Item

The following is a brief test that can help you find any hidden idols in your life.

 

1.        I can not go one day without____________________________________.

2.       I would prefer to spend most of my free-time___________________________.

3.       I think most often about____________________________________________.

4.       My 1^st hour of awake time is spent doing__________________________________.

5.       I spend most of my thinking about and researching ___________________________.

6.       What person, thing, food or idea do I have an unquenchable desire for___________________________.

7.       I sacrifice the most for _____________________________________________________________.

 

Often times we become so self-righteous and unconsciously prideful that we don’t realize the idols we have placed before God. 

 

Priscilla Shirer say’s it so well when she wrote, “Your god is what you seek.  It’s what you love, trust in, worship, serve and allow to control you.”

 

Our God is forgiving and abounding in grace.  Ask him to reveal your hidden areas, repent and make Him the priority.  Your best life depends on it!

 

You're still just a human!

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (New International Version)

⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

I’m on this new thing now.  I have spent the past 2 ½ years harboring or should I say meditating on my failures, fears, difficulties and so forth, sharing my hardships with no one.  Burdened by my religious oppressions.  I see now that this was a pride issue and has made my ‘be-Christ-like’ journey much harder than it had to be.  When I heard these verses yesterday (The Bible Experience DVD’s), it was like I heard it for the first time; must be that Matthew 13:22 thing!!

 

So, for you women I consider prayer warriors (even though I probably never mentioned it to you) expect to get a few more emails from me.  For when I am weak, then I am strong!

 

Walking in His mercy and Living in His grace,

 

Kisha

Do you really trust, do you really believe?

Our thought for today comes from Exodus 12:10-13 and it reads:

¹⁰ As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, ¹¹ and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? ¹² Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”

 ¹³ But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. ¹⁴ The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

Does the comments of the Egyptians remind you of anyone?  It reminds me a lot of today’s Christian.  When we see just an inkling of trouble we want to retreat, run back to the familiar, even though we’ve seen God perform supernatural interventions in our lives, even though we got the word on something; we get scared and want to turn back.  We treat God as if He is of the human element.  It is like we believe He does not love us and desires the best for us.

 

In Exodus 13:17-18 we read this: ¹⁷ When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.

 

Often times God leads us in a ‘roundabout’ way to our victory, to our calling, to our freedom, to our goals, and our prosperity.  He knows that the short path may have too much adversity or we may still require more character building.  In an effort to fully prepare us, he directs us on a path that leads to his blessings but prunes and strengthens us in the process.

 

So, when things feel slow, the journey seems long, and the enemy throws darts at your mind; remember this lessons from the Israelites leaving Egypt, then begin to dig deeper in your Word, pray harder, fast longer and know that God is on your side.

 

Indebted To Christ,

 

 

Nakisha 'Kisha' Guzman

Pray for...

Katelyn, she was in a fight with her husband and now they are talking divorce.  Girl, I would never put up with the mess.  I guess she isn’t as Holy as she claims to be, said Jeslyn as she chatted on the phone with her friend Jenny.

 

Now isn’t this the way most conversations on the phone begin that always lead to gossip.  Instead of truly taking our prayers, concerns, worries and petitions to the Lord, we take them across the phone lines first or we take some to God but hold onto the baggage to drop on others.  It usually happens before you know it and most often unintentionally.  A simple request for prayer can easily spill into a tongue lashing.  Heed the words of Proverbs 19:10 Too much talk leads to sin.  Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

 

Now, I’m not suggesting that you don’t get prayer warriors to believe with you but learn to be more discreet in your conversations or emails when simply sharing with friends and even family.

As Psalm 19:14 tells us so plainly; let the words of mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, O’ Lord my rock and redeemer.  This is a verse that has to be proactively and consciously focused on to become part of one’s life.  Like training our bodies we must exercise control through the spirit over our flesh.  The benefits of this are so much greater!

 

Indebted To Christ,

 

 

 

Nakisha 'Kisha' Guzman

Recognizing your flaws

Proverbs 10:16- The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin.

 

Do your earnings enhance your life?  Usually ours does but often times I go over my bi-weekly budget and find myself frustrated for failing in this area.  I believe I have been enlightened on why this is happening.  You see, I set aside money each pay cycle that I am to use for purchasing little simple pleasures for my family.  However, more often than I care to admit, this money is used on my ‘sin’.  Lately, my sin is laziness and gluttony.  If I am too lazy to cook, I order out.  If I enjoy the food,  I may eat the same thing 3 days in a row.  This pattern takes me over our money designated for food.  In order to maintain I end up using the money God gave us to “enhance our lives” on my silly sin.  All this time, I thought I should eat out if I wanted to.  This is an arrogant and undisciplined way of thinking.

