Can I Have Some?

As a child I remember my Dad would sometimes intentionally test my character. These tests would come in several forms. One test was the “selfishness test”. This would often occur while I was enjoying my favorite snack, meal or desert. My dad would look at me while I was totally consumed by the pleasure that I was receiving from my treat and he would simply ask…”Can I have some?” Sometimes he would ask after he had finished his share of the same item, but other times he would ask when he didn’t. He wanted to see where my hart was and if I realized that the things that I had the pleasure of enjoying usually were a direct result of the sacrifices that he made. He would go without so that I could have. All that he asked on occasion was “Can I have some?”

On several occasions, after he made the request, he had something greater in store for me than what I was giving up. For instance, if I shared “my “ chips with him, he would surprise me and let me know that he had picked up my favorite drink or cookies from the store and they were in the kitchen just waiting on me. This was great, but it was not always the case or it would not have been a true test of selfishness. If you know you are going to be immediately rewarded whenever you act unselfishly, then you may not have the proper motivation for giving. Being selfless is not about earning future rewards it is about demonstrating love.

…so there I was with the choice.

Do I give up what I have in the hopes that I might get more???? Or do I just act selflessly and share with the one who has sacrificed himself for me. Looking at it through my eyes as an adult…it is a "no brainer", but as a kid this was tough stuff.

In this season of giving, we are also faced with a society that is telling us to cut back because the times are lean. They say…Help yourself because your employer and the market are not concerned with you. Hold and save every penny you can because you may need it tomorrow. I think that this is a time where we can lose track of the BIG PICTURE. People more than ever are in need. This is not the time to hold on to everything, but it is a time to help those in need. God through His love for us has given us so much. He has put us in a position to let His Kingdom come and His will to be done on Earth. He needs us to be His ambassadors of Love. One of the ways that we express His Love is by giving. God’s principle is that as we give we will be blessed.

Prov. 24:11-12 says:
24 The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. 25 The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.

As we approach the thick of the holiday season, let us be mindful of the world outside the 4 walls in which we live. There are people that are hurting, dying and in dire need of just a portion of our excess. Why not choose to go against the tide and give to those in need this year? Go above and beyond what you have done in the past and truly allow God’s Love to be demonstrated to the World through your giving. Give your time, your talents and you $$$.

Remember, just as my Dad reminded me as a child….God is more concerned with what you keep for yourself, than what you give. The true spirit of giving is about sacrifice, for if you have not sacrificed, you have not even begun to genuinely give.

God is asking…”Can I have some?” The choice is now yours.

Be Blessed,
B

Give them what you "Got"

Fall is in full force and winter is right around the corner. This is the time of year that is famous for the flu, colds, stomach virus, pink eye etc... Those of you with kids know this season oh too well. The kids bring all kinds of germs home to “spread the love” all around the house to the rest of the family. In my house we take extra precautions to try to make sure that when someone is sick they and they alone are remain sick (until the illness has pass). To accomplish this we make the “infected person” wear a hospital mask and we quarantine him/her. The contagious person is confined to his/her bedroom and their bathroom. Once remarkable signs of wellness are displayed, we then allow the person back into the common areas of the house.

You may think this is cruel, but hey…it works for us.

Being contagious carries with it a stigma. If you don’t think so, the next time you are in a crowd place say the words “I’m contagious” in a voice that is slightly louder than your regular speaking voice and just watch people’s reactions. I’m sure they will frown, shy away from you or totally remove themselves from your presence.

As Children of God, we are called to be contagious. We should have a burning desire to spread the “affectious” (Jesse Jackson word of the day) nature of God around. We are called to “infect” those in our circle of influence. We should give them what we “got”. We are carriers of God’s Love, His Peace, His Strength, His Power, His Wisdom…etc. and it is only through us that His Kingdom can be brought forth and His “Good News” delivered.

Love is one of the most contagious “infections” that we carry. God loves His Son (Jesus), Jesus loves us (He died for us) and we are called to love one another. Jesus said:

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love… 17This is my command: Love each other”. John 15:9, 17


Most people in the world will not hear the gospel if it is not delivered with love from a person that has demonstrated love toward them. Just think…if you are ministering to the hungry and you are offering them the “Bread of Life” but not meeting their physical need 1st, it will be hard for them to hear the “good news” over the roaring growl of their stomachs. True Love is the only way to have an impact on the lives of others. We must act in love at the direction of the Spirit of God.

What spiritual infection are you carrying? Are you keeping yourself quarantined? Are you keeping it to yourself? Why not make today the day that you “infect” those around you and boldly show that you are contagious? Make today the day that you “Spread the Love”.

Be Blessed,
B

Dream Again

No matter whom you voted for on Tuesday, you must acknowledge that there is a sense of excitement in the atmosphere. It is the excitement that accompanies Change. Hopefully America is not changing for the sake of just changing. Change is more than a trend…Change is way of life. My prayer is that America is changing with the hope that tomorrow can be better than today and at least twice as good as yesterday. Change is the manifestation of a Dream. A Dream is merely a:

D-Desired
R-Reality
E-Evoking
A-Alternative
M-Movement

We all have dreams. Dreams for a “better” life, dreams for our children, dreams for the world, but what good is a dream that is not put into action. A dream put into action is the piston that powers, drives and brings forth change. Dreams and Hope inspired people to brave long lines and adverse conditions across this county to vote for their “agent of change”. Throughout this political process, supporters on both sides boldly declared their support for their choice, were determined to let their voices be heard (and votes counted) and tried feverishly to convince people on “the other side” to come to the “light”. I marveled at the enthusiasm that America had as we all supported the man that we wanted to lead us.

I could not help but think:

Have we been as bold about our support of God, as the ONE we want to lead us?
Have we displayed the same enthusiasm to spread His message to the world?
How many more times have we mentioned the names of the candidates than we have uttered anything about God to others in recent weeks?

I’m definitely guilty here.

God has called us to be lifelong dreamers. Life is about Change. In life, we are constantly moving from one stage to another. As children of God, we are given dreams and visions during our lifetimes to change the world, to make an impact and to enlarge God’s Kingdom. Maybe that is why Christians have become so “boring” and ineffective in the eyes of the people of this country….It may be the direct result of our inability to dream as it relates to God’s Kingdom and to put “feet to our dreams”. We constantly box God in and constrain Him within the limits of our life experiences. We rarely completely use the creativity, vision, enthusiasm and determination that make us successful in other aspects of life (work, hobbies, and relationships) to “God’s Campaign”.

I encourage you today to take time and …”Wonder if…”
“Wondering if” is the beginning of dreaming and your dreams are merely your Desired Reality Evoking Alterative Movements in your life.

This is the time…the world is hungry….Let’s dream again.

Be Blessed,
B

Hero

My son’s birthday is October 19th. Part of his birthday celebration this year included an outing to place called Ridemakerz (which is basically “Build-A-Bear” but for cars and trucks), where the kids can design, trick-out and assemble cars and trucks. The kids had a blast and I think a few of the adults are considering coming back to “pimp” their own mini rides as well. We finished the day with dinner at a restaurant close to Ridemakerz. I was given the awesome responsibility of “entertaining” 7 pumped up 6 to 8 year old boys, while making sure that they didn’t draw too much attention to our table. I came up with a memory game. I asked the kids a series of questions and whoever was able to remember everyone’s answers, would be awarded a prize.

The game was a success. I asked a series of questions ranging from “What is your favorite food and why? To what is your favorite color?” I decided to step it up a notch by asking the kids, “Who is your favorite superhero or who is your hero and why?” The answers ranged from Superman to Capitan Underpants. One kid however stopped and thought for a moment or two and said with total confidence…My Dad is my hero. This was the last kid to answer the question. When I asked him why…He said because He is Strong and Buff.

After playing this game I thought about the fact that, whether or not I know it, I’m a hero in somebody’s eyes. My kids and even those who may be younger in the faith than I am, are looking to me to see how I will react to times of trouble, respond to evil and to uphold the standards of what is right and just. My life may be the catalyst that propels someone toward everlasting life or everlasting death. This is an immense responsibility. Even closer to home…my kids look up to me and pattern themselves after me, so their spiritual destinies are somewhat contingent upon how I conduct myself as their hero.

