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After three hundred seventy-eight posts (7 years) of Paulette Talks Faith, God is moving me in a different direction. I have no idea where He’s taking me; I guess you can say I’m walking by faith. However, I didn’t want to leave without saying thank you for your dedication and encouraging words. So, for now—Goodbye. Please click link to visit my online bookstore. Blessings to you!       

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This nation is split in every way imaginable because the Church (the body of Christ) gradually strayed away from God’s Word. Just like erosion secretly formed the Grand Canyon, the Church let herself be eroded by the ways of this world. This once unnoticeable fissure has now developed into an apparent Split.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

The Church is the light and salt of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). Therefore, by faith, Jesus expects her to continue the mission until He returns. But over time, she expected the world to do the job for her. Of course, the world gladly accepted the role of leading. As a result, the Church leans more toward human logic, selfish agendas, and petty emotions—far away from what saith the Lord.

• If we had only obeyed Matthew 22:36-40, we wouldn’t be in this fix.

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? ³⁷ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

• If we had only taken Proverbs 16:18-19 literally before thinking, we’re above reproach.

Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall.¹⁹ Better poor and humble than proud and rich. (LAB)

• Surely, we didn’t read Matthew 25:40 and still think the poor and needy are expendable.

. . . Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

• Mark 8:36 warned us not to run after earthly treasures; by heavens standards—junk.

 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

• In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus gave us a “To-Do List” that He commands us to do before His sudden return.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (NIV)

The world can’t repair this split, but the Church can.

 

© 2021

See you next time on Paulette Talks Faith.

 

 

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The other day God used a pair of sunglasses and the concept of “Son-glasses” to explain to me how He looks at sin after we repent. He gave me this analogy after I had a troubling conversation with a highly-intelligent lady who told me she was a Christian. I’ll say more about her later.

Analogy: We wear sunglasses to block out harmful ultraviolet rays. God wears Son-glasses to block out our filthiness, and by doing so, He sees His Son’s righteousness—the blood of Jesus covering us. We are reconciled to Him through Christ. How else can we be in right standing with El Shaddai-God Almighty? Only by faith can we receive this marvelous gift of righteousness.

For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us! (2 Corinthians 5:21, LAB).

 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21, KJV).

Of course, that doesn’t give us carte blanche to sin at will. God is omniscient; He knows who’s not seriously walking with Him. In other words, He sees those people without His Son-glasses.

Now back to the disturbing conversation. The lady proudly shared the time she went to church—repeated the sinner’s prayer—and received a certificate of authenticity. She said she’s a Christian because she has paperwork framed on her wall as proof. She has made no changes in her lifestyle after she was saved. Why should she—she doesn’t believe in heaven or hell or that the devil exists?

This woman should know Christianity is more than a piece of paper since she was raised in a strict Christian home where the fundamentals of Christianity were taught and practiced. But, listening to her, she was void of any such upbringing when she expressed:

• She believes Jesus was a prophet—but not the Son of God.
• And, she doesn’t believe Jesus is the only way to God.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6).

My experience with this woman lets me know when we sense something is off with a person’s line of thinking—we should speak up, as the Holy Spirit gives us utterance.

I have no doubt God will arrange for us to meet again, at that time, I’ll be able to explain—God wears Son-glasses.

 © 2020

See you next time on Paulette Talks Faith.

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The other day, I read about how the Israelites’contentious dispositions led to their downfall. The insolence had vexed Moses’ patience for decades as they wandered around in the wilderness grumbling, complaining, and intermittently worshiping idols—despite all the mighty miracles God performed for them.

As I read, one incident especially caught my attention. The time when a prominent leader named Korah and 250 others tried to encourage the Israelites to go against Moses and Aaron’s authority. Their attitude was: Why take orders from them?

Now here’s the part where I gasped. The ground opened—and those who chose to rebel—fell into a pit—then the earth closed!

 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

³³ They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation (Numbers 16:32-34).