 

So, are there areas of your life that need a little more discipline?  Sin is sin, not big or little to God.  Just sin.

 

I hope this will help me to be a better steward of my blessings, turn up my spiritual sensitivity to place me in a  lifestyle of discipline and help me turn my back on laziness, gluttony & undisciplined living.

 

 

Indebted to Christ,

 

Kisha Guzman

Self-worth, do you have it?

Sexual purity is so taboo that many ministers won’t teach on it anymore.  The church is filled with individuals who praise God, request His intervention yet live in a state of habitual sin.  Illicit, un-marital sex known biblically as Fornication is a sin; your prayers will go unanswered (Psalm 66:18, 1 John 3:21-22, Isaiah 59:1-2).  Habitual sin that is recognized and not corrected brings condemnation to your soul, because your heart lives to please the flesh, not the Father. 

 

So many of the Christian women of these past decades are far from God, the relationship is very superficial, and the miracles are few.  They lay down with anyone who will make them feel desired or fills their fleshy desires.  Their bodies are tainted.  They are not strong enough to believe that they are King’s daughters and that they don’t have to give it up to secure long term love, happiness and fulfillment. 

 

I speak from experience.  A young life tainted with fornication and a young adulthood scarred by adultery.  I allowed filth into my body.  I sinned against my own flesh as it states in 1 Corinthians 6:18.  We pay deeply for these acts.  Its spirits that linger from past lovers, emotional wounds, terrible memories, disease, generational curses that must be broken and the list goes on.  It’s just not worth it.  We’ve all read 1 Corinthians 7:9, “ if you can’t exercise self-control, it is better to marry than burn”.  I would pray that we could control the urge than marry only for sex.  However, I know that relationships are work whether you are married or not.  So if you are pretending or playing the role as wifey or hubby then why not solidify the deal, at least God can bless the unity?

 

What we really need to figure out is what’s missing?  Why can’t we as women of God live by the Word?  We fill the pews to praise Him on Sunday.  We do good works in His name but on Friday and Saturday, we drink like sailors, club like hookers, and sleep around just because.  What’s missing?  Our hearts don’t yearn to please Him in all we do.  We don’t believe that He wants the best for us and will give it to us based on our faithfulness.  We haven’t been taught how to fill our voids with Him.  We barely read our Word so how can he speak to us?  We crowd Him out with our music, cell phones and the like.  We only want Him to perform when we ask…otherwise we got it!

 

The wonderful nature of God is like this, no matter how dirty you are, He will wash you clean again.  He puts our sins in the sea of forgetfulness.  If our hearts are truly changed we will sin no more, we will fight temptation like our life depended on it…as it does.  When your heart and mind is truly renewed those sins will disgust you and you will flee them like a lover who has AIDS.  If you have mild success in this life, think of how much more God has in store for you.  Peasants don’t wear crowns though.  His arms are always open and waiting to restore His daughters to their rightful places.

 

 

Indebted to Christ,

Nakisha 'Kisha' Guzman

Heaven on the mind!

The critical question for our generation-and for every generation-is this:  If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all your friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disaster, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?  From John Piper’s God is the Gospel.

How many of you will read those words and say, “ You know, I just might be okay with that”?  If you are deeply in love with God, you could never be satisfied in heaven without Christ.  From Francis Chan’s Crazy Love.

Share with others!

Don't assume you are good soil.

Has your relationship with Goad actually changed the way you live?  Do you see evidence of God’s kingdom in your life?  Or are you choking it out slowly by spending too much time, energy, money and thought on the things of this world? 

Are you satisfied being “godly enough” to get yourself to heaven, or to look good in comparison to others?  Or can you say with Paul that you “want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil. 3:10)?  Is that too much Jesus for you?

The American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity.  The goals of the American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don’t swear, and good church attendance.  Taking the words of Christ literally & seriously are rarely considered.  That’s for those “radicals” who are “unbalanced” and go “overboard”.  Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe, and that does not involve suffering.

Would you describe yourself as totally in love with Jesus Christ or his stuff?  Do the words halfhearted, lukewarm, and partially committed fit better?

The Bible says to test ourselves.  The next few statements will help you do this.  Be honest, assess who you are today, not who you want to be one of those days…that day may never come.  If need be-repent & move forward with a new mind!

