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1 Corinthians 1:30-31 “It is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us–our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” ~CSB
A young child, college student if you will, may boast about their independence. Having a car, wearing the latest fashions and eating at some of the best restaurants. This is funny because most of the time, it is their parents that pay their car note. It is their parents who pay their tuition while in school so that they do not have any school debt after graduating from college. These young teenagers may also receive an allowance from their parents so they can supplement their young habits of buying the latest clothes, food and other expenses. Yet, they will not give credit to their parents for their blessed lifestyle. There is nothing wrong with spoiling our children, but as Christians, children of God, we sometimes forget where we should aim our boasting as well. God blesses us with our homes, families, food and abilities to get from one place to another. But how often do we give God the praise He deserves? We boast about how ‘independent’ we are. Sometimes, (unfortunately), we throw our success in others’ faces. Instead, we should actually drop to our knees and thank God for His grace and mercy. Like the paid debt of a college student, it is because of God, our debt of sin is paid. It is because of God’s grace and mercy that we are, “...in Christ Jesus…” So let us not claim success as something we accomplished on our own. Instead let us make disciples by showing others where the true power of our strength, wisdom and endurance comes from. Like the word says,“...Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” May God bless and keep you under His protection as you journey in Jesus' name. Amen
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 Hebrews 5:7-9 “Jesus prayed while He lived on earth. He made His appeal with sincere cries and tears. He prayed to the God who could save Him from death. God answered Jesus because He truly honored God. Jesus was God’s Son. But by suffering He learned what it means to obey. In this way He was made perfect. Eternal salvation comes from Him. He saves all those who obey Him.” ~NIRV
We can learn all we need to know through Jesus. His life shows us the way to live. His life was given so that we can live eternally. His life is the example we follow to understand living in our purpose. His life is the example of ‘why’ we suffer in this world. You see God’s purpose for the sacrifice of His son was to amend and make right what happened in the Garden in the book of Genesis. God loves us so much and He knew we would need help in receiving our salvation from Him. Jesus would be His answer. Jesus knew that He could not stray from the path of His mission. No matter what came His way. If He did, there would be no salvation for the children of God. Jesus knew he had to stay on mission. So even though He is the Son of God, as the Son of man, in His fleshly status (like us), “...by suffering He learned what it means to obey…” It wasn’t easy, just like it is not easy for us in our day to day living. But just like Jesus, we must pray daily as we meditate in God’s word. The text says He, “...appealed with sincere cries and tears…” to God. And God heard the reverence in His voice and heart. When we pray and ask God for the strength to stay on the path He created for us, He will hear us and just as He did with His Son, He will provide us with His strength to endure and His peace to make the right decisions. Jesus was perfected in His suffering. And for that “...He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him…” What did God create you to be the ‘source’ for? Some of those answers will come from what we learn in our sufferings. Like Jesus, who, in spite of what the world did to Him, He spiritually pushed through because His mission was to suffer for our iniquities and die for the debt of our sins. A bill we could never pay. To follow Christ’s path in our sufferings allows us to empty ourselves and gain the wisdom and the strength to receive, maintain and distribute the blessing God has for us to give others. Because of Jesus, we will stay on our paths. With prayers and supplication, God will perfect His purpose in us and He will save lives through us as He has saved our lives through His Son Jesus Christ!  Proverbs 29:25 “The fear of human opinion disables; trusting God protects you from that.” ~MSG
Whom should we fear, man or God? To most Christians this would be an easy question to answer. But often those same Christians live differently from their ‘correct’ answer. Things like… road rage. Failures in marriage. The thin line between being a good parent and ‘not-so-good’ parent. Most opportunities for situations of failure like these come from giving in to our fear of ‘mankind’. These situations come because we put more concern for what others say, feel or think about us and we place our own decision making of what we do, in the hands of how we think others may see us. Instead of trusting in God’s direction in our lives. And how about that ‘human opinion’ that comes from within us. Our own criticism about ourselves when we take away from our own personal worth. We feel that we are not worthy or capable of doing anything so we feel we must live off other’s opinions and direction. We neglect scriptures like Psalm 139:14 where we receive that God created us in his image, remarkable and wonderful. Or Jeremiah 29:11 where God tells us that He has plans for us. Did you get that? ‘He’ has plans for us, Him and Him alone. And that these plans are for our success in this world, not destruction. With this Good News we must redirect our focus where it concerns the purpose of our lives in this world. Yes, when it comes to mankind, we focus on loving our neighbors as we love the Lord. We serve our neigbor as Jesus has taught us to serve. But when we seek direction according to God’s purpose and will in our lives, we should follow the scripture in Psalm 121:1-2 where we know we can look up to the mountains where our help will come from. That help we need and are guaranteed, will come from the Lord, “...the Maker of heaven and earth.” Always be aware that looking to ‘man' will disable and distract us from our true purpose. Trusting in God with all our hearts is the way. No matter what the world puts in front of us, God has already paved a path. And when the world tells us we ‘can’t’ do something, Luke 1:37 says with God nothing is impossible. May God continue to bless and keep you under his umbrella of protection, healing and guidance as you journey in Jesus’ name. Amen  Galatians 4:7 “Therefore you are no longer a slave (bond-servant), but a son; and if a son, then also an heir through [the gracious act of] God [through Christ].” ~AMP
