Anointed For A Purpose...

When he touched my hands, at first it shocked me and brought me out from the place where at times that I could remain forever… in his presence.  My eyes were closed tightly and I opened them immediately, but he had moved on to the person beside me, who I can only assume was there for the same reason that I was kneeling and being anointed with oil… the blessing of the Lord.

What would make the Pastor touch my hands of all the things to touch?   I had never had anyone to do that but then again, I don’t allow many to lay hands upon me, because spirits and the spiritual world are nothing to play around with.

I was snatched out of the zone and at first I felt I had been shafted!  I was saying to him within myself, “You didn’t put the oil in the right place, you didn’t touch my forehead!”  But, who was I to tell the one doing the anointing on where to put the oil?  I was the one there kneeling, in the need of prayer and the anointing.

Then I thought… This spiritual world truly is something amazing because I hadn’t told the Pastor that God had laid it upon my heart to be a writer/author, to his glory; and for this man, this servant of God to do something that he hadn’t done before to me, because he has anointed me before… but upon my forehead.  And then the next people after me, to anoint their forehead as most Pastors do; I knew that my anointing had been ordered and instructed by God.  I had my own (Genesis 48:5) When Jacob blessed Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, the younger over the elder, but Joseph switched his Father’s hands and attempted to correct him, but Jacob knew what he was doing; and switched them right back.  But then I didn’t want to be jilted like Esau and Jacob and have someone get my birthright (Genesis 25:31).

How blessed I am to have God show up in a direct manner concerning my anointing, my blessing, and in my life in such a manner… How can I doubt that I have been called, just because I have had to wait a few years? If I needed a sign, a clearer one couldn’t have been sent.  God knew the exact area that I would need to be strengthened. I have written since my youth but my writing took on a new life – with power and without growing weary.  To do the work of the Lord, we must have the anointing or else we would wear ourselves out in our own power. 

God brought this day back to my remembrance when I thought about how David had been anointed years before he would ever become King of Israel.  I ruminated had he gone through the same anxieties that I have, had experienced – will it ever come to pass?

When I got up from the cushioned altar, I was rubbing my hands in expectancy of what was next to come; and it was back to tending the Father’s sheep… or rather working my accounts, but still working them to the glory of God and it has blessed my soul to grow and mature spiritually – they are his sheep. 

If God hasn’t brought “it” to pass, then I am still being trained and prepared for the promotion that God has for me.  Until then, a tending I go…

I just wanted to let God know that I remember… I am glad I remember and I have found strength in the remembrance.  Thank You Father.  Amen.

Liberty! So, is it for all or not?

Liberty!  So, is it for all or not?

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
with silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Am I A Hypocrite? "A Taste of My Own Medicine... And I Don't Like It!"

Am I A Hypocrite? “A Taste of My Own Medicine… And I Don’t Like It!”

I've written a book about it, calling out others, patting the mat and asking them to step onto; thinking that I was David hearing defiling words coming out from the mouth of Goliath on that fateful fortieth day of the standoff.  Like he I was minding my business doing what my Father had told me to do, go feed my brethren; and I overheard some who I took as uncircumcised Philistines and I said that I would go!

Sure the giant I was sent out to defeat would fall not because of my hands but because I thought I was coming out in the name of the Lord of Host, and now I am wondering if I am a Hypocrite because the same things that I have been calling others to the mat about are the same things that I secretly and oftentimes proudly boast that the Lord would do on behalf of me and my family’s life.

Am I any different?  What will I do any differently, say any different, had I had the same opportunity; the world’s ear and the nations stage as a platform to disseminate what thus saith the Lord?  When I complete my self-examination after asking God for the wisdom and the understanding of that wisdom; if you know like I know, he will turn the magnifying glass around on to you because he needs no examination, the fault, foolishness or folly always lies somewhere inside; and the objects always appear to be larger than what was originally sought out.

Just when you think that you have it together, is when God shows up to remind us that we fall short of his glory and no one person has all the answers.

I never once offered up the vow of poverty, in fact, I am downright indignant about any child of God accepting anything less than blessings-upon-blessings, so for Pastors and Preachers alike to be blessed in what I deemed excess, and that is what I am currently and have been for quite some time being waiting to be poured out of Heaven’s Window.  Have I drunken the Aid – the Hater-Aid?

