YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN.

Once in a great while, you hear a song that encapsulates every thought in your heart, every secret prayer you have prayed, and reflects your deepest yearnings and highest hopes.

With words that acknowledge all that’s going on where you are, but does not leave you hanging there. A song that reveals the heart of the Father towards you in a poignant yet powerful and profound way. Such is the song ‘You are not forgotten’ by Israel Houghton.

I had heard this song before but on this particular day, flying to a destination that I don’t even remember) it was as if I’d just heard it for the first time. Up in thousands of miles in the airways, tears of encouragement, healing and hope for the future started streaming down my face as the words of this song imprinted themselves in my heart. My goodness! At that moment, I felt such unconditional love from my Heavenly Father and was so filled the assurance that I am loved; in a way I’d never before felt it. As the lyrics of this song flowed through my soul – A gentle lullaby from my Father’s lips it effected a transformation in my heart in a way I had never before experienced. Every part of my broken heart, every hurt, every painful memory, The Lord healed. The phrases oft repeated in this song reverberated within the walls of my being, creating a new me.

A ‘me’ emerged from that experience a new creation filled with love and fueled by grace. A me knows that the future is assured in Christ because I am not forgotten.

I have come a long way since that trip many years ago, and sometimes I am tempted to give up, I get weary… But every once in a while I will hear that refrain again – “YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN” and it transports me right back into my Father’s arms… I am not forgotten, and neither my friend are you. God has His book of remembrance open and it its own, and perfect time He will bring EVERYTHING He has promised to pass.

You are not forgotten:

He knows your name

You are not forgotten:

He has plans for you

You are not forgotten:

You have a future and hope

Stand tall!

You are not forgotten

Stand strong!

You are not forgotten

Rest!

You are not forgotten

Rejoice!

You are not forgotten

He knows your name and has determined your days from before the foundation of the world. He fashioned you proudly and uniquely to be EXACTLY who you are… 

Don’t YOU forget that.

Don’t you ever forget that you are not forgotten.

Please take a minute to follow the link below. Listen to this song, listen and allow it be the lullaby that soothes you to rest in your Father’s arms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mem…

#Spritfilleddiva

You are not forgotten

People walking by

Very seldom they say hi

They don’t know how wonderful you are

If they only knew

All the things you’ve been through

If only they could see your heart

I hear you crying for help

Please don’t blame yourself

You are not forgotten (2x)

When it’s time to go to sleep

And try your best to keep yourself

Falling apart

Hmm… There’s no need to fear

Because I’m already here

And I’m the One who sees your heart

Yes I am

I hear you crying for help

Please don’t blame yourself

You are not forgotten (2x)

You are not just a face in the crowd

You are not forgotten, child

Let me whisper it loud, “I LOVE YOU.”

“Oh, I love you.”

You can hold your head up high

Cause I’ll make everything alright

I’m committed to you smiling again

And eventually you’ll see people’s similarities

Everyone just needs a friend, yeah

And when they’re crying for help

You’ll be able to tell them

Please tell them for me

You are not forgotten (9x)

You are precious to me

I’m the One; I’m the One

Who sees your heart

You are not forgotten

(Repeat)

Just remember…you are not forgotten.

You are not forgotten.

Israel and Meleasa Houghton

Are we making idols of men? Rewritten and Reloaded…

This is a question I have been forced to ask myself lately given the recent trends within the body of Christ especially as it pertains to our leaders i.e. those who operate in the ‘five-fold’ ministry. Please hold your horses I say as I begin to perceive the ‘die hard’ ‘pastorians,’ ‘prophetorians,’ ‘teacherians’ rising to defend and attack, with the oft used ‘Touch not my anointed, give honor to whom honor is due,’ etc… But actually, if we examine the modern-day church we will find that some of us have turned our leaders into ‘gods’ and have placed them on pedestals, expecting them to walk in shoes that they obviously cannot and should not be expected to fill. We have exalted them as the principal characters in our lives, sadly sometimes to the exclusion of what is ‘written’. This awful trend is evidenced by some of the changes in our phraseology over the years. For example, when I became a Christian we were encouraged to get to know God for ourselves, and we were taught from day one how to listen for the voice of the Spirit. These days, in some churches, the members of the congregation know more about what their pastor says, than about what the Word says; And the term ‘ My pastor says this or my pastor says that’ is the best selling refrain in the pop gospel ‘Top ten’ hits on their charts… This ought not to be so!
Matthew 15: 1-3, 8, 9, 13, 14
1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 13But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Have we given the devil ammunition to accuse our brethren?
Have we given him the right to petition for their destruction because they now qualify as idols because we have made them so?
I am not attempting to vilify our leaders…. I honor all church leaders, but I do so, only as far as is congruent with scriptures and only under the Lord Jesus Christ.
Scripture says:
Leviticus 19:4
“‘Do not turn to idols (One that is adored, often blindly or excessively) or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 4:14-16
And the LORD directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore, watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,
There is only one King in the kingdom, and He alone is the principal player! This is the time when we need to turn back to the Lord and seeking HIM and not his people, not men, not the traditions of the church, nor the traditions of men, not even His hand, but His heart… HE is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of His hand… Our leaders are there to give structure and order and also to minister, (minister: to serve as an agent for another or to attend to the wants and needs of others by carrying out specified orders or functions) to serve… not to be served… Yes, they should be honored, but certainly not praised or revered. They deserve respect, but they should not expect or demand personal allegiance at the expense of The Cross.
1 Peter 5: 2, 3
Feed the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock.
All the glory must be to the Lord!
Revelation 3: 18 – 20
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
This is a word for the ‘now’ and as The Bible says,
… “See to it that no one deceives you.
Mark 13:5b
My friends, let us not give place to the devil…
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
The Lord will build His Church upon the revelation of Truth, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!
#Spiritfilleddiva