We are called!

Welcome to The Lifestyles of The Anointed

1 John 2:14 "....I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one...."

It is my belief that we the young are at such an advantage in God we have a different perspective in God that others that may be battle ridden or a bit weary. The bible says that we are strong. In this dying day strength is exactly what is needed. There are so many influences that we must face both personally and especially in the media. Every where we turn we see what society is painting as our reality, we see what the social stigma is for our generation.

Furthermore, the scripture says that His word lives in our hearts. How special is this piece of our relationship? The living, powerful, active word of God lives within us. Within our spirits and lives the word of God is empowering us to do the work of the ministry, it is empowering us to change what's going on around us and it is empowering us to be the catalyst for change in our current lives. We need to identify ourselves as though that were set apart on purpose, we were set apart for this specific purpose that God could use us for His glory.

The last part of the verse says that we have won our battle with the evil one. This tells us that we have the power to over come, we have the ability to withstand temptation and we are examples of the truth of Jesus Christ. The word has several instances wherein we are told that we would be victorious and that we would overcome. How much different should we look at ourselves? How much more responsible are we for the future of our world with what little time it has left?

If we ever stopped and understood who we are truthfully and what the purpose really was when we were called then we would understand that in the coming days it is we who have the power. Society and life in general defeats because we lack the knowledge of purpose. God has empowered us to carry a charge unprecedented, to usher in a change unseen. We are called to draw Heaven closer to Earth with the truth of the Gospel, the deliverance of His people and the dispelling of darkness in every aspect.

1 Timothy 4:12 "¹² Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity"

The word itself says that we are called to be examples. It is high time that we defeat the stigma of our generations and rely on what promises the creator has made concerning us. We ought to rely on the freedom of the truth of the gospel rather than the negative depiction of a failed system. We aren't degenerates but we individually as well as corporately are catalyst for the change that Christ wants to enact in the Earth. Only when we accept our role will we be able to catch this vision and in turn spread it to other.... Say it with me....

WE ARE CALLED!

 

As always I pray that you have received something from this blog posting and I also pray that the peace of God would be our portion as we continue to grow in God... Blessings to you, don't forget to share, comment and look forward to the next posting. 

 

Please Hear Me

Welcome to The Lifestyles of The Anointed

As believers in Christ we understand a few things that should make our lives a bit easier. We understand that this relationship is far more supernatural than it is natural, meaning we live so much more on faith and believing than we do actually seeing with our own eyes. This is not to say that we will never see what God is doing with our natural sight but it is to say that as believers we must spend the majority of our time in belief and faith than getting trapped into wanting to see every move that our Father is making...

Have you ever been in the midst of a storm or situation in life that seemed completely unfavorable? Have you ever been in a place where you prayed to God but was unsure that He was listening or if He would respond? I'm sure that we have all experienced a place in this walk where we feel that God may not be hearing us or seeing what is going in our lives or in the lives of the people around us. I believe that we all have a Habakkuk experience wherein we question God. We begin to think, how are you not seeing this or are you seeing this and not responding...

This blog posting is rightfully entitled "Please hear me" because I believe that this is something that if not most are going through that most can relate to. In our fleshly weakness it is hard for us to understand that we serve such a powerful God and that we are still going through these rough situations. How is it God that you tell me that you are the highest power but I your child have been in this storm for such a long time.

This posting has been made to encourage you, although we may pray and pray and pray and we may never receive the answer via a medium we are expecting, know that God hears the cries of His people. Know that this Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and they and them that dwell within. Nothing goes on in this world that He does not know but for His reasons He intervenes in ways that He sees fit for the situation.

As I began studying the book of Habakkuk I couldn't help but to relate to what was going on. I couldn't help but to see myself in the pages. Some times the things we go through in life hurt us bad or seem so heavy that we want God to immediately respond with relief. Did we ever take the opportunity to stop and wonder what if this storm is purposeful? What if what we are facing has been used as the Babylonia in our lives, something unfavorable used to humble us and bring us to the point of breaking where only God can do the repairs and receive the glory....

I will leave us with two passages of scripture that can help us...

There's a condition in which we must pray to God if we expect Him to hear us and respond. Although He receives our speech, if we want to open the doors to communication than we must do it in a way that He is accepting of....

2 Chronicles 7:14

"¹⁴ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

and as I was studying this verse really hit me and I immediately felt encouraged and strengthened

Habakkuk 2:2-3

² Then the Lord said to me,“Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. ³ This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

 

As always I pray that you have received something from this blog posting and I also pray that the peace of God would be our portion as we continue to grow in God... Blessings to you, don't forget to share, comment and look forward to the next posting.

 

 

 

Love wins...

Welcome to The Lifestyles of The Anointed
¹⁸ Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love (1 John 4:18)

As we look to media, society and the collected wealth of knowledge we still find ourselves asking the complex question, what is love? Some are able to sum up love to being a feeling that people share between one another, others sum up the definition from a deeper perspective. Love in a nut shell is the very foundation of the world, love is powerful beyond measure, it is the very essence of existence.