Lord knows that I don’t want the spirit of covetousness to rise up in me because I have been made to wait.

The question still looms as I write this post… “What would I do any differently?” Sadly at this time, I cannot answer my own question and quite possibly the reason that the blessing tarry.

No one ever likes taking a dose of their own medicine but sometimes it is needed and necessary to become well, and there is nothing more that I desire than to be well in all things concerning the Lord’s will for my life.  Gulp! Gulp, Gulp!  God can’t heal what we don’t reveal or have the revelation of that is making us sick.

God show me what it is that YOU would have me to do any differently.  Not my will but your will be done, and to your Glory Father. Amen.

"Ain't No Fun When The Rabbit Got The Gun!" Chickens Coming Home To Roost... Dinner is Served... You have a choice of "Chicken or Rabbit"

“Ain’t No Fun When The Rabbit Got The Gun!” Chickens Coming Home To Roost…

Dinner is served… You have a choice of “Chicken or Rabbit”

Is that what frightens you and keeps you up at all hours of the night; the idea that the Golden Rule would be done unto, what you have done to others; could you blame the karma or the justice – whatever your beliefs?

There’s a saying, “It Ain’t No Fun When The Rabbit Got The Gun!” meaning that when the tables are turned or the playing field suddenly becomes even, the folks who originally had the advantage, don’t tend to care for the same thing that they were uncaringly aiming at others, they now want precaution taking while there’s a new gunslinger in town; that kettle not black enough yet?  Your coffers aren't full enough yet?  Your generations aren't taken care of for generations current and into perpetuity yet?

You took the proverbial “cookies” of slaves for generations and now when a few black men choose to do what was done unto there ancestors, just take what was supposed to be off-limits, there are those who find fault.

Does the thought of a black man possessing those things that once were only the privilege of a few let alone, just white rub you the wrong way – Why? You are either going to have to deal with the chicken or the rabbit.  Which one do you want at your table tonight; because one of them is coming…

Incredible. God. - Double Positive – Positive Vibes Only…

1  1)    Definition of Incredible: Impossible to believe. Difficult to believe

22)  Definition of God           : Incredible

We cannot figure out who God is, and that is why so many have a problem with trusting in Him.  God is a Double Positive.  He is both God and he is also Incredible.  And yes, sometimes the things he says and does are difficult to witness and to believe.

There are a lot of things that come up in our lives that make us question whether God exists or even cares about what we are going through and that is when our faith counters and says that although I cannot understand what God is doing, I am not supposed to, because He is God Almighty; and I trust him.  Negative vibes will surely come but that is when you tell them that you receive Positive Vibes Only…

When you have an issue with definition number two; just remember that definition number one answers your doubts and fears.  Trust him to be Incredible in your life.

For Your Name's Sake Only...

For Your Name’s Sake Only…

June 1, 2009… That was the day that I posted my first-ever blog posting.  It’s been seven years, and that’s crazy to me, because they have passed by like time meandering around a lazy river on a floating device – wild and free, but guided direction – it’s meant to auto-correct and get you to your destination, at a certain pace.

I cannot help but wonder if this post is too bold and am I “calling you out” AND IT FRIGHTENS ME!

Because who am I, to question the Great I Am - and to question the thoughts and intentions towards me that I know that are good? 

To speak to you makes me wonder should I take off my shoes because wherever you are speaking is hallowed ground, so I dare not come to you with a boldness as if I by some right other than in the Righteousness of Christ, that I could easily be struck with leprosy, blindness, disease of any manner or worse – death.

What I get to do is a privilege and a most humbling experience but I also must not allow it to go to my head nor allow it to prompt me to think more higher than myself than I ought or think that I am more ready to be at a certain level or platform than you have called me to be.

Years of blood, sweat and tears with hardly a peep from a reader; not to fail to mention a comment of encouragement nor even of discouragement; at least I would know someone was interested or reading it. 

But, nevertheless, I have kept my hand to the plow Lord; and I will continue to do so.  No one knows of the boxes and bags full of writings from years back even further.

