Revelation

Last night when I went to see one of my friends she casually slipped a CD into my hand. The CD contained a sermon with the message, "Fasting For Your Mate." (I guess at this point my friend figures that I need all the help that I can get, LOL. Just kidding. =) ). I graciously took the CD and after returning home later that night I took the time to listen to it.

It was great. The pastor used the story of Issac and Rebecca to relay his message about the importance of including God in the process of finding your mate. I listened to the sermon and took notes but after I did so I still felt like I was missing something... I was already familiar with the story of how Issac and Rebecca came to be together and I am well aware of the importance of including God in the process of finding my mate. It was nice to be reminded of these things and the pastor was quite an eloquent speaker but after everything was said and done I still yearned for a more. I felt like I needed a more specific Word, a Word just for me that was relevant to my current situation, because after the listening to the sermon I was still left with the question in my mind, "God, what are you trying to tell me?" So I prayed and I asked God just that and He answered me. Now by sharing with you my own actions I am going to provide you a list of things not to do when requesting revelation from God. (Yall please don't be like me, LOL.)

God took me in my Bible to 1 Timothy 3. Now I've read this particular passage a million times so before I even turned there I remembered that it was about overseers and deacons. So my first reaction was, Jesus, I'm sitting here asking you about a man and you're taking me to a scripture about some deacons?

#1-Don't ask God to show you something then start asking questions and tripping before He even has the opportunity to reveal whatever He's trying to reveal to you. He's God. He knows what He's doing. Just trust Him.

It didn't make sense to me at first but I knew God had led me specifically to that scripture so I prepared to start reading. Now you can look at my Bible and tell if I've read a particular passage or not because if I have then the words are all underlined and circled with notes all in the margins. So because I've read this scripture so much the entire page is marked up and underlined. I started reading but as soon as I got to verse 2 and it started mentioning an overseer I started just skimming over the words so that I could quickly get to the point which I was sure was farther down in the chapter.

#2- Don't rush when God is trying to show you something. Take your time so that you can get the full understanding of what He is trying to tell/show you.

He admonished me to stop acting like Speedy Gonzales and to start over and I did. 1 Timothy 3:1 (NIV) states,

"Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task."

Aight, so I read that verse and processed that for a second but then I asked myself the question, What exactly is an overseer? I knew that in the church an overseer is usually like the pastor, bishop, or some leader in the church but I decided to dictionary.com it just to make sure I wasn't missing anything. So I went to the website and popped in the word overseer and this is what came up:

–noun

a person who oversees; supervisor; manager:

—Synonyms 

chief, head, boss, director.

That's when it clicked for me. It was like a lightbulb or an alarm clock or something went off in my head. It was like Ding! Ding! Ding! An overseer is the head and the man is the head of the woman so these positions are one and the same. When a man is looking for a woman he is looking for a helper but at the same time the woman is looking for an overseer or head. All of a sudden I was really excited because I kind of felt like as a woman I didn't have a lot to do with the whole selecting a mate process (besides fasting and praying and living right and stuff) because I wasn't a man so it wasn't my responsibility to be out looking for anybody. But Jesus broke it down and showed me that it's just like when you're searching for a job. The company is looking for somebody to fill a position because they need help but at the same time you should be looking for the right boss, supervisor, or head, cause nothing is worse than having a bad boss. When you take the time to think about it this man will be the spiritual/ physical head of your household so you would want to make sure that you choose wisely. 

So now we can take it back to the scripture and verse 1 can be read like this, "If anyone sets his heart on being a head or husband, then he desires a noble task." Next you see all of the qualifications for an overseer starting in verse 2. There are a total of 15 qualifications listed in the next several verses and since we're looking at this as somewhat of a job description you need to let men know IF YOU DO NOT MEET THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE JOB YOU NEED NOT APPLY!!! Don't be trying to let a dude make it because he fine or because he has a 6-7 figure salary. You and I both know it doesn't matter if your boss is fine if he sucks at being a boss (but if he is fine that is always a plus, LOL.) 

