Plant the seed!

“Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭9:6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Last year I started a garden in the midst of a pandemic. The care and pride I took in that garden yielded me a great harvest of different things and gave me more than I could handle to the point I was able to supply family and friends with some. This year with things poking back up I was not able to tend to the garden like last year. I tried to plant some sweet potatoes and I got a few that were good. I pulled those up to try to plant some other things this year. To my surprise when I went to turn the soil and get it ready for next year I found a huge sweet potato that had grown that I didn’t even know was there.

HERE IT IS…

Plant the seeds no matter what! I tried to put a time table and research how long it should take for sweet potatoes to grow but my timing is not his timing. If you plant the seeds and let them take there course it will soon develop and show up just when you thought that you had gotten everything that you thought you would. The seed is not designed to grow and develop the way you want it to. Your job is to plant and make sure it has what it needs. Not grow it too. Let God produce what you asked for. Just plant the seed.

Accepted

“For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When I was in the military I was stationed in Fort Sheridan, IL and thinking of moving here to VA. In order to be transferred from one base to another and from one state to another I had to fill out transfer papers and then the station here in VA had to accept me and approve it. After a lot of paperwork and back and forth my paperwork was approved and I was accepted into the station here in VA.

HERE IT IS…

I am so glad that in order to be called a child of God I didn’t have to go through a approval process. I am so glad I didn’t have to be questioned about what type of person I am. I am so glad that the requirements were only to accept his son as my savior and to live for him. Thank you God for accepting me just as I am to be in your kingdom and to live for you.

Show them

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. 
James 3:13‭-‬16 NLT

How do people know your faith? How are people able to distinguish between you being a Christian, and not being a Christian? I tell you the truth it’s not about what you wear, and who you are, and what you have, but it’s all about how you live. It’s about what you do through your life that sets you apart from the world.

HERE IT IS…

It’s about your ability to understand just who God is and has been to you that makes you different. Your life speaks volumes about you and your love for Christ. When you finally make the choice to do things differently in your life is what shows everyone that you have consciously made a decision in your life to make Christ the head of your life. Trust in God who created you and makes you who you are. Let’s show the world who we are.

Deserving?

“But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.””
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I can remember going to award assembly for my children when they were in elementary and middle school. Seeing them March in and sitting there waiting for their name to be called so I can cheer there name and show them how proud of them I was. Afterward, going out to lunch or dinner to celebrate their achievements. It was showing them appreciation for their hard work that they had done no matter the reason. However, I also remember those parents faces when their child’s name was not called.

HERE IT IS…

What will God say about you? When your sitting in front waiting for your name to be called. Seeing all the people looking at you wondering what was about to be said. What will the Lord say about your actions and if your going to get what you deserve. Will he say, well done? Or will he say, be gone from me? What you do here on earth will determine what you receive from God. It all depends on what you do here and now and not just what you say you will do.

Go back

“This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭91:2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When I was a child I remember when things happened I knew who I could run to for help and safety, my father. One Sunday after church me and some friends were playing and started to get a little rowdy. I had just come out with my father and he was standing on the steps outside of the church. He had in a black suit. As we started to get rowdy some said something to us and I ran to go to my father. Without looking I ran to where I remembered my father being but my father had moved from that spot. I was looking for him but I didn’t see him but he saw me. Came and grabbed me by the hand.

HERE IT IS…

No matter what I know where I can run to get to the father. I know where my father is. I know what he wears. I know also that if I just run back to where I last remembered him being, he will see me l, come and grab me and lead me to where I need to be. It’s really not complicated. It’s really not hard. If your lost. If your hurting. If your confused. Go to where he was and he will come get you, grab you by the hand and lead you to safety.

True love

“My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:7-10‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Lenny Williams said it best in his hit song when he was talking to his friends, “maybe you’ve never been in love like I’ve been in love…” That statement is true and we all have had our own experiences with love. But, if we are talking about it and how it used to be then it seems that it was not a mutual deal. Or, the love faded away. Sometimes people just grow apart. Nah, people grow up and get tired truthfully. But I will use what Lenny said. Maybe you have never been in love like I’m in love NOW!

