The Leper

Happy Sunday!

Bishop Alexis A. Thomas was traveling this week. Minister Darrell Phoenix preached, "Breaking Out The Box", but used Mark 1:40-41 as his reference scripture.

Mark 1:40-45 says, "A leper came to him, begging on his knees, “If you want to, you can cleanse me. Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: “Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people.” But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out-of-the-way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over". (Message Translation)

There is so much action in this one passage of scripture! First is says, "a leper" came to Jesus. If you know anything about the Bible you remember that there were specific rules about leprosy written in Leviticus. Leviticus 13:1-3 says, "God spoke to Moses and Aaron: “When someone has a swelling or a blister or a shiny spot on the skin that might signal a serious skin disease on the body, bring him to Aaron the priest or to one of his priest sons. The priest will examine the sore on the skin. If the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears more than skin deep, it is a serious skin disease and infectious. After the priest has examined it, he will pronounce the person unclean". This may sound simple but think about it. The person could not return to his home, his job, or his family. “Any person with a serious skin disease must wear torn clothes, leave his hair loose and unbrushed, cover his upper lip, and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as anyone has the sores, that one continues to be ritually unclean. That person must live alone; he or she must live outside the camp". Leviticus 13:45-46 (Message Translation)

So the leper gets all the way up to Jesus. Where were the disciples? Where were his armor bearers? Where was his security detail? Minister Phoenix used his sanctified imagination and suggested that they were taking up rocks to stone the man. But the writer doesn't tell us! Perhaps, they were just stunned by his "Boldness". He decided that he would rather die than stay in the box! He was willing to risk his old life to find a new life. Mark 8:35 says, "The man who tries to save his life will lose it; it is the man who loses his life for my sake and the Gospel’s who will save it". (Phillips Translation)
The leper got up close to Jesus, and says...“If you want to, you can cleanse me". Why wouldn't Jesus want to heal the man? Why would he have to say, if you want to do it I know you can? I'm so glad you asked! The man probably thought that he wasn't worthy. He'd been banished for being sick. He'd been forced to tell everyone his dirty little secret. He'd been reminded of his condition daily. The enemy probably played the same tricks on him that he uses on us. The enemy tells us we deserve to be sick, we deserve to be poor, that bad thing that happened to you, it's your fault. DON'T LISTEN TO THE LIES OF THE ENEMY! Pastor Jimmy Evans said, "God is the Best Daddy in the Universe! WELL FATHERED CHILDREN ARE FEARLESS! The root of all fear, worry, and anxiety is an "Orphan Spirit" because orphans are on their own and they have to take care of their own problems. The enemy wants you to feel that you are on your own and you have to solve your own problems". God wants to heal you! God wants to bless you! God wants to give you everything Jesus died to pay for.

One last point, leprosy can also represent sin. Sin is deadly and contagious! A man doesn't just wake up in the morning and decide to kill another man. Years of wrong thinking, bad company, and bad judgement lead to a life of sin. Just like leprosy, it may start with one sore, but eventually it will spread to the whole body. The Apostles urged the early Christians to flee sin at all costs. James 1:15 says, "Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer". (Message Translation)

God loves you!

Love and prayers, Cynthia

I Been Thinking

Happy Sunday!
Bishop Alexis A. Thomas continued preaching from 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. He encouraged us again to "Break Out of the Box", but entitled this message, "I Been Thinking".

Brian Tracy said, "You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you." That's exactly what Jabez did. He did not allow his negative experience to control his destiny. He determined in his heart and mind that things could and would be better. He realized that, "People cannot save themselves. But with God, all things are possible." Matthew 19:26 (Voice)

If we did a survey of everyone we know, we would find that we are all "Survivors". Each person has gone through their own type of hurt, disappointment, and loss. We are living our lives successfully in spite of the difficulties. We "put on a happy face" for those around us, especially in church. But we have to admit our lives changed as our minds changed. Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he". (Amplified Version)

Think about the man at the Pool of Bethesda. He'd been thinking incorrectly for 38 years. He had a "welfare" mentality. He thought he could never make it because the system, The Man, or a man was never there when he needed it. Jesus asked him a question. Remember, Jesus is God in the flesh. He never asks a question because he doesn't know the answer. He asked the question in order for the man to realize he wasn't thinking right. We do it too.

What about the Prodigal Son? He thought he knew it all. He thought the inheritance would make him happy and bring fulfillment. Luke 15:12-16 says, “So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any". (Message Translation)

Bishop said, "You don't have to be in prison to do time". The enemy wants to keep you trapped in the box. He wants you to believe his lies. He wants you to think this is how it has always been and will always be. But you can "THINK" your way out! Start thinking of all that God has done for you, start thanking him for all he can do for you! Renew your mind with the WORD of God. Meditate on the Word and memorize it too. When the enemy starts trying to depress you, Speak the Word. Think on the Word. Isaiah 43:19 says, “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new". (Message Translation)

Love and prayers, Cynthia

There's Gotta Be More Than This!

Happy Sunday!
Bishop Alexis A. Thomas preached, "There's Gotta Be More Than This!" He used 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 again today.

