Remember The Time...

Remember The Time…

Having been through the process of purchasing a home I have realized one thing that sticks out the most to me… and that was that it was more fun looking and visiting the model homes or viewing the potential residences more so than the actual purchase itself.  The purchase was the finality of the blessing at-hand, however, the enjoyment was found in the “what if’s?” and the “possibilities” of what could be.  You get to see more and experience more by just simply looking…   Are we looking for God to do anything anymore??

Remember what the best part is…  Learn to fall in love with the process – the process gives and provides the blessing. 

The Lord’s Prayer is a model - that is descriptive of how we should reverence God as our Father… Model prayers, model planes, model homes – help us to see what can be and that which is possible.

If a model-scale or mock-up can be built or constructed, then realistically, it can be duplicated and implemented – Same with God.

We want all the memories we can with others and loved ones but the most important is to reverence God in our process.  Faith is found in remembrance.  Remember the times in God because they are what will see you through and bring you into the Land of Promise that God says already exist.

World View...

World View…

If we view a globe of the world, we have to take the full expanse via a flat map; just viewing the globe itself would leave us only seeing a portion at a time or a spin. 

Our lives are too big to view all at once even though we try our hardest to see where it is that God is taking us.  And to attempt to see all that God has for us is sort of insulting to him, to think that we would be able to encompass all that He is and is doing on our behalf.

It’s better than a jigsaw puzzle because unlike with a puzzle,  only a certain piece is designed to fit into one certain space without any room for variances; unlike with God, He can make all things work out for our good; what once didn’t fit now pops into place seamlessly as though it had always been purposed for that position.

The more that we love God as He wants and instructs us how he wants to be loved, the more that He reveals His love for us.  We all say that we just want to be loved but that isn’t the true task at hand, the true task is to find someone who loves us the way that we want to be loved.  God is no different.  If I tell you and you still choose to do it your way, then do you really want to love and to please me?

When someone has our heart there is nothing that we wouldn’t do for them.  Same goes for God the Father. 

Allow God to bring into focus what has already been in existence.  Just as we gaze upon the view on the globe of the United States of America and South America, we know that the Far East and down to the Antarctica’s also exist; and just because we cannot see it all on the map doesn’t negate the fact that they are there.

Trust God that what he promises us is there and does exist and believe that you will see it entirely in its full scope.  There is more than the world we know exist and there is also more to see to what God can accomplish us to both see and to do.  

Think Different...

Think Different…

Get how you think that God ought to be out of your head and allow God to be God; and He will show you who He is himself.  He is God and can do all things and with that being established as our foundation first then we can begin to build by first dissecting that He is many things to us but perpetually is our God.

At times He is a healer, at times He is provider, at times He is way maker, at times He is our counselor and there are many other attributes that would run off of this page.  He is not always the same to us but in all ways… We get it – He is God.

Now take that same logic and juxtapose it to how we see our relationships.  The person that we are married to or dating isn't God, nor are they all the man or woman that we would like for them to be at any given time.  Some men aren't breadwinners; however, they provide non-monetized support that is priceless to a woman who already has enough on her plate of being a woman. 

Allow people to be who they are in our lives without us attempting to define who they are within the confines of our finite minds; and trust God who is infinite to divinely give to us and reveal those needed attributes within that special person.

A person is only that… a person - that is until God the Potter gets done with both them and us.  Get your hands off the clay and allow God to mold them and us into who they need us to be and for us to be to them.

If all you think that a man is supposed to do is provide; and that love can only be shown monetarily, then that maybe all that you get and in doing so, miss out on all the etcetera and such and such that God has instilled inside of your mate to bless you beyond measure.  What’s the point of the money and not having anyone to share it with?

God knows what till death do us part really entails.  Just as we look forward to eternity in and with him and to be blessed both now here on earth and in Heaven; we should be able to look that same joy both on earth in this life of coupledom.

God never intended for us to be miserable as we sojourn this life; it’s not good for man to be alone.  A husband or wife should be a blessing, not a burden; and they should add to the blessings of this life and not drain us of the life God intended for us to have.

Think Different.  Think as God would have you to view life and not a skewed, by narrowing how good God wants to be in your life through the love. 

I don’t want God only for what He has for me or his riches; I want God because of who He is.  Love your partner for who they and not what they can do for you; and as the unwavering love of God pours out, so will that love from your partner.

Pastor Appreciation???

Pastor Appreciation???

To hear him say all the things that I need my spouse or significant other to spout – A word of encouragement, dispensed at the appropriate time;  to see a man appear to walk upright in the sight of God and circumspectly.  And to hear what thus saith the Lord to me – personally (A hookup).

We both men and women seek him out – The Pastor.  He is the closest thing in our eyes to God but to women more so apparently than me but for a different reason altogether.  Our motive is the same as it was in the Garden of Eden; to seek God for ourselves. 

