Tag: #123shift

Why?

Why?

Together with kindness and in understanding, let’s take this time to self reflect. I am here to inspire, encourage, and remind you that God has given us the most important weapon we have to fight the enemy, His Word.

Now let’s dress our soul like we dress our bodies, EVERYDAY!

Why?

“Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked, for the evildoer has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.” Proverb 24:19-20 NIV

On my tenth birthday, I had my heart set on either another barbie doll to add to my growing collection or maybe one of those cool Easy-Bake Oven, to fix those little cakes, of how about my favorite school toys skip it. I don’t know if you all remember that thang, it was a fruit shaped weight, which affixed to your ankle; it’s had a plastic hoop that spun around in a 360-degree rotation while you constantly skipped. Instead, my mom bought me a diary, I wondered to myself, mom what am I going to do with this? Why mom, why this gift? As I looked at the pink Hobby Lobby diary with flowers on it, I thoughts what an odd gift, I didn’t have much worth writing about, besides I couldn’t spell all that well. I couldn’t use it to draw pictures, I wasn’t good at that either. But one day, I picked it up, thinking maybe I could try to write a few things. As I opened it up, the first page said this belongs to and down below was a line for my name. Flipping through the pages of the book, it was completely blank, just waiting to hold some words I suppose. It was then I started with one small phrase, Dear Mr. Jesus Christ. Blind as a baby bat, this would begin a lifelong relationship through prayer, as I asked why.

The prophet Jeremiah grappled with issues ask he asked the Lord why? Why do the heathen rage? Why do good things happen to the baddest of the bad? Why this, why that. In those younger years for me, there were things I felt he answered through my parents and others that were not answered until my adult life. There are songs, poems, movies, and books devoted to the question why. Is it not the curiosity of man, to if not know why, to at least ask? 

Curiosity to answer some of those questions why gave us breakthroughs from the three-light traffic signal, refrigerated trucks, automatic elevator doors, color monitors for desktop computers, blood banks, laser treatment for cataracts, and home security systems just to name a few.

As we consider today’s scripture perhaps a better question is why are we concerned with it? Do not lose sight of the Goal here friends, to be the best YOU can be. The Word tells us, Do not fret (worry), because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

It’s natural to wonder why God is gracious and merciful to people whose hearts are hard and stubborn. Shucks there been plenty of times I know I didn’t deserve it, but His grace and mercy gave me what I couldn’t often do myself and that’s forgive and let it go. One answer to the question “Why do the wicked prosper?” is that even the wicked have a purpose to fulfill in God’s plan. Consider this question, what would we do without the Lord’s patience in our lives?

Remember friends, we are each other’s keeper and the only time we should be looking down on someone is when we are helping them up.

Wake Up Everybody!

Wake Up Everybody!

Together with kindness and in understanding, let’s take this time to self reflect. I am here to inspire, encourage, and remind you that God has given us the most important weapon we have to fight the enemy, His Word.

Now let’s dress our soul like we dress our bodies, EVERYDAY!

Wake Up Everybody!!

“God made two great lights-the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to cover the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:16-18 NIV

Wake Up Everybody, is an R& B song written by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden , and Victor Carstarphen. Originally recorded by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, with Teddy Pendergrass singing lead vocals on the title track from their 1975 album. They performed the song on Soul Train on November 22, 1975. The beginning music of the song draws you in, and as my head started bobbin and as the singer sang the words to the song, it got me thinking. Isn’t it amazing how there is nothing new under the sun and how this song is still relevant today. The song itself seeks to make all of us more consciously aware of what we are all capable of when we come together. In a world where poverty, violence, economic inequality, education, climate change, gender equality, discrimination, terrorism, mental health, homelessness, substance abuse, gun control, pollution, and crime are only a few of the problems facing the people of the world. The dictionary defines wake up as to cease from sleeping. It also means to become aware or make someone aware of something.

Here are some of the lyrics:

Wake up everybody no more sleeping in bed, no more backward thinking time for thinking ahead, the world has changed so very much from what it used to be, there is so much hatred war and poverty.

The song also reminds me of some of my daughter’s favorite books, that I would read to her when she was my baby. Do you all remember the Berenstain Bears?  You had Papa Bear, Momma Bear, Brother Bear, and Sister Bear, Since the 1962 debut of the first book, The Big Honey Hunt, the series has grown to over 400 titles, which have sold approximately 260 million copies in 23 languages. Not only did these little paperback books put a smile on my daughter’s face, as we read them over and over again, it represented real life experiences, full of the power of the family. They encourage the importance of saying let’s be aware of ourselves, let’s talk about it, and let’s see how we can make better choices. If you haven’t read one of those books in a while, I encourage you to go your local bookstore and head to the children’s section. With titles like: Messy Room, Picnic, Love their Neighbors, The Bears’ Vacation, Go to Camp, Catch the Bus, Patience Please, Get in a Fight, Kindness Counts, Chores, Junk Food, Take Turns, Too Much TV, and The Truth. Believe me friends, you are gonna find something to warm your heart and stimulate your mind.

On the first day of creation, God said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3), and light appeared as a thing separate from darkness. The phrase let there be light is a translation of the Hebrew phrase which is a literal translation for “Light, exist.” God is speaking into the void and commanding light to come into being. The Bible tells us that God created the heavens and the earth and everything else that exists by simply speaking them into existence (Genesis 1). His personality, power, creativity, and beauty were expressed in creation. The idea of light, existing first in God’s mind, was given form by the words “Let there be light” or “Let light exist.”

Consider this thought friends, the reality of the creative power of God’s voice has important spiritual implications that go well beyond the creation account itself. Light is often used as a metaphor in the Bible, and the word illumination (“divine enlightenment of the human heart with truth”) has to do with bringing things into the light. Spiritual illumination is a kind of “creation” that occurs in a human heart. “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” Jesus Himself is “the light of the world.”

Jesus reminds us in scripture that he is the light of the world, and whoever follows him, will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. When I woke up this morning, I did not have any doubt, I am just grateful for another day. When I look all around me friends, I can’t help but marvel at the genius of his hands. Tell me friends, are you awake? AMEN!!

Remember friends, we are each other’s keeper and the only time we should be looking down on someone is when we are helping them up.