God wasn’t playing then, and He ain’t playing now!

You might describe me as a little peculiar because I like to parallel today’s corrupt times with the Old Testament days. But I find the similarities between then and now amazing. Don’t waste your time trying to convince me that God’s love wouldn’t allow devastation to come upon us as it did back then. I’m tired of tiptoeing around it—Yes, He would!

God’s not trying to say something; He is saying something. 

We’re telling God, please stop, no more! But I see it as Him sending us all kinds of signals and messages to take Him seriously. Step back and take a panoramic view of all that’s attacking the world. Some of us got the memo and, by faith, making appropriate changes to meet His Holy Standards to the best of our abilities.

On the other hand, some are counting on God’s grace to bail them out without repentance. I’m afraid people who think like that are unaware God is omniscient; He knows who sincerely loves Him for Who He is, and not just a quick get out of hell ticket when times get hard. John 14:15 sums it up; If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.

Think about this: How many times does the Holy Spirit have to caution us about excluding Him out of our lives? How many warnings do we get not to water down His Word? Does He have to keep telling us over-and-over again to love everybody, including our enemies? Do we understand when He told us in Matthew 6:19-20 that earthly possessions will decompose; therefore, put our sites on heavenly treasures?

It’s comforting and encouraging to hear about how much God loves us and that He wants the best for us. But the way things are coming at us from all angles, we need to hear the full gospel; more straightforward, strict teachings about living a life of holiness no matter who opposes, because

He Ain’t Playing—Y’all!

 © 2020

See you next time on Paulette Talks Faith.

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When we swear to tell the truth in a court of law or raise our right hand to uphold an oath of office or make a holy vow in matrimony—it should be perceived more than a formality. Some people can swear on the Bible, knowing they have no intentions of maintaining their sworn obligations if those commitments interfere with their personal plans.

Don’t play with fire!

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it (John 8:44).

I do solemnly swear?

When we make a pledge, that’s not a mindless act in God’s courtroom. Therefore, before we flippantly say, I Do, we had better understand there are consequences attached when we purposefully neglect to uphold our end of the bargain. In Ecclesiastes 5:5, Solomon cautions not to make promises then not keep them.

It’s far better not to say you’ll do something than to say you will and then not do it. (LAB)

From our lips to God’s ear!

Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight (Proverbs 12:22).

The world views lying as a convenient manipulating tool. Have you noticed we’re living in a swamp of falsehoods? It’s like watching a “who can tell the most whoppers” contest? However, in this matchup, the winners are the losers.

Ask the Holy Spirit to expose the liars.

For those of us who still value honesty, the devil would like for us to think lying has been downgraded to a minor misdemeanor of sins. Contrary to this misnomer, no sin is a marginal offense. God is against all unrighteousness—all forms of lying included. (See Romans 1:18.)

Pray for the Holy Spirit to expose the fabricators—then have the faith to believe Him when He points them out.

Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

 © 2020

See you next time on Paulette Talks Faith.

 

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COVID and all its challenges have been around for almost a year now. This pandemic has become a common phenomenon globally as people are grief-stricken, tired, and anxious. Yet, some are hopeful about the upcoming year. But will things be any different or just a continuation? Will the world experience the mercy of God or His wrath? I think the character and tone of the new year will depend mainly on how we step out of this one.

How are we doing, Lord?

We can say this year exposed people for who they are; we even learned a few things about ourselves. It doesn’t matter if we are a slow learner or quick study; look around at our circumstances, and by faith, interpret God’s message to the world—it’s not that hard. He has made this clear for us all to understand. If we don’t become better behaved after all of this, well, that’s on us.

Clues of how we are to behave can be found in the books of prophecy (Isaiah through Malachi) in the Old Testament. God has some non-negotiables that the people back then disregarded, and I’m afraid we are currently discounting them, also. Throughout the ages, there’s a common thread: Worship no other god before Me, and love your neighbor as yourself. As the theme continues in the New Testament, Jesus modeled how this is done in the Gospels (Matthew through John). The Epistles (Romans through Jude) are to inspire us in our daily Christian walk. And the book of Revelation wraps it all up.

