Out and in: A prayer for a time such as this.

Hey 👋🏾 there BCU Family!

As usual, 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 the post blesses you. If so, please thumbs up or leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy your the post.

We are less than 24 hours from 2017 (depending on when you’ve tuned in) and you all know that means countdowns, lessons, look-backs and promises. Now we here at BCU will partake in the some of those things (minus the promises) in an upcoming post/podcast, but for this post, I felt led to simply pray. Yes pray.

While we may not like to think about it, with all that is happening in the world, we can see that the coming of the Lord is imminent and we must be prepared to go back with Him, if He does not come for us in death first. The cares of this life, the people we have to deal with on the regular, job stress, family challenges, health crises, the change in administration, uncertainty about what’s next, who’s next, who’s got next–can distract us to a point where our stays focus off Jesus and what He has called us to do. We’re angry, miserable, tired, unmotivated, slipping into bad/ungodly habits and find it hard to hear God’s voice or even trust Him again. Dangerous. And exactly what the enemy wants.

With the help of the Lord and His leading, we’ll plan to tackle some of those areas in 2017 in some form or another–until then, let’s boldly go to the throne of grace where we can always go to obtain help in the time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Let us pray.

Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow before you to say “thank You”. You are SO awesome, wonderful, amazing, gracious, merciful, faithful and ever so kind. We thank You for the new mercies we see renewed daily and for the benefits that you load us with–forgiving, healing, redeeming and satisfying our mouths with GOOD things, as Psalm 103 reminds us.

We will honestly tell you, Lord (You already know anyway), that for many of us, this year was a trying one. Some of us lost loved ones, friends, jobs, went through with spouses , family members and children, faced illnesses/treatments or had to caregive–all along with the other assignments and obligations You entrusted us with. It did get difficult from time to time–we cried, questioned, got angry, gave up for a bit, but because of YOUR better-than-life lovingkindness, Your grace, Your tender mercy, YOUR grace, YOUR faithfulness to Your flock, You blessed us–Your children to make it through and we say “thank You!”

We thank You for blessing us with the lessons from 2016 and pray that if You will and we enter into 2017, that You continue to bless with to APPLY what You have/are teaching us to our everyday lives. Please bless us to be on high alert for ministry opportunities to all we come in contact with, for we may just be the planter or waterer before YOU give the increase. Please help us to take our assignments in the Body seriously, diligently and to Your glory. Help us to be a blessing to those in and outside of the body of Christ. Bless us, Lord to hear and follow YOUR voice–and not to practice sinning in any fashion, as we endeavor to be that light set on a hill.

We pray for leaders everywhere–in government, first responders, leaders on our jobs, in the Body of Christ, in our homes–wherever they may be, please guide their thoughts and actions. Bless them to make wise decisions that glorify You, for it is written in Proverbs 21:1, that the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord and like the rivers of water, you turn it wherever YOU want. And if the decisions made are not favorable, we trust that You will take good care of us, because Luke 12:22-31 reminds us to take NO thought about what we need–if You supply for the birds and clothe the grass, You will supply for us, as we seek your kingdom.

Please bless our families, friends and yes, our enemies! Strengthen the single parents and caregivers. Remember those are are incarcerated, along with their families. Comfort the grieving. Speak to someone’s suicidal heart and help them to realize this life is worth living–that they need You, Jesus. We ask that You send healing to broken hearts, that You regulate minds, heal bodies, reconcile ordained relationships, break up toxic situations-ships, send provisions, protection, assurance, conviction, repentance and most of all SAVE souls according to Acts 2:38! Glory!!!

Thank you for blessing us to continue on the straight and narrow way, making our call and election sure, teaching us to number our days and helping us to be counted worthy to escape. We magnify You Lord and bless you for hearing our cry and answering our prayers according to Your perfect will.

To you, Lord, be the glory, honor and praise, in the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

YESSSS!!!! This is the way to start a year, month, day, hour, assignment, task, situation, or challenge. IN PRAYER! And we just don’t pray, we pray FERVENTLY and  in FAITH!!! Hallelujah!

We’re looking forward to the things God has in store for the days ahead and want to share that with you, so please pray and stay tuned! And if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so, it’s free and a good place to get the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Radio , Google Play, and iTunes.

Well let’s go ahead and wrap up our last post of the year! May God bless and keep us all to #StayOnTheWall!

Happy 2017!🎊🙏🏽

 

Love,

 

BCU

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Series: Lessons from the book of Ruth (1:15-22).

Welcome back BCU family!

Please click on the icon for the podcast, if you’re on the go, otherwise take a few moments to read written account–I am sure you will find it a blessing!

So, as we continue from our last Life Lessons from Ruth (part 1) Orpah left Naomi to go back to her parents house leaving Naomi to fend for herself. On the other side, Ruth’s love was in action as she took on Naomi as family, and even starting serving God!

What an awesome testimony of conversion, as even in a strange land where idols were worshipped (notice Orpah went back to her gods). The Word doesn’t say what Naomi did or said–obviously she impacted Ruth through her love and dedication to God. Are we aware of who is watching how we interact with people? Are we impactful for Christ? Could we be living and loving for Him differently, more consistently?

