Fruit that Remains

When I think about fruit, I think about a farmer who goes out and tills the ground to prepare for the seed he is going to plant.  A farmer is not only skillful but a strategist and he plan on how to bring about the right crop that will remain. 

There are so many external factors that can come into play when planting a garden or growing crop in your field.  It is the farmer’s responsibility to make sure he plants the seed in the right environment as well as making sure the ground is suitable for the seed to get into the ground so it can bring forth what he intended.

Well God is our vinedresser and He is the greatest strategist.  We are the seed that God has planted in this earth to bring about His desired fruit.  When I talk about fruit, I’m talking about your character, your gifts, your nature, your assignment, your purpose and destiny.  When God planted us, He desired for us to produce in the earth and to look like Him doing it.

Like a farmer, God will begin to purge, only to bring forth more fruit (John 15).  Purge means to “take away” to lift up or raise higher.  God will take the unfruitful branch and lift it from the dirt into which is has fallen giving it a better chance to be productive in another’s dirt.  Wow!  Can you see how in your transition of leaving one place to go into another; it was God moving you into another dirt giving you a chance to bring forth more fruit.

The word of God tells us that we are to ABIDE in the vine.  Abide means to remain, stay connected, stay in relationship with Jesus.  We abide by remaining in prayer and in relationship with the Father through His son Jesus.  You can’t say you are in relationship with any one and do not talk to them but once or twice a week.  That is not a relationship.  As we abide in the vine, we must trust that the vinedresser, who is God, is carefully watching over our lives; making sure we are producing and looking like Him in the earth.

God is the one who planted us and we are His seed so He knows what we are supposed to look like.  The branch receives its nourishments to produce from the vine.  All of the nutrients, vitamins, and sap are in the vine and it is giving the branch life and food to bring forth; as long as the branch is connected.

Don’t think that you can do what God has called you to do on your own.  Your supply is only coming from the vine and it is the vinedresser responsibility to watch over your ground and make sure He plucks up the weeds that would chock out your life and if necessary move you to another ground so you can produce more fruit.

Before the foundation of the world, God has always intended us to bear fruit that would remain.  Fruit that is tenacious; bold as a lion and gentle as a lamb, like our big brother Jesus is what God is looking for.  What Jesus started we are to finish; the paton has been passed to us.  What are you doing with your part of the race?  Stay connected and grow in your relationship with the Father.  Trust the vinedresser who sees more and knows more than you, so He can do what needs to be done in your life so you will bring forth fruit that remains.

Pastor Karen, www.karenpresley.org

Preparing For Breakthrough

In this world today, there are so many things we prepare ourselves for.  People prepare to go on vacation.  We prepare ourselves when we want to get another job.  We prepare ourselves once we get engaged for the wedding date.  When a person gets up in age or maybe they are dealing with a terminally ill situation, they begin to prepare themselves for death.  Everything we do; require us to prepare for things in some shape or form.  Getting things in order and aligning things aright so we can be ready for the thing that we desire.

Now the word breakthrough is defined as: the act of forcing a way through against resistance, as in warfare; a very important advance.  When we prepare ourselves for breakthrough, we are setting our minds, hearts and spirit to be engaged toward one purpose.  That purpose will advance you beyond where you are to get the desired results.  There is nothing lazy about preparing for breakthrough.  There is nothing inconsistent, indifferent or passive about preparing for breakthrough.

In order to prepare yourself for breakthrough; you must be hungry for it.  Let me ask you a question, how are you preparing?  What have you done?  Are you taking the passive approach?  Are you just waiting on God?  Whatever you are hungry for will have your focus.  Hunger prepares the way for breakthrough.  Breakthrough of what, you might ask?  Whatever you are standing in need of; it could be the thing God spoke to you that has not happened yet.  It could be in your finances or the next level of living you desire to reach.  A new car, business, job, or the book in you – the list goes on for the things we stand in need of.  There are so many occurrences in the Bible where we see hunger in the lives of people playing a part in their breakthroughs; however, for the sake of this blog, I will only focus on one. 

The Bible talks about how God fed 4,000 and of course we know he also fed 5,000 with only a few loaves and a few fishes.  (Matthew 15:29-38)  What I want to point out to you is that before there was a miracle, they were first hungry for Jesus and what he had to say.  The Bible said they followed Jesus for 3 days.  They were hungry for what Jesus had on his life.  They were hungry for what was coming out of Jesus.  Jesus is the Word made flesh and He dwelt among us.  We too still have the life of Jesus in our situation when we gravitate to the Word of God like the multitude was gravitating to what was coming out of Jesus.