I enjoy Country Music! I know that's hard to believe, but it's true. One of my favorite groups is Sugarland. They sing a song entitled, "There's Gotta Be More Than This". The lyrics tell of a woman probably similar to many of us, dealing with traffic, hard times, and problems on the job. She says, "There's gotta be more".

The Good News is that there is more! 2 Corinthians 4:17:20 says, "So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever." (Message Translation)

In 1 Chronicles 4:9-10, Jabez gives us an example of how to experience more. First, the scripture says, "Jabez was a better man than his brothers, a man of honor." Even though he was given a negative name, he made a decision to be a man of honor. What is honor? I'm so glad you asked. Honorable is defined as; honest, moral, ethical, principled, righteous, and right-minded. Even if you come from a family of train robbers, you don't have to be a train robber.

Second, Jabez did not let his environment or his past stop him from from being all he could be. Bishop encouraged us and told us, "People really don't know who you are! God is your Creator, he alone knows all that he has purposed you to do and to be". I had the opportunity to attend an Art Fair this weekend. One artists was explaining her painting to us. It was extremely beautiful, but to the naked eye much of the the true meaning was hidden. Because she created it, she was able to give us insight into it's true purpose. We are God's Masterpiece. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago." (Voice Translation) Bishop said, "He packaged us with purpose!" He has instilled power, purpose, potential and promise within us! When we listen to His voice and obey his Word, we will experience more.

The last scripture in the text today says, that Jabez recieved what he asked for from God. There is more! Let's follow the example of Jabez...“Please bless me and give me more territory. May your power be with me and free me from evil so that I will not be in pain.”

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Break Out

Happy Sunday!
Bishop Alexis A. Thomas continued to preach about CHANGE today, and he used another powerful reference scripture. He used 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 and entitled the message, "Breaking Out The Box!"

A chronicle is a historical account of facts and events. First and Second Chronicles in the Bible are just that. They chronicle the genealogy and the history of the descendents of Adam, the first man. If you ever have insomnia, perhaps these are the books to read. But in the fourth chapter of 1 Chronicles the writer stops to make note of an extraordinary man. The writer tells us that this man was "more honorable than his brothers". His name was Jabez. His name in Hebrew literally means, "He makes sorrowful". What would cause his mother to name him "pain or sorrow" is not noted in the text. Typically in that culture fathers named the children. Perhaps, his father died, or abandoned the family. Whatever the cause, this mother was distressed enough to name her child "pain or sorrow". In that culture names were prophetic. Your name spoke to what you would be and what you could accomplish. Jabez experienced what many of us have also experienced. Someone spoke negatively about him. Bishop Thomas said, "Sometimes the way people treat you has nothing to do with you". It has been said "hurting people, hurt people". Parents, relatives, teachers, and even so -called friends may have said you were, "No good", "Not worth the salt in your bread", "Never gonna be anything", "Just like your no good Daddy", or "Just like your crazy Mama". Maybe a colleague or classmate has said, "you will never get that position", "you can't travel the world", "they would never hire you", or "you can't succeed in this business". But no matter what others have said you must rely on what God says. How can you know what God says? I'm glad you asked.

Jesus said, "Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making". You can learn what God say through his Word. The more you study, meditate on, and hear the Word the more you will know what God says about you. Thankfully at some point in Jabez' life he was exposed to the things of God. He knew enough to ask the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to help him.

This is what he prayed, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” 1 Chronicles 4:10 (New Living Translation)

What happened to Jabez? "God granted him that which he requested". What can we learn from this scripture? God wants to bless you! Yes, he wants to bless you! He doesn't care what anyone has said about you. He doesn't care what anyone thinks about you. He created you in his image. You are a miracle! Millions of babies don't make it to full term. You made it! You were born, and you are alive now reading this e-mail. You are designed by God and you are special. The world is waiting for you to be all that God created you to be.

Walt Disney, Michael Jordan, and Lucille Ball were all told that they could not succeed. The evidence that they did succeed is the very fact that you know their names. God told Abraham, "I am going to put a special blessing on you and cause your reputation to grow so that you will become a blessing and example to others". Genesis 12:2 (Voice Translation) "This is what God had in mind all along: the blessing He gave to Abraham might extend to all nations through the Anointed One, Jesus; and we are the beneficiaries of this promise of the Spirit that comes only through faith." Galatians 3:14 (Voice Translation)

Did you get that? When we accepted Jesus as our personal savior we became the beneficiaries to the promise made to Abraham! Through faith we have access to the blessing that can dramatically change our spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial lives!

Break out of the box!

Love and prayers, Cynthia

The Best Daddy

God is the Best Daddy in the Universe!  

WELL FATHERED CHILDREN ARE FEARLESS!

The root of all fear, worry, and anxiety is an "Orphan Spirit" because orphans are on their own and they have to take care of their own problems.  The enemy wants you to feel that you are on your own and you have to solve your own problems.  

Stop grieving over the father you didn't have and start thanking God that you have the Best Father in the Universe. - Jimmy Evans

 

Love and prayers, Cynthia