Something else I noticed in Ruth’s insistence on staying with Naomi was the promise made in verse 17:

Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. The Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts you and I.

WHEW! That is a SERIOUS vow–from woman who was willing to travel from her homeland to a strange land with her mother- in-law. How deep did the love roots go in that relationship? How willing are we to give up the familiar and love and trust God for where He wants to take us?

Let’s look at the thought behind the vow.  In that time especially people relied on your word and the integrity of you keeping it. A good name is rather to be chosen above riches (Proverbs 22:1a). We also talked about vows and promises in a post entitled,  “Five lessons the Lord taught me in 2015 (Part 1).” In short, when you promise something, you need to mean it and follow through with it, with the help of the Lord. Sometimes unforeseen circumstances happen, but we still are accountable for what we said and need to do what we said.

Now the ladies are back in the city who is all abuzz with Naomi’s arrival. Naomi, obviously still grieving, instructs to people to call her Mara (meaning bitter) rather than Naomi (pleasant), because the Almighty had dealt bitterly, left her empty, testified against her and afflicted her (verses 20-21). This is proof that grief is biblical, Family! This woman was HURTING! While Naomi did not curse God, she was direct in how she felt about losing her family. This coupled with the fact she likely felt she was destined to be poverty-stricken among these people who once knew her as a secure, married woman probably exacerbated the mourning. We covered the topic of dealing with people who are “mourning aloud” in the post, “Five lessons the Lord taught me in 2015 (Part 2).” Bottom line: Be directed by the Lord as to what to say.  Or if you should say. Our chapter ends with the ladies landing in Bethlehem, right at the beginning of the barley harvest—a good time to get some work. We’ll look at that next time.

So our take-aways:

  • Obedience is better than sacrifice (I Samuel 5:22).
  • Love is an action item–even more so when it’s not easy (I Corinthians 13).
  • Love provides for others (Ruth 1).
  • Honor your vows (Ecclesiastes 5).
  • Pray for what to say (Isaiah 50:4).

I pray this blesses and challenges you to do continue or start to do better in God–I know I saw myself in much of what is written here, so now that God has showed us better, with His help, we’ll do better. Amen?! Amen!

Lord will, when we come back, we’ll look at Ruth chapter 2 and “glean” some of the awesome lessons God has for us! Thank you and may God bless you so much for stopping by and until the next time we’re together #StayOnTheWall.

 

Love,

 

BCU

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God’s lessons from 2015 (Part 1 of 2).

Happy 2016 everyone!!!

Surprise!!! We’re trying something a little different with audio this year! So below, you’ll see a link where you can listen and yes, you can still read as well!   Enjoy and PLEASE let me know what we can do differently and how you like it! Thanks and God bless you this year and ALWAYS! 

You all know how it is at the end of one year and going into the next one, there are lists compiled about all types of subject matter, and here at BlenCouragesU we are NO exception! 🙂 What I’d like to share with you are five (5) BIG lessons the Lord taught me in 2015. I’m trusting that these will bless you as well. I’ll get into the detail, but the topics are as follows:

  1. Promises, promises
  2. Appearances can be deceiving
  3. Happy Holidays?
  4. Think outside the circle
  5. Say what?

Let’s get started!

Promises, promises:

Many of us have a habit of saying, “Let me know what you need”, “I’ll help you however I can,” “I owe you a favor”, or “I’ll be there for you”. Did you follow through on what you said without being asked? Did the person “call you” on the favor? What was your attitude about following through on your favor? Did you do it with joy? Grumble? Was it inconvenient?

Awhile back, I tried to “redeem” a favor an individual promised me and was met with an very angry tirade. *insert puzzled look*. Granted, I could have given the person more notice–I was just in a spot and needed immediate help.

While the incident is all water under the bridge, there are a couple of takeaways here. The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us not to be rash with our mouths, and our hearts are not to utter anything before God in Heaven and we are on Earth–to let your words be few. Solomon also goes on to say that when you do vow, make sure you pay it–it’s better to NOT to vow than to vow and not pay (5:2-5). It is that serious.With God’s help, when we say it, we should mean it and be prepared to follow through with it. And if something does come up, we communicate it as soon as possible and be sure to take care of the promise. What if God reneged on His promises to us because he was too busy or did not feel like it? Right. We’ll get better on this with God’s grace. Lord, who shall abide in your tabernacle, who shall dwell on your holy hill? …He that swears to his own hurt and does not change (Psalms 15:1 & 4b). In other words, it may be hurting you to get this done, but you are not backing down from your word.

The other situation is the angry outburst. Yes, yes, anger is an emotion God gave us–that does not absolve us from being angry responsibly. The Word reminds us to be angry, but not to sin (Ephesians 4:26). Usually the words and feelings get involved and things are said that are regretted later. Sticks and stones will break bones, but words heard do irreparable harm to someone’s heart, mind and spirit before the Lord heals them. Apologies are good and needful–they don’t always mend what could have been prevented if we had applied godly wisdom to our responses. Remember, the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God (James 1:20).  Think–no pray before you speak.