As the year ends—how am I doing, Lord?

• Has my relationship with You grown closer since all the upheaval?
• Do I worship You with my time, money, and obedience to the best of my ability?
• Do I study Your Word and apply it to my life the way I should?
• Am I harboring hate towards those with opposing views? 
• Do I treat everybody the way You commanded?
• Do I look the other way and tolerate injustice when bestowed on others?
• Do I act as if I’m the only one that matters?
• Do my actions speak well of You?
• Do I boldly tell others about You?

Are we behaving any better?

© 2020

See you next time on Paulette Talks Faith.

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We are privileged that we can pray anytime, anyplace, under any circumstances to El Shaddai, Almighty God. However, having the faith to believe the answer is on the way is a whole different story. When I pray in God’s will and live according to His Word to the best of my understanding, I want to know—without question—my prayers are answered.

Remove the question marks.

Here’s what I’m learning and doing to pray, no doubt prayers. Notice, I used the present progressive tense of the verbs: learn and do, because I’m a work in progress. I’m not proclaiming I’ve found some secret formula to getting prayers answered; nevertheless, I’m excited to share my new approach to prayer.

Fill the Prescription!

A few months ago, I wrote a post called: Put Some WORD on It! In that piece, I made the point that if you got a minor cut, scratch, or bruise—put some hydrogen peroxide on it. If you got a swollen ankle—put some ice on it. But if you got some impossibilities—put some WORD on it. I like to view the Word as the Prescription, outlining all that I can obtain through Christ Jesus.

Example of my prayer:

Prescription: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Me: BECAUSE YOUR SON SHED HIS BLOOD, and I have accepted Him as my Lord and Savior, I’m in right standing with You.

Prescription:  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16b, NIV).

Me: AND SINCE I’ve been made righteous through Christ, my prayers are powerful and effective.

Prescription:  Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart (Psalm 37:4).

Me: YOU KNOW—how much I delight myself in You.

• I hunger and thirst after You;
• I can’t stop talking about You;
• I want to please You;
• I love our intimate moments and one-on-one conversations.

Prescription:  Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10b).

Me: HOWEVER, IF MY PRAYER isn’t aligned with You, help me accept—Your will.

Prescription:  The eyes of the Lord are toward the [uncompromisingly]righteous and His ears are open to their cry (Psalm 34:15, AMP).

Me: THEREFORE, I thank You in advance that You will hear my prayer.

After laying that foundation, I’m ready to present my requests boldly by faith.

BUT WAIT—that’s not all!

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

²⁷ And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27).

The Finisher!

I call on the Finisher, the Holy Spirit, to turn my imperfect prayer into a perfect prayer and present it to the Father flawlessly. My faith is in the Father answering the Holy Spirit’s prayers on my behalf.

That’s how I pray, no doubt prayers.

Amen.

© 2020

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

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While watching a movie about a lady who was being blackmailed, I kept thinking why anybody would be crazy enough to let someone blackmail them? As I was rolling this over in my mind, God dropped this into my spirit: You let the devil blackmail you all the time.

What? How?

The devil wants our faith, and he blackmails us with strongholds of fear, so we’ll believe his lies and doubt God’s love, mercy, and grace. The enemy knows the magnitude of power Jehovah-Elohim has given us through Christ. He also knows many believers don’t realize the clout they have in the heavenly realm.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him (Psalm 91:15).

Faith—enables us to withstand the devil’s onslaughts. (See Ephesian 6:11.) Faith—releases angels to our rescue (see Psalm 91:11-12). Therefore, this demoniac prowler will use any scare tactics necessary to con us out of this valuable asset that can ruin his plans to harm us. Why should we allow ourselves to be tormented by fear, agonizing worries when we can rest in the loving arms of our Lord? Our rest is spiritual warfare against the kingdom of darkness.

