Christian Living – Page 40 – New Beginning Christian Ministries International

Jumping Through Hoops

We must please God and not men. God will always be first. Pride, legalism and demanding perfection comes from fleshly mindsets.

While I was in prayer I saw adolescent children outside playing jump rope.

One of the girls started jumping, and did so for some time and another girl joined her and then another. Soon two girls were holding two end parts to two ropes and then they started to swing the ropes so that a person could jump in and keep within the various distances from each rope.

Soon there were teams of girls making it very difficult. The girls that jumped could only do it for a short time as it became harder and they lost the fun or joy of it. The leaders then, whisked them away without giving them any explanation or time to rest.

Yes the girls started off as children having exercise and fun and it turned from fun to disappointment. These could not keep up with the goals being set in motion. As the team grew, those who became captains within the team began to add rules and constraints that kept the team in turmoil.

The tag team eventually couldn’t keep up with the demands either. Many of them began to fall out. The captains and powers that be, were intolerant of those who couldn’t meet the requirements. It was no longer fun and something they did for the joy it brought.

I heard the phrase, “Jump through hoops” and God said, “Guard against, pride, being driven, legalism and blind submission.”

In Dictionary.com, the verb phrase “jump through hoops” means:

To serve, obey, or accommodate someone without question, especially in a harried, frantic way: You had to jump through hoops to please that guy.
To exert oneself mightily; strain: I had to jump through hoops to get you that job.

We must please God and not men. God will always be first. Pride, legalism and demanding perfection comes from fleshly mindsets.

It happens subtly and in innocence. First we start off trusting God but through the works of the flesh we evolve into depending on ourselves and others; as we compare ourselves to others.

“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves; but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise,” 2 Corinthians.10:12 KJV.

If there were a way to be perfect we would not need to rely on the sacrifice of God’s dear son; who is Christ son of the living God, and he finished the work once and for all!

If people would be honest they would admit that they can no longer keep up that pace of being driven.

Many will fall aside unable to keep up while the others judge, condemn and despise the fallen in their heart. Pride keeps a person from mentioning of it. These don’t want the others to think they are not in step with the leaders agenda.

Being performance driven also causes disillusionment and a fall. However, in reality, it is actually very good news for that believer when the revelation comes!

When a person comes to the end of self by running out of their own power, they become open to God’s power and purpose through the righteousness that only comes through faith in Christ alone.

These surrender! These come face to face with the truth and revelation of God’s amazing Grace!

It is actually good news for our fallen comrade! We meet them where they are. It is then that good Samaritans show up to pour in the oil and the wine (as the religious cross the road to avoid them).

God sends you a personal good Samaritan! God sent you an outcast too, to teach you and to minister God’s amazing grace! Wow huh? His grace is so amazing! Considered by the Jews to be outcast and half breeds, God sends you help from those who understand what it means to be rejected and hated.

Never forget where you came from or how you started. Your testimony will reach so many who need to see your works in action by meeting their greatest need, just as they are, you go into the highways and byways and compel them to come in.

“And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in the oil and wine and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was a neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise,” Luke 10:30-37 KJV.

Those who have been through life’s most hard, desperate and stinging experiences are the choicest counselors that God can use.

Being spiritually wore out also opens the door to so much confusion and disorder. And what is worse, as you fall by the wayside, those you thought were for you now pass you up on the other side and say see ya!

NEVER put any confidence in man, even if it is in a friend. God is to remain first in our lives. As you watch others go upstream passing you by, say a prayer for them because these will eventually be tested and suffer burnout.

We cannot burn the candle at both ends. We are created to host the presence of God on the throne of our hearts. We yield our bodies unto Him and his word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

Hypocrisy knows no bounds and it is alive and well with those who trust in themselves. Then as the course goes, being driven brings disillusionment and a fall.

It is sad though. I have seen how the person hides the situation from others to attempt to keep up appearances, but they never ultimately will.

Being driven happens when we trust in our own self righteousness. The strong man is pride. It says “we must perform to be accepted by man’s standards.” We become self righteous and when we neglect the righteousness that only comes from Christ there is no more sacrifice for sins.

We are to be forever centered on Christ’s finished work on Calvary. God graces us to fullfil his work in the earth, but not all are graced to do it your way. We each carry within us DNA spiritually and physically.

To be self righteous is to do works to make oneself seemingly righteousness without relying on the one who made us righteous who is Christ the redeemer!

