Rejoice, people of God! The fight is FIXED!

Hey 👋🏾 there BCU Family!

As usual, you have the option of listening to our podcast (click the BCU avatar below to listen), reading the notes or BOTH. In any case, we pray the post blesses you. If so, please thumbs up or leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

I Samuel 17:4-54 tells how giant Goliath, champion of the Philistines taunted the Israelites twice daily for over a month–looking for someone to fight him. He was “kind” enough to make a deal with the Israelites: if they won, the Philistines would be their servants, but if he won the Israelites would be servants to the Philistines. (verses 8-10). I wonder if Goliath and his crew rested assured thinking, “yep, we got them right where we want them.”

Meanwhile, the word tells us the Israelites were dismayed and greatly afraid! (verse 11).  These were the same people who experienced the blessings (and punishment) of God, but likely because Goliath was so big (almost ten feet) weighted with all that armor, and so confident, he frightened his opponents so NO one wanted to fight him. That is, until David, a youthful shepherd came by.

David heard about Goliath’s behavior, the Israelites’ fear, and was incensed that he would defy the army of the living God. David went to Goliath with no armour, rather with The Lord on his side, and a rock to Goliath’s forehead. As I was reading this story, the Lord pointed out three points.

Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? (David–1 Samuel 17:26b)

1)Notice Goliath never touched the Israelites—he just spoke to them and they fell to pieces (see verses 8-10). In comparison, the adversary is a type of Goliath. He taunts, accuses, brings feelings of doubt, fear, worry —sometimes paralyzing us so we fall apart and we will not fight. We allow the enemy to stop us from doing what God called us to. We draw back when we notice the stern, unsmiling faces at church when we speak. We stop praising God freely because someone is looking at us. We stay out of the prayer line fearing the congregation will be wondering why we are up for prayer–again. We think,”what if God doesn’t…..” or “maybe people will laugh” or “what if I mess up?” The list can go on and on, but you get the picture. Proverbs 29:25 reminds us, the fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. Whose side are we trusting on?

Let no man’s heart fail because of him [Goliath], I [David] will go and fight with this Philistine (1 Samuel 17:32).

2) While the feelings of fear, worry and doubt may creep up (that’s a normal reaction in the flesh), we have to think and act in The Spirit. Recall what David said to Goliath: You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou has defiled (1 Samuel 17:45). David had total confidence in God and the ability God gave him. AND David didn’t have the Holy Ghost, but WE do. We’ve got THE power in the name of Jesus, we just have to use it!

3) While we do not wrestle against flesh and blood (no stones needed) 😄, we do wrestle against principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). Our battles are fought and won with fasting, prayer, reading and applying your Word in faith, knowing that our God is God and following His battle plan ensures victory EVERY time! The fight is fixed!

The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, he will deliver from out of the hand of this Philistine. (David–1 Samuel 17:37).

Bottom line: while there are some “Goliaths” in all our lives from time to time, those of us who are Holy Ghost filled have the privilege to know the same God on whom David relied, is the same one we can call on for help. Psalms 98:1 reminds us His [God’s] right hand and His holy arm has gotten Him the victory. Because He lives in You, you can rest in knowing God is working on your behalf to ensure you will be victorious, according to His will! Glory to God!!!! Fight on and share your victory (or your struggle–we’ll be praying with you) with us in the comment section below!

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Thank you SO much for stopping by. God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

BlenCouragesU1 Comment

God’s lessons from 2015 (Part 1 of 2).

Happy 2016 everyone!!!

Surprise!!! We’re trying something a little different with audio this year! So below, you’ll see a link where you can listen and yes, you can still read as well!   Enjoy and PLEASE let me know what we can do differently and how you like it! Thanks and God bless you this year and ALWAYS! 

You all know how it is at the end of one year and going into the next one, there are lists compiled about all types of subject matter, and here at BlenCouragesU we are NO exception! 🙂 What I’d like to share with you are five (5) BIG lessons the Lord taught me in 2015. I’m trusting that these will bless you as well. I’ll get into the detail, but the topics are as follows:

  1. Promises, promises
  2. Appearances can be deceiving
  3. Happy Holidays?
  4. Think outside the circle
  5. Say what?

