DIAMOND: YOU CAN AFFORD IT

Well, some of you might have thought I would be talking about money, but not so.  I have found that there is something that has a whole lot more value than money could ever have and you could never put an actual price on it and that is self-respect. You cannot purchase it at a store, but yet it is so essential.  They do not sell it anywhere, but yet everyone needs to have it.  Once you lose it, it is difficult to get back, but yet you need it.  Nobody can give it to you, but it's important that you hold on to it.

It is because of lack of self respect many women feel as if they should be more or less discriminating in relationships.  In other words, there are the women who live and die by obtaining a man who can only buy them whatever they want, do not care about the anointing, love, being equally yoked, or anything remotely resembling Jesus.  These we will call "diamond girls".  It is strictly all about the benjamins and nothing else.  I will say this, that it takes less self-respect for a diamond than any of the other kinds of women.  A diamond will sell herself for a dollar and a ring.  She values herself less than the woman with what we would consider the lowest self-esteem.  Even a woman who we classify as such, has more self-respect than to give herself away for money.  A diamond has some real issues with herself in general.  She doesn't care for herself and her worth.  Who she is and what she represents is what she has and what she can put on.  She believes she is being smart by holding out for the biggest bidder or the man with the biggest bank account.  But, she does not feel she is anything unless there is a price tag attached to her person.  She looks down on herself unless she can attain only what money can buy.  Therefore she seeks after a man that can supply her financial needs and ignores her spiritual needs. She looks down on others for what they don't have, but truly she is the one that is lacking in so many areas of her life. 

There are so many diamond girls within the church.  These are the women who pursue position clawing and backbiting.  These are the women that seek after people within the church who stand in great positions.  They seek after being put in high places.  They are much like Jezebel in that they are manipulative and aggressively seeking after that which they are not entitled to.  They will sell you out and anybody who gets in their way to obtain their prize.  If they have to change the script to make you look like you did something wrong to take you out of the field so that they will be the only girl out there filling their basket in the light of the day, they will do it.  Just like Jezebel who manipulated her husband to steal the land of Naboth.  Diamonds are ruthless women and they look like they have high self-esteem, but in reality they are unsure of themselves and therefore must tear down other people to look elevated rather than working on a level playing field.  These are the diamonds.

I'm only going to be talking about the diamonds today, but we will be talking about other jewels such as the ruby and pearl. I speak to the diamonds today and tell you that you are worth more than you are selling yourself for.  Giving your goods aways for any price is not worth it.  You deserve all that God has for you.  You can afford to give God time to work on you and prepare you for who you need rather than chasing what can never fulfill you. Jezebels' end speaks to what happens to women who manipulate their way into relationships and in life.  There is no good end to giving yourself away to the highest bidder.  Your price is far above what any man could ever pay except he be the savior, Jesus Christ.  You were already bought with a price, the blood of the lamb.  You've already been purchased with a price that nothing else could compare to or stand up to.  I used a diamond to express the fact that it is unbreakable, valuable, and even in its uncut state, still unmistakeably beautiful.  This is why everyone seeks after a diamond.  The only problem is that in most cases a diamond doesn't even know she's a jewel because she's too busy trying to be less than what she is.

TELL THE TRUTH, SHAME THE DEVIL

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)

Doing what's true and knowing the truth are two very different things.  We need to not pretend like we don't know who we are, how we are, and what's in us.  Maybe some of us don't really know what's in us or are afraid to acknowledge it.  I don't say that in a negative way, but if we do know what's in us then why is it so difficult when someone else points out the very thing that you already know about yourself.  If we cannot even embrace who we are and deal with our own idiosyncrasies, then how do we expect someone else to put up with them?

We expect that someone else will be willing to deal with what we are not even willing to deal with within ourselves.  We got issues, but we don't want anyone else to acknowledge that we've got issues, but just learn to deal with it.  Frankly, that's some twisted thinking.  Sometimes we can't even stand ourselves. We laugh at just how ridiculous we are and behave.  We pray that God will change us and fix us.  Then we act as if we don't know there's issues going on with us when someone else points it out.  Hello somebody, but that is just plain off the wall as Michael Jackson would say. 

The word of God is the only remedy for keeping us in check.  It gives us checks and balances so we won't seem mentally unstable in our behavior and attitude.  Let's be honest, women can seem a little bit off balanced in the way we think and behave if we don't keep our flesh under the blood.  We can come unglued in a New York minute and make men wonder who in the world is this and where is the woman I was talking to five minutes ago.  So, the word of God is there to keep us balanced so that we do not forget that we are tri-part and to make sure that we attend to the whole of us.  It tells us that we must not be a hearer only, but a doer of the word (James 1:22).  We must put the word in practice because it is relevant for our lives and it molds our character.  Our character and attitude is trained to behave like our flesh, adhere to things that appease us and make us feel good.  But the word teaches us to do the things that please the Father.  When we do not keep the word built up in us and call the word up out of us when life happens we live out of our flesh man and become who God never intended us to be and who we know we are trying not to be. 

Jesus said if you continue in my word, then you are disciples and you shall know the truth and the TRUTH will make you free.  So there is more than just one thing going on here.  It's not enough to do one.  You must continue in the word to be a disciple.  If you do not continue in the word, then you are not a disciple.  Keeping the commandments of the word makes you a disciple.  Then he goes further in saying that after being a disciple then you will know the truth.  In other words after you continue in his word or doing his word your discipleship will teach you what the truth is and from this revelation you draw freedom.