One of the kids said that Superman was his hero because he flew around and saved people. Another mentioned Spiderman, because he used his web-slinging skills to help others as well. There was a consistent theme that qualified people as being heroes. It wasn’t just the fact that they had superpowers (the “bad guys” had similar powers too). It was the fact that the heroes used there powers to help others in a responsible way. God has called us to be Heroes in this present generation. We should:

" You're here to defend the defenseless, to make sure that underdogs get a fair break; Your job is to stand up for the powerless, and prosecute all those who exploit them."." Ps 82:3-4

"Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart." Zech 7:9-10

"He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor." Prov 22:9

“Feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked.” Is 58:7, 10

People of this world and especially the children of this world are looking for purpose and to define who they are. First they look to the people around them. If we are those people, we should consider it our duty to have our “spiritual spidey” senses tuned in so that we can seize each opportunity to responsibly use our powers to point them in the direction of the source of our power and strength….the Ultimate HERO…..Jesus Christ.
It has been said…With great power comes great responsibility. What are you doing with your great power?

The world still needs Heroes.

Be Blessed,

B

Love Before Sight

Love at first sight. Believe it or leave it. Most if not all people experience this phenomenon at least once during their lifetime. You may or may not have experienced it with your spouse or current special friend (I’ll leave that one alone for fear of starting trouble)…nevertheless you have experienced it at some point. Well Tuesday night, I had the unexpected pleasure of witnessing “Love at first sight” play out when I “reluctantly” saw Beverley Hills Chihuahua with family and friends.

The main character named Chloe was a spoiled, pampered Chihuahua from Beverly Hills (of course) who ended up getting lost and eventually “puppy-napped” in Mexico. Early in the story a lowly Chihuahua named Papi (who was owned by a landscaper), fell in love at first sight with Chloe. She rejected him, but he didn’t let her rejection stop him in his relentless pursuit to have a relationship with her and to rescue her from danger.

I couldn’t help but think about how this story had some parallels to my life. God loved me before He even laid eyes on me and my life in its simplest form is a series of connected events whose common denominator is His relentless pursuit of me as manifested through His Love for me.

Before I decided to love Him. He chose to Love me
In spite of how I treat Him…He Loves me
He was willing to face death to save me
He sees beyond the “Outer Me” and loves me for the “Inner Me” (the real me)
I can be who I am in His presence

As a younger Christian I had book/head knowledge of God’s love. I knew about His love based on what I read in the Bible or what others said about His love. Now I know He loves me because I’m aware of His hand in my life. I live through His Love. I can see Him orchestrating opportunities to demonstrate His Love, His Faithfulness and His Commitment to me. I look for and I anticipate His Love. I have an awareness of God that has come from a personal relationship with Him.

There is a confidence and a certain swagger that inherently accompanies the persona of one who knows that they are loved by another. I have a Godly Swagger that this world can’t shake because my confidence is based on the fact that the Creator of love…loves me. God is not bashful about the fact that He loves us. He openly loves us. Every breath…every heartbeat…every blink of the eye is evidence of His Love.

In a world filled with uncertainty, distrust, “two facedness” and “hateration” know that the One who First loved us…will always love us and He is always demonstrating just how crazy about us He is.

It is much deeper than love at first sight…call it…Love before sight.

Deep Rooted

How deep are your roots?

About two and half months ago my mother in law panted several flowers in two separate planting pots on the patio in my backyard. The flowers in both pots were growing beautifully and the blooms were bright and appeared to be very healthy (big ups to miracle grow). The flowers continued to grow taller and taller and they also multiplied as expected. About two weeks ago, I noticed that some of the flowers in one of the pots were beginning to wither. My first thought was that they were not getting enough water, so I began to increase the amount of the water and I repositioned the pot to make sure that the failing plants were receiving the appropriate amount of sunlight. To no avail… the flowers in that pot continued to wither.

After taking a closer look, I was able to determine the real issue...the problem was with the roots. The roots of the flowers that were withering were too shallow in the soil, so the weight of the flowers caused the flowers to lean forward and the weight was in fact pulling the roots from the soil as the flowers leaned forward. No amount of water or sunlight would be able to sustain those flowers. In order for them to grow and to survive, they needed deeper roots. Both sets of plants, while planted at the same time, while being positioned to receive the same nourishment (sun and water) and while appearing to grow at the same rate, were actually headed toward two different destinies. One was destined to grow and produce while the other was headed toward a premature death.

Witnessing this natural phenomenon caused me to reflect on its spiritual implications.

How deep are my spiritual roots?
Do I just appear to be growing superficially, but deep down my roots are not strong enough to allow me to withstand the Storms of life?
Are my roots deep/strong enough to allow me to bear the weight of God’s blessings or will their presence cause me to fall?

God is not going to allow me to face or have more than I can bear (meaning handle successfully as I depend on Him for strength and guidance). I believe that this truth relates to what I consider to be blessings and what I consider to be challenges. We can’t handle too much of either if we aren’t firmly grounded.

Many trees have systems of roots that span two to three times the diameter of their above ground “crown”. This means that if a tree spans 10 feet wide, it will probably have an underground system of roots that is 20 to 30 feet wide. Much of the trees ability to nourish and sustain itself is based on its intricate system of roots.

As Christians, we are to have a root system that allows us to be nourished and sustained by our relationship with the Father, by our dependence on His Word and through our relationships with other believers (fellow believers are simply known as other trees in the forest). Life will expose the strength of your root system when the storms come. It is easy to “look” the part when the “breezes” of life are passing through your leaves, but when the winds blow, will you be uprooted or will you stand.

God is glorified when His trees stand tall and grow (underground growth that is). He isn’t concerned as much about how you appear to be growing above ground, this is where a lot of us get caught up we want to look the part but not “change our hearts” (superficial VS Spiritual). Our focus needs to shift to what really matters. The storms are coming (many of us are going through them right now). Are you prepared?

How strong are your roots?

Arm the Alarm

This weekend my family and I visited Boscov's going out of business sale. We picked up several items (mostly games to add to our vast collection of family oriented games). We also allowed the kids to pick up 1 item a piece. My daughter picked out a board game about the whole mall/shopping experience and my son selected a laser based security system.

Both of the kids really seemed pleased with their selections, but I noticed that my son was obsessed with is new "spy gear". He opened it up almost immediately upon our arrival home and began to press me to assist him with setting it up. He wanted to make sure that his room, which held his most prized assets (toys, bank, football posters and of course his Nintendo DS) were adequately protected from the members of his loving family and any other unwanted guests that might try to “loot”. The next morning, we eventually set it up and as a test, I went into his room to test it after he went to sleep. I tripped the alarm but the sound of the alarm didn't even cause him to flinch.

This failed test made me think about the safeguards that I have guarding my most valuable assets...my mind, my heart and my soul. This caused me to reflect on David (in the Bible). David spoke many times about God being his source of protection. Is there a better security system than God? If you are relying on your own power and might to guard you than you will surely find yourself just like my sleeping son...caught off guard and at the mercy of unwanted “guests”

Satan and this world constantly attack our minds and our hearts and if we are not prepared and don't have the proper security measures in place we will fall and become spiritual casualties.

Take time today and everyday to arm your spiritual "ADT" alarm systems so that when the enemy tries to invade your home you can cause him to flee through the power of God. Moreover guarding your heart and mind, is like putting an ADT sign in your yard so that some enemies won't even attempt to attack you for they will see who is protecting your "home", and will realize that their attempts to invade are pointless. Arm your hearts and minds by spending quality time with the Father and by asking him to guard your "home" through His Spirit and the power of His Word.

You have the best security system and equipment known to mankind at your disposal, but it is useless unless you turn the alarm on.

Are you secure?...or as my wife asks me almost every night as soon as I find my comfy spot in the bed…”Did you set the alarm?” (I always wonder why she never seems to remember to ask that question before I lay down for the night)

Be Blessed,
B

Joy...and Pain

Last night my wife and I were watching a rerun of the TV show “Scrubs”. During this episode, a doctor repeatedly challenged the reality of the fact that God existed and that He was in control of all things. He asked that if God was in control…

*Why do good things happen to bad people?
*Why do the good suffer?
*Why do bad things happen to good people?
*Why are there diseases?

He repeatedly challenged a particular nurse who I assume was a Christian. She had a response to every challenge and repeatedly said that all things work together for the good. Just when the Doctor thought that he could not outwit the nurse, a young girl was brought into the hospital. She was about 10 years old and had been stabbed for no reason and was close to death. The doctor got a person to pose as the girl’s dad and brought the “dad” before the nurse and confronted her. At the sight of the girl the Doctor asked,” What good could God have intended with this situation? Was it His will that she get stabbed?….she did no wrong did she? What are you going to tell this girl’s father?” The nurse didn’t have an immediate response. Moments later a technician revealed that the little girl had a tumor the size of a golf ball growing in her chest and if she had not been stabbed, then the deadly tumor would have probably gone unnoticed until it was too late. The fact that she got attacked actually saved her life.

