Greetings!
This morning, the Associate Pastor at my church spoke about the power of "if." That message really resonated with me, because lately, I have been battling with that very thing.
That word, if, symbolizes a struggle.
If I had not waited...
If I had just finished school...
If I had taken that job...
If....
I believe God is strategic in everything He does. He will never give you a dream, a vision or a plan, and not already have a way to bring it about. That's not how He operates. Our God knows why He designed us, and believe it or not, He knows exactly when we will walk in our purpose. He knows every hiccup, every doubt, every fear that will cause us to stumble...the things that will make us back away from the promise. But, here's the thing...even your cold feet will not stop God from blessing you.
In this season, we have to be prepared to move. God is speaking, and He is going to need us to be obedient. He is going to need us to pray for one another. He is going to need us to be in a position of service. God loves us with a passion, and He has promised to be with us every step of the way. God never stops leading and guiding us...sometimes, we just stop listening.
Today I just want to encourage you to keep trying. You will know your purpose, and you will walk in it. You will become all that God has called you to be. You will prosper and be in good health. I speak life over your life, and I declare and decree that you will live and not die, and you will declare the works of the Lord.
Hold onto the promise, and whatever you do don't give up....you are too close.
Until next time...
Be blessed
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Due time...
Greetings!
This week, we welcomed in a new president. Whether we agree with it or not...he is the 45th president of the United States. But, here is what I know...
I know that our God still sits on the throne
I know that our God is can do anything
I know that our God would not allow anything that He would not use for our good
I know that our God loves us and wants to bless us
I know that our God is in control
It may appear that things are upside down right now. It seems like the things that used to be wrong are right and vice versa, but God's hand is not shortened that He can't save (Isa. 59:1). He will make every wrong right, and we have to remember that anything He allows He has a purpose for. He is an awesome, and mighty God and the Bible says if we, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time" (1 Peter 5:6). Due time is God's appointed time, and His timing is never off. He knows what you stand in need of, and He is never late. When we are going through a trial it may seem like God is never going to show up, but God knows exactly when to step in.
And this is how much He loved us…He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to be the stand in for us on the cross. THAT alone would be enough, but our God didn’t stop there. When Jesus ascended into heaven, He left us the Holy Spirit. He is our Comforter, and He will lead us and guide us if we let Him. God’s word says He will never leave us nor forsake us, and because of that, in due time He will deliver us.
Until next time…
Be blessed
Monday, January 16, 2017
Opportunity
Greetings!
Today, we celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
His birthday is one of the highlights of the African American community. Our pride in what he accomplished is one of the few things we can all agree on. He left us many things, but the one I wanted to highlight today is ...opportunity.
Dr. King fought to make sure that all Americans--no matter the nationality, would have an equal opportunity to choose the kind of life we wanted to live. He believed that everyone should have the right to live wherever they wanted, work wherever they wanted, and worship wherever they wanted, and he believed in it so much that he was willing to give up his life for it.
How many of us would do that? I know I find it hard to give up something as simple as watching television. I don't want that to be my legacy. I want to leave this earth having left my mark here. I want to use up every single gift, every single dream, and every single opportunity God has given me. At the end of my life, I don't want to regret anything.
I know that each of us has a specific purpose to fulfill on this earth. We were not all called to be civil rights activists, but we were all called to be something. We can't afford to be complacent about what is going on around us. We can't afford to wait until someone else does something. We can't afford to "do it tomorrow." We have to stand up today. We have to do what we can in our little part of the world now. Find that thing that you are passionate about, and pursue it. Don't let any opportunity pass you by...it could be the thing that will make all the difference in your life and in the world...
Until next time...
Be blessed
Today, we celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
His birthday is one of the highlights of the African American community. Our pride in what he accomplished is one of the few things we can all agree on. He left us many things, but the one I wanted to highlight today is ...opportunity.
Dr. King fought to make sure that all Americans--no matter the nationality, would have an equal opportunity to choose the kind of life we wanted to live. He believed that everyone should have the right to live wherever they wanted, work wherever they wanted, and worship wherever they wanted, and he believed in it so much that he was willing to give up his life for it.
How many of us would do that? I know I find it hard to give up something as simple as watching television. I don't want that to be my legacy. I want to leave this earth having left my mark here. I want to use up every single gift, every single dream, and every single opportunity God has given me. At the end of my life, I don't want to regret anything.
I know that each of us has a specific purpose to fulfill on this earth. We were not all called to be civil rights activists, but we were all called to be something. We can't afford to be complacent about what is going on around us. We can't afford to wait until someone else does something. We can't afford to "do it tomorrow." We have to stand up today. We have to do what we can in our little part of the world now. Find that thing that you are passionate about, and pursue it. Don't let any opportunity pass you by...it could be the thing that will make all the difference in your life and in the world...
Until next time...
Be blessed
Sunday, January 8, 2017
The One who sees me.
Greetings!
There are a lot of things that are going on with God's people right now, and I think it has a lot to do with more people wanting to have a relationship with the Lord, Jesus Christ. The enemy does not want us to trust in God...and he doesn't want us to believe in His word. It doesn't matter how many times God has brought us through, we still seem to doubt Him when trouble comes. I don't think that it is intentional, I think most of us are just used to trying to figure things out for ourselves, and trusting God means letting Him figure it out for us.