Of course I can’t help but to wonder if I write in vain or in vanity.  Yes, I do want to be read, heard, interpreted, dissected, understood, misunderstood, encouraged, quoted, enraged but most of all to lead some(one), many or a few to walk closer with you and get to know the God of my salvation through my life, my life’s journey and by what I may have to say.

The Bible has already been written, it’s replete and more than enough.  I just want to do my part in spreading your gospel – “Tis Truly Is Good News!”

Give me the continued strength to do it in the shadows, without recognition, without the pat-on-the-back, the Atta girl, or the slightest clue whether or not I make a difference.  If I am still writing, then I must be doing something right.  

The Struggle Is Real...

The Struggle Is Real…

Lord knows that there are many desires within my heart and they aren't buried deep, many are shallow and can be dug up by a puppy.  I have hopes, desires and dreams that require that they be done here, while on earth, not in the great by-and-by; and it’s okay to have those dreams as long as I keep perspective as to who produces those blessings in my life.  They don’t come by happenstance, by might nor by power but by God’s spirit because I trust in him to provide as does his word say that he would.

It’s a daily struggle to not put the cart before the horse and try to out maneuver God on this chess game called life.  He created me and you, the pieces on the game-board of the world; you can maneuver all you want but in the end, he will get the check-mate.

Give God the credit as being the Father of all to give you the balance needed to live a fulfilled life.  And not a life where you are just chasing all the silver and gold and all that can be possessed, only to find they’re empty trinkets, but also that you just don’t crawl up in a monastery and wait for the rapture without having experienced this life that he took the time to speak into existence for you to enjoy.

There is no escaping what life can and will do to all that pass this way… The struggle is real… But to learn to trust in the God of creation and to learn his ways, precepts, concepts, laws, judgments, statutes, oracles, prophesies, deliverance, blessings and most of his love through Jesus Christ – we do him a disservice and we are in disingenuous as to who we are in Christ and who Christ is to us as Lord and Savior.

It Don't Make No Sense!

It Don’t Make No Sense…

Right now to some it doesn't make sense at all to trust God.  The innocent are being murdered live on television; and connecting the dots of pointillism, it’s still hard to see the bigger picture.  God’s wisdom tends to be contrary to how “we” would think to resolve a problem. 

When it makes all the sense in the world to take actions into your own hands and take up arms to protect you and yours; God’s word ensures us that vengeance is his, and that forgiveness – even of the one oppressing or even killing of the people’s lives, hopes and dreams will be rectified in due time and in due season.

Pharaoh and his army were too great for the people of Israel to have fought against in hand-to-hand battle; they would have been outnumbered, out-manned and out-weaponized; and the way God brought them out, by his mighty hand was the way that it had to happen; with the least amount of casualties and with God getting all of the Glory.  The word Pharaoh means: Great House.  And there have been a myriad of great houses that have risen and fallen and quite possibly the great White House will be next, if it doesn't let God’s people go…

Being brought over during the Middle Passage in chains and never to return to their homeland again, many slaves endured deplorable and subhuman conditions to their masters.  They were in a foreign land and subject to people who didn't speak their language, and made to suffer.  Had they wanted to escape and return to their native homeland, they had the Atlantic Ocean to cross, not a Red Sea; so the only way out was to venture through.  It’s never the size of the problem; it’s the trust in the God of the problem that makes the way through.

Once again they were a people who had to trust God even when it didn't make any sense. 

Now fast-forward to the year circa 2016 and as long as this earth remains, there will be tribulations and those tribulations worketh our patience, and our patience experience, and our experience produces our Hope.

It doesn't have to make sense to those that believe – we just have to BELIEVE!

The Countdown is on... 49, 48, 47… “Holy Patriotism”

LGBT Community (Let. God. Be. True.)

This has got to be the most interesting of all Presidential Elections that this country has seen in all her years.  With Obama we were witnessing History and with the one in 49 more days, we are possibly witnessing our own demise as a country as we have known it.

In all honesty, I pray that Obama makes it out of office alive and I know that it’s sad to say something so horrid but many blame him for the cause of all the racial tension and racial uprising and many would argue the point that the only way that We The Niggas and not We The People can be put back into “our place” is to see what many would deem our Moses assassinated.  Everyone that we've placed on that “deliverers” pedestal has all met the same fate.

