Sunday, March 29, 2015
God's Promise
The only difference between stumbling blocks and steppingstones is the way in which we use them. ~ Unknown
Scripture:
So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.Matthew 21:21 (New King James Version)
Saints, I don’t know if you are anything like me, but periodically I will begin to doubt my God given purpose and my abilities. You see, I have gone through some things that cause me to question if I have “the right stuff”. Do I have the right job skills, parenting skills and life skills or even faith skills?
When I lost my job, I began to doubt in my abilities to do the work. When my children did things that are contrary to how I attempted to raise them, I will doubt whether or not I am a good parent. And sometimes when it comes to making the right decisions on how to live, I begin to question whether or not I am making right choices.
As I lay in bed late one night, doubting and questioning everything I have ever done since High School, I heard a voice say, “I have not given you a spirit of fear and when you doubt you show fear. You fear because you are listening to the lies of the devil and the devil is a liar”.
You see Saints of God; my God reminded me that He has already given me everything that I need to make it in this world. He reminded me that he has given me all power and authority in Christ Jesus. He has given me access to the throne of grace.
Brothers and sisters, each of us will have doubts about our lives, but the word of God has already assured us that if we just trust in the Lord, this too shall pass.
Be blessed and be a blessing
Prayer:
Lord, with Your blood, You wiped away my sins leaving me promises to enjoy in faith until You come back to claim me as your own. I know that sometimes my patience runs thin. I wonder why You don’t act in ways that I can see and understand. Why is there so much evil and suffering in this world that discourage both the faithful and the unfaithful? I don’t understand. Help me to realize that my understanding is not necessary for the completion of Your plan. You understand everything; all I need to do is have faith. In the meantime, keep me free from wavering, Lord. Your faithfulness is perfect, and Your will be done. Lord, I thank you for Your word speaks to my soul when I am weary. I thank You father, for I know and realize that there is no testimony without a test. I thank You Lord, for even when I am weak, You are still strong. Lord, we bless Your name and submit our prayer in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Scripture:
So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.Matthew 21:21 (New King James Version)
Saints, I don’t know if you are anything like me, but periodically I will begin to doubt my God given purpose and my abilities. You see, I have gone through some things that cause me to question if I have “the right stuff”. Do I have the right job skills, parenting skills and life skills or even faith skills?
When I lost my job, I began to doubt in my abilities to do the work. When my children did things that are contrary to how I attempted to raise them, I will doubt whether or not I am a good parent. And sometimes when it comes to making the right decisions on how to live, I begin to question whether or not I am making right choices.
As I lay in bed late one night, doubting and questioning everything I have ever done since High School, I heard a voice say, “I have not given you a spirit of fear and when you doubt you show fear. You fear because you are listening to the lies of the devil and the devil is a liar”.
You see Saints of God; my God reminded me that He has already given me everything that I need to make it in this world. He reminded me that he has given me all power and authority in Christ Jesus. He has given me access to the throne of grace.
Brothers and sisters, each of us will have doubts about our lives, but the word of God has already assured us that if we just trust in the Lord, this too shall pass.
Be blessed and be a blessing
Prayer:
Lord, with Your blood, You wiped away my sins leaving me promises to enjoy in faith until You come back to claim me as your own. I know that sometimes my patience runs thin. I wonder why You don’t act in ways that I can see and understand. Why is there so much evil and suffering in this world that discourage both the faithful and the unfaithful? I don’t understand. Help me to realize that my understanding is not necessary for the completion of Your plan. You understand everything; all I need to do is have faith. In the meantime, keep me free from wavering, Lord. Your faithfulness is perfect, and Your will be done. Lord, I thank you for Your word speaks to my soul when I am weary. I thank You father, for I know and realize that there is no testimony without a test. I thank You Lord, for even when I am weak, You are still strong. Lord, we bless Your name and submit our prayer in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Judge Not
We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path. ~ Pailo Coelho
Scripture:
She said she wished that they would just take all of the Arab-American people living here in the United States and ship them back to the middle east and drop a bomb on them all. I was appalled at this statement for a number of reasons.
