SPIRIT BRAND

SPIRITUALITY for the 21st Century

“When one door closes, another opens up!”  I got this little message in a fortune cookie after a three hour conversation with our lead pastor.  I responded jokingly by saying, “God even speaks through fortune cookies!”

I’ve modified the statement, by adding a simple word, God! 

“When God closes a door, God opens another!”

This simple statement changes in its core when God is added to the equation!  Here’s some principles that I would like to suggest:

1.  Life is not lived by coincidence.  God authors our life!  He is in control!

2.  God opens and closes the doors in our lives!  I need to stop banging my head at closed doors!

3.  Opportunities are open doors that God has opened for me!  I still have to be obedient and faithful to walk through the door of oppportunity!

4.  Closed doors are God’s way of guiding me out of and directing me to a new journey!  I must be grateful when the door closes!

5.  Blessing comes in two forms:  an open door and a closed one!  My perspective must change about the direction of either the open/close door!

6.  Opportunity comes in two forms:  an open door and a closed one!  My thinking must change!  I must look at life differently!

7.  Why take God out of the equation?  This is the greatest principle…insert God in your life!

The beginning of every journey is the realization that the journey is part of a greater adventure!  My life finds its deeper meaning when I come to a place where I can insert God in my life!  Paul writes it this way in Ephesians 1:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴just as He chose us in Him before he foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love ⁵He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, ⁶to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ⁷In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace ⁸which He lavished on us.” (my italics for emphasis)

When God closes a door, God opens another!

“what ifs” is the simple torment of the enemy of our souls…know God’s will and walk in it…

I posted this statement on Facebook and feel that I need to elaborate a bit more on the topic.  Often times, life can be so frustrating and even defeating.  It can be compounded by our own insecurities and brokenness.  The enemy of our souls uses one of his favorite tactics called the “what ifs!”  I am sure that you are well acquainted of this method!  It goes like this…”what if God doesn’t show up?”   “What if I get sick and die?” ”What if my children turn their away from God?”  “What if I lose my job?”  “What if….”

“What ifs” is a subtle torment of our adversary.  It produces fear, doubt, unbelief, frustration, confusion, negative speak, and an uncontrolled mind!  Everything about this simple torment is directed to your mind and your heart!  It can be devastating, especially if you like playing mind games with God and yourself!  Either way it is defeating!

How can you deal with the what ifs?

1.  Know God.  What I mean with this statement is to have a full assurance with the character of God.  Logically and intellectually, we know that God never fails.  At the heart level, I must trust God’s character.  God is loving and faithful.  What does this mean?  In my heart, I must know that God never plays the what ifs game.  God loves me and will be faithful to me!  My heart can trust Him!

2.  Stay Committed.  This is a choice not from my mind, but from my heart!  I must commit my heart to the one who is always committing Himself to me!  God commits himself; so must I!

3.  Be Positive.  This is attitude of your heart!  I Thessalonians 5:17 declares that we must give thanks in all things!  This is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.  Keep yourself from sinning by speaking death to yourself. 

4.  Change Your Mind.  God gives us the ability to take down strongholds in our mind (2 Cor. 10:4-6).  You have the ability to tear down strongholds and change your mind.

5.  Live Fully Alive.  This comes from a heart that is fully alive to God.  A heart that is alive!  Commit yourself to God and ask Him to create a new heart within you (Psalm 51).

Don’t let the what ifs torment you…know God’s will and walk in it…

“¹There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven–
    ²A time to give birth and a time to die;
         A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted…” Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

During the past few weeks, I have been asked many questions like, “Fel, what are you going to do?”  Like many of you, there are certain questions that beg an answer.  Unfortunately, the answer seems like a million miles away, in a distant future!  Throughout these past weeks, I have been keenly reminded about the passage that the sage of old wrote…”there is an appointed time for everything!”  

There is a time for every event under heaven!  My problem has always been to hurry things along!  Can you agree with me?  I’ve been baking friendship breads lately, and it never fails, I always pull it out when they are not yet done!  To my frustration, only to put it back in the oven and let it bake some more! Several years ago, I felt that our season would be ending and a new season would begin!  A month ago, I could not answer “what am I going to do?” because the appointed time had not yet come!  God needed to give birth to our new season!

Are you frustrated?  Not knowing what to do!  Maybe, God is doing some uprooting in your life (v.2)!  This step is vital because every farmer knows that the fertile ground must first be uprooted and prepared in order for planting to occur!  Maybe you are in the season of uprooting!  Don’t resist the working of the Spirit in your life!  Rest in the simple assurance that it is God who is at work in you to do and to will of His good pleasure ( Philippians 2:13). 

The second step is vital as well, every farmer knows that there is a season for planting!  There is a certain period in the spring that is conducive for planting seeds, a time that is necessary and ordained for the soil to accept the seed.  The process may be laborious, but necessary!  Have you noticed that it is longer to plant than it is to harvest?  Stay calm!  Don’t force the process!  Allow the seed planter to prepare your heart so that it can be receptive for the reception of the seed!

There is an appointed time for everything!  God wants more for you than you can want for yourself!

It has been several days since I heard the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God speak at the opening session of the 53rd General Council in Orlando, Florida.  Dr. Wood spoke on the theme of “Your Life–Your Legacy” and used the life of Leah as his foundation.  I’m sure many of us are not as familiar to her life story as you are with her sister, Rachel.  Here’s her description:

I’m sitting here typing this blog after finishing a conversation with a friend…an unexpected call!  Are you one of those few (or many) who have a caller id on your phone?  Do you monitor your calls and decide which call you will take?  In the midst of all of that, an unexpected call slips through…such was the case today!

