How BIG is your Mustard Seed?

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb.11:1) and if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)

How BIG is your Mustard Seed? Is it bigger than your illness? Which is larger? Your electricity bill or your faith? Your child is in a gang, hanging with the wrong crowd and you don’t know what to do. Where is your mustard seed? Let me see which is bigger.

Out of work and no severance pay? Why are you hiding your mustard seed? Boss didn’t take their meds this morning? Mustard seed? What mustard seed? This mustard seed…the one that is minute and barely visible, but you know it’s there. Just like your faith huh?

We need to use the spiritual resources we have to get by all the pain staking issues we deal with on a daily basis. The number one spiritual resource we have is our FAITH. Faith in God, that no matter what, he has our best interest at heart. He loves us.  He has the last say in everything, once you ask him. He wants to know, that you know, without a shadow of a doubt that he will bring you through. He is the “fat lady” we talk about when we say “it ain’t over until the fat lady sings.” If you use your mustard seed, no matter what the battle the enemy is waging against you, it ain’t over until God says it’s done! Like the song says, by Maurette Brown Clark, “keep praying, keep fasting, keep pressing, progressing, keep moving, it ain’t over NO, keep reading, interceding, keep believing, it ain’t over NO, keep trusting, keep trying, keep travailing, Why? It ain’t over, NO, keep living, keep giving, whatever it takes keep going, it ain’t over, NO. What the devil meant to take you out…God meant for your good. Cause it ain’t over.

S t r e c h your faith because the impossible is where God will work a miracle, but you got to use that mustard seed and watch the battles be won one at a time. Then that mustard seed begins to grow and so does your faith so that when the next fight comes, you are stronger because you have history with God.

Let me see that mustard seed. How big is it now?

Be encouraged and take a listen to “It Ain’t Over” by Maurette Brown Clark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXNhArf-MSk

Lyrics used in the body of this blog from: “It Ain’t Over” by Maurette Brown Clark

I LOVE ME!

I just gave myself the biggest most warm and loving hug and was inspired to write this piece because so many of us don’t like who we are, because we are “to this or too that” , “not enough this or not enough that”. We have allowed others to label, demoralize, taunt and abuse us to the extent we hate and abuse ourselves. ENOUGH ALREADY! Love you for who God made you to be, respect yourself so you can respect others. When you love yourself, you will be surprised who will love you back.

I love the living, breathing creature God made me. Full of errors and flaws, but willing to be all God has called me to be. With God ALL things are possible, so those things that I need to work on I ask God for his guidance and direction. As it is Him I aim to please; not you, not me, but Him. Why? Because he loved me first before I even knew what love was. And guess what, he took me as his child…regardless of what my sins were/are and despite my weaknesses.

I love the woman I have become, and yes it does matter what man says about me to a degree because I am an ambassador of Christ and made in his image. But I don’t look for man’s approval of me anymore. I let His light shine for all men/women to see, I am prayerful it is pleasing in God’s eyesight. Good, bad or indifferent I am His and I LOVE ME.

“The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I am He who comes to deliver and save so that you (we) could have eternal life”, says the Lord. I’ll take eternal life thank you very much. That’s how much I LOVE ME. Yes, I plan on spending eternal life with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. So I LOVE God first, me second, my family third and then all other.

Love, peace and blessing to you. Love yourself as God loved you FIRST!

PROCRASTINATION

What’s so “PRO” about procrastination? It’s a negative. There is nothing “pro” about putting off today what you can do tomorrow. As NIKE has so vividly branded in our minds, hearts and thoughts, JUST DO IT! I chuckle as I write those words because I also very vividly saw the NIKE logo run through my mind as I typed the words, JUST DO IT. But I digress and will save that subject matter for another blog piece.

I hate being a procrastinator, especially when there is an urgency or deadline due. It seems that the most important things on my list of “Things to do” are usually the ones that get shoved so far back in the back of my mind that when I do remember or have the time, I should have done them earlier so I’m not down to the final wire or crunch time.

BUT…I will say, I work so much better under pressure. I know that’s the “procrastinators” creed. Although it is better to be more disciplined, my creative juices and energies seem to be turned on by the mere fact that it’s got to be done and DONE NOW!

I remember recognizing my mired ways when a freshman in college and I pulled my first all nighter, writing a research paper in one night. HA! What a joke. I remember I met the deadline and I usually do, it’s just the undo pressure I put on my self to perform and to perform with an excellent outcome that bothers even me. When and how do we demand more of ourselves and determine that we are not going to allow that part of us rule and reign?