And the correlation of Obama to Moses is uncanny.  How you ask?  Just their upbringing alone is eerie.  Where in the heck did they find Obama? They drew him out of the waters of Hawaii (Meaning of Moses: draw out/pull out of water).  He was hidden right in plain sight; they paid for him to be taught their language and ways at one of the most prestigious Universities of this country.  He had been trying on his own to free the people of Chicago but it was in his own strength, and he was thinking small-minded.  God had intentions for him to free an entire nation of people.  And we as a people saw miracle after miracle as God showed us something that generations had been waiting to see – The First Black President of the U.S.  He even had a black wife that people hated on… note: Zipporah and Michelle.

What’s crazy to me also is that he is full African-American and full white – the purity of both his parents to combine to make him makes me wonder what God is up to.  The two people who built up this country.

Unfortunately, he has made the same mistake as Moses and allowed the people to taint him and cause him to acquiesce to their wants (LGBT Community) and he lashed out against God’s word instead of speaking what God said and allowing God to be God.  All that God has done for him and allowed him to see and for him to do a 180; it doesn't bode well… God will not be mocked.

Remember who we serve and it’s not the flag or Americanism but a Holy God.  Have “Holy Patriotism”.

No Snatching!

No Snatching!

Remember when you thought you were ready to lose your virginity and then realize that you gave up your most precious gift to a person unworthy to receive such a gift; and it’s irrevocable, there are no do-overs. Or that time when you said, “Let me see what all the hype is about weed, only to find that there are gateways, highways, byways, beltways and expressways to paths that we didn't truly want to travel down; and some still haven’t found their way back.  Some decisions are forever and we don’t have anyone to blame but ourselves; it’s not that God was saying, “I told you so”, but he did, “Tell us so”.

When we are attempting to snatch what God is keeping from us like a hyper-active Jack Russel Terrier attempting to take the chew-toy from his master’s hand, we must be careful to trust that whatever it is that God’s is keeping away, we must allow him to keep, because we don’t know what else is lying in wait behind what we think is the fun.

Snatching is rude and secondly, snatching what doesn't belong to you, just might get you something that you really don’t want.

Most of my life, even when I was simply hoping, not even in God but just a hope that things would work out, they somehow did - When I knew that God was specifically keeping something from me and I told him to give it to me or I snatched it from his hand, I always got more than what I was looking for and it never turned out to be all that it was cracked-up to be; some decisions nearly cost me my life and it is only by and through his grace that I am here to give a testimony today.

Pray for the strength to wait upon the Lord and to only want what he has readied to give you.

So, So Very Close...

So, So Very Close…

I know one thing… I’m so sick of being told that my victory is close and to not give up.  What about you?  People are dying every day, people that I know who heard the same message and they didn't appear to have reached nearly as many goals and dreams that I have already accomplished and they are up out of here!  What hope do I have to keep on believing?

I can see how others outside of the faith can question ours that are within or those within can harbor secretly a sense of skepticism, of whether they really believe and are in faith.  If you are a Christian and haven’t reach that point, that place when you have come to the end of your rope and then end of your faith, then I am wondering are you truly in search of the Truth, The Way and The Life; that trinity is better known to us as The Word aka Christ Jesus.  If it’s not about knowing him, the reason for being a Christian, then what are you in, a social club?

How long is how long?  No one knows that answer but God and that is why we stick it out, where else do we have to go because once you hear the truth, then we know that we have actually heard the truth and therefore, there is nowhere to return to; all we can do is sojourn through.  And we discover that his word is more truth because it tells us that we are unable to make it through in our own strength; that it must be by his spirit, and might nor power will suffice – in others words, we have to stay with him in order for the word to work on our behalf. 

Nope, it’s not a trick – it’s the trying of our faith; it’s the truth and many of us cannot handle the truth when given to us tartar, in blood raw form.  To trust God to the end is rare, but rarity is highly valuable, priceless really and I want to be that to God, a rare find, “No not even in all of Israel”, is what he spoke of the Centurion.

I am not one of authority, in fact I sit up under authority and have all of my life, so I don’t have that hands-on experience to tell one to go and they follow.  My testimony isn't to have been in the first century church to have seen Jesus open blind eyes or raise the dead, but I have seen him do wonders in my life and that of my family and I have read his word that admonishes me that for my belief in him and having not seen those things first hand, that greater lies in-store for me.  I have to continue on until so, so close becomes my first hand-experience with the King and I dare not give up now, because just when I think that it will never happen.  Boom! Another door that was locked comes tumbling down.