To have balance and order in God, brings peace, hope and joy. We are to serve the LORD with gladness!

“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world,” Hebrews 4:1-3 KJV.

Can we keep going at that level?

Were striving, being driven and performance driven, Why?

All of these issues wear you down to create burn out. When we are preaching and practicing a performance based religion, people will begin to fall out or pretend they are doing what is being said but they really know the truth about themselves.

These give lip service but they know the truth. These want to fit so bad they accept religious abuse.

My prayer for myself and others is that God will bring us to the end of self (righteous) and that HE will remove us from any abusive, religious bondage.

All works that are not done through God’s grace will eventually produce burnout. It will wear you out physically, emotionally and spiritually.

The 23rd Psalm shows us the picture of how our Chief Shepherd cares for his flock. God is very concerned with his precious sheep and lambs. Look at a sheep and lambs.

Can you imagine them being driven? Cattle are driven. Jesus is our chief shepherd he laid down his life for His sheep.

Sheep are gently led by the Shepherd and if one has strayed, the shepherd leaves the ninety nine and find the one to restore back to the fold. In the night seasons, the Shepherd will lead his flock to a sheep fold.

It is a rock enclosure where there is one entrance and the Chief Shepherd makes sure all of the sheep and lambs are in there. Once the sheep and lambs are in the fold and cared for, the shepherd lays down his life at the entrance and guards the flock that no wild beast can gain access.

Sheep and lambs cannot be driven. A godly shepherd is one who personally leads the flock to lush green pastures, still waters yes, and even makes them lay down, restoring their soul not driving them to insanity!

I thank God for his example to us of how true shepherds are. Sheep are gently led, cattle are driven.

Many have no idea what’s it like to receive true encouragement from the LORD and his people. Be careful who you receive from for all are not for you.

There is such aggression in the body, and it is all about who’s who and what is what, and who you know.

Instead, the gentle lead of the shepherd knows your name. It’s not about whose ordination and who you know. It’s about how he knows you!

When Christ is saying come away with me beloved, I want to hold you and comfort you. Man can minister to a certain point, but we must teach others that we each must have a deep relationship with the LORD in our own lives.

It is nice to have positive validation from those who know your life and the condition of our lives. Our greatest ally is one who understands the life you live, sees the positive and negative parts of our own existence but choose to love, pray and accept our full self.

Beloved, that is unconditional love and the love I desire to give.

There is spiritual abuse in the body. This affects our total being, and God doesn’t want us to accept that and it should not be tolerated.

In closing, anytime there is a course of corruption, God must bring a change in motion. For those of you who have been analyzed by others; realize that rebellion and Jezebel spirits will try to revert to analyzing you because they know who you are and will try to intimidate you to shut up.

These spirits love to use Christian brothers and sisters to shake your faith and accuse you of all sorts of things in the name of Jesus. You need to politely let them know that you are not in agreement with their words and do not receive them.

Saints, if you get addressed with such spirits, let them know they have no authority over you and that you are the beloved of God, in Jesus name.

Realize this! The enemy knows who you are, and is desperately trying to shut you down.

May God shake us so much to change our motion to devotion to Christ the Messiah! Forgive them, release them and let them go! Amen?

In HIS Grace and Mercy,
~ Sherry Edwards Mackey

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Promotion, Demotion or Locomotion

This information is age appropriate and presented to those who think they are ready for leadership.

This information is age appropriate and presented to those who think they are ready for leadership.

Some who think they are ready, are all over the internet and in cyberspace too. I will not focus on them right now, but if you feel you are God’s apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher or evangelist, please read this. It will save you heartache and years, if you will heed it now.

All gifts must be nurtured, surrendered and prepared by a willingness to surrender to the process of discipleship and service.

Once the foundation is laid in discipleship, the next step that comes is to prepare God’s people for works of service. For those with leadership callings, especially in the five fold ministry, you must be groomed by a mentor or coach, (Ephesians 4).

This takes time as you serve the LORD and learn by a coach or mentor. Whoever is placed over your life to train you, at times can feel uncomfortable. This is a must for upcoming leaders.

There are some who have had several mentors in their lives at pivotal times of preparation. This was added, due to the elevation the LORD is taking them in.

In frustration, you may feel like you are starting over! The reality is yes, you really you are!

However you are on a different level. Everything you have learned is part of your soul and will always be there. The Holy Spirit will pull on those reserves as necessary for it is part of your journey which benefits others.

