Does God Have A Sense of Humor?

Guest post by Daja Abdelaziz Gombojav

St. Louis, MO 1956

A lady named Rosa Parks by one simple act began a movement.  She sparked an entire culture to sit up and ponder civil rights. 

St. Louis, MO 2000

The Ku Klux Klan won the right in court to be an organization to have their name on a highway sign, as the ones who keep that one-mile strip clean and beautiful. (Such as you often see Boy Scouts, churches or businesses doing.)

St. Louis, MO 2000

The State decides to celebrate the civil rights movement by naming a one-mile stretch of Highway 55 after Rosa Parks.  Guess which stretch is chosen?

Yes, I think God has a sense of humor.  KKK members now, once a month, can be seen cleaning the roadside of the Rosa Park Highway.  I’m reeling from the irony.  I think God is smiling.  It seems poetic justice.

There was a man in the Bible who, like the Klan members, thought he was superior.  His name was Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon.  You can find the story in Daniel 4.  He was an arrogant man.  He did not acknowledge God, nor worship Him.  In the height of his career as supreme leader, he had a dream.  It made him afraid.  Not one of his magicians or seers could tell him the interpretation.  Therefore, Daniel, who the Bible tells us was excellent in spirit, was called on.  And sure enough Daniel’s interpretation was true, because the dream soon came to pass. 

One day, King Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of his castle (Daniel 4:29) and he had a “revelation” about how wonderful he was.  “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by MY mighty power and for the GLORY of MY majesty?”  (Daniel 4:30)  He did not acknowledge God in his accomplishments.  The Bible says that while these words were still on his lips, a voice from heaven came telling him his fate.  And immediately, he became as a wild beast.  For seven years he ate the grass of the fields, his hair grew like feathers, and his nails like that of a bird.  He was no longer a highly exalted king, he was a despised madman.


However, the Bible says that when he lifted his eyes toward heaven, his sanity was restored.  He was able, to not only return to his place of authority, but also became greater than he was before.  “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just.” Daniel 4:37a


The irony is unspeakable!  Poetic justice?

And to the Rosa Park highway cleaners, Nebuchadnezzar finishes his speech my saying, “And those who walk in pride He is able to humble.” Daniel 4:37b

--Daja Abdelaziz Gombojav


Daja is the daughter of Bishop Gabe and blogs at The Provision Room and at in other words....


Photo used by permission.

B + A = F (THE EQUATION FOR YOUR BREAKTHROUGH)

As we are attempting to forge through this journey called life, it seems as though we are perplexed on every side. Gas prices sky-rocketing, housing market plummeting, foreclosures, and job losses. It is amazing, but not surprising that suicides are up, alcoholism is rising, drug use is increasing, and people are getting lost in internet addiction. These times are leaving many with a sense of hopelessness and desperation. We attempt to think positive thoughts, we read volumes of self-help books, we meditate, self-medicate, motivate and exacerbate. Nothing seems to work. We go to churches and the easy believe-ism is not numbing the pain. We spend time doing good works, we join social clubs and gyms, yet nothing quite turns the tide. Yes, there is a solution to all this madness. 


The solution is called Faith. Not religious faith that demands us to jump through countless futile hoops, but a relational faith that connects us with the God of creation. It is a faith that can see the crisis of our day as an opportunity for Christ to shine. It is a faith that does not just believe but that pushes us to action. It is not enough that we claim we believe in God. The Bible tells us that the Devil believes in God and that he fears and trembles at the Name of Jesus.  So, it definitely takes more than just belief.  If our belief system is not tied to obedience and action, then all we have is belief, we cannot operate in faith, and cannot see our breakthrough.


Pseudo-faith (fake faith) is attached to emotions.  Real faith is attached to motion. Where faith is not attached to motion, it is called fear. Miracles are never birthed in the womb of fear.


 B + A = F.   Belief + Action = Faith.  Faith is the visible evidence as to what we believe. When faith is released, miracles will increase. When faith decreases, miracles will cease.  So when we are faced with our current situation, we must ask ourselves a few questions.

1. Is this an obstacle or an opportunity?
2. Am I going to react or respond?
3. Am I going to get out of the boat of fear or fellowship (fellows in the ship) with the rest of the losers?
4. Am I going to act upon my belief system or starve believing that things are going to get better?
5. Am I going to quit trusting in the government, people, and my job; or am I going to trust in a loving God?

Real faith is progressive, assertive, productive, and responsive. Real faith will get us off the couch of indifference and give us hope and bring back the sparkle and twinkle in our eyes. 

