Don't wait for Sunday...

Greetings!

I have mixed feelings about Sundays. On the one hand...I love Sundays, and I love that it is the one day of the week that you are not expected to do anything...and you don't have to feel guilty about it. On the other hand, Monday always follows. Although I am grateful to have a job that pays the bills. I also want a position that makes my soul happy. I may be naive, but I still think it's possible to have both...

Recently, I had a conversation with someone about our parents and how they were able to stay on their jobs for 40-45 years. They persevered through some rough times, and  they never let us see it. Our parents were not rich by a long shot. But none of us ever saw them struggling. Not really. What we did see though was how our parents prayed about everything. They trusted God in the good times and the bad times. They didn't fall apart at the slightest problem. They didn't quit their jobs because the boss didn't give them the promotion. They didn't whine and complain because life was hard. They just did whatever needed to be done. 

I'm just going to be honest...I didn't get that gene. I wish I had, because most days I get on my own nerves. And, unfortunately, I am not alone. For some reason, many of us think that we are supposed to have this carefree, pain free, guilt free life, and that the world owes us something. I'm not sure where that attitude came from, but I do know that it has got to go.

I am on a mission. I am going to look forward to Monday through Saturday the same way I do Sunday. I am not going to live for the weekend anymore. I am going to thank God for every day, I am going to be grateful for every day, and I am going to praise God for every day...no matter what. 

Until next time...

Be blessed

The God who never fails...

Greetings!

At our church, during the summer months, we take a short break from many of our church activities, and we take some time to rest and just enjoy our families. It's also a time when we have our "hour of power" where we do everything in one hour or less. That means that my pastor has to deliver his messages differently, because everyone is basically in vacation mode. This month, he has been on fire, and his messages are all coming from the same theme. All this month, he will be coming from the Book of 2 Peter 1:1-9, and the theme is "Faith that keeps on ticking."

What he has been saying is that we need to add something to our faith for it work. For instance, today he spoke on adding endurance or perseverance to our faith. As believers, we don't have the option of quitting or giving up. Our faith is in the God who never fails. Whatever happens in our lives, our God can handle it. Actually, He has already provided everything we need in His word. All we have to do is pick up the book.

I am loving this series. It is a good reminder of who our God is. We keep trying to understand God with our minds, and He is so much bigger than our minds can comprehend. He is not like man, and we can't keep thinking of Him that way. God doesn't count all the things we have done wrong against us. If He did, there would have been no need for His Son, Jesus Christ to go to the cross. When Jesus went to the cross, every mix-up, mess-up or mistake was erased from our past and from our future.

The Bible says that He has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). That's why we can have faith that keeps on ticking. Because that faith is not based on us or anything we have done, it's based on the God who never fails.

Until next time...

Be blessed

Trust the plan...

Greetings!

It is definitely August...

August is typically the hottest month of the year...at least to me. This year it seems like everywhere we look, there are reports of extreme conditions. The weather is either extremely hot, or extremely cold. And it seems like there is always a report of an extreme storm or fire somewhere. There was flooding in one neighborhood, at least two people lost their lives, and right up the street, it was barely touched.

It is amazing how God works. I used to try to figure everything out. That was just my nature. I wanted to know why things worked the way they did, why people acted the way they acted, why some people were rich, while others were barely making it. I questioned God...a lot. This is the amazing thing about our Father; He is so patient with us. He loves that we trust Him enough to come to Him when we don't understand some things. But here's the thing...we have to be able to accept that He may not give us the answers we want. Sometimes we have to just trust the plan. 

I have learned that when there is no ready answer to my questions, I just need to be patient. God's time is not like our time. What we think is taking forever is just a blink of an eye for Him, and I know that whatever He allows, He has a purpose and a plan for it. Trusting in Him has been a journey for me though because I always had to see it. What God taught me was that I had to let down all my defenses and open my life totally to Him. When I did that, He began to show me who I really was in Him, and many of the things that had troubled me for years began to lose its power over me. Trusting God, and trusting that He knows what is best for me has been the best decision I ever made.

Until next time...

Be blessed

Just hit delete...

Greetings!

What an awesome day...

Today, my ministry team spent the morning at one of the local rehabilitation facilities. Our church service was so inspired. We always pray that Holy Spirit will run the show, and He did just that. There is nothing like being in a place where everyone is on one accord. Those people came to hear a word from the Lord today, and the preacher did not disappoint...

Her message was from Matthew 17:20, "And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." It really resonated in my spirit, because that's what my post was about last week. It takes faith to believe. It's not easy to hold on when everything around you is going bananas.

We are in a time where easy is the word of the day. But everything is not going to be easy, and it wasn't meant to be. If we never have a trial...if we never have troubles...we would never know what we are made of. God uses those times to grow us. Those times when all we want to do is run and hide...give us our testimonies. We learn more about our character during our times of trouble than we would any other way.

What really stuck with me about today's message though was when the preacher said we have no control over what comes into our minds, but we have the ability to hit the "delete" button. We do not have to meditate on everything that comes into our minds. When issues with jealousy, envy, anger, low self-esteem, or unforgiveness come...hit delete. God has given us the power to trample over the enemy...we just have to believe it.

Until next time...

Be blessed