TESTIMONY TUESDAYS: He Has Given Me, Love, Power, and a Sound Mind

This post is coming in late today due to the demands of an educator's schedule but it's never too late to remind someone of the goodness of the Lord; it's never too late to talk about the ways he proves himself in your life.

This Tuesday I want to praise the Lord for giving me love, power, and a sound mind. I can remember a time that I was nearly out of mind. If it had not been for the Lord who was on my side I wouldn't even be writing this post. I almost walked out on my family.

It was the middle of the night, my eldest daughter wouldn't go to sleep and my husband wasn't too happy about that. The devil just seized that moment to fill my head with nonsense. "Just walk out, see if he can handle it. What's he going to do without you?" I didn't realize then that it was a strange voice, I was already given over to the madness that a sin filled life creates.


I jumped up and stormed out in my pjs and even then God was working things out for me. I'm not sure where I thought I was going but I went to the train station, and praise be to God I had put on the wrong jacket - I had no metrocard. I walked a block away and sat on the corner of my Pastor's block and just cried. I didn't want to go there [to his house] and have to admit that I was wrong and Jesus was right but I'm glad, so glad that Jesus looked past my faults and saw my need.


He saw how broken my spirit was and he rushed in with his love, he gave me power over my feelings and emotions through the Holy Ghost, and put my mind at ease. Now I am content with motherhood and have the natural affections towards my family that I ought to have. This Tuesday I am thankful for what the Lord has done in my life.


-Nigeria






ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS: Would you like to testify to the goodness of God, through his son, Jesus Christ? Submit your testimony to divinetutors@yahoo.com and it may be selected to appear on The Carpenter's House. Please, submit it as an attachment in a Word document. Please keep submissions between 100-300 words max., be sure to include your name and a little bit of information about you. Remember how we overcome, first by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony, "And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony: and they loved not their lives unto death." Revelation 12:11 

Worship Song of the Week: Lord Prepare Me by Bishop Charles E. Blake and The West Angeles COGIC Mass Choir

Praise ye the Lord, beloved. I took the week off from blogging since I was on vacation. But I did not take the week off from serving my Lord. Actually, I used this week to get in touch with my Lord and refocus myself so that I can actively pursue my calling. Which leads me to this week's Worship Song selection "Lord Prepare Me".

No matter what it is that we believe the Lord has called us to do, there is one true calling for us all, and that is to serve the Lord. It is not by works that we serve him, it is not with our tithes and offering; these things a mere demonstrations they don't always prove our love to God. Any man can buy a woman a rose and anyone can serve food to the homeless, that doesn't prove your love to God. But by presenting yourself to Lord shows how much you love him and it is the only reasonable thing to do considering Jesus gave up his life for you.

"I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living scarifices, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12:1

We were created for this specific reason, we were created in love to abide in love. In other words we wwere created by God, to live a life devoted to God. But we can't do it without Jesus preparing for the process.



This week as you go about worshipping the Lord pray for preparation. Pray for the power of submission, the power to submit yourself to God, pray that the Lord prepares you put down your will and pick up his way, in Jesus name. And after that pray is uttered, say "Yes, I'll obey" and wait patiently to see the glory of God unveiled in his tabernacle, which is you. But don't kid yourself either, my Jesus is holy and he will not use an unclean vessel. If you know that you have been out of the way and living in disobedience, Repent! And do it quckly!

Read Romans 12

May the Lord God Bless You Real Good! I look forward to hearing your testimonies of how the Lord blessed you and caused you to increase in your worship.

-Nigeria

Worship Song of the Week: Nobody Greater by Vashawn Mitchell

Worship Song of the Week is a new post at The Carpenter's House. Worship is an important component to building a healthy, strong, and loving relationship with Christ. Sometimes we aren't always in the frame of mind we ought to be to worship Christ as we should. One way to worship the Lord is through singing. Some of us don't tap into the power that comes from worshipping God through praise with a song. Every week, maybe everyday, if the Lord moves us in that direction, The Carpenter's House will select a song to lead you and guide you in your worship.

The first song in The Carpenter's House worship series is "Nobody Greater" by Vashawn Mitchell. Your worship should coincide with the word; read Psalm 95 this week also.





Jesus is Lord there is nobody greater than him. Please join The Carpenter's House as we worship, the only God, the omnipotent God, king of kings and lord of lords, Jesus Christ.

"O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods." Psalms 95

Wisdom Wednesdays: Honour The Lord With Your Firstfruits

"Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." Proverbs 3:9-10

The Lord requires obedience not sacrifice. If you are looking for your blessing on this earth, check yourself and see if you are being obedient to the word of God. That sounds like a given but that is one of the main reasons that we are unable to receive the blessings that God has in store for us. We block our own blessings. Many of us are feeling squeezed by the current state of the economy and are looking up to the heavens hoping that Jesus opens one of the windows and pours out a blessing just for us but the truth is it's high time you display the wisdom given to you by God by fulfilling your half of the word.

