Breakfast For Your Soul

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.  No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
[Philippians 3:12-13 New Living Translation]

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And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a Man with him until the breaking of the day. And when He saw that he prevailed not against him, He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with Him. And He said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.  And He said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.  And He said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked Him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, Thy Name. And He said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after My name? And He blessed him there.  And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved

[Genesis 32:24-30]

“Catch it… and don’t let go”

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Good Afternoon Beloved,

You know I used to smile when a good friend of mine would talk about “catching the Holy Ghost“.  It was as if He were running by and you had to tackle Him.  This biblical account blows my mind because some bible scholars have held that this “man” that Jacob wrestled with, was actually pre-incarnate Jesus ~

(http://www.biblestudy.org/question/wrestling-with-an-angel.html, http://www.hannahscupboard.com/jacob-prayer.html,http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=32

No other man or angel either, would have had the authority to bless Jacob/Israel the way that he was blessed.  Jacob… wrestled with GOD!  Wow.  Jacob was at a place in his life where he desperate.  Just think about what was going on.  His brother Esau was on his way to kill him and probably everything that looked like him (at least according to Jacob’s thinking… truth is the bible records that he was coming… not what he intended to do once he got there).  Jacob thought that even though Esau technically ‘sold’ his birthright to him, was probably still fuming over his lost inheritance .  Jacob thought about the sense of betrayal Esau must have harbored towards his Mama for her part in all this, and his Daddy for not doing anything to stop it (even though he was tricked too).  There is a special bond between mothers and their sons, and that she could have had part in stripping him of what was ‘legally’ his must have been very painful.  All of that mixed together probably made for a very dangerous young man at one time.  Jacob had every reason to be afraid… very afraid.  At this time years had passed, and Jacob had two wives, two handmaids, and 11 sons.  He was willing to try ANYTHING.  As desperate for justice and revenge as Esau may have been, Jacob was just as desperate for mercy and salvation.  God blessed him beyond his wildest dreams.  Jacob sent all sorts of presents to Esau hoping to appease him.  He didn’t know if it would really work so he sent his family on in shifts so that if Esau started killing, some would have a chance of escape (notice Rachel and her son Joseph were last).  But God…!  Jacobs’ prayers were answered.  In the 33rd chapter we read that when Esau met Jacob he ran to him, hugged and kissed him and they both cried!  Wonder how the story would have turned out if Jacob had not set himself to seek the Lord.  If he had not held on for dear life that night.  All seemed lost.  I can’t imagine the terror in his heart.  The anguish in his soul.  He loved his family and now it appeared as though he was about to lose them all.  Desperation.  He held on.  I injured my toe/leg and thigh three times in a year… same leg.  The first incident from a pulled muscle while exercising, I smashed my toe running up the stairs trying to get dressed for the next scene in a play, and a few months ago I fell down steps… pitiful.  So I have first hand knowledge on the pain Jacob suffered as the ‘man’ touched the hollow of his thigh and moved it out of joint.  OUCH!  And Jacob didn’t have muscle relaxers and Tylenol, yet he was able to hold on!  What pain are we experiencing today?  What do we need to hold on to?  Thinking of what God has ahead of us, will give us the tenacity we are going to need in the days ahead to hold fast to our profession of faith.  To hold onto the promises of God…to hold onto our dreams…to hold onto our peace…to hold onto our joy… to hold onto the love that God has place in our hearts… once we have ’caught it’ … don’t let it go!  It will surely come to pass! 

…. and that Beloved is Good News!

“Hold On”, Tye Tribbett & GA

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

“Hold On.. Change Is Coming”, Sounds of Blackness w/ Troutman

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

“Farther Along“, Rev. E. Dewey Smith

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

“Never Give Up”, Yolanda Adams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0et-zyoKLw

“We’ve Come This Far By Faith”, Rev. Donnie McClurkin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqP0_wtfKmQ

“Still Have Joy”, Tye Tribbett & GA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfJ2LZQbvs4

“Victory”, Tye Tribbett & GA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFnp4fnCLgI

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Fighter -1 Timothy 6:12 90 of 106   I heard someone say that a good fight is one you win. In our fight of faith, we can take courage from knowing that God promises that we will win in the end. August 3, 2008

Good Morning Beloved,

I was not a ‘fighter’ as a kid.  I never liked physical confrontation. Kids used to ask me if I could fight, and I could honestly tell them that I didn’t know…never done it before.  They pretty much never tried me.  I used to hear them whispering, “you never know about them quiet ones … they flick off”.  Oh sure, they would talk about me and say little childish things (they were children afterall).  Some kept me out of their little ‘reindeer games’ (LOL! sorry a little hold-over from Christmas), but they never put their hands on me.  So … no fighting for me.  I am, however, a rather… shall we say ‘persistent’ person.  My mother would say stubborn.  I like to call it tenacity.  If I believe the thing is worth fighting for, I will lock on to it like a pit bull until it is done.  That is how we need to be with our faith in God.  We need to lock on it and refuse to let go.  Just like Jacob wrestling with the Angel… he said, “I will not let you go until you bless me”.  Can you tell that man was serious?  Hebrews 1, tells us that, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.  Now faith… I like to slow that down and savor it.  Right now… at this second… the faith I have is the “stuff” of the things I am hoping for.  It is proof of what I have not seen yet.  When I was about 11 years old.  I planned my life one morning while lying in bed.  I ‘hoped’ for a little girl when I grew up.  She would be sweet, cute and smart with long hair like my dolls… 10 years later … Jah arrived.  She was everything I had hoped for and then some (hey darlin’!).  Once she came, I did not have to ‘hope’ for her… she was here.  That is the same principle for everything else… you hope until it arrives, once it arrives you have no need to hope for it… sounds simple, but the hard part is the waiting period in the middle.  Each day is a mystery to us.  We don’t know what the future holds… but we do know WHO holds the future.

….. and that my friends is Good News!

U Blessed

Have A Fabulous Day!

Regina

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I would like to thank all of you who prayed for Mother Alice Hughes and her children.  She passed on to her eternal rest yesterday evening (January 7th) at 5:30pm.  I was blessed to be able to see her the night before and tell her I loved her.  Your prayers for her loved ones are greatly appreciated and heart-felt.  This is a very difficult time for them.  We know that she is in God’s care, but we’re all going to miss her very much … she was a precious lady with a big heart and we loved her.  Thank you again … God bless you.

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“Be Ye Steadfast”, The Florida Mass Choir:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7UY8inmKHU

“Declaration… The Fight of My Life”, Kirk Franklin:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTOMKt1nmT8

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. 

  ….and that there is Good News!

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Father, in the Name of Your precious Son Jesus… God we thank You for who You are to us.  On this day Father, when so many are mourning and remembering the attack on our nation, we ask that Your Presence completely overshadow us.  Touch and comfort those who were directly affected.  Those who lost loved ones, family, friends, co-workers.  Those who were themselves in the attacked buildings.  Remember those who still have nightmares and paralyzing fear even to this day.  Those who are physically healed, but mentally ill. Remember my son in the Lord Jonathan, protect him and deliver him let him feel the warmth of Your presence and heal his heart.  Take the sting out of the pain of what his young eyes saw on that day.  I pray for complete restoration for him, his friends and all of those who stand in the need of a touch from You.  In the matchless name of Jesus I pray…. and it is so… I love You… AMEN.  

Here SHE is, the USS New York, made from the World Trade Center!