That's What They Say...

That’s What They Say…

It’s not what “they” say about you; it’s in fact what God has already said about all who believe in him.  And then what comes next is what “you” say about you that matters when it is all said and done. 

Who are you going to run and tell that someone spoke against you that really and truly care?  No one really cares, to be honest, God doesn't want to hear some he said, she said; because he is asking you “What did I say about you?” 

God doesn't speak in the language of hearsay and gossip and neither should you; especially when it comes to who you are, who we are in him.  His word is forever and whatever his word says about those that believe on him, and in him, are the only words that we need to concern ourselves with and to repeat. 

Let them say what they will, you just speak his will over your own life and what “they” say won’t even matter.

I Didn't Come This Far Only To Come This Far…

I’m a liar because at times I keep telling myself something that surely isn't true.  Jesus already said that “The devil is a liar”, so there’s no need for me to repeat it.  Both he and I know what shall become of him, so I pray for the enemy (I really do and I pray that God forgives even him, because to be separated from the Father – Well… I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy) and God said that we should pray for our enemies… Satan isn't our greatest enemy – in fact, “WE” are our own worst enemy.  He has done no worse to me than I have done to myself, if truth be told, I have done worse… AND he’s my enemy???  Get your mind off Satan and get your mind on what YOU are doing and that will be enough to take you a lifetime.

What I need to deal with is what I keep lying to myself about, “That I am in this faith-walk for nothing”, “That I cannot keep going”, and “That I’m too tired to fight another day”.  Just earlier before sitting down to write this missive, I told myself that I was too sinful to write and that I just needed to lay off for a while. 

Not only I know what I've done but he knew before I would even do it and yet in still he gave the clearance to still speak on his behalf because I repented and I asked to be forgiven and redeemed.  Only he knows how I fall short daily of his glory and he still tells me that he chose me.  Who wouldn't serve a God like that?

You don’t need to know all the particulars, but I know that for him to have forgiven me and looked past my sin until this moment wherein I am writing with thankfulness in my heart, and still with a heart heavy and one that is doing all that it can to not remember, replay or rehash those thoughts that made me question my sanity, my hope for a better future in him, and even to consider doing them again; and that he is still able to keep me on track to my Land of Promise. 

Why is it that when we experience a victory, immediately the enemy of our souls come in and try and snatch it out by the root, all that God had planted?

All I know is that “I didn't come this far too only come this far…” “Yolanda M. Smothers is a Liar” and I am glad to be one today.  A self-straightening is one of the hardest points to come to but in order to overcome; we must first learn to accept to overcome ourselves.

Time to Unleash the Beast...

Time to Unleash the Beast…

What if we are all waiting for some figure or form to be released upon the earth; some beastly creature and it’s already here because it is a spirit? Some are waiting for God’s Time to Unleash the Beast, but I think that it might already be here, front and center, hiding in plain sight.

A beast is not necessarily one particular thing or even a person or animal; in fact Merriam-Webster defines it as several different possibilities.

I think that the beast is here and has been here for quite some time; and out in full-force.  He hasn’t since stopped roaming this earth seeking whom he may devour. 

Some are waiting for a day of judgment to come but what if court is already in session.

Natural Born Sinner...

Natural Born Sinner…

That seminal moment when you realize that you were right and that you were wrong.  I have always found myself on the side of the proponent when it came to others condemning a person saying that they were “Born like that”, because how or why God would set anyone up for failure?  And knowing the God that I serve to be good, that just went against all I knew of him, within me.

And then I received a revelation that finally cleared up some theological loose-ends that plagued me.  We are all “Natural Born Sinners”, but it’s the choice(s) that we make to whether or not we continue on in that sin.  David said it best, “We are born into sin and shaped in iniquity”.

The sin occurs when we keep trying to justify something that we know is against the laws of God.  The men of Sodom and Gomorrah had the same choices that you and I have.  Most choose to do what they want to do and deal with the consequences at a later date.  Many say, “I know I am wrong, but…” 

The “but” is the conscious decision that “we” know that there is another way “but” we choose the opposite.  Just because we can, doesn’t mean that we should; although God gives us all a free-will to choose.  He doesn’t make us love him but we choose to do it.  The most dangerous blessing we have is that of a right to choose. 

