Discerning Between State & Fate

TD Jakes talks about this in his book "Reposition Yourself - Living Without Limits". It spoke to me and I hope it does the same for you.

We all go through situations that cause us to wonder if we are ever going to come out of it. It's our attitude in the situations that ultimately determine our attitude and progression once we come out of the situation. I am reminded of Joseph in the book of Genesis and the "situations" he went through. If you have been saved any amount of time you know that the only crime that Joseph was guilty of was being a man of integrity and a "dreamer." But it seemed like no matter what he did he could never get out of it.



He was sold into slavery by his brother's, accused of rape by Potiphar's wife, put in prison, interpreted the dreams of the prisoner's who promised to not forget when they got out, but they didn't even breath his name. Yet all the time he kept his heart pure. I am sure that during that time it would have been so easy for him to get bitter and resent his gift but he kept himself from reproach. Until the day came that no one could interpret the dream that Pharoh had except Joseph. If anyone had a right to give up and not pursue their calling it would be Joseph. The thing I love about this story was the fact that Joseph was given every opportunity to give up and be resentful but he kept his heart right.

If you are in a situation today and you think that it's not going to get any better I want to encourage you to keep doing what you're doing and you WILL come out of this thing and bring people with you. You never know you could be in a financial crisis and everything is closing in around you and God give you a dream like John Deere and it go froms a dream to a plan to a product and you come out and get out of debt and give your prosperity to the church. Keep doing what you are doing. God's not freaking out about your situation because He's already in your future. He's not looking at your present situation He's looking at your future position. Keep doing it and evantually you will get to where God is!!!

The one thing you need to do in your situation is to determine whether or not this is a temporary situation or a permanent destination. You can't succumb to fear and despair but you need to persevere. We need to also remember that if God wants to promote He'll send a person and if Satan wants to stop you he'll send a person. So either way your blessing or your cursing is going to come wrapped in some flesh.

How Do You Move From State To Fate?
1.) Take An Inventory of Where You Are
- Before we can move any further we need to do a self-analysis and determine where we are.
- You can only correct what you are willing to confront
2.) Recognize How Gifted We Are
- We must recognize the power of the gifts God has given us to escape the prison of despair and defeat. Joseph was bound by his circumstances but he overcame them by using his gifts.
3.) Keep A Pure Spirit Before God
- When all hell's breaking loose in your life and you feel it's going to be easier to quit keep your heart right and know that if God brings you to it He'll bring you through it.
4.) Learn How To Re-Create Yourself In A Time Of Need
- Joseph went from convict to commissioner in a matter of hours b/c of his creativity.
- The spirit of favor and creativity WILL ALWAYS bring you out.

Pics Of Paige In OSU Gear

Know When To Bend

I received the following this morning from Michael Pink, author of Selling Among Wolves Without Joining The Pack. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

"Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will (1) loose the armor of kings,(2) to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; (3) I will go before you, and (4) make the crooked places straight: (Isa 45:1-3)

So I ask you, what makes a crooked path? I believe there are two causes of the crooked path and they both serve a purpose. The first cause of the crooked path is God Himself. It is on the crooked path that we learn to rely on Him. It is on the crooked path that we come to the end of ourselves. It is on the crooked path that we behold the beauty of the Lord and His glory. It is on the crooked path, that we must bend our will to His way. It is on the crooked path that we become entwined with Him. We injure ourselves when we try to straighten what God has made crooked. We must learn to bend with the Father and conform to His "way". He is taking us to school along the crooked path. Learn to enjoy the scenery.Charles Kuralt of CBS fame once said, "Interstate highways allow you to drive coast to coast, without seeing anything". It's the curse of the straight path. While it's true that the shortest path between any two points is a straight line, the straight line is not always best. The devil always tells us, we deserve it now. Get rich quick. Take the shortest path. Don't wait. Time's a wasting! If you get on the straight path, (the interstate highway), before you have the Father's heart built in and the old nature brought under, you may find yourself broadsided by a fast moving 18 wheeler, you didn't see coming!Give a young man his inheritance before he has the wisdom to steward it and you will lose both the inheritance and quite possibly your son. Before you give your child any inheritance, make sure you have passed on the inheritance of your heart. A great way to do that is on the difficult path. The crooked path. The inheritance of your heart is more "caught than taught" and the trials of life provide the perfect context to pass on the wealth of understanding God has deposited in your heart as you learned to bend to His will and His ways along the winding path.

Stuck On Standby!!!

I know that Pastor Clint Brown used this title for a recent sermon that I ministered in Michigan. I feel that it was a "now word" for a lot of the youth and young adults that were in attendance and I wanted to share some points with you.


I ministered out of Deut. 1:5-8; here are some key points; the children of Israel had been stuck in the wilderness for 40 years because of the negative report of 10 people. The journey should have only taken them 11 days but they were "stuck on standby" for 40 years. I feel that the church of America has been "stuck" for too long and it's time to move on. There were three things God told Moses before they were to possess their promise.
The word standby means: held near at hand & ready for use.
1.) Realize They Dwelt Here Long Enough
- You've been at the same place for too long and it's time you realize it and move on.
2.) Break Camp
- Before you can FULLY move into your destiny you have to break the thing that is "comfortable" to you and start progressing.
- We need to forget who has wronged us and ran us through the mud and move on. We have got to quit talking about the "used to" move and start talking about the "NOW" move. People aren't interested in the used to they want to know the now move.
- You can never fully get "here" until you are willing to leave "there."
3.) Go & Occupy
- The word occupy in v 8 literally means to possess the land. The word possess means to drive out other tenants. We have tenants that are "squatting" illegally on our land & it's time we go and drive them out.

Hope you enjoyed.

Pictures Of Recent Evangelistic Trip To Michigan

I was in Michigan ministering two weeks ago and wanted to share some pictures with everyone.

The First Step Of Restoration Has Come!!!!!

In my past blogs I have eluded to a situation that was handled poorly on my end and the other parties end but there seemed to be no restoration in sight or ever from where I stood. Through it all I had been speaking with a really good friend of mine in Southern Ohio and he told me that the same thing had happened to him as far as people running his name through the mud and people constantly talking about him. I asked him what he did to keep the bitterness feelings from setting in.

He told me that everytime that person would come to his mind he would say a simple prayer "God let your kingdom come" and then move on. He encouraged me to do the same and he said that he felt if I did it with a pure heart that God would move and change the situation. When you have a 55 minute drive to and from work you have a lot of time to think and pray about things. Every time this situation and person would come to my mind I would pray the very thing that Billy told me to pray. Although the first couple of times it was prayed through "gritted teeth." The more and more I prayed that prayer the easier and easier it got.

Then last Wednesday (10-31-07) I received breakthrough. The person that I had an "issue" with and they had an "issue" with me called and apologized for everything. They said that they were wrong in what they did and they regretted it. Of course I forgave all and I apologized for the attitude that I had given as well, we hugged and were able to talk with no animosity at all. I am so thankful that we are able to start reconciling the relationship and I am anxious to see what's going to happen. If you are in a situation and you need God to restore; take heart and know that the restoration is only a prayer away.