Dead Sea

The country of Israel gives us a great illustration of active and inactive faith through its two major bodies of water:

1. The Sea of Galilee beams with life.  Israel gets it fish from the Sea of Galilee. 

2. The Dead Sea has no life at all. Nothing lives in the Dead Sea.

Here is the difference:

The Sea of Galilee has an inlet and outlet, so there is major movement. The water is flowing and fish are birthing.  The Dead Sea has no outlet. The water cannot flow out, so there is no movement. Stagnation brings about death. Where there is no movement, there is death. 

If we quit just talking about what we believe and start walking out what we believe, it will open up to us a plethora of opportunities and breakthroughs. Your miracle is as close as your movement.


Humbly loving you,
Bishop Gabe

BY THE WORDS OF YOUR MOUTH

You are a walking miracle of power and potential. Miracles surface when man 
comes to the end of himself. When we have no answers or solutions, when doctors have done all they could do, when money is all depleted, we turn to the only one who can help us -- God.   


When we open our mouths and our heart to pray, we release faith. It is our words and faith which creates the miraculous  When we learn to pray 411 prayers (garnering information), we won't have to pray 911 prayers (emergencies). When we open our mouths to pray we enter into the the boardroom with the master of the universe and we hear what He speaks. He always speaks faith.


The word miracle can be divided into two parts. "Mir" which means to see or to watch. "Mir" is the root word for mirror. Mirar in the Spanish language means "to see." The second part of the word miracle is "acle" which is derived from "oracle," which means to speak. The true miracle is in our mouths. We need to understand mir-oracle. If we could learn the power of our words and learn to see what we speak. We were born to prophesy. Prophesy your miracle into existence .

God’s Word is conceived in your heart, believed in your brain, formed by your tongue, spoken by your mouth, and becomes a spiritual force releasing you in the abilities of God.

· The person who says, "I can" and the person who says, "I can’t" are both right.

· The words that you speak will either put you over or keep you under.

· Words are seeds that creates a harvest. Seeds produce after their kind.

Life and death are in the power of the tongue. You possess the ability to turn your situation around by a paradigm shift. If you change what you say, you will change what you do.

I challenge each of my readers to not see their situation as dismal and pathetic, but as an opportunity to excel and conquer. Your future is truly outstanding if you will not be afraid to embrace it and see it for what it is. Your miracle is as close as your mouth.

Humbly loving you,

Bishop Gabe

THE SPOKEN WORD PIECE BY CHASE AND MELISSA

Listen to these powerful words of transformation

by

Chase and Melissa of The Revival Center, Paso Robles, CA

THERE MUST BE A PONY IN HERE SOMEWHERE!

Life which is a gift from God is always good, but often it does not appear that way. There are days, times, and seasons that seem like nothing goes right. It is amazing how things seem to spiral out of control, but do they really or is it just our perception while we're are in the midst of the mess.  We must learn to look for the best in every situation. Sometimes we wonder where is God in all this. We spend so much time asking God "why" and we should be asking "what". What do I need to learn from this situation? What do I really need to hear and understand? "Why" questions God's authority, whereas "what" is asking God for revelation. "What" is asking God to reveal Himself in my time of crisis.

Image found here.

I read a story about identical twin boys. One was an extreme pessimist and the other an extreme optimist. It was Christmas time. Each boy anxiously awaited Christmas morning. Upon entering the living room, the pessimistic boy saw surrounding the tree every imaginable toy a young boy would want. There were trucks, cars, electronic games, and much more. When he saw all those toys just for him, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Is this all?"  Meanwhile, the optimistic boy went to his bedroom and there in the middle of the room was a huge box. Nothing fancy, not even Christmas-wrapped, just a big ugly cardboard box.  With great anticipation and excitement in his eyes, he got his bunk-bed ladder and placed it against the box. Frantically opening it, all he saw was the box full of horse manure.  He beamed with excitement and a smile on his face. He exclaimed to his mom and dad, "With this much manure, there has got to be a pony in here somewhere." Then he dove in head first.

Maybe it is time to dive in head first into your situation, but with a different outlook. Just maybe all this that you are going through is not for your destruction, but your instruction. I am convinced that there must be a pony in all this "crap".  Something exciting is coming your way!

Humbly loving you,

Bishop Gabe

LIFE SHOULD BE ENJOYED AND NOT JUST ENDURED

I was speaking with someone the other day and he said, "It was a bad day." My response was, "How do you evaluate a a good day from a bad day until you have examined all the days?"