When we look at the scripture and take into account that the bible also say that God is love (1 John 4:8) we understand that love must take on the characteristics of that which it is, in this case love must have the characteristics of God. If we viewed love in the proper perspective we wouldn't be so quick to misuse it or so willing to believe a complete misunderstanding.

In my personal experience natural human love is contingent on a reciprocation, it is contingent on conditions that may or may not be expressed. If we were to for just a moment loved how God has loved just imagine how we would be able to change the world for the better. God does not love His family in the Earth based on how we love Him. He does not show affection, blessings or any other attribute based how we as people may respond or act. God's love is pure for more than Him being holy and perfect, His love is pure because it knows no bounds, holds no record of suffering rejection and simply is because it is.

With so much going on in the world, so much calamity mixed in with simple success as well as the failings of human systems the one thing, the one institution that should remain prevalent is love. No matter what happens, who comes, who goes, what you win or what you inevitably will lose love should always survive.

If you can imagine a world where people loved out of truth and necessity rather than with the expectation to gain something in return. What if people loved not because we are commanded to but because it's what we know to do through the teaching of the truth about love? Love cannot be diminished to a simplistic existence because it surpasses our understanding. A lot of what we do in life is about cause and affect, our actions seem to be based off Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion "Every action has an opposite and equal reaction." In most instances this would be correct but as it pertains to love it shouldn't be. Love should have a similar magnified affect when activated amongst people.

It is my prayer this year that we all come to the true understanding of what love really is, that we get away from considering love to be butterflies in our stomachs and physical attractions to other people. Let's allow love to have it proper place in our lives and even more so let's allow love's power to do exactly what the scripture says... LET'S ALLOW LOVE TO WIN!!!!

It's me oh Lord

Welcome to The Lifestyles of The Anointed

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. (Romans 8:26)

I confidently say that as an intercessor I find myself at a loss for words when it's time to pray for myself at times. We spend so much time doing the work of the ministry, praying for others and bearing the infirmities of the weak (lending strength to our brothers and sisters) that we can easily forget to pray for ourselves. Unfortunately we get to the point to where we forget that we are in need as well, we too need to get to the feet of the Father with the things that trouble our hearts and vexes our spirit. Thankfully when we are unintentionally absent minded we have a spiritual advocate on our side. Right when we have reached the point where we are in need the spirit reminds us that He is there for us in our times of need.

Just think about how many times we have spent our oil cheerfully helping someone else and then we find ourselves in a situation or circumstance wherein we need that anointing, we need to get a prayer through and we need to hear the heart, mind and counsel of God. In this current season of my life I feel the urgency more and more to pray for myself as well as covering my duties in prayer. We cannot allow ourselves to grow weary in well doing, just as the car will stop running if there's no gas, we as believers will stop running if there's no period of refreshing.

 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. (Luke 6:12)

There's nothing more important than being able to hear the voice of God for ourselves. While Christ was doing the work of our Father, He found it necessary to pull away from the then disciples and spend the night praying. Let me ask this question, how does a new child learn the voice of their parents unless they spend time listening and the parents spend time speaking? This is true for our spiritual walks, it is imperative that we spend time listening the Father and the great part about it is that He desires to hear our voices. We must understand that His power is unlimited but its activated in the Earth at the response of His children calling.

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

In all honesty when is the last time we have gone to the Father in the manner of how He would like to hear from us? Repenting, praising and worshiping, seeking His face (desires and will) and then really believing that He will answer us? It's amazing that in His word there's multiple formulas of how to get God's attention, we as His children have 24 hour access to the king whenever we want but notice the verse says that we must humble ourselves. God made us strong, but He doesn't always need us to be strong, how can He be our God if we are occupying His place in our lives being self sufficient?

Take a moment today and meditate on the verses that we went over today, think about how we can strengthen ourselves as well as our prayer lives. Know that God loves you, He has planned a life and destiny for you and He is excited to hear from His children. Right where you are humble yourself and say " It's me oh Lord standing in the need of prayer"

Watch the throne

Welcome to the Lifestyles of the Anointed 

Colossians 3:1-2 "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth."

In this day and age most of what you know and come to understand has come from what we have seen whether through news, entertainment or reading. Throughout our days we see a wide variety of things that subconsciously shape our perspective on the world around us and give us a view point through which we are able to interact in our environments. Although this is a natural action for the believer it is imperative that we do more than just see naturally, we must see from the correct view point.  

The scripture in Colossians tells us that we ought to focus on the realities of heaven. Reality is defined as "the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them." Heaven's reality is that God is sovereign and His will is what takes place. Now since we live in this world but we are not a part of this world then we must adhere to our reality. We as children of God must take the reality we understand in which our God is alive and active and His will and power supersede everything else and bring that here to our everyday lives. 