God gave us the instruction in His word but we keep getting it out of order.  Christ, Man, Wife and children; and if the man loves Christ, that the flow of blessing should reciprocate and be dispensed as needed throughout the family and beyond.

As women we run to God’s house, as we should but often time we are beguiled by wanting to seek out knowledge that wasn't necessarily for us; knowing too much for our own good can be just as detrimental as not knowing enough.

Eve corrupted the entire way of life by wanting to get something that wasn't particularly meant for her or Adam. 

Just think what could have come of them and our world had she just followed what God had said…  And what could have been should Adam had man’d-up…

The same thing is going on in today’s church.  We are in the right place, in God’s house but what are we telling our men, what are we encouraging them to do, that could benefit and bless us or curse and expel us from the presence and blessings of God?

We keep getting God’s directives out of order and we know that He is the God of decency and order.

When I see people in the congregation gathered in one and needing to be on the same accord for the corporate blessing and they sit or chat during praise and worship but scamper and jump to their feet when the Pastor enters or hits the stage; as if this was some type of performance; instead of the place where we come to meet, greet, praise and give honor to our God because all that we do is supposedly in honor of who he is, and the reason for all that takes place from the ushering, parking lot to the preaching, yet we find ourselves missing the mark of the high calling because God’s honor is being giving elsewhere.

If we as women are going to fill the pews in an abnormally high ratio versus that of the men, then shouldn't the results that we seek be seen and reaped?  The Pastor is only but one man and most of the time is he has his own wife and family.

Our goal should be to come to God’s house for the overflow of what we are already receiving from home but in many instances that isn't the case. 

The Pastor is sent because he was called to preach the word of God, not to be our surrogate husbands, muses or secret lovers because many women flock to the church and secretly think that they are married to the man and no longer looking for a man of their own; becoming pseudo Nuns – married to God – The Pastor.

There is such a thing as Pastor Appreciation but let’s keep it in the right perspective - God first.  Honor God.

Work, Work, Work, Work, Work...

Work, Work, Work, Work, Work…

There is an old adage that says, “If you find something that you love to do, you’ll never work another day in your life”…

The absolute hardest work that you will ever do is Pray.  If you don’t agree then you aren't praying for anything and you don’t want to see God work in your life. 

There is work and then there is prayer…  You can work without prayer and you may accomplish certain goals but prayer is a lifestyle, not a career or thing to clock in and out of; prayer is a gig that once you start, you don’t retreat from – that is, if you plan on being successful and live a fulfilled life.  There is living but then there is a life in God that we seek that blesses exponentially; it fills every crevice of our lives until we want no more.  His word mandate that’s what those of us who keep our hope in him can expect. 

Prayer is hard simply because we have to do it in faith that God will be God.  Because we don’t know how he will work-out our lives, we just trust him to cause all things to work together for our good for his name sake; not ours (not our reputation, etc.) but his.  He backs up his own word and those of us who speak his word in authority vested to us by Jesus Christ.

The work is indeed hard but ever-so rewarding; especially when you have tasted his goodness before; it’s insatiable and can never be satisfied in this life.  Total dependency on God is vulnerability with benefits. 

If you had a spouse that said to you, “You don’t have to work any longer if you don’t want to, I’ll take care of you”, most if not all, would have put the notice in a month ago already.  You would never doubt that your necessities and way of life to fall off.  Your only guarantee would be the word of your requited love; even though people are only people, and fail us on a daily basis – yes, included are those that we love and love us.

God’s word is his bond; it’s who he is and he doesn't go back on them for his name’s sake.  To know what he said, we have to engross and familiarize ourselves with his promises.  We cannot lay claim to that which we aren't aware exist. 

If and when you come to the point and place where you think that another prayer won’t change your situation or that you are all prayed-out; find the strength in the Lord, not your own – to pray again, and again and again until you realize that prayer is your only weapon of warfare; and that to leave it is to leave the hedge of God and you are left exposed and vulnerable to your own worst enemy; which is to go at this life alone sans the guidance, protection and provision of God.

Pray until it no longer feels like work.  

Put Some Respeck On It! Blood, Sweat and 40 Years...

Put Some Respek On It! Blood, Sweat and 40 Years…

When we ask that time to be our friend, what we are really asking is for God to be our friend.  We spew off when quoting or mentioning time as though time doesn't matter.  All we have in our duration as sojourners of the faith while on this earth is our time - in years. 

Anything that is to be takes time.  Gestation takes time – to even exist.  Harvest time from seed time, takes time.  A wound takes time to heal.  Broken hearts take time to mend; to get from here to there – takes time.  A fruitful relationship with God – takes time.  Young and full of vigor to geriatric years – takes time. And from one generation to the next is summed up as a forty-year year span – thus it takes time.

We spout off forty-years in the desert when we mention the lost generation of Israel as if it were nothing.  Me and most of my contemporaries are now well into our forties and every year has been a journey and hard-fought battle that has taken many tolls and cost me dearly; they haven’t been easy, nor were they meant to be… It’s called Life… Simplified into – Years….

