Saturday, April 23, 2016
God's Rare and Precious Jewel
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. ~ Chinese Proverb
Scripture:
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 1 Peter 1:6-8 (New International Version)
Did you know that diamonds are made of carbon, one of the softest materials on earth? But when carbon is under extreme pressure buried deep below more than 75 miles of rock and is in temperatures more than 2, 192° F, it changes in to a diamond. What starts out as an inert object deep in the bowls of the earth, is transformed into a rare and precious jewel by pressure.
I often liken our lives to diamonds. We start out as; apathetic, asleep, closed down, dead, dormant, down, dull, idle, immobile, impassive, impotent, inactive, inanimate, indolent, languid, languorous, lazy, leaden, listless, motionless, numb, on ice, paralyzed, passive, phlegmatic, powerless, quiescent, quiet, slack, sleepy, slothful, sluggard, sluggish, slumberous, static, still, stolid, torpid, unmoving, unresponsive, (I’m using the thesaurus tonight), individuals who are usually full of themselves with selfish motivations and no real concept of who we are without God.
As things begin to happen in our lives that put us under pressure, we too begin to change. We start searching for that someone or that something that will be the catalyst for our transformation. Those of us, who are lucky, will soon discover that the something or someone who will be the motivating factor for our change will be God.
However, it won’t stop there. As we grow in faith, so will our situations. God isn’t content with us just being a Christian. God wants us to be the best Christian we can be. So in an effort to force out any impurities that may still remain in our lives, he keeps the pressure on.
The pressure is not to break us, but rather to make is into a flawless diamond; a rare and precious jewel.
Be blessed and be a blessing
Prayer:
Lord, sometimes it seems as though I am fighting a never ending battle. Some days are filled with stress and strife. Sometimes, I become weary from the war that wages around me. I realize that sometimes it is I who has caused the war from within. Lord, help me to be strong and resist temptation. Help me to develop patience, perseverance and peace within. Father, as I pause to spend time with You, I ask that you would quiet the conflict that rages within me. When I am faced with trials and tribulations help me to be still and remain calm and turn control over to the Holy Spirit. It's Your spirit Lord, that dwells in me. It that same spirit that can give me rest if I would just succumb to it. It’s in that spirit I can find peace, joy and contentment. It's in that Spirit that I can find the answer to the questions that plague me. Father, sometimes it seems as though satan’s entire army has come against me. But Your word tells me that no army can defeat me with the Lord on my side. Thank You Father. I know that as long as I follow You, I am on the right path. I also realize that as long as I follow You, satan will be there trying to discourage me. I rebuke the devil in the name of Jesus. I call upon the name of the Lord, and I will surrender my will to His and allow the Lord to fight my battles. Thank You Father for the power and authority that has been given to me through Christ Jesus. Lord, bless my family, friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. Keep me nearer God to Thee. Glory to God, Praise the name of the Lord. Hallelujah, Thank You Father. Thank You Jesus. Amen.
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Where Have All the Children Gone?
There is nothing more precious to a parent than a child, and nothing more important to our future than the safety of all our children. ~ President Bill Clinton
Scripture:
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ~ Mark 10:14 (New International Version)
Monday just minutes before arriving home from work, a teenaged boy in my neighborhood was shot four times and left for dead. A couple of years ago in this same neighborhood, another fifteen year-old boy had been led, naked, out to an abandoned field and shot in the back of the head by his father. Earlier on that same day, I heard that a mother was charged in the death of her five year old daughter whom the mother had sold into prostitution for drugs.
As I have mentioned before, I work at a funeral home and it has become far to commonplace. Unfortunately, even my own family has been touched by this same type of violence that is threatening to destroy a whole generation.
Saints, I am heartbroken as I sit here and write about these atrocities being perpetrated against these babies. To make the crimes even more horrific is the fact that in some of these cases, the pain they suffered was at the hands of their own parents; their very own flesh and blood. But to me the saddest thing of all is there is no public outrage. People hear about these things, say they are a shame or maybe even shed a tear but do absolutely nothing about it.
Have we become so desensitized that we shed one lone tear and keep it moving? I am a single mother of two boys. My youngest son was outside on the porch next door when his friend was shot just two streets over. There were times when they made me so angry I may have felt like killing them or throwing a skillet at their heads, but the love I have for my babies far outweighs any desire I may have to ever cause them harm.
Our children are precious gifts from God. We are failing our children when we don’t take them to the alter and introduce them to God. Satan is after our children and here we are just giving them away.
I look around me at our children today and ask; where has the village gone?
Be blessed and be a blessing
Prayer:
Jesus Wept.
Scripture:
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ~ Mark 10:14 (New International Version)
Monday just minutes before arriving home from work, a teenaged boy in my neighborhood was shot four times and left for dead. A couple of years ago in this same neighborhood, another fifteen year-old boy had been led, naked, out to an abandoned field and shot in the back of the head by his father. Earlier on that same day, I heard that a mother was charged in the death of her five year old daughter whom the mother had sold into prostitution for drugs.
As I have mentioned before, I work at a funeral home and it has become far to commonplace. Unfortunately, even my own family has been touched by this same type of violence that is threatening to destroy a whole generation.