I believe that God gives us grace in those instances, but it is up to us to take the first step to show God that we are serious about turning around a point of action in our lives that clearly is in need of organization and is one that should be more closely controlled.

As God requires excellence as a prerequisite of His proof that we love Him, I believe we should also give Him the Glory in actions and deeds, during good and bad times. As we purposefully live for Him, we should be more mindful of his expectations and purpose to fulfill His desire for us. Besides procrastination begets stress and stress can lead to a premature death.

So starting today, I vow to STOP PROGRASTINATING. I will work toward becoming a more organized person who is more closely self controlled in the planning and implementation of all things as they relate to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit’s Will for my life.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Sometimes you just have to SCREAM!!!!!!!...or do you?

“There’s a time and a place for everything under the sun”…and right now it’s time to count to ten…NO…it’s time to SCREAM. Will it make me feel better, worse or numb? We really have no control over the things that happen in our lives or do we? From a Spiritual perspective, NO we don’t if we’ve prayed for God’s Will; but from a worldly and pragmatic point of position, “Oh there’s something we can do!” I guess this is what most people say before they find them self’s handcuffed and sitting in the back of a squad car. :) Not cool at all after the anger has subsided and rationale sets in.

“There is life and death in the power of the tongue. “ Control over what we say and do is our responsibility and no one can be held accountable for our actions but us. I tell my children all the time, watch how God will bless you if you exhibit discipline and self control. “Obedience is better than sacrifice.”

For the issues that arise that make us want to put our heads under a rock and let denial reign, remember they don’t go away until you address them. Ignoring the elephant in the room only makes him grow teeth and bite you where it hurts very badly. Thinking it will go away if only you leave it be to work itself out is WRONG. Pacifying it, coddling it and feeding it what you think it’s hungry for only prolongs the inevitable.

To SCREAM or not to scream? That is the question. And my answer is unequivably NO…I prefer to pray. Screaming is a temporary fix. Praying is the ultimate fix. If you feel as though you just can’t take it anymore and the pressures of life have you weighed down, remember,” God is the author and finisher of our fate and greater is He who is in me than he who is of the world.” As the songwriter once conveyed, “trouble don’t last always”, I beg to differ…it will if you choose to SCREAM and not pray.

I Fell in Love Today

I fell in Love today
Not like
Not physical attraction;
But Love :)
I heard his heart and it connected with mine and it was real and pleasurable and felt right
I fell in Love today
It sent chills through my spine and veins and went through the most intimate parts of my body;
But it wasn’t a sexual arousal it was a Spiritual and divine connection
A moment in time that could only come from God
I couldn’t take anymore so I abruptly said STOP!
The truth he spoke was so true it was transparent he spoke words I’ve spoken before
He was in a place I had seen before and it was familiar and I LOVED IT and it was then I knew…I LOVED HIM.

The Selfishness of Man

The Selfishness of Man
That he would think that WoMAN is his forever;
That he would think a WoMAN is the leader and he is the follower;
The he would think submission is forced and knows not of God’s intent;
That he would think with anatomy parts that were made for creation;
That he would think less of children and more of himself;
That he would think less of what he thinks but more of what he wears.
That he would think, destroying, conniving, scheming, concocting, not creating, building, nourishing, investing and flourishing.
That he would think himself higher than The Most High God;
The Selfishness of Man

God the Protector

Last night while I was home alone I stood in a chair to open the ceiling vent to get more heat circulating in the room. When I stepped down out of the chair, my foot was entangled in it somehow and I fell on the floor. KABOOM, bottom first. (I can thank the NCCU School of Education building for the two flights of stairs I take daily that have given me the new cushion on my bottom for buffering the fall. Those stairs are just as good as a stair master. ) And then BOOM back of the head hitting the lightly padded carpet in my living room, but feeling as though my head hit a soft concrete slab. At the moment I saw stars and was frightened I’d pass out and no one would know. But as I rolled over on my stomach I realized that I was ok, I had been protected by God. I kept still until the throbbing in my head stopped.
I remember thinking all night “now what was that all about.” Why was it necessary for me to fall out of the chair and bang my head so hard on the living room floor? I don’t know, but I’m one of those people who has to have an answer for everything. I’ve always been that way. So today, I found my answer.
My sister said to me yesterday, you asked to be in God’s Will. Well yes I have. And that got me to thinking. When I pray, I’ve prayed for God, to lead, guide and protect me and my children, family and friends. But are those merely words or do I actually expect that God would do what I ask?
I believe as I’m moving into another phase in my life, God is requiring me to understand fully who he is. One of the ways He’s asking me to acknowledge Him is God the Protector. No matter what calamity I may encounter, I believe God wants me to recognize the He’s got me and mine. And for that I am truly appreciative.
I’m learning that as I pray for God’s Will, I am relinquishing all power to Him and relying upon his judgment to reign supreme in my life. Great place to be, but realize that “my” will is nonexistent when I ask for His Will to be done and His Will is the only Will I need in this journey we call life.

