God desires for us...

Eph. 1:9-10: He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him. (NASB)

Eph. 3:20-21 - Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (NASB)

God desires for us, is that he wishes us well, and always desire for us the things we keep deep in ours heart that is god-right for us; even if it breaks us…It is part of the process… We many times wonder if today is the day one of them will become apparent in our reality in a tangible way. And it is found for us in the place of remembrance, but it is a place you have not ever been except in your mind’s eye and/or dreams world visitation. Yet, the day has come, you have arrived, and time has permitted you to be there, and it is now. Know there are no coincident in life, and all things are here to teach you, to show you, and to allow you space to be you. No one really seek to hurt all they hurt, but our actions always leave unexpected casualties in our destructive behavior it seems. Yet, there are nuggets of blessing lying in what seems to be a waste land, and it acts as a catalyst that changes someone life as well as ourselves. We just have to seek the lesson; always, not just complain. I heard the other night this definition for forgiveness, and thought, it would do me well to remember this - forgiveness is realizing it could not have happen any other way - therefore, you can stop wondering woulda, shoulda, coulda, if I had, they had, etc, and be free to move forward with our lives...wink...

Know the time is approaching, quickly, for us to make some critical choices in our life.WE are at the threshold of embarking on living beyond what we see, if we desire, beyond the truth that kept us in the mindset of deny, deny, deny, wait, wait, wait, and then panic. Now, we have the opportunity to be authentic with ourself, in a way we have never before. As this come to us, we have to become more judicious with your giving, and 'about me' is no longer the baseline of anything we do anymore, even in a subliminal way. As you help another, you are helping you, do not miss the opportunity standing before you. It shall be found in places of unexpected, in people you tried to avoid, and the choices, stance, you rather not take. It is there you shall find your authenticities speaking the loudest, the boldest, and most resolutely. Do not hesitate in fear, fear is only meant to let you know, this is a new frontier go with God focus; nothing more.

Learn the lessons you sometime thought you knew, but you really didn't. So, try this on as a new way growth for you, as you explain, comprehend; as you clarify, grasp; as you illuminate to others, you clear your perspective lens, and as you challenge others to do, you begin doing the hard things you have hesitated on, while no longer going where the angels dared not tread...smiling. Stand and know, He is God, He has not forgotten, and His promise upon your life shall come to pass for you, if you embrace the lessons He has for you, and let go of the mess that is so easily enticing you into the madness, you say, you want out of. See we choose, more than we think with our words, actions, focus, interactions, and choices of friends; we impact more than we intend, and longer than we know, so act with a godly responsibly and accountability..smiling...

Know this, God shall fill the empty spaces in our lives with love, if we are open to his ways, inspite of the turmoil, we are so many time, fixate on. Just remember, his ways is out of order with man - you have to give, to receive; to be a blessing to others, you must be broken, and you must do, when it hurts because it is the god-right to do...wink.. Then, you will know what peace is in the midst of the storm is really is…

Just keep on believing, and never give up or think it is too late. If you are breathing, then it is not too late because it is only too late if you decide it is...You decide, it is your choice, and it is you...smiling

Haunting whispers of grace….

