It's So Simple - A No Brain-er Really!!

I have gotten the question why do you have to be so radical in your faith, why does everything have to be about Jesus? I have been called a "holy-joe" by those closest to me when they were not saved. Many people don't understand me and my husbands standards for living and the choices we have made, are making and will continue to make for the sake of spreading His name. To me it is the simplest thing ever.

My husband is a "nut" for those television shows like "Extreme Make-Over," "The Briefcase," "Undercover Boss", you get the idea. They, the producers find someone who they think is worthy and deserving of immense gifts and they do just that, they give them more than they could have imagined. One scenario, a mother, with four children, lost her husband to some rare disease. While taking care of her children and trying make ends meet, she works at the soup kitchen providing meals for others, her churches events are spearheaded by her, she is a virtual saint and deserving of all she receives. And thank God receives the help from the show, and its affiliates. She now trumps the greatness, love and help of that show and those people, she is forever indebted to them and her children also know that they too should express that love for the people who intervene. I concur!!

However, but to the original question why is everything Jesus, Jesus!!
Because unlike the lady in the scenario above I am undeserving, I a murderer, a liar, adulterer,a sinner did not and still does not deserve the gift that He freely choose to give for me. How do I hold back my earthly desires, my money (the little I have), my love, my time, my energy, my thoughts for the one who took my sin on Himself, died for me? How?
You see it is really simple there is no one else in this world who has done for me what He has done. The thing is He was not finished, He has given me eternal life with Him and He walks with me everyday.

So, you see, it is simple; when I say "to whom much is given, much is required." And when we think of required we think obligatory, but no, it is a choice to love. to love the one who loved me so much, you me, a no one, a dirt rag and give me the greatest gift ever.

My prayer for you is that you who know Him may acknowledge Him in a way that everyone knows where you stand. For those who don't know Him, to give it all to Jesus. Its not about rules, its all about relationship, He accepts you just as you are. Ask Him to forgive you, that you trust Him, that you believe that He died on the cross for your sins, that you are a sinner and you want His grace; that you believe He rose again and is in heaven with the Father. You see that too is simple. Begin reading your bible, the book of John is good.

If you need help with any of this call me, I will help you!!!

"I love Him because He first loved me"

"Seek and Ye Shall Find"

Jesus says, "if you seek me you will find me" These words have been proven true for thousands of year; those who have sought Him have found Him and in turn found peace, joy, happiness and eternal life.

Let's look at those words in a different context: In, this world today we are bombarded with images, media, people's thoughts and ideas, our comparison to others, our thoughts on someone else, our thoughts on something else.  You may not think about it along these lines, but you seek after the things that you allow to consume you.

This person does not like you and so you give space in your brain and heart to that thought. You allow it to ruminate in your spirit daily until it consumes you. This person is treating me unfairly, my boss does not know what a gem he has in me, what do people think about me? She thinks she is better than everyone else? How did he get with her? They don't appreciate me.

These thoughts, ideas we allow to float around with us and we magnify them to degrees that they should not be  magnified. It's time to begin to seek after the things that will bring life and joy, peace and hope, abundance and not lack. Magnification is the process of turning "a molehill into a mountain". We are all guilty of it and so use this verse to help you to seek the joy, hope, peace that you truly want. It's easy to blame everything on things, circumstances or others,  than to take a look at what we can do to change ourselves and our lot in life.

Philippians 4

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

They Say It's Racial Hate, Anger, Drugs - He says it is "Sin"

 Solomon said it is Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun, what has been, has been dome before. The news today can be disheartening; Nine people killed at a church Bible Study in Charleston, SC, ISIS killing and abuse of Christians, murder rate in the small country of the Bahamas, a young woman killed and a man losing one leg; (the driver after an altercation takes his car and rams them and keeps pushing the gas), the number of gambling establishments rampant in the Bahamas, abortions unreported in the Bahamas, unwed pregnancy at 70% in the Bahamas, churches on almost every corner in the Bahamas, marriages on the rocks in the Bahamas, condoms and birth control are the solution to our sexual immorality, young people searching and not finding......

We can put so many names to all of these things but the only name is "Sin". We have allowed the devil to run rampant; we have sat back and built our little earthly kingdoms that will waste away and let the roaring lion loose.  We have seen things and turned a blind eye, saying that it is none of my business. We have believed the world lies that to gain wealth and power will make us happy. We have so wanted to make our children's lives better than ours that we have sold them down the eternal road of slavery to the world's system.

