Have you ever discovered, inside yourself, a prejudice you were unaware?  As women, we see them all the time and most of us swear we would never have one BUT we do. They are a product of our surroundings and never see the light of day until we are questioned about it. A situation will arise to bring it into the light and it doesn’t like the light. It would prefer to remain in the dark where no one sees it (presumably) and we continue to deny its existence. We enjoy being fooled by our outgoing, warm and unbiased attitude. We know better as humans this should not be so and we hate that we hate and we want to put an end to it if we love Jesus. There are only two solutions to overcome a prejudice putting an end to it, admit the prejudice and turn from it.

Ignorance is not Bliss in the Eyes of the Lord!

Remaining ignorant about our feelings toward certain people is not what God wants from us. How will we be able to serve anyone from behind this veil. Admitting a prejudice is very difficult especially if we see ourselves justified in our hatred. The wall we built last week is not to keep our prejudices in but to keep trouble out. If I am to do what God has called me to do, all of my prejudices must be brought into the light so His heart can shine on others. If I do not admit them, the women I am serving will become prejudiced like me. I remember when God first called me out on my prejudice against abusive men. He brought it into the light and I was not happy to turn from it. It gave me comfort to see an abuser punished but ignorance is not Bliss in the Eyes of the Lord because we know as Christian,s we have all fallen short! As much as I believed women were more deserving of Elohim’s heart, men also need to see His heart to turn from their sin. Worse than dealing with my hatred, for me, was knowing I would be responsible for teaching women to hate men. Elohim continually makes me deal with my prejudices so I will have a pure heart when He sends me to serve a woman. Women need to see the pure love I have for them, along with every other person, so when they come out the other side of their affliction their prejudices are not in control of their destiny. Elohim shines a light on our prejudices so we will turn from them.

Allow Love to Control our Destiny!

Jesus gave us one commandment to follow in the Scriptures  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 If we look at the love Jesus showed, even during the times when His friends did not understand Him, we will fully understand what He has said in this verse. We know each disciple admitted in the end, they were prejudice against others because of their laws (not God’s but man’s added laws), they turned from it and preached the gospel to all mankind including those whom were forbidden by the law such as women and children, undesirables and the disabled. Yes, they failed in human relations and had to be corrected. Yes, they failed in loving everyone and had to be corrected but this shouldn’t discourage me or you it should encourage us to do the same. Turning from my hatred of anyone for one reason or another is what Jesus was talking about when He said to love one another. He was talking to His disciples about the love they have for  each other, for others to see and desire. He was the most forward thinking person of His day because He consistently gave examples of loving those we are prejudiced against by saying turn the other cheek or walk the extra mile. In other words He was saying “turn from it!” We need to turn from our prejudices because that hatred will eat us alive one day. When we turn from hatred we allow love to control our destiny! That is God’s heart for us!

Let God’s Heart not our Hateful Heart Control our Destiny!

Admitting a prejudice is extremely hard because most times it is ingrained in us from even an early age. We use prejudices, as if they are truths, to deny people the mercy they need. Elohim said He desires mercy, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6 Prejudices take many forms such as pet peeves, partiality, preconceived notions, cultural and hierarchy biases. Each one of us has experienced these, and unfortunately, been guilty of these. None of that concerns us more than doing what God has instructed us to do. If we are to improve our life skills we must understand God’s heart toward people and what He deems important with regards to our destiny. The salvation of man is more important than any agenda, any hatred or any sacrifice. We cannot serve the whole person if we teach them to be biased as we are biased. Our Lord wants us to rid ourselves of each and every prejudice and take on His heart for the salvation of His Children. Ask Him today to reveal each  bias you have, so when you present yourself for service, you are only revealing God’s Heart for His Children.