HERE IT IS…

Where I learned what true love is was not from a person. Where I learned what true love is was not from a show. Where I learned what true love is was not from a song. It was from a blood stained cross. It was from the stripes on his body. It was from the crown of thorns in n his head. It was from the open wound n his side. His nail scared hands and feet. That’s where I learned what true love was. Someone who sacrificed for me not based on what I could do for them but based on the fact that I exist. There is no greater love than Gods love through his son Jesus.

My response

“Then Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the Lord! The Lord has made me strong. Now I have an answer for my enemies; I rejoice because you rescued me. No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭2:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Boxing is one of my favorite sports and Muhammad Ali is one of my favorite fighters of all time. One of the great things about him is his showmanship. Like the time that he was so hype about his fight at the weigh in that they couldn’t take his blood pressure until he calm down. Ali has never been at a loss for words even when he broke his jaw in a fight against Joe Frazier. He always had a come back in words and in the ring for his enemies.

HERE IT IS…

What response do you give your enemies? What response do you give your problems? What response do you give your situation? Hannah prayed and said first that her heart rejoices in the Lord. Her response was rejoicing because of who God is. No one is Holy like the Lord. No one besides the Lord. No rock like the Lord. What’s your response when things arise? There is no one like the Lord. What’s your response? Holy is our God. What’s your response? He has rescued me. You have an answer to your enemies and situations. Praise is what we do!!!

Obey the law

“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

One day as I was leaving work I ran into traffic. The traffic was bumper to bumper and we were just inching along. I was riding my motorcycle that day and it was a beautiful summers day. As I’m sitting there in traffic I’m seeing others riding their motorcycle bypassing the traffic to get closer to the front by riding on the shoulder. One after another they fly by and I’m just sitting there inching along. All of a sudden I hear a voice yelling “aye bro”. I look to my right and a young man hanging out the window says, “I appreciate you and your integrity”. I pushed my helmet up and told him thank you and he basically escorted me through traffic.

HERE IT IS…

Walk in integrity! You do not have to do something just because others are doing it and you will be a better person for it. When you obey God’s laws he will bless you beyond what you could have thought. As we were about to break out of traffic I rode pass those same guys that rode on the shoulder as they were receiving their tickets from the state trooper who was sitting at the front. Do what’s right and God will escort you pass anything that passed you by.

Answer

“Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.””
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Imagine being the only one in a room with God. Imagine see his robe filling the room and there are angels flying around. All the angels are singing in a loud voice Holy,Holy, Holy! With there loud voice the room shakes and it feels like and earthquake. The room is shaking the walls are moving. The loud noise of grumbling coming from your feet while smoke feels the room but yet you still are able to hear the angels sing and you see the glory of the Lord. In the midst he ask a question. “Whom should I send?”

HERE IT IS…

Can you focus on God enough when things are breaking down around you to answer his call? Can you set your mind and yes on him enough to still hear him when it seems that everything around you is about to fall apart? Can you cancel out what other s are doing around you to be able ti focus on what he is saying. Good know your life may seem like it’s falling apart. It may seem that things are in shambles. My be one thing after another, after another. Can you worship him in the midst to answer his call?

Publicity stunt

““I tell you the truth, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels. But anyone who denies me here on earth will be denied before God’s angels. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭12:8-10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I love how social media works today. The way that things don’t mean nothing until you post it or see it on social media. Once the relationship stays is changed m, then your in a relationship. Your not engaged to nail we see the video. You don’t have the job until it’s seen on social media. Everything has to be made public in order for everyone to know or think that it’s real. Truth of the matter is we make it so that people know that it’s real and receive some form of gratification and validation from it. Some of us are living social media life with a real life trauma going on.

HERE IT IS…

Do you publicly love God? Does your social media match your real life? We can place all the scriptures we want and say “won’t he do it” all we want. But, does your life really reflect the things you say? I have never seen God be one way in the Bible and another way in my life. The sad truth is that’s not only how we live but how we treat God as well. Publicly (social media) we are holy. While in real life damaging the relationship. Change your status not only on social media, but also in real life.