The first one being that I am a Christian and believe whole-hardheartedly in the credo, Love thy neighbor as thy love thy self. Secondly, I am African-American and I am a descendant from a race of people who have been persecuted because of the color of our skin since the beginning of time. She like so many others had set judgment against a group of people based on the actions of a few. Since the beginning of time people have been judging one another based on the color of their skin, their ethnicity, and yes, even their spiritual beliefs.
Saints, I am not condoning the actions of those who are seeking to destroy us. However, I am advocating for tolerance. I for one have experienced good people and bad people of every race, gender, and faith.
My opinion of people is based on what’s on the inside. You see, when the Holy Spirit lives in you, others can't help but see Him in your words and in your actions. It is not up to us to condemn or exalt anyone. Only God can judge the actions of others.
How will you be judged?
Be blessed and be a blessing
Prayer:
Father, we come to You this day asking forgiveness for the words spoken against another because of what we think they are. Help us Lord, to see other as You see us. Help us Lord to look beyond a persons appearance and see into their hearts. Help us Lord, to show forgiveness towards those who have caused us such sorrow and heartache. Father we ask that You continue to cover our troops with Your wings of protection. Help us Lord to rebuke those who seek to destroy us. Teach us this day to have a forgiving spirit towards those who have misused us. Father, help us to see others in the same way You see us. With the eyes of Love. With a spirit of forgiveness, and with an open mind so that we may come to understand those who seem strange to us. Father, I am asking once again that You touch those saints who have asked for prayer for whatever situation they may be faced with. Father, our prayers are not complete until we tell You just how much we love You. We thank You Lord, for Your forgiveness of our sins and for looking beyond our faults. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Scripture:
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-2 New King James Version (NKJV)
On September 11, 2001, terrorist attacked the World Trade Center in New York Trade Center killing thousands of innocent men, women and children. Since then, I have heard people say some terrible things about Arabs living in the United States. Most recently, while waiting for my dentist, a woman who was also waiting struck up a conversation with me.She said she wished that they would just take all of the Arab-American people living here in the United States and ship them back to the middle east and drop a bomb on them all. I was appalled at this statement for a number of reasons.
The first one being that I am a Christian and believe whole-hardheartedly in the credo, Love thy neighbor as thy love thy self. Secondly, I am African-American and I am a descendant from a race of people who have been persecuted because of the color of our skin since the beginning of time. She like so many others had set judgment against a group of people based on the actions of a few. Since the beginning of time people have been judging one another based on the color of their skin, their ethnicity, and yes, even their spiritual beliefs.
Saints, I am not condoning the actions of those who are seeking to destroy us. However, I am advocating for tolerance. I for one have experienced good people and bad people of every race, gender, and faith.
My opinion of people is based on what’s on the inside. You see, when the Holy Spirit lives in you, others can't help but see Him in your words and in your actions. It is not up to us to condemn or exalt anyone. Only God can judge the actions of others.
How will you be judged?
Be blessed and be a blessing
Prayer:
Father, we come to You this day asking forgiveness for the words spoken against another because of what we think they are. Help us Lord, to see other as You see us. Help us Lord to look beyond a persons appearance and see into their hearts. Help us Lord, to show forgiveness towards those who have caused us such sorrow and heartache. Father we ask that You continue to cover our troops with Your wings of protection. Help us Lord to rebuke those who seek to destroy us. Teach us this day to have a forgiving spirit towards those who have misused us. Father, help us to see others in the same way You see us. With the eyes of Love. With a spirit of forgiveness, and with an open mind so that we may come to understand those who seem strange to us. Father, I am asking once again that You touch those saints who have asked for prayer for whatever situation they may be faced with. Father, our prayers are not complete until we tell You just how much we love You. We thank You Lord, for Your forgiveness of our sins and for looking beyond our faults. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
You Only Get What You Expect
Don't lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. Expect the best of yourself, and then do what is necessary to make it a reality. ~Ralph Marston
Scripture:
Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared. Proverbs 3:25-26 (New International Version)
I am a lover of words. I love how words come together to form a thought. I enjoy looking for variations of words and will often times look up similar words to see if they have the same impact. Expect and confidence, are two such words. They ultimately lead you back to the same thing; Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing.
