Breakfast For Your Soul

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
[John 10:10]

Good Afternoon Beloved!

I’m baaaack!!!  Took a few days off to hang out with the family in our adopted city… Orlando, FL.  It was fabulous!  Not even the daily torrential rains dampened our trip… and WOW did it rain… cats, dogs — the whole farm!  It was incredible.  In between rain drops, we had a few sunny spots, in a couple of days.  What blessed me was that we still had a great time.  As I would look around me, others were having fun as well.  Teens, as well as, little children running and playing in the rain.  I did not see many sad or disappointed faces.  People decided that they were going to enjoy themselves no matter what… IT’S VACATION!  We learned to appreciate the few hours of fun in the sun, and when the storms swept through, we got out of their way… took in movies, went to dinner, found indoor attractions and activities, relaxed in our rooms.  My thought was, ‘what if we treated life in general the same way’.  What if, instead of complaining about long lines, traffic jams, equipment failure, challenging weather, difficult personalities, we decided to make the best out of the situation.  Especially if there is nothing we can do about it.  Traffic is traffic, and getting angry and blaring our horn, is not going to make it move any faster.  We are the ones with the irritation and head-ache (can you tell I’ve been there).  Turn that music up and enjoy some tunes, or turn it off and spend some quiet time basking in the presence of God… either way, we end up refreshed instead of flustered.  I highly recommend vacation!  Can’t go away for vacation right now… take mini-vacations wherever you go.  The Merriam-Webster definition of ‘vacation’ is:

~ a respite or a time of respite from something ~

I really like that.  Jesus came that we might have life.  That word ‘life’ is loaded with possibilities.  First and foremost we have an assurance of Eternal Life (John 3:16).  We have the promise of good things in life coming from the Father (Psalm 145:19; Matthew 7:11).  We have breath in our bodies, which means we are physically alive, which means we still have a purpose for being here (Genesis 2:7; Acts 17:25)!

That Beloved is Good News!  Now enjoy your “vacation”!

U Blessed

Have A Fabulous Day

Regina

“All Around”, Israel & New Breed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmP7R93Aga4

“Nobody”, Kirk Franklin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioebjoOg9uc

“Always”, Jason Champion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EbbhI6c4Bg

“My Name Is Victory”, Jonathan Nelson & Purpose

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WoGBvtN–8

“Victory”, Tye Tribbett

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_nv8l9Kwkw

“Blessed and Highly Favored”, The Clark Sisters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWxshbbTYkc

“Let Go”, Dewayne Woods

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76o4xhxIKfs

“Praise on the Inside”, J. Moss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3qNWf4XyPk

“Thank You – I Won’t Complain”, Fred Hammond

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXED4w5qS3M

Some Assembly Required -Proverbs 3:5,6

104 of 123

Life is complicated, and it can be hard to fit all of the pieces together. The Bible is our instruction manual from God for how to put our lives in order. December 7, 2008

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 

[Philippians 4:7]

 

 

 

Good Morning Beloved,

 

What a beautiful day it is!  Unseasonably warm isn’t it DC metro?  This is that “get-outside-and-do-what-you-need-to-do-out-there-before-the-real-winter-comes” weather.  Enjoy today.  Life is so short.  This morning I received a call from a close friend; her beloved Grandmother has passed.  She was at her bedside at home.  This wonderful lady, who I’ve known since I was 16, has been battling cancer for many months.  It has been her strong desire to go home to be with the Lord.  She has lived a full life.  A good life filled with the love of her family and friends, a very long and distinguished career as an educator and a comfortable life-style.  They thought they lost her a while back, but I told my friend that while her body and her spirit are ready to go… her mind and her eyes wanted to see the nation elect it’s first African American president.  I thought she would try to hang on until Inauguration Day, but maybe she felt she had seen enough.  I don’t know.  I do know that the Bible is clear when it tells, “Whereas you know not what shall be on tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away”. [James 4:14].  A sobering thought.  It should make us want to live with righteous gusto!  Make our life count in eternal ways.  Leave a positive mark on the world that will never be erased.  We will not understand everything now, but we will one day.  One of our church mothers – Ms. Meacham- is one of those sweet, generous, tough, little, fiery saints that always has a mischievous smile on her face.  She used to stand at the podium, with her hands on her hips, shaking her head decisively and sing:

“Farther Along”, Rev. E. Dewey Smith, Jr.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7JGahCqGH4

 Farther Along
Words and Music by J.R.Baxter and W.B.Stevens
© 1937 Stamps-Baxter Music

Tempted and tried, we’re oft made to wonder
Why it should be thus all the day long,
While there are others living about us,
Never molested, though in the wrong.

Refrain
Farther along we’ll know all about it,
Farther along we’ll understand why;
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine,
We’ll understand it all by and by.

When death has come and taken our loved ones,
It leaves our home so lonely and drear,
Then do we wonder why others prosper
Living so wicked year after year.

Refrain
Farther along we’ll know all about it,
Farther along we’ll understand why;
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine,
We’ll understand it all by and by.

Faithful til death, said our loving Master
A few more days to labor and wait,
Toils of the road will then seem as nothing
As we sweet through the beautiful gate.

Refrain
Farther along we’ll know all about it,
Farther along we’ll understand why;
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine,
We’ll understand it all by and by.

When we see Jesus, coming in glory,
When He comes from His home in the sky,
Then we shall meet Him in that bright mansion,
We’ll understand it all by and by.

Refrain
Farther along we’ll know all about it,
Farther along we’ll understand why;
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine,
We’ll understand it all by and by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If we keep our mind on Jesus, He will keep us in perfect peace.  That is the greatest battlefield and where the war for our soul is won or lost.  No life is not fair all the time, but no matter where we travel in life, if Jesus is on board, we have love, peace, joy, power, goodness, temperance, meekness, protection… eternal life… all wrapped up in one.