You may be a pastor and God wants you to become a prophet. Yes, for some it is like starting over. However, according to the elevation God has in store for you, Jesus must prepare you through works of service. It’s a promotion beloved! Not a demotion!

We are first the sons of God and servants to the body of Christ. Christ came and served. He taught, healed, trained and positioned the disciples. He demonstrated with his life and death the true understanding of leadership. He knew he had to prepare them for what was coming.

We all are constantly pressing and changing according to the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus! God may take a full time minister and sit them down in another place to learn more. Yes there are times we need more perspective in the LORD and through our mentor or coach.

Everything you have learned is good, all the past experiences are great and they will be used later in ministry whether they are good or bad experiences, we all learn this way. We all must learn at the master’s feet.

You cannot expect to know things if you are not properly trained. Make a covenant with your mentor or coach to prepare you. If you cannot submit to God in this, you never will be able to properly reproduce the good you have in you.

Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as idolatry. Once you know you hear from God about a mentor or coach, plug in and don’t let go. Stay the course no matter how long.

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king,” 1 Samuel 15:23 KJV.

God is in charge with this, and it all depends on you. You can make it easier or harder on yourself. Personally I was mentored three years before I started a church. Before that, I was under two other ministries in preparation as lay minister.

All along the way, life teaches us and so does God. I tell you this because it is true in my life. I love my mentor and those who trained me and glad they corrected me. I learned so much by surrendering to God in this; saving many years of heartache and disappointment.

This is a very rewarding time as well as a tough time. It hurts so GOOD! Yes, God will use your mentor or coach to hone in your skills, gifting and application while using correction as needed.

“So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth; and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?” 1 Kings 19:19-20 KJV.

Did you know Elisha had a choice, he chose to be chosen. Elijah wanted him to be sure he knew what he was getting into.

Some of you cannot take correction from a Godly man or woman of God. If you say God is in your thoughts and words and you are ready for the ministry, please be informed that WE ALL must be accountable and responsible to our leadership; whether we are online ministry or on the streets, we NEVER outgrow our need for accountability. It last for life.

To be responsible, we all must be accountable to those we trust. Until we learn this, “our ministry” will be limited to the size of our experience in God.

YES, I have leaders to whom I am accountable. Being mentored by your leader is to prepare you for much more after discipleship. Before you can ever take the reins and lead God’s people, God will teach you how to follow first. We must learn lessons of humility, accountability and responsibility.

We ALL are part of the body of Christ, but we all need to remain open for correction and guidance through our leaders. Before you lead you must learn to follow. Discipleship is a necessary ingredient before we are ever ready for ministry.

Discipleship is only the beginning. Depending on the type of call to ministry will determine what type of preparation you will need. For some it has taken many years.

Do you feel called to the prophetic or apostolic office’s? Who are you accountable to? Who did you learn from? Some call it being coached, I call it mentored. Begin to ask people where they are submitted and who are they accountable to?

When will we surrender to His will?

Rebellion in not submitting to God’s will, will hinder your growth. You may see limited success at first but you will always end up at the same dry place around the mountain again. Let us start again and wait on the Lord. Pray for his counsel to help you find a mentor or coach. Know those who labor among us. Pray for God to send you a seasoned mentor or coach.

When will you surrender to His will?

This important and wise counsel should be heeded. Really listen and meditate before the LORD. This is what His Spirit is saying to the churches. Find your place and do not leave it until the LORD has released you. It is worth it and you will be elevated when God sees you’re ready!

In HIS Grace and Mercy,
~ Sherry Edwards Mackey

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The Struggle Within

When promotion comes, you can see and feel the elevation, however our stance in Christ is to remain as a humble man or woman of God.

When promotion comes, you can see and feel the elevation, however our stance in Christ is to remain as a humble man or woman of God.

Being a humble servant means we serve the body of Christ. It does not mean we are wusses and yield to everything and anything that comes down the pike.

There are those who are now appearing on the scene. Jesus is announcing them to those who need to know. These are those that have been prepared and seasoned through long periods of trial; some seasoned for decades, to the deadening of their physical and spiritual womb.

Yet in His goodness, he also delights in taking what was once ugly and making a beautiful vision of hope in time.

Look at the monarch butterfly! It changed completely from a caterpillar to a glorious vision of living beauty! Yet in season like the butterfly, we must go through types of death to truly live.

As the caterpillar looked in the mirror, it sure didn’t look like a monarch at all. Only by vision could one hold that promise given so long ago. To be kings and priest looked so far away from this life, yet it is through the struggle that the butterfly is finally immersed to the sun and released to fly.

