You Can Overcome the Jealousites in Your Life

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my late great grandfather Walter Boyette, who spoke and imparted a generational blessing into my life. To my loving, faithful, dedicated, supportive husband, king and prince, Jeremiah, whom I love very much. I’m so thankful and blessed that God bought us together for such a time as this. And to our darling son Micah, mama loves you and hope that this book will store up wisdom for your future and your generation

Contents

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION TO TRUTH, WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

(CHAPTER 1)

EVE’S EYES AND CAIN’S FURY: THE BEGINNING OF JEALOUSY AND ENVY

(CHAPTER 2)

ISSAC’S HARVEST AND LEGACY: KEEP PRESSING ON TIL GOD MAKES ROOM

(CHAPTER 3)

THE TWIN TOWERS OF ESAU AND JACOB: STOLEN BIRTHRIGHTS AND BLESSINGS

(CHAPTER 4)

JOSEPH’S DREAMS OF DOMINION: A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND

(CHAPTER 5)

FACING PHAROAH: DELIVERANCE FROM JEALOUSY THROUGH THE WISDOM OF GOD

(CHAPTER 6)

MOSES INTERCEEDS: HUMILITY ATTRACTS JEALOUSY, ENVY, PRIDE AND PREJUDICISM

(CHAPTER 7)

SAUL’S FALL BECOMES DAVID’S REIGN:THE ENEMY TO GREATNESS IS JEALOUSY

(CHAPTER 7)

JESUS &LOVE OR ENVY & FEAR: WHICH DIRECTION SHOULD I GO?

(CHAPTER 8)

NEHEMIAH’S BURDEN: THE GAIN OF OPPOSITION AND CONFLICT

(CHAPTER 9)

ESTHER EXCELS: OVERCOMING THROUGH GRACE, MERCY AND THE FAVOR OF GOD

(CHAPTER 10)

A CALL TO RUN AGAIN: FROM SETBACKS TO TRIUMPH

(CHAPTER 11)

MY TESTIMONY OF OVERCOMING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to first acknowledge my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whom I love with everything in me. You told me that if I would acknowledge you Lord in all my ways, you will direct my paths according to Proverbs 3:5-6. Without you, this book wouldn’t have come into fruition. Thank you Lord.

To my dad and mom, Darnell and Jovon Smith who has been supportive and helpful of the things God has used me to do over the years. Thank you for praying for me to get wisdom in my life years ago and for challenging me and encouraging me to be the leader God has called me to be and not to be a follower. I pray that the wisdom God has given me will help those who are in need of it. I love you both.

I also want to thank my grandmother Tressie Smith for the words of encouragement you gave me a few years ago when I was single and in a dark season of my life. You encouraged me one day as we were watching TBN together that you believed that I was going to be an inspiration to many people one day. I pray that the time has now come true Granny. Thanks for believing in me. I know that you may not remember it now but it was a spoken blessing I won’t forget. Love you!

To my grandmother Bertie Mae Hammock, you are truly a blessing. I appreciate all that you do to help me. It’s a blessing to serve you and to be your granddaughter and caretaker. Thank you Memaw. I love you.

To my church family, Monticello Baptist Temple. Thank you for your prayers, support, love, encouragement, kindness and close knit love we share with each other. We have grown so much together in love and I pray we continue on.

To my pastor and pastor’s wife, Gary and Francis Jordan. Thank you for your love, prayers, blessings, support, encouragement and wisdom. Thank you for speaking into my life and believing in what God has called me to do along with my husband. Thank you for supporting the ministry God has given us together and it’s a blessing to serve in the work of the Lord with you all. Love you!

I would like to thank the Author House publishing team for investing in this book and my dreams. I appreciate your support. I would like to thank Angel Steves my publishing consultant and Adam Roesseler my Check-In Coordinator. Thank you for believing in me to do this and guiding me through this publication process. You are a blessing and you were a God sent angel to me. Read Exodus 23:20 to understand what I’m talking about.