 

Appearances are deceiving: 

I Samuel 16:7 about men looking at the outside, but God looks on the heart is used to justify many things God clearly speaks against. The context I’m thinking of is more along the lines of spiritual discernment vs what you see in the flesh.

I recall a group of young people I saw regularly at church with their parents and such. Y’all know that some, (not all) young people only come to church because they HAVE to and it shows on their faces! Yikes!! (We were not allowed to look any other way but pleasant, otherwise it would be a long evening after church). Anyway, this child looked like they could eat you alive without any regret! For some reason, I spoke with a family member where the young person came up in conversation–turns out the child had some very serious personal situations they were sorting though at the time. So that face was a mask for hurt and brokenness.

My aha moment? We cannot allow gestures, attitudes and facial expressions to hinder us from witnessing and ministering to others. In fact, God told Jeremiah not to be afraid of their faces for God was with him (1:8). The enemy works like that so folks can stay bound and we remain neutralized. That is NOT how any of this works. We who are Holy-Spirit filled have the power of Jesus down on the inside who gives US power over the enemy to get past that fear. Moreover, we do not allow our perception of what is wrong with that person stop us from reaching out to them–our job is to ask the Lord what is wrong, pray for them and encourage/minister to them as we are led by the Spirit. The love we show sets us apart from others. Luke 10:30-37 tells how two prominent people [priest and Levite] passed by a hurting, half-dead man and how one “regular” person [Samaritan] stopped to help.  Which person are we?

I’m going to stop here for now…this way you’ll come back! Stay tuned for part 2 of our series.

God bless you and thanks for stopping by!

 

BCU

 

 

 

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Seasoned saints: The importance of salt in your life–Part 2

Hey family!

I trust God blessed you all with a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mine was fantastic, filling and went by fast! 🙀

Last post, I started on a “salt series” that talked about salt production and how vital it is to our natural body and in the body of Christ on a spiritual level. This time around, lets see what the Word is on salt.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men (Matthew 5:13).

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One of the earliest mentions of salt is in Leviticus 2. That chapter outlines detailed instructions on how sacrifices had to be prepared to be given to the priests and then offered to God. In verses 4-6, you’ll see God was very specific about the flour, oil—and even if the grain sacrifice was made pan versus a frying pan. (Side note: note how you just couldn’t bring God a sacrifice any ol’ way. That’s important for us to think about when we bring Him our sacrifice of praise, worship, time, money..anything we have for Him). Looking at the verses 11-12, God specifies the “seasonings” on the offering–that there should be no leaven or honey, but:

“Every offering you shall season with salt. You shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt” (Leviticus 2:13).

Okay, Blen, so what does that mean? I am glad you asked! Salt was just not a food enhancer or monetary trade items like we learned last time, it was also used as a covenant symbol.

History mentions that people used salt as a sign of binding loyalty and a symbol of alliance. In fact, in Europe and parts of the Middle East, salt and bread are offered to guests as a sign of friendship (hence the phrase “we have salt between us”). Additionally, treaties and truces were formalized using salt. Each person would take a lick of salt (similar to shaking hands) to “seal the deal”.

Salt was also used to heal a rift between parties as well. If there was a disagreement between folks, you would invite the person into your home to share a dish of salt. Each of you would lick your finger, dip it in the salt and then eat the salt together. Peculiar as this may sound, when a promise was seasoned with salt, it was so serious, that people would rather die than break that promise! Let’s examine another Scripture on the Covenant of salt.

2 Chronicles 13 tells of a war between Israel (King Jeroboam) and Judah (King Abijah). Jeroboam had the bigger army and was pretty sure he could take Abijah down. King Abijah reminded Jeriboam of God’s promise.

“Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt? Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!” Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah” (2 Chronicles 13:5,12,15 NKJV). Yessss–God ALWAYS keeps His word and Judah triumphed!!!!!!

Are you connecting the dots, Family? Isn’t it wonderful to see how God shows us how He keeps promises with something as simple, yet as powerful as salt? How about the promises we make? 🙊Are they “salt-worthy”? Solomon warns us think before we vow:

Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few (Ecclesiastes 5:2 NKJV).

I cannot speak for you all, but if someone promises they will do something and they don’t follow through, I am so disappointed! Because the Lord has made me more mindful about keeping my word, He reminds me to say “with God’s help I will”…or, “if nothing changes, I plan to”, or “Lord will, I’ll…” Keeping that last verse in mind, it really helps us to rely on our perfect God to help us keep our word. Also, if we something does happen, it’s a good idea to circle back to the person quickly and fulfill your promise as soon as possible.

Bottom line: If you can’t season your promise with salt, it really best not to promise at all. I heard a cartoon character say, a broken promise cannot be easily put back together. How true.

I’ll leave you to meditate on this post, as we prepare for the next salt installment, that will talk more about why we need (more) salt in our natural and spiritual lives.

I pray you all were blessed by what you have read! Thanks and God bless you for stopping by!

Love,

Blen

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