The Heavenly Father's Loving-kindness

I was watching an episode of All In The Family about where Michael Stivic had appendicitis and needed surgery.  He and his wife Gloria were trying to figure out how they were going to pay for it while he kept getting progressively worse by the minute.

Gloria’s father, Archie Bunker and her husband, Michael never really got along that well.  The only reason he approved of the marriage was because he thought he might lose his “Little Girl” forever if he didn’t.  While Michael was in the bathroom throwing up, Archie told Gloria that he would pay for the surgery and they could pay him back whenever they were able.

This act of kindness touched Gloria’s heart very deeply because she knew how Archie felt about her husband.

This reminded me of what Jesus said of our Heavenly Father, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matt 7:11)

And… before you let the devil win, go back and pray again.

Don't Limit My Abilities

I was watching an old rerun of Match Game, and a new contestant was being introduced.  The host asked her to tell us something about herself.  She said she was in school to become a Medical Illustrator.  To look at her outward appearance, she did not necessarily look the part of someone you'd think would choose that profession.

The host looked confused.  He said to her, "You know, that is not an easy profession.  Have you thought about this carefully?"  The young lady did not skip a beat, she said, "I am going to be the best Medical Illustrator."

I must admit, I too had also judged based on her appearance, that she was fooling herself thinking she could compete in that field.  This lady was confident and I bet she went on to become exactly what she set out to be.  The host (and me) measured her possibilities based on what we saw.

When the Lord told the prophet Samuel to anoint the next king of Israel, He sent Samuel to Jesse's house stating that He would indicate to Samuel which one of his sons was anointed to be the next king.  When Samuel saw the first son Eliab, he knew he must be the one.  He must have looked stately, dignified and kingly.  But the Lord spoke to Samuel and said not to look on his physical stature because He had refused Eliab. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

Seven of Jesse's sons passed before the prophet Samuel, but God had not chosen any of them.  Samuel asked if these were all his sons and Jesse said, "Well, there is my youngest son David."  When he brought all his sons to appear before the prophet, it never occurred to Jesse that it could possibly be David that would be chosen to reign as king over Israel.

Even Jesus was rejected by those in his hometown of Nazareth.  When His wisdom and miracles were on display there, they dismissed Him as just being one of Joseph's and Mary's sons.  Jesus marveled at their unbelief.

I have learned not to speak of my aspirations to Negative Ninnies, because they will soon find a reason why your bright ideas will never work.  But I believe they simply don't know the God I serve, and His power to do the impossible. Dream in private. Let God expose you publicly.

We should never let anyone tell us what we cannot do, especially if they have never done it.  They don't know what is possible for you.  With God, all things are possible.
 
Don't let the attractiveness of playing it safe draw you in either, lest you limit your own self.
 
I don't think that game show host meant to deflate the contestant's spirit on purpose, or disrespect her on national TV, but I must give it to her, she was ready to defend her lofty dreams at a moment's notice.
 
"Somebody said that it couldn't be done, but he with a chuckle replied that maybe it couldn't, but he would be one who wouldn't say so till he'd tried. So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin on his face. If he worried he hid it. He started to sing as he tackled the thing that couldn't be done, and he did it."  >>Edgar Guest

Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. 1 Peter 3:15

Who Is My Neighbor?

Jesus told a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. “Then a Samaritan (whom the Jews despised) came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the Jew on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The Bible scholar replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

Love thy neighbor as thyself, including:

• the one across the street with the incessantly barking dog

• the ones that barrels down my street as if they're on a drag strip

• my self-centered coworkers with a poor work ethic

• the less than caring customer service rep that did not resolve my problem

• the lazy courier who did not properly deliver my packages

• the family member who would not receive my gift

• the friend who tried to talk me into doing what I didn't want to do

• the homeless man who will not work but waits on the street corner for me to come by

Heavenly Father,

Help me to live a life of love for You, with all of my heart, and love for my neighbor as myself, whoever that neighbor might happen to be. I cannot do this on my own but in You I am strong and able to pull off anything. You enable me to do exceedingly, and abundantly, far over and beyond what I can do in my own strength and willpower. When people are not nice, I ask You to help me love them anyways. When people are being inconsiderate, let Your love for them shine through me, and help me to let my guard down so that You may shine even brighter. Let Your love in me, hide the faults in them. Let me be an example to the believer and to the unbeliever in word, in conduct, in faith, in purity, and in love. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Hotter Than Fish Grease

I was boiling some eggs, one time, and a close friend called me to meet her for drinks. Immediately, I grabbed my purse and ran out the door, forgetting that the eggs were still boiling. When I got back the pot had boiled dry and eggs exploded all over the kitchen. There was egg debris everywhere… ceiling, walls, and floor. Weeks later I was still finding shards of eggs hidden in and around kitchen appliances.

