Transformed by God

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."  Romans 12:2 NKJV


Now what does the word "conformed" mean in this scripture text?  It means to "copy", to "emulate" and what scripture is telling us here is not to copy the behaviors, the attitudes, the customs of the world we live in.  Do not allow yourself to get corrupted by the world system because you are not of this world, even though you live in it.    You and I are children of the most High God that have been set apart for His use and have been given individualized divine assignments to complete while on earth until we are called home to glory.  We are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ called to serve and shine our light in this dying world, we are called to a different standard of doing things and so as believers, you and I must allow God to transform us into the women we are destined and purposed to be. Without transformation taking place in our minds and thought process, it will be very easy to fall prey to the enemy's devices.  

Beloved, the world is defined for us in 1 John 2:15-16 and it states "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. "  Verse 16 actually defines what the world or the world system is all about ( i.e immorality, gluttony, materialism, alcoholism, drugs, thirst for power, over ambition).  Unfortunately so many believers have allowed the above to dominate their lives and some even go as far as justifying their sinful lifestyles.   

The only way believers can avoid falling prey to satan's schemes, conforming to the world's standards, is to allow the Holy Spirit ( God's transforming power) to renew our minds and how is this done?  By literarily allowing the power of God's word to change us into who He has purposed us to be on earth. For more understanding, read and meditate on the following verses:  Romans 10:17, Rev 1:3, Psalm 119:9-11, Psalm 1:2-3 and Joshua 1:8.  It is only the word of God, daily ministered in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (God's power on earth) that can transform us from worldliness to holiness ( a life daily set apart life, not trying to "blend in" with the world, but instead living according to God's Word as we study the Bible and grow in it).  

May the Lord help us to live a life holy and pleasing before Him.

Shalom.

A Living Sacrifice

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."  Romans 12:1 ESV


In this portion of scripture, the Apostle Paul was imploring the believers in Rome to commit their lives to the Lord which means dedicating and pledging their lives to him.  So when scripture says present your bodies as a living sacrifice, it does not just mean the flesh, but body, spirit and soul (our total being),  willing  to forsake the worldly pleasures of this age.   So Romans 12:1 reminds us as believers to honor the Lord with our total being, our complete existence, we must take care of the temple He has given us, our bodies (which consist of our will, mind and emotions).  Since our thoughts come from and are processed through our brains as well as our emotions (feelings),  I believe the mind and emotions can be considered a part of the "flesh.  We must guard it diligently, it must not be abused.  

In our daily Christian walk, what does this verse actually mean to us?  Beloved  it means that for those of us in Christ Jesus by virtue of being saved by grace, the only acceptable spiritual worship to God is to offer ourselves completely to the Lord God.  We must be instruments or vessels of righteousness ready to be used by Him at any time or place.  I like how this one author put it in her article from the King's Highway, she states  " we must give God permission to walk through us and expose anything in us that is not of faith. God is a gentleman and He will not force us to do this without our permission."  So true, I could not have said it any better, the Christian faith is a faith of "free will"  you have to be willing to go all the way with the Lord once you say " I accept you as my Lord and Savior"  being ready to surrender completely.    The Lord has set us apart as His holy people, His prized possession and therefore we must as His people honor Him, worshipping Him in spirit and in truth.

"For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth."   Deuteronomy  14:2