I was floored. How often do we doubt that God is in control, has a firm grip on the steering wheel and knows where He is going? In our short-term frame of mind, we focus on our temporary pain and ignore the future glory and eternal glory that is promised to those who are children of God. Sometimes pain is used to bring our attention to something that will ultimately cause death. Don’t ignore the pain that you are going through. Endure the pain and ask God what His plan for you is through the pain. His plans for you are much bigger than your pain. This is not an easy pill to swallow, but it is much easier than running around in circles trying to understand all the “Whys, Who’s, What’s, Where’s, When’s and How’s” that you have concerning what God is doing. God loves us and all does work together for the good of those who love Him and are called for His purpose.

I recently shared the following words with a friend of mine who was questioning God’s choices:

It is important to know that even when we don’t know what it going on, we can take comfort in the fact that we know the One who is ultimately in control. God never makes mistakes and His ways are high above our ways. We must be aware of the lessons He is trying to teach us through every situation both good and “bad” in order to begin to understand Him and life. If we knew everything and knew every answer there would be no need for faith. God seems to give the most difficult challenges to the strongest among us to serve as a testimony to us who are “weaker” so that when the strong turn to Him in faith, we can be inspired to do the same.

There are scores of people hurting these days, many of which are Christians. I think that it is vitally important that we as Christians “own our pain” and see it as an opportunity to grow closer to Christ and to be a witness to God’s Mercy and Love. We may not understand WHY, but we sure can point the world to the “WHO” WHEN they ask us HOW we made it through and how we have joy through our pain and sorrow.

Our pain is nothing when compared to God’s plan and His love for us.

Be Blessed,
B

It's a Bird...It's a Plane

Over the last week or so, I’ve began to take late night swims. These swims are times when I can relax and reflect on the events of the day, but more importantly on what God may have to say to me. Saturday night was one of these nights. I got into the pool around 12 midnight after a long day working in the yard and completing various tasks. I started this welcomed downtime as I usually do, by swimming a couple of laps and then just floating on my back. I usually just close my eyes a drift, but for some reason, something told me to look up (I think it was the fact that I had been listening to Dave Hollister’s new gospel album and one of the songs was entitled “Look UP”). Anyway…

I nonchalantly looked up into the cloud filled sky and immediately my attention was drawn to what appeared to be a face hovering above me in the sky. At first I brushed it off. I stopped floating, stood still in the water, rubbed my eyes and then looked to the sky again. Sure enough because of the clouds in the sky only two stars could be seen and these stars appeared to be the eyes that were part of a face. I was immediately struck with a reverential fear as I dropped to my knees and began to give glory to God. While I know that this was not the face of God (don’t be alarmed…I don’t worship clouds or stars), I knew that this experience was being orchestrated by the Great Composer (God…himself). All I could think about was how awesome God is and how even though He is the Master of the Universe, He takes time to keep an eye on little old me.

Encountering the reality of God is a humbling experience. When you realize how awesome He is in relation to how finite we you are, the natural response is to drop to your knees and to praise Him. Does God really have to do anything else to warrant your praise? Open your eyes and embrace His presence all around you. The evidence of His existence is all around us. Man is truly without excuse, when it comes to acknowledging God.

I urge you to ask God to open your eyes so that you can experience and witness how awesome He is. I guarantee you that in almost all cases, He is not going reveal Himself in a dramatic or miraculous way. I believe that He will touch your eyes so that you can see the reality of Him working in various aspects of your life. It is not that He isn’t there, or wasn’t there all the time…it is just that you didn’t recognize Him.

It’s time to “Look Up”

Be Blessed,
B

When God Speaks...Do you Listen?

Have you ever read through a devotional or listen to a message/sermon and said to yourself, “I’m not sure how this relates to me?” The topic of the message in your mind seemingly doesn’t even remotely touch on your personal struggles, situations or challenges. As a result you kind of “tune out” and don’t give the message or the reading your full attention. Little did you know, that the truths that you were exposed to in that instance would soon come back to “visit” you. In the last 24 hours I had this very thing happen to me.

While passing time yesterday, I picked up a devotional that I use from time to time that is based on the book of Proverbs. Yesterday’s reading was based on Proverbs 10:19 which reads, “The more talk, the less truth; the wise measure their words.” It focused on the principle that fools try to cover up their foolishness by talking too much and the wise choose their words with care. It is often those with little to say who are assumed to be wise. Too often when we are trying to appear wise, we get carried away with our words, we embellish the truth and we take our conversations to points of “no return”. We are thinking “Why did I say that?...Why did I open my mouth?...What was I thinking when I started talking?…Why didn’t I just shut my big mouth?”

I read this devotional and thought; this must be for somebody else, because I really don’t run my mouth. I’m typically reserved. Boy was I mistaken. I think that I ran my mouth and talked to more people this morning at work that I’ve talked to in the last 3 months. Things finally settled down about 1 hour ago and I was gently reminded of my devotional reading on yesterday. I felt like a BIG SAP.

What I thought was for somebody else, was exactly what I needed to hear as it was preparation for the next day that I would face. I felt like Peter after he had denied Christ. God was trying to speak to me, but I refused to listen to His words and didn’t see them as relevant to my life. Don’t be like me. If God is taking time to “minister” to you, take heed to what He is saying through His word and through His Messengers. The very thing that you don’t think you need to hear is probably the exact thing that you should pay attention to. Don’t deceive yourself.

God often places warning signs in our lives. Don’t ignore them, you may not see their relevance to you at the moment, but pray and ask God to speak to you through the “signs” revealed in the messages that you receive and to seal the truths in your heart so that when you are faced with the opportunity to apply the truths, your will remember what God spoke to you so that you can make the Godly choice and/or respond in a Godly way.

God is speaking…are you listening?

Be Blessed,
B

GET IN GEAR

Most if not all us have seen a person (usually an older person) driving a sports car with tons of horsepower just coasting through traffic at a speed significantly lower than the speed limit. The thought inevitably crosses your mind “Why the heck do they have a sports car if they are only going to drive 30 mph on I-95 South?” You would also think it was strange if you were walking in the mall and saw a grown man (fully capable of walking) crawling around on the floor like a baby.

These thoughts crossed my mind as I watched a young man struggle as he attempted to ride his seemingly brand new and expensive looking mountain bike up a hill. The dude was sweating bullets…huffing and puffing with each pedal. The next thing I saw was an older woman (about mid to late fifties), effortlessly fly by the young man on her old, tested and tried “old school” 10 speed bike. She was calm and relaxed and just seemed to enjoy the journey. As she passed the young fella, he looked at her in pure amazement. Being showed up by her caused him to pedal even harder, but to no avail…soon he was back to inching along. I’m sure he thought, “How in the world is this old lady putting me in the dust?” It wasn’t for lack of effort or for a lack of physical ability. It was because the older lady was wise enough to know how to use her tools (her bike) effectively. She was able to cruise up the hill because she had mastered the art of switching gears and she knew that if she was in the right gear, she could handle the obstacle before her with ease.

How many of us are just pedaling away through life? We are giving it all we have but because we are in the wrong gear, our efforts are dampened and our productivity is minimized. God has equipped us with top of the line equipment, custom made for us in heaven, but until we use it right, our lives will continue to be frustrating and we will produce little or no fruit. Life is full of hills, valleys and straight-aways. We must identify where we are (be it a hill, a valley or a straightaway) and adapt our gears to the road type to maximize our efforts.

*Hills are categorized by periods of life where you are pushing your limits, you are challenged to do the “impossible” or you are faced with a choice to press forward or to quit. Hills are turning point...”Will I press forward into the unknown or will I quit?”
*Valleys are categorized by periods where you experience loss, times of complete struggle, times where hope seems to fade and times when you feel burdened. When navigating a valley experience, it is key to pump the brakes and not go too fast, because you will surely crash and lose control if you try to “fly through” a valley experience. Take your time and learn what you need to learn in the valley, but know that a mountaintop experience awaits if you press.
*Straight-aways are periods where things are consistent (not up or down). These are times of reflection and recovery. You are in a sense coasting through life. These times don’t tend to last very long, if they do, then you are probably not going in the right direction or you aren’t pushing as hard as you can toward your goals and God’s plan for your life.

Wherever you find yourself in life, be it a Hill a Valley or a Straight-away, it is time to get in gear so that you may be able to progress though your life in an effective and efficient way. You have the finest equipment ever created, it is time to get in gear so that you can experience your race (your life) as God intended.

