Visual: What are you thinking?

Hey Family!

Take a look at the chart below. I saw it on Linked in—I’m not sure who the original author is (if anyone knows, please let me know), but this SPOKE to me!

The Word of God reminds us that we are to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). That’s important because what we think translates into words and they effect our actions.  In fact, Proverbs 18:21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue and you will “eat the fruit of your words”. Every self-depreciating comment, negative affirmation or put-down is like eating rotten, deadly fruit. How many of us would knowingly eat harmful food? If you’ve ever had food poisoning or ANY gastrointestinal trouble after eating a particular food or at a place, you would totally avoid it! We need to incorporate this in our thought and word choices.

Additionally, the result of the rotten fruit not only effects you to the point where you feel like you cannot do anything correctly, it either draws other “flies” to you (fellow bad fruit eaters–that’s another post) and/or can drive away the folks who prefer to speak life. Moreover, it is a like a slap in the face to God, who has made us and not we ourselves (Psalms 100:3).

Bottom line: If it you are reading this, it’s not too late to repent for thinking and speaking in the negative. We all say things on the left side of the list from time to time, myself included—the thing is not to continue practicing this behavior. How different would our lives be if we spoke life into ourselves, children, co-workers, et cetera? In fact, after praying, the Lord blessed me to tell a couple of folks with God’s help, they would be a blessing to all they came in contact with. Do you know they came back with a victory report?! Thank you, Jesus!!! So it’s best to ask God to help us line up our thoughts, words and actions with His Word and enjoy the fruit of the spoken labor. Amen?! Amen!

God bless you and thank you for reading!

Blen

What are you thinking?
What are you thinking?

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Now and later….Where are you in Christ?

Hey Family,

I had another post in mind, but as the news unfolds about the attacks in Paris, I felt it apropos to speak what the Lord laid on my heart.

As much as we don’t want to think about it, our days are numbered. In fact, Psalms 90:10 says, the days of our years are threescore years and ten, (age 70) and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, (age 80) yet it is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly away.  And we well know some people fly away sooner than those ages, according to God’s divine plan, so unless He specifically tells you, we have no idea when our last earthly moment will be, what it will entail and after that, we have to give an account to God (Romans 14:12). With all the things going on in this present world, it is scary to think about dying, yes. What we want to ensure right now is WHERE we live after we die.

As the Giver of Life, all souls belong to the Lord and whether or not we choose salvation along with how we live here determines if we go to Heaven or Hell. No, the Bible does not support places in between, purgatory, praying and paying for souls to come out of Hell. reincarnation, coming back as a worm, or anything other than Heaven or Hell.

Fact: Luke 16:19-31 tells the story of the rich man and poor man Lazarus. The rich man who apparently did not accept Christ lifted up his tormented eyes in hell, and seeing Lazarus and Abraham afar off, (presumably paradise or Heaven) begged for mercy and water (verses 23-24). Abraham spoke up and told the rich man, in part, there was a great gulf fixed and neither of the could leave where they were (verse 26). Think of the regret the rich man was and is living with. “If I only had known, I would have..” That is not how we want to spend eternity.

Bottom line: Let’s be clear, I DO NOT know where the victims of this hideous and cowardly act of terrorism were in their walk with God–that is now between them and Him.  As my heart weeps and prayers go out to the families and friends who are directly dealing with this unspeakable grief, fear, anger, disbelief and any other emotions, my prayer for anyone who is reading this to make the decision to repent (being godly sorry for all you’ve ever done to sin against God), be baptized in the name of Jesus (there is no other name under Heaven that we can be saved (Acts 4:12) and be filled with the Holy Ghost (everyone needs the Holy Ghost–see Acts 2).  Be advised there is NOTHING you’ve done that JESUS will not pardon! He wants all to come to repentance and be filled with His Spirit! Ask the Lord to help you find a church home that is focused on caring for your soul and teaching you how to live according to what the Bible says. Ensure your place on Heaven today, so you can truly rest in peace when your time comes.

We do not want to live on Earth and reject Jesus NOW only to find out it we need Him for LATER. Give your life to Jesus today!

God bless you and thank for reading!

Blen

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Do you act like a Christian?

 

Hey there Family,

Recently, my mom was telling me about someone who was trying to erroneously “get her way” by telling my mom she was not acting like a Christian. Mom quipped, “I’m not supposed to ACT like a Christian, I’m supposed to BE one!” We laughed, but she makes a good point.

