“Thank You for the “no’s” | Moya Pugh–Part 2

Here there BCU Family!

You can access the podcast here, or click on the avatar below, as you refer to the show notes below for the highlights. We pray the content blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the podcast!

Podcast highlights:

  • We continue our conversation with my friend, Moya Pugh, founder of Sister 2 Sister International Women’s ministry.
  • Moya and I connected via a work event, and in chatting, we discovered our mutual love of Christ.
  • Last time, we talked about christian conduct, ministry, and being a safe space.
  • This time, Moya and I talk about waiting on God, our plans vs God’s plans, and finding love after 40!

KJV Scripture References

Psalm 100:2

Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing.

Philippians 4:6-7

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 3:20

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us..

Proverbs 18:22

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.

Luke 11:11-13

11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Moya and her husband, Lawrence ❤️💙

BCUFam, what resonated most for me, is that sometimes we get more “no’s than “yeses” when requesting certain things from God. Because our finite minds “think” we know what’s best for us, the no’s may seem like punishment or the enemy blocking our blessings.

On the contrary, we have to remember that because our grace and glory giving God is our sun and shield, He will not withhold any good thing from those who walk upright before Him (Psalm 84:11). So if it’s good, and His will, we will get what are asking for. Otherwise, there is something God is protecting us from, hence being grateful for the “no’s”. I will admit, that “no” does not always feel good in the moment, but once we realize that God has better, we will give thanks through the tears, and continue serving the Lord with gladness. Amen? What stood out for you? Please leave a comment so we can continue our conversation!

Moya and I have more to cover, so please stay tuned for our next segment, as we leisurely walk through the next part of her story of God’s purpose and plan for her life. In the meantime, Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, as we come before You today, thank You for the words of wisdom and correction You have provided. While we may not always understand every decision You make on our behalf, we know You, Lord, are a good, good Father and You always do what is best for us. So we thank You Jesus, for the “no’s” and with Your help, will continue to serve You while we wait, and declare Your goodness, for You are God and You are GOOD! It is in Jesus name, we pray and thank You, Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Also, if you so inclined, join us Thursday nights––we are LIVE on YouTube 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

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A small town named Nazareth..

Hey there BCU Fam!

For this post, because of the informal format, please tune into the podcast recording (click here or on the BCU avatar below) and refer to the written post for the highlights. We pray the post blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

Podcast highlights:

  • As December 25th approaches, many Christians anticipate the celebrating the birth of Jesus.
  • For years, there have been great debates on the “appropriateness” of celebrating—-citing not knowing the date of His birth, the commercialism, and pagan origins of Christmas (all valid points).
  • For those who know Jesus in the pardoning of their sins, we understand and celebrate the biblical and life-changing momentousness of His birth.
  • This post looks at a few of the lesser-studied, yet significant highlights around the birth of Jesus Christ.

Scripture references

Luke 1:26-38

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Luke 2:7-21

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

BCUFam, how awesome is that we do not have to come from a long line of fame, fortune, mega-ministries, popular towns, or anything else to be used by the Lord. In fact, I Corinthians 1:26-27 reminds us that, God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence. So no——-God did not make a mistake in choosing you——-when He works through you, it’s for His glory. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for Your goodness, grace, mercy, power, love, and of course, for today’s study. Thank You for reminding us about certain aspect around Your birth that we may not always pay close attention to, yet, we see You in these important details. We want to thank You, Lord, for sending Your Son, Jesus to save us! And as the song says “Manger-born/ but on a tree/ You died to save humanity” and so we THANK YOU Jesus, for giving us a right to the Tree of Life, we thank You, Jesus for the Comforter—the Holy Ghost down on the inside, that leads and guides us into all truth.

The people of God understand the commercialism and paganism that is around this time of year. While we see it, we choose to celebrate Your birth, Jesus, not just this month, but all year long as we live our lives so that You are glorified, honored and praised, and people will ask, “what must I do to be saved?” Please help us to remember all the things You taught us in this study, and bless each listener in a special way. It’s in the name of Jesus we thank and praise You for all things, Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Also, if you so inclined, join us Thursday nights––we are LIVE on YouTube 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Pandora, Spotify or whatever podcast platform you like best!

Thank you SO much for stopping by. God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

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And who is my neighbor?

You have the option of listening to our podcast (click the BCU avatar below to listen), reading the notes or BOTH. In any case, we pray the podcast blesses you. If so, please thumbs up or leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy your study! 

