The
TIMES OF refreshing
Chosen One Outreach Ministries Publisher Shearon Roach www.timeofrefreshing.com Issue No. 2 Date 12/13/03
Mathew
8:21-22 And another of his
disciples said unto him.
I tried to write this newsletter a few
times and each time I had to stop.
It seemed that the Lord was given me the ending portion of it and
I couldn’t see how to begin it, until
late or should I say early this morning when in prayer He said tell your story, and I wondered what story
and He said The Dead Weight. Immediately
I knew what He meant and tears started to fall from my eyes.
Why, because it meant truly sharing the intimate and personal
side of my life, and I wasn’t sure that I was ready to do that.
Then He reminded me “I told me to write so that they will
know that I am real” How else will they know I am real if you don’t
tell them about how I brought you through, tell them the tears you shed
to get to your place with me, and how you fought to stay with me. How
else will you set them free if they can’t have someone to relate to,
someone who knows what they are
going through. Tell
them”. So here I am telling you what He wants
you to know about carrying Dead Weight, tears still fall
from my eyes as I think of how much God loves His people. My prayer: Help me Lord to
stay before you as I write this, Help me to tell our story so that it
will minister and set the captives free. My spirit is so heavy as I
write this message. Lord I
feel the pain of so many young ladies suffering, crying out for an
answer when they already know the answer to their problem.
Please move upon them as they read this message so that they can
be set free. In Jesus name I pray. Amen DEAD WEIGHT!Waiting on God for the right mate
It isn't
always easy trying to live the single life, especially if you are a
Christian woman. The enemy will constantly make you feel lonely, tempt
you to do things you know in your heart are wrong, and cause you to
block out things you don't want to see. The enemy does this because he
wants you to lose your focus on the Lord; to lose sight of the blessings
the Lord has promised you. I pray this testimony will expose the enemy
and the tricks he has been doing in your life and the lives of those you
love. My 'dead
weight' came when I really wasn't lonely (or so I thought). I had
survived an abusive marriage and was doing very well, raising 4
beautiful children. My son was in his senior year and close to
graduation, then a former childhood sweetheart came back into my life.
It was like a dream come true. He was minister of music at his church
and, on the outside; I truly thought he was a Christian who loved the
Lord. After all, this man was raised in church; I had no reason to think
otherwise. There's a verse I want you to remember, Matthew 7:15, "Beware
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly
they are ravenous wolves". It's hard
dating when you are a Christian. You have made a commitment to the Lord
to live a holy life; most young men don't understand that. That's why
the few dates I'd had when I was single only lasted through a few
dinners and a couple of movies, if you know what I mean. Men don't like
spending money if there is no return on their investment. We lived in
different towns. I stayed prayerful during the relationship, always
asking the Lord to keep my eyes open and let nothing be hidden from me.
(Watch what you ask the Lord for - He surely will answer). As the
relationship developed, the Lord allowed me to see this young man was
not a Christian at all. Yes, he went to church, yes, he was a minister
of music, and yes, he could sing until the Holy Spirit moved, but there
was no anointing, no love for the Lord at all - it was all a show. At this
point I should have moved on, right? No, I didn't - this was my
childhood sweetheart and surely God could change him. After all, He is
God and can do anything. So I started saying things like. "Lord, I
know I can change him", "Lord, if you help me we can work this
out", "Lord, there are a lot of people out there a lot worse
than him", "Lord, I have four kids and you know we need a man
in the house", "Can't you change him?" It didn't matter
that the Lord promised to be a Father to my kids - I wanted this man
fixed. God's love is so awesome, and He watches over His Word to perform it. He reminded me of Psalm 37:4-5: Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. When He said that He meant it. You see this young man had always been the one that got away. Therefore, the desire to have him back in my life was so strong in my heart; the Lord was now honoring it. In my heart, I thought I had to have this man. Did you hear what I said? Read it again and watch what you have in your heart.
This
relationship went on for a while, and each time I would come home asking
myself, "When is this young man going to get it together?" I
began to feel drained and frustrated after an evening out with him.
