Close Encounters

I have been thinking lately a great deal about when I was first saved.  Like most of you who were not raised in church, I had a lot to get together.  I was a nice person, of course, but by God’s standards, my life was less than noble.  The irony of my situation was that I thought I was fine just the way I was.  Boy was I wrong!

Looking back, I realize that for the most part, the world actually teaches you to be a good person, to follow the laws of the land, and to do things right.  And although the world has some form of Godliness, it’s missing the one true ingredient that makes everything work.  That ingredient is God Himself.  We live in a world that has fooled itself into believing that it’s on the path to perfection without the One who makes all things perfect.  Unfortunately, we bring that mentality into the Kingdom when we become Christians.  That is why have so many “Christians” who appear clean on the outside, but the inside is still a mess.  The only thing that will change that is an inner awakening, when you open your eyes one morning, and the Holy Spirit speaks very clearly to your heart.  You then hear the Holy Spirit and follow the voice of the Lord.  This, beloved, is what I call a close encounter with the Father.

I’ve come to see that God has intended for every believer to experience this powerful event when he/she comes into the kingdom.  Some do, and some don’t.  And that has been a sad fact within the church.  You can always tell who the people are who have had this powerful encounter with God.  Those who have had this experience know God in a consecrated way.

Now, I know it sounds like you have to be someone extraordinary to know God in this way, but you don’t.  All you need is a thirst and hunger after righteousness.  If you are like I was, and you are tired of your life as it is, and you want more peace and joy, then you are there.  You are standing at the doorway to greatness.  You just need to be brave enough to say goodbye to this world and walk through the door to your hope and future.

First Lady LaShawn

Higher Place of Praise

“A change, a change has come over me!  He touched my life, and now I am complete.”  It seems that no matter how long a person has been walking with the Lord, He will still require change to occur in your life.  I believe this to be the case so that your Christian walk will be more fruitful than it has been in your past experience with Him.

I have come to a pivotal point in my relationship with God, and He has asked me to change once again.  As most of you have done before, I asked the Lord if I ever will get to a place where change is not so painful.  As soon as I asked it, I heard two voices: The Lord’s and Pastor Andy’s.  The Lord said, “I will always require that my people go to a higher place of praise in every area of their lives.”  And then, Pastor Andy’s coined phrase came to mind: “I am satisfied with the satisfaction of never being satisfied.”  Sometimes, that can be very hard to accept, but guess what, saints?  It’s not about our feeling or what we think.  It’s all about the kingdom and God’s being glorified. 

We must get to the place where we accept the fact that God has called us.  Therefore, He requires His people to take the high road and to do the hard thing.   This is because we must be the example in this mixed-up world that we live in.  When people ask me, “How do you do it?’  My answer is usually what my mother used to say – “You do what you have to do to make it happen.”  So here I am saying yes, Lord, yes to Your will and to Your way!  Have Your perfect way!

Saints, I am so excited about where God is taking us as a body of consecrated believers.  It can be overwhelming at times because it will require that we change the way we do things.  And even our thinking will be challenged, for we all know that changing what you think is work!

Well, I believe that I am up for the challenge to change.  Will you get on board with me and ride the Faith train to maturity?  I promise it will be worth the ride.

May the joy of the Lord be your strength,

Your First Lady

A New Anointing

In an effort to stay as young as I can and live a long life, about a year ago, I started working out daily.  It was going great at first, but after a while, I noticed the regimen was not as effective as it was in the beginning.  My body somehow had gotten accustomed to what I was doing and eventually plateaued. Ladies, you can imagine how I reacted.  Yes, I went into a bit of an “I give up” stage and gained some weight.  I learned after a little research that this is what happens to most people.  When your body gets accustomed to what you are doing, you are supposed to alter your workout to make your body work harder.  Then, it will continue to respond with the results you are looking for.  So, here I am trying to kick it up a notch.  And, Lord knows, it’s not easy!    I believe this is where we are as a church family.  When Pastor and I started the church, there was a great anointing to gather people.  That anointing is still with us, but as the Lord has spoken to Pastor about leadership, we find that we need a new anointing, along with the old anointing, in order for us to go forward.  To do what God has called us to do as a collective body it’s going to take all of us working equally hard to get the job done.  Furthermore, we can’t get too comfortable with our regime.  It is time for all of us to step forward and be counted as a leader.    I realize that there are times when we get mentally weary and even physically tired.  That is when you must call on the Father to give you more of what you need.  And trust me; He will.    People of God, I believe that you are much stronger than you believe that you are.  If you desire to reach the promises of God to see His kingdom come in your generation, then you must commit daily to running this race with more patience than you had the day before, all the while depending on God for new strength to get the day’s task done.  And yes, you will receive a new anointing for this new day.    Be Blessed,   First Lady LaShawn