In these days and times where the perspective of man is more humanistic than it has been since periods prior, we the free children of God must redraw the focus of the world's population off of ourselves and directed back to the throne. 

Scripture tells us of times in which the people forgot or lost sight of God. We have the people's election of King Saul, the occurrences of Malachi the 3rd chapter and the period in which Apostle Paul warns Timothy in 1 Timothy 4. In each of these times you will see the turning of the people's attentions, efforts and thought away from God and unto themselves. I ask you, how can a lost people save themselves? 

We cannot afford to lose sight of God in this season, we cannot with the enemy on a rampage, lose sight on our saving grace. In this hour we must "Watch the throne", we must look to God for instruction, correction, revelation, inspiration and most importantly redemption. 

Apostle Paul prays in Ephesians 1:18-19 "I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him...." this is the same prayer I speak for those of us that are reading this posting. May our eyes be caused to readjust and help us to understand the hope, power and greatness we find in our Father God and His Christ. 

We need a hero!

Welcome to the Lifestyles of the Anointed

"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:17)

How is it that we define what a hero is? Is a hero someone who is selfless, someone who does things for others without thought of repayment, or is it someone who risks their lives for others like a firefighter or police officer? 

One definition says "A hero or heroine refers to characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice—that is, heroism—for some greater good of all humanity." 

When we think of the world in it's current state, do we think of God first? Or do we think of what the world is missing out on while in their unbelief? As I sit back and just think of the current affairs going on in the world I see a great many things. I see advancement both economically and socially, industries attempting to thrive in business and commerce but most noticeable is the fear and hopelessness that seems to be taking over and reshaping the world. 

The bible tells us in Proverbs 13:12 that a hope deferred makes the heart sick. When we have lost hope in our lives, our business both professional and personal, and in ministry our heart, our epicenter grows sick, cancerous even. Through this heart condition it is my belief that we allow the normal trials and legitimacy of life to consume us to the point of losing faith. Shockingly, most of the time this goes unnoticed, it is not till the very moment that we are need of Him do we notice that we have misplaced our focus on Christ. 

In these last days we are in need of a hero, we are in need of a restoration of our hope in living again.

Ecclesiastes 3:15 says " What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again." 

Bring the two scriptures together and we see that once before God saw a people lost of hope and falling in love with themselves. The Father looked down and saw that people had lost sight of Him and because of this loss were losing their grip on destiny. During this time, being the loving God that He is, He sees the need to reclaim and reestablish what is His. Instead of punishing the world for it's unbelief and its resulting sin God sends Christ into the world to save it.

Brothers and sisters we are all in need of a hero, we are in need of a dose of hope. We need to be revived from the conformity of this world and renewed in the hope that the master's plans shall prevail. In not so many words we are in need of refocusing on what really matters in life and that He who gave it to us. 

Hypothetically speaking, how could batman, superman or spiderman do what they do less they had a people who not only had a need to be saved but who let them serve in this capacity? We have to do what we know is right and submit to God so that He will be able to move on our behalf. Let us not stand in the way of the very thing that we need and truthfully desire. 

Please feel free to comment, question and share this and any post from we at "Lifestyles of the Anointed" Thanks for reading and supporting!

Suvivor

Welcome to the Lifestyles of the Anointed 

Webster defines the word survivor as " a person who survives, especially a person remaining alive after an event in which others have died." For most, life has been a series of obstacles that have required this mentality or character attribute. Many of us have had to endure incredible hardships and adapt to environments and situations that have been entirely unfavorable. Life has dealt us cards that other wouldn't be able to handle but in the midst of this adversity we have missed the detriment in the word "Survivor". In order to survive one must adapt, learn and become innovative in a situation or environment that is not to the favor of its subject. This all sounds good but where does this leave the believer, where does this leave the person who has been born again fearless with unlimited power? 

² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

The model that the world follows is that of its forefathers, the mentality of this world is to make lemonade when life has given you lemons. For the one that has been given power to change the world, power to reshape circumstances and occurrences being a survivor is a hindrance, even worse it limits the possibility of becoming better. 

Apostle Paul rights in this letter that we aren't to conform to the pattern of this world, its no coincidence that this letter is going to the center of an empire that is reshaping the world to who's influence is still seen today. It's imperative that we as believers allow the Holy Spirit to rewire our minds to think like the king and not as commoners.

The bible says so many great things about the body of Christ but if you notice, positively speaking, the everything we are and are to do is written in a progressive and increasing context. Being a survivor goes against who we are by supernatural nature, we are not to survive but to overcome, conquer, defeat that which keeps us bound to limited thinking and achievements.

Who you rather just make it, or would you rather be able to find peace in escaping mediocrity of social and economical limitations? I for one am not a survivor, I'm a conqueror, I'm royalty, I have overcome!