I think it’s a disservice to God’s people when we don’t speak of the struggle. Keeping this message from the body is to lie and deceive God’s people. That lie is straight from the pit of hell!

Things of struggle are not spoken of very often as it makes us seem vulnerable. Yet behind the scenes are what shows us what lessons we have learned. There is a high cost to carry weighty messages.

One must be prepared by and through much training and testing through the Holy Spirit.

Death is not a popular topic but we all have to face it. It is through that transition and death to our flesh that we truly live in Christ.

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,” Philippians 1:21 KJV.

God is on the move and he’ll do it for you! He is NOT done with you beloved! In season you shall come through as his beautiful creation.

He delights bringing light into the darkness and opening dead wombs all proving to us we are loved by the God of heaven! Oh how he is altogether lovely! Oh how I love Him!

“His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem,” Song of Solomon 5:16 KJV.

When God elevates it brings great change. He shines his light from heaven on those whose set time has come. When God promotes, it is all about HIM bringing his purpose into the earth.

He uses our broken flawed lives to make them filled with His light that radiates from every cracked part. Just as scars are reminders of past pain and hurt, so are the reminders of the stars of heaven.

He created and spread the stars out in divine order to remind us that He is still there and He is still in control completely faithful through our whole life.

The five-fold ministry according to Ephesians 4 help equip and bring maturity to the body of Christ. These offices are often misunderstood.

People may think and wonder what did they do to deserve such titles or honor. Others mock them saying they are proud, haughty or arrogant. While there are those who genuinely get off track in pride, this is not where I am coming from at all!

The truth is, those legitimate office’s have learned the hard way and know who they are and whom they belong to.

To go against the stream, swimming upstream is the last great feat of the salmon’s life. They live in the ocean and know instinctively when to return to spawn. These use every bit of strength to go against the flow.

These knowingly going back to the place where it all began; these came to reproduce after their own kind. It is not an easy life. Just read the life of Paul, then you can see what apostles really do.

For those who hold such offices, going upstream against the normal flow is to ultimately multiply themselves in service to the LORD. Just like the salmon do when they spawn, God’s creation speaks out loud again to our finite minds; would we choose?

To give something we can’t keep, to buy what we can never lose?

By seeing the treasure in a soul makes it all worthwhile! Oh to surrender to the call! Would you surrender to death to self?

We each have that choice daily to allow God to be in our thoughts as we pray continually to teach others through our life or death if need be. Death works in us but life in you.

These office’s are no nonsense, they are confident, bold with great courage and assurance. What you see in public is a very small part of their lives. These have gone through intense training because to minister to God’s children can often be a life or death position.

It is not I who lives but Christ who lives in me, (Galatians 2:20). To the extent of our death to self, will be the extent of the Holy Spirit within us. We should desire to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.

If we want the LORD to sit on the throne of our hearts it will cost something. It will cost you everything but it is so worth it in knowing Him in his power and resurrection!

God knows us completely from our beginning to our end. He even knows your thoughts before you think them.

I want God to know me that way. There are some people who know you well enough to know your character, flaws and all. That is important for a HUB. What else is important?

Do we know ourselves? I have learned that I am capable of falling and failure when put into the right circumstances. I am capable of being a murderer or prostitute when put into the right situations.

If it were not for the grace of God where would I be…. that is where our humility begins. We know ourselves to a degree but we are clearly seen by God and he is at work for his great pleasure.

Yes we should have our inner circle of confidants and as we grow our circle gets smaller, but God gets so much larger in us. It is a good thing to have our small HUB of leaders that we can be open and honest to without fear of their judgment.

When you find a true confidant you know them and can trust them with our flaws, faults and failures. Being loyal and trustworthy is acquired, it is proven in the fire. We can trust God as he brings people together for protection, accountability and responsibility.

To keep us from a tailspin or shipwreck we must learn who we are in HIM. To live is Christ! Do we truly know ourselves? Do we know who we are in Christ? It is through the struggle that the butterfly is finally released to fly.

Yet we hate the struggle, we wish it would go away but no matter where you go he is there. Having a baby is the same for we get to a place where we don’t want to do this no more!

AND because of transition we are so close to having that baby that is when your hay-wired brain isn’t thinking good thoughts!

Beloved, we are transitioning and breathe deep and press into the pain! Press forward don’t let up, you are almost there! PUSH! You are there breathe and PUSH!