AND NOW.....we cry! The good news is that it is not to late. The TRUTH is still free. The Answer has been there since the beginning and there is still time to accept the truth that Jesus died for. It is still time for the remnant to stand up and be counted. You see one day, every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that He is lord because He is. "All have fallen short of the glory of God", all of us, me being one of the chief sinners, but, I know the way of truth and life! I have seen His hand and will not turn back. I am in the race, the battle.  Are You!

"Every jot and tittle will be judged" ...that means every word we say, our thoughts, our  actions. Believers rise up, the time has come for us to be counted. To begin to turn back to the one true love. To love like no one's business. Jesus says the greatest commandment is love. How can we demonstrate this love to the world that they will want our Jesus. I am planted right here in the Bahamas and so my work is here; to share the gospel, to share His love, to reach the lost for Him and for their own sake, that they will not see eternal damnation. Through love I will pray for my brothers and sisters, fellow human beings here in the Bahamas and around the world; that they will come to Him.

Let's call it what it is, in order that we might bring about a change. The foundation is shaken and there is only one way to shore it up.......

Proverbs 14
There is a way which seems right to a man,But its end is the way of death. Even in laughter the heart may be in pain,And the end of joy may be grief. The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways,But a good man will be satisfied with his.
 The naive believes everything,But the sensible man considers his steps. A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil,But a fool is arrogant and careless. A quick-tempered man acts foolishly,And a man of evil devices is hated.
 The naive inherit foolishness,But the sensible are crowned with knowledge.The evil will bow down before the good,And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.The poor is hated even by his neighbor,But those who love the rich are many. He who despises his neighbor sins,But happy is he who is gracious to the poor.Will they not go astray who devise evil?But kindness and truth will be to those who devise good.
 In all labor there is profit,But mere talk leads only to poverty. The crown of the wise is their riches,But the folly of fools is foolishness. A truthful witness saves lives,But he who utters lies is treacherous.
 In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,And his children will have refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,That one may avoid the snares of death. In a multitude of people is a king’s glory,But in the dearth of people is a prince’s ruin. He who is slow to anger has great understanding,But he who is quick-tempered exalts folly. A tranquil heart is life to the body,But passion is rottenness to the bones. He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker,But he who is gracious to the needy honors Him. The wicked is thrust down by his wrongdoing,But the righteous has a refuge when he dies. Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding,But in the hearts of fools it is made known.Righteousness exalts a nation,But sin is a disgrace to any people.The king’s favor is toward a servant who acts wisely,But his anger is toward him who acts shamefully.

Be Vigilant!

As we drive through the streets in Nassau, I constantly feel like I am in some of life size obstacle course. Every turn, stop, light, person seems as if they are destined for you to be in a collision with them. I thought this morning, as we were going out and almost collided again!! that people are so consumed with their personal objectives that they are not aware, or do not care of anything around them and hence, it causes accidents that sometimes lead to injury and death.

It's the same way with the Spiritual life, we are so consumed with what the world has told us is success, that we are out to get what it is we want, what we think we deserve, regardless of who or whatever suffers. Sacrificial living is not a part of who we are; neither is servant living. We don't believe that certain things will happen to us, even though it has happened to others that have gone before us. We believe we can do the same wrong things and for whatever magical reason we will escape.

This is why the bible is clear, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." Just as we are to stay alert on the roads, watching for people's faux pas, so that we avoid collisions, injury and death. So, we are to watch in our spiritual walk. There are pitfalls, stumbling blocks designed to take us out.  Most of the times, they are so subtle you cannot see them.

My admonition to myself is to also remember I have an adversary, to be watching all the time. not just watching but praying. Pray without ceasing. Reading the word of  God daily. Meditating on God at all times. My friends....be vigilant!

Encouragement from Unexpected Places

Have you ever walked into an unexpected blessing? A word, a gesture from someone, something unexpected. Something that creates in you a joy that you can not explain.

Yesterday, I had something like that happen.  My daughter and I were out, doing things for the ministry; when I said to her. Let's go and say hi to my uncle, as she was only going to be in town for another couple of weeks.

We waited for him and when he came out he was happy to see us. He told me, that he wanted to talk with me and so we followed him to his office. After he sat down, he said that I had been a blessing to him. I could not understand how or why? As I had not seen him for more than 8 months and had spoken with him briefly a few months back.  I was puzzled.

Then he proceeded to talk and he said, On Sunday!, and I then knew where he was going. He said that he been blessed by my testimony, that aired on the radio on Sunday morning. He said that he got a blessing from that message that morning. He told me, he was proud of me. He told me while reading the invitation to the event that, yes this was what I was created for. He also said, that my message on Sunday was "hurt for the hopeless/hurting."

