My Brother's Keeper

"Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:9

To answer Cain's question, yes, we are our brother's keeper.  My Brother's Keeper Foundation was started by my sister, Denise Ward, in 2007, and has led her on a journey (several journeys actually) to Rwanda.  Over one million Rwandans were killed over a three month period in 1994.  This genocide is the worst in modern history.  So you can imagine the aftermath of such a horrific tragedy.

My sister's travels to Rwanda led her last year to a year long stint at the Akilah Institue For Women, where she taught hospitality and tourism to Rwandan women at the school.  I wanted to share the success story of one of her students, Vestine Ukwishaka, so you understand what happens when we become our brother's keeper.  Please see the link below for this amazing story.

http://www.akilahinstitute.org/my-winning-business-proposal/

Kendy

Where is Adam?

WHERE IS ADAM?

"God said, 'It’s not good for the Man to be alone; I’ll make him a helper, a companion.' So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but he didn't find a suitable companion.  God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man. 'Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made from Man.”  Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.  The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame." Genesis 2:18-25 (The Message)

Very often I hear my single, Christian sisters posing the question, "Where is my Boaz?"  Boaz is the kingsman redeemer that marries Ruth, who is a widow living in a foreign land with her mother-in-law.  I suppose Boaz was the first "prince charming" type.  He came in, saved the day and got the girl.  He was her provider and her protector.  

I have also asked the same question, and I think that when single, Christian women ask this question about "their Boaz", there may be some blame being placed on Boaz.  Subconsciously, we may attribute Boaz's absence to him not being in church or living the Christian life that he is supposed to be living. The thought may be that we are ladies in waiting while Boaz is getting his act together.

I think the more appropriate question to ask is, "Where is my Adam?"  In the scripture above God recognizes that Adam is lonely before Adam realizes that he is lonely, and God declares that it is not good for him to be alone.  God puts Adam into a deep sleep, and takes a rib from his side.  God uses that rib to create woman.  While Adam is sleeping God is working on the woman. When God is finished creating the woman.  He presents her to Adam, which means that Adam is now awake, cognizant and aware of the woman, and recognizes immediately that she belongs to him. 

Where is your Adam?  God has put him into a deep sleep while He is working on you.  When God has completed the work He is doing in you, He will present you to the man, who will recognized immediately that you belong to him. How long Adam sleeps depends on how long God has to work on you, and how long God works on you depends on how much you allow Him to work on you.

Good is preparing you to be the helper that Adam needs.

Only a Boy Named David

I grew up in a Christian home and attended church services with my family VERY regularly. I also attended a Christian school. In both Sunday school and our daily class devotions at school the students could often be heard singing a song about a boy named David and his prowess against the giant, Goliath.



The lyrics are, "Only a boy named David. Only a little sling. Only a boy named but he could pray and sing. Only a boy named David. Only a rippling brook. Only boy named David but five little stones he took. And one little stone went into the sling and the sling went round and round. And one little stone went up in the air and the giant came tumbling down".



As children singing that song, we probably never thought about what stood between David and the Giant. As I was in Bible study yesterday, I was led to study about David. I Samuel 17:3 says, "The Philistines controlled one hill while the Israelites controlled another. The valley was between them."



Like David, to move from one mountain top to another mountain top, we must go through the valley. In the valley there will be giants like Goliath. Do not be afraid because the valley is inhabited by giants. You must go through the valley because the valley is where you battle and where you win!



The song suggests that David was only equipped with a sling and five stones, but scripture shows us that he was equipped with much more. I Samuel 16:13 says, "...From that day on, the Lord's Spirit worked in David." God's anointing was with David and so he boldly faced Goliath. David selected five stones, but he only used one. Five in the Bible is symbolic of God's grace. As David faced Goliath, he was equipped with God's anointing and God's grace.



As you go through the valley know that as long as you are equipped with God's anointing and God's grace the giant will come tumbling down.



Kendy

Daughters of Zion

This morning I was looking for some Bible study notes I am doing on King Saul, and stumbled across this Word from last year.  Thought I would share it.  

March 10, 2012

Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. (Song of Solomon 3:11)

I am the Lord.  I change not.  My promises are yea and amen, and I will do what I said that I would do.  Daughters of Zion it is time to come out of hiding and possess the throne room.  It is time to take your rightly places alongside King Adam to be his right hand, his assistant, his help meet.  Adam does not slumber nor does he sleep.  He waits for the rightly appointed time to take his queen and the appointed time is now.  It is the season of manifestation. 

In this season there will arise any army of families who will fight for the restoration of families and the family structure and family morals.  Husbands will return to wives.  Wives will return to husbands.  Fathers will return to sons and sons will return to fathers.  It is a time of restoration and reformation of families.  Families of God will be the example.  Godly marriages will be the example.  Godly wives will be the example.  Godly husbands will be the example.  The world will envy and covet what the people of God have.  Your message to them will be “oh taste and see that the Lord is good”.  You will always give praise, honor and credit to God for blessing and ordaining your marriage and your family.

