Tag Archives: test

It’s Only a Test to See Where You’re At

In other arenas some call it a wake up call. Has there ever been a time in your life were it
seems like nothing was going right for you? It appears that ever time you take two steps
forward, sometimes it fills like you got kicked a yard backward. Even when you just got freed from a
thing, here comes a person, place or thing popping back up in your life again, trying to remind you
of what you did in the past. Then all of a sudden your mind starts to reminisce of what had
transpired in your past, weather good or bad, and the more you reflect on the past, you begin to
live in that past again, drawing from all the emotions, either good or bad. Then once
again you’re bound, forever looking behind you, never in front of you. As you know no one can ever
grow in their life looking behind themselves. Even as the Bible say that a person can’t plow
their field looking back (Luke 9:62).

Luke 9:59-62
And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

“It’s just a test too see where you’re at!”

When you look at the word “It’s”: This denotes an advent in your life that has caused you to slow
down or even halts your process in your Psyche (soul or mind) but heighten your sense.

Now when we look at the word TEST: which is the procedure intended to establish the quality
performance, or reliability of something before wide spread use.

Now in the case of a Christian it is becoming self-awareness in your Spiritual walk and growth before the Lord can use you. You must remember Jesus is making you into someone He can use for the kingdom but
breaking and disconnecting from your attachment to this world. So if your going through any situation and it seems like there is no end and no answer, just remember that the Lord Jesus will not put no more on you then you can bear without giving you a way of escape.

1 Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

We must remember that Jesus is making a new creature in you for Him; a vessel that holy and acceptable for His use and His will. What greater faith and love the Lord Jesus has in us to make us just like Him?!

Example:
The old samurai sword maker spent months and sometime even years to make the ultimate
sword that any emperor or king would use and pass down through out generations.The blade
would be almost perfect. But the process to achieve that end takes a lot of heating, folding,
beating, cooling over and over again; thousands of time over months and years. Don’t refuse the heat and don’t refuse the beating. In other words don’t complain because of your tests or your trials of temptation, health, finance, and any affairs of the heart.

James 1:1-4
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

He will not put nothing on you that will cause you to sin or to turn from Him. We just have to see it through to the end no matter what. He already saw the best in you when you on saw the worst in you. You saw failure and He saw victory in you. Remember your are that samurai sword that’s being made into perfection, ready to be used by the king of glory!

Reference scriptures:
1. Ephesians 6:1-14 putting on the whole Armor of God
2. Phil 11:29 believe and suffer for him.
3. Gal. 5:1 be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage
4. Rev. 3:20 he’s knocking at the door.

Humility Under Fire

Have you ever been under fire? There is a gun ship in the military that “brings the rain,” to those on the ground. This is what is happening in your life. You are attacked non stop until you look like Swiss Cheese. Even though its unwarranted, when it goes and comes through your life you’re left devastated, but it makes you reflect over your life. It makes you think about what you have done. Things happen in our life, and the first person we blame is God. “Lord why did you allow this to happen to me? Am I not Your child? Lord why me? I can think of quite a few people on my list who need this, but I don’t need this.” We come out and we have issues. But can you be humble? Can you be humble when someone is sticking you with a pitch fork, or talking about your mother?

The Word of God tells us about humility while under fire. Its hard to love someone when they’re choking your neck. Then you have to look at them an say “I love you in spite of yourself.” But humility, when you’re going through a process in your life of growth, can you be humble, submissive, genuinely honest with yourself and say ‘I understand I will be humble”? Humble and fire; you just can’t put those two together; they are like oil and water, they just don’t mix. Can you remove yourself out of the picture and be understanding to someone else and be humble? Most of the time we can’t because we’re looking at the way they are hurting us. You remember the old saying about sticks and stones? Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.

Hurting on the outside on your flesh is temporary, its for a moment for the physical pain. Take an aspirin or midol and the pain is over. But when you hurt me with words, they cut and leave scars you can’t see on the inside. These scars don’t heal. They don’t heal do they? No they don’t. When you cut on the inside, you leave a mark that only I can see. A lot of times people they leave a mark that only you know about. They say one thing, but do another and you say, “I thought you cared, I thought you loved me, I was under the impression. When you said it before it meant something else. Do you care about how I feel. No, because if you did, you would never have put that scare within me. So all of this time you lied?” Its amazing to me that people allow their lives to be controlled by a lie from youth to now and never got over it. Just because someone calls you something doesn’t make it so, you make it so because you begin to act as so. We look at our lives and say “I am not what so and so said I am.” Then we question ourselves and and ask “am I?”

