Thanksgiving Friday!

Today I am a little sleepy, ya'll. Was up early and in the bed late yesterday, so I'm feeling it now. Still, I am thankful! God is so so good.

I'm grateful for the privilege to work with some fabulous young people. I'm telling you, no matter how much we may shake our heads and worry about the next generation, there are some young ones who are on the track of greatness. I am consistently impressed and motivated by their hunger to make their mark in the world.

Take a moment and do something positive for the children and teenagers that are coming up behind you. You never know how much of an impact your words or service will have. Plus, you could be the one voice of 'reason' that they respond to. You never know!

Lord, bless these teens and keep them on the straight and narrow.

I'm also thankful for change. There's a couple of friends of mine who are moving to new places, shifting to new jobs, entering into marriage... There's change going on all around me. I'm happy for them, and I'm excited too because I know that my turns coming! God I thank you for blessing the ones that I love, and I pray that they continue to follow Your lead and guidance.

Be sure to give God some praise and thanksgiving today. Have a great weekend!

Verse of the Day: Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Psalm 34:11

Zip the Lips!

Currently I am on a quest to diminish and eventually eradicate my complaining. It's gotten to the point where I notice when I'm in the middle of the complaint, and I get ticked at myself for what I'm saying. It's just so unnecessary. Half the time nobody's around to hear me groan anyway.

Things are bound to happen that we don't appreciate, and people are going to act in ways that make us cringe. There is a time and place to acknowledge those moments. However, every little thing that rubs us the wrong way does not need an accompanying comment of derision.

As Christians, we are the salt of the earth. (Matthew 5:13) We are supposed to be living our lives in a way that "seasons" the world with God's love. Walking around spreading our sour grapes is counter-intuitive to our mission. We should be speaking life. We should be recognizing the good in others. We should be praising and uplifting those around us.

Also, we have been blessed with the privilege to live our lives in direct fellowship with the Creator of this universe! We live with the benefit of being His children and with the knowledge that we will spend eternity in heavenly splendor! Every moment we breathe should embody our remembrance and gratitude for these things.

So, that one person messed up. - A-gain. Yeah, it's extremely hot out, and you hate the heat. Your boss is getting on your nerves with the same old foolishness. Yes, you have to repeat the same thing to the same people over and over and over again!

Trust me - out of anybody - I GET IT! But, we also need to get an understanding of Whose we are and what we have been blessed with.

We're King's kids! Blessed by the Best and headed for eternal glory. Those other things are minuscule in comparison! Let's zip our lips and keep it moving.

Verse of the Day: Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Ephesians 4:29

Yeah, He Knows Your Heart Alright...

One of the top phrases that sets my "Fake and Phony Meter" off is God knows my heart.

I have no issue with the phrase, I have issues with the users of the phrase. More often than not the speakers of this line utilize it to appear like they care about the things of God, but they really just want to do their own thing.

The line is given as a trite excuse, a lame cover-up, and a token get-out-of-service-free card. I've seen it used so many different ways:

I know I don't attend church regularly... but God knows my heart.
I would give tithes to the church, but I have this trip I'm saving for... God knows my heart.
So I like to spend the occasional late night doing things that I know God doesn't approve of... He knows my heart.

Yeah, He knows your heart alright. He knows that deep down, you don't do all those things because you don't want to. He knows that your heart is not fully in love with Him because you still selfishly hold on to all the things that you want to despite His displeasure with them.

Think about what you're saying! God knows your heart. Think about it. Let it sink in. He knows the true reasons for everything you do. He knows how deeply you love Him. He knows how much you want to be obedient and follow His will.

He also knows how much you don't.

No condemnation. Just a little food for thought. Before you pull out that old tried and trite excuse that you love to lean on, be honest with yourself and God. Better the truth than a lie.

For those of you that use the words justly, I'm not knocking you. Just pray for the phrase abusers.

Verse of the Day: Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

The Fruit of Longsuffering

Did you know that one of the evidences that you are living in God's Spirit is that you are able to endure injury, trouble, or provocation long and patiently? That is the exact definition of longsuffering which is one of the Fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22)

Just thinking on that shifts my entire outlook! A character trait that I'm supposed to have as a Christian is that I endure long periods of trouble. Could that be why all these things are swirling around me? Maybe God's trying to put some fruit of longsuffering on my tree!