Let’s define the meaning of a Christian from the Word of God. People were called Christians or followers of Christ in Antioch after Saul and other assembled together for a year and taught many people (Acts 11:26). Besides the necessity of water baptism in Jesus name and the gift of the Holy Ghost for salvation (Acts 2:38-39), and other important areas, the disciples also lived what Christ taught them–among other things, having a prayer life, using gifts/talents to God’s glory, and how to love and treat others. Notice they LIVED what Christ taught them, rather than ACTING what Christ taught them.

When you act like something or someone, it’s a role. You are the character for a certain amount of time, in certain circumstances, at a convenient time or place, when people are watching or listening. When we act like a Christian, we do things out of fear of the lack of/reaction we will receive. Thus, we risk being an enabler (like always giving money to that able-bodied, non-motivated to work relative or worse—-boy/girlfriend), or you interfere with the law of sowing and reaping. So if Junie keeps getting speeding tickets and you pay them, when will he learn to drive carefully? He needs to learn there is a consequence to bad behavior. HE pays the tickets.

Conversely, when you are/being something, it’s part of who you naturally. So in the case of Jesus living down on the inside via the Holy Ghost, He shows up on the outside consistently. Sure, we will have our days where we are not perfect, but in our desire to please Christ and live more like Him, we will not practice willful sin.

Moreover, while Jesus taught us how to love and treat others, this does not give the general population carte blanche to get whatever-they-want-when-they-want-no-matter-what-and-you-better-like-it-because-that-is-what-Jesus-would-have-you-to do. Seriously? Not so, Family!

In Matthew 4:1-11, the enemy temped Jesus three times, did our Awesome God do what the devil told Him? NO. Jesus did not answer the Pharisees regarding the authority He had, because they demanded it of Him (Matthew 21:23-27). Need an “earthly” example?  What about Simon who offered the apostles money in exchange for the being able to lay hands on people for them to be filled with the Holy Ghost? (Acts 8:12-21). Rather than give in to Simon, Peter rebuked him so sharply that Simon requested prayer for protection! (verses 22-24). See what I mean now?

Bottom line: With the help of the Lord, we cannot allow any and everyone to take advantage of our Christ-like nature to “keep the peace” or be “humble”. Now when the Lord tells you to do something, you of course follow His command. But be sure it’s the Lord talking and not guilt or fear–this is where prayer and being in tune with God’s voice will come in—remember HE wants us to make the right choices. This is where we start to BE more like Him.

Thanks for reading and God bless you MUCHO!

BCU

Spiritual PSA: What is in you comes out of you, any act has a limited shelf life,  will eventually who you are will surface. It is better to get Jesus down on the inside and let His spirit direct your paths.

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Think it not strange…

Hey Family,

Yes, yes, yes, I know it’s been a LONG time since I stopped by. Reasons: partially time management, brain exhaustion, wanting to veg and fiery trials. Lots of trials.

You know, as a child, young adult, saved older young adult :-), you have a certain “expectation” of how things will go in your life. While our awesome God does bless us to have our hearts desires according to His will, He also brings us trials that can throw you for a LOOP. Sickness, job changes, loss of loved ones, relational changes, financial challenges, taking care of loved ones—the list goes on. At some point,  we may experience one or more of these areas and cry out to God wondering why He has forsaken us.

I Peter 4:12-13 reminds us not to think it strange when the fiery trial comes to prove/test or try you, rather to rejoice in that we are partakers of Christ’s sufferings and when His glory is revealed, we will be glad and with EXCEEDING joy. Now, I will be FIRST to admit that when these “fires” come (and I have had many over the last few months), I do not exactly embrace them! In one instance, I distinctly recall crying, snotting, calling on the Lord, and telling anyone who would listen what I was going through—hopeful someone would have a way to “remove the bitter cup” from me. At one point, Jesus FINALLY got my attention and let me know I had to rely on HIM and that He anointed me for the task.  My job was to pour out my heart before Him and trust that He knew what He was doing. Additionally, The Lord let me know that trusting means not stressing internally either.

We sometimes hide our stress behind big smiles and praise the Lord, when inwardly our minds are going over the situation constantly and to a point where you can be consumed and in extreme cases, stress symptoms can manifest themselves physically.  Paul has an answer for that, though–whatever is true, just, honest, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy–those are the things we think or meditate on (Philippians 4:8).  Not one Scripture commands us to worry or stress, so obviously that comes from the enemy and needs immediate rebuking. It is not easy, but is a huge part of the trial process and the getting and maintaining your praise and the victory during your test.