As the men of Sodom and Gomorrah were blinded and then condemned, so goes the fate of the people who continue to choose that lifestyle or any that go against the nature of God.  Nearly the entire world has gone nose-blind to the abomination that stinks in God’s nostrils, as well as spiritually blind to see that as the world turns more from the face of God, that depravity and sin are taking a greater foothold on our society; as they were blind to what was to be their fate, so has our world become; they don’t see nor believe in what the Bible calls the day of judgment. They never saw it coming - In both the literal and figurative tense…

Don’t Just Wear Red - Start “Seeing” Red!!!

Rosie the Riveter… I know that many hail her image as a face of triumph but she is really the reason that we are in the shape that we are in.  Our health has declined tremendously and more so in the case of women dying in droves of Cardiovascular Disease at that of a much higher rate than our male counterparts.

The Go Red for Women campaign of the American Heart Association’s National Movement to end heart disease and stroke in women is a search for a cure and I will tell you that the cure is already here – Don’t Just Wear Red – Start “Seeing” Red!!!  Why? The only way to go through is to go back-wards, not in ideologies but in the way things used to be.  Was it fair that men died more before we entered the workplace? Of course not, but it was the order of things because they worked more to provide for their families and they bore more of the brunt of stress that women now endure as being breadwinners, caretakers and all else for their families. 

We have once again found ourselves out-of-order and when we get out of place, the paradigm shifts and the alignment of how God intended for life to be goes awry; no different than the animal kingdom or environment – You get to screwing around with the nature of a thing and it causes long-term systemic effects.

The men used to hunt the wild game and the women cared for the children, and did some hunting and gathering… The men used to go out and work and provide for the family and the women cared for the children and did some other chores that kept the house running… You see the running theme?  The men did the brunt and grunt work and the women didn’t stress about how things were going to work themselves out; the men did and that’s why they were dying.  Sad but true. 

Women were to be the support system and the shoulder for her man to lean on and the ear to receive his grievances about how his day had gone or his hopes for a better tomorrow.  No, I am not saying that a women’s place was only the kitchen or the bedroom but when she was there she lived longer.  With work comes greater responsibility and with more responsibility comes more stress, and with more stress come more disease and more death!  It is what it is… You can disagree with me or my way of thinking but I know God set his creation in motion and we have rocked the boat. 

The science, the numbers, and the facts don’t lie.  Education, voting, rights are not what I am speaking of; so please don’t think that I am saying that women’s right’s don’t matter or count for anything because they do, but now we have other epidemics that have sprouted; more women who drink or abuse drugs to escape the running of a household; and the demise of the family unit in general.  There is a difference between Head of the House and Head of the Household.

No Such Thing as Misplaced Trust in God…

I have been struggling with a decision that was time sensitive for well over a month now until today, when I received clarity of the answer needed to be at ease with what I was “giving up”.  When I didn't have the “go head” green light feeling that I needed to able to live with my decision; that should have been the indicator that I was venturing down a path that I wanted to go, but that I hadn't been lead to trod; no matter the opportunity.

When I was blessed to have the opportunity of The Mighty Blogxilla aka @blogxilla to do some advertisement of my book, I couldn't believe the opportunity that had been presented to me.  For him to respond and then to say, “Yes”, I was blown away and I thought that my Red Sea was parting right before my eyes.  I was willing to not only rob Peter to pay Paul, but I was about ready to stick-up all 12 disciples to make it happen; he hob-knobs with the elite of the entertainment world and this could have been my opportunity, or so “I” thought to myself, way onto a platform that I would in no other way be able to scale.  But there is one Mightier!!!

However, I was reminded that everything that looks good, but out of the will of God, won’t turn out to be as good as originally thought.  I kid you not, everything, down to the very house that I live in that has come from God has always been free!  God says that I don’t have to pay for his blessings; I have to believe him for them.  And one of the easiest yet hardest things to do is give up something, even an opportunity that seems of great magnitude that would catapult me where God says that I am to be but do it on his terms alone, is a faith walk like none-other.