We are born into this world with our flesh directing us from birth. From the cries of a baby wanting milk to the complaints of a teenager when asked to wash the dishes after a meal. The flesh tells us to do this or not to do that. It tells us to go this way and not that way. When we are children our parents try to teach us righteousness by grooming us with chores. We reject this teaching because we don’t want to learn, nor do any work. Our flesh is trained by the world to take us on the path of 'least resistance'. In other words, in our youth, we may want things in our lives, but we don’t want to work for it. As we get older we grow unable to resist the orders or temptation of the flesh. We, unfortunately, become slaves to the world because of our flesh. God knows this. He created us for great things but knew the world could be an influence on His children. He knew the influence would bring His children into its bondage. This is why he created the spirit within us. And in His time, He will switch on that spirit so that we may break free from that worldly bondage. As hard as our parents fight to instill and teach us righteousness, it is not until we endure the trials of doing the 'right thing', even when we don’t want to, when we experience this 'switch' being turned on. When we learn to accept that day as ‘our day to wash dishes’, or our time to cut the grass and do yard work, we become prepared for the blessing. So that when that day comes and we take on the responsibility of owning our own homes, we are prepared to take care and maintain what we have because we learned that from our parents. God is the same way. Even though we are born slaves to the world and its ways, Galatians 4:1 says we are still created as God’s children. Which means we are His inheritors to the kingdom of heaven. But verse 2 goes on to say that until we are ready, we are under the supervision of, “...guardians and trustees until the time set by the Father.” Which means God watches over all of us and has His Angels watching over and teaching us as we prepare for our freedom. And when we are ready, when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God will allow access to our inheritance. This is important because as our relationship with God increases, our bondage from the world’s grip decreases and we become free. We are no longer slaves! Because of Christ and His sacrifice, we are free. Free and available for God to do a great work in us! Because now our freedom allows God to fully take command of our spirit so that He can use us as He created us to be used by Him. May God bless and keep you under his umbrella of protection as you journey in Jesus’ name. Amen  Psalm 100:4 “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” ~CSB
As Christians, we should enter rooms excited. We should enter the next phase of our journey through the doors of the unknown, excited because God’s presence and power are in those rooms. These are rooms that He has led us to so that His power can be used through us to bless us and others who He will place in our paths. As His servants we should always recognize His presence. It is through this recognition we have the courage to continue knowing that God will do a great work in where He has brought us. Through these doors and in these new rooms He will have people there who have prayed to Him for His healing, His guidance and His wisdom and they will be able to receive all of that from God who will use us to that. With the passing of my mother I realize the significance of this. I feel that inside of her ceasing to exist physically, she has just finished her race. She has just accomplished a mission assigned to her by God Almighty. And in this completion of entering the next phase of her journeys in life, hearts were healed. Those who intersected with her path who were broken, became mended. After everything God has done through her was complete, it was time for her to take her place in the kingdom of heaven. To be with Him and His Son Jesus Christ. She did this because she had the spiritual courage to walk through doors of unfamiliarity. She had the strength to endure rooms filled with the unknown and confusion. She trusted God to use her in the places He brought her to. When we lose someone, instead of looking at the space where they once lived, look at the legacy they carved throughout their life. Use what they did to affect us and we will find that we can also practice celebrating God as we enter doors to rooms we know nothing about. To trust God to use us to make a difference in this world. I say this because my mother is a great example. During her final days and hours in this world, she made it clear that she was prepared. Her body was weak, but her spirit was stronger than ever. She knew her time in her earthly body was coming to an end. But she knew her story wouldn’t end there. She knew that because of Jesus Christ, there was a place prepared for her. She prepared herself to enter those gates, “...with thanksgiving…” and into “...His courts with praise…” And that is exactly what she did on May 13th 2025. Are we living our lives so that God’s accomplishments in us will be done? Have we practiced walking through the doors in this life and entering into rooms with praise and thanksgiving? Instead of fear, reluctance and confusion? We need to, because this is good practice in preparing us to walk in thanksgiving and praise in everything we do. Let us live our lives allowing God to work his power and miracles through us so that we may leave His mark of healing in those who cross our paths. May God bless and keep you in His love and protection in His Son Jesus’ name. Amen  Matthew 14:30 “But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord save me!”