I can’t explain the science behind it, but I know that it has something to do with the inner temperature of the egg releasing explosively.

I give this example because something very similar happened to me this week. I am the egg that boiled dry and exploded all over my coworker.

I have worked with this individual for about a year. I know she is self-centered and I have fallen victim to her antics many times. But what I’ve been doing in the name of keeping the peace is going-along-to-get-along. I never confronted her antics, I just figured a way to get around them to keep on track with my assignments. But inside, my animosity toward her was building like steam in a pressure cooker. For a whole year I fumed inside, without any steam being released, and then Thursday morning… the explosion.

As another coworker put it, “I was hotter than fish grease!”

I found out the hard way that this kind of pinned up anger is not healthy and is like a pressure cooker ready to explode. You think you’re keeping the peace by not making waves but the person in chaos is you.

Banish bitterness, rage and anger, shouting and slander, and any and all malicious thoughts—these are poisonous. However...

Not all anger is a sin…

When Jesus had made a whip of cords, He drove all the money changers out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the money changers’ loot and overturned their tables.

When you’re angry, don’t let it carry you into sin. Don’t let the sun set with anger in your heart or give the devil room to work.

Give the Holy Spirit space to keep you at peace. Don’t give that space to any other.

Black Church and White Evangelicals

I don’t like President Donald Trump. I think he’s a racist. Furthermore, it pains me that our White Christian brothers and sisters support him – a known racist. How can we assemble together and worship comfortably when preachers are praising the president from the podium to our detriment? It makes me want to sink under the pew. How can they support this man that is prejudiced toward their African American brothers and sisters? I have read that this is separating multi-racial churches because the African Americans are feeling dejected by our White brothers and sisters.

How can we worship side by side with those that demean how racists make us feel as they spew their hateful words towards us? To me, it seems like they are not walking this journey with us and are unconcerned about how it is affecting us.

Pastor Robert Morris (a White pastor) at Gateway Church said that this is because we are not looking at the situation with the same perspective.

I may be wrong, but this could be the falling away that the Apostle Paul spoke of that precedes the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The church is separating and falling away from one another.

The president could not openly renounce the KKK. Yet our sisters and brothers in Christ enthusiastically support him, no matter what, and no matter how detrimental it is to other church members. When we hear “Make America Great Again”, we believe he is actually saying, “Make America White Again” by taking us back to the 50s and 60s. Trump openly praised white supremacists having a protest march, but he severely criticized our brothers for taking a knee in protest at football games.

During the presidential campaign, there was a lot of talk about how the evangelicals were in support of Donald Trump. From that point on I did not want to be labeled an evangelical anymore. But when I looked up the word evangelical, it actually describes who I am as a believer and the values I stand for. Yet, I don’t want to be identified with those that supports Trump. I take issue with their value system that they continue to excuse his behavior and prophesy that he is a man sent by God to the White House. Does God hate Blacks? No.

Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church here in Downtown Dallas said the following: “Evangelicals still believe in the commandment: Thou shalt not have sex with a porn star, however, whether this president violated that commandment or not is totally irrelevant to our support of him. Evangelicals knew they weren’t voting for an altar boy when they voted for Donald Trump.”

And… nothing he can do or say about us African Americans will change their minds about him.

True, Jesus said of the woman caught in the very act of adultery, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” I know I have no stones to throw at Donald Trump or anyone else – as much as I have been forgiven for. The difference in Donald Trump and the adulteress is that she went away cleansed, and to do that sin no more.

Donald Trump said that NFL owners should fire African American football players that kneel during the anthem. Nobody seemed to care why we were protesting, and our stake in this thing, they just want us out of the way. Any attempt on our part to peacefully protest and petition the government for a re-dress of grievances, makes us look like the divisive bad guys.

White evangelical families are not the ones losing loved ones to trigger happy police officers. Perhaps if they saw it from our point of view, we might not look so divisive.

I read an article where an African American woman attending a predominantly White church was addressed as divisive because she brought up the young African American teen Trayvon Martin that was killed by George Zimmerman for walking through his apartment complex wearing a hoodie. They had not even heard of Trayvon Martin. Once again, they don’t see this from our point of view.

In Revelation 7:9 the church in heaven is described as a great multitude which no one could number of all nations, tribes, people, and tongues standing before the throne of Christ. It is sad that we are so separated down here, and we cannot assemble together down here in that way.

