The Investment

"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing." Genesis 12:2

You can not negate the word of God.
My fourth Sunday in New York City, I heard the Lord's voice louder than ever. It is my opinion that the majority of my peers really do want to know God better, it's church that has fallen in as an obstacle. It is a heartbreaking reality that organized religion has smudged if not stomped out the most glorious aspect of Faith in Christianity-an overabundance of grace in knowing the Lord. I believe that if people could turn off the -isms that have fallen under the umbrella of God's Will and were just in His presence, their lives would be altered. In a city of eight million, we are undoubtedly walking, talking, standing, dodging people everyday that are yearning for more.
Tonight, I was blessed.
My Manhattan church scouting led me to City Light Church in East Village. Now when I say church, you might picture an old Cathedral tucked in on a corner block, but if you blinked you would miss the three steps down to the steel door of City Light in between a sweets bakery and sushi dive. Unknowing I ventured in. And immediately knew I was supposed to be there at that time. A light to the lost.
Turns out, the lead pastor Bojan Jancic, born in Bosnia and raised an Atheist is two months older than me. He gave his life to the Lord at 16 and according to him everything changed. The sermon was finances and how in so many words, that God did not save us from hell, so we could go through hell on Earth. That the Lord delights in the well being of his children (Psalm 35)and the blessing of the Lord is wealth with NO SORROW added. (Proverbs 10) The message was simple, we are blessed, so we can be a blessing.
As a Believer in Jesus Christ, because of the cross, we have no sin in life, no fear in death, no guilt or condemnation in our walk. This is More Than Enough.

But I admit, I am a statistic. I have let money and financial struggles seep their way into my relationship and chip away. This is not God's Nature. The Apostle Paul says He will provide all of my needs through His glorious riches. Sometimes I forget and often falter.
Again, I will make mention that a lot of people are confused with my move. Today, I received a berating from my mother-in-law who proceeded to tell me she brought me to my knees and questioned my faith. She said I was giving up. I believe I am reaching up.
I stood in that church tonight weeping in victory knowing it is only to the Lord I surrender all. Faith worketh by love and his promise is He will never leave me, nor forsake me as long as I hear His voice. And guess what everyone, I hear it loud and clear in NYC. And I'm banking on it.

Where are you storing your wealth, in the material or spiritual?