"But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. " John 4:23

Your Own Uniqueness

Scripture text:  Psalm 139:13-16


Over and over again I find myself teaching on topics that centers around self image and being ourselves.  In recent years,  I have written and spoken on teaching messages ranging from loving yourself to being fearfully and wonderfully made by God.  And so I have come to the realization that the Holy Spirit has been directing me to keep sharing these words of empowerment to women around the world because He wants to bring healing, deliverance and restoration to the lives of His children who have experienced and are still experiencing much physical, spiritual and emotional abuse in the hands of people both inside and outside the church.   By His grace, I will continue to do so and pray that these teachings reach and transform the lives of as many women as possible.  Beloved we are all created unique and exceptional by God, the great artist and potter.  He made us all perfect in His sight having our own uniqueness.  There are no two people the same on this earth, not even identical twins.  Our God is so creative that He has made human beings in all variations, shapes, sizes, colors, giving to us all kinds of attributes or traits, skills and talents.   This He created for His good pleasure and divine purpose, we are His original masterpiece and He alone holds the trademark and patent for each of us.
The Lord God uses people like you and me according to the gifts and talents He has given us, and ofcourse our willingness to serve.  Everyone cannot preach, teach, sing or prophesy the same neither can we all be gifted in the arts or sports etc. the same way.  For God's will to be done in the world we live in,  we are called  to do things differently, in ways that will attract the right people to us, the men and women He wants us to impact for His kingdom.   Beloved, it is your way of doing things, be it teaching or singing that attracts the individual that the Lord wants to use you to deliver and set free from that affliction or issue.   So you cannot be like the other sister whom God is using in a different way even if you have the same skillset.  Be your own self, Be exceptional in what you do.  There are those who serve or have served under particular men and women of God or other spiritual mentors and they strive to emulate them in the way they preach, teach or prophesy down to the way they dress or wear their hair.   There is nothing wrong with honoring your spiritual mentor by emulating a thing or two but the Lord has called you into ministry as well so that He can specifically use you for His purpose.. As a result you need to figure out what that purpose is and how God wants you to go about it.  Remember God created you wonderfully and fearfully and for His good pleasure, He deposited things in you from birth, from the moment you became born again i.e natural talents and spiritual gifts as well as skills you have learned through training and employment, including life experiences (the good and not so good)  to use for His glory.  With all these things in addition to your personality/character your own uniqueness emerges.    Embrace who you are in Christ, strive to be who God has called you to be, do not be anyone else but YOU.   Sisters, you do not need to imitate Sister A or Pastor Mrs. B  to do God's work,  use what God has already given you to serve Him by serving others.  When you do so, people will see you as original, authentic, the real thing and not a copy cat or counterfeit ; When you are authentic, things flow naturally.  You do not second guess yourself or have to double check the flow of your message if this is how Pastor says it or is this how she walks or looks at the congregation when ministering.. No need for all that, it is too much hassle and you end up just being a performer on the pulpit.    Before you can embrace your uniqueness, you need to first of all be able to love yourself, appreciate who you are in Christ and walking in God's plan for your life, only then can you embrace your uniqueness.  Jeremiah, the prophet was a man of God who knew His uniqueness at a young age.  God revealed to him in Jeremiah 1: 4-5 " Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,  before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  No other prophet was this revealed to, but young Jeremiah.  The Lord said He had already set Jeremiah apart before He was even born meaning He was already a prophet from the womb and God had a great plan for His life.   The Lord even went further to describe more of Jeremiah's uniqueness in verse 18  " Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land.   They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord."   Brethren,  your uniqueness is embedded in your calling (God's purpose for your life).  

And so I  just want to encourage you today to be yourself, be who God has designed and created you to be, stop searching for approval from others, stop wasting quality time on the wrong things,  God has created you exceptional and uniquely for a reason, find that reason and begin to walk in it.  It is when you do that, you will experience God's overwhelming peace and joy.  


I encourage you to check out other teaching messages on my blog site and share with others :
-  Loving Yourself
- You are wonderfully made
- Who does God say you are?
- Fearfully and Wonderfully made.

The Kingdom of God: What are its requirements?

  

 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. "   John 3:3-5 NKJV

Before I go further, I would like to define what the " Kingdom of God" is, Is it Heaven or another place? Well I believe the answer can be found in Daniel 2:44 and Revelations 11:15

"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever." Daniel 2:44 I encourage you to read the whole of Daniel chapter 2 for more details on God's Kingdom.

Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: "The kingdom of the world is now the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever." Revelations 11:15

These two scripture texts illustrate that the time that the Kingdom will be established after Christ’s return to the earth. At the completion of the process of being saved or born again, we shall be transformed into immortal beings and become kings and priests serving in God’s Kingdom on earth see Revelation 1:6 and Revelation 5:10.

Friends, the Lord Jesus Christ did not mince words when speaking to Nicodemus, one of the Jewish leaders. Nicodemus acknowledged that Jesus was sent by God, but he was still a bit confused about who He really was. What was his actual title? Was He just a teacher, a prophet, or someone greater? Who was this man? Nicodemus knew this was a fascinating individual who seemed to be able to draw people to him through his teachings and he felt it was time to have a one on one conversation with him. So in order not to be seen or identified by his colleagues, he went to see Jesus at night. The Lord Jesus straight up told him, unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. Of course, Nicodemus had no idea what he meant by being "born again" as we can see in vs 4 and so Jesus tried to explain the term in vs 5, saying "unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. I am sure if the conversation had continued a little longer which it may have very well done, Nicodemus may still ask " what do you mean by water "Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born [a]again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

 

What does it mean to be "born again"? It means surrendering your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, confessing with your mouth that He is the Son of the living God who came to earth in human form, died for our sins and rose up on the 3rd day, ascended into glory, and is currently sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us daily. Because of the great love, the Father had for us, and He sent His only begotten son to die for our sins for us to spend eternity with Him. This is the first requirement "Believe" John 3:16.