Many of us haven’t seen not nearly what we hoped we would as we sashayed across the stage accepting our diplomas twenty plus years ago when we graduated and were ready to take on the world.  Now forty years are up under our belts – literally… And what do many of us have to show for it?  Many just have Blood, Sweat and forty years and nothing more to show from it.  If we are walking with God, shouldn't there be some sign?

We put off what we can believe for today.  And in my humble opinion, it costs us our today and tomorrow.  Now Faith is all that I will say in my own defense.

When Hannah prayed and waited for Samuel, we can feel her excruciating torment via the written word.  As David endured the wait for his inheritance of the throne it took over twenty years. The woman with the issue of blood persevered twelve years to receive deliverance from her bondage.  Joshua and Caleb suffered forty years past their prime and time, to enter into the Promise Land that they never doubted they could possess.  As the man waited thirty-eight years by the pool of Siloam to be made whole. When Jesus dropped blood as sweat, we couldn't imagine his passion or suffering on our behalf. And as Christ braved death, burial and the Resurrection; and countless others, we should never disrespect what it takes to get what God has for us.  It takes time for great blessings to manifest themselves.

Years are all that we can barter for or with.  Thankfully, our God is always ahead of us because time has to obey his trump card of eternity.

The manipulation of time can only be done by God.  So put some Respeck on his name!

Bills, Bills, Bills...

Bills, Bills, Bills…

Have you? Can you? Were you ever able to see passed a bill due notice into your destiny?  It’s hard to fathom isn't it, that day wherein you wake up and the life that you once knew is no longer?  Bills will always come due but they don’t rest atop your to-do list.

Honestly, I don’t have an inkling of what that could possibly feel like.  Bills have been a priority since before I was born because they were a priority in the life of my parents and their parents and their parents before them.  No wonder we cannot see the forest for the trees… and money sure doesn't fall from them.

Is it just me and do I stand alone in wanting to see God do something that previous generations weren't privy to see?  Like seeing the first black President, never having believed that I would, not to mention past generations?  I want to see my faith reward me greatly and openly, not just for gifts and rewards sake but for others to witness the strength and mighty works of my God, so that they too would believe on him; it’s all that I have that has any value to me or anyone else for that matter. 

My hopes are high and my expectation vast.  Why wouldn't they be when I believe in the God of the Promise?  It’s more than a prayer of monetary blessings but a prayer to see the hand of God move in my favor and on my behalf; that is the greatest blessing of them all because it fuels my faith for what lies next.  Life doesn't stop after monetary gain, and I am sure of one thing, that it just begins; and a new test will soon ensue.

Faith is a process.  I refuse to die the way that I was born.  I refuse to get what others that share in my similar circumstance have always gotten.  I refuse to believe that I can trust God and not be blessed.  I refuse to believe that God isn't the God of his word.  I refuse to end-up in God the same as I started out.

I probably forfeited some of my blessings from doubt or lack of trust but I still believe that God can restore unto me all the years that the cankerworm, the palmerworm and the locust chewed to bits and pieces.  

Just Believe... The King of Judges will see you now.

Just Believe…  The King of Judges will see you now.

Lord,

     Can I come through into thy gates to seek your presence?  Thank you.  Praise your Holy Name.  May I approach your courts Lord?  Hallelujah to your Holy Name.  I am back once again asking that you unlock my mind and vision, as well as unblock the blessings that you have already preordained over my life. 

I can feel it, that thought, that place wherein I finally breakthrough into what you have placed inside of my heart.  I don’t know what it is exactly… I am a woman… I guess I will know it when I see it. 

I can smell it, darn near taste it.  The bespoke of it feels so comfortably familiar I would have said that I have experienced it already but I know that I haven’t, possibly in a dream, where I was as close to it in the spirit as I can come because in the spirit great things are possible.

The more I want to cast a shadow of doubt that the desires of my heart couldn't be anymore fulfilled, the more my spirit litigates and defends to the enemy of my soul – the doubt. It tells it that the evidence may seem circumstantial but legal discovery has me favored to do the impossible because the Judge in my case is just, not fair – Favor Isn't Fair…

Jesus you are my advocate, the standard of all law and how it should be adjudicated concerning my life.  I am guilty, this I know but you took the penalty and said that I could go free and that my rights have been restored to expect and to lay claim to all that had been stored up and kept me from accessing all that you have duly noted in your word was my inheritance.

All I know is that I was brought to this doorway and for a while now it has been closed up shut; but I know that access into where it is that I want to be granted entrance is so great and of exclusive company that I know that there is no turning back or retreating – Where am I to go?  What is there back from whence I traveled to have court with the King?  I know nothing that I want Lord.  I will stay here and beat upon the door of your heart until I hear you say; “Let her in” “Open the door for her, for I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me”. 