Saints, I am heartbroken as I sit here and write about these atrocities being perpetrated against these babies. To make the crimes even more horrific is the fact that in some of these cases, the pain they suffered was at the hands of their own parents; their very own flesh and blood. But to me the saddest thing of all is there is no public outrage. People hear about these things, say they are a shame or maybe even shed a tear but do absolutely nothing about it.
Have we become so desensitized that we shed one lone tear and keep it moving? I am a single mother of two boys. My youngest son was outside on the porch next door when his friend was shot just two streets over. There were times when they made me so angry I may have felt like killing them or throwing a skillet at their heads, but the love I have for my babies far outweighs any desire I may have to ever cause them harm.
Our children are precious gifts from God. We are failing our children when we don’t take them to the alter and introduce them to God. Satan is after our children and here we are just giving them away.
I look around me at our children today and ask; where has the village gone?
Be blessed and be a blessing
Prayer:
Jesus Wept.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
One Choice, One Decision
If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise. ~ Robert Fritz
Scripture:
To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge. Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Proverbs 8:9-11 (New International Version)
As I look around me at the world today, I wonder, how did we get here? The world has literally gone crazy. People are losing their jobs. Fathers are killing babies. Mothers don’t protect their children the way they used to and those that have would deny those who have not.
It would be so easy to say, “that it’s not my fault. I wasn’t the one who caused these problems, somebody else did. I am not the one who took all the money and ran these companies into the ground. It’s not my problem, it’s theirs.”
Saints of God, whether you want to admit it or not, it is our problem and it is our fault. We are the ones who chose to live beyond our means. We are the ones who wanted more, more and more. We are the ones who wanted what we want and to hell with those who don’t want it as bad as I do.
We chose to ignore the warning signs that our economy was in danger. We chose to turn a blind eye to those who were less fortunate than ourselves. We wanted what we wanted when we wanted it and in essence, we chose silver and gold over knowledge and rubies instead of wisdom.
Now we are in a place that forces our hands and causes us to question our greed for the finer things in life that were bought on the precept of “buy it now and worry about paying for it later.”
Now that it is later, what will you choose? What is the right decision to make?
Be blessed and be a blessing
Prayer:
Father God, as I look at the world around me, my heart is heavy with grief. We chose silver and gold over the things that You taught us in Your word. We chose to turn a blind eye to those who were less fortunate than ourselves and now we find that we too have lost our way. Father God, forgive us for our sinful ways and desires. Help us O’Lord to return to Your teachings and to putting our faith and our trust in You. Lord, help us to see the trappings of the devil for what they are, a way to cause havoc and cause us to turn away from You. Lord, I come before the throne of grace asking that You would once again take me down the path that You would have me to follow. Help us Lord, to thirst after Your Word instead of the way of the world. Lord, thank You for keeping me and my household safe from all hurt harm and danger. Your word tells says I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. Help me Father to return to a more righteous way of living. Now Lord, I ask that You would bless those who stand before You in need of a breakthrough. Touch that Father, that Mother who needs to know that the Holy Spirit is with us always, even in bad times and that He will never leave us or forsake us. It is in His most Holy Name that we submit this prayer. Amen.
Scripture:
To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge. Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Proverbs 8:9-11 (New International Version)
As I look around me at the world today, I wonder, how did we get here? The world has literally gone crazy. People are losing their jobs. Fathers are killing babies. Mothers don’t protect their children the way they used to and those that have would deny those who have not.
It would be so easy to say, “that it’s not my fault. I wasn’t the one who caused these problems, somebody else did. I am not the one who took all the money and ran these companies into the ground. It’s not my problem, it’s theirs.”
Saints of God, whether you want to admit it or not, it is our problem and it is our fault. We are the ones who chose to live beyond our means. We are the ones who wanted more, more and more. We are the ones who wanted what we want and to hell with those who don’t want it as bad as I do.
We chose to ignore the warning signs that our economy was in danger. We chose to turn a blind eye to those who were less fortunate than ourselves. We wanted what we wanted when we wanted it and in essence, we chose silver and gold over knowledge and rubies instead of wisdom.
Now we are in a place that forces our hands and causes us to question our greed for the finer things in life that were bought on the precept of “buy it now and worry about paying for it later.”
Now that it is later, what will you choose? What is the right decision to make?
Be blessed and be a blessing
Prayer:
Father God, as I look at the world around me, my heart is heavy with grief. We chose silver and gold over the things that You taught us in Your word. We chose to turn a blind eye to those who were less fortunate than ourselves and now we find that we too have lost our way. Father God, forgive us for our sinful ways and desires. Help us O’Lord to return to Your teachings and to putting our faith and our trust in You. Lord, help us to see the trappings of the devil for what they are, a way to cause havoc and cause us to turn away from You. Lord, I come before the throne of grace asking that You would once again take me down the path that You would have me to follow. Help us Lord, to thirst after Your Word instead of the way of the world. Lord, thank You for keeping me and my household safe from all hurt harm and danger. Your word tells says I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. Help me Father to return to a more righteous way of living. Now Lord, I ask that You would bless those who stand before You in need of a breakthrough. Touch that Father, that Mother who needs to know that the Holy Spirit is with us always, even in bad times and that He will never leave us or forsake us. It is in His most Holy Name that we submit this prayer. Amen.