Now here are the qualifications:

1) above reproach- not deserving of blame or criticism

2) husband of but 1 wife- no "playas" allowed (if you know he is not a 1 woman man let him go)

3) temperate- moderate, self-restrained, not extreme

4) self-controlled

5) respectable

6) hospitable

7) able to teach

8) not given to drunkenness 

9) not violent but gentle

10) not quarrelsome

11) not a lover of money

12) manages his own family well

13) sees that his children obey & respect him (these should be his values)

14) not a new Christian

15) good reputation with outsiders

Now if he is living a Godly, holy, Christian life then these qualifications shouldn't be too hard to meet, but if he's not then you should be on to the next one. So many times I hear of women who have a list for the qualities of what they think their man should have but here is one that God has provided for us. So if you're looking for a list to pray about this is it. (Don't trip either, because I'm not saying that appearance and attraction aren't important... I'm strictly looking at this from an overseer standpoint.)

 In all, I'm grateful because God continues to show me and help me recognize that finding the man for me is much bigger than the superficial things I used to focus on in the past. My #1 fan and I always joke about dudes "putting in applications" to get with us but if we really think about it that's exactly what they're doing, LOL. Anyways, I thank God for His revelation and I would encourage you to seek Him, like earnestly seek Him to give you the answers for the questions in your life. Pray for wisdom, pray for understanding, pray for revelation because I am a witness that He will answer your prayers. God bless. =)

Small Beginnings

“Don’t despise small beginnings.”  This is a popular phrase but it’s source may not be so familiar. It’s origin lies in the Bible in the book of Zechariah. Zechariah, a prophet, lived during the time period when the Jews had returned to Jerusalem after being held captive in Babylon.  Zechariah was given the responsibility of providing spiritual encouragement to these seriously discouraged people. The Jews were free from captivity but before them was the daunting task of rebuilding God’s temple.

God gave Zechariah eight visions, each carrying a powerful message for His people. In chapter 4, Zechariah’s vision is specific to Zerubbabel, the man who was given the responsibility of managing the rebuilding of the temple. The original temple, built by King Solomon, was beautiful and grand, and after returning the Jews did not have the same resources available to them to rebuild the temple to such grand scale. Many of the older Jews were disappointed that the new temple would not match the splendor of the old one, however in verse 10 God says, “’Who despises the day of small things?’”  God specifically chose Zerubbabel because he knew that through him the rebuilding of the temple would be done properly. God’s concern was not the size of the temple; He just wanted it to be completed correctly.

This passage teaches the lesson that when a God given opportunity presents itself, TAKE IT. It may not meet one’s expectations initially and the task may seem minimal or small but in actuality nothing is small with God. God is an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God and He sees the end of a thing before one even sees the beginning. Step out on faith and trust that God is willing and able to increase the seemingly small beginnings in one’s life.

HE said, She said

OMG I just clicked on the site and realized it's been a week since my last post. I know my #1 fan is always disappointed when I take long breaks between posts so I'm making the random decision to just write. Usually I have somewhat of an idea of what I'm going to write or at least the point I want to make while writing but today I have none of the above. So today I'm being spontaneous and I'm spontaneous never so you let me know how it goes. =)

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If asked I would describe myself as the kind of person who seeks wise counsel often. Ooh, I like how that sounds. It makes it seem as if I constantly seek wisdom and not like I'm the indecisive, uptight- I mean cautious- person that I am. So the latest issue that I was seeking wise counsel on is yet again regarding a boy. I saw this dude recently who I had lost contact with several years agao and in my opinion I felt the conversation was uneventful. We spoke, gave each other super abridged updates on our life, and then went our separate ways. One of my friends inquired about the conversation and I told her what was said word for word. Immediately her countenance changed and she looked excited but almost upset with me. "Ohmigosh, he was soo trying to talk to you and you just shut him down." I couldn't figure out what the heck she was talking about. How did we have two completely different interpretations of the same conversation!?! I let her calm down and then listened to her explain her theory of what he was trying to say during our conversation and how he interpreted what I said. "You know boys are dumb. They can't just come out and say stuff and he tried to let you know he was interested and you completely shut him down." I felt my heart sink. OMG. What if she was right? What if I had missed my opportunity and the love that could have developed between us was lost forever??? Nah, she couldn't be right... and from there my new search for wise counsel commenced.