Yes Lord, you will find faith in me on this earth.  Your admonishment has been to me all throughout your word – “Just Believe”, and that’s just what I am doing.  Thank you for seeing me your honor, hearing my case and ruling in my favor.  All the praise, glory and honor belong to you and to you alone.

Believe In...

Believe In…

Believe in Egypt…

Believe in the Wilderness…

Believe in The Promised Land…

And in that order… As you go through, from faith to Faith and from glory to Glory…

Don't Be Silly Girl...

Don’t Be Silly Girl…

If the truth be told there were some silly women in the Bible; and all I am recommending is that neither you nor I be one of them. 

As women we wield much power but power in the wrong hands or used inappropriately, can cause more harm than the helpful good that we were to attribute to the subduing and taking dominion; and replenishing the earth…

What are you saying to your man? What are you saying to your children? What are you saying to the world in and around you? 

Mary the Mother of Christ was young but mature.  She could have easily denied the gift being offered to her but she spoke with a heart that chose to follow after God and to please Him.  Same as Ruth and Esther both have books for their namesake in the book of all books – the Bible because they chose God.

Our power isn't the triangular shaped pie slice betwixt our thighs… It might work on Joe Schmo for a while or a lifetime but God knows that it was good when he made it, but he’s not concerned with what your mama gave you; but rather what he can do through you and not just in a nine month stint… We are more than just to be fruitful and to multiply.

Rachel was sought after for 14 years and loved dearly by the Jacob … but she wasn't mentioned much… sort of a baby-mama.  The Harlot was rewarded for her heroism in the Hall of Fame of the Faith….

Sarah was the wife to the patriarch of our faith Abraham, but what she was known mostly for was her silliness… laughing while she was eavesdropping on her own blessing… and if you know her story, she kept on taking actions into her own hands instead of seeking God for direction.

They were both Matriarchs and the helpmeet to two of the greatest men to be in the lineage of our Christ but weren't significant enough to be recognized for their participation in the growing of the faith.

Our responsibility as women goes a lot further than the kitchen and the bedroom.  Before there was a bedroom, there was a garden and there was Eve.

It’s not about age because it truly is just a number… God can use any of us, at any age; we just need to not be too silly and laugh when it’s time to be taken seriously and not to manipulative to get us kicked out for good.  It’s time to stop being silly and start being about our Father’s business as wives, mothers, sisters, and word-givers…

Loose Lips Sinks Ships... Don't Be Careless... A Moment on the Lips...

Loose Lips Sinks Ships… Don’t Be Careless… A Moment on the Lips…

A word spoken… even only momentarily can leave an indelible impression and an unknowingly and unwittingly a bad taste in someone’s mouth and not only a displeasurable taste but an exasperated spirit… This faith walk isn't for the faint of heart but a made up mind.

God does have a monetary system and it has two sources of currency – Tithe and Faith! 

People jumped aboard the prosperity train and didn't realize the cost of the ticket and the Pastors and Preachers should have told them, “People Get Ready!”  You don’t need a ticket to get on board but once you are a passenger, God is the conductor and he decides the destination and the timing.  They spoke loosely with statements of “Speak it into existence” and “Name it and claim it” all of those things are true and possible for them that believe; and the movement in God shifted, but they failed to issue the disclaimer of Mo’ is equivalent to Mo’ problems.  It’s not always Mo’ money… Mo’ of God will bring Mo’ issues to contend with in order that faith is preserved and increased to balance out the Mo’ that we receive.

Prosperity can be purchased but it’s a cost that many would choose rather not to pay because the cost is high.  Prosperity is falling and getting back up.  Prosperity is trying and failing.  Prosperity is trusting God when you can’t see or trace him.  Prosperity is paying tithes when it seems counter-intuitive to pay out of not enough.  Prosperity is pressing your way when there appears to be no way out this time.  Prosperity is saying God, “Your will be done”.  Prosperity is submitting our will to God’s.  Prosperity is having a heart of forgiveness towards the one that has done you the worst.  Prosperity is praising God on your worst day, just as hard as your best day.  Prosperity is a process…

It was only a few Sunday services, a moment on the lips of the congregation as they repeated after the Angel of the Church, but to not warn the people of the impending dangers was careless.

An armada of ships sailed with hopes and aspirations of God doing for them as the Pastor preached “You’ll have houses you didn't build and vineyards you didn't plant”, but they began to take on water soon after embarking because a faith full of holes and not pitched within and without with the sealing word of God will slowly begin to sink and now they are lost at sea because of carelessly chartered doctrine.

Yes we should venture boldly in the pursuit of God and those things that he has promised us in his Word, but to be irresponsible in our approach and our word selection can mean all the difference in safe travels or perilous times.

A word is breathed and spoken, yet is an unseen weapon or curse.  Prison is an experience of many from whom a simple word spoken by a judge ensconced behind a mahogany desk and draped in a black robe spoke life or death over an individual.  Why can’t we see that our God has that same and even greater power to speak the same over us?  He above all should be respected for his Word.

