The Journey to Me

Can you relate to this scenario?   We come to church on Sunday. We hear a convicting word. “Yes, Lord! That is where I am!”  We come to the altar for prayer.    “YES Lord, I will lay “that” down, discard it, remove it from my life.  It is  done, over, finished!" But two hours, three days or one week later you are reasoning within yourself:   “Maybe there was some more value to it”   “I’ve been this way all my life, it was just part of who I am” “All of him, her or it wasn’t that bad” That my friend is “ dumpster diving ” When God says, “Throw it away, (whatever your “it” is) You don’t need it anymore, He means it! Yet we find ourselves diving back into the dumpster to pull it out of the place it was discarded.  We knock off some of the dirt it collected, we cut off the mold that had started growing on it, I mean,  “ All of that banana isn’t bad, it is still fruit!  I will just cut off the bad p...

Y'all. Satan is no dummy.   Deception is his biggest weapon and he is quite brilliant at using it.   He cannot read your mind, He is not omnipresent, omniscient or omnipotent.  Those attributes belong to God and God alone! BUT he has kept exquisite records of your life.  Yes, little ole you!  Satan and his pals know exactly how to use their storehouse of information to bring about predictable responses in you.  He will turn his vast knowledge (accumulated over your whole lifetime) of your unmet needs, unresolved issues, unhealed hurts, bad memories, pain, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness and, hidden sin into arsenals to use against you. YET, one of the most disturbing forms of deception is self-deception !  Self-deception is a form of corrupted consciousness or willed ignorance.  Wow, I know that is heavy, but as my grandmother often said we must “call a spade a spade”. The first step to overcoming any life-debilitating ac...

“They drew first blood, not me ” ~ John RAMBO This line is from one of my favorite movies, Rambo: First Blood .   Rambo a simple man, mistakenly considered weak and insignificant., until he found himself yet again fighting for his life.  He wasn't fighting against those that he considered an enemy, but against those who decided Rambo was the enemy. Wow! Can you relate? What they did not know was that Rambo was a former Green Beret … purposed, passionate and, prepared to fight again and again!    During his many battles, he often sustained wounds but he had been well trained on how to stitch himself up long enough to fight another day. Stitched up, yes but not fully healed.  So many of us have learned how to be Rambo, ignoring the pain of life’s many battles.  Some of those battles are ones we signed up for, but some of them were brought to us without our permission.  Yet, each time we stitch ourselves up and prepare to fight again....

In 2018 the word for the year was ARISE! My initial challenge with that word was ... Hadn't I already overcame all of... okay most of my personal challenges?  Wasn't 2018 my time to  EMERGE ! No! 2018 was the year of preparation. In 2018 we first had to ARISE.  Arise in our Love, Arise in our Compassion, Arise in our Social Awareness, Arise in our Relationships!   Now, as we enter the third month of this 2019 year, we find ourself in The Emergence! The primary difference between Arise and Emerge? One is to get up, but the other is to come out and to come out in victory!!! Far too many of us allow the issues, incidents accidents of life to eat away at our God-given purposes and passions. The Emergence classes are not counseling nor therapy classes, but are for ordinary people who want to accomplish the extraordinary! Together we will examine the physical, mental and spiritual/moral components of your life and assess how to reconnect, maximizin...

They did it to me again!!! I cannot believe they did it to me again!!!  Again Lord! Why? What?! HOW? How long am I supposed just take this?   I know vengeance belongs to you, but are you paying attention to what these enemies of mine are doing? “But to you who are listening, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke”  6:27-28 NIV Now that’s COURAGE!  And that is a lot to swallow! Well, they say the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.  So here we go! Love your enemy  – This is the easiest bite.  Who is my enemy?  The only real enemy I should have is those that are an enemy of my God.  Not an enemy of my church, pastor or leaders… but God.  Simply >>> if one is not an enemy of God, they should not be my enemy either. Do good to them that hate you  – Again, much like our ac...

In January we were challenged to Arise in our Outlook! Everything that happened in 2017 really was not that bad, well it was but it was purposeful!    In February we were challenged to Arise in our Conversations!   Our words frame our world.  In 2017 as situations became more difficult, trying and painful we let everyone and anyone that would listen to our complaints … listen.  Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tweets carried direct and subtle expressions of our frustrations.  Yet forgetting the one person listening most attentively to the words spoken … our own inner soul.  In March, we were challenged to Arise in our Character!   It has been said that a crisis does not build character, it reveals character #True. What did we learn about ourselves in 2017? For some, the revelations were not very pleasant. What changes are you making in 2018 considering what you have learned?  Remember, it is habits that form character. Ari...

Twelve men were sent out on a strategic fact-finding mission to gather intelligence about this purpose promised place which they were told they would conquer.     This purpose promised place was truly all that God said it would be!  L ook, they even returned with a foretaste of the fruit of the promise.  This was a great report and their Outlook is great! But, along with the great Outlook came a few facts.  Strong enemies, large obstructions and…. Doubts!  “We can’t do this … we can’t attack this … they’re bigger and stronger … we’ll be devoured … there are already giants in my promise place … and I seemed like a tiny little grasshopper in my own eyes next to them!” Doubts! Doubts only see giants, problems, impossibility, and obstacles. Doubts leave God out of the equation and we make us forget, He is the one that set this purpose promised place before us, in us!  Doubts cause us to look in at ourselves as grasshoppers.  Surely if I...