Lukewarm people do this:

1.       Attend church fairly regularly.  It is what is expected of them, what they believe “good Christians” do, so they go.  Check yourself: Isa. 29:13

2.       Give money to charity and to the church…as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living.  If they have a little extra and it is easy & safe to give, they do so.  After all, God loves a cheerful giver, right?  Check yourself: I Chron. 21:24, Like 21:1-4.

3.       Choose what is popular over what is right when they are conflict.  They desire to fit in both at church and outside the church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance & giving than what God thinks of their hearts & lives.  Check yourself: Luke 6:26, Rev. 3:1.

4.       They don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they want to be saved from the penalty of their sin.  They don’t genuinely hate sin and aren’t sorry for it; they’re merely sorry because God is going to punish them.  Lukewarm people don’t really believe that this new life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful life.  Check yourself: John 10:10, Rom. 6:1-2.

5.       Are moved by stories of people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do no act.  They assume such action is for “extreme” Christians, not average ones.  Luke warm people call “radical” what Jesus expected of ALL his followers.  Check yourself: Kames 1:22, James 4:17.

6.       Rarely share their faith with neighbors, coworkers or friends.  They do not want to be rejected, nor do they want to make people uncomfortable by talking about private issues like religion.  Check yourself: Matt. 10:32-33.

7.       Gauge their morality or “goodness” by comparing themselves to the secular world.  They feel satisfied that while they aren’t as hard-core for Jesus as so-and-so, they are nowhere as horrible as the guy down the street.  Check yourself: Luke 18:11-12.

8.       Say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives.  But only a part.  They give Him a section of their time, their money, and their thoughts, but He isn’t allowed to control their lives.  Check yourself: Luke 9:57-62.

9.       Love God, but they do not love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength.  They would be quick to assure you that they try to love God that much, but that sort of total devotion isn’t really possible for the average person; its’ only for pastors and missionaries and radicals.  Check yourself: Matt. 22:37-38.

10.   Will serve God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go or how much time, money and energy they will give.  Check yourself: Luke 18:21-25.

11.   Think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven. Daily life is mostly focused on today’s to-do list, this week’s schedule, and next month’s vacation.  Rarely, if ever, do the intently consider the life to come.  Regarding this, C.S. Lewis writes, “ If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.  It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”  Check yourself: Phil. 3:18-20, Col. 3:2.

12.   Are thankful for their luxuries and comforts and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor.  They are quick to point out, “ Jesus never said money is the root of all evil, only the love of money is.”  Untold numbers of lukewarm people feel “called” to minister to the rich; very few feel “called” to minister to the poor.  Check yourself: Matt. 25:34,40, Isa. 58:6-7.

13.   Do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling too guilty.  They want to do the bare minimum, to be “good enough” without it requiring too much of them.  They ask, “ How far can I go before it’s a sin instead of How can I keep myself pure as the temple of the Holy Spirit, They ask, “ How much do I have to give?” instead of “ how much can I give?”, They ask, “how much time should I spend praying and reading my Bible?” instead of “ I wish I didn’t have to work, so I could sit here and read longer!”  Check yourself: I Chron. 29:14, Matt. 13:44-46.

14.   They are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are salves to the god of control.  This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and risking for God.  Check yourself: I Tim. 6:17-18, Matt. 10:28.

15.   Feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age 12, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or live in America.  You are not safe because you wear the  label Christian or because some people persist in calling us a Christian nation.  Check yourself: Matt. 7:21, Amos 6:1.

16.   Do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to.  They don’t have to trust God if something unexpected happens-they have their savings account.  They don’t need God to help them-they have their retirement plan in place.  They don’t genuinely seek out what life God would have them live live-they have life figured out and mapped out.  They don’t depend on God on a daily basis-their refrigerators are full and, for the most part, they are in good health.  The truth is, their lives wouldn’t look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God.  Check yourself: Luke 12:16-21 also Hebrews 11.

17.   They probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really aren’t very different from your typical unbeliever.  They equate their partially sanitized lives with holiness, but they couldn’t be more wrong.  Check yourself: Matt. 23:25-28.

This list is no all inclusive of what it means to be a Christian not is it intended to be used as ammunition to judge your fellow believers’ salvation. Instead it should be used as 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, to examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith. 

Jesus ask for everything.  But we try to give Him less.  Jesus said, Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.  This isn’t a cute little analogy Jesus was using.  He is addressing those who aren’t willing to give everything, who won’t follow him all the ay.  He is saying that lukewarm, halfhearted following is useless, that it sickens out souls.  He is saying that this kind of salt is not even fit :for the manure pile.”