We cannot move forward in the 21st century church in the framework of God’s messages without understanding the grace revelation upon the 1st century church. This is where intention and purpose collided, thus kingdom agenda is set. See the power of Pentecost was not the exponential growth; that was one of the results. The power came from the haunting whisper of the Holy Spirit that descended upon the diversity of people in different tongues simultaneously. Where the people were willing to accept the difference, surrender to what was not seen, submit to a truth not known, and obey a voice of reason that stood of faith alone. However, in the age of technology and my needs, my life, my wants, we have become selfish and lost sight of the true meaning of seeking God. We have put our values on the wrong things in this life, thus, leading us to a disillusion lifestyle. We focus on the material things in this life, because we have forgot these are only consequences, outcomes, products of a work, not worth. Yet, we have made them what define us, our worth; it was never meant to be that way. All of the material things will fade, pass away, but what remains always with us is not quantifiable. Yet, the depth, the height, and the width of it is immeasurable, and take us to the infinite places. See it is not the trophy we are weepy eyed over, it is the spirit and the emotional high of all that went into getting there. For we succeed in this life mostly by offering ourselves to others – our listening ear, our lasting smile, our invaluable time, our warm hug, and our loving heart. This takes us back to the 1st church when life was simpler, and the convolution of technology did not over take us. I am not saying, we should abandon or even do without technology, rather I am resolute in saying – we must look to the past to understand how to appreciate what we have today to better communicate the message that has not change, the truths that are absolute, and the love that is unconditional. The haunting whisper reminds us, these are just tools to us, not ever meant to take away from the human touch, only to assist in achieving the human touch. Teaching us to be who God called us to be, and not the unrealized frustrated person, underutilized fragmented life, or the dream deferred, for you see Jesus is truly the living word that breathes light in our darkness, and life into our dry bones. Acts. 2:39- The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call. (NIV)....we choose to become, we choose to believe, we choose to change...Jesus has chosen, have you?

For your remembrance....

A strong person knows how to keep their life in order. With tears in their eyes they still manage to say "I'm ok", and know in their soul God is good. Realizing change is coming because HE sees your faith. He is preparing you for a great transformation in your life that only comes through the same process that yields the harvest from the seed. It has to be buried, go into darkness, and transform into the thing it will become. Yet, that happens through the seed breaking out of current shell. Its like the bee who aerodynamically should not fly but God! divine design woven its existence requires it to go through the struggle. The struggles, the working of the wings so that they are strengthen and strong enough to sustain; allowing the bee to fly. So, must it be done in nature, so must it be done with man. If we keep moving like the bee and let go in the natural order of the seed, we will find hard times are over. See in those crucial and pivatol moments, what we desire to not take part in, we need to realize God is trying to get us to let go, and let God. For He will heal all that is reveal, address all that is confronted, and restore all that needs repairing. We just have to keep the faith and trust that Great truly is His Mercy toward us, day after day, after day. Even when we do not think He is there he is because when we cannot see and feel God. We must know, HE sees and feels us, and we are not forgotten. As my pastor says, it is in the book –
Jer 51:52-53 - I know, but trust me: The time is coming" —God's Decree—"When I will bring doom on her no-god idols, and all over this land her wounded will groan. Even if Babylon climbed a ladder to the moon and pulled up the ladder so that no one could get to her. That wouldn't stop me. I'd make sure my avengers would reach her." God's Decree, (MSG) and we cannot forget Psalm 139:7-12 - Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night," Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day darkness and light are alike to You (NASB). Believe and receive what God has for you, and see what the end gonna be!...You choose!!

What heard that resonated with me...

I heard something today that set me free. I have come to believe this – when people show you who they are, believe them. However, what I heard today is this – stop trying to fix or make people be what they are not. I was like wow! How much time, words, energy, and even money do we spend on trying to make someone into what we think, or what they say want? Yet, everything they do is in direct opposition to what is being spoken. They may say the right words, know all the answers but nothing has click in them to work for it. So, what do we do, we keep at them trying to get them to move on what it either because they asked, or we think this is the best for them. WE have missed the most important part of this, the individual(s) being an active participant engaging in their own transformation. We cannot want the change more than the person who is changing desires it. It only makes both individuals frustrated and miserable. It becomes a slow erosion of a light all because we do not let go, and let God, or let the person be. We were never meant to change anyone so that he or she reaches their potential or obtain growth. What we are called to be is the change we wish see, model the behavior and the character, we teach, but once again folks it is the person. They choose whether it is important to them or not to do, if it is not important to them to change, then we have no right to force, to badger, to push them. They must always be active participants in their own transformation. We can help them, but we cannot make them be this thing, we think they should, or what they say they want, if the person is not putting in the work. Is it painful to see a loved one, or a person with great potential fail; yes! But you are not God. You are not the Master-craftsman who fashion each of us with exact precision of a steady love to create the unabashed beauty that is to be forged by life fires and groom by the Prince of Peace loving redemptive grace as we reassured through the Holy Spirit presence. WE cannot do an extreme makeover on people like we do on things, because you need their consent and willingness to make it happen. Telling others what not wear with our words and not with our actions does not to inspire others to engage in change. We cannot make people change, but we can give them an example to follow, and behold through our living, our actions, our words, our giving.

