Breakfast For Your Soul

 

 So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

What a statement!  Some of us lose it when the cable goes out! … Not you, but some people I heard about somewhere on the planet.  Paul went through, indescribable agony, but in his heart and mind, he had one thing that kept him… a WORD from the Lord!  He knew that he could not die until he went to Rome.  Paul was human.  I’m sure he felt how we would have felt in his position, but his trust was in the God of his salvation.  His encounter with Jesus on the road that day forever sealed in his mind his destiny.  He became a servant of the Living God.  This was a man who was looked upon as a great intellectual, upper class in his society.  He was well respected, revered and feared, but at one point he made the statement that:

“…Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ…” {Philippians 3:8}

We will get to the other side… no matter what “beast” tries to attach itself to us or hinder us.  Shake it off.  Our mission will be accomplished.  Smash through every stumbling block, speak to every mountain, lay aside every weight until your purpose is fulfilled.  Some go through more than others.  That is why it is essential that we pray for one another and help each other.  

“…For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”
[Ecclesiastes 4:10]

What is a “successful” life?  In God’s eyes, it is finishing the task He gave us.  Together, with the help of our beautiful Savior, we will make it!

 

 

 
 

 

Friday, August 21, 2009

You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is, He climbed the high mountain, He captured the enemy and seized the booty, He handed it all out in gifts to the people. Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

[Ephesians 4: 4-13 The Message Bible]

“B  U”

Happy Friday!

The “Mona Lisa” is priceless.  I’ve read that prior to its 1962-1963 tour, it was estimated for insurance purposes at $100 million.  According to an official at the Louvre, “it is kept in a special sealed box to protect it from vibrations, heat and humidity. It is protected by thick glass resistant to bullets and any other object hurled at it” (a lady threw a coffee mug at it not too earlier this month).  That is how we treat something of value.  Question.  What is more valuable than a person made in the image and after the likeness of our Almighty Creator?  Each person is unique.  No two people share the same fingerprints.  Two people may look identical, but they are different.  I know a lady who is a twin.  She and her sister look so much alike it is eerie.  They have the same style of dress, same smile, same height, same face, same hair, same facial expressions, same sense of humor.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  People call them the ‘double-mint’ twins. Even though they look alike, they are two different people.  Each one is unique in her own way.  We are not called to be ‘identical twin’ Christians.  Our goal is to be more like Christ, not more like brother/sister so-n-so.  We may admire the attributes, and character traits of an admirable person, but if I’m trying to be them, who is being me.  There will be a void and something will be left undone.  We all learn from one another, but then we take what we have learned and filter it through the gifts, talents and abilities that God has placed in our spirit and run with it.  On December 17, 1903 Orville Wright took flight in “The Flyer”.  It was the first successful, powered, piloted flight in history and it was air-born a grand total of 12-seconds.   Look at how far aviation has come.  What if no one ever tried to improve that first craft?  The Wright Brothers started taking passengers on ’flights’ with them May 14, 1908.  Here we are in the 21st century flying all over the world in a matter of hours without much thought (except how expensive it is becoming).  Know your true worth.  You are priceless.  A limited edition.  There has never been a ‘you’ in the whole history of mankind and there will never be another after you.  That is another reason why the enemy of our souls hates you.  He doesn’t know your purpose.  He doesn’t know the secret weapons that God has invested in your spirit.  Leonardo DiVinci is gone, but Mona is still here.  There were many artists alive during his time, but his work is head and shoulders above theirs.  His style is unique to him.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Billy & Ruth Graham, Katherine Kulman, Thomas Dorsey, Pop Winans, Timothy Wright, Mahalia Jackson, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans… Reginald Lee Hockaday (my father), Elnora Curry McCloud (my grandmother), among countless others have all gone on.  However, each and every one of these precious people left something special behind for us.  It is up to us to take what they left us and build on it for the generation that is following us.  In my case, it is music and words.  My father was a musician and even though I was very little, all of my memories of him were surrounded in music.  My grandmother was the greatest story-teller of all time.  She could spin a tale that would have you believing Bigfoot was not only real, but that he originated in southern Maryland!  Spielberg could have used my Grandma.  She had no formal education because she had to work to help take care of her family, yet words were very important to her and she taught herself to read and write.  Not only that, but she had wisdom and boldness.  In the body of Christ, we need everybody at their posts.  We need preachers, writers, musicians, artists, teachers, speakers, athletes, politicians(), dancers, inventors, scientists.. etc.. etc… etc.  We need folks in every industry, every field of study perfecting their craft and utilizing their skills.  The bible tells us that “every joint supplies”.  When we are doing what we do, we all fit together and much is accomplished.  Every skill set we have been given is for the up-building of the Kingdom of God… God calls them “gifts”.