GET IN GEAR!!!

Be Blessed,
B

Mistaken ID

The other day I had the pleasure of going to the dentist. I hadn’t been in some time so as you can imagine I was really eager to get in there and “get er done”. I was a little baffled; however when I was escorted to one of the “examination” rooms and the hygienist asked me what I was in for. She asked me the question like I was her cellmate and we were doing hard time together. I responded, “Just a routine cleaning.” She looked shocked and told me that another hygienist would be working with me today and that I might be moved to a different room.

About 5 minutes later another hygienist came in and asked me the same thing …”What are you in for?” In my mind I was like, “What the heck!!! Don’t people just come in for regular cleanings anymore? Am I to expect an interrogation at every future visit to the Dentist?” I responded to her...”I’m just in for a routine cleaning.” She too looked surprised. At this point I’m starting to feel like I’m on candid camera, because she immediately slapped the lead vest on me and proceeded to take x-rays saying “We didn’t get a chance to take these the last time you were in?” Needless to say I was a little shocked; I hadn’t been there in over a year.

After they took the x-rays, I sat in the cold bright room for about 3 minutes until the Dentist and the 2nd hygienist came back into the room with my medical files. With a puzzled look on his face, the Dentist said, “Good Morning Mr. Jeffers…what brings you in today?” Here we go again… I said “Just a routine cleaning.” He asked me if I was aware that this routine cleaning would probably not be covered by my insurance company. I thought “Slow down cowpoke”, but I just responded, “Why not?” He told me that I had just had a cleaning on 7/11/08 and that a month had not even passed so the insurance company would not cover the cleaning. I knew that was a mistake because I had not been to the dentist in some time. As he was reading through “my file” I was able to peep some of the information therein. Low and behold…He had my father’s file (whose name is Zachary C. Jeffers, but the file just had the name Zachary Jeffers on it) and he thought that I was my father. I explained to the confused Dentist that my dad and I share the same 1st name, but we have different middle names. He understood after a minute or so and said, “Man I’m glad we got that cleared up….I was going to ask you what was your secret to looking so young…You look pretty good for 58?”

This experience made me think...How often do I get mistaken for my Heavenly Father? Do my actions reflect His character? When people look at me and the things that I do are they drawn to Christ because of the way I imitate the Father?

1 Peter 2:12 says:
11-12Friends, this world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

Who do you look like? Is God honored to call you His child or are you a disgrace to the family name? I love my fathers (earthly and heavenly) and I consider it a challenge and joy to live up to the “Family Name”. There is nothing like the joy that I get from pleasing and honoring my father and having someone witness my actions and send word back to my dad. How much more joy comes from knowing that because of the way I live, others are drawn out of darkness and into the light that is found in Christ.

I’m glad that I look and act like my “Daddy”.

Be Blessed,
B

My Ex Keeps Calling Me

The more I long to be with you
The more she tries to get in the way,
The more I try to think about you,
The more she tries to make me stray

The less quality time I spend with you
The less she appears to call
The less that I commit myself to you
The less I can resist, so I fall

You loved me before I even knew your name
Even though I chose her 1st you loved me the same
You patiently waited for me to come to you
To see through her lies and recognize your truth

Her “love” is really hate
Her joy is my pain,
But something within me
Loves to hear her say my name

I’ve lost too much already
Chose to lose…Will I Win?
You love me and give me life,
But I keep running back to her….She goes by the name…Sin

Who are you rolling with?

Have you ever felt compelled to be in two places at one time? Have you ever felt like your mind (or different thoughts) was racing like cars in the Daytona 500? Is your thought life like a 10 lane freeway…thoughts traveling in 1 million different directions at one time but seemingly going nowhere? Do you feel like you always have places to be, people to talk to and things to do, but not enough time to manage it all? Are you a prisoner to your choices and a slave to your thoughts and schedule?

These and other questions came to mind as I had lunch today. Before I went to lunch though, I had so many thoughts and I was playing through so many different scenarios in my mind that I couldn’t focus on making a simple decision about what to eat and where to eat for lunch. It was frustrating. I literally had to stop myself. I was racing out of control and going in circles. I had in fact become paralyzed by the realization of all the things going on in my life and my feeble attempt to try to control everything. It’s these moments in life that force me to pump my brakes, let go of the wheel and let God jump back into the driver’s seat.

The more I attempt to control things…the more out of control things become.

To get beyond this point, I had to do a couple of things:

*Stop…I literally had to stop everything I was doing. It was in the stillness of life that I began to hear God speak to me
*Pray…I acknowledged to God that I was out of control and asked for His forgiveness, peace and direction. I had pushed God out of the driver’s seat and I took the wheel
*Regroup…I had to revisit my priorities. Not the immediate need, but the ultimate priorities. God, Family, Me and Others. I had to recognize the present competing priorities and refocus on what was important to God in the long run. I’m not always supposed to be the one to put out the “fire” that is apparent right now if it is pulling me away from what God has ultimately directed me to do.
*Act…Once God has given me clarity and peace in the midst of my “storm”, I’m charged with moving forward in confidence and strength, with my newly established sound mind.


Simply stated, but difficult to implement…To gain a sense of control in my life, I must give up control and yield to God. If He is in control and I’m trusting Him to lead, then all the pressure is on Him to come through. I’m just a passenger, trusting the driver to get me to a destination. I’m going where He wants me to go. BTW-God has never had an accident, but we can cause one by trying to take the wheel so that we can drive from the passenger seat, so sit back and enjoy the ride.

A couple of additional things to consider to help being order:

*Delegation…are you delegating tasks/responsibilities associated with your life or are you holding on to too much because you think that no one can “do it like you can” or you think that it just “won’t be the same” unless you do it? God may have broken the mold when He made you, but that may have been because He knew that He could make a better and more efficient model. Look for these models (people) in your life. You may think that you are good at something, but someone else may be able to do what you do in half the time. There is no shame in delegating.
*Allocation…how are you allocating your resources? Are you wasting your time, your talents and your $$$ or are you investing them to bring about a return? We are called to be fruitful, we can only maximize our output when we allocate our resources properly.
*Cooperation…Are we looking for opportunities to work with like-minded people? Many times our visions can only come to fruition when we cooperate with others. Cooperation brings about collective thoughts, resources and experiences. It is good to be able to stand firm alone, but there is strength in numbers.

These simple and practical truths are sure to assist us as we try to regain a sense of order in our lives. In order for us to live effective lives, we must be efficient in our use of our resources.

No one can do ALL things well, but we ALL can do the things God has called us to do well if we “Let go and Let God”!!!

Who are you rolling with?

Be Blessed,
B

And the winner is...

I believe that it is a human need to be acknowledged in one way or another. There is only so much that a person can do, in the name of “good”, without recognition before the thought crosses his/her mind that they are not appreciated. We have all heard and seen people deliver speeches at awards’ ceremonies/programs/retirement dinners/birthday parties in which they acknowledge the people that made the moment possible.

I’ve seen good ones and I’ve seen bad ones. Let’s start with the “bad ones”. These are the ones where the speaker usually pulls out a piece of paper and you can tell that the speaker really didn’t know who the person was that they were thanking or what that person did to assist the speaker as it relates to this achievement. This is evident by names getting mispronounced and an obvious nervousness in the delivery of the speech. In my opinion the “good ones”, can be categorized by the word’s “heart felt”. This speaker is often brought to tears when reflecting on the contributions and the sacrifices that the “supporting cast” made to bring the speaker into this realm of success. The speaker can convey this emotion to the listener and there is sincerity and sense of genuine appreciation in the delivery.

Proverbs 3:5-6 reads: “5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
In reading this today the word acknowledge stuck with me. Do I truly acknowledge God in all my ways? Am I more like the good speaker or the bad speaker (referenced above)? We are to acknowledge God in all our ways. We can do this when we:

Recognize His Presence (Begin to see Him in every aspect of our lives)

Realize His Power (Realize that we are powerless without Him…All Power comes from God)

Respond to His Persona (Make His characteristics our characteristics. Get to know Him. It is hard to truly acknowledge someone that you don’t know)

I want my life to be one that can be characterized by this phrase “This was a man who lived in a way that acknowledged God”.

Is your life more about acknowledging you and the things you’ve done or does your life point people to Christ and a relationship with God? Is your life a “heart felt” acknowledgement of Christ and all of the sacrifices that He made for you to be where you are today or do you forget about what He did and forget to mention His name when you are in the “moment”?

God requires our praise and deserves the glory. He’ll get it from our lives one way or another. Will you give Him the glory in a voluntary or an involuntary way? He will only tolerate “lack or appreciation and acknowledgement” for a season.

