F.E.A.R.

FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real

Making the best of the worst is a bona fide goal in the daily life of the christian. Until you humble yourself and take the power of self and put it on the side, it is impossible to prosper in the kingdom of Heaven. Spiritual prosperity works opposite of earthly prosperity. Scripture is full of scenarios where God expects the believer to leave all earthly ties and wealth in pursuit of new lifestyle with Him.

Fear gets in the way of believers selling their soul to God. This fear is stimulated from concept of the unknown. With God we must operate first from the spiritual angle and then believe Him for the manifestation of it in the natural. Fear places a damper on the Godly relationship because we fail to trust God’s word at face value. It is what it is...

We were born with all of our senses dictating the satisfaction of our needs. To satisfy hunger, we innately employ the help of the five senses to meet the need. The cycle of needs-meeting in the physical is reinforced so strong from birth until we experience God for the first time. Then it is tough to break such a cycle of needs-meeting that without it, there would be some breakdown of our intellect to do things differently.

Here is the toughest choice you will ever make in life: You must stop depending on your own senses and intellect and start to trust God for the ultimate needs-meeting experience. In Scripture, you can trace most of Jesus’ teachings to this concept of depending on God for needs-meeting  The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. The Our Father Prayer is what he taught. In this prayer, Jesus gives heavy clues on the intentional relationship of dependency from man towards God. Jesus also teaches how important mankind is to God. If God fed the birds, and made sure the blades of grass were green, then why would God miss feeding mankind. The provision is not just for believers, but for all mankind.

So why should a man want more if God will feed him anyway? God desires that man build a relationship with Him. From Genesis to Revelation scripture, God is viewed as one seeking to spend time with His people. However, the main issue that disturbs the relationship is Sin. Sin separates man from God because God is holy. Through Jesus’ work of the cross, Sin was defeated and we whom accept this work are no longer sinful but saved.


The cross is the tangible expression of God’s grace for mankind. It is the way in which man finally has direct rights to build a relationship with the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).  It is the relationship in which the Father seeks with mankind through the act of worship.

FEAR places a blindfold on man towards the obvious desire of God, which is worshiping the father. Sin places hardship on mankind that calls him to duty for basic survival skills. With a strong focus of daily living, God is left out to fit in where he may get in. Man is guilty for trying to feed himself, place a roof over his head by himself, stay healthy, raise a family, and continue the cycle each generation.  FEAR becomes the taskmaster of our faith growth in God and as a result, man stays true to the needs of this world over a good divine relationship.

False evidence appearing real is only a myth of the flesh. To change the way you conduct life, start by desire. You must desire to change your current traditions of meeting daily needs and trust God to guide you. The path is clearly different for every believer; no two individuals are the same. God has a specific path that you must take to change directions.

Here is a life pill:

Remember that God desires your worship and therefore will meet you where you are to change the way you do business. God expects you to go from stressing out over daily needs to blessing Him without worrying about daily needs. It means that in the correct relationship with the Father, He makes sure your daily needs are met and you spend your earthly time focusing on Him.  It is why the apostle James mentions that we must pray without ceasing.

Here is some heavy food for the advanced believer:

Jesus says that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven.

First the eye of the needle is a small night opening at a city wall. A camel packed with all the owners goods along with the owner could not enter through the gate except the owner unpacks the camel. The owner would have to do some extra work by unloading the goods and walking them to the other side of the gate. Then the owner would walk the camel through and repack his animal before continuing on the journey.

Second, In the life of a believer  He gives up all his worldly goods as he passes from death to life. As he unpacks at outer gate, Jesus is waiting on the other side to assist him at repacking all those items he gave up. Thus, Jesus’ response to his disciples fit here, they had left everything to follow Jesus. Jesus told them that everything they forsook would be returned with interest in this life and the life to come.