We justify that scar within us. We do just what a clam does. What does it do when it gets a spec of sand within? It builds up a shield over it, a slimy shield that gets hard over and over until it rises up, so when they go over it, they won’ t feel the pain of a little grain, but now they have the pain of a pea. This is what we do on the inside, covering it up over and over, thinking that this will justify and make us worthy. You don’t need anyone to validate you. You, are you. Validation only brings accreditation to the person giving it. But if the accreditation isn’t good, neither is the validation. You say, I’ll drown myself in alcohol. I’ll takes drugs that will help me forget. It never helps you forget, it makes a bad situation worse. Now you have drug addiction added to the bunch. Every layer you’ve covered that scar tissue up with, you have to pay for it, and go over it.

Humility under fire, that moment when you thought you’d fight back and say, ok. So what is taking place in your life? God is watching every move you make and trial your take. He’s seeing you in that trial. When people go through grief recovery or anything like that, they have to talk it out or write it out and say if they have a problem with someone. Then what are you going to do with it? But I just gave you all my problems, now you have them. You’re wondering why you got on his nerve? Can you look at someone and say “I’m sorry for the way I treated you?” Nothing can come at you unless you allow it to come at you. Nothing can get on your nerves unless it gets on your nerves. Things only bother you because you allow them to. Some people set time bombs in your soul then leave because at a certain time it will explode. They’ve been gone for a whole week and your suffering and they aren’t even around. You’re sitting there struggling, getting mad with yourself for getting mad at them. People set things in your soul to distract you from your course. If I keep you lingering and wondering and wondering and lingering over things guess what? How many hours in a day? 24? So if I get you to spend 15 of your hours thinking about what I just did to you and i’m not in the picture, whose life am I wasting? They aren’t there, and you are struggling. Satan does it all the time to us and we love it. He gives us things to muddle over in our brain. One person comes through and says I don’t like you?  You’re struggling on that, at home, on your job, everywhere you go you’re struggling on that. Meanwhile your soul is getting beat up. Who’s beating up your soul? You are! That is a time bomb they set in your soul.

People have ways of doing things to you that you don’t want to see or know. People drop stuff in your life to destroy you to make you think less of yourself. They make you unsure of yourself, they don’t give you the opportunity or growth to grow. They stunt your growth at an early age. Parents do that with kids at an early age saying “you’ll never amount to nothing.” So your pursuit is to amount to make them wrong, but it hurts you to your core. We all know what nothing is right? If they say you’ll amount to nothing, then where is all the love they gave to you going? To nothing? You don’t wast love on nothing. “So who am I,” the little kid thinks? So the little kid grows up to be nothing. You know how many people are in prison because their parents put them in there? Some people spend all of their life trying to prove to their parents they were wrong about them being nothing. So what do they wind up doing? Theft, mugging, violence; and its all because of their parents. He gets his parents attention, and is now in prison, but the parents say I love my child, I love I love.

Can you still have humility under fire? Humble: to have less pride, or none at all. Low; down to the earth low. To be subdued. To be submissive.

Does that mean let people walk over you? No. Not wanting to have the last word out of everything. Not wanting to have the last word. What does that mean? Do you want to have the last word? Because if I give you the last word, you have to think about it. They got the last word. How often do you have the last word? Then the word comes, the one we don’t want to hear “you no good…” We brought that on ourselves, we chased it down. There is no humility in the person who wants the last word. You argue, you argue, you argue, you argue…arguing is someone trying to get the last word. Not just the last word, but the last hurting word. How many can be big enough to say “alright you can have the last word,” and then turn around and say I love you? It hurts the other person. Christ did it for me. So we can do it too. We bring a lot of undue fire in our walk with Christ because we want to get the last word. Do you try to have the last word with Christ? How many can just apologize to that person and say I still love you? We can’t do that, we have to bring out the big guns and fire, emptying the first magazine, then when all the clips are emptied, we bring out another set of guns!