When we encounter times of trials, we want God to fix things quick. We see it as our right as His children to ask Him to take away the pain and the suffering. We are king's kids! Nothing good should be withheld from us!

Yet, maybe those times of hurt and those times of heartache were allowed to foster the fruit of longsuffering in our lives. God may have allowed the pain to work on our patient trust in Him.

It's easy to trust someone that immediately responds, always has a ready word, and quickly moves on our behalf. It's much harder to wait - patiently - for someone to come through after we have asked (sometimes more than once) and a significant time period has elapsed.

Did they hear us the first time? Are they going to be able to fulfill the request? Do they even care? Can't they see that we're in trouble?!

All of those questions we should already have the answers to when it comes to our Heavenly Father. We should already know that he hears us, is able to help us, cares about us, and sees that we're hurting. Yet, it is in the times of extended trials that we are able to prove that to Him and to ourselves.

Can you continue to trust God in the midst of an extended trial? Do you have some fruit of longsuffering hanging from your spiritual tree?

As you continue to seek God concerning those issues that you are facing, allow Him to perfect the fruit of longsuffering in your life.

Verse of the Day: But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 1 Peter 5:10

Afternoon Ti: Is It All A Dream?

Can I cut back in for a moment?


So, this morning I was doing my normal blog trolling – reading up on the latest news of the day, and getting my laughs in from my favorite blogs. I came across a new blog that had listed a quote from Terrance J, an on-air personality from BET:

…when following your dreams you will be temporarily inconvenienced…

Now, I know Terrance J may not be the most insightful person on the planet, but today that little line rang like a gong in my head. I found myself asking myself whether I was inconvenienced lately for my dreams. The answer was no.

It’s funny. I can put my life on a rigid schedule where I am up late after putting in 8 hours at the job, doing homework on my lunch, and going to the library for hours on Saturdays in order to get this Master’s degree.

But I can’t set aside a few moments consistently to accomplish the dreams that I hold dear. I can’t turn off the tv for a few moments. I find myself to be too exhausted to work. I get caught up in the little things and lose all my free time.

Clearly, I like dreaming. Living would just take too much more effort, I suppose.

So sad.

And so telling.

Evidently my dreams are not as important to me as I thought. I seriously need to get motivated.

Are you being ‘inconvenienced’ for a dream? I hope so! The payoff will be sweet.

Back to your regularly scheduled program…

Stick With It!

The Lord sees all that we do. He sees our faithful work, dedication, and drive. He hears our cries for help and is moved by our struggles. He sees it all, and He's working it all together for our good.

We can become discouraged at times from the day-to-day monotony of working our purpose in God. At times it can seem like what we're doing isn't worth it, that we're not appreciated, or that someone else is doing a much better job than we're trying to do.

As we continue to remain faithful, however, God has a way of causing every little thing to fit together in a beautiful story of fulfillment. We will reach a place where we can look back and see how God sustained us, elevated us, and caused us to do what we never would have dared to dream.

Don't get weary in well doing! Don't allow the cares of this world to keep you from finishing your work in God! Continue to persevere and stay with the call of God on your life!

Even Jesus had moments where He grew frustrated while ministering to people who weren't fully grasping what He was teaching. (Matthew 17:17) But He stuck with them, and those very men turned the world upside down after Jesus went back to glory.

Stay with the vision! Don't give up! If it's from God, your work is not in vain. God will reward your work in due season.  Keep on pressing... God's sending the blessing.

Verse of the Day: Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD... Jeremiah 31:16a

Thanksgiving Friday!

Folks, another week has gone by! Can you believe it's June? Time is flying past!

Today I'm thankful for God's revelation. Last night, our church had an awesome Bible study learning about giving. It is so important that we have a Kingdom mindset! So often we're concerned about me, me, ME that we forget that our number one priority as a Christian is souls.

Yes, God wants you to live a blessed, happy, prosperous life. He wants your heart's desires to be fulfilled and your dreams to come true. But more than anything, He wants your unsaved neighbors, friends, and loved ones to experience His love in the same way that you do. For some, the only way that will happen is through your life's witness.

It's time for us to get our focus right! When we do, He take care of all those other things.

I'm so grateful for the wisdom that God has given to me. I'm also thankful for being able to let go of this big issue that's been weighing on me lately. Now that I've truly given it up, I feel so much better, and I trust God to handle what I myself could not.

Have a blessed weekend, Everyone. Make sure you go out and be a blessing to someone else, too!

Verse of the Day: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33