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Do You Have Dry Mouth?

You are not providing value to people's lives if you are saying what everyone else is saying or worse what they already said.

Some of us have a dry mouth.

We need to go back to the well.

But we insist on talking with that foamy slobber.

We keep talking with that crust around the lips.

We keep talking and posting using the same old cliche’s.

The people may even say amen out of tradition and routine

But no value is created.

No lives are changed.

You have just reinforced the status quo.

We must remember though.

We frustrate Hell...when we go to the Well.

Stop posting.

Stop talking.

Stop preaching.

Stop teaching.

And ask God, “What do your people need to actually hear?”

“Dear Lord, you are the Creator of Creativity so I know you didn’t call me to be like everyone else!”

“Dear Lord forgive me for not trusting you enough to be that difference maker that you called me to be!”

“Lord fear is what kept me as a bootleg copy of what use to work.”

“Dear Lord...I repent from dead works!”

In the Kingdom of Cliches...God either called you to be different or He didn’t call.

I want to be clear.

God’s orchestra sounds beautiful when we play together.

We just can’t....all be the violin.

Written by Pastor Tony Ares

He pastors at TheHillMinistry.org.

He writes at AFreshWord.org

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Devotional Moment:

I always tell my church, “if you pray for material stuff, God hasn’t promised to always give you that. Oftentimes you don’t need “stuff” for your Kingdom Mission. I tell them when you pray for Wisdom that God has promised in the Book of James to give it to you liberally.

Here is a reminder of what that wisdom looks like, so you can notice it when it arrives:

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.” - paraphrase of James 3:17

Finally, that wisdom can be downloaded from God thru a multitude of ways:

- The Bible

- personal revelation

- thru the criticism of someone that you view as a “hater”

- thru short term inconsequential failures

- thru your spouse

- thru a book

- thru your parents

Tony’s take: God typically places “the wisdom” that you need in a place where you have to stretch yourself past your previous limitations of mind and body to receive it.

Are you willing to try something new to get new results?

Do you believe that God will give you the wisdom?

According to your faith be it unto you.

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Spiritual Hoop

Spiritual Hoop

I learned something the other day on my new job.

The scoreboard is inconsequential to the official score. The scoreboard is basically for the fans. The official score is what is in the home book that is kept by the home scorekeeper. The referee is supposed to confer with the scorekeepers before he walks off the court for the final time. Then it’s official.

That’s kinda like life.

The scoreboard that society judges us by doesn’t matter. The house, the car, the clothes and what people say about us are symbolic of the scoreboard. In the end, they really don’t matter. They aren’t official.

We have a final judge who is going to render the “official score.” He is going to look at the ledger of your life. The final score will be determined by whether your life reflected an authentic faith in Jesus Christ.

Here is where this parable breaks down and doesn’t ring true. No parable is perfect.

For 99% of all basketball games, the scoreboard matches the home book.

Jesus warned that’s not true in real life.

Many will say “Lord, Lord” at the end of this game of life. Many will be surprised by the official score.

Moral to the story:

Follow Christ and do what really “counts.”

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The Secret Place (Part 1)

The Secret Place Series

Part 1: Click Here

Part 2: Click Here

Part 3: Click Here

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The Secret Place (Part 2)

The Secret Place Series

Part 1: Click Here

Part 2: Click Here

Part 3: Click Here

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The Secret Place (Part 3)

The Secret Place Series

Part 1: Click Here

Part 2: Click Here

Part 3: Click Here

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So Sorry Not Sorry (Part 2)

Part 1: (Click Here)

Part 2: (Click Here)

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So Sorry Not Sorry (Part 1)

Part 1: (Click Here)

Part 2: (Click Here)

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Leap From Arithmetic

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What Is The Minimum Effective Dosage? (Part 1)

Part 1: (Click Here)

Part 2: (Click Here)

Part 3: (Click Here)

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What Is The Minimum Effective Dosage? (Part 2)

Part 1: (Click Here)

Part 2: (Click Here)

Part 3: (Click Here)

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What Is The Minimum Effective Dosage? (Part 3)

Part 1: (Click Here)