My first stop was my mom. I tend to trust her opinion because she sugar coats things for me never. Can you believe I got the same reaction my friend gave me and she was surprisingly more upset with me than my friend was. "You were probably so rude to him." I thought about it. Okay, maybe I was a little short with him but rude, no. "I know you. You probably had your face booted up and you were looking at him like, 'Why are you talking to me.'" I thought about that too. Okay, maybe in my mind I was thinking, "Why is he even talking to me," but that doesn't mean that that's how my face looked. I wasn't convinced. "Ma, how do you know?" "Because I know you and that's what I would have done!" Oh so here we were finally getting to the core of it. "So how you gon' be mad at me 'cause I act like you? It's your fault." She agreed so I won the "argument" but I still left the conversation feeling defeated. Was I really unknowingly rude to people? Were my thoughts really that transparent because they were written all over my face? Nah, she couldn't be right... and from there my search for wise counsel continued.

The next stop was my cousin. Once again I got the same reaction but at least she tried to be a little nicer about it, which actually made it even worse. The one person who doesn't even believe in calling dudes suggested that I call him. "Just call him one time though. After that it's all on him." What!?! Me calling him was out of the question and I let her know that. I even added on that I really didn't care, anyway. Now that was a lie but I was trying to make a point. It was then that she got really serious, "Yes you do. I can see it in your eyes. You want to go out and have fun and you want a boo to do it with." Well at that point I almost died or cried or both. I don't even know how I felt. Did I really look like a sad desperado w/ no boo? Uhh I couldn't take it. Everyone was saying exactly the same thing but it didn't make me feel any better about potentially contacting him. I talked to my old roommate from college and my Godmother she agreed with the rest so there was only one more stop to go. My oldest little brother who had the self-proclaimed title of being, "The Man."


This little clown is never to be taken seriously even when he is being serious but I was desperate so I listened. "Yeah, I once had a situation like that with a girl. I started talking to her again after a brief period of not talking to her and she got an attitude. You know how yall African American women do. She went off on me talking 'bout, 'Oh so now you want to talk to me!' I was like, 'That's a bet. I didn't want to talk to you anyway.' Why, cause I'm the man and I don't love these hos!" It was at that point I questioned whether it was wise to be be listening to this fool. "Nah but for real I didn't even know there was a problem with her. I know I had stopped talking to her but it took a lot of effort for me to even try to start talking to her again. Then she got an attitude... I know you had an attitude with that boy too. I know you and you're crazy. You should just text him. If it were me I would be like, ''Sup,' but since you're a girl you should say, "Wuz up." At that point I was 100% sure that it was not wise for me to be listening to him. At 22 years old he is technically a grown up I know that he is still far far from being a real grown man. Talking to him was pure comedy as usual but the fact that he mentioned that I acted like a stereotypical black girl did make me think...

After all of that I finally found someone who agreed with me, my older cousin. I consider her to be wise for real, after all she's been on this earth almost longer than my mom and I put together have been. She told me that my response to him was to be expected and that if he was truly interested in me he would make that known, therefore I should not contact him at all. I thought that someone finally agreeing with me would make me feel better but the uncertainty remained. I felt like the woman at the top of this page. I didn't want to hear anyone else's opinion. I just wanted peace.

