Whatever it is

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭10:31‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Something good has to come out of it…
Do you know it takes years for a pearl to form in a oyster? In fact the pearl is not something that a oyster just does. In order for a pearl to form in a oyster it first has to get sick! In fact because of what the oyster eats it has a chance to get sick a lot. The oyster gets infected with a parasite through its shell, and once infection sets in it starts to cover the parasite in a liquid it produces. It keeps constantly covering this parasite and eventually gets to a point where the pearl is formed because over the years the liquid it releases keeps covering and enclosing this parasite until it has completely covered it and produces a pearl.

HERE IT IS…

In our life we can get infected with some stuff that God allowed to happen to us. I am reminded that the Bible says what was meant for evil God turned around for my good. Well if we keep it covered with pray I’m crazy enough to believe that eventually something good has to come out of it. What do you have that you think has come and infected your life? I dare you to have the faith to stand and look at that thing and cover it in constant prayer and believe something good is going to come out of it. If God can create a oyster to create a liquid to cover a infection to produce something that we value so highly, what do you think he can do with your situation…

Following hurts , but worth it

“He that followeth after righteousness and mercy Findeth life, righteousness, and honour.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭21:21‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Just when you think you have reached your limit of stuff you can take. Your shoulders are tense. Your mad and upset. Your crying and feeling defeated. Your tired and wanting to throw in the towel. Something else happens that pushes you closer to the edge, and at that point and only that point when you feel you are about to lose your mind. You feel like all hell is breaking loose and the ground feels like its crumbling beneath you. You realize that its not because of the stuff that’s happening or the hell that is around you nor is it the limit you have reached. ITS ACTUALLY GOD STRIPPING THE STUFF AWAY FROM YOU THAT YOU HAVE HAD A GRIP ON THAT HE WAS TRYING TO REMOVE FROM YOU ANYWAY. HE IS BREAKING THE GROUND BECAUSE YOU WOULDNT MOVE. HE IS MAKING YOU CRY TO HUMBLE YOU. YOUR NOT LOSING YOUR MIND HE IS LOOSENING YOUR GRIP AND YOUR MIND FROM EVERYTHING…

HERE IT IS…

Look up! Your at what you thought was the edge. Lift your head just wait until the smoke clears. Wipe your eyes you followed him this far. Stand to your feet. The ground is loose but your still able to stand. Smell the air. The rains are coming to clear the way. Don’t get so caught up in what’s breaking and falling. You have to remember when you follow God even the stuff that was a blessing had to be torn down to make room for what’s going to come. At some point you have to realize, YOU AREN’T GOING THROUGH YOUR PAIN
YOUR GETTING READY TO COME OUT…

Restoration

“God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23:1-3‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Have you read the 23rd Psalm in different versions? This is the Message version and it gives me chills to read it said in a different way. Yeah comparison verse 3 starts where it says, “True to your word, you let me catch my breath.” That is to say he restores my soul. Good will give you peace and rest. God will cover you when you feel like you cannot go on. He will restore you in a way like no other.

HERE IT IS…

What do you need God to restore? What do you need God to do in your life that makes you feel you can’t make it? How can God lift you out of the place that you are in. Psalms 23 is and has been a reminder that no matter what I go through. Where I’ve been. How long I have been there. I know that God can restore, replenish, reactivate, release things to you that you need. Don’t worry and get frustrated but know that he is Gid and he can do all things. You may be tired l. Feel broken. Fell devastated. But God is the healer of all wounds. He will restore you.

Love everyone

“Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This time of year a lot of us feel the warmth and strength of the word love. Even though this time of year has been commercialized and corrupted to measure love by gifts, that has been out measures for a long time. However, this time of year stands for more than just paper wrapped boxes and the way people react to their gift. It is a true symbol of love. This time of the year is where we see the level of love increase.

HERE IT IS…

Now that the presents have gone. The thrill of the Christmas morning and wake up leaves. As everyone goes back to normal life and the hustle and bustle of the week. I urge you to look to your left and your right wherever you are and notice that there maybe someone that has not been given the same opportunity as you. Your neighbor as the verse describes is not just the person next door, but the people around you. Love everyone as God has loved you.

When I see him

“When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭2:10-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It’s always amazing how a newborn child can make even the hardest person turn soft. How your mindset starts to change when you see them. All the gifts that come when the child is on the way or arrives in the world. The smell they have and the smallest noise they make. Everyone seems to melt and the thoughts of what will this child have to endure and go through starts to go through your mind.