Finally, it is advantageously ideal to go ahead and address your FEAR of losing materials through your transitional from death to live. God is faithful to provide for your needs miraculously. He needs only your desire to worship Him and your faith in His plan to restore you to a stress free style of living. While bad things will continue to come your way, your view will no longer allow you to be so stressed because you will learn that God is in control.

Drop fear! Pick up faith! Watch God work on your behalf as you change your focus from self to Godly provision. Worship God! 

Truly I am,
Apostle Lockley  

Therapy for the Divided Couple

Division in your couple creates deep wounds in the fabric of your relational patterns. Division is a disease of the relationship that can be compared to HIV/AIDS. A couple that can not work together is one that is susceptible to much more disaster as the relationship age. In HIV/AIDS, the immune system grows weaker and weaker. Once the antibodies are attacked and killed, the body has no way to defend causing the human body to become its own trap. Bacteria and viruses that are in the environment may be blocked off and defended against by the body, but the scenario does not apply to the infected individual.

A couple that struggles with division is one that have no walls against the pressures outside of their relationship. Other couples face similar and even more difficult issues than the at risk couple but because they work as one, the results can be healthy. Healthy couples possess resilience. Healthy couples heal quickly. This quick response to pessimistic issues is the respond and repair syndrome that can be compared to the immune system of a human.

The immune system takes on the foreign agents in the body and seeks to maintain balance without much thought from innate. This system of maintaining balance is what keeps an individual healthy. With couples, this same syndrome operates amongst the healthiest. Persons respond and seek to repair the ill spoken issues to make the couple better. This can be viewed as the equilibrium process. Any foreign pattern that presents in the relations of the couple is challenged by one or both members.

The equilibrium process in the couple presenting divisional issues is in itself unhealthy. The couple has already formed an unhealthy pattern of daily relational skill building and will need some guidance into what a healthy relationship is like. In some couples, the presenting issue may be deeper and therefore it is necessary to redact the focus on the individuals.

To focus on the individual is the most important piece of discovery that will eventually forge a new way of thinking for the future of the couple. Individual therapy from a solution focused endeavor would be ideal when attempting to work with a couple to see and meet the needs of the deadly pattern.

A good idea about the couple presenting with divisional issues is to formulate a more scientific opinion as the therapist by using metrics. 

An idea about the working couples’ relationship would be to focus on the communication and support system. Either one or both members may appear dominant. Traditional roles versus familial roles are also a focus as these beliefs dictate the manner in which these roles are played out in the couple. Punishment with reward may be present, each member of the couple may attempt to control the other through holding back on things like intercourse, affection, traditional daily chores and other areas that may be of interest to the other; such actions are unloving and unholy!

In some cases, a member of the couple may use their jealousy as fuel to destroy the reputation of the otherwise accomplished member. Extreme cases involve one spouse fantasizing about the other’s affairs inappropriately as a means to use this information to attack them later. This is an unhealthy relationship. The jealous spouse syndrome stops at nothing to get the job done. Exposure usually intercepts this type of behavior as the jealous spouse turns over a new leaf to avoid future embarrassment.

Failure of the opposite spouse is another anomaly of division and is the vehicle for the domination game within the relationship. To settle the score amongst each member, both should adopt grace as the principle motivating factor for relational growth. Towards the counselor, the couple must be transparent and full of integrity so that they can be guided in the right goals for sponsorship success. The domination game must end and the couple must for the first time in their history grow towards agreement.

Change is often a tough road to take in a life path. As a couple, change becomes difficult as two persons diverge on a path of unfamiliar feelings and experiences. A setback may easily surface between the road taken and the innate storage of memories and hidden agendas that were developed as safety nets. The walls of safety must be destroyed as new ones are developed. Grace is the motivating force which moves individuals to behave as good slaves for a new master. Slaves move in anticipation of their masters next call. Couples must also move in anticipation of their next best challenge toward a healthier life path.