Remember to honor God with all of your days offering up to him Prayers and Praise… Enter into his gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with Praise!  You can have all the money in the world and the currency won’t get you into Heaven’s Gate.  Don’t leave this home on earth without it! 

DR. Eyeball and A Sparrow's Life...

Dr. Eyeball and A Sparrow’s Life…

There are reasons behind the reasons that we thought we knew… Nothing is by happenstance and nothing is wasted; and I Thank God for having been led to lead “A Sparrow’s Life”.

Our God doesn't have a myopic view when it comes to viewing his promises to us; in fact, his foresight is futuristic and beyond compare or imagination; it’s our nearsightedness is what dims our view to his possibilities and we project that vision impairment onto God.

I was paid a visit today by Dr. Eyeball and it blessed my spiritual gaze to see that God even takes into consideration the periphery that we consider only to be static on our line of communication with him.  He was both a legend and celebrity figure while coming up the adolescent ranks to teenager at the coveted tween-and-teenager skating rank affectionately known to the residents of Duval County as Skate City.  It was a frequented haunt of those were trusted to stay out till midnight or later; or for those who bucked curfew and would deal with the consequences, and the ever-present thorn in the side of those who never ventured inside it’s halls with the wafting aromas of freshly popped corn or the soured dill of a pickle being crunched as they walked in circular motion around the outer track of the rink.

To post-up on the wood-paneled walls that lined the back walls that we narrowly made way through the throngs of kids just ecstatic to be within its bowels because the beast was thumping from the moment you entered its doors until the huge clock in the middle of the back wall that seemed to taunt you as the minutes ticked by that you wished you could stop struck midnight and like Cinderella, life as usual returned because your mother or adult figure who had been designated to either drop-off, pick-up or both was their like Johnny-on-the-spot parked in a line of other vehicles waiting to carpool several kids from every neighborhood across the county back home.  It was a rite of passage…

I remember the atmosphere, the vibes, the fights, the falls on skates, the prolific skaters and their routines and even Mike Jones with his Michael Jackson buttons that lined the lapel of his black trench coat, long before we feared and scorned the sight of a black trench coat in correlation with mass shootings; because I had heard from my sister and others of how awesome it was and would be when it was my turn to grace the halls; and because I was just thinking of all this just a couple of days ago.  And I  hadn't been to Skate City in some twenty-plus years but two days ago I lounged in the idea of how the good ole’ days seemed demolished as the building that once had the huge Skate marquee that lit up the street and the hearts of all who entered.

It stopped in that latter years of being purely fun but fully real when Dr. Eyeball began carrying an uzzi assault weapon as both protection and a deterrent of violence.  Our innocence had once and for all being stolen by those who took the first life over some athletic shoes in our city, (not even Jordan’s).  Life would forever be changed… in the City… at the City.

So it was as much as a surprise when I saw Dr. Eyeball look down upon me as I climbed the stairs towards the door at work.  He was there early and I don’t like to deal or converse with customers before it was actually time for me to clock in but I was overtaken when I saw Dr. Eyeball staring down at me and not appearing to have aged since the last time that I laid eyes on him.  He was just as shocked to hear me say his stage name.  But once I had explained to him that I had just thought of everything aforementioned we had a good flash back on yesteryear and then God spoke to me and said that, just as no one knew of the thoughts I had pondered two days ago of Dr. Eyeball and Skate City, but here he was standing right before me front and center.  It is the same that he will do for me regarding the issues of my heart and that they will soon stand before me front and center because only he knows.

Thank God for his watchful eyes of this sparrow…  Going from 20+ years to 2 days… Seeing is believing…

20 Year Anniversary!!! Pardon Muah... Mazel Tov!

20 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! Pardon Muah… Mazel Tov!

Most blogs and publications have a celebratory issue for their tenured endurance known affectionately and aptly as an Anniversary.

For me, it’s been a 20 year courtship that only God can conjure and navigate…

The day that I picked up a pen to write God because I wanted to believe that “He” was all that he’d said in His Word, was the day that changed my life forever.

It was circa 1996, somewhere around October… Life had hit its lowest bedrock of foundation that I would have ever thought to experience but instead of ruminating why someone would offer me cocaine to sniff right on the dipper, I knew to say “No Thanks”, and instead of feeling ever-so depressed at my circumstances and decided to pick up a torn off piece of paper and begin to write and pour out to the one who I knew was God but hadn't talked with him intimately in such a long time; it felt both natural and strange at the same time.  Had too much time elapsed and passed underneath the bridge? We had a teenage love a while back but now it was time for adult commitment and was I ready?  To get intimate with someone is grown folks business; and when you indulge in grown-up behavior, there comes responsibilities and a little not so something small – consequences.

The sheet of paper wasn't any bigger than the palm of my hands but great rain and mighty blessings have poured out of that one slither of paper; and I have outran many chariots that have gone out before me because I have believed the Lord my God with all my heart, mind soul and spirit.