Wow,  How would you like to hear the Son of God say, “ You would ruin manure”?

This excerpt comes from the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  My eyes are opened further and I am only getting to Chapter 5 of 10 chapter.  Lord help us all!

Becoming grateful before it’s too late

Becoming grateful before it’s too late

In this world of give me more and give it to me now, it’s hard to remain in a state of gratefulness.  At least this has been my experience thus far.  I often leave spirit-filled women’s retreats with so much insight, refreshment, and amazement.  Only to return home and find myself slipping ever so quickly back into the mind-set of ungratefulness.  Is there a remedy?

Often times it takes tragedy like the death of family member or an email thread of a child who has just succumbed to cancer to give a person a dose of their true reality but soon after like any good medicine it wears off and we display the sickening symptoms once again.  Is there a remedy?

I suppose the best remedy lies in prayer for revelation.  The follow-up of course is action.  What actions must we take to ward off the corrupt thinking that battles our spirit by the hour?  The answer is simple; simply said that is.  Be conscious and deliberate in our praise & the acknowledgement of our blessings. 

If we spend more time thanking God for the blessings that we have, we would have less time to gossip, murmur or go into a thinking frenzy about the things we don’t.  If we settled into the fact that God’s outcomes may not look like what we envisioned our outcomes to be then maybe, just maybe we could find more peace & joy in this daily Christian walk.

I don’t write as someone who has mastered the plan but as someone who strives to live a life that God would be very pleased with; in my attempt to do so I must subject myself to lots of examination.   I am just sharing my journey with you.  If you find my sharing annoying, delete them.  If you are tired of deleting them ask me to remove you from my mailing list.  Otherwise, I will assume that you are someone who cares about what’s going on my head!

Agape---

Romans 11

Ray's take on it:

Romans 11

It’s easy to feel as though we run this race alone.  It seems like so few are going to endure until the end.  We are encouraged by Paul that we are not alone even though it feels that way some time.  Even Elijah felt this way and God had to tell him that there were 7000 others who had not yet bowed to baal (sorry, I can’t bring myself to capitalize that name).  Even one of the greatest prophets of all time felt like he was fighting a battle by himself.  It’s just proof (and confirmation of other Scripture) that when you do the work of the Lord, when you adhere to His word, when you walk with Him daily, the enemy will isolate you or at least try and make you feel isolated.  It’s great to know that even when we seem to be alone we are not.  The feeling of isolation is difficult.  We are designed to desire community and to fellowship with one another. Isolation can create additional pressure to give in.  To not endure.  To question God.  Think about it….even God isn’t alone.  Before the existence of man, the Trinity existed as evidenced in multiple places in the Bible.

We are also encouraged to know that Gentiles are grafted into the Kingdom.  God’s beautiful plan was to provide all with an opportunity to be redeemed.  In providing salvation to Gentiles He hopes to arouse the Jews into accepting Jesus as well.  If God’s chosen people were to accept him imagine the blessing!  He is waiting and desiring for them to turn and accept Christ. 

God is both severe and fair.  He is fair in more ways than one could write about.  Even when He is being severe He is doing so because He is just and a just God cannot allow for our transgressions to go unpunished.  It’s amazing how much it parallels a parent/child relationship.  Even in the midst of our parents ‘severely’ punishing us we never doubted their love or their intentions for us.   Verse 32 highlights that “God has imprisoned all people in their disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone!”  Wow, what a powerful statement and revelation!  Even in our imprisonment God is leading us to desire a relationship with Him. To accept Him and to worship Him as only He deserves to be glorified. As this chapter make so abundantly clear, everything that exists does so by His power and is intended for His glory!  Amen!

Kisha's take on it:

Apparently, somewhere along the way the Jews got side-tracked or confused causing God to send a Jewish Messiah that would not only save the Jews but all people.

We can ask God for wisdom but we must remember that He is all-knowing & all-powerful.  We cannot get into the cycle of thinking that our ideas, plans, or wants are things that God will provide for us or deem necessary for us.  All we can do is ask and wait to see if we receive it.  We live in the world with free-choice to do things that are pleasing to God.  We have talents, desires, gifts and skills within us that He expects us to utilize.  However, He makes the ultimate decision on what will be successful, fruitful, or just mediocre and His choices should never be rejected or complained about for He knows what is best for us.  We can have faith in knowing that He wants the best for us and that He loves to bless us.