They were sustained by the Word of God.  They did not think about their stomach and say, “oh, I’m hungry.”  NO.  They were engulfed with the Bread of Life that they were following and He was their substance.  Hunger is the first prerequisite for seeing your breakthrough in every area of your life.  The Word of God is not just for Sunday service or spiritual matters; it is for your everyday life.  The Word of God is practical enough to show you how to operate and live in the contents of the Word for your daily needs, desires and wants. 

The second prerequisite is your submission to the Word.  The multitude was submitted to the instruction that Jesus gave.  He told them to be seated and in one passage it said they were to sit by 50’s.  Can you imagine trying to get 5,000 people seated by 50’s?  They could have bucked against the disciples, complained and left.  It could have been mad chaos, but they were submitted to the Living Word of God speaking.

When we prepare for breakthrough, we must be hungry for God and His direction and instructions that He will speak along our journey.  From Genesis to Revelation, it is noted that whenever you saw the miraculous of God, it was always preceded with instructions.  We must also be submitted to the will of God for our lives and the way God wants to bring us into our breakthrough.  God is perfect and if He gives you an instruction that your flesh does not want to do; do it anyway.  Your flesh will always oppose the spirit, because it wants to keep you in a place of always wanting but never achieving.  That is why a lazy, inconsistent, passive and indifferent mentalities will never push beyond where they are to get breakthrough.

God desires breakthrough more than you.  He also knows how to get it to you.  God’s instructions are setting you up for the breakthrough, but if we never submit ourselves to Him, we will keep ourselves in a place of frustration and disappointments from life. 

I’m encouraging you to not let the year 2012 repeat the same cycles as 2011.  Allow me to assist you in the unlocking process that keeps one going in circles.  You have MUCH in you that someone is waiting to see your emerging.

Next Radio Broadcast: Bringing Your Dreams to Life is scheduled for Friday, February 17, 2012 at 8:30 am.

Go to: www.karenpresley.org and view our products and services that can assist you with reaching your destiny.

Birth Only The Promise

Happy New Year!  I’m excited about what this year shall unfold.   People often have different thoughts going on in them as they come to a close of one year and approach the next.  Will I repeat some of the same dilemmas as last year?  Will I be more committed this year and more productive?  Will I make more money or will I find myself struggling like the last year?  So many thoughts, concerns and often times worry can drain us before we ever get started. 

Have no fear, Jesus said, He has prepared a place for us and knowing Him as the Way, Truth, Light and Door will cause our lives to be less of a struggle.  When we define the word “way”, it means a space of passing, a route, a course, a method of doing something or manner of living.  Jesus said He is our method and route for 2012.  What does that mean?  We do not have to keep struggling in an effort of striving.  Striving to do better, striving to succeed, striving to get ahead, or striving to make it.  God’s Word must become our route and course that we must follow so we can remain in a place of “rest”, knowing we are on course for ultimately what God has pre-ordained for us to walk in.  Remaining on His path, will cause us to walk into the suddenly moments that already have our name on it. 

Jesus is also referred to as the “door.”  A door is a moveable structure for opening and closing an entrance, a means of access.  Do you realize that as you remain in fellowship with the Lord, through prayer and sitting still before Him, God will cause you to walk through the doors that He already prepared for you?  He is your means of access into your destiny, your happiness, your wealth, your dreams and desires.  We do not have to exhaust ourselves in works of the flesh; but remain in a place of rest so you can walk out what God has instructed for you to do.  There is a grace that will enable you and carry you through every God-given endeavor.

Galatians 4:23,29 says, “But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.”

Abraham was promised a child from God, but when it seemed like time was getting away from him; he decided to help God out.  As a result of his human efforts, to birth his own child, that child became a thorn to the one that was promised by God.

Sometimes, we have a tendency to look around at what others are doing and try to follow suit.  Some people exhaust themselves trying to be like others and do what others are doing and never find out what God wants them to do.  As a result, people have unnecessary frustration and some things leave us drained and dry in different areas.  Do not allow the striving of fleshly works birth something that God never ordained.  Some things can come back to bite you later. 

Listen to our next broadcast, Friday, January, 13, 2012 as we continue to explore the matters of birthing the promises of God.  Also sign up for our Metamorphosis class, starting NOW.  Go to: www.karenpresley.org  -

NEW RELEASE: It Is Time 2 Unmask the Real You! – This is an interactive workbook designed to help unlock the things that are lying dormant on the inside that keeps you stuck and repeating cycles.  This book is a MUST.  Get your copy today: www.karenpresley.org

Planting in the Soil Called "TODAY"

Can you believe it is now December?  Where did the time go?  We are about to embark into the year 2012.  Did you accomplish the goals that you set out to accomplish in the early part of this year?  Did you stay focus on your task?  Did everything happen the way you thought it should have?  Maybe there were some unforeseen setbacks that occurred and you did not know how to press pass them.