 

…. Family, that is Good News!

 

U Blessed!

Have A Fabulous Day and a Wonderful Weekend

Regina

 

Monday, June 8, 2009

   Then the Lord said to me,

   “Write My answer plainly on tablets,
      so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.

[Habakkuk 2:2 New Living Translation]

   So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Galatians 6:9

Have A Fabulous Day… and DARE TO DREAM!

“Write The Vision”, Downsview Youth Choir At Mt Zion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzs9EKP-hp8

“Psalm 8 (How Excellent Is Thy Name), Richard Smallwood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_oZXnKVY24

“Hold on, Don’t Let God”, Richard Smallwood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpDFvHrCoG4

“The Lord Is Able”, John P. Kee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGGZ7Y6nvhQ

“He’ll Do It Again”, Shirley Ceasar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WLVyCzHByQ

Made To Fly -Ephesians 2:10 79 of 125   God has a purpose and a plan for each of us, and in Christ, He has already given us all that we need to fulfill that plan. May 11, 2008

Thursday,  May 7, 2009

If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

[2 Chronicles 7:14]
 

 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while you are with Him; and if you seek Him, He will be found of you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. Now for a long season Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found of them.  And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.  And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity. You be strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.  And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and destroyed the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.  And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.  So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.  And they offered to the LORD the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.  And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.  And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.  And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and He was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.  And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.  But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.  And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels. And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

[2 Chronicles 15]

“The Power of Corporate Prayer”

Good Morning Beloved,

Today is the “National Day of Prayer”.  With everything going on today, prayer is crucial.  My grandma used to say that history repeats itself.  That falls in line biblically with, “there is nothing new under the sun“.  We are technologically savvy.  We can travel to around the world, in a fraction of the time it took in ‘olden’ days.  Yet, people are people, and the heart of humanity has never changed.  As people prospered in ‘bible days’, there was a tendency to “forget the Lord their God”.  Over and over again they were warned of what would happen to them as a nation, just like the people in the verse above.  While reading scripture, it is easy to overlook how many years there were between events.  One thing happens in chapter 1, something else in chapter 15, a whole generation could have passed.  I used to wonder how people who crossed the red sea could ever forget the God that brought them out of hard slavery.  I believe that they could forget, because there were children, not yet born, who did not experience the wonder of that day for themselves.  After a few generations it lost its effect on them and became a history lesson. Sort of like today.  We are losing a generation of Big Mamas, Pop-Pops, Auntys and Uncles.  People who lived through some of the greatest struggles of our country.  Some of these people relied on God for their next meal, had tribes of children they raised to honor God, and may not have had much in the way of ’stuff’, but they took care of what they had.  They carried themselves in a dignity that can only come from a person who knows who they are in Christ and understands their purpose in life.  It is vital that every blood-bought believer have a personal prayer life.  It is a privilege to be able to access the Throne of God at any time.  We can actually talk to the Creator of the Universe, who is pleased to call us His ‘child’.  We have the benefit of the Bible to teach us also how awesome it is when all of His children, from all over the nation and abroad, come on one accord, even for one day, set aside denominations, isms and skisms, and have a corporate, family reunion, in the Spirit, around the Throne… as we all worship God and pray together.