I live in a neighborhood that is about 50% Hispanic. I recently noticed that I was feeling resentful of them. All the businesses in our immediate area cater to them… the grocery stores, salons, and restaurants. I have to go outside of my neighborhood or order online to get the things I want and need. The Holy Spirit convicted me of that and even with that knowledge, it is taking me some time and prayers to shake off my resentment. I don’t want to think I’m a racist because one of my very good friends Maria is Hispanic, but I’ll admit that my love is not pure. If it was, I would not have negative thoughts toward my neighbors, or stereotype them as I do.

Jesus said, “Now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.”

We all have the right to choose our political party. It is my opinion that neither side (Democrats or Republicans) are 100% lining up with the word of God. If we choose Republicans because they are pro-life, they fail to treat the poor as Scripture commands. If we choose Democrats because they support the poor and needy, they are pro-choice and support abortions. Neither side is perfect, obviously.

I have a close friend Rhonda, that just happens to be a White evangelical, who supports Donald Trump. Two weeks after his inauguration, her post on Facebook said, “I wished people would stop rioting and hurting people who voted for President Trump. He’s only been in office a few weeks, he needs our prayers, not opposition.” Because I love her, I had to take a closer look at the woman in the mirror. Am I not praying enough for this president? Did God hear the prayers I have already sent up for him? Is unforgiveness hindering my prayers?

I have seen photos of ministers in the Oval Office laying hands on President Trump and praying over him. Were their prayers heard by God? Most of all, I do not want a falling away to come between me and Rhonda because of my dislike for this man.

Jesus said, “If you love those who love you, what reward have you?” He encouraged us to love our enemies. He admonished us to bless those who curse us and pray for those who despitefully use and persecute us.

So, here is where I stand today, confessing that my heart needs a transformation, that I may put off  this old woman and put on the new woman – and be renewed in my mind and in my spirit – and that I may grow and develop in His likeness and be that Christian walking in the light as Christ is in the light.

Father, forgive me. I pray Your blessing upon the church that we will band together and love one another as Jesus had prayed to You in the 17^th chapter of John. With all my love for You, in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

I Have a Testimony to Tell

In the church I grew up in, we had what was called Testimony Service. This was the part of the service where we had Praise and Worship, and the saints would give testimonies about the goodness of God, and miracles He had performed in their lives.

What I particularly enjoyed about Testimony Service was when someone would go forth who was anointed by the Holy Spirit to tell their testimony. It was always moving, and you could tell the ones that was anointed from the ones that wasn’t.

The person full of the Holy Spirit could tell a simple story, but even a simplistic story told under the power of the Holy Spirit could move you to shouting (our slang for dancing in the Spirit).

We also had our special way of beginning the testimony, “Giving honor to God, and to my pastor, and the first lady, and to the ministers on the rostrum, and to the deacons, and missionaries, and evangelists, the Sunday School teachers, the ushers, the junior choir, and all of God’s saints assembled in the house today.” They gave honor to everything from the front door to the back door. Then the person would launch into telling their awesome testimony. Hopefully, it was anointed. Sometimes it wasn’t.

Well… I have a testimony to tell. And in the spirit of nostalgia, I am going to tell it like we used to do it back in the day.

 “Giving honor to God, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I thank the Lord for being here. I thank the Lord for saving me and filling me with His precious Holy Ghost. He didn’t have to do it, but He did. I thank the Lord for the many blessings He has bestowed upon me. He woke me up this morning and started me on my way. He kept me from dangers, seen and unseen, and I am truly grateful.

 I want to tell you what the Lord did for me on this week. We have a house right next door to us that was very, very neglected. The gentleman that lived there was in poor health and had not kept it up. He had very large, overgrown trees that hung over our driveway, and the birds would often poop on my car. When ever I came out and saw bird poop on my car, I would pray about it.

Finally, the neighbor’s health declined so much that he had to move out and go live with relatives. I prayed for him too. The condition of the house declined even further and was vacant for quite some time. The trees had pretty much died. The branches had started to fall off and land in the driveway, giving me concern not only for the bird poop, but for the large branches that could possibly land on my car. Finally, the neighbor sold the house to a company that came and started fixing it up. They gutted the entire thing down to the framework. They sent a tree surgeon out to cut the trees back. The trees were so big, he had to stand on the rooftop of the house to cut them down. When he finally finished working on the trees, every single branch that hung over our driveway had been completely removed. In fact, none of the trees hung over on our side of the property at all. Then, this morning my husband took my car keys to go put air in my tire. When he came back, he had washed my car completely. It was beautiful!! My God had taken away the trees the birds used to poop on my car, and spit-shined my car on top of that.

To you bird poop might seem like a small thing, but God shows His love toward us even in the minor things. Because anything that concerns us, concerns Him. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. Y’all, pray my strength in the Lord.”

Glory to God!