I thank God for all my teachers and coaches that invested in me along the way in the schools I attended.

Thank you to every person, pastor, teacher, evangelist, prophet or prophetess of God and missionary that has spoken words of love, wisdom, kindness, correction and prophecy in my life along my journey. Your words are not forgotten but appreciated. May God bless you in return.

Thank you to every church that I’ve attended or been apart of. Thanks for your encouragement, blessings and for challenging me to grow spiritually. Thanks to those that reached out in many ways and were there for me to assist me in my time of need. Much love to ya!

Thank you to Josh McDowell for having such a devoted heart for the youth. You’ve impacted my life through your True Love Waits bible and Christian television show that you used to do with LaKita Garth. My husband and I are a manifestation of your labour, vision, dreams and heart that you’ve had for the youth years ago. Thank you for challenging the youth towards purity and sexual abstinence.

Thank you to every person who supported this book financially through donations and fundraisers. Your contributions towards this book was greatly appreciated. Thanks for letting God use you to be a giver. May you reap the benefits, blessings and rewards many times over.

To my sisters, Shanta and Rachel, I love you both. Thanks for the advice and the help you gave when I needed you Shanta during the final stages of this book. I pray that this book will be a seed planted into your hearts and lives that will be a blessing to you both and serve to be a blessing to our nieces and your nephew in the years to come. You both were my inspiration and motivation to get out of this destructive cycle I was in, thank you.

Now, I will get in trouble if I start naming names in my family. Since I have such a huge family, I will just acknowledge you all in my life. To all my nieces, nephews, cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, godmother and in-laws. Though I can’t name you all by name individually, thank you. For all the words of encouragement, for being a blessing to me at different seasons of life, for taking me into your homes, for cooking, for the gifts you have given me, for sharing, caring and listening and for challenging me. Though I may not get a chance to always see every one of you in person because we are all so spaced out I just want you to know that you are loved.

Thank you to all my teammates I had along the way. Thanks for challenging me and pushing me. You have prepared me not just in basketball but in life.

For all the friends now and those along the way who have come and gone. Thank you for your contribution and worth that you served in different seasons of my life.

And last but not least. Thank you to all my enemies. Without you, I wouldn’t have learned what I now know today. You pushed me, you prepared me and you challenged me to keep growing in spite of. Jesus loved His enemies and He said for us to love our enemies and to bless them. For every curse that was spoken against me. For the evil and wrong deed done against me, I forgive you. For every lie or false accusation against me, I forgive you. For every hurt, pain, tear and suffering I endured, may you know how much Jesus loves you and I love you. For the ignorance, lack of knowledge and foolishness displayed, I believe you can now overcome.

In the words of Joseph in Genesis 50:19-20, And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. I realize now that God’s plan was greater than the personal attacks against me. So, don’t be afraid, I’m not in the place of God. God used all the evil against me to work it together for the good to save much people alive today. Forgive me if I’ve done anything or said anything to offend anyone along the way. Without love and forgiveness, we can’t overcome.

INTRODUCTION TO TRUTH, WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

God is serious about His people getting a true understanding and overcoming. If you don’t truly understand something then you can’t overcome and you can’t overcome if you don’t have a true understanding. It works together. Proverbs 4:7 says, Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and in all thy getting get understanding. Truth, wisdom and understanding is very important and is much needed in the days and times that we are living in. Without it, we will continue to experience major pitfalls in many different areas that affect our lives and the lives of those in our sphere of influence.