If you continue in my word, you'll be a disciple.  If you continue in my word you shall know the truth.  If you continue in my word the truth will make you free.  But what happens if we don't continue in his word?  There is nothing in us to shine a light on the things that make us fall short.  There is nothing in us to expose what's in us that is not Godly. There is nothing in us that will show us that we are not operating in truth.  This is what happens when we do not continue in the word.  So, when someone points out to us that we have junk going on and that we're a hot mess, the reason we can't see it is because there is not enough word in us to reveal the truth to us!  How can a disciple of something be truly committed to that thing if they haven't read the rule book?  You can't play football competitively without knowing the game.  You will be just a player running around on the field getting in every body's way. You won't know where to set up, which side to be on when on offense or defense.  You won't know anything because you haven't read the book. 

I said all of that to say this.....we tend to act like we forget who we are when we deal with people especially when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex.  We know that we act some kind of crazy when we have skipped a few days of prayer.  We know we go completely bananas when somebody says something we don't like or agree with.  But we tend to forget all of that, you know about who you really are, when we get into a relationship.  We tend to act like we don't know how off colored we could be if we don't keep ourselves in check with the word and prayer.  When we get into a relationship the truth about who we are becomes eschewed.  We can see the fault in everything and everybody else and ignore the foolishness in us.  It's really easy to do when the light is off in us.

It's time to start telling the truth about what you see in yourself.  The only way you will ever see what's wrong is to use the resources of the word to expose the mess that's there.  The word will reveal the foolishness and when somebody else says something about it, you will already know and have a dish towel out to clean up the mess.  Revelation about yourself is hard to deal with and handle.  But the only way to a better you, less confusion in your life, is to make sure the light is always on.  The light is the light of the word, Jesus Christ.  Make sure he is always shining brightly in your life to reveal whatever is hidden in you so that you will never be confused about who you are.

God's blessings to you over the weekend and may he keep you in his grace, Amen!

TOO EASY

Observation and experience has taught me that no man wants to be run down and chased by a woman.  Not a good man and not even a bad one.  The bad one's grow tired of it and dismiss you after they have had their fill of you and gotten whatever they want.  The good one's cannot be bothered with a woman who values herself so little that she doesn't believe she is worth the effort. 

Why are you trying to run them down sista's?  Don't you know who you are?There is huge difference between putting yourself in the field to be seen and throwing yourself at someone.  It's annoying to them, trust me, they don't like it.  It's annoying and unattractive, and makes you look desperate.  It lowers your worth in their eyes.  Some men start out thinking you're fabulous until they find out you are an easy conquest, then they quickly lose interest.

The problem with many church girls, women, and just women in general is that other people value us more than we do ourselves.  When we cannot see the value in who we are then we operate out of a place of need rather than want.  I discussed some time ago the difference between wanting and needing someone in our lives.  My blog post entitled "I DON'T NEED A MAN". Our completion is our savior Christ Jesus, because we are complete in him.  While we are single we should be satisfied with being the bride of Christ.  But because our flesh has replaced what our spirit is lacking, then we want to substitute what we really need for what we think we need.  What we really need is more time with God, but because we our not adequately equipped spiritually we try to put something in the place where God should abide.  If had not been down this road, I could certainly not share this with you today.  It is all too common among women, that we try to fill a space with something or someone.  If it's not food then it's people or a man.  It's like we need to have something or someone in every corner of our lives to make us feel like we are satisfied or adequate. 

But there is only sufficiency in Christ Jesus and no amount of things or people will ever be able to compensate for the longing that is deep within us.  That place in us is a place that only God can abide.  Food can't fill it and people cannot fill it.  That is the reason that women become easy.  Easy targets, easy prey, easy to conquer, and easy to overtake.  We lose perspective on what is really lacking in us and try to get filled up with something or someone other than what was intended to fill us up.  That's why you will see women constantly calling, emailing, texting, and trying to run down a man.  You need something but you haven't realized that it's not really a man you need.  There is something in us that longs for God, but many people replace that longing with the wrong things.  As a result of this missing element, a woman can make herself too available and start reaching out to things and people to fill up her emptiness.  It reminds me of the song, "Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up Lord, come and fill this thirsty soul of mine, bread of heaven feed me till I want no more, fill my cup Lord, I lift it up Lord". There is a thirst in us, but it is for the bread of heaven, not for other things.  We just need to realize this.

We have to get to a place where we are so full of the Holy spirit that we live in the overflow and not just have enough anointing to sustain us, but enough to spill over so that we never run dry.  When we live in the overflow we will not fall victim to being needy and wanting for things or people to fulfill us where God can only fulfill us.  We will not live in lack, but abundance.  We will not stay in a dry place but a place that is watered with the Holy spirit.  That's a place we need to be and a place we need to stay.  When we live in this place we will not be so easy the enemy tricks us out and derails our character, witness, and value.  There is a place where God abides behind his wing where you can hide.  Find yourself in that place and you will never be "easy" again.  You will be discerning and aware of the enemies tactics and devices.  You will use wisdom in your decision making.  You will wait on God instead of trying to lead God. You will hear rather than talk.  You will be a woman who understands her value and demands the respect that this value represents.

Don't you wanna be that girl? That woman of God......Yes, I pray for everyone of you reading this on today.  God has something in store, let's just wait to see what it is.  If you see Boaz somewhere, don't chase him to the four corners of the earth.  No, just put yourself together, get out in the field and work where he can see you.  Trust me, he has his eye on you, but he doesn't want a woman that will make a spectacle of herself.  He wants a woman who is well respected, Godly, decent, and knows how to present herself without lowering her value.

Love you ladies and God bless and keep your face down at the Master's feet.