What Good is the Truth, if I Don’t Use It?

You ever find yourself in a situation where you’re seeking the TRUTH and it seems it can’t be found? I mean, lies after lies on top of more lies, is all you seem to get. The more you hear, the further you feel you are away from getting down to the TRUTH. My Godmother used to have the ability to see right through me, to the heart of the TRUTH. No matter what I said to her, she could always read me like a book. Now, about the age of 34, and having known her all my life, I should have known better than to try to outsmart her. I’d come around her still holding in all my woes, and she’d just start talking at me and my problems, and speaking the TRUTH into my situation. Then she’d call me crazy (as in being silly). At 83 years old in 2014, I thought she’d laugh as my sister would say “Shae crazy.” But her response was different this time. As she uttered the words, “She ain’t crazy, and she’s going to show yall just how much she’s not.” My eyes widened as they welled up with tears. At that point I knew Momma wasn’t going to be around us much longer. She died that summer. But before she did, she sat me down and spoke the TRUTH into my life. She told me, “You’re going to hear some things, and they’re going to hurt. But I want you to do what you’ve always done, and that’s take it all in stride. Just laugh it off and let it roll off your shoulders.” And though I promised her I would, I gotta say, it’s been hard. Some things I’ve been able to laugh off, others not so much.

Now after the hurt has come, and not gone, I look back and realize I didn’t keep my word to Momma. For that reason, I’ve paid a price looking for the TRUTH.

Now I want you to look back through this post, and replace TRUTH with LORD, and you’ll realize how Momma spoke God in my life all these years and over my situations.

Friends, I urge you to take some time today and speak TRUTH into your life. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

One Love,

Roll Call….Soldiers!!!! Where are the Warriors?

Bold. Brave. Courageous. Fighter. Winner. Steadfast. Fearless. Battle-Ready. Why  group these words together you may ask? What do they have in common? I’ll tell you. They are the characteristics of a soldier. But not just any soldier, but one in God’s army. Though we are all on the same side, the question I want to ask you today is, what kind of soldier are you?

When hard times fall on you, are you the kind to go running scared and let the woes of life beat you down? Do you find yourself laying there helplessly pleading for God to save you? If this is you, then you are a timid or the faithless soldier, one that is severely lacking in faith department. You know God is going to save you, yet you don’t do the work required to get you the relief you need.

There’s another type of soldier I want to warn you about, and its pretty bad. If you find yourself falling from saint to sinner, faithful to fearful, brave to beaten each time life deals you a challenging hand, then you are what they call a coward soldier. You stand, just not in the face of the enemy. Straddling the fence is your best defense in this game called life.

Finally, and perhaps the worse of all, is the beastly soldier. He/She is the most dangerous of the three. They face obstacles in a self-righteous manner. Almost as if to say, their truth is the only truth that matters, not God. Everyone has to listen to their solutions to life’s battles or else they don’t help in the fight. You are dangerous to the great mission because you don’t even heed the Master’s instructions.

If any of this sounds like you, I want to give you a message of encouragement today, and it comes in the form of a song by the Jackson Southernaires. It’s called No Coward Soldier. The lyrics to the song simply say, “God don’t want, he don’t need, no coward soldier.”

Think about that. I mean really ponder over the words of the chorus. If you’re the timid soldier, learn to stand on the word of God, and knock the enemy down. If you’re the coward, GET OFF that fence, and chose this day whom you will serve. And if by chance, you find yourself relating to the beast, prepared physically but not mentally for the battle, then try humbling yourself. In either case, God needs his soldiers strong for the battle. Not weak in the mind, body, and spirit. Reading his word daily will give you what you need for the battle.

Stand strong God’s people…. Roll Call!!!! Soldiers!!!! Where are the Warriors????

One Love,

The Devil Looks Good to Me!

I know what you’re thinking…. She has completely lost her mind to say such a thing. But if you think about for a moment, you’d see that I’m right. The devil must look good to us. How else can he get you to do what he wants when he wants? You think he’s going to show up in your life dressed with devil horns and red cape, and you willingly follows what he says to do? Definitely not!  I have learned in life that the devil will show up as your greatest desire, your wants, and sometimes as the things you need. He will show up in the people you trust, the places you go, and in the things you desire, just to influence your choices.

The question now remains, how do you recognize what is of God or what the devil is using as a tool to get to next to you? Here are a few tips to help you decipher between good and evil.

#1. You Feel like You’re Losing more than Gaining: If it feels bad, it usually is. God would never have you to do anything bad as a precursor for your blessings. We as humans want things our way, right away, instead of waiting on God’s timing. satan will give you a little gain to get you to trust him, but something about it won’t feel right. If you have to question it, then its not of God.

****In all of thy ways, acknowledge the Lord, and he will direct your path.****

#2. Blessings Come with ease: You won’t have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, where lies meet lies, cons and deception to get what God has in store for you. God is not a God of confusion, satan is. If you are trying to make a way to get something, and find yourself being met with roadblock after roadblock. Its time to re-evaluate if this is something good worth pursuing or bad to deter you from the right path. He says in Jeremiah 29:11.

~For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.~

****If it doesn’t feel right, it is not of God.****

#3. Faith without Works is Dead: We must plant our seeds of faith and work on increasing them daily. Having Faith in God requires work! Work means to do something. The Bible says we have not because we ask not. Open your mouth and ask!!!!! Everyday we should be drawing closer to God because he takes care of everything need and desire. Philippians 4:19 reads:

~But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.~

So we must, according to Psalm 37:4,

~Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.~

****God knows your heart. He said ask and you shall receive. Remember: We have not, because we ask not.****

The devil comes in many shapes and sizes, with one common theme: He comes to STEAL, KILL, and DESTROY. If you are receiving and welcoming in something that doesn’t feel right, you didn’t get with ease, or you haven’t asked for, then you can rest assured, its purpose for entering your life is not a good one. I pray this day God that your people’s eyes become opened more to the tricks of the enemy, and that you wrap a shield of protection around them in more ways than one. Amen

One Love,