Image from here.

Our present circumstances or situations are a poor barometer to gauge what is good and what is bad. When we view each day as another step in the journey of our ultimate destination, life becomes manageable. We have no need to vascilate and struggle with each step of the workings of life. We need to learn to enjoy the moment. Life should be an adventure of excitement and amazement. We may not know what tomorrow holds, but we do need to be confident about Who holds tomorrow. Life is not ours to own; it is ours to enjoy. With all the twists and turns, the high and lows, the switch-backs, the stops and speeds, the bumps and dips, we might as well see this as an amusement ride through life.

The Real Life lives in us and is not about us. When we strive for inner peace, hope, and faith; when the spirit of forgiveness and grace maneuvers through our lives; we then see each moment as God planned. He really does have a plan for your life. His plan involves you having a hope and a future of peace. So much of our present crisis is based on our reaction to a problem, not our responding to an opportunity.

Today is the best day of the rest of your life. Live it to the fullest. Love it to the highest. Pursue it with a passion.

Humbly loving you,

Bishop Gabe

TIME TO GET OUT OF THE PIT

I write this post to encourage all that are under attack today. Maybe you are facing a mountain of debt, home  foreclosure, a terminal disease, a marriage relationship that has hit the skids, or maybe even something worse. You may feel like you are in a deep dark pit. Well, I want to bring light into your dark situation. For truly, there is a way out.

There is a story in the Bible about a young boy named Joseph. Joseph was the favorite son of his father which created jealousy and sibling rivalry among the rest of his sons. Joseph's eldest brother, Reuben (which means faith) put his little brother in a pit and left him to die. Later, another brother, Judah (praise) got him out of the pit. Sometimes what you believe will get you in a mess. Then often in our feeble attempt to get out of the pit, we fight, scratch, and complain and in the process, we only make our situation more intense. When we learn the art of praise, we will find that praising works. Praise will always get us out of the pit. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Realize that your miracle is in your mouth!

The pit is often a necessary place to get us to our destination. If Joseph had not been put in the pit, he would have never gained entrance to the throne of Egypt. I have been fortunate to have been in the pit at Laguna Seca Racetrack. When a car comes into the pit, in a matter of seconds his team removes all four tires and makes all necessary repairs and puts that car back into the race. Our problem in life is that we don't have a team. Without a team, the pit makes us pitiful and we succumb to hopelessness and failure.

I want to encourage you to get yourself a Judah team and allow them to help you get out of the pit. Remember, praise will always get you out. Life will get better, especially if you expect it and believe it.


Humbly loving you,

Bishop Gabe

THAT'S THE PAINT TALKING

Years ago I bought a dresser from a yard sale. It was old, battered, and quite rugged looking. Drawers were off their tracks, knobs were missing, there were gouges and dings, and a bit dilapidated. Anyone could tell the dresser was in bad need of TLC. It was inexpensive, but was going to require lots of time and sweat equity.

Once I got it home, I began to apply stripper to it. I was amazed as I realized it had about thirteen layers of old paint. Each layer spoke to me as to the possible places that this dresser had been. The pink paint told the possibility of a little girl's room, the blue a little boy's room, the avocado green a time when that shade of green was fashionable. Each layer of paint told its own story. Yet, what I found as I made my way through the final layer of paint was the natural beauty of the wood itself. The natural wood had within itself the natural blemishes and knotholes that showed the character of the wood.

As I pondered and meditated on the significance of stripping that old dresser, it was revealed to me what has happened to most of humanity. Society, circumstances, and life has so colored and disfigured us that the natural beauty that God has given us has been lost. I could see the layers upon layers upon layers of painted guilt, fear, hurt, ridicule, anger, emotional wounds, father wounds, molestation, abortions, oppression, and depression. Each layer possesses its own story of reality. Because of those layers, our true identity in Christ has been lost. We have forgotten about our innocence. The paint has convinced us that we are worthless and hopeless. The paint tell us that we need to be discarded or that we need a new coat of paint to hide our hideousness.

I want to encourage you that you do not need another coat of paint. You are not hideous and worthless.You do not need to be whitewashed; you need to be washed white. You need to know that God is not mad at you; He is mad about you. Your potential is amazing. There is a stain that will bring out the natural beauty of your life. What used to be in a scrap pile can become a work of art. The true value is not in the condition of the paint, but in the beauty of the wood. Your blemishes and and flaws produce character.

Humbly loving you,

Bishop Gabe

Image found here.