Holiness and purity will be your platform.  It is from that perspective you will speak to families, to husbands, to wives, to children about being that “perfect”, Godly prototype.  Daughters of Zion arise, go forth and possess your husbands in the throne room. 

In Genesis we see that God said that it was not good for Adam to be alone.  It was the first time in the creation story where He said that something was not good.  Everything else was good.  So He made Eve.  Adam was already made, ready and waiting for Eve.  After God finished making the woman He brought her to the man. So the woman came to the man.  Also in the book of Ruth, the heroine, Ruth, goes to Boaz.  Lastly, in the Book of Esther, again Esther approaches King Xerxes in the throne room. 

These men, all three of them, were ready and acted quickly once the woman came to them.  God brought Eve to Adam, and Adam immediately says this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.  Ruth goes to the threshing floor and lays at Boaz’s feet.  Boaz immediately agrees to be her kinsman redeemer and goes the next day to do what he promised he would do.  When Esther entered the throne room before she could even make her request to the king he told her that he would give her whatever she wanted. 

These men were ready and Daughters of Zion your Adam is also ready, but he is waiting on you to step out.  Not in the physical, but emotionally to step out by letting go of whatever is causing you to refuse to believe that Adam is ready.  If you need to forgive a man, forgive him.  If you need to forgive yourself, forgive yourself. Adam is ready, but it’s not like he is waiting on you.  He’s not even aware that you’re coming.  Adam, Boaz nor King Xerxes were aware that the women were coming to them, but she when arrived they were ready.  Likewise when you “arrive” he will recognize you and be ready.

Kendy Ward

"You are coming out of Lo Debar!"

As I was about to take out my Bible for study time this morning, God spoke these words to me, “You are coming out of Lo Debar. The enemy has exiled you to a place where God’s presence is absent, but God is taking you out of that place to the place where His presence is. You are coming out of Lo Debar!”

I Samuel 20:17 says that Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself. Their friendship was something that defied the odds because of Jonathan’s father, Saul’s, obsession about killing David; nevertheless, the two were best friends. In I Samuel 31 Jonathan dies, along with Saul, in battle. In II Samuel 9 David remembers the covenant he made with his best friend, Jonathan, and asks is there anyone left from Saul’s family (who fled in fear when David became king because they thought he would take retribution out on them for the way Saul had treated him).

Siba, who was a servant of Saul, tells David about Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, who was crippled as a child when he was dropped as Saul’s family fled the palace in fear. Mephibosheth now resided at Makir’s house in Lo Debar. David tells servants to bring Mephibosheth from Lo Debar. When Mephibosheth arrives David says, “Don’t be afraid, I will be kind to you for your father, Jonathon’s, sake. I will give you back all the land of your grandfather, Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” (II Samuel 9:7)

Lo Debar was a city in Manasseh. The name means no pasture, no word, and no communication. God’s promise in Psalms 23:2 is that we are to rest in green pastures. Pasture as defined by the dictionary is grass or other vegetation eaten as food by grazing animals. It’s ironic that this place Lo Debar also means no word. The spiritual food we eat is the Word of God. There’s no spiritual food in Lo Debar. God tells us to rest in the freshness and abundance of his Word, but when we let fear drive us to Lo Debar we get no rest in God’s Word because we can’t hear God’s Word when we live in fear.

Fear not only prevents us from hearing God’s word, it takes us out of position. Mephibosheth’s rightful position was not in Lo Debar. His rightful position was at the king’s table. It take’s you out of God’s presence. Ephesians 2:6 says, “He has raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with Him in heaven.” He has seated us in heavenly places, yet, we instead, sit at the table of depression or the table of oppression, or the table of grief, or the table of sickness or the table of lack.

David’s first words to Mephibosheth were, “do not be afraid”. David cast out that spirit of fear out of Mephibosheth. Then Mephibosheth was able to be restored to his rightful position at the king’s table (seated in heavenly places) and received his rightful possessions. In I Samuel 30:8, after the Amalekites had kidnapped David’s family and stolen all his possession, God told him that he would recover all. Now David was telling Mephibosheth the same thing. David gave Mephibosheth back everything that belonged to Saul, but he couldn’t receive the possessions until he was in position.

You can’t receive the possessions if you are out of position. The right position to be in is seated in heavenly places. The right position to be in is in the presence of God because it is the only way you will be able to hear His Word. You get in position by prayer, fasting, worship, studying your Bible, exercising your faith, walking in obedience and loving your neighbor as yourself. The Word says to seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness and then (and only then) will everything else be given to you. Also the reason Mephibosheth was restored was because of David's covenant with Jonathan. Restoration comes only comes when you are in covenant with God (like the covenant of paying tithes).

God is bringing you out of Lo Debar, a place of desolation, isolation and separation from Him. He is bringing you out of Lo Debar and into a place where His presence is abundant. It is a place of rest and a place of green pastures. A place where there is no fear nor condemnation. It is a place of anticipation, restoration and restitution. You are coming out of Lo Debar.