Even, as a forty-five year old wife and mother, you need someone to say, that they are proud of you. That what you are doing a good and to just continue. You see, he is my mom's brother, my mom has been in heaven for seven years and she is not here to see what is happening.  She would be that person to encourage. She would give the words of affirmation.

So, coming from my uncle, yesterday, that was huge. I cried; the little girl in me, came out and sucked that up like a sponge. Today, someone may need to hear, well done, I am proud of you!
I did not know, how much I needed to hear that from someone, but now I do. Today, seek out those people you can tell them, I am proud of you, you are a blessing to me. It will make a difference in their day!
"Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Just Say Yes! or No!

"But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned." James 5:12

In the book of James, we are told to give a simple yes or no. Why is this so hard for us? James continues to say that if we neglect this, that we sin but, unfortunately it is a growing trend.  For me, dealing with others sometimes is so hard, it is the most disheartening thing.  You may have also had these types of experiences. While you are standing in their face, they say yes, yes and then they ignore your calls, texts, emails. Do we realize that this is a poor reflection on us as people first and then as a believer. We are told that we will be known by our love or by our fruits.....something to think about.......

I am by no means perfect and have made this same mistake but, I am working to say yes or no.
In this age of technology, we are so bombarded with interruptions in our day to day lives and we need to take control, and set boundaries for our time.  My fellow brothers lets examine ourselves and our actions; say yes or no! and move on. It will bring honor to the relationship and also to our Father in Heaven.

Our Father is not partial to anyone and, so we must be careful to not consider someone else more important than the other, because we sin!  In Acts, we see where Paul and Barnabas had a conflict over John Mark and Paul held fast to his conviction; he did not want John Mark to travel with them. This cause a rift between Paul and Barnabas, maybe because of the familial connection with Barnabas and Mark and, there was a separation.  Later on in Timothy, we see where Paul tells Timothy that Mark is valuable to the ministry. His mind changed but he was always clear in his standing.

Can we try this? If you are approach for any reason and you tell someone to contact you, respond when they try to reach out. If you don't want to connect with them, tell them you are not interested at this time. It will really be better and will cause less confusion.

I believe that this is on the same level as Ananias and Sapphire lying to the disciples about their contribution to the church. What did God do? He killed them right there. This shows us how serious our word is.....

As I work on this, I challenge you to do the same!

A Letter to Her, During this Mother's Day Weekend...I love you! But.....

I remember the day so well. It was a Tuesday, you had been inching your way closer to the sunshine for the past 24 hours, I could feel you making your way down.  Early that morning, while resting my water break but I was clueless, did not know what was going on. I mentioned it to your daddy but he did not know. I called "my mommy" and asked her and she explained what was happening.

It did not take long for things to escalate and we knew we had to get to the hospital but even still we made a detour and stopped to get some very good friends.

We rushed to the hospital and found that I would have to be by myself because of the construction in the private ward. This is sad but it was what it was. A few hours later, I was being taken into the operating room and it was a few minutes before you entered this world. A gift so precious that I can to this day, say that I am so unworthy that God would allow me the privilege to be your mother.

Your dad met you and it was love at first sight!

They took me my room and your grandfather's were the first to visit you that day! They had you in the nursery and the bassinet beside me was empty.

When my father came, we were talking waiting for you to come not knowing when they would bring you. I heard a cry from down the hall and I said to my dad, "that's my baby"; he looked at me and said that could be any baby, you don't even know her yet.

But sure enough two minutes had not passed and the nurse came in with you crying. I looked at him and i said, I told you so!

I love you! But......

My love can be fickle

My love does not last forever

There are times when my arms cannot hold you, although I want to

My love is partial and so sometimes flawed

My love cannot touch your soul

My love cannot transform your mind

I love you! But....

My love pales!

In comparison to the one who is Love!

His love is not fickle

His love does last forever

his arms can hold you anywhere you are!

His love has no partiality and so is not flawed

His love does touch the soul

His love can transform your mind

His love does not pale to anything or anyone!

20 years later and it seems as if it is day one. This mother's day weekend I want to continue to point you to the ONE whose love is Real, Unfailing. you can find no greater love than Jesus!. My daughter, this is the greatest gift I know to give because as flawed as I am, He renewed me, He cleanse me. I would not be alive today, were it not for Him. Jesus!

He is the best this world has to offer. My daughter, He tells us to love another as we love ourselves. And, so I choose the best to give to you! I love you! But.......Jesus loves You Better!

Mommy