HERE IT IS…

What will you do when you see his face? What will be your reaction? More importantly, what will his reaction be? Will he say depart from me? Or will he embrace you with love and adoration? There is no timeframe of when we will see him and get the opportunity but if you have the chance to read this you still have another chance to accept him so you can hear those words, “well done thy good and faithful servant.”

Lord give me a sign

“All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Lord just give me a sign! A statement that we all have stated and asked if the Lord. Something that we ask for when we don’t know where else to turn. A statement that ask the Lord to move on our behalf to show us exactly what it is he wants us to do or go. Truth be told we ask for this most of the time because we have failed trying it in our own. So we make a request for God to give us a sign to let us know what he wants us to do.

HERE IT IS…

Don’t miss the sign. Honestly God will show up in a way that makes our finite minds think that the sign is to great. “Ain’t no way” sounds like something we would say. The writer in the scripture tells us in a emphatic and fed way that God will show you a sign. The sign that he said God will do sounded so outlandish that people today still argue it. Your sign may be small. Your sign may be big. Your sign will always be something that only God can show you. Now the question is, what are you going to do now?

Name calling

“And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1:21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

One of the most important things about having a child is their name. Some want the name to be unique. Some want their name to have a strong meaning. Some are named after a family member to remember or carry on the name sake. The name is the one thing that people will remember about you. You can change your appearance. You can change your clothes. In todays time you can even change your name, but the name that you were given will always be remembered.

HERE IT IS…

Jesus! What a wonderful name. Jesus! The name that’s above every name. Jesus! The name that saves. Jesus! The name that creates ways out of no ways. Jesus! The lily of the valley. Jesus! The bright and morning star. Jesus! The rose of Sharon. Jesus! The healer of all sickness. Jesus! The one who carried your sins and mine. Jesus! The one who hung, bled and died. Jesus! The one who activated your strength and mine by rising on the third day. Jesus!

Come home

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 
Luke 15:20 NLT

I will be the first to say that I am not perfect. I am no where near having it all together. There has been bumps and bruises along the way. I have fallen, I have tripped, I have slipped, I have messed up real bad. The great thing is that God still loves me. I have run away from God. I have pushed his word aside just to fulfill my own selfish ways. I have hurt people in the process. Great thing is God still loves me. Even though I know that o don’t have it all together, I haven’t done it all right, I haven’t done it right all the time. Yet God still has loved me.

HERE IT IS…

You may feel that your still got a long way to go. You may feel that your life is a long way from right. You may say I still have a lot of work to do. The good thing is that no matter how far away you are, God still loves you and will receive you. The man in this parable saw his son from far away, he saw his son coming back, he saw his son making the choice to come where he is suppose to be. Instead of standing there and waiting for him. He went to him so that he wouldn’t have to go the rest of the way alone. That’s just like God. When you make that choice to come back, he won’t allow you to go the reat of the way alone. Instead he will come to you in all your mess, your dirtiness, your issues your pain, your hurt. Making sure that when you come back you have all you need and set you back in your rightful place, and rejoice over you.

Be kind it’s free

“Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:32‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Think about the most expensive thing you have paid for in your lifetime? I’m talking no help from anyone. Your first car? First house? First kid? Think about how much joy you had when the sale was complete. How you felt when you showed it off to others and how they were saying how good it looked and how proud they were. Then all the maintenance came up. The water heater busted. The transmission went out. The baby got sick and now the excitement is getting lower.

HERE IT IS…

It cost you absolutely nothing to be kind. There is no maintenance fee. There is no way it can break down. The ability for you to be kind only takes a few seconds and that’s it. Truth be told think about the maintenance God has had to perform for us when he purchased us from sin? Think about the times you strayed away and came back. Think about the times he had to get out of things and yet he is still kind to you. Jesus paid it all and all you have to do is be kind to one another and it cost you nothing.

Rejoice IN

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:4‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Rejoice in the Lord. That’s good enough right there. It’s funny how we can find happiness and joy in so many things today. One thing that comes to mind is baseball. I love baseball. I love to play it and I love to watch it. But watching it in TV and actually being there are two totally different experiences. Watching it you can get excited on the couch but when your actually in the stadium smelling the grass and the food and the people it’s is more entertaining and involved.

HERE IT IS…

Would you rather experience God from the outside? Watching others. Cheering from a place only you can hear. High fiving yourself. Eating your own food and missing out on the game. Or would you rather be there rejoicing in his glory and his spirit first hand. Giving him praise for yourself. Being able to get the full experience of seeing things you have never seen before. Rejoice IN the Lord and I can assure you that the experience in his presence is better than praising him from the outside looking in.