As we look around in the world around us and mostly all over the world, we can see and hear the need to heed to the cry of wisdom. Proverbs 1:20 says, Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets. Crying is one sign and indication of suffering and pain. Suffering and pain has a way of humbling us. If we didn’t cry, we wouldn’t know that we had a need. Crying is also a sign of joy. When the suffering and pain is over, tears of joy can flow in appreciation to God because you don’t have to remember that suffering and pain any longer. So many people are hurting, suffering and in pain right now in different areas of their lives. Suffering and pain is only temporary. It will not last always if you don’t camp out there. However, for most people that cry out in the midst of their suffering and pain, they get so consumed with the suffering and the pain that they fail to do what is needed in order to move beyond that. James 1:5-6 says, If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

There are so many lives that may be crying right now because of some suffering, pain, tragedy or loss that has occurred in their lives or the lives of those that they love. You may be asking the question, why has this happened? Why am I having to go through this? Oh dear friend, I have faced those questions in my own life many times. It’s when I came to those points and questions in life is when answers was most needed for me. You see, if you don’t ask, you won’t know. Asking questions is never wrong. It’s when you don’t ask is when you won’t know and you won’t grow. Some questions may never get answered until after this life but at least you can rest in the fact that God will answer on His timing.

Crying is one way of showing you that you are in need of wisdom. Asking for wisdom simply means that you don’t know it all and in order for you to understand God’s plans and ways, you must ask for wisdom. Someone right now may be thinking, well Jesus Himself wept and cried, is that wrong? Absolutely not. Jesus wept for Lazarus because He knew that He was going to be able to relate to what Lazarus had went through, death. Although Jesus wept for Lazarus, He knew that He possessed the wisdom of God within Him in the midst of that situation. Lazarus also being Jesus’ friend, Jesus was moved by the pain and suffering that Lazarus had endured. Jesus knew that He was going to experience what Lazarus did eventually. In the midst of his tears, God’s wisdom stepped in and showed the people the resurrection power of God in Lazarus’ life. He showed them something beyond their limited knowledge and understanding. All the people could see and comprehend was death. The wisdom of God revealed the glory of God. Only God would be able to get the glory out of a four day old death of a stinking dead man. Lazarus was raised from the dead just as Jesus would be a sign for the people. The tears of sadness had ended for Martha the sister of Lazarus when God raised him from the dead.

When a baby cries, that is their language to express to adults that something is wrong. They cannot articulate to the parent or person what is wrong with them verbally because their language skills have not been developed to communicate what is wrong with them. So that parent or person who is overseeing them, knows that something is wrong by their cry. That parent or person is moved to action to figure out what is bothering the baby. An adult can’t ask a baby, what’s wrong with you? He or she will not get an answer from the baby that an adult can understand. But as the baby grows older and develops his or her language skills, when something is wrong, they are able to verbalize better what the problem is. The parent or person guarding them no longer has to try to figure it out because the child will let that person know.

God wants His children to grow and mature beyond crying and learn how to develop their language skills by asking of Him. It is a babies’ nature to respond by crying. That’s the first thing that he or she learns to do. The older he or she grows into childhood, he or she begins to discover more things so therefore it leads them to asking questions. Around the ages of 3 to 5 years old, most children will begin to ask the famous question to most of everything that they want to know, why? They are learning how to grow and mature within their minds because they want an understanding. They are desiring wisdom. That’s why they ask questions? When the adult answers their question, it helps them to have a better understanding of things. This is how God is with us also. He wants us to come to Him and not be afraid to ask questions. It may not always be the answer we want to hear but He will give us an answer to the questions that we don’t understand at the time. In His timing, when He knows that we are ready for the answer to that particular question, He will reveal the answer to us.

Even in the midst of pain, trials, suffering and adversity, crying will not give you an answer but wisdom will. Within the heart of every human is a cry. You can’t live without crying at some point in your life that’s for sure. However, if you continue crying and don’t ask God for wisdom in faith, He can’t give it to you. God is not withholding wisdom from us. In fact, He wants us to know wisdom especially if we lack it or are in need of it. He tells us to ask for it and He will give it to us freely. That’s the one thing that we should ask God for is His wisdom because that is something that He wants to give us. At one point, we had posted up in our church a constant reminder to us of the scripture that says, Ye have not because ye ask not. You can’t have what you don’t ask for and if you do ask, make sure you are asking for wisdom by faith and not out of lust to get what you want for evil and selfish desires according to James 4:2-3. If you don’t ask for wisdom you sure won’t get it.