At some point we must let go, we must release ourselves and the other person to choose, for them. We are to shake the dust off our feet, and move on to place you can help. However, we need to remember, we will never get what we do not give; so check yourself first because you cannot expect to convince someone you seek their best in a public forum, or in front others. When you personally harbor their worst, or do not think the individual will ever make it; they respond to your truth. Letting go, forgiving others, makes this process easier to do, but the process to get here is difficult at best because it is in our nature as men and women to fix, make better, to mold, to whittle, to figure out, or to sculpt. Yes, things we can shape, configure, but people must desire it. If you ever get lost on this point, remember this – you do not like people trying to make you change or fix you. …Matthew 10:14 – ‘If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. (NIV)’ …WE were never meant to force anything onto person, only to provide the words and mold it to encourage…. “

So you want to be a blessing to others....

So you want to be a blessing? Well to be a blessing you must be broken, and then transformed so that what needs to be healed can be revealed. You cannot help anyone if you never known any kind pain. You cannot understand what has no meaning to you, thus, you cannot help another. I am not saying there are not some people who have the ability to get it bit that God. For most of us, if you desire to be a blessing, you must submit your will to God’s, and that means you are no longer in control. This is what it is all about right, submitting to God? When you desire to be a blessing you have the awesome gift of having burdens and blessings as a mantle to wear. See a blessing means a declaration of divine favor, or an invocation imploring divine favor on someone or something. Now that is awesome to receive, but it is not free, or without a cost to us. It requires accepting what is not seen, seeking what cannot be validated, and being silent when words are attacking your tongue. Being a blessing does not mean you have no trouble or there is no struggles but it does mean you are able to help others find there way out of no way, and achieve peace in the midst of a tsunami knowing God will do what he said, he would regardless of our insecurity or fears. Being a blessing is having the remnants of your favor; leftovers provide an increase in others lives. Yet, being a blessing to other requires a humble spirit that knows how to choose their battle, and understand in the end, we win, even though, outlook is grim. The battle is occurring, the wars seemed to be wage without ceasing – either in the spiritual or one in the carnal, and at times there is a simultaneous battles. Being a blessing requires an examination of personal beliefs and values as you realizes alternative conflict resolution skills are now part of arsenal – Ecc. 9:11 - I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all (NIV). We have to get beyond the theoretical understanding where we espouse the rhetorical statements about the subject of being a blessing, to the place application into our life perspective, and implemented in our lens we see life through. Then the being a blessing will take the transformative function it was meant to be …Luke 9:16 - Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people. (ASB). ..We have to broken and blessed to be a blessing…

How we give, is how we live

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Cor. 9:7 NIV)