Jonah – Lets go back to that wonderful hot summer when Jonah was sitting under a gourd tree. The Lord told him to go down to Nineveh and tell them to repent. But Jonah said, but Lord those people are evil and bad. God could have continued on with the conversation, but He let Jonah go on. How many are big enough to say “but” to God? You tell God, “but,” and He’s the one who made you! Everything that is He made. But then you tell Him no! This is the same God who put a big ball of fire in space, and have planets orbiting around it. When is the last time you put up a couple planets up in space, and you give Him a but? He is so humble and says “Have it your way.” Now when He has a purpose for you to do, then He will be after you. Like Jonah. Jonah just went and waited thinking the Lord would destroy the Ninevites. You have to be humble in your walk, even when people dislike you and treat you bad, look at them with an eye of love. That’s humble, and by you doing that you win their heart and soul back. One major thing we look for, we look for things to happen instantaneously. We say to the Lord, “You said that You would curse those I curse.” While the Lord is thinking, “why can’t you say something like bless them to help them see what you see?” Everyone is going through their own test to different degrees. You have to realize this, don’t judge another man’s test with yours. When you fail a test, you go through it again, and it becomes harder because you knew better. When you see someone go through their own walk and trail, don’t judge them. If you make fun of them, then you get home and wonder why you feel bad.

1 Peter 4:12-19

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Don’t think it strange that you go through because if you’re trying to find out who God is, you’ll go through! If you know who God is, you’ll go through. You’ll always go through. You know what’s important about the test? Its not so much getting through the test that matters, but its your attitude during it. Are you complaining about the test, like the Children of Israel on their 40 year journey that could have been a 2 day journey? How soon we forget when we were in a situation how Christ delivered us from it. Being out of it we’re complaining. When you were in it you loved God going through your motions. When you got done with the test you say “Jesus? Jesus who, Jesus what?” As soon as we go back into another test what do we do? We cry out to Him. We don’t feel close to Him unless we’re going through something. When you were going through, you were all on the floor, you were foaming at the mouth seeking God. When you go through tests, you know you makes vows to the Lord, then when the test is over you go back to your old ways. Why because you have no humility. Going through a trial when you’re under fire, knowing that there is purpose in the trial for God to take a bad quality out of you.

The biggest thing we don’t know how to do is forgive other people. You have to forgive totally, not a surface forgive, forgive totally. Its a hard thing to walk in your own self righteousness. Do you have a heaven or hell to put people in? We need to look in the mirror and talk to ourselves. Healing starts. How can you be healed when you still have something inside against someone else? You ask “Lord restore me.” How can He when you don’t have enough love to restore your brother or sister? You are your brother’s keeper. Can you be the bigger person and say I apologize, I should have thought of you more than that, forgive me? Guess what? That bridge is repaired and that connection is repaired. If you are claiming the blame, the whom do they have left to blame? Now if they’re still arguing then they’re arguing with themselves.

While you’re walking through a trial, its your attitude during the trail. If you’re attitude is to get back at a person while you’re in a trial, you’ll repeat it. That could determine whether you go to heaven on hell. If you haven’t gotten salvation the right way, you have to get it right.

Matthew 18:3-4

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

You may have to eat crow sometimes to be humble, eat it with a smile and with dignity. You can be humble with dignity.

Don’t Let Another Man’s Burden Become Your Test

People have a way of uploading to you their mess. We’ve been allowing people to download mess back and jack us up. The burden of them, what they’re going through becomes our test. Allowing people to put weights upon your life, and then wanting you to deal with it. They dump and dump. Some of us make good dumping grounds. If I dump usually its off of me. But now my burden becomes your test. We have our own to deal with. So if you have some dumping to do, don’t dump it on me. I don’t want the mess you’re in to become my mess. Burden, loads, responsibilities…When you grab a hold of something from someone else, it becomes your responsibility. I don’t want someone else cross to become my burden.

Burden: Greek word is baros meaning load, abundance, authority, weight. Anything pressing on one physical thing.

I understand what you’re going through, but when you take someone else burden it makes a demand on one’s life, spirit, resources, time…most people don’t realize that. When you look at a test. What is a test? Everyone has been to school. When you take a test its a critical examination and evaluation of ones trial. How many have done an evaluation on yourself? Did you find yourself wanting? Lacking? The point is…how often do we admit our failures to ourselves? I have come to the conclusion its a daily battle to exist and a daily war to walk upright before God. Daily. The Bible tells us no one knows what tomorrow will bring. One day you’ll be all together, with inspiration of wisdom, and you think wow, I must be going somewhere. Then the next day, you are miserable and think everyone hates you. The point is that one moment we’re this way, another moment were that way, but we don’t even realize there is a day-to-day life we lead, and live walk and breath. You cannot fix things that moment. You cannot fix things that day or hour or month. Even the world can’t fix problems because it’s not them who are fixers, they are causers.