Well I am here to tell you that we serve a God who gives us a hope and a future and He still has purpose for you and me.  Your purpose is not going to come alive by coincidence; we must make choices daily that will bring about a different harvest in our lives.

Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

A lot of time we look at this scripture for just money; but God says, “Whatsoever we soweth.”  That means when we sow seeds toward spiritual, relational, emotional, physical and financial, we shall reap in these areas as well.  “Eth” means continually.  That means the seeds we continually sow toward our marriage, relationships, physical health and spiritual discipline; will cause us to reap a harvest in our tomorrow. 

Many people have a wishing mentality.  We desire, we want but without action it leaves us still in despair.  We hold onto our seed, because of fear, procrastination or we do not know what seed looks like.  When you realize that your soil = “TODAY”, then every aspect in your life becomes a “SEED.”

Why do we not accomplish our task?  One of the reasons is because we have not found value in our “TODAY,” but we are still waiting on “ONE DAY.”  This is the day that the Lord has made, I will, I decide, I choose to rejoice and be glad in it.  When you realize that every day is God giving you that day to plant seed, it will begin to change your tomorrow in every area of your life.  Another reason is because we get stuck in the achievements, failures and negativity of our yesterday that we cannot get past. 

Because of the redemptive life of Jesus, we always have a hope and a future beyond our past experiences.  As we come to the end of the year, you may have to deal with unresolved issues, leave your past behind, appropriate forgiveness where needed, and close some chapters; so the New Year can bring or release a new future.  What we plant today will determine what we harvest tomorrow.

TODAY is the soil you plant in; but TODAY is also the bridge between your past and the future we talk about.

Listen to my next broadcast as we go further in detail on this topic, Friday, December 16, 2011 at 8:30am.  Http://www.blogtalkradio.com/karenpresleymin

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Have you ever heard people say, “It is not how you start the game, but how you finish?”  If that statement is true, then why do we spend so much time and energy focusing on how we started or what we didn’t do in life?  God created us with purpose and assignment to fulfill a specific destiny and no matter how we start in life, it doesn’t depict how we are going to finish; however, we are faced with decisions every day that will take us forward into our destinies or keep us repeating negative cycles.

Let us look at this in the Word of God.  Paul who was named Saul used to be the chief persecutor of the early church.  He tells us in many occasions that from his youth, from his beginning he we raised under the straightest sect of his religion and that he lived a Pharisee.  How he was a Jew that sat at the feet of Gamaliel and was taught the perfect manner of law.  Paul talked about how he excelled above all the other Jews and how he persecuted the church unto the way of death and delivered them into prison.

Paul didn’t play, he was zealous toward God and excelled at doing what he did all because of what he was taught growing up.  How many of us do things today, or say things or believe things because of what we experienced or were taught in our early years; things that are grilled in us and have become a part of our behavior and how we function.  Well just like Paul, who once was named Saul, had a decision to make after he came to a place of knowing truth.  Let’s look at this a little closer. 

Paul says to the Philippian church that all things that was gain to him, those things he counted loss for Christ. (Phil 3:7)  Paul was telling them, that what he learned in his beginnings and the clout that he had and how people feared him and the position he walked in; they were all gain to him, but for the sake of the Anointed One and His Anointing (Christ); he decided to count it as loss.  Paul made a decision after his encounter with Jesus, to forsake what he once knew as truth; for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ and His anointing.

After we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, we begin to learn the truth of the Word of God and who we are in Him.  The Word is supposed to challenge us to make decisions to come out of yesterday so we can walk into our tomorrows.  You must ask yourself, what is influencing the decisions you are making?  Is it the Word of God that will lead you into your destiny or is it from you past that keep you repeating negative cycles. 

We can learn a lot from Paul.  He chose to let go of all the things that once made him big man on the totem pole for the sake of the anointing.  You too must begin to evaluate your thought life and choose to let go things that hinder your progress, not for me or the church or for your parents…but for the sake of the anointing that is on your life.  God has a destiny that only you can fulfill.

Listen to my next broadcast, “Bringing Your Dreams to Life” blog talk radio, Friday, November 18, 2011 at 8:30 am.  www.blogtalkradio.com/karenpresleymin.  The title of that message is the same as the blog, where we can go into this a little further.

Pastor Karen Presley

Also, sign up for our Metamorphosis 1 Yr Coaching Program.  Click here for details.

Are You Living or Just Existing?

Jesus came that we may have life and life more abundantly.  Although we know that scripture and confess that scripture …we do not live in the truth of that scripture.

Now let me explain something; existing doesn’t mean you are dead.  Anything that is dead is not breathing or moving; however, existing is defined as a person who is alive, but yet their life is not producing.