… That Family… is Good News!

U Blessed

Have A Fabulous Day

Regina

“What If His People Prayed”, Casting Crowns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1P2xtGkpl0

“Order My Steps”, GMWA Women of Worship

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

“Here We Are”, Don Moen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePN-eVaA_cU

“Days Of Elijah”, Judy Jacobs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUIa674GGCo

“Days Of Elijah”, Donnie McClurkin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb00G9euI98

Copyright 2009 Michael D. Waters

Smoke Signals -James 5:13 113 of 120   When we are faced with trouble, we should not wait until we have come to the end of our own resources before we seek God’s help and direction in prayer.

Copyright 2009 Michael D. Waters

Dinner Bell -Luke 14:17 103 of 120   The good news is that, through Jesus, everyone is invited to take a seat at the table of God’s blessing. We need to be telling the world about the blessing Christ has provided for them. November 23, 2008

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor. Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters.  If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.  God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy.  So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?  Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?  Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”  Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.  Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

[James 4:7-13]

Good Morning Beloved,

I love the balance in the scripture.  It does not leave us to believe that we have no personal responsibilities when it comes to living right.  However, it does not constantly condemn us as if we have no hope either… balance.  It is designed to get, and keep us on the right track.  Now, Brother James did not bite his tongue did he?  Sounds like a little wake-up call for us to get our ‘house’ in order.  Our office is mourning the sudden passing of a great lady today, a precious lady named Nancy Elfstrom.  Nothing puts life into prospective more than the passing of another individual.  I just saw her Friday.  She was looking well, perky and smiling.  She has been consulting with the company off and on since the ’90s.  She LOVED coffee, and I made sure she had it everyday.  She would always smile and tell me how grateful she was.  She would stop by my desk and just start talking, always asking if she could do something for me.  She was just such a sweet person.  We just found out this morning that she died on Sunday.  News travels slowly around here.  She will be greatly missed.  The brevity of life.  We do not know the day or the hour when we will pass from this life, to life everlasting, but we know the One who does know.  That is the reason, He is urging us to live.  Not just exist from day to day, but really live.  Jesus said that He “came that we might have life and life more abundantly“.  That means life here, and life after we cross over the threshhold.  There is a reason we were birthed into the earth.  We have a God given purpose and destiny…

…. and that Family is Good News!

U Blessed

Have A Fabulous Day

Regina

“Well Done”, Tye Tribbett & GA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3uwlVfReVA

“Breathe Into Me”, Fred Hammond

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hpl_906fqk

“Tomorrow”, (concept video by David Roberts, King David Productions)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZBCv7ChP38

“I Want My Destiny”, Fred Hammond

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

Killer Dog -Romans 8:13 116 of 116   Sin may seem harmless when Satan tries to sell it to us. But it will soon grow into a devouring monster, that will eventually kill us, if we don’t, by the Spirit, kill it first. March 22, 2009

Dinner Bell -Luke 14:17 103 of 116   The good news is that, through Jesus, everyone is invited to take a seat at the table of God’s blessing. We need to be telling the world about the blessing Christ has provided for them. November 23, 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.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1
[Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word]

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Word gave life to everything that was created,* and His life brought light to everyone.

John 1:4

[*Or and nothing that was created was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything.]