When we have expectations or confidence in something, we are saying to the world; so it is said, so it shall it be done. We believe that wherever or whatever our confidence relies on shall come to past. We believe that the object of our expectations shall come to past without question or doubt. The funny thing about expectation or confidence is that we are in control of how we gauge our expectations. In other words, we set the bar for ourselves.
As children we have little or no expectations of the world. As time goes by and we begin to experience difference aspects of life, we begin to develop expectations on just about everything and everybody. Many of the things that we expect are either taught to us or we develop our own criteria for what we expect.
We expect life and people to be a certain way. We expect to obtain certain things, meet certain people or to develop certain talents and relationships. We expect certain things for ourselves and for our families. I have learned one thing in my lifetime if nothing else and that is; our expectations will frequently change.
Today I ask you, what do you expect out of life? Where does your confidence lie? Who do you trust? Where is your faith? Too often we have trust in the wrong things or people. Our confidence is often deposited in the wrong places. Our faith often lost and can’t be found. The above scripture says; “the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”
When we put our confidence in God everything else will fall into place.
Be blessed and be a blessing
Prayer:
Lord, Jesus, give faith and confidence to the ones who read these words, so that they will want to reach out their hands to their friends and pray that pain, despair, and sickness will be healed. Give them wisdom to know best how to pray, fill their prayers with the faith that heals and their hands with the power that gives life and comfort. Father God, you are my strength and my confidence I will trust in the Lord with all that I am. I will let go and let God be in control this day. I will surrender my all to him alone. Emanuel, Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords. You are known by many names but we know that You are the great I Am. Father God, thank You for keeping us once again. Thank You Lord for watching over us and our loved ones. Thank You Lord for the Blood that was shed so that each of us could enter into Your kingdom. Thank You Father for loving me that much. Lord, we pray Your hedge of protection, we plead the Blood of Jesus, We submit our will to Yours as we let go and give You control over our lives. Bless Your name Lord. Thank You Lord. Hallelujah Lord. Amen.
Scripture:
Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared. Proverbs 3:25-26 (New International Version)
I am a lover of words. I love how words come together to form a thought. I enjoy looking for variations of words and will often times look up similar words to see if they have the same impact. Expect and confidence, are two such words. They ultimately lead you back to the same thing; Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing.
When we have expectations or confidence in something, we are saying to the world; so it is said, so it shall it be done. We believe that wherever or whatever our confidence relies on shall come to past. We believe that the object of our expectations shall come to past without question or doubt. The funny thing about expectation or confidence is that we are in control of how we gauge our expectations. In other words, we set the bar for ourselves.
As children we have little or no expectations of the world. As time goes by and we begin to experience difference aspects of life, we begin to develop expectations on just about everything and everybody. Many of the things that we expect are either taught to us or we develop our own criteria for what we expect.
We expect life and people to be a certain way. We expect to obtain certain things, meet certain people or to develop certain talents and relationships. We expect certain things for ourselves and for our families. I have learned one thing in my lifetime if nothing else and that is; our expectations will frequently change.
Today I ask you, what do you expect out of life? Where does your confidence lie? Who do you trust? Where is your faith? Too often we have trust in the wrong things or people. Our confidence is often deposited in the wrong places. Our faith often lost and can’t be found. The above scripture says; “the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”
When we put our confidence in God everything else will fall into place.
Be blessed and be a blessing
Prayer:
Lord, Jesus, give faith and confidence to the ones who read these words, so that they will want to reach out their hands to their friends and pray that pain, despair, and sickness will be healed. Give them wisdom to know best how to pray, fill their prayers with the faith that heals and their hands with the power that gives life and comfort. Father God, you are my strength and my confidence I will trust in the Lord with all that I am. I will let go and let God be in control this day. I will surrender my all to him alone. Emanuel, Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords. You are known by many names but we know that You are the great I Am. Father God, thank You for keeping us once again. Thank You Lord for watching over us and our loved ones. Thank You Lord for the Blood that was shed so that each of us could enter into Your kingdom. Thank You Father for loving me that much. Lord, we pray Your hedge of protection, we plead the Blood of Jesus, We submit our will to Yours as we let go and give You control over our lives. Bless Your name Lord. Thank You Lord. Hallelujah Lord. Amen.