Some people misuse and abuse the privilege of crying to manipulate others into getting what they want from them for selfish and lustful pleasures. When they can’t get what they want or for things to go their way, they cry in order to try to get people to feel sorry for them. This is not using wisdom. I like how it says it in the scripture James 4:2-3, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally. God is revealing to us right here that He is no respector of persons and that He will not turn away from those who desire to have His wisdom in their lives.

When the children of Israel were in captivity under Pharaoh and the Egyptian slave taskmasters, the bondage and burdens that they had experienced was unbearable. They were putting more on them than they could bear robbing them of their vitality of life. For the children of Israel, it was all work and no enjoyment of life. That was not God’s best for their lives. Their suffering and pain led them to cry out to God for He always hear the cries of the oppressed. We must understand that they were slaves and in bondage during that time in their lives. They were not experiencing the freedom that they longed to have. That’s all they knew how to do was to cry. They were like babies that was in need of much growth. They didn’t know what to do or how to get themselves out because the situation was to big for them to handle. So their only response to their problems was to cry. God heard their cry because He understood their condition and God sent them a deliverer named Moses. He delivered them out of the bondage that they were in. Moses himself had experienced God’s delivering power in his life and God was ready for him to go and help others to get out of bondage.

Crying moved the heart of God to deliver them because He knew that they had not been developed enough in learning how to ask God to deliver them or to even ask Him for wisdom. They did not ask for wisdom because they were not seeking for it. They had only developed to the stage of crying and not asking. If you read in the bible the children of Israel’s journey in the books of Exodus through Leviticus, they spent most of their journey crying rather than asking for wisdom. Even after God had used his chosen vesssel to help them get out of bondage, they spent most of their time murmuring, complaining and being ungrateful towards God and His vessel. He allows His people to go on a journey so that they can learn to stop focusing on crying and learn how to use their faith to ask for God’s wisdom. If you don’t ask for wisdom, all your pain and suffering will be in vain. Wisdom helps you to learn what your pain and suffering was all about. If you go through life and just focus on the pain and suffering, you will spend your days murmuring, complaining, being ungrateful and hateful because you refused to learn how to ask. That’s the way the children of Israel responded and that is why so many forfeited their inheritance to their promised land.

If God’s people just go through life and continue crying about everything, they will grow to become unappreciative people. Instead of learning to appreciate what you have gone through, bitterness, resentment and crying keeps you from seeing the most important things in life. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying because I do sympathize with those that weep. I’ve had my share of tears and I still have them, so I’m in no ways belittling anyone. It is good to cry because as I stated earlier, crying is a sign that we have a need.

This book was birthed out of the pain and sufferings of my own as well as from others and with others. I have gone through situations in life that pain and suffering was caused by myself as well as from others. During those times, in the midst of my tears, I learned how to cry out to God to ask Him for His wisdom. You know what, He gave it to me everytime and gave me the grace I needed to get through each situation. He would show me where I had to wait for His timing of situations to come to pass. He would show me the difference between the truth and a lie. He would show me what I had to do to make it right with others. He would show me where others had to make things right with me. He would show me where I was wrong or disobedient and needed correction in love. He would show me what or who needed to stay and what or who needed to go in my life. He would show me His rewards and justice for being obedient. All of this is apart of having wisdom.

Wisdom teaches us what to do in the midst of hard times and difficult decisions and situations in our lives. Wisdom will help you to overcome and to stop crying because of the pain and suffering. So if there is anything to cry out for, cry out to God to give you wisdom. Wisdom is crying out in the streets to you, listen to her. She wants you to receive her so that you won’t have to continue crying in agony any longer. Allow God to turn your tears into wisdom. This book wouldn’t have been written if I had continued crying through my trials. Asking for wisdom goes beyond yourself.