That’s why this evil spirit usually attacks us when we’re mentally, physically, and spiritually too distraught to take comfort in Jehovah-Rohi: The Lord, our Shepherd. That’s why we can’t afford to take off our spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:11-18) and become lax because this stalker is roaming loose seeking whom he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). We must daily spend one-on-one time in the presence of God without substitution. That’s how we receive the strength to lift the shield of faith while engulfed in fear.

How to decontrol a blackmailer?

Think about this: If a blackmailer has no leverage on their victims, that perpetrator has no power to control and manipulate. The same is true when it comes to the devil. That’s why he doesn’t want to hear us say—I don’t care what you do; throw your best shot; my faith is in Jehovah-Elohim, the Most Powerful—Whose power no foe can withstand (see Psalm 91:1, AMP).

Okay, lets be honest, most of us aren’t there yet spiritually to confront the enemy straightforward like that; however, we should never stop aiming for that goal. Remember Christians, who live their lives according to the Word, have more power than the devil.

We don’t need faith when we have possibilities; faith is for those times when we are facing impossibilities.

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23).

Does your faith waiver every time the devil winks in your direction? If that’s so, check to see if he’s blackmailing your faith with fear.

 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19).

© 2020

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

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Do you ever wonder why Christians can read the same Bible and come up with misleading interpretations? Not only is this nation divided, but so is the Church at a time when we need to come together and work as the united body of Christ. But instead, too many of us follow man’s traditions and ideologies that don’t necessarily line up with Scriptures. Therefore, it’s on us to sift what we hear through the Word of God.

No one can learn the Word for you.

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psalm 119:11).

If you don’t understand the Word for yourself, you might be influenced by someone else’s interpretation—correct or not. I fell victim to misleading truth when I started this blog a few years ago. There were times when I wanted to quote certain passages from the Bible that I heard as a child. But when I tried to apply them to my writings, I noticed their meanings were slightly different and off point from what I was taught to believe. This misinterpretation had been handed down for generations, more than likely. The key takeaway from my experience: Make no assumptions about what you think you know related to Scriptures; check it out for yourself!

Let the Holy Spirit be your guide.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come (John 16:13).

As long as we are alive on earth, we will hear conflicting views related to different Scriptures. By faith, we must get into the habit of seeking the Lord for revelation and understanding. Then, as time passes on, when we hear the Word being misquoted or taken out of context, we will become sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit telling us to—Check That Out!

What is Truth?

Truth is God’s Word!

 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (Matthew 24:35).

© 2020

See you next week at Paulette Talks Faith.

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When a person tells me they are a Christian, my spiritual antenna automatically picks up their frequency: Do their actions represent the Kingdom of God? Anyone can say they are a Christian like anybody can quote Scriptures, use correct Christianse catchphrases and gestures, hold credible seminary credentials and titles, and not be followers of Christ. As I mature in my spiritual walk, I’m not as gullible. I use my faith to discern when to take a closer look: Is that a wolf cloaked as a sheep?

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Matthew 7:15).

Some of these wolves, however, look and sound pretty convincing. It says in 1 John 4:1 not to believe every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:16 that we can tell who people are just as we can identify a tree by its fruit.

The vetting process:

• Is God number One in their lives? (Exodus 20:3)
• Is the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance) displayed in their lives? (Galatians 5:22-23)
• Do they spread the gospel or man’s lies? (Proverbs 13:5; 14:5)
• Do they model their lives after Christ? (Ephesians 5:1-2)
• Do they treat others the way they want to be treated? (Luke 6:31)
• Do they love their neighbor as themselves? (Mark 12:31)
• Do they aim to please God despite their desires? (John 14:15)

One thing is for sure: Wolves cannot imitate the presence and the anointing of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Stay prayerful so you can spot the wolves cloaked as sheep.

© 2020

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.