Let’s get started!

Promises, promises:

Many of us have a habit of saying, “Let me know what you need”, “I’ll help you however I can,” “I owe you a favor”, or “I’ll be there for you”. Did you follow through on what you said without being asked? Did the person “call you” on the favor? What was your attitude about following through on your favor? Did you do it with joy? Grumble? Was it inconvenient?

Awhile back, I tried to “redeem” a favor an individual promised me and was met with an very angry tirade. *insert puzzled look*. Granted, I could have given the person more notice–I was just in a spot and needed immediate help.

While the incident is all water under the bridge, there are a couple of takeaways here. The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us not to be rash with our mouths, and our hearts are not to utter anything before God in Heaven and we are on Earth–to let your words be few. Solomon also goes on to say that when you do vow, make sure you pay it–it’s better to NOT to vow than to vow and not pay (5:2-5). It is that serious.With God’s help, when we say it, we should mean it and be prepared to follow through with it. And if something does come up, we communicate it as soon as possible and be sure to take care of the promise. What if God reneged on His promises to us because he was too busy or did not feel like it? Right. We’ll get better on this with God’s grace. Lord, who shall abide in your tabernacle, who shall dwell on your holy hill? …He that swears to his own hurt and does not change (Psalms 15:1 & 4b). In other words, it may be hurting you to get this done, but you are not backing down from your word.

The other situation is the angry outburst. Yes, yes, anger is an emotion God gave us–that does not absolve us from being angry responsibly. The Word reminds us to be angry, but not to sin (Ephesians 4:26). Usually the words and feelings get involved and things are said that are regretted later. Sticks and stones will break bones, but words heard do irreparable harm to someone’s heart, mind and spirit before the Lord heals them. Apologies are good and needful–they don’t always mend what could have been prevented if we had applied godly wisdom to our responses. Remember, the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God (James 1:20).  Think–no pray before you speak.

 

Appearances are deceiving: 

I Samuel 16:7 about men looking at the outside, but God looks on the heart is used to justify many things God clearly speaks against. The context I’m thinking of is more along the lines of spiritual discernment vs what you see in the flesh.

I recall a group of young people I saw regularly at church with their parents and such. Y’all know that some, (not all) young people only come to church because they HAVE to and it shows on their faces! Yikes!! (We were not allowed to look any other way but pleasant, otherwise it would be a long evening after church). Anyway, this child looked like they could eat you alive without any regret! For some reason, I spoke with a family member where the young person came up in conversation–turns out the child had some very serious personal situations they were sorting though at the time. So that face was a mask for hurt and brokenness.

My aha moment? We cannot allow gestures, attitudes and facial expressions to hinder us from witnessing and ministering to others. In fact, God told Jeremiah not to be afraid of their faces for God was with him (1:8). The enemy works like that so folks can stay bound and we remain neutralized. That is NOT how any of this works. We who are Holy-Spirit filled have the power of Jesus down on the inside who gives US power over the enemy to get past that fear. Moreover, we do not allow our perception of what is wrong with that person stop us from reaching out to them–our job is to ask the Lord what is wrong, pray for them and encourage/minister to them as we are led by the Spirit. The love we show sets us apart from others. Luke 10:30-37 tells how two prominent people [priest and Levite] passed by a hurting, half-dead man and how one “regular” person [Samaritan] stopped to help.  Which person are we?

I’m going to stop here for now…this way you’ll come back! Stay tuned for part 2 of our series.

God bless you and thanks for stopping by!

 

BCU

 

 

 

BlenCouragesU3 Comments

Wonderfully made..

Hey fam!

This is a quick reminder post from a while back. I was poking around on a couple of sites on the Internet and came across this picture:

I think many of us wish for, fret about, or loathe something about our faces or bodies–believe me, I GET it.  In fact, we spend a LOT of time, energy and money on comparisons,  youth potions or the latest diet fads. Or we just do nothing. At. All.  These are NOT options!

Bottom line: Now, let the record show, I am ALL for looking your best and being healthy, now–we just have to work with what God gave us (not always easy) and if there is something within our control we can improve, then, sure go for it.  In the meantime, let’s ask God to help us remember He took the time to make us special, to be you and no one else for a reason!