When I wrote that day, it was “me” saying to “me”, “That I was in search of a city whose builder and maker is God.”  And once I put my hands to that plow, to be in search of God, it has been a lifelong commitment to trust God in this life and it will open up the doorway to the next one.

There’s an old adage that says, “Once an adult and twice a child”, and that is one that applies to both the natural life and the spiritual.  If we are blessed to live to an age in life that we once again have to be cared for as we once were as a child; it lends itself to the idea that one has lived a lengthy life; while one can also say the same for spiritual longevity, to live this life long enough to be able to be as liken to a child as Jesus instructed and just believe him and to rely on him to be our caregiver.

When Abraham began his journey at the behest of God telling him to leave his kinsmen, from that moment on, he began a relationship and bond that gradually overtime and trials to bring him to the place that God originally told him that he could expect – Blessed and highly favored.  And it’s not the he didn't encounter periods where his faith would be tried, proven and rewarded – it’s the playbook we all follow from the Father of the Faith.

Oh no… “I wouldn't take anything for my journey”, and though at times arduous and dizzying, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if it hadn't been for God and him hitting the reset button on his grace and mercy each morning, I would have been dead in my sins eons ago.

I am one of a few to have their daily walk with God documented and journal-ed because for the past 20 years, I have chronicled much of my life as I have walked with Christ to both encourage myself and its readers, and to bless God with the fruit of my remembrance of all that he has done over the course of my life.  My life is worth the spiritual papyrus I have cried out to God on, and he has inclined his ear to my supplications.

God honors time well spent; and it’s been roughly about 240 months, 1043 weeks, 7305 days and 175,320 hours of me saying to God, I want and choose to spend time with you and in your presence. 

Remembering our first date like it was yesterday as he told me that day 20 years ago that he would never leave me, nor forsake me and he has kept his word to me.

We honor so many other dates and so I want to be sure to honor the year that I came to myself and back to God; and realized that I had lost all my substance 20 years ago and God brought to my remembrance Him – my Great Reward.  I just wanted to return back to him, as nothing but a servant, because I know that servants in his Kingdom were being treated better than I was outside of his will.  Once I set my mind to return to him, he welcomed me back as his child, restored and blessed and he did put a ring on my finger, shoes on my feet and a robe and says that he has a party planned for our Anniversary like I have never seen anything like and my anticipation is at its all-time highest.  Don’t mind me… I am just loving on the God of my salvation… Pardon Muah…

Happy Anniversary Father God, Lord Jesus and The Holy Spirit,

I Love You! Muah! Mazel Tov!

Come Sit A Spell... Homogenized Freedom has an Expiration Date ...From Disenfranchised to Franchisee...

Come Sit A Spell…  Homogenized Freedom has an Expiration Date…

From Disenfranchised to Franchisee…

It’s one thing to adhere to instructions or stay put in place when you are being restrained or forced to remain bound within certain structured parameters but what do you do when you are faced with the challenge of remaining still and no longer have boundaries set to restrain you?

Freedom can be tricky of sorts because freedom un-checked can lead some to arrogance and un­-able to self-check, and thusly lead to their self-destruction.

On one-hand, one would ascribe to the idea that if a person was blessed to be released from prison that the person would find freedom more appealing than that of incarceration but if that were the case, why do we have so many repeat offenders… Habitual is the colorful word they called that adds additional time to your sentencing.  The answer is a battle hard fought and even harder won in the mind.  Incarceration if meant to retrain the mind to think a different way supposedly… But it depends on the individual’s willingness to absorb the new way of thinking being presented, as well as what is actually being presented – sustenance versus garbage; even an animal recognizes the difference and will turn its nose up at the latter.

Another scenario… Freedom for blacks from slavery came as nothing short of a miracle of God and to call it anything other than that would be an insult to the grace and mercy of what God bestowed upon his children.  If we can see the God of Israel delivering his children from the hand of bondage, then surely we can lay ahold claim to that same deliverance, even if it is by being grafted in… In is in… even by the skin of teeth.

For all that blacks have endured, on another-hand; one would prescribe to the notion that freedom that came at such a high cost would be valued as priceless but it has been to most of the black community a bag full of fool’s gold and not anything of worth.  But, yet we are this country’s greatest commodity, has been and still is; and they know it but the sad part is that we don’t; and if we are astutely cognizant and aren't doing anything to better our own cause, it’s not the man’s fault, it is our own.

Why are we the only people who hobble along on welfare crutches and Jesus told us to take up our bed and walk; and to cast aside that which props us up in place, only to have it kicked up from under us?  We keep offering up excuses as to why we didn't make it into the pool while it was being stirred with the miracle of healing.  How much longer are we going to lay and wait for someone else to put us in, someone will always get there ahead of us, if we continue to wait for hand(s)outs.  There will always be a struggle to get ahead in this life, and others who skip in line, but that shouldn't hinder our resolve and progress; especially when we have Jesus who inquires of us “Do we want to be made well?”