It was at that point I made the decision to pray about it. To really pray about it too, not just the simple, "God what should I do" prayers that I had been praying before. When I prayed God answered. He reminded me of the role of a woman in a man's life and brought me all the way back to Adam and Eve. He revealed to me that when I finally get with the man I am supposed to be with he will not only want to be with me but he will need me. As women we are designed to be a helper for men, the Bible explains that very clearly in Genesis, so it is important for me to enter the man's life when he recognizes that he needs help, and not before. Then He reminded me of the fact that timing is everything. He brought me back to Moses and the children of Israel wandering around in the desert. The promise of entering the new land had already been made and they were already making their way there but some important things had to happen before they got there. They had to learn some things on their journey and certain people had to die before they reached their destination. God wanted to make sure that the right people with the right mindset were the ones to enter the promised land. The same rules apply for me today. I know there will be a man someday but in the meantime I have to learn some things and certain things have to die in my life before I am able to enter into the promised land/relationship. My wise council to whom I went for wise counsel pointed out some things about me that I'm not too happy about. I don't want to be seen as the stereotypical black girl who always has an attitude. I don't want to be seen as the unapproachable girl who is hard to talk to because she's so rude. I don't want to be seen as the sad girl who is desperate to find a man. In my mind that's not me therefore I don't want to be perceived as being that way and these are all things I can change (not the way others perceive me of course, but my behavior).

All of a sudden I felt so silly because I know I should of went to God first. I did with my "God what should I do prayer" but I should have went to him genuinely and earnestly, really seeking Him and what He had to say. That's what He's there for. He doesn't expect us to know which way to turn or what decisions to make so He makes himself available to reveal those things to us. It's our fault if we don't ask Him. I've had enough of that he said/ she said, my focus now is on what He said- period. I love, love, love my wise council but I will do my best to seek wise counsel from Him 1st from now on.

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and grieves to bear.
What a privilege we often carry
everything to God in prayer.

Oh what peace we often forfeit,
oh what needless pain we're to bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.

Here & Now

When I hear the phrase, "here and now" the first thing that comes to mind is the song, "Here and Now" by Luther Vandross. The song is a classic so I would hope that you would know it but just in case you don't here's the chorus:

Here and now
I promise to love faithfully [Faithfully]
You're all I need
Here and now
I vow to be one with thee [You and me], hey
Your love is all [I need] I need

It really it is a beautiful song. A man promising to be faithful and vowing to be one with the love of his life... I'm sure that numerous people have gotten married to this song and plenty babies have been conceived with this song playing in the background. HOWEVER, I can't help but wonder why he's stressing the here and now so much. Some might say that he's just focused on being in the moment but I would argue, what if he's stressing the here and now because there and then he wasn't faithful and he was not only one with the girl he was singing to he was one with Keisha and Tanya and Sarah and Jamie too. Is the girl just supposed to believe him and all of his here and now promising and vowing and just forget there and then???

Now isn't it convenient that as I'm typing this Musiq Soulchild's song, "Today" is playing in the background on my computer. Now look at the lyrics of this song, 

"Today"

[Verse 1:]
People always on a search tryna find that one (one)
But it's funny how they may not recognize it when it finally comes
(think it's) think it's at the mall
(or it's) or it's sippin' at the bar
All these dates and phone conversations we doing it all for what
When your Mrs. Right it's always Mrs. Wrong (Mrs. Wrong)
But I never stop to notice you where there all along (yeah)
Girl you're everything I could ever want and need
Now it's all clear to me and that's why

[Chorus:]
Today I've made up my mind
I'm gonna take this chance, bet my life on this
Cause this precious love I've found in you
My yesterday's are gone and tomorrow's never promised to no one
I finally decided girl that my today is you

[Verse 2:]
Now that I'm about to put myself (self) out on a limb for love that means (no more) no more at
the club (tryna) pick something up
No more late night creepin' holler'n trying to see what's good for the night
I wanna be the best man for you (so)
If I gotta change my ways then baby I'll do
(whatever) whatever I got to keep you here by my side and starting with today

[Chorus:]
Today I've made up my mind
I'm gonna take this chance, bet my life on this
Cause this precious love I've found in you
My yesterday's are gone and tomorrow's never promised to no one
I finally decided girl that my today is you

[Bridge:]
It took me a while (said it kinda took me a while)
To realize just how much (how much you really)
Really mean to me though what we have is so clear anyone can see
But I was just (tryna keep it on the low)
But I wasn't ready for love (I wasn't sure but now I know)
Now I believe that you and I were meant to be and that's why