 Good Morning Beloved,

Ever had a song just come out of nowhere, and get stuck in your head.  I experienced that this morning.  I found myself humming “Kiss”, by the purple one ‘Prince’.  Now mind you, I haven’t actually heard the song since Paris Bennett sang it on American Idol two years ago.  What triggered it this morning, I don’t know.  What I do know is that …. it was in there (I believe that was also a spaghetti sauce commercial).  That is encouraging to me.  That also means that everything I’ve ever learned in God’s Word is in there as well.  It is God’s Word that keeps me grounded.  Becoming familiar with the bible is a beautiful thing.  I was not the most studious kid… I was a ‘crammer’.  I would drift into space if the teacher spent an hour ‘talking’.  I found out that I was a visual learner.  Unfortunately, anytime someone mentioned the word ’study’, I would choke. The could call it research, reading, perusing… anything but “studying”.. isn’t that weird…. pray for me.  It blesses me that Jesus is the Word, and when we have Him, we have the Word in our hearts, ’studying’ the Word gets it in our brain. Everything we need is wrapped up in the Living Word.  I heard this story many times:

A man decides he wants to take a cruise.  He scrimps and saves, and saves until he finally has enough money to take one.  He is so excited.  He will finally be able to see the beautiful places he always dreamed of.  One problem.  He saw all of the delicious looking foods on board, but they looked really expensive.  He thought he wouldn’t be able to possibly afford the delicacies, so he ate crackers that he had brought with him.  Well, on the last night of his trip… wouldn’t you know it… his crackers ran out!  He had a little money and he was so hungry.  Finally, he decided to ask someone how much the meal was.  The kind stranger told him that it would cost him nothing.  It was included in the cost of the cruise.  He ate crackers for days… he missed out on sumptuous meals, because he did not know what was included in his package.

hmmmm…. wonder how much is included in our ’salvation package’ that we’re not aware of.  Wonder how much we know about…. that we’re just not using?  How much authority, how much grace, how much wisdom?  How much ???  We have a life time to discover… and even then … there will be so much more.

 …. and that is Good News!

U Blessed!

Have A Fabulous Day

Regina

Cartoonist’s Comment:

God has a purpose and a plan for each of us, and in Christ, He has already given us all that we need to fulfill that plan.

*************************

Good Morning Beloved,

It is an absolutely beautiful morning!  Hope you have a tremendously blessed day.  You know, I’ve been really meditating on purpose and placement.  Walking in the purpose God had in mind when He created me… God has never designed anything that did not have a specific purpose.  Sometimes we can be in a situation… miserable, and not understand, that the reason we are unfulfilled, is that we are not in the right place.  Even worse, we can become perfectly comfortable and content in a place God never intended for us to stay.  I remember my first pet – a mallard duck named “Boo”.  He was the cutest little thing.  My grandmother bought him for me at the little country store “Snells”, where she purchased  “chicken feed” for her chickens.  Boo was so tiny, he could fit in the palm of my hand.  I raised him in a box, in the house.  I’d take him outside with me for exercise, and he spent most of his time walking free in the house, watching television, and sleeping on my feet.  The problem… Boo did not know he was a duck.  He never saw another like himself… he patterned his life after what he saw.. the people, the chickens, the cat and the dog.  None of us flew, so he didn’t fly.  None of us swam, so he didn’t swim.  As a matter of fact, when I put him in a make-shift pool.. he jumped out, shaking his feet and quacking his disapproval.  The closest he came to flying was when I tried to leave him and run to the mailbox (it was close to the road, and I didn’t want him to get hurt).  He saw me and started running after me, as fast as he could, flapping his wings.  He only got about a foot off the ground, and I don’t think he even noticed.  I had that duck for 10 years.  He brought a lot of joy into my life, but he died never realizing who he really was.  I don’t want that to be the end of my story.  I want to fulfill my purpose and finish my mission.

Remember the former things, those of long ago; 
I am God, and there is no other; 
I am God, and there is none like Me.

I make known the end from the beginning, 
from ancient times, what is still to come. 
I say: My purpose will stand, 
and I will do all that I please.

From the east I summon a bird of prey; 
from a far-off land, a man to fulfill My purpose. 
What I have said, that will I bring about; 
what I have planned, that will I do.

Isaiah 46:9-11

Cartoonist’s Comment:

If we offer ourselves in service to the Lord, He already knows just the right place we are best suited for.

U BLESSED

Have A Fabulous Day!

Regina