Stop being stingy and stop placing God last. You wouldn't be standing there looking at the collection plate contemplating giving God your last dollar had you done what the word says, give him your firstfruits. He will make sure you have what you need(to obey these words definitely requires you to activate the measure of faith he's given you, so you better check yourself).

Stop thinking about how precious your dollars are- think about the precious work that the Lord is urging you to invest in. Invest in the kingdom where a return is guaranteed, "So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." and the only thing you lose are the things that you don't need, you don't have to worry about Bernie Maddoff. The Lord wants to give you back everything that the devil stole from you.

When you enter the church don't you want to see bibles? Don't you want oil for the preacher to anoint you, bread for communion? Don't you want the lights on and toilet paper in the bathroom? Well, none of that stuff is free and God was so kind of enough to ask you to participate in the building and maintenance of his church (he doesn't need you and when you refuse he will certainly raise up another to do the word and receive the blessing) you are too wise to join in and too worried about what the preacher is doing with your money.

Be wise and obey the Lord. Let God deal with the man of  God if he is misappropriating funds, but you be wise and obey the word. You, be wise and be blessed so that when God is dealing with you can be blessed both in this earth and in eternity.

TESTIMONY TUESDAY: Practicing What I Preach

Yesterday, I suggested that you use Valentine's Day as an opportunity to get Jesus involved in your personal life by using I Corinthians 13 as a way to gauge whether or not your relationship is functioning the way it ought to.

Of course I couldn't recommend this course of action without trying it myself.

Here are the results:

Last night after watching a little bit of television, I asked my husband if we could sit down and read a chapter from the Bible. His eyes bulged and his neck stiffened a bit. "Which chapter?" and "Why?" he asked. I gently whispered, "I Corinthians 13, you know it is Valentine's Day, isn't?"

I would like to say that old wounds were healed, I would like to say that we are now moving forward and upward but our discussion wasn't as fruitful as I had hoped for. I apologized for sometimes behaving "unseemly" and not always being kind in my longsuffering. But he skirted the issues by repeating that lovely yet awful statement, "You know, that I love you." Which, in translation means "I don't always do what I should and I may never but that doesn't take away from the fact that I love you."

Of course this is not to say that I all good and he's all bad. We both have our shortcomings. While I'm now willing to admit that  I'm not perfect, that I am not the best wife I could be he is not ready to do this yet.

I repeatedly reminded him that I Corinthians says our love should look like this but it look like a mess. He continued to avoid the fact that we don't demonstrate our love the way that we ought to. I think the disparity between our perception of our relationship is because I am actively striving to serve the Lord and he is not.

I was a little disheartened by the fact that he wasn't moved by the word and his lack of interest in investing more into our relationship. Should that move me away from the gospel, should that deter me from striving to loving him the way that the Lord says I should.

No, it should not and I will not let it. Instead, it has inspired me to love him more, to love him harder, until he sees the glory of God in me striving to love him though he fights against the glorious love of God.

Be blessed and please testify about what the outcome was of your discussions.

But The Greatest of These is Charity

As you celebrate love today do not leave the Lord out of this celebration. Instead sit down and evaluate your relationship. Do you love the way the Lord says you should? Does your partner love you the way that the Lord says you should? How can you love the way that God requires?

I can only answer one of those questions for you: How can you love the way that God requires? By first loving God. God is love and he has loved you long before you ever thought about him. So, as you use this day to celebrate your love for man be sure to see where man's love falls short and how God's love is able to fill the gap.

I have not yet met all the requirements, I still seek my own things, I am still puffed up and have yet to master that longsuffering and kindness go together. But I am striving. This post is a refresher for me, reminding me of what I need to be striving for.

On this Valentine's Day I pray you take a moment to recognize who love is and what love is supposed  to look like.

I Corinthians 13

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Wisdom Wednesdays: Is The Joy Of The Lord Your Strength?

Beloved, I know that I said our Wisdom Wednesdays postings would come from the book of Proverbs but today it's coming from Nehemiah. Having wisdom and using it to live your life wisely are two very different things and many of us are not doing it. The word of God is wisdom and cannot be contested in any arena but often we don't take that wisdom and use it as a springboard to jump into the day with.

For some your day is winding down and for many you, who like me may have kids, or a second job- your day is really just beginning ask yourself: are you going through it with a bounce in your step or trudging through your to-do list. Be wise today and let the joy of the Lord be your strength. Let the fact that there is nobody greater than your Jesus, your Lord, your Saviour, your Redeemer, your soon coming king, whom you will one day marry, carry you through the day.

Stop letting life's little hiccups serve as a hinderance. Instead draw on your strength, the joy of the Lord. A christian should not be living their life in misery, depression, anger, or anxiety. A christian should be joyous.

"Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink, the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

When Nehemiah said this to the children of Israel they had just spent the whole day reading the law and when they saw their trangressions they began to weep about it the but the Lord used Nehemiah to tell them to rejoice, you have passed from the darkness into the light; now that you know the word, rejoice that this great God is your God, live the word, and share this joy with your neighbor. So, whatever is hampering you today be like the children of Israel, be wise this Wednesday- put it down quickly and pick up your joy.

Further Reading: Nehemiah chapter 8

God Bless You!