Kendy Ward

The Masters of the Universe

As a child my Saturday mornings were reserved for watching cartoons like Thunder Cats, Transformers, G. I. Joe, Gem, and I could go on and on.  I reminisce on those days, and I am reminded of how simple life was.  Admittedly, I sometimes long for the simplicity life offered me as a child, where my only concern was be deciding which cereal to eat while I watched my Saturday morning cartoons.  

The other night I was up unusually late and turned on the TV.  I was flipping channels and stumbled across Qubo, a children's network.  I do not have any kids so I seldom pay attention to children's programming, but what made my hands freeze on the remote control this particular night was the fact that one of my favorite childhood cartoons was on this channel.  I had not watched He-Man since I was maybe eight or nine years old.  I cannot explain how excited I was to be watching this cartoon because it brought back so many great memories of Saturday mornings that my sister, brother and I shared.

As I watched the episode of He-Man that had an underlying message to kids about social responsibility and taking care of the Earth, God gave me a spiritual message.  Of course, as a child I never noticed how many spiritual principles are wrapped up in He-Man, but as I watched I began to get revelation after revelation of the symbolism in this cartoon.

Adam is the prince of Eternia.  He and his twin sister Adora were separated by birth by the wicked, Skeletor, whose mission is to overthrow Eternia so he can rule and reign instead of Prince Adam.  Firstly, the prince's name is Adam just like the first man that God created in the Garden of Eden (Eternia) where he ruled and reigned until Satan (Skeletor) came along and separated Adam from his destiny.  Just like Skeletor in the cartoon, Satan's main mission is to rule and reign over the Earth instead of man.  

Prince Adam cannot battle against Skeletor's evilness by himself.  When he is confronted by Skeletor's evilness he takes out his sword.  Just like Prince Adam we also have a spiritual sword, which is the Word of God (I just noticed that sword without the “s” is word).  Prince Adam raises his sword and says, "By the power of Grayskull I have the power".  As a kid, I would be running around the house repeating these words, as I pretend to be a part of the cartoon also, not realizing how powerful what he was saying really is.  

Grayskull in the cartoon holds many secrets and great power that must not be accessed by Skeletor because if he gets his hands on those secrets he would be unstoppable.  Our Grayskull is heaven and all that is in heaven, which includes God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  When Prince Adam utters the words by the power of Grayskull I have the power he is then transformed into a super human being with extraordinary strength and ability.  This alter ego is called He-Man.  When Prince Adam holds up his sword and makes a confession he is supernaturally transformed and can perform super human feats.  

I'm sure by now you can see where I am going with this.  God has given us the Word as our defensive weapon against the enemy.  Jesus wielded His spiritual sword in the wilderness when Satan attacked Him with temptation and the enemy retreated in defeat.  Jesus spoke the words of scripture from the Old Testament.  That is how we defeat the enemy in the spirit realm.  It is by speaking the Word of God.  When we hold fast to the Word like Prince Adam held fast to his sword and call on the power of Jesus we too will see a supernatural transformation in our lives.  

By the power of the Holy Spirit we have the power also, and when we make this confession we will see the manifestation of His power in our lives.  In John 14:14 Jesus says, If you ask anything in my name, I will do it."  From this scripture the church began to say after their prayers "in the name of Jesus", but what does that really mean?  I think when we say this phrase we focus on the word "name" instead of the word "Jesus".  We quote "it's a name above every other name", but what makes it that?  Is it those five letters strung together?  It’s really the power of Jesus himself.  Jesus was saying if you ask anything in my power I will give it to you.  Call upon my power and I will give it to you. Just like Prince Adam said by the power of Grayskull I have the power, we too must say by the Power of Jesus I have the power.  In Jesus we have the power! 

When we say in Jesus’ name we are invoking the power of Jesus, and should be cognizant of that fact every time we say those words so that we expect the supernatural to follow.  When Prince Adam uttered those words he always expected something supernatural to happen (we all did too as we watched the cartoon), and it always happened. 

God wants to transform us by His power to regain power and authority over the Earth.  In Jesus’ name we have that power, and as we speak it fully aware and expectant of the supernatural we will see the manifestation of Jesus’ promise to us.  “Jesus said, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Listen, I have given you power to walk on snakes and scorpions, power that is greater than the enemy has. So nothing will hurt you’.”  (Luke 10:19) 

He is waiting for us to walk in that power, and now is the time to walk in that power.  It is time for us to be the masters of our universe.  We have the power!

God Esteem: Preparation for the Promise

Jesus prepared for 30 years to carry out a three and half year mission.  Preparation takes time.   We do not like when things take too much time.  We lack the patience and at times feel like we are not doing what we are supposed to be doing.  We must look at Jesus’ example again.  While in preparation I am sure Jesus was still doing meaningful things like cultivating relationships and I suppose He had a very fulfilling career as a carpenter.  While God is preparing us to be immersed into our destiny we should still be content where we are.  Paul says in Philippians 4:12 that he learnt the secret of being content in all situations.  Of course, he got that example from Jesus, as he said in I Corinthians, he follows Christ’s example.

Copyright 2011 Kendy Ward