I’m glad I answered!  This unexpected call was ordained by God!  My friend just wanted to encourage me and build me up.  The tone of our conversation brings glory to God.  My friend prayed for me and encouraged me to be courageous, to walk by faith, and to step out with boldness.  How uplifting!  Encouraging!  Awesome!

This is not the first time such a call has come my way.  And for sure, it will not be the last!  The God who is all knowing, who is all loving, and who is all faithful and true will make sure that in subtle ways, those unexpected calls will come our way!  He doesn’t even care if we credit Him!  It is God’s way to prod us along to good works! 

As I hang up the phone, I realize that I am a beneficiary of a blessing!  I am encouraged, but I can also be an encourager!  I challenge you today to make an unexpected call.  Bless someone, speak life to them, pray for them, as you are led by the Spirit to make that unexpected call…

Today, my son began the tournament play for his baseball team. We are seated third in a double elimination round robin tournament.  I printed the tournament bracket and did my tournament predictions…(just like the NCAA bracket, I’m a fanatic about predicting the outcome!)  I had our team getting to the championship game and winning it all!  What optimism!  I had high expectations!

As I type this blog, we lost our first game and now playing in the losers bracket.  Unfortunately, my expectations are shattered!  I share this experience to set the stage for my dialogue about expectations…we have them for every part of our lives…we even have expectations set for God!

Do you feel that you are losing and playing in the loser’s bracket, scrimping out, barely hanging on to  a slight advantage?  Have you said, “Life is not fair!”?  Are your expectations shattered? 

It wouldn’t be so bad, if you didn’t feel that about God.  Unfortunately, when life stinks, God is the easy one to blame!  Isn’t He God?  Couldn’t He just stop the madness and give you a reprieve? 

I love the verses in Hebrews 12: 1-3…Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

I’ve italicized the last sentences to highlight Jesus’ expectation…the joy awaiting him…Jesus endures the cross, disregarding its shame because of the joy waiting him…What is the joy waiting Jesus?  The answer lies in the context of Hebrews…Jesus’ joy is those of us who would come to a personal knowledge of His saving grace.  The author of Hebrews encourages us to run the race with endurance!  In light of broken expectations, we should continue to keep our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

Don’t give up…it’s not over, we can still win the loser’s bracket!  And get to the championship game and win it all!

Have you been in a situation when you didn’t know what to do?  Do you feel like you’re in limbo?  Are you pressured to make a decision right now?   Do this or that?  Go here or there?  Choose this or that? 

What can you do when you don’t know what to do?

Let me give you some suggestions:

1.  Don’t panic–it is easy when you are under pressure to make a choice to let fear dominate your life.  Remember Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid, I will give you peace…” (John 14:27)

2.  Stay calm–it is easier said than done, but you have to “stay cool…”  Calm depends on the inner (spirit) man who understands God is in control.  (Romans 8:6)

3.  You can pray–as a believer, you have an enormous advantage to go to God in prayer; a simple way for you to let God know what you’re feeling! (Matthew 6:6)

4.  You can trust–why pray if you don’t trust God?  Trust means that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God wants more for you than what you can want for yourself… (Proverbs 3:5-6)

5.  You can relax–this is quite opposite of what you are doing right now…it is easier to fret, get frustrated, doubt, fear, speak negatively, and stress out!  Relax doesn’t mean sit still or do nothing!  Relax means having a quiet confidence that all is OK!  (Romans 8:25)

Uncertainty is God’s dominion…He’s already working behind the scenes for you!

OK…if you haven’t figured it out yet!  Kansas City is definitely barbeque heaven!  Others might argue the point with me, but I’ve lived long enough in our community, that there are some incredible pit masters right here in town.  No matter what you are craving, surely somewhere in town, your craving can be satisfied.  So all of you who love barbeque, here it is:  if you love to get a bit messy, love to gnaw on some good bbq, and you are craving some rib tips, I have the place just for you.

When it comes to rib tips, you must come and check out Big T’s.  With two locations (9409 Blue Ridge Blvd, and the Old Niece’s Lounge on Blue Parkway), your barbeque stop is nearby.  As you know, it is easy to get barbeque in Kansas City, but you will love the rib tips at Big T’s.  Rib tips are sometimes referred to as the poor man’s cut.  Normally, when you order a slab of ribs, they have already cut away the “rib tips” because they are at the top part of the large ends of the slab.  Rib tips are what I call your “mini slab tips.” When cooked perfectly, these tiny bit size morsels are filled with barbeque delight!  Somewhat harder to eat than your ribs, simply because of some cartiledge you have to work around, and for some a bit more fat content!  Some of you don’t like fat, you trim them away from your steaks, and you order your barbeque lean as possible, but for us fat lovers, you can overdose on the rib tips at Big T’s…those of us who love fat, there is nothing better than the rib tips at Big T’s. 

The order at Big T’s fills your plate.  The price is right, and the sauce is perfect for these bit sized goodies.  Big T’s sauce comes in the vinegar variety, and for those who love sauces, they serve it hot at Big T’s.  It was unorthodox for me when I first ordered and asked for extra sauce.  But the combination works for me!  I’m hooked!  You just can’t beat the perfectly seasoned and smoked rib tips with their brand of sauce at Big T’s.  So if you’re wanting some adventure in your barbeque palate, I’m suggesting you can’t beat the rib tips at Big T’s.

So if you see me at Big T’s say hello and if you want, you can buy me lunch since I hooked you up with the best eats!