And the Winner is…

Be Blessed,
B

If lips could talk

She calls to me with closed lips,
Silently screaming for us to conversate.
With throat cleared and lips moisten
I commence to speak…but wait
Did my ears pretend to hear,
What my mind only imagined?
No…it can’t be
Am I a victim of self deception?
I fret
Frustrated by this false
Formidable figure of my imagination
I hope
Compelled to completely
Commit to consuming this concoction
Of the mind.
Did she really speak?
Or is my mind to blame?
While my lover sleeps,
Her body keeps calling my name.

Perspective

The other day we took a family road trip to drop off our daughter at an environmental science camp on the eastern shore of MD. This is a trip that takes about an hour and a half. About 40 minutes into the trip I notice this middle age gentleman riding a distinctive motorcycle, about 50 feet ahead of us to the left. He caught my attention because in the middle of this heat wave, he was wearing blue jeans with leather chaps and a white t-shirt with a leather vest. I thought to myself this guy is the personification of my stereotypical image of a Guardian Angel (the motorcycle movement/club).

Seeing this gentleman in itself was not anything special. On the trip to the eastern shore you are bound to see a slew of people riding their bikes to the shore. For some reason however, my attention was drawn to this “rider”. We proceeded to drive to the camp. We stopped for lunch at Denny’s and then finished off the trek by dropping our daughter off around 2:30pm. After dropping her off, we stopped at an outlet mall and upon leaving we stopped for dinner. We resumed the last leg of the journey home around 8pm.

As we approached the Bay Bridge, guess who I saw riding ahead of us once again…You got it. It was the same “rider” that I saw before. I got excited. I leaned over to my wife and told her that this was the same man that I saw earlier and it had to be more than a coincidence that about 7 hours later, with thousands and thousands of vehicles traveling on the road, we ran into Him again. In jest, I told my wife that I think that this “rider” is our guardian angel. My wife was quick to rebut…”That is the difference between you and me. I think that this guy is stalking us” We could do nothing but laugh. We had totally different perspectives.

Perspective is a funny thing. From my perspective I saw a blessing, from my wife’s perspective it was a threat. Perspective shapes how we feel and how we react to things and to others around us. It is key for us to align our perspectives with God’s perspective so that we can react to people and situations as He would.

*What we may perceive as a problem…God may see as an opportunity
*What we may see as a threat…God may see as a form of or way to protect us
*What we may see an a challenge…God may see as a blessing
*What we may see as a burden…God may see as a privilege

It is all about perspective. Do you see things how God sees them or are you continuing to approach your life blinded by your own perspective, which has been shaped and limited to your own experiences? God sits high and looks low. He has the best seat in the house. Why not upgrade your seat and ask God to let you get a glimpse of what He sees as it relates to the situations you face daily.

It is time to start looking at our lives from God’s point of view.

Be Blessed,
B

Choose to Win

Why do we often choose to lose? God has given us everything that we need to live a victorious and fruitful life, but instead of walking in victory, we claim and accept defeat. I was recently convicted and reflected on these truths when faced with a temptation that through God’s grace I was victorious over.

Psalms 18:32-36 says: “Is there any god like God? Are we not at bedrock? Is not this the God who armed me, then aimed me in the right direction? Now I run like a deer; I'm king of the mountain. He shows me how to fight; I can bend a bronze bow! You protect me with salvation-armor; you hold me up with a firm hand, caress me with your gentle ways. You cleared the ground under me so my footing was firm.

The very God of the universe has equipped me with the strength and direction that I need in order to conquer what is before me. He protects me. He teaches me. He comforts me. He strengthens me. He has even cleared the way and provided a pathway for success for me. All I have to do is choose not to lose, accept and acknowledge what He has already done and walk it out.

I am my greatest foe. Not Satan, not the world, but me. I’m blessed with free will, but it is the abuse of and misuses of that will that stand in the way of my success. God desires that I choose Him and His ways, but I choose to ignore His call and live for the moment, for the “known” or for the comfortable.

I’m tired of being like the elephant that is terrified of the “mice” in my life. Today I choose to recognize the power that I have through Christ and I choose to win. I choose to live in the reality of who I am. I’m not who the world says I am. I’m not who my friends say that I am. I am not even what I think I am or pretend to be. Rarely do any of these pictures of me match up to the true glory that is within me. I’m more than a survivor, more than an over comer, more than lucky, more than intelligent, more than strong externally, more than a good person. I am a representative, an ambassador, and heir alongside Christ powered and directed by the Most High and commissioned to fulfill His purpose.

I choose to win…because I accept the fact that through God’s grace I’ve already won.

Be Blessed,
B

Did you hear that?

Isn’t it crazy how your sense of hearing is magnified seemingly by 100X when you are laying in your bed at night? Your vision is not great (because it is dark), but you can hear the baby down the hall, the kids turning over in their beds, the house creaking, the gears of the wall clock moving…etc. Women seem to have the ability to hear the faintest of sounds coming from the forgotten corner of the basement. It just proves that when you are still and when you are through with the busyness of your day you can hear all the minor details and sounds.

This is so true in our spiritual lives as well. We need to seek that quiet time, where we can be still and just listen to God speak. There are so many details that we miss because we refuse to be still and just listen. Just as our mortal hearing is increased when we sit still and focus on our surroundings, our spiritual hearing is intensified when we remove the clutter out of our mind’s closets and allow God to speak to us in our quiet place.

A quiet place is not necessarily a place of seclusion, it is a place that you come to where you block out the cares of the world, your own desires and cares and other distracting thoughts and just focus on God and listen to Him speak. God speaks through His word, through others and through situations. He is speaking…He just needs your attention. Your quiet place is a place of Faith. Just as your vision fails you at night and you have to rely on your ability to hear, quiet times with God are not so much based on what you see, but what you hear. That is the essence of Faith. Some say “seeing is believing”. God says, “believing is not seeing”. How much faith do you have to have to believe in what is right in front of you? That is not faith…that is observing. Faith is believing in something that you don’t see as if you have seen it or experienced it already. Almost like seeing the future like it is in the past.

Faith is the key to spending quality time with God. God will speak to you about where you are now and He will reveal His specific plan for your future. If you don’t approach your Godly encounters with Faith in God, your will tremble at His revelations for you and will not act on them because you will see them as impossible. True faith in God will be the anchor you need to weather the storms that you’ll face as you journey toward fulfilling your purpose. Your faith can only be strengthened and explored through “Godly” encounters. Hearing God speak, trusting Him to do what he says and walking in faithful obedience.

It’s time for some quality time with God.

Be Blessed,
B

I AM

I’m more than just a man. I am a collection of moments, memories and movements
Like Midas, everything that I touch in impacted. Whether it is for the better or for the worst… it is impacted. So I carefully choose what I devote my time and energy to, because I want my life to be more than just another hyphen between two dates (the day I was born and the day I died).

I want to create. For I am made in the image of My Father who is the greatest creator of all, who spoke and made something from nothing, His nature is my nature. He has custom made me to be sensitive to certain imperfections, flaws and voids that I will encounter throughout my lifetime and His purpose for me is to recognize these challenges and make them opportunities. Like a superhero, I’m commissioned to respond to these “opportunities”. Opportunities not for me to display my “superpowers”, but for me to realize that I’m powerless and through God’s power I can rise to the occasion and be victorious, God has called me to greatness.

I have a high calling. I am a representative of God and because I have identified myself as a child of God, everything I say and do is associated with God by other believers and non-believers who bear witness to my life. My prayer is that I don’t shame His name.

I often feel as though I’m not worthy of all that God has given me. I don’t fully understand why He loves me, but I’m sure of the fact the He does and because He loves me and because I choose to live for Him. I am more than a Man. I’m a child of God.

What If??? (#2)

What if you only had 100 breaths to breathe?
Would you inhale deeper and exhale slower...barely allowing the air to leave?
What if you only had $100 dollars in which to live?
Would you selfishly keep it or would you somehow find a way to still give?
What if you knew the most recent moment with your loved one was your last?
Would you beg God for a time machine so that you could change the past?
Living life with regrets is not life at all.
It's a self-made prison with unbreakable walls.
Today I choose to live my life.
To manufacture moments that matter.
To make a difference.
To love in more meaningful and purposeful ways.
I choose to breathe a little deeper,
Exhale a lot slower.
So that I can recognize and appreciate
God's voice and His plan for my life

R U CRAZY???