How we give, is how we live. We give with the focus on an immediacy of return, then that is what you get. However, we should not look at this act of giving to have a future impact of increase because we gave for necessity, it is for right now. No more, no less. Done, we do not get anything else from this. Yet, when we give, act, or contribute out of necessity, we become upset because a declaration of divine favor is not received. It was not suppose to be, remembered you gave out of necessity, it necessitates right now, not for a future increase upon your life. Actually, it does the direct opposite because what you put out, you get back; we mirrored. And yet, we are overwhelmingly surprised when the flood gates of abundance do not come our way. We have to remember life generally gives you what you put into it.
Now what about the second part of the verse, not to give of reluctantly, unenthusiastically, stingily or bittlerly, these will not come back with a pleasant surprise. Yet, we think as long as I gave, act, or did, it should not matter because in the end what was needed was obtained. Asked yourself, what happened when someone did this for you, or gave you something with this attitude. How did you like it? I am betting, not so much. See once again, we receive what we put out; it is mirrored whether we like it or not. It is amazing thing how we get all flustered, tensed, or ill at ease when we are treated in such way by another in their giving, doing, or behaving, but think nothing of it when we do it to others. This is why, it is important to be a cheerful giver because it reduces the times where you will have to encounter, face, or endure the other two. Yet, it does means no more acting from the position of a selfish place, and most of the time we fail in our actions as cheerful because we let the feelings, emotions dictate what we do in the heat, and the cool of the moment. An insidious quality of ‘my’ perspective ideology characterize typically by a narrow focus that is not inclusive of forgiveness. Yet, its effects and define the entire person through one frequently replayed, and 'revealing' moment of our authentic self. This is us, as we give as of necessity and/or grudgingly. We capture the essence of what should be or do in a distort lens, and we lose out on the blessings that achieve peace in the midst of a tsunami. All because we refuse to lay down our hurt feelings, deal with our anger, and remember it is not about us. And ultimately, it is more blesseth to give than receive in the arithmetic of God! This God loves a cheerful giver, and it matters for our future, our present, and our yesterdays....How we give, is how we live...we choose.

Love, honor, and obey?!

1 Cor. 13: 13 - And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

This weekend I went to a wedding, and found myself listening to this contemporary commentary on the Love, honor, and obey part of the ceremony for the woman. I hear it all the time where women want that part changed or taken out. But here is the thing, obey means pay attention to, listen to, or give ear to; there is nothing derogatory about it. The problems lies in what we have made it to mean, not what it truly means. We consider it to be archaic to embrace this phrase but we do not think it is archaic to embrace the idea the man should be the bread winner, or the man should take care of the cars. When you, the woman, could be the better person to do those things for the betterment of the household, and balance of harmony for everyone. Yet, we pick and choose what we will adhere to, and then wonder why things are not going so well with us. Things are not going so well with us because we have this strange addiction to power and control. Power and control are not things you have to prove, they are just there; if you have to prove you have power and control, then you are right you do not have it. One does not have fight to keep what it really theirs; it cannot be taken from you. It has to be given up, and you should not give ‘anything’ to another person who does not have your best at heart, or you have not been directed by God to submit, because ultimately He, the Father, does have your best at heart. So, if you are debating the issue having love, honor, and obey in your vows at the marriage ceremony, I would suggest you take a step back and ask yourself – should I be marrying this person because I am not at a point where I can submit, so I can commit. It states in 1 Corinthians 13 about the greatest of the things pointed out in this chapter, is charity, love. If this is the most important one, then why do we focus on another one, for a point of discussion? For if you love me, are you going to ask me to do something intentionally to hurt me, destroy me, or shame? I think not. I know the argument about women being property, not having rights but that did not matter if your husband loved you, he treated you with the due respect you desire, regardless of the order of the day, and was willing to deal with the ‘peanut gallery remarks’. I also know words matter, more than we think, and if those words do not speak to your love and new covenant relationship, then all means change it. However, the real problem is not the vow itself; it is the power we gave it. We as a society made it an absolute in our lives, for the institution of marriage, when it was really a relative statement, and if we desire to know what an absolute is when it comes to any relationship. We seek the wisdom from the bible, the Father, not man or man’s feelings that are emotional based. We find the inane to debate and focus on while leaving the meat of the matter lingering on the edges, and then we wonder why this is not working as it should. Well, we have the order in reverse, and when the order is wrong until it align correctly, it does not work. The main focus in the marriage is the unconditional love, abiding trust, and the willing submission of both for each other and the good of the union with the Father holding the headship position… Thus, love, honor, and obey, or because you complete me, whether your marriage vow is, as Christian it should be biblically sound, and the Father stated approval so the relationship shall stand the test of living and growing in to the perfect union for the two in the marriage having at the foundation unconditional love…We choose, we decide, we abide.