Wisdom is what is needed in order to help others. King Solomon learned the importance of this. After the passing of his father King David, Solomon was destined to reign in his father’s place as king. David had been imparting into Solomon for years the importance and benefits of having wisdom. When Solomon was promoted into the leadership of being king, he requested only one thing from God, he desired and asked for wisdom so that he would know how to lead the people. That’s always the sign of a very good leader is when he or she asks God for wisdom. See Solomon recognized that in and of himself, he didn’t know it all or have all the answers to be able to lead all the people. By asking God for wisdom, simply meant that he was trusting in God to give him wisdom to help people in the situations that they were facing that was to big for him or them to handle.

One example where the wisdom of God was needed and showed up is when Solomon was confronted by two women who both claimed that a baby was both of theirs. He knew he needed God’s wisdom in that tough situation to determine which one was the true mother. God’s wisdom revealed who the true mother was and because Solomon relied on God’s wisdom, he was able to help the real mother get her baby back. Wisdom and truth work together hand in hand just as truth and understanding does. Wisdom will reveal the truth and truth will reveal the wisdom of God because truth and wisdom comes only from God. Wisdom will always expose hypocrisy, what is fake, phony and a lie. That’s why wisdom is needed in order to know what is real, true and genuine. Wisdom is a gift from God that He wants people to have. If you don’t receive it, you can’t enjoy it nor can you benefit from it. Wisdom is a gift that is crying out for people to have and to use. God uses His word or the bible to give us the wisdom that we need. When you reject the bible, you reject the gift of His wisdom that He wants to give you. God has a way out of your problems but you will never see it without asking for His wisdom. God does not want you to continue spending your days in pain and suffering, He wants you to ask Him for wisdom. Wisdom will lead you into truth and understanding so you can learn to appreciate what your pain and suffering was for.

The woman with the issue of blood suffered 12 years. She went to physician after physician and nobody could seem to help her overcome. One day, she heard the wisdom of God crying out in the streets because Jesus was passing by. She began to exercise her faith in the midst of her pain and suffering because she was determined not to deal with that issue another day. She went to Jesus and He healed her and made her whole of all that she had endured. Her days of suffering and pain were over. She could cry tears of joy because she would no longer have to remember those days anymore. She could spend the rest of her days rejoicing in what the Lord had done for her. That’s what wisdom will do for you and that’s why God wants you to have it! The choice is left up to you today if you want to continue on in pain and suffering.

The Lord has plans for you to lead you to victory only if you would ask for wisdom in faith and open up the gift of wisdom through this book and the bible and be willing and humble enough to learn and apply what has been set before you. God’s wisdom is not based upon comfort and popularity. To get God’s wisdom, you must do things that you have not done before to get better results. To get God’s wisdom, you must be willing to receive His truth by doing things His way only. The woman with the issue of blood had to press or crawl through a crowd of people just to get her healing. People were in her way but wisdom was still calling and she was ready and willing to listen to Jesus after all she had been through. The doctors had told her all that they knew to do and had gotten out of her all that they wanted to get which was her money. They were not going to share with her the wisdom of God because they weren’t seeking it for themselves. They were to busy making a life of luxury off of her issue. Greed was their motto, not compassion and healing. She needed wisdom and truth which led to her healing and wholeness. When you go to Jesus to ask for wisdom, you won’t be disappointed in the long run.

The angel of the Lord appeared unto Zacharias to reveal to him the purpose of his soon to be son, John the Baptist. The angel revealed his mission and calling to Zacharias, John the Baptist’s father in Luke 1:16-17. It says in Luke 1:16-17 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. God was going to use John the Baptist to deal with the people’s hearts. John the Baptist was to prepare them by preaching to them to get their hearts right and ready for the Lord’s coming. Those who were disobedient; those who had turned their hearts away from God and from their children; were the ones that God was calling back to wisdom. When ones heart is hard and turned away from God, when one is disobedient towards God and when fathers have turned their hearts away from their children whether naturally or spiritually because of neglect, rejection, abandonment and abuse, these were all the ones that John the Baptist was called to preach to.

