It May Be Cold Outside...

It's winter time, and even here in Texas that fact has not been missed.  It has been cold, with temperatures dipping unusually below freezing in the overnights.  It all actually started with, get this, a white Christmas!  Although this may not sound like much for people in other parts of the country, this is Texas, a hot state where the cold and especially snow are hardly ever seen.  But one thought gives me constant relief, constant warmth literally and figuratively through the cold times and storms of life, and that is that I have a God that provides for me and shelters me.  He provides peace, protection and provision. He created me, saved me and sustains me.  He's a keeper, yes He is!
It may be cold outside, but I'm comfortable in knowing my God is here, on the inside, for me at all times.

As one of the great old gospel hymnals puts it: "I stepped in the water and the water was cold, it chilled my body, but not my soul."
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Psalm 23 (KJV)

A Real Pain, A REAL GOD

Pain is real, and it is different for everyone.  The biggest mistake we can make is to talk like we understand another's pain.  If someone shares their pain with us, we need to let them have their moment.  Just listen.  Don't try to fix it or analyze it.  And, if by chance, we have a Christian perspective to share, we need to save it for a better day.  When a person is expressing their pain they don't want to hear from us!  They want us to feel their heart in the matter at hand.  And for goodness sake, don't try to make them respond the way that we feel.  Have some compassion.  Pain is personal.  We all feel pain differently and respond to it differently as well.  Pain can be overwhelming,depressing, opressing, and paralyzing.  It can seize our thoughts, break our hearts, and shut down our forward progress.  But, pain like everything else is a process, and this is were we win with GOD.  Scripture says: "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world."  So, no matter how great the pain is, we can get through it, we can get over it with GOD, because He is a very real GOD.  That is why the title shows pain in mostly lower case letters, and A REAL GOD in all upper case letters, because in the process we eventually tell our pain how big our GOD is, hallelujah!  We speak to the pain in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we take authority over what once terrorized us, but NOW is no more!  Hallelujah, Thank You Jesus!  What the devil meant for our destruction, GOD used for our construction.  We are now wiser, better, and stronger in Jesus' name.

Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.  Psalm 55:22 (NLT) 

Hats off to Evangelist Yvett Freeman (To God Be the Glory)

We did not know Evangelist long, and we did not get to spend a lot of time with her, but the few moments we did are very memorable.  We will never forget how God spoke through this mighty woman-of-God on one occasion when she was visiting her brother's church-house.  Holy Spirit used her mightily, and it was a wonder to behold!  We remember breaking bread with her and her husband while visiting her hometown, Chicago.  We enjoyed their company so much because they were both so down to earth.

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:5 (NIV)

This One's for You Mama! (To God Be the Glory)

Johnnie Mae Baldwin was classy and brassy.  She was old school in the way she thought and did things.  She felt that you should go to the church-house on Sunday morning dressed appropriately, and you can bet that she was always dressed to the "nines."  She always dressed like a lady, that was the classy side.  Now, when you got in a heated debate with her, she could give as good as she could get.  That was the brassy side.  But, most of all she was wisdom and love.  She would say in her soprano style voice: "Baby, I know God's knowledge and wisdom and I'm telling you....."   Godmom was a heart person - she loved genuinely and deeply.  She loved God first and foremost.  Whenever we, her Godchildren left her presence she would always say: "Ya'll just love on each other till you can't love on each other no more!"

Today is her home going service even though she is already Home.  She surely will be missed.

He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother. Praise the LORD! Psalms 113:9 (NIV)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (THANK YOU JESUS)

This is a year to embrace.  This new year will bring many wonderful changes.  A Rhema Word is coming forth for the body of Christ - collectively and individually.  We, the children of God, are taking back the day, and even the night.  We are taking back what belongs to us.  "The Kingdom suffereth violence, but the violent take it by force."

God is a good God, and I am glad about it!  What about you?  He is the God of another chance, so let's take advantage of the mercy (spares us from what we do deserve) and grace (favor, gives us what we don't deserve) He is extending us once again, and strive harder to get it right in this new year.  God wants the best for us.  He has our best interests at heart.

We had some fights in 2012, and we will surely have some fights in 2013, but we are Christian soldiers.  Hey, it's already alright!  THANK YOU JESUS.

God is doing a new thing and we must get on board with Him and do our part.

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?  I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:19 (KJV)

A NEW YEAR IS COMING! (What About You?)

I pray to God that we all make it into the new year since no time is promised to us.  I reflect on one New Year's Eve time that reminds me of how precious time is, and how none of it is promised to us.  My uncle, by marriage, called relatives near and far to wish them a happy New Year.  Sometime between New Year's Eve and the new year time ran out for him, and he passed on from this place to another.

A New Year is surely coming, but will a new you come with it?  Sinners and saints can all get in on this.  We can all strive to be better, do better, have better, and want better for not just ourselves, but for the world at- large.  Let us come up to another level of better living from the inside - out.  If you are a sinner, you can truly be a better you by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior over your life.  If you are a Christian, you can be a better you by praying more, fasting more, reading the Bible more.  The more we read the Bible the better we get to know God.

God is a good God, and I'm glad about it.  How about you?  He is the God of another chance.  So come on everybody, let's use this new year, and next chance to strive to get it right in all areas of our lives!

God Knows Our Needs !

Jesus was born in Bethlehem because God knew our need.  He knew that although He created us in His image, and put us in a perfect situation, in a perfect place, we would become imperfect.  He, Who never sinned, died for our sins so that (if we so choose) we could recieve salvation and be saved from sin.  But Jesus didn't just die for our salvation, that is just the being.  He also died for us so we could have a rich and full life.  God knew, and knows that we needed and will need Jesus from beginning to end in order to live the life He has planned for us.

The lord says, "I will rescue those who love me.  I will protect those who trust in my name.  When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble.  I will rescue and honor them.  I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation."  Psalm 91:14-16 (NLT)