Could that have been a sign? If it was, I ignored it. The young man made
some changes, so, of course, I started feeling better about things. But
it seemed for each good change he made, several more bad things popped
up. I found myself constantly talking to the Lord about this
relationship and overlooking all the hurt I felt on the inside. I kept
telling myself, "This has to work; all my friends know I'm dating
this man." I had told everyone about this childhood sweetheart
being back in my life. It was a dream come true, wasn't it? No, it was a
nightmare that I couldn't, or didn't want to, wake up from. Still we
dated, and the Lord allowed me to see this man lying, cheating his
friends, and even lying to his pastor. I cried and cried, "God,
what is taking you so long?" Then finally God said,
"Enough." Understand, I had only been in ministry for a year
when this relationship happened; I had a lot to learn about dreams and
interpreting them. God started teaching me quickly, so quickly sometimes
it scared me. When the first dream about a dead body happened, it took
awhile for me to fully understand what it meant. I remember
being so tired when I went to bed that night, so tired that I actually
fell asleep, praying in bed. I had, what was to be, the first of many
dreams. In this dream, I was driving around with this dead body from
town to town, I couldn't seem to get rid of it. People started asking,
"Girl, you still got that dead body with you? When are you going to
bury it and move on?" I couldn't explain why I had the dead body;
it was just there, occupying the seat next to me. I woke up sweating,
trying to figure out why was I driving around a dead body. I cried,
"Lord, please help me to understand." Now some of you may say
that you could have interpreted what He was saying, but I didn't. I
stayed before the Lord concerning the dream, I needed to hear from Him
and soon. The dream really had me scared. The next
Sunday while taking my friend home from church, I looked over at him and
realized, "Oh my Lord… he is the dead body." I went home,
cried and prayed until I fell asleep. I could hear the Lord say: Let
the dead bury the dead and follow me. Two days later,
there was a death in his family. The Word came again: I told you
let the dead bury the dead and you follow me. Later that week, a
very close friend of his died. Dead weight. We continued
to date (Go ahead and laugh, it's funny now, but it sure wasn't then),
not sure how I was going to break this thing off, but I knew it had to
happen. I am so thankful that God didn't give up on me, because if He
had… let's not think about that. In spite of
those messages I was still trying to make things work; trying to get him
to get his life right with the Lord. Finally, God spoke on this
relationship for the final time. Now you know when God has had enough
foolishness; and you know when it's His final warning. He spoke so
clearly this time: "I
told you to let the dead bury the dead. If you are going to follow Me,
you can't bring the dead. I don't dabble in the dead and neither will
you. I will not allow you to have his blood on your hands. I have
something new for you, if you will wait on Me. I only want the good and
perfect for you because I chose you and I love you. You can't go back to
the past and try to relive it. You must let go and move forth. Let the
dead bury the dead." He asked me
some questions: "Is he seeking My face as you are? Is he
walking upright before me, Am I his desire?" Of course,
my answer to all these questions was "NO". God said to me my
hands would be His hands, so therefore I knew I didn't want this young
man's blood on my hands. I knew what I had to do. Was it easy? No, it
wasn't. But I feared and loved God too much to continue. I had gone
through too much to lose what I had with the Lord. No man is worth the
love of God. I let my friends know because they were planning my
wedding; a wedding I felt I had waited a lifetime for. I thank God for
those friends because they all understood. They only wanted the best for
me, and it was clear to them that he wasn't. True friends are rare, if
you have them cherish them and don't take them for granted After the
relationship ended, I felt disappointed (with myself and with him),
frustrated and drained; so drained I became weary and tired, telling the
Lord I couldn't go on. It's amazing what a bad relationship will do to
you. That's when the Lord blessed me with another dream (I have since
learned to appreciate my dreams). In this
dream, I stopped to rest and sat down under a tree. I had my head bowed
down, wanting the Lord to come and take me away. With tears running down
my face, I sat there telling the Lord that I was tired, I felt like a
failure, I was so discouraged I just couldn't go any further. I said
"Lord, just leave me here to die." (Amazing what a bad
relationship will do to you). I looked up and there was the most
beautiful lady I had ever seen. Her face glowed brighter than anything
you can imagine. She came over and said, "God told me to tell you
that He is working it out for you, don't give up now, just hold on and
be patient, He is working it out." The tears continued to flow from
my eyes as I began to thank the Lord for loving me so much. When I could
finally see through the tears, she was gone. I woke up
with tears still in my eyes thinking how much God cared for me. In spite
of my disobedience, and even though I had closed my eyes to what I knew
was right, He still forgave me and came to see about me. He allowed me
the chance to repent for my mistakes and healed my heart. As long as you
have breath in your body it's never too late to cry out to the Lord and
seek His forgiveness. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1
John 1:9 NKJ). So there you
have my story of DEAD WEIGHT. What is yours? Ask yourself some
questions: a) Does he say he loves you and will do anything
for you, yet he wants to live with you and not marry you? He's getting
all the luxuries, while you don't have any benefits. He could be DEAD
WEIGHT b) He says he loves you and will do anything for
you, yet he won't hold a steady job to help you pay the bills. He could
be DEAD WEIGHT. c) He says he loves you and will do anything for
you, yet here you are again trying to explain your black eye. He could
be DEAD WEIGHT. d) He says he loves you and will do anything for you, yet here it is 2:00am and you have no idea where he is. He could be DEAD WEIGHT.