Homogenization of our Freedom with other classes of race has a date soon to expire and the thing that once was available to quench, grow and strengthen has now gone bad and will make you sick if you partake of it.

It doesn't end there either… God always addresses the Church, his people to correct themselves first because as the church goes, so does the world.  We are the light on a hill, the beacon that guides sojourners safely on their trek of this life and to meet Christ along the way, through our guidance of our Daily Walk being on display for both individuals and the world to see alike.

Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.  Jesus is asking us what we are going to do with the freedom he presents to us.  No one is keeping us from getting all that God has for us, but can we “Sit a Spell” and wait on God even though we have the freedom to move about and do our own thing?  It is our God-given right to live out this life any way that we will, but the blessing for those that trust in Christ is to submit that will, your will to his, and walk in expectation that every promise in his Word belongs to you (us).  When are we going to stop being the disenfranchised and become franchisees of the plans and work of God?

Do we want what God has for us or not?  Or do we want hand-me-downs and government assistance and remain disabled and crippled? Medicare is going bankrupt and so is the race card… We've had a black President, our excuses have an expiration date and it’s due to expire soon.  One more stress fracture and this system as we know it will come crumbling down and the only one to reset that which is broken and restore strength is God, because He is our healer and our provider.

True Freedom is to say to God, “You have the freedom Father to do your will in my life”.

Who Will Do The Work?

Who Will Do The Work?

Have you noticed that our subjugation to “work” and the capacity therein hasn't changed since the day that we set foot on colonial soil? Subservient to others for generations and that is the way that the system was set up to remain.

We have just meandered from the fields of cotton, rice and sugar cane (the muck down in South Florida is still going strong off the backs of blacks); to walking in through the front doors to clean the next generations houses, cook for them and their children via fast food because we are the populous majority of the fast-food class of workers.  Every menial form of employment is still filled by us.

Haven’t you noticed that we still provide their entertainment either via NBA, NFL or MLB; not to fail to mention boxing, golf, and now even Formula One racing?  We still do a ‘lil bit of soft-shoeing, Vaudeville black-face; and Step-N-Fetch ever-so-often when called upon to do so… (You know who you are)…

Everything that gives others meaning to their lives exist because “we exist”.

Welfare hasn't been abolished because it’s the least that they can do – literally.  They want us to keep having babies, dead-beat dads or incarcerated men, because that keeps in line with the providing them with more free laborers.  They came up with a loophole since they weren't able to take the cookies the way they once had free reign to run amuck through the literal hen-house of the slave quarters, to put it nicely.

If every black or brown walked out of their place of employment tomorrow, we would bring this economy to a screeching halt but un-healthy fear keeps us in place.

They already know who will do the work… We were brought here to do it and that is the very way they plan to keep it.  I can only shake my head in dismay that our current disposition is still only like a mural at the zoo, they may change the backdrop but we are still caged; only to go as far as they say that we can go, only to eat what they provide and live and die without ever having lived the full potential that God said that we could have in abundance; or at least pretend to be in the mural – running Free.

Aren’t we tired of wandering?  Sure, the manna was sufficient for the past few generations; and our clothes and shoes didn’t wear out, even during the marches and boycotts, but God said that there is milk and honey – just yonder over ‘dem ‘der hills! God delivered us out of the hands of Pharaoh several decades ago; if only our minds can experience such freedom.

                                                          Then… Work                                  Now… Work

Be Healthy... A Healthy Fear of It - Success!

Be Healthy… A Healthy Fear of It – Success!

Success comes from God, not of our own works, and those that walk with God understand what it is that I inferring.  Success encompasses so much more than the commas in your bank account.  And if success were all that was needed to be happy, then all the people who live above the poverty level would be significantly happier than those beneath it but that isn't the case.  Because the rain falls on both the just as well as the unjust, and life is an equal opportunity distributor of both good and bad.

Just as we have the good sense to fear God, we should also learn to fear success.  Anything of God should be reverenced with a healthy fear. 

I would love to say, “I am ready for success”, but I have the foresight to look out over the world and be cognizant that all who are supposedly “successful” can hardly handle it or are consumed whole by it.  Money is not success.  Success is when all God’s blessings are producing fruit in your life.  When the success that the Lord spoke to me comes to pass, I know that it will be a beast to place into submission; I have to break-it, as a wild animal is trained or else it be dominant over me.

Therefore, lay success at the feet of the one who guaranteed its success and fear that you have the wisdom and understanding to wield it as best to give God the Glory.

Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

There it is, in the Lord’s words and not of my own.  It is God who makes us successfully healthy.

A Little Confession... Truth be told, it's good for the Soul...

A Little Confession… Truth be told, it’s good for the Soul...