Sunday, March 01, 2015
Patience Really is a Virtue
If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow. ~ Chinese Epigram
Scripture:
A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.
“Many of us want a big beautiful house, a car and all that our parents had but we are not willing to make the same sacrifices that our parents made. We want the connectivity in our marriages that our parents and grandparents had, but we are not willing to INVEST in our relationships the way that they did.
As Christians, patience is not optional. It is something that is required from each and every one of us. It is something that is expected of us each and every day and not just every once in awhile. It is something that others will be looking for when they observe our Christian walk. So often if we would just learn to show a little patience in certain situations we could prevent our lives from becoming even more complicated than they already are.
I am reminded of this as I watch the news or read the newspapers and the perpetrator of a crime says, “I didn't mean it. I didn't realize what I was doing.” We must learn to exert patience instead of reacting in all things.
Remember, patience truly is a virtue.
Be Blessed
Prayer:
Father God, today I became angry and forgot to be patience. I may have said or done something in my anger that caused some one harm or maybe caused someone else to stumble in their Christian walk. Forgive me Lord. Help me Lord, to call on the fruits of the spirit before I react to certain things or people. Teach me Lord, to have the patience of Job. Help me Lord, to be still and know that everything has its own time and season. Lord, help me to watch my tongue and only use it to quietly correct. Help me Lord, not to be judgmental of others but to realize that each of us must learn in our own time. Now Lord, I ask that You would bless those who I may have slighted. Speak to my heart Holy Spirit and let me always remember that You are greater than any slight I may experience. Continue to bless my brothers and sisters in Christ as well as my family and friends. Touch those who are feeling unloved right now, in the name of Jesus. Keep us all in perfect peace. I humbly submit this prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Scripture:
A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.
Proverbs 19:11New International Version (NIV)
As I reflect on the word patience, I am reminded that patience, is not something that comes easily. So often, when we want something, we want it right now. We don’t want to wait for it. We make a decision to do something and we expect it to manifest itself right now. We live with a right now kind of mindset.“Many of us want a big beautiful house, a car and all that our parents had but we are not willing to make the same sacrifices that our parents made. We want the connectivity in our marriages that our parents and grandparents had, but we are not willing to INVEST in our relationships the way that they did.
As Christians, patience is not optional. It is something that is required from each and every one of us. It is something that is expected of us each and every day and not just every once in awhile. It is something that others will be looking for when they observe our Christian walk. So often if we would just learn to show a little patience in certain situations we could prevent our lives from becoming even more complicated than they already are.
I am reminded of this as I watch the news or read the newspapers and the perpetrator of a crime says, “I didn't mean it. I didn't realize what I was doing.” We must learn to exert patience instead of reacting in all things.
Remember, patience truly is a virtue.
Be Blessed
Prayer:
Father God, today I became angry and forgot to be patience. I may have said or done something in my anger that caused some one harm or maybe caused someone else to stumble in their Christian walk. Forgive me Lord. Help me Lord, to call on the fruits of the spirit before I react to certain things or people. Teach me Lord, to have the patience of Job. Help me Lord, to be still and know that everything has its own time and season. Lord, help me to watch my tongue and only use it to quietly correct. Help me Lord, not to be judgmental of others but to realize that each of us must learn in our own time. Now Lord, I ask that You would bless those who I may have slighted. Speak to my heart Holy Spirit and let me always remember that You are greater than any slight I may experience. Continue to bless my brothers and sisters in Christ as well as my family and friends. Touch those who are feeling unloved right now, in the name of Jesus. Keep us all in perfect peace. I humbly submit this prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