To lose in God is to gain 100 fold.  I believe that with all of my heart and soul.  I have seen him do it too many times in my past not to believe him for my future; and although it looks to me the long way through the wilderness to the Promise Land, I trust God to get me there and to have a deeper relationship with him as I venture in.  The goal is to go in, not to die off in the wilderness due to unbelief.

So, I woke up this morning and sent a message to him saying that I thank him for his offer of opportunity but that I would have to decline but I wanted my name to be in right standing with him, and that I wasn't wasting his time and he thanked me.  It was a great feeling knowing that I had set the course and set the stage for God’s blessing to come roaring into my life and an even greater knowledge that I am willing to wait upon the Lord. 

I don’t know what the future holds but I know one thing for sure and that there is no such thing as a misplaced trust in God.  Matthew 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Adrenaline Junkie...

Adrenaline Junkie…

Some do it for the thrill of it, some do it for the rush; and some do it for the danger; there are those who like putting their lives in the balance of here today and possibly gone in the next 60 seconds.  Cliff diving, high wire sans the net, roller coasters, feeding sharks, bungee jumping, zip lining, rock climbing, sky diving; and the list can go further than most of our imaginations can stretch.

But there is one source of adrenaline that course through our veins that shocks and stimulates like none other; and pales in comparison to all the aforementioned, and that is to place your hands into the outreached hand of God and say to him with clarity, consciousness and awareness of all consequences; “Father lead the way”.  You talk about a rush!

There is adrenaline and exhilaration, and then there is walking by faith and trusting God without having a clue of what the outcome is going to be – for a lifetime.  Just the thought of it gives me chills and my nose is open as if I have just taken a bit of a York Peppermint Patty.  Not knowing neither what the day nor the future will bring but knowing that whatever comes my way that I am secure in his hands and that I can handle or overcome is the greatest feeling ever known.

I awake each and every morning seeking an even greater thrill of how he can outdo his last blessing, I guess I am a junkie for the grace, mercies and favor for the Father; I want more and I cannot get enough because unlike chasing thrills of this world, to seek after the blessings of the Father will only garner more blessings.

His word keeps bursting through me exclaiming, “Just you wait and see what’s coming next!”

DON'T QUIT - DO IT!

DOn’t QuIt – Do It!

It takes more energy to quit than to stay in the good fight of faith.  Attempting to slow down drains the stamina because I am now more focused on not falling flat on my face, skinning my knee or perhaps sustaining a busted lip. Quite often the blow to an over-inflated ego, trying to save-face in the midst of my peers or thinking more highly of myself than I ought, also attributed to a longer distance on the road towards success.

The amount of inertia needed simply exist will burn-up the remaining oil of anointing that I must keep in order continue to say “Yes” to his will, even though the “way” of how he is going to bring me into my expected end hasn't been fully revealed.  I need the oil to fuel the lamp to my feet and the light on my path.  I must be ready when he calls to me to enter in, because I have been assured that he will come for me.

All I know is that I cannot give up, not now; not after coming all this way.  Lord knows that I can’t hardly wait to see him face-to-face and in all his splendid glory. And I can hardly bear the thought of having no more burdens to bear, tears to shed or pain in my heart, mind, soul or spirit; but I place that peace that surpasses my understanding on hold, to remain steadfast in my knowing that I shall see good in this life, the land of the living; because I serve the God of the living.

Trust him to see it come to pass and he will DO IT!

You can "Bucket" or "Believe"...

You can “Bucket” or “Believe”...

To heck with a “bucket list” or if you are “Keeping up with Appearances”, you pronounce it bouquet; that’s a shout-out to Hyacinth Bucket.

God’s word says, “There a ways that seem right to a man but the end thereof is the ways of death”.  People tend to follow trends and what you hear many say is that they have a “Bucket List”; things that they want to do before they “kick the bucket” or die.  Who has time to focus on death when there is so much life out in front of us?  Why rely on death to be your motivation?  God admonishes us to “Choose Life”.  Both life and death are in front of you, but the choice is yours to make.

Death is easy.  Life – now that’s the challenge and the true test of durability.  Can you live this life in and with expectation that you will see God fulfill his promises to you?

