Will A Man Rob God?

Will a man rob God?

I’m not talking about in tithes or offerings. But, what I am referring to is, will a man rob God of the process? Will they attempt to steal God's Glory?

We can talk all we want, prophecy all that is within us; and do for others all that we can; but if God has them on the potter’s wheel of transformation, then who are we to attempt to come along and snatch or even nudge them off?

Help can become a hindrance if discernment isn't utilized. The anatomy of faith is trust that God will do what he said he would do, in the providence of his will and in his time. Well then, if he told you to do your part in helping another of his children; then do what he instructed you to do, and then let it go! We cannot make anyone do anything that they DO NOT want to do, let alone God Almighty.

When you have done all that you can do in the will of the Lord - Trust, stand and be still and know that he is God – in all things!

Exercise Your Faith

"Exercise Your Faith"

“You can feel sore tomorrow or you can feel sorry tomorrow”, that choice is up to YOU!

Repetition can be brutal – in “Exercising”, that is… Doing the same regimented work-out routines, monitoring your diet; and trying to find a way to keep on pace to reach our ULTIMATE GOAL – Health and Wellness! “Faith like muscle only grows if you use it!”

Working on our faith at times can get real old, real quick!  Believing for healing, trusting for favor, hoping for prosperity, and standing in the gap for your relationships, works out every spiritual muscle we have – our spiritual well-being is in the hands of our “personal trainer” – The Holy Spirit.  Our faith is being stretched and pulled in awkward ways, uncomfortable manners and discomforting fashion all for our overall spiritual fitness.

It’s hard to get started with an exercise routine, but once started, it becomes addictive and it’s far harder to stop and quitting seems to no longer be an option.

Our first impediment to overcome is the way that we think about our faith – Lethargically speaking…

We came into this world with a defect, a predisposed and preexisting condition called sin and only the blood of Jesus Christ can rid us of the disease. 

Tiredness, soreness, is all associated with and are indicators, of the effects of a good work-out.

To be in good health, both physically and spiritually; takes effort on each of our parts.  Pulchritude isn’t always verifiable harbingers that were in good health.  We can look well and appear the picture of “good” health and be spiritually dying in and decaying.  The Walking Dead or Zombie life isn’t what God intended for us.  Although we are dead until we are spiritual Risen in Christ, we live, move and have our being in him.

Keep the goal of the Promises of God in your heart and out in front of you in order to keep your motivation up!  Don’t allow slothfulness, and the guise that fools most people who are out-of-shape, that, “It doesn’t take all of that”.  Indeed it does – plus some!

It takes all the above in order to be Healthy! Sustaining good health is easier than starting over-and-over again.  Get and gain traction and stay the course! 

Tasty!

Why is it that when it's "free", it taste better? That's all God keeps trying to get us to understand! Salvation is free! Oh Taste and see that the Lord is Good! What a revelation!

SPIRITUAL EROSION

Many marry but are they good marriages?  I’ve seen a lot of marriages end up shredded upon the rocks of a turbulent relationship, but in the same breath, I have also seen some marriages stand the test of time.  Marriage can be so HARD but it can be so good too!  Walking with Christ can be so HARD but it can be so good too! 

When you are in a good marriage, there is nothing that you would trade it for; not even when bad times do occur.  When you are walking with Christ, there is nothing that you would it for; not even when bad times do occur.

The same can be said of those who follow after Christ.  I have seen some people live in Christ and they have been blessed beyond that which is measurable to the natural eye, but spiritually I can see that they had some rough tides to enter into their relationship, but they were blessed during those times to come out with a faith that had been strengthened in the fight.

Only those who choose to enter into the relationship can understand what marriage and walking in and with Christ is like.  It’s both good and bad – BUT ALL GOOD.  Our walk with Christ is not perfect but it is perfect all at the same time.  Even when it’s not good, things are working out for OUR good, and in OUR favor and to the Glory of God.  The only ones, who can relate, are the ones who are committed.

I want my relationship with my husband even when he doesn’t do things my way and when our situation and circumstance doesn’t seem to be in the direction that I would like for it to go. 

