A Crucial Turning Point! 9-6–26

Welcome to the word for the week. When you hit a crucial turning point in your life you know it. There is nothing to guess and wonder. You absolutely know you are there. It is a place where there are not many options on the table. You either move forward or you move backwards. It is plain, simple, and very obvious those are your only choices. You wish there were more options but it is the way God designed things. The point this week is not simply to recognize the turning point. The real point is to understand that it is crucial. When something is crucial it means it needs to get your undivided attention. It means you will be faced with some tough choices that have serious consequences.

Walking with God is not about what you say. It is about your actions. It does not come down to a few things here and there. It comes down to every choice in every area of your life. Some may hope that God overlooks the weak areas in favor of their stronger areas but it does not work that way. Spiritual warfare does not work that way. A little leaven will leaven the whole lump. The weak link in the chain will break the whole chain. It is not the things around you that you have to worry about. It is those things that are within you. Greatness is attacked from within. Jesus was attacked by Judas who was His disciple. You are and I are often attacked by the enemy within us, which is ourselves. It is our lack of willingness and lack of total obedience that causes this. It is our ability to overlook the things that are most crucial to us.

Take a serious look at the life around you. What does it look like? How is your home life? Do you live in a manner in which the presence of God rules every aspect of it? How is the life of your children? Do you see their faults and address them? Job prayed for his adult children in case they sinned in their hearts and did not know it. What about you? How is your work life? Does your light shine that others may see your good works and glorify God? How is your church life? Are you faithful or do the smallest things keep you away? What are you really dedicated to? What is your priority in life? Pride is not always open and obvious. That kind of pride is usually torn down quickly and you have a chance to right the wrong. The pride that can undo everything is the pride that is subtle. Nobody can easily see it but it is there. It has to be front and center but it has a humble appearance. There is a reason God says man goes by the outward appearance but He goes by the heart.

When a woman has birth pains there may or may not be a significant amount of time before birth. That is the point this week. The earth is in the birth pain stage while some in the church are taking their time to get in place. Looking the other way was the sin of Samuel the priest and it cost him the life of his sons and himself. Looking away was the sin of those in the earth in the days of Noah. Looking the other way is what caused Saul to no longer be the king. Turning a blind eye has consequences. It does not have to be you doing the wrong. Being a partaker of the sins of others covers a lot of ground. Looking the other way, enabling them, agreeing with their wrong, and even walking with them. The bible says how can two walk together except they agree. We are in a season where we must examine those things and people around us. If you truly care for those around you then you will warn them while there is still time. You will change your own behavior. You will change your own mindset. You will understand the only person comfortable in the dark is the one who cannot come into the light. You are not in the light simply at church. You are in the light at all times. The final question is what does your heavenly report look like?

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you in His grace,
Bishop Carlos J. Lennon