It can happen to all of us. We have a game plan. We write the blueprint out for our next journey. Then we gather and obtain the resources we need to begin that new journey. Along the way things happen. Sometimes things don’t go as smoothly as we plan. In fact, obstacles appear that seem to block or maybe even destroy an avenue we were attempting to move forward on. This is what happened to Peter. In the text above, Peter can see Jesus walking on the water. He asks Jesus, in verse 38, “Lord if it’s You, command me to come to You…” Jesus tells him to “...Come…” Peter starts off well. He gets out of the boat and begins to walk on the water. This is how we begin as well. We pray and ask God for guidance just like Peter did. And in our prayers God will guide us. In anticipation of God answering our prayers, we step out of our boats and begin to walk on a path we’ve never walked before. We do it because God tells us to ‘...Come…’ But then it happens. The world around us will throw things at us. These obstacles represent the ‘wind’ in the scripture that took Peter’s attention. These obstacles can be people, situations, or past memories coming back to agitate unhealed wounds. When these things happen, we want to quit. We get frustrated as the obstacles thrown at us make us tired. We begin to lean toward negative ‘mindsets’ like, ‘Maybe this isn’t for me.’ We begin to sink in our own ‘oceans of trials’ as we, like Peter, take our eyes off Jesus and focus on all the chaos around us. Jesus already gave us what we need in verse 27, when He said, “Have courage!” Jesus not only tells us to be brave, He is also telling us that He has already conquered what we are afraid of. When we know Jesus has conquered, we can then accept the wind of chaos and trial, not as an obstacle but an ‘opportunity’. An opportunity to become stronger spiritually and an opportunity to grow stronger in our relationship with God through this process. Avoid sinking in the chaos of obstacles and stay above the waters by embracing the opportunities to be a better servant for the Lord. By believing that He has conquered the world. May God bless and keep you in his protection, love and grace as you journey in Jesus’ name. Amen  1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 “Now we do not want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life]. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again [as in fact He did], even so God [in this same way–by raising them from the dead] will bring with Him those [believers] who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” ~AMP
A woman was asked to describe the process of Chemotherapy. She responded by saying that it reminded her of an ‘empty chair’. After being asked to elaborate on that view she said, “You go into a room with other people that are going through the same process as you are. Throughout the process, we talk and get to know each other. Eventually we all get to be close like a family sharing our stories through our endurance. Then one day you come to the room and notice an empty chair. That chair where a friend of mine once sat.” When we lose our loved ones or close friends it hurts. That hurt is hard to live with. There are those of us who will tell you that you never get over seeing that ‘empty chair’. But there is something we can do and there is something we must know. First we must take everything we have learned from our lost loved one. All that they were in affecting the good in others. We must allow that characteristic in that person to flow from us so that it may seed the same goodness in others as it did in us. Second, we must remember who we are. We are believers in the One True King. We are children of God. He loves and takes care of us. Through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ, death has been defeated. Believing in the power of the cross allows us to know that God will one day raise, "...all who have fallen asleep in Jesus…” The power of everlasting life will surpass all pain where death tries to bring sorrow. When you find yourself falling spiritually in grief, remember, Jesus has conquered the world, and He has conquered death. May God bless and keep you strong, healed and protected in Jesus name. Amen  1 Corinthians 3:5-9 “Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us–-servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working.” ~MSG
Paul is saying some good stuff here. We may plant seeds in the soil. Watering them as needed. But we still wait on God with his creative power for the seeds to grow into the flowers or vegetables they are to be. Let’s take this concept into what we do when we attempt to help our brothers and sisters in need. Whether it be trying to help someone financially or someone with an addiction, we must realize as servants there is only so much we can do under our own power. When we do not realize this, we get caught up with unnecessary feelings that come from anxiety. Anxiety that feeds our want and need for ‘success’. We want to feel like we have accomplished victory in our loved one’s shortcomings. But that is a victory we cannot achieve under our own power, In other words, not by ourselves. We must always understand that we are just servants who plant and water. We can plant the ideas and direction in helping our loved ones get financially independent. We can water the seeds we have planted in our loved ones going through addiction. But, physically that is as far as we can go as servants in the field of our Lord. After this we pray. We pray to God because it is Him who has the power of growth to be given to our loved ones. It is God who has the power of healing for those emotionally wounded. Asking God to guide us in doing our part in this miracle that is about to happen, is important. Then, we listen and follow God’s guidance. It is the power of the King that this miracle, the miracle that will come, will be from Him and Him alone. Our loved one’s will need this wisdom because this is what they will lean on to battle their demonic situations. This is what they will need to feed their spirits so that they will have ‘Holy Spirit help’ in battling their fleshly desires. Our part is to plant seeds and water those seeds with spiritual guidance. But it is God “...who gives the growth…’ of their strength and desire to live righteously. So, don’t blame yourselves. Instead focus that energy on praying for guidance as you do your part in lending assistance to our loved ones. After all, it is God who brought you together with them in the first place. He knows what He is doing. Let it be God who will give you both growth, through His miracle.  Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~ESV