God wanted these select group of people to turn to the wisdom of the just. These people were away from wisdom because they had turned their hearts away from God and away from their children. When you turn your heart away from God, you will turn from wisdom to disobedience. The Lord is coming back again. The same calling that applied in John the Baptist’s day still applies today. God is still calling for those who have turned their hearts away from God, those who have turned their hearts and backs away from their children and for those who persist in disobedience. God is calling for you to get your hearts right before the Lord returns.

When Jesus comes back again, you will be either prepared or unprepared to meet him. Those who will be unprepared when Jesus comes back are the ones that heard the call to repent and knew they needed to repent but they refused to do so. That’s not being wise. When you turn from wisdom you will turn to disobedience, rebellion and foolishness. Those who are disobedient will one day realize how important the just or the righteous will be to their lives. Disobedient people lack wisdom. That’s the one quality that they don’t possess. They may possess a lot of money and material things but wisdom keeps them from having a pure heart.

Throughout this book, you will see how God allowed circumstances and situations to occur in the lives of those who were disobedient so that they could turn to the wisdom of the just. Things never went right for the disobedient when they rejected the wisdom of God. But things always turned around for them and got in order when they were ready to listen to God’s wisdom through the just. Disobedient people don’t know what to do when things crumble in their lives but people of wisdom do because the Lord gives them the wisdom.

When Jesus was very young and growing up, scripture says in Luke 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. You see the more Jesus grew in age, the more He grew in wisdom and was strong in spirit with the grace of God upon His life. If we are not Spirit filled with the wisdom and grace of God, then that simply means that we are not growing. There are so many that grow in age but they don’t necessarily grow in the Spirit, are not filled with the wisdom of God and don’t have the grace of God upon their lives because they are to prideful. These are those that resist God by not following His ways.

It went on to say in Luke 2:46-47,52 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Jesus told his mother and father that were looking for him that when they found Him in the temple, He said to them, I must be about my Father’s business. In other words, He was more concerned about getting wisdom in His life so that He could fulfill His mission that He was sent to do. He was putting first things first in His life. God’s business and God’s plans for Jesus’ life came first before anything else. His parents couldn’t find Him at first and they were looking all over the place for Him. They found Him in the temple being filled with the wisdom of God and giving it away to those who heard Him.

At a young age, wisdom is what was important to Jesus and that is why God increased Him with it, along with the grace and favor of God. If Jesus recognized the importance of wisdom at a very young age, how much more should young people today embrace this same attitude that Jesus had? He knew He needed wisdom in His life because without God’s wisdom, He could not be about His Father’s business. Notice, Jesus hung around more older people than He did younger people because He was focusing on where He was going and not where He was at the present moments of His life. If you want wisdom, hang around people that are filled with the wisdom of God. They will challenge you towards your future. You cannot be about the Father’s business if you don’t ask for wisdom or don’t want it. You sure can’t be about your Father’s business if you don’t go to the house of God to receive it. You cut off the wisdom of God in your life if you don’t go to the house of the Lord. Going to the house of the Lord is a must and should be a number one priority in your life if you want wisdom in your life and to be about your Father’s business. If you are not going to the house of the Lord for whatever reason it may be, seek the Lord and ask Him to give you wisdom where He would have you to be. If there is anything in your life hindering you from being in the house of the Lord, asking for wisdom will remove it so that you can go.

King David said in Psalm 27:4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. King David’s desire was to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. It wasn’t an option or a command for him to be in the house of the Lord, it was his desire. He wanted to be in the house of the Lord of his own desire, beholding the Lord’s beauty and to ask questions or get wisdom in the house of the Lord. When you dwell in the house of the Lord, you are faithful, consistent and committed. The house of the Lord is a dwelling place where you belong. He also said in Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Dwelling in the house of the Lord has its benefits. You can behold how beautiful the Lord is when you worship Him, you can ask questions in the house of the Lord just as David and Jesus did to receive wisdom as goodness and mercy follows your life all your days. God will show you His goodness and mercy when you seek to dwell in God’s house. The house of the Lord is not a place where you come and go as you please. He has a plan for you my friend. God wants you where He sends you so that you can get planted to grow in His wisdom, grace and favor.

