Tag: God

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Tap Into the Potential

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3 NIV

If you know me, you know that I am a nerd, lol. I love to learn and I will always find joy in learning something new. One of the subjects I absolutely loved was physics. It was a lot like calculus, making it like math so I loved it. I love solving problems lol…maybe that’s why I have tried to fix everyone else’s problems all the time…hey I don’t know lol.

Anyway, I think it was in my initial mechanics class that we discussed the different types of energy, kinetic and potential (now there is a wealth of topics in this area, force, power, thermodynamics…hahaha I won’t go on a tangent). Kinetic energy is moving energy and potential energy is resting or stored energy. Because energy is neither created nor destroyed, at any given time when the kinetic energy of an object is zero, then its potential energy is mass*gravity I think, lol, and vice versa.

I bring this up because most often in relationships we womenfolk see and look at a man’s potential, that sleeping giant and resting energy within him, thinking about what he could become if he acted on his dreams and all that hypothetical stuff lol, instead of looking at the actual kinetic energy–or effort–he is putting out. However, why not tap into the potential energy of God?? Why not look to Him instead of man–and that goes for all of us, man and woman? God is the only being whose potential energy can be attested to, time and time again. If you awaken God’s potential in your life, it is sure to get things moving and shaken up. He will transform your life, and set you on a divine acceleration path for breakthroughs beyond your wildest dreams. You cannot fathom how God will move things around. Here is my testimony of how I tapped into God’s potential this past year and what He has done so far.

I decided last year the day after Christmas to purchase a book on fasting by Jentezen Franklin, and it changed my life. I had been praying for ways that I could truly go to the next level in my life, and doing a true fast was on that list. I decided to fast from December 28 until the new year at first, then I decided shortly after that to go for 7 days. Immediately after beginning to read the book, I decided I would go the full 40 days because I needed to know God’s plan and vision for me and life for 2012. I needed to truly see God move.

At first, my fast included abstaining from fried foods and sweets, two of my favorite things to eat in the world lol. (Y’all should know how I feel about lemon pepper wings from the Chinese place on Decker Blvd at home…sigh…coming soon, in almost a week yay .) Anyway, it was hard for me, but fortunately I survived. As I read the book and prayed more, I started noticing things I had never seen before, and I was able to recognize the movements of the enemy in my life. One day during my fast, I was at a friend’s desk. She had some fruit snacks…and I love fruit snacks lol. I thought how much I would like some, and before I knew it, she handed me the bag to open and I took two and ate them without a second thought. It wasn’t until I got back to my desk that I realized what I did. I repented and continued my fast. Then 28 days into it, I received what I had asked God for, a vision for the year. I CANNOT SCREAM ENOUGH…I knew and had the guidance to deal with everything that has happened in my life this year. I have slipped up a few places…but hey we are human. The goal is that we turn away from things completely and we are works in progress. But I am no different from you, so God can do the same for you.

It is December 10, 15 days into my final fast for the year and my first detox (I have been doing a juicing/Daniel fast detox) and again, God has blown my mind. My decision to tap into God’s potential and to try God on what He would do…I cannot tell you guys how much truth there is to that verse above! Hidden things…I knew how to deal with the coming attacks. Fasting has become a lifestyle for me; I think I have fasted almost half of this year and it has changed my life. God enabled me to anticipate the enemy’s attacks and showed me how to handle them. God enabled me to make the right decisions in business dealings, moving, going to school and He has led me down His appointed path for my life (Psalm 32:8). I will be beginning another 40 day full Daniel fast on January 1 and I’ll be prepping for that beginning December 28. I challenge you to tap into that potential energy of God; do it wholeheartedly. Don’t be a part-time believer with a part-time faith. You have to expect to hear from Him. God isn’t a respecter of persons so trust that He can and will do the same for you. Tapping into that potential energy will get you moving!! Try God out on this and watch the mountains move, fall and crumble in the face of your prayers!

"I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" Jeremiah 32:27 NIV

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Basic Training

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:25-27 NLT

I am familiar enough with the military to know that basic training is difficult. In basic training, you learn the basic skills necessary to be successful to enter military service–in a vacuum, I might add. The key things you learn during the process are discipline, endurance, and faith. But the process prepares you for battle, and for more learning.

This is a time of warfare friends. The Gospel being preached now doesn’t prepare us for the attacks of the enemy and his forces. Let’s be clear, we do have an enemy. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."(NASB) This tells us that he is here, in our lives, operating through the people we work with, hang out, sometimes live with, and even fellowship with. We have to seek God with such fervor so that we can be trained properly on how to deal with him. This training enables us to pass the tests and be promoted in rank, which of course, has more training and more tests.

So then, what is basic training for a Christian? First, you must accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. (see John 14:6,7,13) Jesus is the way to the Father, and if you ask anything in His name, He will do it, so that the Father is glorified. Next, feed on pure spiritual milk. (1 Peter 2:2) But allow God to grow you. Next, study the Word, call on God, and seek divine wisdom! (see Jer 33:3, James 1:5) As babies grow and mature to understanding, so must you. Study, says Paul to Timothy, to show yourself approved, rightfully dividing the Word of truth. (paraphrasing 2 Timothy 2:15) After you have studied, you must become trained in what weapons are available for your use–see Ephesians 6:10-18. You can know the Word but not putting it to proper use won’t do you any good! You have to know to protect yourself and others with the Word. You have to know that calling on God in prayer and seeking wisdom for how to deal with the situations that will come is the strategy, something that you learn from studying and becoming well versed in the use of the weapons. These situations come to test you and sometimes to break you.

After basic training, the enemy is sure to come; he knows that God has a purpose for you and so he will come at you more intensely. So using that wisdom and discerning the attacks of the enemy–whether it be through things that happened in the past or unforeseen circumstances that will arise–you can rest in God knowing that He will give you the tools necessary to succeed and He is sure to guide you into deliverance. Like the enlisted soldier, once you pass basic training, you are ready for deployment to gain the specialized skills necessary for walking in your purpose. Don’t make the key mistake of failing to train; because when the heat turns up, you will be put to the test!

Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad–for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. 1 Peter 4:12-13 NLT

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory; 1 Peter 1:6-8