A rule of thumb in developing a better relationship among couples with divisional issues is to read the other’s needs as their own. Di- means that the couple is selfishly having an individual vision. To build the couples vision, each partner must see the other’s needs as priority. A problem in role playing can be the enemy to creating a unified vision with the couple. Roles often interfere with how well one may contribute to that optimistic side of the relationship. Remember where the couple has enjoyed viewing the failure of each other, there was a negative cycle of reward in which was targeted in session and broken. The new role of each member is to celebrate the success of each other and use this energy to foster stronger ties within the couple’s framework. Creating a unified vision eradicates the need pessimistic relational patterns.

Deep wounds take time to heal. It is important that the couple be able to predict ‘good’ after focusing on unity in the new relational pattern. This is necessary in divisional issues, as fighting couples have lost sight of why they are in a covenant relationship. Thus the act of grace allows acceptance of each member’s past mistakes that may present itself in future challenges. Deep wounds in the couples’ relational pattern need expert assistance to heal properly. The couple must accept, forgive, and forget what was seen as a past threat by charging those acts to grace.

Finally, the couple must be acceptable and accountable towards each other. It is no mistake that they are together, even if they are not the soul mate type. Every relationship, across social systems and kin ships are coined by relational systemic patterns that send and receive messages for successful transmission. Without the successful transmission of communication, a relationship could not be maintained. Therefore, a couple can stay together with much work on their behalf. If the couple refuses to do the work, then it is wise to make the choice to end the couple. Count up the cost!

A prayer for you and your spouse:

Father God, Thank you for meeting my deepest needs within the role of humanity. You have provided for me a soul with whom I can share my blessed life in the earth with. Father, help me to see the weaknesses in our couple so that I may accept your wisdom in healing those areas. I realize that the couple is the foundation of the family in the earth and we must be healthy to build stronger families that reverence your perfect will for us. I thank you for allowing me to see how your plan for the kingdom of Heaven and our couple are similar. Both relationships require work, as Jesus waits for the day the church will be presented as spotless before you. I will keep my focus of the grace you gave towards mankind and extend it in my couple, patiently awaiting the day our couple finally grows into maturity. Thank You Father God! AMEN

Apostle Lockley

October 11, 2012

When God Cooks

When God Cooks...

The children of Israel waxed greatly in Egypt...  In order words, the children of Israel were blessed people before they were considered slaves, as slaves, and as they came out of slavery. 

Let’s put on our OT history lens and view the Israelites from the loins of Noah and his sons.  It was only seven generations from the Egyptian slavery event that after the flood, Noah was found asleep and naked after having an intoxicating experience.  Ham found him and alerted the other two. Shem and Japheth entered the place where he lay and walked backward, so that they would not view his nakedness.  When Noah awoke and learned what happened, he cursed his grandson Canaan of Ham; Canaan descendants would be a servant to the other’s. This curse would be lived out through the Israelites experience among the promised land ventures. This curse is now null and void, as Jesus became the curse on the cross. 

Noah blesses the God of Shem during his family conference with the boys. It is Shem’s ancestry line in which we get the Israelites. In our day, we would look down upon Noah and discredit his authority and relationship with the divine because he was drunk and asleep naked. However, in his weakest point God uses Noah to speak divine truth about the future role of his three sons. Shem’s decedents were chosen to carry the messianic line. Ham’s son is iconic for lascivious style living against the proper living for a Godly relationship. Japheth’s descendants were blessed through Shem’s work.

They way Ham handled his father’s secret is the same way Satan seeks to discredit the prophet of God today. Ham’s character is denoted by his decision to expose rather than protect. The other two son’s response shows respect and concern for their father. Shem’s action resembles God’s character. God loves us, even in our weakest points! This is illustrated in the comeback of Noah to deliver a prophetic bow to his three son’s. 