How many have ever had an evil thought? Think about it, so the negativity in the air is also because of what you thought and did. So, this world is the way it is because of us. We have allowed another man or woman’s burden to become ours and we’ve spread that disease like never before. People use the term, “I hate your guts.” No one’s ever seen your guts, how would you hate someone you’ve never had a gut to gut relationship with? You walk away feeling proud, and then when you walk away you say “why did I say that.” Now you’ve taken over someones problem. Have you ever thought about why you hate an individual? Because it didn’t meet a personal need or physical awareness, because they kept you from being fulfilled by a thing. So you traded your love for hate. How could you love one moment and hate the next? Sometimes we don’t even have to say we hate, we just live a life of hate toward that individual. How many are carrying others burdens right now? How many are in a test today? Did you create that test?

When you look at a test scenario, evaluation of yourself, a lot of times we get mad at a person because it’s expressing who we are. We’ve painted a picture of us being something different, but the truth comes out of what we really are. When our mind has told us that we are what we made ourselves out to be, then we get mad at the person calling us out. Then we inspire others to see our point of view. When we set a trap for ourselves, the Lord tells us to love everyone. But Lord I can’t love someone who treated me bad, talked about me, stabbed me in the back, called me names…sometimes we’ll reap things we’ve done from a long time ago… thought we got away with it, when the Lord says He has a time for us. Then we don’t understand and say “Lord why me? I’m the one that loves You.” As you define love and relationship in your life, what are the elements you use to define love?

How many forgive people? The sort of prayer that says “Lord I forgive them for what they’ve done and what they’re doing.” When you allow the hardship and burden of someone else to become your difficult state, then they become a detriment to yourself. You may not have said it out loud, but you may have acted like it. Its like this…you speak things into existence. Out of your mouth you condementh yourself. And that is just after you sang “I could sing of your love forever.” When you come into the house of God, I don’t want you to leave the same way you came. Most come jacked up, broken, confused, and then whats next? Did I speak about trials earlier…if you didn’t get it right the first time…you’re going to repeat it. And it doesn’t come on a time schedule. It comes when you are doing everything you like under the sun. Weigh it before you say it. Before things come out your mouth out of hatred, anger, lust, even love, make sure you weigh it against the heart and mind of God. Don’t say anything out your mouth that hasn’t been checked. The words that come out of your mouth vibrate. Everything has a vibration to it and it is stored in objects. If you take the test of someone else upon yourself when no one asks you to, then if they get an F, you get an F. Don’t get mad when the result is not positive toward you. Don’t get upset and say “Lord that wasn’t my test it was their test.” The Lord will look at you and say “were you in agreement with them or did you entertain it?” Your test is your test. So if someone is in a test, say I don’t want your test. Your test is a mess. If you aren’t able to bear it, or go through your own personal test, how will you bear it? Another man’s burden will not be mine.

Galatians 6:1-18

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Don’t call someone out of their name, or say you hate their guts or say you can’t stand them. “Galatians 6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden.” “Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” When it says this, it doesn’t mean bear another persons sin. Your walk is your walk. If I see another person going through, I will help, but I won’t bear it. How do you help? By praying that God’s will be done in his life, not to grab it and try to work a will, but to pray that God’s will be done. So if you take on another persons burden in another way other than prayer, it becomes your test, and it’s not what God has given you. Now, you’re bearing another’s burden through prayer because its your brother/sister, don’t get involved. We get sick, they get well and we’re still sick. Don’t hold onto some else’s burden because if they go down hill, so will you.

Jonah was given a command to go to Nineva to preach to the heathen man. The Lord said that if he preached to them, they would repent. He instead took his burden to a great fish. He said swallow me! If you do then I don’t have to say what He has to do. You’d rather be swallowed by a big fish than to do what the Lord told you to do, then you deserve everything coming to you. But the Lord didn’t let that happen. So the fish spat him out. He made a 2 weeks journey in 2 days, and did what God told him. When someone is disobedient to God, don’t be around them, run. When a grenade goes off, does it make distinctions about whom it will blow up? No it blows up everything. So if God is after someone because of their disobedience and you are associated with them, you will take the burden too. Rather you should pray that God deals with them, that God delivers them from themselves.

Why do we go through for someone else’s mess? I want to go through my own trials, because its something I didn’t get right. I don’t want you to go through for me because I won’t get the point. I won’t get it if I don’t go through because the Lord takes us through to make us, not to break us. You can’t go through what another person goes through because God is dealing with them individually. You have to realize you help people better by allowing God to take them through. God is trying to let us know He wants to make us.