I live in a city called Derbyshire. Its walls are fortified now but once upon a time they were not. They were broken through, then partially built again with children’s building blocks allowing them to be broken through again. Eventually there was not one stone on top of the other holding the walls in place. Everyone gained access! There were people coming in to plunder my possessions and raid my safe house. I even went out and gave away my possessions along with the contents of my safe house. Since I also wasn’t living up to my God given potential I was giving myself away. My walls were gone leaving my kingdom vulnerable. This was the beginning of my quest to improve my life skills to rebuild my walls.

I am not alone. I heard tell stories about bankruptcy and repossessions, credit card debt and homelessness. There are plenty of walls broken through today! It is the intent of this world to break through walls plundering your provision to build their walls. There are folks who want what you have and some will not be satisfied until they also have you. It does not have to be this way for anyone! Just as I told you, my walls are fortified now. I had to learn the hard way I cannot be all to everyone nor can I give everything away and build a fortified city for Elohim.

How is a wall built and fortified? It is done with self-control. Every stone laid is a stone laid with each temptation denied, each urge repressed, each commandment obeyed and each sin repented. I take seriously every verse in the Scriptures advising me to get control especially Proverbs 25:28. Self-control is listed last in the fruits of the Spirit because it takes every single previous fruit before it to gain control and fortify our walls. I have created an acrostic using WALLS to help us build our walls and over time fortify them with our unwavering control. Whenever you are asked to be invaded put up your WALLS to protect yourself.

Wait before you Part ways with your Current Stone!

Our stone could be anything from our money to our time. We already have this stone in our possession so let us appreciate its current value. It is ours to give or to keep. If we learn how to say ‘wait’ it will not kill us or anyone else to actually wait. People don’t like to wait so they will want us to hurry but we are going to wait. Rash decisions break down stones more than it builds them. The wisdom gained while waiting will bring us closer to God and a fortified city. Waiting allows us the time to analyze the stone.

Analyze the Purchase of this Stone!

The reason for waiting is to analyze your stone options. This step should never be foregone or our walls will never become fortified. Asking questions of our decision gets us closer to wisdom about decision-making. Why do I want this stone? Will this stone build my wall or tear it down? Will the wall remain fortified with this stone in place or will an undesirable person be given access? If we do not know the answers to these questions we are best to pass on this stone until we are wiser. Analysis needs answers to make a decision either to love it or leave it.

Love the Stone or Leave the Stone!

Waiting to do an Analysis results in a decision based on credible information. We have asked the hard questions and can come to a wise decision. We are either going to love the stone and purchase it or we are going to lose the stone and move on. Crucial to this decision is knowing this verse Matthew 5:37 because anything other than yes or no is from the evil one and will send us right back to where we started with all the same heartache and then some. Us women come by this hard but we still need to stand by this. The consequence of wavering on our decisions is what tore down our walls in the first place. Do not let this happen again! Analyze correctly then decide erecting a wall around that decision. Wait while analyzing for a wise decision will help us learn from our previous mistakes.

Learn the Lesson for Future Stones!

We are not perfect and will make bad decisions even after we analyze it and find it to be sound. The one important lesson we will learn is reasoning skills. Elohim tells us to come and reason with Him so we will begin to see His ways are the best ways. The lesson we learn is the Spirit will guide us into all righteousness. He is guiding us to make right decisions based on the future and today. Each of our decisions will either tear down the stones or build up the stones. Our walls depend on us learning the lessons built into our mistakes and our successes. Learning lessons from these will bring us into a state of control.

Self-Control Constructs our Stones into a Fortified Wall!

Building a fortified wall takes self-control and the result can only come from walking in the Spirit. Prior to the Fruits of the Spirit Paul tells us to walk in the Spirit and we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Self-control is the very essence of walking in the Spirit because it is the opposite of fulfilling the flesh. Our walls are built by the knowledge of our exact person in Christ and what He wants us to do to fulfill our predestined life for Him. Self-control in our daily living fortifies us.