If you are having trouble in your marriage; likewise if you are having trouble in your daily walk with Christ – “Remember why you first fell in love”.  “Remember why you chose this particular person to share the rest of your life with”.  What made you say, “Til death do us part – to your spouse and to Christ”?  Death is final and you wanted your final moments to be with your significant other.  When we accepted Christ, we affirmed that we wanted to walk with him in this life and be resurrected with him after death”. 

Time erodes everything – eventually. 

Erosion affects all that we do and everything that we are associated with: our bodies, minds, relationships and surroundings.  Only God can replenish what has been lost and restore what has been eroded away from wear, tear and usage.  

BLACK GOLD BULLION and THE RECONSTRUCTION OF A PEOPLE... An Ode to the Professional Black Athlete

BLACK GOLD BULLION and THE RECONSTRUCTION OF A PEOPLE…

An Ode to the Professional Black Athlete

What is it about gold that is so ubiquitously captivating to people?  People just like to possess it!  Is it the warm glow of its golden amber color? Is it in its qualities of being a precious metal? Is it the smoothness of its texture or is it really not admiration at all, but only its raw value?

Everybody raped her, whether it was intentionally or indirectly; sorrowful before or after the act, nevertheless – the raped still occurred.  Everyone involved in the rape is culpable and implicitly guilty of orchestrating her shame.  Her beauty is what drew them all to her.  Beauty can oftentimes be both a gift and a curse.  Sometimes you can be too beautiful for your own good.  Sort of like in today’s time – a Stripper.  Most wouldn't flock to a strip club if the women weren't desirable. 

Africa was her name and people came from near and far to bask in her beauty.  People had been telling her all of her life how beautiful she was.  She was a catch because she was not only beautiful, but wealthy!

Her rape wasn't private, and to add to her shame, everyone knew about it.  They knew about the “train” that got ran on her.  They left her depleted; and for dead.  She began prostituting only as a means of survival and then it became her only tool for survival.  She had every attribute: beauty, culture, well-traveled and buxom in all things affluent.  The rape was systematic and a long drawn out process.  Rape affects the victim over and again both mentally and physically. 

No one came to her aid, the ones who had committed the rape knew what condition they had left her in and some even felt remorsefully sorry regarding her state, but how do you apologize and give recompense after such violent exchange?  Because rape is violent!  They thought that time would heal her old wounds, not knowing that the original wound had fissured over the years and now grown into canyons of grand proportion.  Some wounds are left to fester and never heal because they were left untreated for such an extended period of time.  Her original intent was to be a self-made Madame and work for herself.   She soon found herself outwitted because she was dealing with an institution that was one of the oldest professions in existence in the world and found herself in over her head. She was losing more than she was gaining.  Soon after she was bankrupt and left in ruins and shame.

Africa decided that she had no choice than to get herself hooked-up with a pimp.  His name was America.  He was the most dominate pimp around and he said that he would “take care of her”.  He told her at first that he loved her and that he just needed her to sleep with a few people he knew and they would have a Bonnie and Clyde – Ride or die - relationship.  She fell for the line because she wanted to be loved, and to be a part of the country she had relocated to.

America put her to work over in his neck of the woods, where the pickin’ was good, down South and because she was still so beautiful, and fertile.  She was fruitful even in times of lack and war.  Regardless of all that she had been through, her beauty still showed through.  It was her spirit is what drew them, is what they never seemed to figure out.  Her spirit showed tenacity, fortitude, strength and perseverance. 

America was jealous of her, because he could never break her spirit and he could not for the life of him understand why!  He didn't understand why Africa wouldn't give up, why she would sometimes run away or why she would continually fight for her freedom, even if she sometimes was faced with death or brutal punishment.

One day Africa was out working the streets and America came looking for her.  He asked her straightforward, “What is it about you that people want and desire to be around?”  She replied, “I know my worth.  I might have endured a violent past and despicable things may have befallen me but upon this earth, I am Black Gold Bullion.  I am the most influential and valuable commodity upon the face of this Earth.  I survive, reinvent, replenish, subdue and take dominion because it is the full embodiment of who I am.”

