Praise from whom all blessing flow! Good morning everyone, truly this is a great day to be in the land of the living. Regardless of what we go through… I am grateful that we are “Still here” because it beats the alternative. Before I get too excited let give honor and praise to our Bishop Elect Overseer A. Ray Rouson for that powerful and uplifting word on Sunday morning. To God be the Glory for the great things he had done, and for what he is doing in this present day. Pray with me while I give you the high lights, the service was so wonderful that I can hardly type this message with out getting overly excited. I may have to pause a moment just to dance in between paragraphs. If you were not there, know that someone is praying for you, but let me remind you that God shows up every week and he looks for you and longs to be with you.
Bishop-Elect A. Ray Rouson Reminded us that we are victorious in every situation in our lives. His message “Bitten But Not Beaten” came from Acts 28:1-5 the key verse 28:3. The message was about Paul’s life, he had survived the storm and barely made it to shore, he drifted to shore on pieces of the ship and when he finally thought he would get comfort and warmth by building a fire, something happened. A viper came out of the fire and bit him. He did not panic, Paul shook it off and it fell back into the fire where it came from. That’s enough right there to give God praise. People tend to think that when we have problems in our lives that it something that we have done, or it’s because our relationship is not intact with God. Pastor A. Ray, went on to say that there is a place, where everything is perfect. A place where you have no troubles, no worries, no bills, no sickness, no pain, that place is called heaven. Regarldess if you to accept it or not you will have problems and trials down here on this earth. But it’s not what you go through. It’s how you react to what you go through. We must understand that we are people of purpose and be ready for the enemy when he attacks.
It does not matter how he comes, what matters is how we react and handle it. Every now and then we get bitten, but we’re not beaten. Paul did not panic because he knew his purpose, God had already told Paul his purpose. Everything that Paul went through led him to his purpose. He was a mixed with Hebrew and Roman. Which means that he was about to Go before the Romans. You may wonder why you are like you are, why your parents are like they are, but God has you life already mapped out. He knows your purpose. Paul went through so many things and he did not have time to catch his breath after the shipwreck, so don’t expect the devil to give you time to catch your breath. The viper came out of the fire. You haven’t been bitten until you’ve been bitten by those who are supposed to be close to you and in the fire. The ones you trusted, the “Church folks” but you must make a decision when the bite comes if you are going to allow it to poison your system or shake it off. Paul said nothing, he did not tell everyone what happened, he did not talk about the bite, he shook it off. The snake or viper bit him but it did not beat him.
Three steps to overcoming the bite of the enemy.
- Shake it off- You don’t always have time to look for your prayer partner, or pull out your bible when the enemy attacks. You must move quickly.
- Believe what God spoke to you about your purpose. Trust him and know that he has your life all mapped out.
- Send the devil back where he came from. Send him to hell where he came from. And don’t allow the poison to affect you.
God does not always give us the Itinerary to our destination he just tell us where we are going and he leaves out the details but it’s up to us to trust him. Things are not always going to go our way and God may allow us to experience uncomfortable situations in order to help others. He knows we can handle it. It’s time for us to make a choice. Are we going to allow the poison to effect us? Are we going to let it get in our system and beat us or are we “Bitten but Not Beaten”!
© 2009, Elder Alvia Cabbler. All rights reserved. A part of Shekinah Glory Outreach Ministries International
Tags: Overseer A. Ray