Everything you have carried for that long period is manifesting and soon you will see the results of your transition. A child is born, a ministry, a friendship, a deliverance etc.

Whatever the LORD has spoken, He will bring you to the birth and will see you through. Be encouraged beloved of God and understand His thoughts for you are yes and amen! In Jesus name!

In HIS Grace and Mercy,
~ Sherry Edwards Mackey

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Adversity + Intensity = Acceleration

The LORD says: “The enemy has kept this region in darkness but a great light shall shine like the mushroom denotation of a nuclear weapon!”

It has amazed me how desperate the enemy is in all out attacks!

He realizes he should have never roused me, and NOW will learn he should have left me alone!

You have to get mad at the devil, and not just mad! You got to tell him like it is! We had so many attacks and evidence of the warfare the past months and it was getting more intense and bazaar.

After many attacks, I got fed up! I got mad at the devil when I saw my husband laying halfway on the road and in a ditch after a truck accident. It did not matter, I got mad and I told the devil enough is enough! It did not matter that it was in front of police, EMTs and all who were there.

The man who brought Jeff home, as he was driving down our drive-way, instead of steering it down to our home, he lost control of the truck went through a fence and they said it was like being on ice, but no ice was there.

The truck had no brakes, couldn’t stop it or steer it. IF that truck had been a yard or so closer it would have hit our propane tank and gone into the house where I was.

IMPORTANT: That happened just beyond our property. This is not the time to be on the edge of your boundaries. If you are on boundaries, you better be hunkered down in alert status and able to discern what is going on to do warfare.

To see the truck and how everything happened was so twisted! Yet we were being pressed into action with the devil.

The tables turned and I got very angry! We must know who we are in Christ! We are not weak beggarly soldiers!

The enemy tries to intimidate us make us feel less than who Christ died to make us free. He wants you to talk yourself out of who you are! When we doubt and fear we give place to the enemy. The only authority the devil has in our lives is what we give him!

It is our mind that needs to shift from fear to acceleration, leaving the enemy in the dust!

I have never seen such bazaar attacks in all realms like the way they are now. You know and can sense the devil’s desperation of losing ground.

These enemies, some of which have been assigned to you, have had orders from satan himself to hold and maintain the ground he gained! However, with each attack, each blow and bomb he tries to detonate, he is losing the ground and the tables are turning around!! He is losing because he cannot stop you!! He is throwing everything he has at you at once!

IMPORTANT: I have felt with each attack a surge in the spirit realm, God is sending in high ranking warrior angels!

As we see things happening in the natural, there is a great battle in the spirit realm. These ranking warrior angels are sent to the heirs of salvation, fighting to make the way clear so that we may run with the message we carry!

I saw myself in a vision. I was wearing a karate outfit and I was spinning in all sorts of ways, kicking, punching and slinging vipers in all directions. I could see their fangs and poison was coming out of their fangs, yet the vipers could not make contact with the flesh. There was no place for the devil!

I saw that cartoon character Riley Coyote and Roadrunner. No matter what that old coyote did to catch Roadrunner, he never could master it. Roadrunner would approach the traps and the bird would sick his tongue out and Beep beep and shift out of that trap in the making. Nothing could trap that road runner.

We are much like that scenario when we run the race set before us.

God is going to shift you into low gear and rev you up and release you into thrust! All that will be left are skid marks! It is time beloved, the rockets are nothing against MY Weapons of Warfare.

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway,” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

Where I now reside, there is a stigma in the Appalachian mountains. People think we are ignorant and stupid. They call us barefoot, pregnant, ridge runners and moonshiner’s.

“The enemy has kept this region in darkness but a great light shall shine like the mushroom denotation of a nuclear weapon!

I will break through the decades of bondage to religion and tradition in that region. True revival shall come and I AM waking up My beloved that have been asleep and on the verge of being quenched. I AM at the very door.

Oh Appalachia, oh Appalachia! Hear ME! Yeah, you will be called ridge runners, and moonshiners for you shall shine like the moon and you shall run each ridge, hollow, each stream, each brook nothing shall stop MY beloved barefoot and pregnant ridge runners says your LORD!

It’s Harvest time!”

In HIS Grace and Mercy,
~ Sherry Edwards Mackey

Sherry Edwards Mackey
Please Note: Publications and or prophecy taken from this may be used to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ. The articles taken must be used according to it’s entirety with credits. Thank you kindly!

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