What are you
afraid of? Are you afraid if you get rid of that dead weight that you
can't make it alone? I made it, and I wasn't alone. God kept His Word.
He promised He would never leave me, nor forsake me; He never left me
alone. You can make it if you believe in God, believe in yourself, casting
all your care upon Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7, NKJ). God doesn't
want you to have just anyone in your life. You have come too far to
settle for just anything or anyone. You have suffered too much for your
walk with the Lord. Don't settle. God wants only good and perfect for
His children. Allow Him to give you His best. No longer will you have to
PUT OUT to PUT UP with what you think is love. Be that virtuous woman He
has called you to be. If you let Him, God will put out His angels bring
you that perfect love that you so richly deserve. You deserve a love
that will be with you for better or worse, in sickness and health, until
death do you apart. I hear the
Lord saying: "Cry it out before Me this day and it will never
hurt you again. Cry it out and feel My love. I cry when you cry. I don't
want you to be hurt. I long to hold you close and wipe away your tears.
Allow Me to give you all you need, allow Me to give you My best. Let the
dead bury the dead and follow Me." I pray my testimony will cause you to hunger after God for guidance in your relationships and that it has made you stronger and wiser. Remember, God has someone special planned just for you, and you don't have to search for it. Relax and trust in the Lord and He will bring it to you.
There
is a story about a gentleman who was riding along in his car, saw a man carrying
a heavy pack and asked him if he would like a ride.
“Yes, and thank you, sir”. The
man got in the car but kept his pack on his back while riding.
The gentleman asked why he didn’t take the pack off his back and set it
down. The man replied “Sir you
were kind enough to give me a ride, and I didn’t want to impose on your good
nature, so thought I should carry the pack myself”
“Well” said the gentleman, it makes no difference to me whether you
carry the pack on your back or set it down, for I am carrying you and the pack.
You might as well unstrap it and set it down.
Get rid of the DEAD WEIGHT. So it is
with the Lord, unstrap it; you gave you burdens to the Lord, why do you insist
on carrying around that DEAD WEIGHT? I
will close with this same message from last weeks Times of Refreshing: He doesn’t want you to have just anyone in your life.
Have you come to far to settle for just anything?
Have you suffered too much for your anointing?
You don’t have to settle for just anyone.
God wants only good and perfect for His children.
Allow Him to give you His best. No longer will you have to PUT OUT to PUT UP with
what you think is love. Let God will put out for you. He will put out His angels bring you that perfect love that
is waiting for your. Be that virtuous woman He has called you to be. Allow Him to prepare that mate for you.
Aren’t you tired of giving too much of yourself to keep a mate?
Don’t you want a love that will be with you for better or worse, in
sickness and health, until death do you apart?
Then get a Love life with the Lord and everything else will follow.
*ARTICLE CAN ALSO BE READ ON GOSPEL CITY WEBSITE BELOW: http://www.gospelcity.com/articles/0303/dead-weight.php Contributors
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