Death is invariably and inevitably certain and that’s why the fail-safe to ease your anxiety and to make you so-called “want to live” is a bucket list; to make you believe that life is possible, when God already said that it is.

Beware of illusions, distractions and tricks of the enemy; showing you others completing their bucket lists.  They are following suit after what they saw someone else doing, and you would be following the exact same suit – in all actuality – it should be called a copy-cat list.

What happens will all your check-marks are complete, now what - Death? What happens when you finish your list?  Are you ready to now kick the proverbial bucket?

I dare you; I challenge you to believe for that which you have not seen before – for God to do the impossible.

If you haven’t seen God do all he has promised to you, what good is your list, if dying without his promises being fulfilled.

Morphology… It’s Evolutionarily Speaking… If God said it, so be it!

When I think about what I once prayed for and how that simplistic prayer of family, career, and home have all in their own way been answered, but from those same prayers, greater hopes, dreams and expectations have morphed; what I once thought were impossibilities; have now begun a transition into the next level of evolutionary blessings.

God doesn't have to always do a “new” thing because what he spoke in his Word has already been declared.  Just as he spoke life into existence that is still being discovered and transformed in the world that exist today, it is the same way that he has taken my prayers,  as they continue to incubate and branch out; to form new life.

Evolution of anything isn't done overnight and God spoke his word and it has continued and will continue to reform, regenerate and reproduce until what God spoke comes to be whatever he said that it would be; it won’t stop nor return to him void.  Evolution creates what once wasn't there into being; what’s needed and what was lacking to be created.  God is the Father of evolution and we are the recipients of his ability to “Call those things that be not as though they were.”

What you prayed for might not appear as how you thought it would or should, but trust that what was said will be done and that it will be better than originally expected and it will surpass your expectations.

Do It from the Heart, Do It Well, Do It for Free - Yes for Free...

Do It from the Heart, Do It Well, Do It for Free - Yes for Free…

There is a quote that says, “If you do something well, then don’t do it for free”.  One would tend to have the propensity to lean to that way of thinking because it’s lends value to the one with the ability.  But God’s wisdom is not of the way of the world; he admonishes us much of the time to give freely.

Be willing to do God’s will for free, and do it well, and to the best of your ability and from the heart.  And when you do it, do it for free – Yes for Free… God will then be willing to pay you for your services rendered; and when God says, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” 

Oh, you still question whether or not the position of where your heart is in the will of God matters any to him? 

Then lean not to your own understanding and seek God’s word, which says, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”

Not In Vain...

Just when you think that what you do for God is in vain, he sends a word your way that gives you just the amount of strength and under-girding of your spirit to keep on going, in his name and to his Glory! Glory be to God Almighty!

It's Been A While - Seasons Change...

It’s Been A While - Seasons Change…

Waking up to the coolness of this morning was the indicator, not just because it’s the day after Labor Day and the signaling that the end of summer is hastening to a close.

The touch of briskness brought in a welcomed change and then the newly planted seed of expectation was uprooted because just as quickly as the soil of praise was distributed a thought came into my head and whispered, “It’s Been A While…”  “Another season has come and gone and you are still waiting on the promise of God.”  “How much longer are you willing to wait?”  “The fall season is starting and winter will be upon us before you see a leaf change and fall to the ground”  “Do you still think that he will do it, will he honor his word?”

I have been waiting years for God to bring to pass what he had placed in my heard nearly ten years ago, and I am still faithfully awaiting its arrival. 

Season after season have come and gone and repeated in succession as a reminder that I am still waiting.  Then God reminded me that the same seasons that are repetitive are the indication that he is still at work and on the throne.  The seasons are the reminder that he will do what he said because his word says, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”  And they haven’t, therefore, I can trust in the same God that made that promise to bring about the one given to me – it’s my indicator that God is indeed faithful.

God’s word is a weapon to fight the good fight of faith, it’s a strong tower and refuge, it’s an anchor of strength for our weary and weathered souls, and rock to stand on when all else seems to be failing and falling around us; his word is all that we need, whatever it is that we need it to be. 

He gave us his word both literally and figuratively speaking.  He is the word and the word also dwells among us, and in us.  Trust in what you do and don’t see; faith is the substance of things hoped for (which you don’t see), and the evidence (the seen), of things not seen.