The Half Day

Ok, I ain’t trying to claim nothing, but a sister feels horrible. Just had some Theraflu. And it didn’t work. So I’ve decided to stay my butt home tomorrow and take care of myself. My ears and my neck hurt. Signs of a sinus infections. But I ain’t claiming nothing--lol. Cause I’m healed. Just a speed bump, not a road block.

So I got up this morning achy. Probably a combo of exhaustion and just running without paying attention to my body. Actually, all week my neck has been hurting, but I’ve been so busy at work, as well as doing some real estate stuff, that I just haven’t had the time to give attention to my aches and pains. Cause I try my best not to feed into sickness. But my body was screaming real loud this morning. So I got up, made me some Theraflu, and decided to stay in since it was rainy.

As I was lying there, I stumbled across a woman preaching who I had never seen. She told a story of a little boy that was so interesting. She said the little boy who I’m guessing is about 4 or 5 years old had just graduated from pre-school and had started his first day of kindergarten. When his parents picked him up they asked him how did he like his first day. The little boy answered, “I just want to know one thing…..who signed me up for the whole day????” I cracked up laughing cause it confirmed something that’s been in my Spirit all week.

My pastor actually talked about this on Friday night in church. He was basically saying how the church doesn’t fear God anymore. Ironically, when we were coming out of the church on Friday night…..me, my sister, and my niece were walking to the car and this lady---who is a church member---came running up to my sister with something she was selling. I assume my sister, being nice and passive, said she was interested in the products---some jewelry and whatever. Something I wouldn’t put in my jewelry box, neither would my sister, but anyway……. The lady comes running to us with the bag telling my sister she had the stuff she was interested in.

At first I looked the other way cause I could feel negativity in me. But then I thought about the night before when she ran across the church DURING SERVICE to give my sister a message about the products. And last week, during all-night prayer, while we were PRAYING she had the nerve to turn around to me and say……..I have silver hoops as well. When she first introduced her business at a church fellowship I brushed her off by saying that I was only interested in sterling silver hoops. It was my way of saying that I wasn’t interested. But this chick, I guess being a good business woman, called her company and found some silver hoops. And so what she expressed was that she wanted to catch us before we got away. But did she have to do it during service. That’s all I was asking.

So we’re walking out to the car and the lady starts doing her business spiel to my sister and so I turned towards her and said…… “please get away from us!!!” She wouldn’t back off. She rolled her eyes at me and kept talking to my sister. So I went there. And I make no apologies for it. I laid her out in the parking lot. Cause not only does she show no reverence for God’s children, but she has no respect for our house of worship. She has actually made the sanctuary her market place. NOT. She ran up against the wrong sisters.

So it just had me thinking all week. And my pastor broke it down on Friday night of how we don’t fear God. We, the church, do not fear GOD!!!! Cause if we did….we wouldn’t be doing some of the things that we do. I’m telling you……I FEAR GOD. I’ve expressed this many times, but I can’t get away with NOTHING. Every wrong move I take, and every wrong thing I say….I pay a high price for it. If you look up reap/sow in the dictionary you will see my photo. Probably that same Facebook photo---lol. With that bright smile cheesing. I done reaped so much from doing things my way that I’ve dwindled down to nothing. But that’s where God wants me. Dying to myself so that He can reign supreme in me. So I try my best to stay in God’s lane in which is causing tremendous growth in me. And so as I listened to the story of the little boy it just made me think of how we are so programmed to the “half day” mentality that we live and have our being in that half day, premature stage. In addition to that, we are knocked off guard when we have to put in a full day’s work.

Ok, so I was having a conversation with my girlfriend yesterday and we were discussing how the church, really America, is so consumed with blessings and the good things of God that we don’t know how to handle the bad things that we go through as Christians. The other side. The other half. The fullness of God. See we get so wrapped up in the things that we’re given, cause I’m telling you all the things that rubs our emotions the right way we call it a blessing, that we can’t discern and handle the things that don‘t feel good to us. You know……when warfare is needed. Or when we have to put an effort in handling a negative situation. We just chalk it up to…….. “whatever” or “that’s life”. Or….. “it’s in God’s hands” when we want to get super-spiritual.

I was reading some comments on Facebook of a friend who is going through a breakup. Yeees, she put all her business on the book. Of course she’s upset. Naturally she is. But I was reading some of the comments from her “saved” circle of friends and was amazed. A lot were saying stuff like….. “If its meant to be, it will be.” Or……. “What God has for you is for you.” You know those cliché responses. I basically said, ummmm……… “God closes doors too!!!” I was just trying not to pour salt into her wound. But then someone made the ultimate comment and said…… “Sometimes we put ourselves in situations that we shouldn’t have been in.” I soooo wanted to comment and say to the girl that she hit the nail on the head, but then there was this little sly comment from one of her closest friends that said, “Only God knows what’s best for you.” Umph.

Ok, that’s all nice for preschool……..but let us go to the full day. I’ll probably write her an email tomorrow that says……. “girl, you need to fall on your face before God and ask Him to deliver you from whatever nasty spirit is attached to your life that keeps causing breakups after breakups---even a failed marriage. Or whatever nasty spirit that keeps drawing you to the wrong man.” I see a spirit around her that she needs healing and deliverance from. And I ain’t judging or pointing fingers……I’m just exposing the truth. Cause I’ve gone through the same thing. Broken relationships, failed marriages, and having ungodly covenants ummmmm....... Christians shouldn't be subject to this kind of foolishness. Seek God, expose the truth, seek God, rebuke the enemy, seek God, take the lesson (exerting patience and self-control), seek God, and proceed in faith. Bottomline.

There was a visiting couple at church on Friday night. They are engaged to be married in September. So the visiting prophet basically went down a number of issues that the couple was well aware of secretly. He even went as far as to say that the guy was not happy in the relationship, and the girl was going through a lot of past turmoil that she has brought into the relationship. Everything the prophet told them they confirmed. To make this paragraph a little short......ummmm....the prophet was like the two of you should not be getting married. I grew up on this type of boldness. And that's where we need to go back to. Stop rubbing the ego. Lacing negativity with "a blessing from God."

My pastor went on to talk about the new movement of organizing the Holy Spirit and how churches are trying to organize the move of God. Everything is timed perfectly, and everyone is taking notes on how to “go to the next level”. And then the next Sunday is part two of going to the next level. And so on and so forth. I ain’t gonna lie. I’ve been there in my Spiritual journey. Stuck on motivational speaking. But that ain’t the whole truth. Yes, all of that is covered in pre-school--during the first half of the day. But lets get to the other half. Let’s grow up a little and get to some mature things of God. I gotta admit. I’ve been there. I love an organized….whatever. But I would leave church and feel soooo empty. Soooo mal-nourished. Basically, I was being fed the preaching and the teaching, but the other part….healing and deliverance I was missing. And to be honest, the preaching is gone too. So now all we have are “teaching” ministries. We have sifted Christ right out of the church. We have sifted Christ’s main purpose for coming to earth right out of the church. Christ entered the earth to abolish the works of the enemy!!!! 1 John 3:8, not to teach Christians how to live happy, go-with-the-flow lives on earth.

So now we have a whole lot of people “going to the next level” by walking in there destiny cause they’re heirs to the [earth’s] kingdom, all while carrying baggage and issues. Like promoting self in the church. No reverence or respect for God. No fear. Cause ain’t nobody trying to commit to the whole truth. Ain’t nobody trying to sit through the whole day of Christianity 101.

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. --Matthew 9:35-36

But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.” And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons. Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. --Mark 1:38-42