The second requirement for entering the kingdom of God is to do the will of the Father. Living a holy life pleasing to God makes you and me a candidate for the kingdom of God. So beloved when you give your life to the Lord Jesus or become born again, it's only the beginning of your Christian journey, the process begins. As believers, each of us must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. I like the way the New Living Translation puts it " Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear."

You must strive to live a godly life, letting your light shine wherever you go so that all may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven, this is stated in Matthew 5:16. It's disheartening to see how over the decades, many in the body of Christ have fallen, they started well but ended so badly and many more today are following in the same path, giving into false teachings, heresies, etc. The word of God tells us in Matthew 7:21 " Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

In Matthew 19:21, the rich man was interested in getting saved, but he was not willing to go all the way with Jesus. He was not ready to let go of all his worldly possessions to follow the giver of life and all good things. So when Jesus acknowledged the fact that he had been obedient to the law, obeying all the commandments, he now told him to do one more thing, sell all your worldly possessions, give it to the poor and follow me. Like many of us would have probably done today if we are honest with ourselves, the rich man said he couldn't do that. After all my hard work, after all the challenges I faced to get to where I am today, you now want me to give it all up for a life of uncertainty? Sorry "Rabbi" (Teacher) I can't do it. Beloved, what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul? Not my words, but Christ's" Mark 8:36

To enter the kingdom of God, we must be ready to surrender all to Him, our worldly possessions, our lives, our family, everything near and dear to us. Unfortunately, so many are not ready to let go completely and give God full control. Fear, worry, family, material things, staying in our comfort zones holds us back, and if one is not careful, the cost can lead to dire consequences. 

Do you meet these two requirements? If yes, Praise the Lord and keep on walking in Christ and living for Him, if unsure, examine your life and make the decision today to get right with the Lord. If you are not born again, and you are ready to give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ today, pls click on this link for the "sinners prayer "http://www.24hourprayer.com/saved.html. 

After you have done so follow the rest of the prompts for what next or you are welcome to contact us @ dozmeinternational@gmail.com to connect you with a bible believing church in your area or you are welcome to go to Church Finder - Find Local Churches - ChurchFinder.com.

Beloved Jesus assures us that when you do decide to follow Him all the way, surrendering all and trusting Him for your life, the Lord God will make it possible for you to stay faithful, committed, focused to the very end.

"When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:25-26 ESV

Shalom!

Happy 7th Year Annivesary

Giving God the glory for 7 years in Christian ministry. DOZme is 7 years old today. Father we thank you for bringing us this far and all that you enabled us to accomplish in your name through this ministry. We look forward to another 7 years of God's faithfulness,  doing excellent work for the kingdom.

Lord the number "7: depicts perfection.  I decree that ye  shall perfect everything concerning Daughters of Zion ministries  and higher heights shall we attain in Jesus name.

We want to use this opportunity to appreciate all our friends, family and DOZme members, our beloved sisters who have contributed in immeasurable ways to this ministry over the years ( you know who you are). Thank you for your prayers, contributions, time, and overall support. The Lord will reward you all greatly in Jesus name.

Happy Anniversary DOZme International aka Daughters of Zion, A ministry of excellence!!!!

Jesus Loves You! Come to Him today.

Friends, If you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord & Savior, I encourage you to do so today. Tomorrow may be too late!   Surrender Your Life to Jesus today.  If you are looking for a bible believing church to attend and grow in your new faith, click on https://www.churchfinder.com/ and Pray the prayer of Salvation " The Sinner's prayer" http://www.24hourprayer.com/saved.html for the sinner's prayer.

Shalom.

Discovering God's Purpose For You

Let us help you discover God's purpose for your life.  Call us today @ 505-349-1586 for Christian Life Coaching Services.

www.livingwaterchristianservices.com