The Derbyshire fortified wall has taken me many years to construct and I am fully aware it will take no time at all to tear it all down unless I protect it. I do not want you to be ignorant about the work it takes to build your own wall and the diligence it takes to protect it. There will be many years, many failures to overcome, many decision that seemingly break your heart, many kicks at the wall and many stones tumbling down but it can be done. You can write on your wall, a person who has self-control will fortify his city walls, rather than, Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.

Recently Elohim has blessed me with reading two very different but similar areas of the Bible one right after the other. Take a few minutes and read Psalm 73 then Jeremiah 29:4-23.

Reprimanded by God

My Christian life thus far has not been filled with blessing as most people describe blessings. I have been stripped of every ounce of financial security, every reliance to my profession, every reliance to people, a church body to hang with, and most of my friends. I was in Babylon (a place of punishment and growth). I felt as if I was being punished for becoming righteous while others were prospering in their wickedness. Elohim kept reminding me it is not about them, it is about me! Just as Asaph is reminded in the Sanctuary of God, I am reminded in my deep place with Elohim, all men are reprimanded by God (Proverbs 3:12; Hebrews 12:6; Revelation 3:19) but some do not listen and harden their hearts to His Words. We are all to heed the call to be holy just as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16) individually and corporately. We become holy by allowing Elohim to reprimand us into holiness.

The Sin in and of the Body of Christ

In both Psalm and Jeremiah we will read of the progression of sin in Israel until Elohim  removed the right for His people  to live in the Holy Land. These are God’s chosen people who were becoming wicked rather than holy but, not only were they becoming wicked, they were condoning it too! I have to say, I did not go through all of these “70 years” of trial to condone wickedness from someone who professes to be Christian. Asaph learned the wicked would get there payment individually and Jeremiah learned corporately the wicked would be punished as well. There is sin in the Body of Christ that will be dealt with individually and there is corporate sin to be dealt with as well and God will do both but we a not to condone it from anyone in the Body of Christ.

Wickedness doesn’t just wake up one day and engulf the Body of Christ. It is brought in by an apostate or an imposter. They are allowed within the Body because the leaders/followers are afraid to stand strong for the Body of Christ. Our righteous anger doesn’t exist. We do not hate what God hates. The world has creeped into our holiness and we have redefined holy. We say it is acceptance rather than salvation. We say it is love rather than discipline. We have defined it as tolerance not hope. We have restated God’s good Words toward us and they sound nothing like the Words in the Scriptures because they are empty. They do nothing for the human race except condone sin. We know sin leads to death (James 1:15) but that seems fine to us rather than doling out correction causing them to go to God for guidance.

His Good Words will not Come Back Empty

Today, due to Elohim’s guidance, I am on the turn from the discipline of God because I have endured and overcome the trials set before me to make me holy. Romans 8:28 is a reminder for us of God’s Words working out for the good to THOSE WHO LOVE GOD AND ARE THE CALLED! Proverbs 16:4 tells us Elohim has made everything for Himself and He also makes those who are wicked, yes, He even makes the wicked for doom! Everything we see happening today is predestined to happen. Every person on this earth at this moment is predestined to be here, whether holy or wicked. The sins of the person and the sins of the corporate will get worse and it is up to us individually and corporately to make sure we learn the skills from Elohim to overcome during this time. His Words are what helps us overcome. His Words are what gives us the skills to endure and overcome and plan for the future. His good Words will never come back empty!

Know What His Good Word Is!

These skills for overcoming are all about knowing what Elohim’s good Words are unfortunately the world has redefined good but as Christians we need to know God has defined good as being and doing righteous. His good Words are His righteous Words. His righteous Words sometimes hurt our soul but they are meant to bring our soul in line with His Spirit. His good Word is like a sword to the wicked but His good Word is as a warm cozy blanket to the righteous. His good Word leads us to Salvation. His good Words teach us to love! His good Words give us hope for eternity. His Words are not empty. They are not subject to mood, time, situation or people. They are what they are and they are not changing just because we do not understand them. What God has said will happen WILL happen. He will perform His Word toward you! Are you listening?