Part 2: (Click Here)

Part 3: (Click Here)

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Miniblog About Sports and As My Buddy John Reid Says...LIFE: There are several life lessons that can be learned from the JR Smith debacle last night. The lessons are bigger than basketball! Let’s explore them: 1. Always be conscious of the clock. You typically don’t get time back. As Flavor Flav use to say, “Do you know what time it is?” 2. Always know the score. It’s called self-awareness. It’s about knowing what’s significant and what’s not. It’s about having your values aligned with your actions. In the broad categories of life; health, family and God...are you winning? Are you behind? 3. Always expect the unexpected. It’s how God keeps us sharp. There is a reason why JR Smith didn’t know what to do. There was an over 80% chance that his teammate was going to make that free throw. His teammate is a veteran. JR wasn’t ready for the unexpected. 4. You will be defined by the friends and associates that you choose. JR Smith has been.....a nut. He is a mercurial person of questionable character that when he gets HOT can shoot with the best of them. His lack of focus and discipline though is not a surprise. What’s significant is that Lebron choose him as a teammate. Lebron choose to invest his political capital in order to ask management to retain JR Smith for more money than what he was worth. Lebron is good to his friends. In this case, his friend wasn’t good to him. Fans of the Cavs can understandably be frustrated. Lebron haters and Warrior fans can have their fun and ridicule everyone involved. However if we look at that game thru the lens of life, we shouldn’t laugh or shame too loudly. If we are honest, we have all lost sight of the scoreboard and the clock. We have all been unprepared for the unexpected and we have all occasionally included the wrong person within our circle. That game was more than a game, it was life. Instead of ridiculing...maybe we should look inward. For more thoughts like this check out my blog on AFreshWord.org

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Part 1 of Pastor T At Taste Of Heaven

Part 2 of Pastor T At Taste Of Heaven (Click Here)

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Part 2 of Pastor T at Taste of Heaven

Part 1 of Pastor T at Taste of Heaven (Click Here)

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A Prescription for Overcoming

Let me begin this blog with a prophecy. You have a trial or tribulation headed your way! How do I know that?

The Bible declares it in (1 Peter 4:12), “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.” (Special Note: Some face trials because they work for the Kingdom, others cause they need to get to work.)

The big question is not IF a trial is coming but WHEN. It is part of life. So we should get ready for this test.

Do you ever feel like you need more strength to face these inevitable trials? I do. Where do we get the strength for the difficult supervisor? Where do we get the strength for that negative diagnosis? Where do we get the strength to overcome the temptation to sin? The Bible tells us where.

There was a woman named Sarah struggling with infertility. (Hebrews 11) declares that she received enough strength to have a baby at an advanced age. Her strength came from faith in God.

So, how do you receive faith? Remember Jesus (Matthew 8:26) admonished the disciples by saying, “Oh ye of little faith!” We obviously don’t always have surplus amounts of faith stored away like fat cells. How do we get more faith?

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If we want more faith (Romans 10:17) declares: Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God!

The same question that the Ethiopian Eunuch asked in (Acts 8:31), must be asked by us, “How can I understand except someone guides me.” (Paraphrase) The Apostle Paul asked and answered a similar question in (Romans 10:14), “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Many people want to approach God independently however,our God wants us to love one another and work together! (John 17) We don’t learn immediately from a heavenly download independent of people. We learn from a preacher…..who learned from a preacher. (Disclaimer: When I say preacher, I don’t necessarily mean someone with a seminary degree, collar, and funny hat. I mean someone with enough Word in them that they can shepherd a baby sheep.) Jeremiah 3:15 declares, “I shall give you pastors after my own heart to feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

I hope you can see the correlation. Thru preachers and pastors, we hear the Word. Thru hearing the Word we receive more faith!

When we receive more faith, we have more strength to fight the good fight and overcome our daily battles.

When we consistently overcome our battles, we become a champion.

For this reason we should congregate with other disciples of Christ! Don’t be surprised if you find yourself losing these daily battles when you are not willing to partake in the process. God designed us to rely on one another. Faith is a team sport.

Do you want to win? Then take the prescription!