“Our bodies and minds, physical prowess and determination become fruitful, even in dry and barren places. I will always be impactful to any society that I become associated with and grafted to; economically, socially and politically.”  

We are the people who bring dread and fear because we can’t be conquered. 

(Professional Athletes) are the modern day slave but they shouldn't take that comment negatively.  We survive as a people because each generation has casualties and this time around, it’s Professional Sports turn to bear the cross, and the brunt of the load – to tell Pharaoh to “Let My People Go!”  It’s a privilege to be chosen to participate in your own emancipation.  The feeling of exhilaration must be overwhelming and empowering to know that you, not anyone else, negotiated your own freedom from oppression and an impoverished cycle of life, not just a lifestyle; because poverty is running generationally rampant.  Reconstruction after the Civil War took time and so will our transformation.  

Sit Down

I've been working since I was 14 years old (by choice).  And in that time I have had several job changes throughout my years (by choice).  Every time I got “itchy” I thought that a job change would be the scratch needed to settle me down.  However, many who read my post know, and for those who are learning of me for the first time, allow me to enlighten you - it’s what I despise THE most – it’s the thought of 30 years of incarceration on ONE JOB – RETIREMENT!  The word in and of itself sickens me; it’s like waiting 30 years on death row, only to die.  If you going to kill me – get it over already! Don’t drag it out.

Soon after each manufactured shift, the newness of the job would wear off and the reoccurring feeling of hopelessness would reappear like a bad rash left untreated. 

The job I currently hold isn't so bad and had it been any other job, I would have probably shifted already and moved on, but this time, ”I” decided to stay and sit a spell.  Have I wanted to walk out the door and remain gone? Yes, of course, to be honest – since the first day that I walked in it.  It’s a trap, like a zoo.  The surroundings are meant to make you believe that you are somewhere else, your natural habitat, but it’s all manufactured.

It finally dawned on me that God has been trying to rid me of my flightiness and being quick to move on from one thing, person or place - to another.  It’s about learning to stick tough times out that aren't pleasing to me at the time.  Everything that God allows me to go through won’t always feel pleasurable but I can’t run away from ALL challenges.

As usual, God sprouts many branches from one Vine.  Learning to sit still on a job, has afforded me the stability to stay faithful in my marriage and to other commitments I have committed to in life, both relational and professional.

Being flighty doesn't mean that you are actually making progress, in fact, it’s on expending the mental and spiritual energy needed to really bring the promises of God to fruition.

God is saying, “Sit Down!” 

Sitting still and waiting on God, and being lethargic in your faith are two different scenarios.  If you trust in God, your sitting isn't in vain.  When it’s time to move, God will spur you on to your next destination; he won’t allow you to miss your exit into the Land of Promise.

Be Honest

I might not be worthy; matter-of-fact, I know I am not worthy to ask for anything more than I have already received, but I won’t allow that knowledge to keep me from the wisdom of asking God for what I both “want” and “need”.  Why? Because it’s the “asking” that keeps us HONEST! 

As the saying goes… “Honesty is the best policy”

Jesus said, “We have not because we ask not”.  When we ask, we are saying to God, “I want to believe, but help my unbelief”, and by continually asking, we are continuously being confronted with the truth.  And that truth is that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord, and we leave it up to him how he dispenses it, and rest in knowing that it will bless us when it is all said and done.

It keeps us honest by reminding us each and every time that we ask that it is in God in whom we live, move and have our being.  It keeps us honest by reassuring what we believe – that God does answer prayers and gives us the dreams of our hearts, and brings our minds back to reverence that who he is as the Creator. 

Asking is an act of “faith” that God will be God!   And faith is what moves the heart of God on our behalf… So, whatever you do – don’t stop asking the Lord for _______.  Only you can fill in that blank.  Never leave the space blank for very long.  If you keep on asking, you will keep on believing and if you keep on believing, you will undoubltly keep on receiving.  Just being honest!