So in my internet travels, I came across a post where there was a discussion on how much in way of dollars in humanitarian aid was being sent to Ukraine. In the ensuring conversation, a professing Christian mentioned while they felt for the situation, Ukraine wasn’t our issue–and our focus should be on the United States. What really saddened me was the tone and the harsh, thoughtless word choices this person used to punctuate their opinion.

Initially, I was a bit offended by what I read. In my heart I was like, “really?” “Where is your compassion?” “You do know Jesus, right?” Then, the Lord reminded me I had said such things in my B.C.(before Christ) days, and thankfully, He had forgiven me, so I needed to forgive the offender and let it go! After Jesus helped me to remove the beam from my eye, (see Matthew 7:1-5), I was clear to see how to compose this post to His glory!

Getting back to the point of the post, I am reminded of the very familiar parable Jesus told in Luke 10:25-37, KJV:

25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

When we think about the lawyer, he was in expert in knowing the law and quoted it correctly. Next, he wanted to know exactly who is neighbor was, so he knew who he was supposed to love as himself.

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

The priests served as the mediators between God and the people. They are the ones who took the people’s sacrifices and offered them up to God (Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31; Hebrews 8:4). The High Priest, in particular, represented the whole nation of Israel before God (Exodus 28:12; Hebrews 5:1). When a priest sinned, he brought guilt not only upon himself, but also upon the whole people (Leviticus 4:3). The priests also interceded on behalf of the people before God (Leviticus 9:22-24; Numbers 6:22-27). And they would inquire of God for the nation (Exodus 28:30). (http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVanswers/2007/04-26b.htm)

This mediator, interceder and inquirer to God looked at a wounded man, and passed him by.

32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

The Levites, members of the same tribe, but who were not descendants of Aaron, served as aides to the priests, doing things like helping to prepare the sacrifices. They took care of the temple, making repairs when needed, and served as musicians, singers, doorkeepers. (Numbers 1:50-53; 3:6-9; 4:1-33; I Chronicles 23). The Levites were also the teachers of Israel (Deuteronomy 24:8; 33:10; II Chronicles 35:3; Nehemiah 8:7) and the nation’s scribes (II Chronicles 34:13). The Levites were also the nation’s judges (Deuteronomy 17:8-9; 21:5; I Chronicles 23:4; II Chronicles 19:8; Ezekiel 44:15, 24). They were also the nation’s regulators. For instance, they were responsible for accurate weights and measures used in Israel (I Chronicles 23:29; Leviticus 19:35-36). (http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVanswers/2007/04-26b.htm)

This aide to the priest, musician, singer, scribe, regulator and judge came and looked at the half-dead man and passed on the other side of the road.

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

Jesus using a Samaritan in the parable was very intentional, as it relates to love. After Assyria invaded Israel, the Northern Kingdom and resettled it with its own people, (see 2 Kings 17:24-41), some Jews intermarried with other people and the mixed race became known as the Samaritans. Full-blooded Jews considered themselves pure descendants of Abraham and despised the “half-breed” Samaritans and of course, the Samaritans hated the Jews.

While the priest and Levite may have passed the man as they strictly interpreted the law (the man was bleeding and may have been ceremonially considered unclean–see Leviticus 5:3), the “despised” Samaritan demonstrated the law of love. He cleaned the man’s wounds with oil and wine, bound them up, put the man on his own beast while he walked, brought him to an inn, nursed him for the night, instructed and paid the host to take care of him AND promised to repay the innkeeper for anything more he spent when he came back. There was no quibbling or discussion about not being from the same country, or race, or who needed more help–the Samaritan just helped! That is what love does, BCUFam!

36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

BCU Fam, did you notice in the “a” part of the verse 37 where the lawyer said, “he that shewed mercy” rather than saying the “Samaritan”? That showed a lack of love, even though he stated that was the law. What is in our hearts comes out of our mouths! May the Lord help our words and heart mediations to be acceptable in His sight (Psalm 19:14).

I have read this parable more than one time, BCU Fam, and it really spoke to my spirit as a call to action for all of us to do what we can, as the Lord leads us to be a blessing to someone. How? We can start by intentionally and fervently praying for others. 2 Timothy 2-1:4 says, I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Then we need to be the answer to someone’s prayers. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth (I John 3:17-18).

The Lord knows we we cannot help everyone, but we all can help in some way. Rather than have respect of persons in our love, (James 2:8-10), let’s pray and ask God who we can love on and be a neighbor to. Amen? Amen!

BCU Fam, what are your thoughts on our topic? Please head to the comments section below and let’s chat some more!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Also, if you so inclined, join us Thursday nights–we are LIVE on YouTube 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Radio , Google Play, and Apple Podcasts!

Thank you SO much for stopping by. God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

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