When I was young, I was fearful of going to church. My father was a deacon, so we went to church a lot. My greatest fear was someone getting "happy" next to me. We learned who those people were and we stayed as far from them as possible. And the rules....there were so many things we couldn't do that we really didn't know what we could do. We couldn't talk in church, or play in church, and we definitely couldn't laugh in church. So, why in the world would any child want to go to church, right? Because our parents knew what we didn't...that giving us a foundation in God would help us stand when everything seems to be falling apart.
God saw us before the foundation of the world, and He called us to be one of His own. He had a plan for our lives, and He used our parents to help plant the seed that would one day grow into a harvest He could use to help feed His people. I am so glad He is patient with us. The Bible says He is El Roi...the God who sees me...and I'm so glad He did.
Until next time...
Be blessed
There are a lot of things that are going on with God's people right now, and I think it has a lot to do with more people wanting to have a relationship with the Lord, Jesus Christ. The enemy does not want us to trust in God...and he doesn't want us to believe in His word. It doesn't matter how many times God has brought us through, we still seem to doubt Him when trouble comes. I don't think that it is intentional, I think most of us are just used to trying to figure things out for ourselves, and trusting God means letting Him figure it out for us.
When I was young, I was fearful of going to church. My father was a deacon, so we went to church a lot. My greatest fear was someone getting "happy" next to me. We learned who those people were and we stayed as far from them as possible. And the rules....there were so many things we couldn't do that we really didn't know what we could do. We couldn't talk in church, or play in church, and we definitely couldn't laugh in church. So, why in the world would any child want to go to church, right? Because our parents knew what we didn't...that giving us a foundation in God would help us stand when everything seems to be falling apart.
God saw us before the foundation of the world, and He called us to be one of His own. He had a plan for our lives, and He used our parents to help plant the seed that would one day grow into a harvest He could use to help feed His people. I am so glad He is patient with us. The Bible says He is El Roi...the God who sees me...and I'm so glad He did.
Until next time...
Be blessed
Sunday, January 1, 2017
I am listening...
Greetings!
Happy New Year!!!
This is the first day of a brand new year, and we are still here. Praise God! That means there is still work for us to do...
I think mostly our work involves listening more...especially to God. He has the master plan. So, if what we have been thinking about does not involve checking in with Him first...don't even bother. Because the Bible says in part that only what we do for God will last (2 Cor. 5:9-10). I can only speak for me, but I don't want anything that God does not want for me. If He is not in it...I don't want any part of it. I don't want to do anything that doesn't make God smile. I want Him to know that my only goal is for my life to be pleasing to Him. The word says that if we seek His kingdom first, all the other things will be added unto us (Luke 12:31). We can have all the material things in the world, and still be miserable...and that is not the kind of life we want.
In my last post, I stated that in the New Year I want to be more consistent. What I am finding is that being consistent not only applies to spending time with the Lord, it also means speaking life over my own life and only saying those things that are positive and uplifting...to me. We have to be careful with the words we speak and the thoughts we think. The enemy will attack our minds first, because if he can control our thinking...it won't be long before the rest of our body will follow.
Here's the thing...submitting our plans, speaking life, being consistent all fall under listening to God. When we keep our ear to His lips, we can be assured that we are making the right decisions.
Try reading Psalm 23 out loud, and when you read it really listen to what it says. This Psalm is like a love letter to us. It is so comforting to know that God continually pursues us, watches over us and looks for ways to bless us. If He took the time to send us a word...the least we can do is listen.
Until next time...
Be blessed
Happy New Year!!!
This is the first day of a brand new year, and we are still here. Praise God! That means there is still work for us to do...
I think mostly our work involves listening more...especially to God. He has the master plan. So, if what we have been thinking about does not involve checking in with Him first...don't even bother. Because the Bible says in part that only what we do for God will last (2 Cor. 5:9-10). I can only speak for me, but I don't want anything that God does not want for me. If He is not in it...I don't want any part of it. I don't want to do anything that doesn't make God smile. I want Him to know that my only goal is for my life to be pleasing to Him. The word says that if we seek His kingdom first, all the other things will be added unto us (Luke 12:31). We can have all the material things in the world, and still be miserable...and that is not the kind of life we want.
In my last post, I stated that in the New Year I want to be more consistent. What I am finding is that being consistent not only applies to spending time with the Lord, it also means speaking life over my own life and only saying those things that are positive and uplifting...to me. We have to be careful with the words we speak and the thoughts we think. The enemy will attack our minds first, because if he can control our thinking...it won't be long before the rest of our body will follow.
Here's the thing...submitting our plans, speaking life, being consistent all fall under listening to God. When we keep our ear to His lips, we can be assured that we are making the right decisions.
Try reading Psalm 23 out loud, and when you read it really listen to what it says. This Psalm is like a love letter to us. It is so comforting to know that God continually pursues us, watches over us and looks for ways to bless us. If He took the time to send us a word...the least we can do is listen.
Until next time...
Be blessed
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