Who is the one person that causes your skin to bubble and your pressure to rise when the thought of them crosses your mind? Who is the person, when you are having a gathering, you intentionally leave their name off of the list because you can’t even bear the sight of them or the sound of their voice? Who is the person that if you knew that you would not get caught you’d push them into rush hour traffic (maybe not rush hour traffic because the cars would be going to slow). J (Don’t forget someone probably feels this way about you)

Sounds harsh right, but we all know people that fit ever so nicely in this category. Some time they are people that annoy us, intimidate us, always try to show us up, make it a point to point out our flaws or just plain HATE on us. Sometimes these people do this on purpose, sometimes it is unintentional (just part of their character) and sometimes it is just the way in which we perceive them. They could remind us of a painful situation from our past. They could have hurt us in the past. They could have ignored us when we needed them in the past. Sometimes it may be a result of our own prejudice or unwillingness to be vulnerable so we “imagine” how difficult getting to know a person would be without reaching out to them and we justify this by labeling it as some form of self-preservation.

Why not make today the day that you commit to do something crazy? Something totally irrational and daring… How exciting and challenging would it be to make this the day that you chose to make a “FOE” a friend. Sounds crazy right, but isn’t that what God called us to do.

Romans 20-21 “Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.”

How can we change the world if we are only staying in our comfort zones and not reaching out to our enemies and to those who are downtrodden and ignored by others. It is easy to love when you’ll get that love back, but can you love the person who will think that you are CRAZY for loving them. Think of the impact that kind of action would make on their lives.

So why not…
· Buy them lunch
· Give them a gift card
· Treat them to an ice cream sundae on a hot day (the new twisted Frostys from Wendy’s are nice too…don’t forget about Rita’s too)
· Cut their lawn (or pay to have it cut)
· Get them a card, flowers or a balloon
· Invite them over

Why not make today the day that you do something CRAZY FOR CHRIST!!!!

Be Blessed,
B

An Island Called Love

We are two hearts stranded on an island called Love,
Castaways who drifted to this place of destiny.
Yet we don’t call for help, no pleas for rescue.
We’re in paradise…together…just me and you

Did we end up here by chance or was this journey charted?
I marvel at the detours the heart’s navigation system discovers
Our final destination as received from the satellites above
Is this uninhabited island that we call Love.

Let’s start a new life here and never leave,
This place of wonder we never thought we’d see.
We belong here. It fits us like a custom-made glove
Together forever stranded on this island called Love

Left Behind

I had the eye opening experiencing of watching, “Hard Times at Douglass High: A No Child Left Behind Report Card” on HBO this weekend. The film documented the overall failures of our schools, the educational system, our families and our society as a whole. It showed how low the standards of education have fallen in this country and how the educational system is failing our youth and ultimately the entire society because without at least a basic education, failure is imminent (this is even before talking about the spiritual element). The destruction of the spiritual, economical, psychological and emotional make-up of the youth and the obliteration of a healthy family structure has fueled a perpetual cycle of hopelessness and apathy.

No child left behind has left many children behind.

In watching the documentary, I thought about the plight of Christians and the Church. Many of our Churches have implemented a policy of “No Child of God Left Behind”. Let me explain…

*In the documentary, many students who were failing, behind or had previously failed a grade (or grades), were told that all they needed to do to get back on track was to attend. Not try….not work…not sacrifice…not learn…Just Attend. Many of our churches want the same thing. They are not interested in the “Spiritual Promotion” or the Spiritual Growth of the members. They just want the seats full every week and for those who come, all that is asked is that they come every week and drop a couple $ in the bucket. Attendance is the barometer that measures your spirituality in their eyes. Don’t get me wrong attendance is important, but personal spiritual growth is the goal.

*In the documentary, many of the students in high school were educationally functioning on an elementary or middle school level. They were just being pushed through the system. How many Christians have been in the church 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or more years and are as spiritually mature as a newly born again-fresh from the altar-Christian? It is a disgrace to God, you and to the body of Christ for so many “long-term” Christians to be spiritually illiterate, with feeble faith and so unprepared for the world. It is time to start learning about the Father so that we can live as He intends and so that we can show the present and the next generations how to live Holy Lives.

*In the documentary, many of the students showed little enthusiasm when it came to learning and were not active participants in the educational process, but when it came to Prom time, there was an overwhelming level of enthusiasm, preparation and participation. So it is in our Churches…We can sing, put on plays, have chicken dinners, fashion shows and do all kinds of “showy” external things, but where are the people when it is time to study God’s word. Is the same effort put into preparing our hearts for service? God is concerned with the heart.

Hebrews 5:11-14 says: “I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you've picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby's milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God's ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.”

It is time for us as believers to take a serious look at our lives and to check our spiritual diets. Too many of us are walking around with bottles in our hands. We are feasting off of “Spiritual Simalac” when we should be getting down with a much more mature and balanced spiritual meal. It is time to stop living by the philosophy of the old Toys R Us jingle…”I don’t want to grow up…I’m a Toys R Us Kid” and for us to stop being “Peter Pan” Christians (Living in Never Neverland). Basically and frankly speaking…It is just time to GROW UP.

God wants to take you to another level in your spiritual life. He has some things He wants to share with you and to tell you, but he is speaking the King’s English and you are still babbling along saying “Goo…Goo…Ga…Ga”.

It’s time to take the pacifiers out of our mouths and it is time for us to start acting our Spiritual Ages. Don’t let your walk be the reason that someone in this world is “LEFT BEHIND”

Be Blessed,
B

God Given Hustle

What are you doing with your dreams? How are you encouraging others to pursue their dreams? Have you crushed your children’s spirits as it relates to their dreams? These questions flooded my mind as I spoke with a co-worker of mine this morning. What started as a simple “Good Morning” turned into a moving, inspiring and thought provoking experience. She inquired about how my kids were enjoying the summer and I shared that my kids were in camp. My son is in regular summer camp (run around, water play, field trip..etc) and my daughter is in a performing arts camp. My co-worker talked about how her parents had her attend camp during the summers to keep her out of trouble. Her face illuminated though as she recalled her experiences with arts and crafts and being introduced to what she called “freestyle” drawing. She went on to describe how over the next couple of years she perfected the craft to the point where she was offered a scholarship to an Art Program due to a comic strip that she created. As quickly as her face lit up, it dimmed as she recounted how her dream was crushed as her parents thought that drawing was a waste of time so they did not allow her to pursue her dream. She was crushed and discarded all of her art supplies and to this day, she is not able to draw, even after taking classes and trying on her own. She now works in a field that doesn’t allow her to take advantage of her gifts and has seemingly lost them.

My heart was broken as I heard her story. I encouraged her as best I could and she said that she will continue to try to get her gift back. Her story is like so many of our stories. Our passions in life have been put aside and our dreams have crushed by our parents, spouses, teachers, “friends”, society, bosses etc. I’m sure many of you can recall being excited about something as a child and having someone let the air out of your balloon because they didn’t understand your passion or your vision. Some of us as parents are guilty of projecting our dreams and our fears onto our kids. Sometimes we mislabel this act and say that we are protecting them from themselves or from a disappointing life. In many cases we are trying to just let them live a “safe” life by following our footprints. I believe that God want us to instill His principles of Life into the next generation and He wants His principles to be the bridle that guides the pursuit of our passion. When God gives us passion, it doesn’t go away. Your passion is tied to your purpose. The reason why many of us live unfulfilling lives is because we are not operating in our God given passion. In error (but under the cover of love), parents and adults “protect” kids from their passions and the result is that most adults are bitter, unsatisfied with where they are, they have unfulfilled lives, spin around in circles throughout life and they live their lives in segments (nothing binding the segments together).

Most of us know how to make money, but we don’t have a clue about how to fill the void in our lives. We are saved but we are not satisfied and we won’t be until we are operating in what I call our Double GH…our “God Given Hustle”. Some people call it your gift or you purpose, whatever you call it…it is tied to your passion and your ultimate peace and fulfillment in life.

“For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. (He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.)” Romans 11:29 (Amplified Bible).

This was spoken about the Jews in their relationship with God, but the principle is true for us today. God has given you gifts and a calling and they are evidenced by the passion that burns in your heart. You were placed here to create, improve or to change something during your time here on Earth. In creating, improving and/or changing, you are ultimately supposed to bring Glory to the Father and you can only do that when you operate in your “God Given Hustle”.