When you realize that you have been literally “walking” in error although you thought you were walking with God; it’s best to correct the error immediately in order to walk right with God.  And a little confession, truth be told – is always, always good for the soul.

I haven’t gotten personal in a while and I guess now is a better time than any.  Much of the time I speak in general public admonishment, but today I come humbly before God asking for his forgiveness regarding a personal matter.

What did I do to cause an offense?  I gave God’s glory to something else and it’s one of the worse offenses that we can commit when wanting to walk circumspectly before God.  None are perfect but we can stray off course, oftentimes, unaware but when he brings you front and center with the offense; the best thing to do is accept your wrongdoing in the matter and ask for forgiveness and keep on pressing.

That’s where many continue on the wrong course of action; reacting instead of halting all action until you get things back right with God.

My real reason why I was able to lose close to 80 pounds was because I first sought God.  You might be thinking, why do you have to confess that?  It’s because I was giving God second-hand credit when He should have received the credit first.  Had I not started chasing after God first, the initial pounds or any that followed would have not begun to shed; and instead of giving him all credit, I gave him some – after the fact.  I gave credit to eating better (and I did), but it was a result of first experiencing that the weight could come off simply by walking and having conversation with him. 

I next gave credit to vitamin supplements that I was taking (and they did aid in giving me an energy), but had I not made up in my mind to pursue him through the vessel of walking and talking to him, I would have never gained the impetus to start moving my body in the first place.  I put profit before peace with God and I want to right that wrong by telling God that I confess publicly that I was wrong and ask to be made right in his sight.

The best thing that you can do for yourself and your soul is to want to be right with God to the best of your ability.  No one is perfect and God knows that already… He just wants us to fess-up about it for our own sake.  

It Don't Come Easy...

It Don’t Come Easy… 

It doesn't matter if you were born into poverty or with a silver spoon in your mouth; that which you desperately would have, somehow evades you.  It’s designed that way in order for us to seek out God, in  order for us to possess it.

Some would like to think that there is a system in place that is designed to keep a person or a group down, but those who believe and trust in the Lord know that “Good things take time”. 

Peace isn't inherited, peace isn't able to be purchased, peace cannot be smoked, injected, snorted, inhaled or even created.  Peace is a gift of God should any man be able to boast, saying that it was given of or by them.  And without God, peace will elude you.

If we would only chase after God as we do people, success and the money, those things that we chase would chase us down and overtake us. 

Why do we make seeking God hard, as if he cannot be found?  Nothing worth having is found outside of the grace of God.  The lover you seek could be sitting right next to you on a park bench but unless God reveals that to your spirit, you will aimlessly go throughout this life chasing one bad relationship after another. Or that business that you keep throwing good money after bad will ever-be that one big break, that one hand-shake away; and there you were standing in-line at the Starbucks behind the financier who could have given you the financial loan, had you not been rude to them when they bumped into you on their way out, but God could have provoked you to hold the door for them as they struggled with several cups of latte and cappuccinos.  Only God drops those invaluable nuggets that only those with discerning spirits can detect; and not detect but act upon.

If you say that you trust God – Trust God.

God Cannot Lie

God Cannot Lie

Every promise in His Word belongs to those of us who can believe God for them ALL! 

Every now and again we have to remind ourselves of one indelible truth about our God, and that is that God cannot lie. 

Hold God to His Word to YOU!  Only you know what God has promised specifically to you and if he told you; if he said it! Then He is held accountable to you to bring it to pass. 

God loves what “we” consider to be a challenge and those things that appear to “us” to be impossible.

Allow God to be God in your life.

God will always reveal and show up on the behalf of those of us who keep our hope, trust and faith in Him and Him alone.

Once you masticate and ruminate upon that thought... It should put you at ease and you hit cruise control because ultimately; it's up to God to honor His Word; and before His Word returns void - it will perform what He sent it forth to accomplish.

God's Word is wonderfully sound in the fact that it keeps God honest, it keeps our faith honest; and not resting on our laurels but instead in the Word of God.  Because God cannot lie - we can always have faith!  That’s faith not based on works! God does the heavy lifting of moving blessings into place.

What’s the point of saying that He is your God and you do not trust him to be just that? Stop lying to yourself because God surely cannot lie!

Free-Thinkers... It Cost Too Much To Think!

Free-Thinkers… It Cost Too Much To Think!

Free-Thinking and Thinkers don’t realize that the cost they pay is too high!  It cost too much!  Nothing in life is free – Nothing!

Even God, who owns all, still expects something from us; in the form of faith, praise, glory, reverence and honor; and when you choose to think freely, you miss both the mandate and the opportunity to return to him the only thing(s) that is worth anything to Him.

It’s a terrible thing to believe that you are free when you are indeed in the worst form of bondage there is… Free to think as one ought instead of trusting in the wisdom that only God Almighty provides.

Free Thinkers suggest that you “Think before you believe”, God is admonishing you to “Believe before you ever attempt to think”.