No need to be sad. Let's praise God because we are fearfully and wonderfully made! (Psalms 139:14(a))
No need to be sad. Let’s praise God because we are fearfully and wonderfully made!
(Psalms 139:14(a))

Be blessed and thanks for stopping by!

 

Love

 

BlenCouragesU

BlenCouragesU1 Comment

A Fixed fight—David & Goliath

Hey family!

Happy July to you! Can you believe we are more than halfway through another year? I have heard the older you get, the faster time goes and I am certainly a witness to that! Anyway, I’d like to share a classic Bible story with you–David and Goliath. While many of us know and remember the story from Sunday School, I was recently reminded of the spiritual significance.

20130613-212531.jpg

I Samuel 17 tells how giant Goliath, champion of the Philistines taunted the Israelites twice daily for over a month–looking for someone to fight him. He was “kind” enough to make a deal with the Israelites: if they won, the Philistines would be their servants, but if he won the Israelites would be servants to the Philistines. I wonder if Goliath and his crew rested assured thinking, “yep, we got them right where we want them.”

Meanwhile, the word tells us the Israelites were dismayed and greatly afraid! These were the same people who experienced the blessings (and punishment) of God, but likely because Goliath was so big (almost ten feet) weighted with all that armor, and so confident, he frightened his opponents so NO one wanted to fight him. That is until David, a youthful shepard came by, heard Goliath, and was incensed that he would defy the army of the living God. David went to Goliath with no armour, rather with The Lord on his side, and a rock to Goliath’s forehead. As I was reading this story, a couple of things came to me.

Notice Goliath never touched the Israelites—he just spoke to them and they fell to pieces. In comparison, the adversary is a type of Goliath. He taunts, accuses, brings feelings of doubt, fear, worry —sometimes paralyzing us so we fall apart and we will not fight. We allow the enemy to stop us from doing what God called us to. We draw back when we notice the stern, unsmiling faces at church when we speak. We stop praising God freely because someone is looking at us. We stay out of the prayer line fearing the congregation will be wondering why we are up for prayer–again. We think,”what if God doesn’t…..” or “maybe people will laugh” or “what if I mess up?” The list can go on and on, but you get the picture. Proverbs 29:25 reminds us, the fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. Whose side are we trusting on?

Also, while what we feel may be real, we have to recall what David said to Goliath: You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou has defied (1 Samuel 17:45). David had total confidence in God and the ability God gave Him. AND David didn’t have the Holy Ghost, but WE do. We’ve got THE power in the name of Jesus, we just have to use it!

Also, while we do not wrestle against flesh and blood (no stones needed) 😄, we do wrestle against principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). Those battles are fought and won with fasting, prayer, reading your Word, and knowing that our God is God! While things may not go the way we want them, God in His infinite wisdom has won every battle–the fight is fixed!

Bottom line: while there are some “Goliaths” in all our lives from time to time, those of us who are Holy Ghost filled have the privilege to know the same God on whom David relied, is the same one we can call on for help. Psalms 98:1 reminds us His [God’s] right hand and His holy arm has gotten Him the victory. Because He lives in You, you can rest in knowing God is working on your behalf to ensure you will be victorious, according to His will! Fight on!

Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly!

~Blen

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So many wonderful things….

Please read on!🎄

BCU

Hey family!

I am interrupting the salt series in the spirit of Christmas! I thought I’d re-share a written excerpt from a scene in a play that the youth of Meriden Bible Way (Meriden, CT) wrote and put on for Christmas a few years ago. This was the “sermon” part of the play. Enjoy!

“You see church, some folk saw Jesus, just as a prophet or teacher
Abba, Rabbi, and a good preacher.

But got the that really know His Holy pages, we know:
To the geologist He is the Rock of Ages.
To the Doctor, He is the Great Physician
To the Carpenter, He is the Master Builder.
And any foundation, needs a Chief Cornerstone.
A Lawyer, you never need one, cause we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous—HALLELUJAH!
To the Astronomer, He is the Bright and Morning Star,
To the Botanist, He is the…

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