Be Blessed,
B

Trailblazers

I pray that you all are continuing to press toward the mark of your calling. If not, what are you waiting for? The past is the past. Let it go. Whatever you have not succeeded in is done and over with…let the sting of your failed attempts go. Your job, school, business, marriage, family relationships, the dinner you cooked last night, the example that you set for others on the road this morning or whatever. Learn the lesson (s) that you needed to learn from the experience, take note of the errors in judgment and/or execution that you made, pick yourself up and believe in you in a new way on today. God has blazed a path of success before you… a path of victory a path that will ultimately lead you to bring glory to Him.

Deuteronomy 31:6 says,” Be strong. Take courage. Don't be intimidated. Don't give them (those who stand in between you and God’s promises for your life or between you and VICTORY) a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; he won't leave you."

Moses spoke these words to the Israelites, but I believe that the principles found here hold true for us today.

BE STRONG- This world is built to make us weak, for it is geared to encourage us to depend on everything but God. This world encourages us to build out foundation on temporal things not eternal truths. You can only be what you really are (this is not a deep statement but it is profound). If we are told to BE Strong that means that we are already strong, but we must stop acting weak. There is nothing weak about God and He didn’t create us to be weak. BE what God made you to BE.

Take Courage- It takes courage to “Take Courage”. Following God and pursuing His plan for us takes courage. It is not easy and it can be a lonely and scary road, but know that God is with us every step of the way so there really is no risk involved.

Don’t be intimidated- Intimidation is a selfish choice of faithlessness. Intimidation is simply the act of inducting fear. When you are intimidated, you are ignoring the power of God and relying on your personal resources to deal with what you are facing. When you stack up your resources against what you are facing, you conclude that what you are or what you possess is not great enough to overcome your challenges. At that moment of clarity, faith should turn you to depend on God. Faithlessness causes a sense of intimidation to overcome and paralyze you. DON’T BE IMTIMIDATED!!!

Don’t give them (enemies) a second thought- Your destiny…your life is between you and God. It is about your relationship with Him and how you execute His plan for you. God is with you. God is striding a head of you. He has blazed a trail of victory and is just circling back to get you and to show you the way. Focus on God and your enemies will fail and their “apparent power and influence” over you will diminish.

It is time for us as believers to move. We have been to enough Bible Studies, enough Church Services, enough prayer meetings etc…Where is the action? Where is the execution? Where is the CHANGE????

Not to make this political, but there are too many “McCain-like” Christians…more of the same, safe message, keep the course, mellow and far too few “Obama-like” Christians. Christians who excite the masses, who spark interest in the message, who are not scared to be different, who inspire HOPE… God has called us to action. It is time to stop talking and to start making a difference in people’s lives…starting with your own


Be Blessed,
B

What if (#1)

What if the measure in which you helped others was the measure in which God helped you?

What if the measure in which you extended yourself for others was the measure in which God extended Himself for you?

What if God forgave like you forgive?

What if God loved like you love, with condition and based on how you are loved?

What if God only loved you when it was convenient and comfortable?

What if God was just like you?

What if?????

The First Time Again

I closed my eyes and heard love calling,
I opened my eyes and in love I was falling.
In all of my strength, but still I am weak.
Something about you knocks me off of my feet.

Is it your style?
Is it your smile?
That sexy way you walk?
The soft tone you use when you talk?

Is it your lips?
Is it your hips?
The effect your presence has on a room?
From the first time I saw you I knew I was doomed.

Eternally cursed by the God of Love.
For what mere man could resist an angel sent from above?
This curse has penetrated to my core within.
But if I could relive that first moment…that 1st time I saw you…the moment that changed my life….No doubt…I’d choose to look at you for the 1st time…Again

Innumerable Love

How do I love you? Let me count the ways
This thought resonated with me as I started the day
When I look into your eyes I see destiny,
A reflection of eternity and infinite possibilities.
If you lived countless years, years without number
And used them to reflect on the vast measure of my love’s wonder.
You would come to the conclusion that I came to today
That my love for you is too immense for me to count the ways.

Who is your Daddy?

A belated Happy Father’s Day to the fathers receiving this e-mail, I hope that your respective families “honored” you (deservingly or undeservingly) on Sunday as they should do on everyday (and as we should for the Mothers as well). Remember participating in the creation of a child doesn’t make you a Father. Participating in the development, nurturing and life of that child is what makes you a Father, so even if you don’t have a biological child, you should still be honored as a Father if you are playing that role in the lives of others. If not…you need to step up (nuff said)

I feel extremely blessed to have not only my Father in my life, but I also have a great team of men who are “Fatherly” to me. I’m also encouraged by the Fathers who I know that are right in the trenches with me. Fighting to provide for, to protect and to prepare their children to continue this Christian Race and to win souls for the Kingdom is the job of an unsung hero. Good men and especially good Fathers are hard to come by. It is a “thankless” job. J Ladies if you have a good man who is a good father, consider yourself immensely blessed (so let that man watch the game while you rub his feet tonight…nuff said) J

On a more serious note…

This Father’s Day was a time of reflection for me. As I watch my kids grow up, I realize that every moment is precious. I never know what impact my words, my deeds, the time I spend with them, the things I expose them to or the places that I take them will have on the rest of their lives. It is a great responsibility. That recital that you miss because of “work” may be the thing that causes your child to lose faith in his/her gift. The discouraging word that you say to them in anger or in disappointment may cause their hearts to become bitter and hard toward others. You never know…Many times we don’t think about it in this manner, but sometimes in protecting our kids from themselves and from the bad influences and the dangers that others subject them to, we forget that we must also protect them from potentially one of their most dangerous threats…Us.

We have the power to inspire and we have the power to be dream killers
We have the power to encourage and to discourage.
We have the power to instill strength and to create cowards.
We have the power to show love and to plant seeds of hate.
Most importantly we have the power to point our kids to Christ or to make it difficult for them to accept Him and believe in God.

As parents and especially as Fathers, we must make it our duty to create lasting memories for our kids. Many times our natural inclination is to throw $ or material things at our kids to make them happy, but that is not what they really want or what they will remember when they get older. They will remember the time that you spent with them not how much you spent on them.

Special thanks to my dad (Zachary Jeffers) for riding bikes with me, playing catch with me, taking me jogging with him, letting me work in the yard with him, picking me up from school, reading the Bible with me, going fishing with me and coming into my room early in the morning or late at night to tell me that he loved me. I don’t remember what I got for every Christmas or for every birthday, but I do cherish the memory of the times that we shared (and still do share together). When I think about them I am filled with joy. Thanks for being a Man of God first and the Best Dad in the World…second…

Take every opportunity you can to honor the Fathers in your life, but above all make a special effort to honor, praise and brag about your Heavenly Father to the “fatherless” of the world. Make them jealous of your Heavenly Dad, the relationship that you share with Him and the influence that He has on your life. Then when you hear them say that they wished that their dad was like your Dad, tell them that your Heavenly Father has plenty of room in His heart and His home for them and would love to adopt them into the family too.

Make every day…Father’s Day.

Be Blessed,
B

Say "Yes"

Most of us have had one of these experiences:

1. The phone rings at home (or the cell phone rings) and we ignore the call and let it go to voicemail because after checking the caller ID we suspect that the call is from someone that we don’t want to talk to or someone that we don’t have time to talk to.

2. We are on the phone with someone and we get another call (maybe a call that we have been waiting for or maybe from someone that we would like to talk to) but we don’t click over in time to answer the call at miss the opportunity to talk to that person who was trying to reach us.

3. We are on the phone with someone and just as they are getting ready to say something important…the call is dropped due to a weak signal.

4. We make a call or receive a call, but there is so much static in the line that we can’t make out a single word that the person is saying.

These can be frustrating experiences. Good Communication takes place when 2 elements exist. A person willing to speak and a person willing to listen… Many of the failed communication attempts listed above have parallels in our spiritual lives. For example:

In #1 above, Sometimes we choose to ignore the call of God, because we are “too busy” or we are afraid of what He may ask us to do. We are comfortable “running things” and aren’t interested in what God may have to say about our lives and what direction He may have for us. We, in essence, tell God to “leave and message” and we’ll get back to Him when we have time, because what we are doing is far too important for us to stop and talk to Him.

In #2 above, we desire to hear from God, but we have so much “clutter” in our lives that our attempt to communicate with Him is delayed and we miss the opportunity to hear Him speak. Think about the times you have been sitting in church, or having prayer, or reading God’s word and your mind has drifted off to think about the 1,000,000 insignificant things that are taking place in the world. (What will I eat after service?...Who is cooking?....What game is coming on?...What will the choir sing?...What was he/she thinking when they put that outfit together?...What is going to happen next week at work?...etc). God is trying to talk to us but the clutter of “self chatter internal chatter” prevents us from hearing.