According to Scripture, there were eight souls that survived the global flood: Noah and wife, Shem and wife, Japheth and wife, Ham and wife. Each of Noah son’s are credited with re-populating the earth after the flood. However, Shem’s family takes on the spiritual attributes of man (blessed is the God of Shem), Japheth descendants gained popularity for establishing large civilizations and is recognized for intellectual attributes of mankind( blessing including enlarging territories), and Ham’s descendants, receivers of Noah’s curse (servants of servants) represent the physical attributes of mankind. All three types viewed in combination are symbolic towards the synergistic remedies needed to establish a relationship with God. All three peoples are expected to worship Father God. 

Through ancestry lines, the children of Israel were destined for greatness. Using the Noadic lens we can see the developments clearer. To inherit the promised land of Abraham, much preparation would be needed, shaping a new culture would be introduced, and other events were necessary. 

In the days of Moses’ regime, he shepherded the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt as directed and supported by Shem’s God. There were no shopping centers, luxury hotels, or at some stations, places where fresh water existed in the desert path they followed. There was no provision in plain sight for the survival of mankind. Their selected path included a dry place. 

To survive, the people of Israel had to depend totally on God! Had they been able to supply food for themselves as nomads, they would have taken the credit later in their historical future. It was God who brought them out of Israel and that is certain.

God lead them by a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day. He allowed manna to fall from heaven in the earth six days a week to feed the people. He instructed Moses where to find fresh running water, enough for one and a half million people (some sources two and a half million) to be completely satisfied. Scripture includes language which asserts that the clothing and shoes of the Israelites did not wear; the entire time they were nomads.

Scripture records the Israelites as being a “stiff-necked” people. They were children, stubborn, uneasy to please, and was getting on God’s last nerve. It was Moses, who acted as intercessor so that God would not be so quick to destroy all of them. It would seem the absence of slavery were bonds to secure a strong tie with the God of Moses, but for some odd reason the comforts of slavery were sitting strong against the dry place of the dessert. Perhaps it was better to turn around and go back in slavery (sin) than to trust God for daily provision. 

The people of Israel tried God many times throughout their nomadic experience. At one point during foot travel, they were complaining about God’s manna. They wanted meat! God indeed allowed them to eat the meat of quail and they seemed pleased but at the moment they bit into the meat, they died. Was it really the meat they were after or was it the desire to return to Pharaoh for provision? Every instance of forsaking God’s provision, ingratitude, and or discrediting Father God is sin and blasphemy. God is provoked to anger when we have daily provision from him and desire help from another. 

Complaining about God’s cooking is not the best solution if you wish to live longer or attain a closer walk with Him. 

I don’t know who this message is for but, God is growing tired of your complaining, He’s tired of your selfish ways. He wants more of you through acts of trust in when and what He is providing for you. Stop complaining about the lack that is in your life because it is not God’s problem. He provides! You keep walking by faith, believing that every second of your life is his control. Change your ways! Become Optimistic! Become Thankful for what you do have! Give more! Worship God! Love!

We are pilgrims in the earth living by social means unto God, whom thus provides for us at every stage of life we pass through. In those stages, He provides the very best all the time. There are some wants, we misidentify as needs when petitioning God, BE CAREFUL!. Complain g about what God has provided when you are passing through a stage is not best act. In fact, you can put your own graduation on hold. This level must be repeated over and over again until you pass. Imagine the Israelites journey was only 261 miles but having the wrong spirit caused them to stay in the dry place forty years. Forty two stations were documented as places in which they took refuge. 

My three year old daughter always jumps in the car and sits under the steering wheel. Her request, daddy let me drive! I could honor her request but if I did, we could end up hurt or dead because her stage of development is not ready to handle a two thousand pound vehicle.  It is too much responsibility for her at this time. We are similar with God. We ask our daddy to give us keys to situations, we are not apt to handle and eventually free will gives us those keys. 

We destroy our own lives by rebuking our Father’s supply of daily bread. Our Manna!

When God Cooks, He provides the perfect meals for our  spiritual, intellectual,  and spiritual needs because He sees us holistically.