I have a memory of me when I was attending pre-school on the campus of Tennessee State University here in Nashville. The pre-school was in a building just across the street from Historic Hadley Park. How do I remember something I went through during my pre-school era? Well, it is because it was terrifying. My mother and I were about to get on an elevator. When the doors opened, I went in, like we always do. Now, I don’t remember what I was preoccupied with, but whatever it was, I didn’t realize I was on the elevator alone. My mother was talking to someone and she did not see me get on the elevator. When the doors shut, I turned around and realized I was by myself. Cut off from my only resource, my mother. I was terrified. I remember yelling and screaming because I was so afraid of being alone. In life, anxiety, fear and confusion lead us in the direction of our mistakes. They also lead us to make some bad decisions in our lives. We may not know it, but it comes from an embedded fear of thinking we are alone. We think we have to do things by ourselves. We think, if we don’t decide who will? What we don’t realize is, as God’s children, we must totally rely on God’s direction in our lives. When we go through our ‘elevator’ experiences in life, we must learn to stay calm, because God will never let anything happen to us. Just as the scripture above says, nothing can separate us from God and His love for us. Not even a pair of elevator doors. My mother eventually got that elevator to come back to where she was. And when those doors opened, I ran to her and hugged her with tears in my eyes. I remember her saying to me, “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.” Today as I remember her saying that, I not only hear her voice as clear as if it were yesterday; I also hear my Savior’s voice as well saying the same thing. Today, I know that I am not alone. We must continue to build our relationship with the Father so that we can hear Him when He leads. Knowing that he will bring that ‘elevator’, the one we are trapped in, right back to him and open the doors to a new level in our lives. A level we will have earned in the endurance of our fears. Knowing that we are not alone is the first step in embracing our calling as servants to the Most High. Knowing that God will always direct our path and never allow anything to separate us from Him. May God continue to bless you with power, protection and wisdom as you journey in Jesus’ name. Amen  James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” ~CSB
We hear the term, ‘relationship’ tossed around in church all the time. When it’s in the air like that do we actually catch it, or even try? If not, let’s see if I can catch it for you and give it to you. When we think about the action of ‘relationship’, think about it in the form of a question. For instance, what if someone asked you, “Hey, how well do you know your mama?” Wow, what a question! Our first reaction may be a feeling of being insulted. Who has the right to ask another about their mother? We ponder, ‘what are they trying to say?’ 'That’s my mama you talking about!' Feelings of frustration and curiosity to know why we are asked a question like that. Why, because we know our mothers. Now, let’s take that same question and put it a little different. “How well do you know Jesus?” Our reaction to this is much different. We come up with a lot of excuses to defend why we are Christians, “I got to church ‘every’ Sunday.” I ‘read’ my Bible!’ ‘I do Bible Study every week!’ But none of these excuses have the conviction we had when someone asked about how well we knew our own mothers. That, brother and sisters, is the example of ‘relationship’. If we do not have the same conviction about God, in the question asked, that we had when asked about our own mothers, we need to change some things up in our lives. When asked, “How well do you know God…” we should be ready to give a defense to how we feel! We should tell others about John 3:16, that God loves us so much that He sacrificed His One and Only Son. That we believe in this with all our hearts. And we show this and testify to this by sharing our relationship with God and what He has done in our lives. And if we are not there yet. In other words if we seek that godly relationship with the Father then we should pray for it. David helps us with our prayer in Psalm 143:8-12. Just ask God in thanksgiving following these scriptures in Psalm: Ask him to give us the experience of His love in the mornings when we wake. Ask Him to reveal to us the way we should travel in this world on the path He chose for us. Ask Him to rescue and protect us from our enemies. Go to Him for protection. And ask Him to teach us how to do His will in this world and lead us on ‘...level ground…’ Our relationship with God is important in how He uses His power within us. Not only to bless us, but others around us; our families, friends, co-workers and strangers. God wants all his children to have a chance at salvation and His best work is done through us. It is up to us to build that strong relationship with God. Just like we did with our mothers. Take the initiative to draw closer to God, and He will draw closer to you. May God bless and keep you safe, loved and healed in His Son Jesus’ name. Amen |
Authors Billy & YolandaThis is the place where we share our heart through God's Word in faith that will inspire and empower you to live in peace. Archives
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