Praise the Lord, Everybody!
I pray that you are now living your best life in Christ; walking by faith and not by sight. Do not let what you see inhibit you from making faith acts. Faith acts are faith filled responses to the Word and Promises of God. You moving in faith and moving upon your faith is the only thing that can cause you to please God! Well, a few weeks back I ministered at a church in our city on the subject Strength in Weakness. God told me to bring it to our local church and teach the content. Right in the midst of me doing that at our Wednesday Night Bible Study I heard God say, “This is not JUST a Word for the local church – this is a Word for the body of Christ!” I am going to share some of the transcript of this message over the next three weeks in hopes that you will read it, and then pass it on. There is a contagious infection in the Body of Christ . . . and we need a Blood Test! _______________________________ STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS (PART I) When I was preparing to minister a few weeks ago the Lord began to deal with me about this mindset that has worked its way into the body among believers. He told me there was an infection in the body of Christ. God literally sat me down and gave me a lesson about it. He used an analogy of the body of Christ vs. the natural body. He showed me how sometimes we have an infection in our bodies, and do not know it because there are no recognizable symptoms. So we can walk around with something raging through our bodies; eating away at us. It is there zapping our strength – blocking our nutrients – wreaking all sorts of havoc, and we don’t even know it. God told me that there is a deadly, contagious spiritual infection going around in the body of Christ that is attacking the minds of so many believers. And the saddest part is that there are no symptoms that are recognizable to them. They think they are doing just fine. They do not even realize that they have been exposed to this infection, and now they have slipped into carnal, faithless thinking and a worldly mindset that is hindering them from having the true mind of Christ! The infection has caused them to subtly accept worldly ideology. The infection is blocking the Word that they hear on Tuesday or Wednesday or Sunday from ever taking root. Pastors are preaching and teaching themselves until they are tired but seeing no real change in the people. The people seem to take a step forward but the next week or two they are talking and acting the same old way like they never heard the Word of God! God told me that certain infections in our natural bodies are not identified until we are given a blood test. A medical professional must draw blood, and the lab must test it to see if we are diseased. Well, my assignment today is to give you a blood test! You need to know if you’ve been infected so you can get delivered and get your righteous mind back! It could be that someone right here in your local church has been exposed to the infection! It could be running rampant right in your home! So I said that our topic is Strength in Weakness. This phrase actually represents the mind of Christ. What the world defines as weakness is exactly what God uses to demonstrate His strength and power! Let’s look at II Corinthians Chapter 12: 9-10. 9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. Saints, we are not demonstrating strength when we respond like the world. We demonstrate weakness when our response to troubling issues becomes talking crazy to people; fussing and fighting like the unsaved; repaying every attack with our own attack; sitting up thinking about how to get folks back that do evil to us. Being strong in God can sometimes look like weakness to carnal men. Jesus might have looked weak to carnal men when He endured the suffering and humiliation of His crucifixion.Yet through His act of ‘weakness’ God’s strength and power were revealed to the point of declawing death, hell and the grave AND purchasing salvation for us all! Next week – Strength in Weakness Part II In Service for the Master, Evangelist Lisa Y. Mitchell
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Monday, March 29, 2010
Praise the Lord, Chosen Women! Philippians 4:8 ~ For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them]. (Amplified Bible) I am a Sunday school teacher at our church. We use this wonderful teaching tool called Church Alive. This quarter the lessons focus on the subject Christian Principles. The topic for this week was "Virtue." Virtue is my favorite thing to teach on after the subject of salvation. Virtue is defined as excellence of character or moral goodness. After we meet the qualifications of salvation as given in the Holy Scriptures, then we must be about the business of living for God. The quality of this life in Christ is defined by the amount of virtue that we display or that we lack. God will constantly provide opportunities for us to grow and to increase in virtue. How we fare is literally a daily choice. So many individuals are saved and call Jesus Christ their Lord. Yet as I grow older I see that virtue is not always synonymous with this saved status. If you do not have virtuous character we can only fake it for so long. The true you – the barometer of your moral goodness – will always show itself in time. And virtue will not just grow in us without nourishment, fertilization and pruning. We have to make up in our minds that we want to be a bright reflection of Christ by exhibiting Godly virtue. Even then it will be a fight. Subtle occasions to be unkind, inconsiderate, self-absorbed, stingy, mean, false, perverse, fleshly, cold or ignorant will present themselves. You will have to decide daily whether to act them out or not. Giving our thought life to good things is one way to grow virtue in our lives. I prayed with a dear woman of God last night whose heart was hurt by a friend who chose to not demonstrate virtue. When we chose to abide in a higher moral code we cause the light of Christ to shine brighter upon those around us. It costs us – but it is worth it. When we give in to flesh to be liked, noticed, acknowledged, paid, comfortable, in, popular, etc. we darken our surroundings through compromise. Make up in your mind to be that virtuous woman today and always, by the power of the Holy Ghost. In Service for the Master, Evangelist Lisa Y. Mitchell P.S. Thank you to those that supported our Family Picture Event! Thank you for supporting Chosen Women! | Chosen Women Founder
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