Power, Love and Sound Mind

There is so much going on right now with police taking innocent lives. Know that man isn't the enemy. The reason the killings are happening is because of fear and hate. God is not the father of fear or hate, the devil is and his mission on earth is to destroy. Why does the devil want to destroy black people, especially the men? Why does the devil want us to live in fear?

Anyone who believes and confesses Jesus is God's son, died on the cross and rose on the third day and makes Him Lord over your life will be saved. It doesn't matter what the color of the skin. However, there is something about black people the devil really hates. We have a strong willed personality that dates all the back to before slavery. We have a strong work ethic that keeps us going. We know there is power in unity. We are visionaries and we are not afraid to create something with it. For example, look at the music, the hairstyles, the athletes, the authors, even look at our children's names. 

There is a hash tag going around that says, #staywoke or #stayawake. Yes, we need to wake up. Everyone is saying what can we do in the community to make a change? My answer is, the church.

The church in the black community is dying. The church is losing it's influence to keep people there, especially our men. The church is like a pep rally to get us hyped for the game of life. It should give us motivation to want to know God more and live the life that He has called us to live. When the churches get right in the black community, there will be more power. It will be the right kind of power that will keep everyone respecting the black community instead of being in fear of it. It will be the kind of power that will keep the black community from being in fear of everyone else. The power I'm talking about is love, God's power.

God had given us power, love and a sound mind. 

We can not let the devil steal these things from us. 

We must continue to have visions and be creative. 

We must continue to love every one of all races. 

We must continue to trust God, use wisdom and live in peace. 

This is who God has called us(black people) to be.

Don't Take The Short Cut

In relationships, you get to know each other as time goes by. Some people spend so much time together they can predict what each other is going to say. They give each other good advice about the future. They promise each other things for the future.
Our relationship with God is the same way. When your relationship with God grows by spending time in prayer and reading His word, He tells us things about our future. Sometimes we may not always know if it is the near future or if it is years from now. Majority of the time God tells a promise before the process to receive the promise begins. He does this so we will stay focused during the process.
It's just like driving to go get a valuable jewel. You know what is at the end of the trip but it is a journey to get there. Using GPS will take you straight to the jewel. Sometimes GPS will give the long route, this is discouraging when we we are in a hurry to get the promise. There are side roads on the map that is a great short cut but for some reason they are not showing up on the GPS. Taking the short cut without it on the map is risky. The road could be closed, a dead end or have a lot of curves. There is a reason why the GPS doesn't show the road.
When God shows you your future, don't take a short cut but stay the course. Taking a short cut in life can put you in bad relationships, bad jobs, bad debt. It can make the journey take longer than it's supposed to.
Let's go back to the short cut. When getting lost while driving you always have to turn around and go back, which makes the trip take longer. The same thing happens in life with the choices we make. Choosing a bad relationship takes time to get over and heal, especially if there are kids involved.

This is why it is so important to have a relationship with God because He will lead and guide you in every direction.

Does God Hear Me?

There were times in my life when I wondered did God hear me. It felt like the trial I was going through was never going to end. Instead of consistently crying out to God, I would try to fix my circumstances myself.

Fixing my own circumstances during these times was when I made the worst decisions.  Now, I'm not saying sit around and do nothing but don't make a rash decision on your emotions thinking God doesn't hear you. It will cost you.

An example of my rash decision making was after my first marriage ended. I was already dealing with insecurities and not being sure of my life. I couldn't be who God called me to be in that marriage and I was depressed because of it. I would yell and throw things in frustration, which was me trying to fix it my self. I didn't know who I was completely and I didn't know how to find out.
All of my decision making was based on his love for me instead of His love. Therefore when he told he didn't love me anymore it crushed me and instead of seeking out God for His love. I thought my life was over so I decided to take my own life. I had a prescription for a strong antihistamine for my, then, allergies. I don't remember how many I took, I know the bottle was empty.
I sat on the couch and waited to die.

I ended up passing out and hearing God's voice. He told me my life wasn't over and He had great plans for me. He heard my prayers. Then He told me to get up and call for help. That is what I did.
I got rushed to the emergency room and the nurse told I was lucky to not have stroked out. They cleaned out my system and I was fine the next day.

I know that it wasn't luck, but God saving my life and hearing my prayers. He healed me from my insecurities. He has healed me from my allergies. He healed me from that suicide attempt.
God hears your prayers. He's got you, even when it doesn't look like He does. Keep calling on Him and He will answer you.

Thinking While Thinking

I saw this #quote in @joycemeyer Joyce Meyer's #book Battle Of The Mind and loved it. 

Sometimes we have to examine our thoughts. For example, why am I worrying about money when God said He would supply all my needs. Another example is thinking bad thoughts about a person, whom you would normally have good thought about. Where are these thoughts coming from? Examine your thoughts to know where your thoughts are coming from. Then get rid of the thoughts that do not line up correctly with the Word of God. 

 

Think about what your thinking about.