Ahhhh, this thing about 50…

Age ain’t nothing but a number so many have said over the years. Fifty is the new 30, I’ve heard. And just recently my daughter said fifty is the new 20. Too funny, because what some people fail to realize is the age 50 is fifty. It is what it is.
January 25, 2010 I will celebrate my fiftieth birthday and I am proud to become a member of the fifty and older club. As a matter of fact, I’ll volunteer to be the president that’s how proud I am to be in this club.
Don’t laugh you’ll be there or have already gotten there by God’s grace. But have you determined (if you’re there), that the next fifty years will be much better than the last? I have, mainly because I understand now what the first fifty years were about. Now that maturity, experience, longsuffering, relationship building, forgiving and nurturing have all run their race in my life, I must take hold of the baton and round the corner to the finish line.
The next fifty years are all about completing the purpose and fulfilling the destiny for why I was born into this world fifty years ago. I’ve known for many years what my purpose and destiny are, but I haven’t been able to pinpoint how to begin the journey. I’ve prayed, I’ve been faithful to the vision, I’ve worked toward goals that I felt were related, but it wasn’t time. This year, 2010 is the time. I feel it deep down in my Soul. So I ask for your prayers as I know the time is near for the journey to begin.
I believe that as this milestone is turned, a new fresh anointing is given for the birthing of the plan to accomplish the purposes of God in my life. I vow to draw neigh as it is His undying love for ALL people that he’s purposed his Will in our lives.
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost will surely lead guide and protect me through the next fifty as he has during the first fifty.
I embrace the second half of my life with a great big hug and a big juicy kiss. I am happy to see ya fifty welcome…don’t take a seat because we’ve got places to go, people to see and things to do!

Love Poem

Love
Why not feel love
Breathe Love
Look love
Smell love
Read love
Relate love
Receive love
Release love
Honor love
Be love
Behold love
Appreciate love
Adore love
Determine love
Consider love
Embrace love
Exalt love
Distribute love
Know love
Greet love
Bring love
Hear love
Speak love
Love love!

My God is Greater than cancer.

Last year this time, I was preparing for a trip that I knew what the outcome would be…I just didn’t know how long or what the journey would entail. I hadn’t planned to go to Pittsburgh for the Christmas holiday…but after the call I got…I knew I had to go. Around Thanksgiving last year, my best friend since childhood, my sister, had been diagnosed with breast cancer and it had spread so that it had affected her spine and she couldn’t walk. By Christmas she had already had one operation to remove the mast, but the incision had gotten infected and they were going to have to open her up again and to clean her out, close her up and let the healing begin again for the second time.

Well as you can imagine, everyone was devastated to hear this news and my sister…well let’s just say, she was beginning to get severely depressed because of all of it. When I arrived to see her I was taken aback at how much weight she had lost and just how sick she was…..BUT MY GOD…WHO SUPPLIES ALL OUR NEEDS ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN CHRIST JESUS…was still on the throne and the Lord had dispatched his angles to watch over, encourage and to council her. They were on their positions eagerly waiting for God’s instructions.

Her brother, his wife and her son were on the front line along with my sisters, me, my mom, my dad and praise God the grand children were there on the front line too; along with many others all over the country. PRAYING---PRAISING and RECEIVING. We all knew that it was not by my sister’s power or might…but by the SPIRIT of the LORD that she would be HEALED AND DELIVERED.

I write this as an encouragement to anyone who is suffering with cancer or is praying for a loved one who has been stricken with this disease. REMEMBER all illness including cancer are DEFEATED foes if you ask God to heal and deliver that person and you unquestionable believe by faith that God has and will answer your prayer.

Be encouraged as one year later, my sister is back to her regular routine…cancer FREE and shouting from the rooftops the GOODNESS and MERCY of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

PRAISE GOD FOR THE VICTORY…as it is yours in Christ Jesus.
Feel free to share your story below as a cancer survivor or as the loved one of a cancer survivor. Let’s hear the praise reports! It all is a testament of God’s GLORY!