My life lesson: God knows and sees all–yes, I know you know that, but think of it this way: because God knew us before we were born and has our lives in His control, He is aware of what is happening to us,  He does care and if the fire was not needful, He would not allow us to go through it. The proving or tests are a reminder to continue praising, praying, fasting and trusting God from day one of the trial till you pass. Just like any test or challenge we take in our natural lives, we know it may be difficult, but we endure to the end for the reward/satisfaction of accomplishment. Yes…it’s the same thing spiritually as well. You don’t have to take my word for it–take The Word of God! Ruth and Naomi are EXCELLENT examples of holding on in the difficult times and receiving a blessing in the end.

Trial are HARD!!!! NO one likes to suffer, myself included, but it is part of life and especially for those who walk with Christ. So while there is no way to avoid challenges, with the help and grace of our God, continue praying, standing on God’s word and wait it out till the end.

They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings as eagles

They shall run and not be weary

They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31).

Hold on, Family…whatever God is teaching or blessing you with… is worth the wait.

God bless you and thank you for reading!

BlenCouragesU

Think it not strange...
Think it not strange…

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It’s time to do better…

Hey family!

I was scrolling through my Instagram feed today and saw this quote from Christian comedian Broderick E. Rice: “Early birds get more than just the worm; they get everything the latecomers aren’t willing to sacrifice for.” He lowered the “BOOM”, y’all! 😳

As I pondered that, back in my 20’s, I might have chuckled and kept moving. Fast forward a couple of decades, and I totally agree with what he said. Occasional tardiness, or something that can’t be helped (church service starts at 7pm and you get off work at the same time, you got a flat tire, you were ministering at church, etc..) is one thing, it is the habitual lateness that is the quagmire for most of us. Not only is non-punctuality extremely discourteous, it is stressful (for the offender and the offended) and most of all, it shows lack of stewardship with the precious commodity that God entrusts us with. Many times, we just need to manage our time better.

In doing some quick research, I ran across a post about tardiness written by Brett and Kate McKay–a snippet of the high points are below. While the post was intended to help our male population be on time, I believe this information is just as important for the ladies–I know ALL the points resonated with me. After reading this, let’s ask The Lord to help us to manage the time He so graciously gives us!

God bless you and thanks for reading! I may do a follow-up to this post–I’m excited about implementing habitual timeliness! 😊

BCU

1) Being punctual shows your humility. That bumper sticker maxim: “Always late, but worth the wait” shows that tardiness and an overestimation of one’s worth sometimes go hand in hand. People will be glad to see you when you arrive, but they would have been gladder still had you come on time.

2) Being punctual shows your respect for others. Being late is a selfish act, for it puts your needs above another’s. You want an extra minute to do what you’d like, but in gaining that minute for yourself, you take a minute from another, which is why….

3) Being late is a form of stealing. That’s a tough truth, but it’s a truth nonetheless. When you make others wait for you, you rob minutes from them that they’ll never get back. Time they could have turned into money, or simply used for the things important to them. In coming to meet you at the agreed upon hour, they may have made sacrifices – woken up early, cut short their workout, told their kid they couldn’t read a story together – and your lateness negates those sacrifices. If you wouldn’t think of taking ten dollars from another man’s wallet, you shouldn’t think of stealing ten minutes from him either. Being punctual shows you value time yourself, and thus wouldn’t think of depriving others of this precious, but limited resource.

4) Being late strains your relationships. When you’re late in meeting other people, it makes them feel under-valued, that whatever you couldn’t pull yourself away from was more important or that they didn’t mean enough to you to warrant allotting sufficient time to arrive on schedule. The guest who flies in to see you feels like a dope standing at the airport alone, your date feels awkward sitting at the restaurant by herself, and your child feels abandoned as she waits with her teacher for you to arrive, all the other children having already been picked up from school.

5)Being punctual strengthens and reveals your integrity. If you tell someone that you will meet them at a certain time, you have essentially made them a promise. And if you say you’ll be there at 8:00, and yet arrive at 8:15, you have essentially broken that promise. Being on time shows others that you are a man [woman] of your word.

6) Being late takes a toll on your life. Always running behind simply hurts you in all areas of your life. It results in lost opportunities: missing a plane, missing a meeting, missing an important part of a lecture, missing a wedding. It creates stress and can lead to car accidents and traffic tickets. It results in embarrassment and forces you to come up with excuses for why you’re late, putting a strain on your honesty. Basically, it makes your life more complicated; for men [women] seeking to simplify their lives, cultivating punctuality is an essential part of that path.

Content from: http://www.artofmanliness.com

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