In #3 God is broadcasting loud and clear from station W-GOD but when He starts too get to close and the message gets too personal, we turn the station to W-YOU or WYME (Why Me), due to our weak faith.
In #4 we simply can’t hear from God because our ears are filled with “wax” (sin). The sin in our lives has cause our spiritual “deafness” and we can’t hear (and choose not to hear) anything that God is saying. Our sin has caused us to be numb to His call.

Procrastination before God is a sin. In our last study we talked about Isaiah’s (Ike) call and how He responded to God. God asked “Who shall we send?” Ike’s response was “Here am I…send me” His response was yes. God is looking for Yes- Men and Yes-Women...People who will “run to the phone” when He calls… People who will clear the line so that they can answer His call immediately…People who aren’t too busy. God wants AVAILABLE PEOPLE. For every excuse that you can make, God has a counter argument for it because everything that you aren’t and all that you don’t have or all that you can’t do…He is…He has… and He can DO. He wants His will to be done through you. In the words of the hit song by Floetry, ”All you gotta do it say YES.”

Now is the time to answer the call. Today is the fullness of time in which you are in the place and the position to say yes to whatever God is calling you to do at this moment. God is not going to wait indefinitely for you to answer His call. Do yourself a favor and take God off of hold and answer Him. The God of the Universe and of all Creation wants to talk to you…pick up the phone and say YES before he stops dialing your number.

Be Blessed,
B

Promises

Promises…We have all made them. We have all broken them. None of us enjoy the heartbreak that comes along with a broken promise. It can sometimes be very painful to experience the letdown of someone making a promise to you and then not following through. Husbands make promises to wives (and vice versa) only to not see the promises fulfilled. Parents make promises to children (and vice versa) only to break them as well. Sad to say, we have also made promises to God and not followed through on them.

God if you get me out of this financial bind…I’ll give to you.
God if you heal me of this illness…I’ll serve you
God if you give me this job…I’ll have more personal time with you
God if you open this door or that door… I’ll give you the glory.

Time and time again we make promises especially to God and we never follow through. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 5 that God is not interested in our mindless babble. He would rather that we don’t make a promise to Him than to make a promise or vow and never follow through on it. Many times we tell God what we “think” He wants to hear. In actuality, what we “think” God wants to hear is what we would like to hear if we were God. God can see right though our games and already knows what promises we will and will not keep before we even open our mouths. Thanks be to God that God is still faithful in spite of us. God’s faithfulness is not contingent upon our failures.

I can hear someone right now reading this and thinking…Hmmm. I guess I can just chill, not promise God anything so that there is nothing that I have to follow through on and God is going to bless me anyway. If that is your attitude, you might want to check the status of your relationship with the Father. Just as children want to please their parents (or should want to), our greatest desire should be to bring our Heavenly Father joy and we can only do that by being faithful to what He has entrusted to us and by being obedient to His Word.

Take a moment and reflect on any unfulfilled promises that you have made to God. Ask Him to forgive you for putting Him on the back burner and commit to following through today.

Ask any athlete…In almost all cases they will tell you that any successful goal or shot is the result of their commitment to it and their follow through (or finish). It’s clutch time…Are you ready to follow through?

Be a Promise Keeper.

Be Blessed,
B

Sorry???

Have you seen yourself lately? No…have you really seen yourself lately. Not the front that we often put on. Not the “I got it all together”, “I got it under control” or the “I’m God’s #1 draft pick…where would the team be with out me” face that we throw on for our loved ones, friends, co-workers, fellow church members and neighbors. The fact of the matter is, we are not as put together and our lives are not a tight as they should be. We often deceive ourselves. We often avoid addressing those things in our lives that “mess up our look”. These things are commonly know as sin.

In our study last week we talked about sin and its relation to us. One of the points that was brought out was how we so very often get caught up in the game of masking our sin. We purposefully mislabel our sin to make it more acceptable to us. For example:
We call our stubbornness and unwillingness to change….Determination
We call our selfishness and unwillingness to share…Being good stewards
We call our self righteousness…Spirituality
We call our worrying…Being detail oriented
We call our greed…Getting what God has for me
We call lust…admiring God’s creation
We call coveting…getting and desiring the better things in life

I’m not saying that all of these are sins at all times, what I am saying that these may be blind spots in our lives that we may need the assistance of God and other believers to help us address these sins. We all have blind spots. Many times the things that “bother” us about other people and their actions are the very matters that we need to address in our lives. Human nature makes it is so easy to identify out OUR faults in the lives of OTHERS. It is human nature to do this, but God has called us to take on His nature and to be able to begin to see our sin for what it is and to be able to repent.

Another point that was made in the Bible study was that we sin and we confess our sin and then go about our business. We treat God like He is running a spiritual Jiffy Lube. We stop in…we confess and we go about our business until our next scheduled spiritual maintenance interval. This is not what God wants. God wants us to see our sin for what it is. He wants us to see the pain that it causes to us, others and to Him. He wants us to think about and appreciate the fact that He took our sin so seriously that He sent His son to die for us. If we confess, God will forgive, but when we repent, God will restore and He will be honored. Repentance is turning away from your sin. Confession is the momentary acknowledgement of the act. Repentance is the corrective action that you take in your life so that when you are faced with a similar temptation or circumstance, you can be victorious over the sin, because you have made up in your mind beforehand that you are not going to succumb. I can attest to the fact that there is a special joy that you get when you are victorious over a sin that you struggled with in the past.

Think back to your childhood or think about how you deal with your kids when they do something wrong. Are kids supposed to just continue to dishonor their parents or disobey the same rules over and over and over and over again and just say “sorry” to fix things? Sorry is not enough. Parents will often say, “What are you sorry for? Or Do you have anything to be sorry about? Or What are you going to do the next time?” The point is to address the behavior so that fewer “sorry’s” will be needed in the future. This “conventional wisdom” has spiritual implications. Ultimately God doesn’t want our “sorry’s”, God wants us to choose His way up front so that “sorry” will not come out of our mouths as often. Are you sorry that you got caught or are you sorry for what you have done and it’s impact it has had and the pain it has caused.

If we choose Godliness upfront…we won’t be “Sorry” later.

Be Blessed,
B

Have you ever been broken or felt the pain of the sin of others? In our recent study, we talked about Ezra. Ezra helped to usher in a revival in the people of God and it all started with a spirit of repentance that he had for the sin that he witnessed in the lives of God’s people. He had not taken part of the sin, but he bore the burden of the sin on his heart and saw the collision path that God’s people were on with the consequences of their sin that they had not repented of.

I began to think about how I have allowed these principles to work in my life. I’ve felt the burden of the guilt of my own sin, but it was not until recently that I’ve began to be sensitive to the weight and the impact of the sin of God’s people. Just like the Israelites, God’s people today have allowed sins that we have not repented of put us under captivity, humiliation and at the mercy of the enemies of God. Some of these sins are subtle but their impact is not. Some of these sins are:

*Lowering God’s standards in our lives and allowing the World’s standards to become the norm in our culture and in our churches

*Lack of prioritizing God’s Word in our daily lives. We make time for everything else but daily devotions. Just as we wouldn’t or shouldn’t go a day with washing ourselves externally, we should not go a day without checking our spiritual B.O. (Body Odor). Many of God’s people are walking around stinking on the inside and the world can smell us and are repulsed by us and therefore aren’t drawn to God because our lives stink.

*Lack of compassion toward people. We often allow how much we think it will cost us to help others to actually prevent us from actually helping others.

*Lack reverence for God. God is loving and wants to have a personal relationship with us, but He is still God. We must come humbly to him with respect for Him and who He is. We have “dumbed” down who God is and we do not approach him with fear and trembling. It’s not that we should approach God like the cowardly lion approached the Wizard of Oz, but should recognize His power and appreciate who He is.

*Lack of recognition of the stain that sin causes on our lives. Sin is serious and will stain our lives. God HATES SIN!!!! We tolerate it and make excuses for its presence in our lives.

These are just a few of the sins that we as God’s people have allowed to take root in our lives and in the church. We as God’s people need to have our hearts heavy as we recognize them and desire for a revival in our lives and in the Church. It is time to not just look in our own house but in the house of God as well. We need each other as members of the same body, so if I’m not operating at full capacity because of the sin in my life, you will suffer and the body of Christ is not acting as effectively and efficiently as it could be. My sin has a negative impact on you so just so I should be torn by your sin and you should be torn by my sin.

This is a new way of thinking for most of us, but it is the key to revival in the kingdom. We must revolutionize our way of thinking if we are going to have a spiritual revolution in the body of Christ.