 

And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.

Genesis 29:35

I’ve often said you want drama, suspense, intrigue, romance, action…. read the bible.  In the story of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah.  We find Jacob, who worked 7 years to win the hand of his beloved Rachel… only to discover the morning after the wedding night, that he had been duped, (by her father) into marrying her older, “weak-eyed” sister Leah.  Needless to say, Jacob was furious, so to keep peace, Rachel’s Dad Laban, told him that if he worked for him an additional 7 years, he could have Rachel as well.  It was no secret how much Jacob loved Rachel.  Nobody works 14 years for a person they are not crazy about.  What is interesting is that Leah tried everything in her power to make Jacob love her.  She thought if she gave him a lot of sons, that he would be attached to her.  Finally, with the birth of Judah, she must have realized that it simply was not going to happen.  She turned her worship from  her husband, to the Lord.  She literally named her baby, “Praise”.  What a special child.  He must have been some magnificently gifted and anointed kid, right?…. uhhhh… no.  This same child would later grow up and conspire with his other brothers against his little brother Joseph (Rachel’s son… the golden child), “And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? (Genesis 37:26)”.  It was Judah, who after two of his three sons died from their own wickedness, promised Tamar, his daughter-in-law, that she would marry his youngest son when he reached marrying age.  He lied.  He never had any intention on letting that happen.  So what does she do?  She disguises herself as a prostitute, and Judah –not knowing who she was — solicits her services.  She becomes pregnant.  He hears about it and demands that she be stoned for “playing the harlot”.  Tamar sent Judah a coded message, that let him know that she was pregnant by him.  What a mess!  How’s that for an interesting family tree? … this was the line that our Lord chose to come through.  Forever and always, Jesus is known as the “Lion from the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5)… amazing.  Wonder if the honor bestowed on Judah, had anything to do with the fervent prayer of an unloved, uncared for woman, who was not considered anyone’s first choice.  This woman who, because of the customs of the day, had no choice but to abide by the decisions made for her.  This woman who lived her entire life knowing that she was married to a man, who never really belonged to her, and who would never love her.  That the only love of his life was Rachel, and that Rachel’s children would always carry a favor from their father, that her children would never have.  This woman gave the Lord her best praise, and He gave her a great place in history.  Messiah would come through the loins of her son…. guess Leah really got the last laugh, huh?

Cartoonist’s Comment:

Praise and thanksgiving are the entrance into the courts of God, and the booster rockets to our prayers.

U Blessed!

Have A Fabulous Day!

Regina

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Good Morning Beloved,

It’s amazing how God uses the most common everyday occurrences to teach spiritual truths.  He knows us.  He knows how we process information and what the best method will be for us to grasp what He is telling us.  No one in my family has anything resembling a “green thumb” when it comes to flowers and plants.  When we moved into our house nearly 20 years ago, we inherited 2 rose bushes and a holly bush.  We have found them to be not only beautiful, but stubbornly resilient, with a determination to survive.  There have been times in our busy lives, when those bushes have been totally neglected by us.  I noticed that there were these beautiful white ‘flowers’ growing around them.  A friend, who I believe can make anything grow, informed me that those were weeds.  I was shocked, they were so pretty.  Not only were they weeds, but the little leeches, had the nerve to try to choke the life out of our brave little trees.  The rose and holly bushes just grew taller and taller.  One day I decided, the weeds had to go and got rid of them.  The thing about weeds…. they are also stubborn, resilient and have a strong determination to survive.  It is a battle.  As of this morning… the weeds are gone, but I know that I am going to have to stay vigilant……  get the picture?  Weeds are going to spring up in our lives.  Things that might look pretty, even harmless, but their goal is to sap the life and strength out of us.  To lead us away from the path that God has for us.  A path that will lead us to our destiny and purpose.  For instance, as a child you have a great desire to become a teacher.  You study a teacher you really admire and work hard.  Then someone comes along and tells you that you should ‘aim’ higher.  Why not become a doctor or a lawyer… they make more money.  So you shift.  Ever stop to think that in God’s plan for your life, you may become an OK doctor or lawyer.. but you would have made an OUTSTANDING teacher, that could have impacted many young minds, because that is what was in your heart.  I met a lawyer once who had desired to be a teacher.  He graduated from not one, but two Ivy league schools and became the first black attorney at this particular firm I worked for.  My daughter interviewed him for her 6th grade vocation paper.  He told her of his previous desire to teach.  I always knew that about him.  What you are purposed to do … you will do… naturally, with little or no thought.  He is a natural-born teacher.  An absolutely brilliant and patient man, with the ability to simplifiy the most complex questions, without making the person asking the question feel stupid.  That was his gift…. and his calling.  Shortly after I left the firm, he resigned and moved to Chicago, where he took a position as a professor in a prestigious college, met and married his wife (also a professor).. and they are living happily ever after (LOL!)… The folks around here say ‘do you’… that has a lot of truth embedded in it, once you strip away arrogance or selfishness. Seriously study where you are.  Are you where you are because someone else decided this path for you?  Do you believe you are out of place?  Do you feel like you’re wearing ’someone else’s life’, and it’s choking the life out of you, like a suit two sizes too small?  It’s only too late when you have breathed your last. What was deemed to be a proclamation of destruction for Pharaoh, I believe to be a prophetic word of hope to the believer, “ ….Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth (Romans 9:17).“ 

U Blessed Favored One

Have A Fabulous Day!

Regina

Cartoonist’s Comment:

The power of God can remove any obstacle that is preventing you from getting to where God wants you to be. Our faith allows God to release His power in our lives, to remove the mountains in our way.