God understands when elderly people who are very feeble are unable to leave their homes or nursing homes and someone has to share and take the love of Jesus to them. God understands legitimate reasons but He doesn’t understand excuses and refusals. If you desire truth and wisdom in your life, He will lead and guide you to where you need to be to receive it. There are many people out there that feel like they don’t need the church or to go to the house of the Lord. And when you look at their lives, these are those that are most miserable, living rebelliously, being disobedient, doing very foolish things and have ample amount of problems in their lives.

I remember there were times in my journey that I was out of church or the house of the Lord while I was saved and it wasn’t because I wanted to be out of the house of the Lord. Things had happened beyond my control to attack my spiritual walk with the Lord but instead of me using that time to sit and waddle in self pity and hurt, I began to utilize that time to seek the Lord for His wisdom in where and what He was leading and guiding me into next. My most greatest blessings in life has come as a result of being connected to the wisdom of God in the house of God and because I have a heart to seek God for His wisdom. Just because I wasn’t in church or in the house of the Lord during those times of transition, didn’t mean that I wasn’t seeking God for where He wanted me to be. So many people use the excuse that just because they have been hurt in the church that they are not going back because there are hypocrites there. They have hardened their hearts towards God and his people and they are the ones suffering by not seeing God’s goodness and mercy extended towards them. We must keep in mind that crying does not cause you to grow, wisdom does. For those of you who have been hurt in the church and you feel like you can’t go back because of some bad experiences that you have encountered, if you seek God with all your heart and you ask Him for wisdom in the midst of your pain, I’m a living testimony that God will lead you to where you need to be.

Don’t let the devil beat you down with church hurt, open up your heart to God and ask Him to give you the wisdom that you need. I promise you He will open up your eyes to something better and all that you went through won’t even matter anymore. God will turn the evil around that came against you and work it together for your good. You will be so grateful to be connected to the wisdom of God, the grace and favor of God that what you suffered in the past won’t even be compared to the greater glory God has for your life. When you seek to be about the Father’s business, He will help you to do it. If you don’t go to the house of the Lord, you show God that you don’t want His wisdom in your life. You show that you don’t want to overcome. You show that you just want to cry through life and hang on to all that pain and suffering and blame God and people for what you are going through. Wisdom causes you to grow strong in the Spirit and obtain grace and favor with God and man. So for those of you who have been suffering, hurting and bound by painful memories and sin, God wants to set you free through His wisdom and His truth. You must be ready to open up to receive it though. He wants to pour His grace and favor upon your life and bless you beyond the pain, suffering and hurt that you have endured.

In Revelation chapters 2-3, the Lord encouraged the churches to overcome. There were some hindrances that had come in and plagued the church from growing to its full potential. God wanted them to have an awareness and understanding about what was keeping them from growing. If we don’t expose and deal with the hindrances in different areas of our lives, we will never overcome.

Jealousy and envy is an emotional feeling that hinders, divides and separates unity and diversity in families and relationships. Jealousy is based upon self-fulfilment from selfish motives. It is disguised behind a half-hearted, lukewarm and hard heart. It does not promote love and unity. It does not strive for peace but thrives off of confusion. Jealousy is not based upon fulfilling God’s will or letting God have His way but jealousy is based upon self having its way. The hindrance to any great mission, assignment, purpose and plan of God is jealousy and envy. It is my hearts desire in this book to allow the Spirit of the Lord to use me to truly educate, empower people and raise the level of awareness about the serious effects of jealousy and envy. Hosea 4:6 says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

From generation to generation God’s people have been rejecting the knowledge of God that He has for them. And because we have been rejecting the knowledge of God’s word, God is rejecting us and it is affecting the next generation and generations to come. We must return to the knowledge of God’s word and truth in order to be free. People are destroyed simply because they are unlearned, don’t know the truth or simply refuse to embrace the truth. When you have knowledge or the truth, that truth that you possess can no longer hold you back. The truth that sets you free, you must continue to walk in, in order to remain free.