It is very easy to get in a routine, comfortable and complacent with the cards that you were dealt in this game called “Life”; however, I am here to jump start your motor to get you into gear because it is time to put yourself into drive.  You have been on “neutral” for too long.  It is more to you and what God wants to bring out of your life than what you have experienced. 

The Bible says that your latter days shall be greater than your former.  You may be saying, well look at what I’ve accomplished so far.  I’m successful, nice home, loving family, nice career; I’m doing something!  This blog is for you.  Or maybe you are the person who got stuck somewhere in your life because of disappointments or bad decisions or a loss of someone and now you find yourself going through the motions to survive.  I’m pushing both of you to get out of “neutral”, God has more to bring out of you.

Living means something is breathing, moving, bearing fruit, expanding, producing.  When God originally created mankind, He told us to (1) be fruitful; (2) multiply; (3) replenish; (4) subdue; (5) and have dominion.  Now let's look at the first two words for a minute; being fruitful and multiplying has the same meaning as:  increase, growth, reproduce, enlarge, productive, fertile, abundant, profitable, reward.

Can you see how easy it is to get into a rut?  We graduate from high school or college, some of us are working in our careers and a lot of us settled with what we could get.  We could have started a business but treat it like a hobby.  Maybe you started a ministry, but frustrated with the lack of help or support from others.  Needless to say, don’t stop where you are.  Don’t stop dreaming because the dream in you is what is fueling your vehicle to keep moving forward.

Don’t starve that part of you because things have not worked out or you have gotten comfortable with where you are.  If you are still living, then you should still be enlarging, reproducing, growing and increasing in different areas of your life.  The moment we stop enlarging or stop being fertile for another conception then we have shifted into “existing.” 

Listen to my internet radio broadcast entitled:  “Bringing Your Dreams to Life”  and sign up for our 1 Year Coaching Program:  Metamorphosis, we can help you to unlock areas that is keeping you stuck as well as bringing accountability into your life that will push you into your destiny.

I’m for you and I’ll be your greatest cheerleader.  I didn’t come from the good side of the track.  I know what it means to exist and I know what it means to live; living is far better than existing any day.

Go to:  www.karenmpresley.com .  Check out our Metamorphosis tab and our Success Stories.

Are You Making Emotional Choices or Kingdom Decisions?

The word “choice” is defined as, an alternative, the best part of, a variety from which to choose.  When we make emotional choices that are led by our emotions, it will only bring about an emotional result.  Our emotions are dictated by conditions.  The emotions are influenced by the sense realm; meaning, what you can feel, touch, see, hear and smell will influence your emotional status.

Your emotions are not liable and they can’t be trusted.  You can see something or hear something that can literally alter your whole mood.  Has that ever happened to you?  It has happened to me on more than one occasion.  Therefore, when we make choices based on our emotions, the choices we make can lead us into a worse place; because it was based on our mood at that present time.

The word “decision” is defined as a firmness of mind, the act of making up one’s mind.  The benefit to making Kingdom decisions is that it will bring about God’s agenda, plan, purpose and assignment for your life.  Now, I’m not talking about church stuff; but the Kingdom of God lives on the inside of you.  When we make Kingdom decisions, we are advancing the Kingdom on the inside of us.  God wants to advance His plans, purpose, and agenda forward in our lives.  People should be able to eat from the fruit of your life. 

Why do we seem to get ahead only to go backward?  Why can’t we reach that next plateau in our lives or business or ministry?  Why can’t we get over that hurdle to reach the next level?  Could it be that we are making choices that are influenced by our emotions?  Let me give you an example.

Peter, when he asked the Lord to bid him to come out of the boat to come to Jesus; that was a Kingdom decision.  Why, because Peter dared to step out of the box and made a decision that would advance him in the realm of the Spirit.  Once Peter was on the water, he began to look around and seeing the condition of the waves, began to fear and then to sink.  Peter made a firm decision to step out on Jesus’ word to “come”, but once he looked at his condition, the emotional choice was him taking his eyes off Jesus and looking at the condition.

How many times do we hear God’s word or instructions and make the decision to do what we hear, only to shrink back, turn around or just stop moving forward because we are looking at the conditions and circumstances.   God wants us to keep moving forward; having a firmness of mind knowing that He that started a thing will finish it.  Examine what is influencing your actions.  In everything He tells us to do; His purpose is to advance His Kingdom within us.

Listen to my next broadcast, “Bringing Your Dreams to Life” blogtalk radio, Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 8:30 am. www.blogtalkradio.com/karenpresleymin. The title of that message is: “Is Your Thought Life Sabotaging Your Dreams”

Pastor Karen Presley

www.karenmpresley.com

Find out more details on our Metamorphosis 1 Year Coaching Program starting in the new year.  Click on the link for more details http://www.karenmpresley.com/pages.asp?pageid=108647