The other day I was with my aunt; she is a strong woman who is always helping people and always full of positive energy. We rode over to a sketchy area of town to deliver pampers to someone who needed help with their baby.
As we rode through the neighborhood, I noticed how the ground was covered with dirt in front of the small apartments instead of with grass. I saw people walking around with the strangest look in their eyes-- it was a look of being lost. Downcast eyes, some nervously darting about to protect their turf and ensure their safety as they walked the streets.
The low-income community exemplified how some people are under the bondage of poverty. It is their lifestyle, it is all they know. Poverty is a stronghold. It can be passed on from one generation to the next, but there is also the possibility of breaking that stronghold. Just like Joshua and Caleb who saw the Promised Land. The generation before them became disgruntled and lost faith, but Joshua's generation saw differently because they saw their future through God's eyes, not their own.
As I go through this life journey, I realize that each season there is an opportunity to learn valuable lessons and to pass each test. When the Lord says His people perish for lack of knowledge, I see the many of layers of His statement. We must break the poverty cycle by surrounding ourselves with prosperous people of faith, to obtain their knowledge. We must break the poverty cycle through wisdom. Wisdom is the application of knowledge.
For example, I notice that if I respond to someone in a certain manner and it doesn't work, I try a different approach until the desired result is achieved. And then I note the successful approach for interacting with that particular person. The same applies to situations in our life. If one way doesn't work, we need to try a different way until the desire result is achieved. Then, note the approach that brought you success and keep repeating it with that person or situation in the future. The old adage "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" does seem to be true but I tell you, in The Word it says that old men will dream dreams. So even if you are older in your life journey it doesn't mean that God doesn't have a plan and purpose for you. Have a teachable spirit and let God move mightily in your life!
Right now, I am going through life tests in a pretty rapid manner and God has granted divine strength to get through all that is happening in this season. There are visions that keep flashing in my mind of the future, perhaps it is God's way of reminding me of what lies ahead and to not get comfortable in present situations... to keep moving forward.
If you are going through your own set of tests right now, I do hope you find this blog useful. I have many testimonies to share, but right now there is less time to talk and write. Right now it is a time to experience life and pass these tests.
Please stand on the following scripture to accompany this blog post:
Zechariah 4:6
For, we move forward through His spirit.
Let us continue to draw deeper into our relationship with Him and let Him move through us. Let us submit and let Him take over our lives.
Be blessed!
Market Resistance
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
01-21-2009
"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him" (James 1:5-6).
Have you ever heard someone say, "He was before his time?" There are many examples of people who invented a product or service in a time when the market was not ready to embrace the product yet. Other things had to develop before the product could be a success.
George Washington Carver experienced this. Born around 1861 during the Civil War, he was a man who should have been a victim to his circumstances. Discriminated against constantly, he lost his mother to slave traders. As a young boy he cried out to God in the midst of his circumstances and God heard him. God gave George an indomitable persevering spirit and he was highly motivated to learn.
Carver discovered that Southern farmers who planted cotton for hundreds of years needed to plant a new crop because the soil had worn out and the farmers were going into interminable debt as a result. To restore the soil Carver advised the planting of peanuts and sweet potatoes instead of cotton. After much persuasion, planters gradually increased their peanut and sweet potato acreage, until these became the number-one crops in the South. However, there was not substantial market for the peanuts and sweet potatoes. Forced to let the product rot in the fields, the farmers ended up losing more money then before.
This situation placed a great deal of pressure on Carver. He took the problem to God in prayer and said, "Mr. Creator, why did You make the peanut?" Many years later, he shared that God led him back to his lab and worked with him to discover some 300 marketable products from the peanut including lard, mayonnaise, cheese, shampoo, instant coffee, flour, sop, face powder, plastics, adhesives, axle grease, and pickles.
Likewise, from the sweet potato he made more than 100 discoveries, among them starch, library paste, vinegar, shoe blacking, ink, and molasses. Because of these new products, the demand for peanuts and sweet potatoes grew and literally transformed the Southern economy.*
Has God made you an inventor? Ask him to help you bring your product to market.
One of the many aspects of Chicago that I love is the Chicago Public Library. I remember first moving here this past summer and camping out among the archives, eventually checking out bagful of books. It is such a beautiful building. I love to read and expand knowledge. They have a new downloadable Media Catalog, very convenient in the winter time when cardholders do not want to forge the bitter, cold winds to go the library.
There are several areas where I need strengthening and it is exciting to get understanding and knowledge and then apply what I'm reading to obtain wisdom. I'm a big advocate of applied knowledge... otherwise, how else will we see breakthroughs and results?
What areas in your life do you need to see a breakthrough? Where do you need strengthening? I suggest a two-pronged approach:
1. Spiritual realm: Pray and seek God on the matter. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas you need to strengthen and how to go about seeing breakthrough in that area. (do you need a better diet? get out of debt? battling pornography? etc.)
Usually, to achieve breakthrough, there is a process of renewing the mind that needs to take place. Stand on scriptures about your situation to pivot your thoughts to what God has to say about it. If God says it, that settles it!
2. Physical realm: Once He reveals these areas to you and the strategies -- don't procrastinate! Procrastinating prolongs or even blocks your blessings and promotion! Be a "do-er" of the Word and the knowledge you obtain. This is when you will start to see results.
Proverbs 4:5-9
"Get wisdom, get understanding;
Do not forget my words or swerve from them.
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
Esteem her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.
She will set a garland of grace on your head
and present you with a crown of splendor."