[Chorus:]
Today I've made up my mind
I'm gonna take this chance, bet my life on this
Cause this precious love I've found in you
My yesterday's are gone and tomorrow's never promised to no one
I finally decided girl that my today is you 

See this is exactly what I'm talking about! Some girls would be like, "Awww that's so sweet," and hug and kiss a dude if he sang this to her, but a girl like me would be like, "What the hell-o kitty took you so long!?!" This may sound like the ranting of a bitter, crazy woman because it is, LOL. I have been called bitter more times than I care to admit this week by one friend. Then another friend told me just yesterday that I need to focus on the here and now, both of which regarding a situation with this one dude. (Yep, the same dude I'm trying to get selective amnesia for, LOL.) Now these two particular friends are really good close friends who are both really wise and have really strong relationships with the Lord so if they're both telling me the same thing I should probably listen...

I recognize today that I can't keep living in the past. Just because someone hurt me in the past doesn't mean that he'll do the same thing again. There is a difference between being cautious and having discernment and building up walls that are impossible to break through. The reality of the situation is that I still do care about this dude and I'm not saying that there will ever be a "Here and Now" or a "Today" moment between us but I know that there will never be one if I keep holding on to the past and I remain bitter. 

It reminds me of the message Paul sends us in Philippians 3:12-14 about pressing toward the goal:

Philippians 3:12-14:

Pressing toward the Goal

   ¹² I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. ¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,^[a] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

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Paul's goal was not only to get to know God but to be like Him and he was not willing to let anything get in the way of him reaching his goal. He realized that he had to change his focus in order to go where he needed to go. He chose to let go of his shortcomings and his past and focus on the promise of eternal life in God. 

The message I want to leave with you today is less about this boy but more about focusing on the here and now. What goals do you have for yourself? For your relationships? For your career? For you family? Let go of the past- past failures, past heartbreaks, past conflicts, any negativity in your past and focus on your goal. Don't let the past hinder your future. Although you may not be perfect and you may not have achieved your goals yet if you continue to press I believe with the help of God you will reach your goals. God bless. =)

  

Caution

This weekend I wanted to pray and ask God for selective amnesia. Fortunately I realized how crazy I sounded and I didn't bother wasting my breath on such a foolish prayer. I know I'm not the only one who has just wanted to erase the memory of someone from their mind though. Don't judge me, LOL.

We have big red signs that tell us to yield when merging into traffic, we have multi-colored lights that tell us when to stop, slow down, and go, we have big yellow signs that tell us to be careful when the floor is wet, and we have big red signs that tell us where to exit but it's not as if people walk around with signs on their heads warning us of their true character. Oh, how I wish they did though... That way I wouldn't be sitting here considering praying for selective amnesia...

You already know this is about a boy. Long story short I used to love, love, love him. I thought he was the most perfect imperfect human being in the entire world and just the sight of him made my heart beat a little bit faster. This was no childhood crush. I was grown, he was grown, and I felt that if we pursued a relationship together we could have been forever. But we didn't. Period. The end.

But that's just it... although you may stop speaking to a person and cognitively you comprehend that the relationship (friendship, "boo"ship, or otherwise) is over it doesn't always stop you from thinking about him and how perfect yall could have been together and how cute he still is... Not saying that I'm thinking these things about anybody. I'm just saying... What am I saying though?

I'm saying that because people don't walk around with signs on their heads we must depend on an omniscient God to give us discernment so that we make good decisions on who to enter into relationships with. Not just romantic relationships either. It's important who we're friends with, it's important who we make our acquaintances. Just last week I heard a tragic story about two cousins who were killed by one of their mom's ex-boyfriends. We can't afford to just walk around thinking that we're good judges of character. People are crazy these days and we can't allow the enemy to catch us off guard. We already know what he's about- stealing, killing, and destroying. Let's not get caught up. On the flip side, one of my friend's just got married to the love of his life and he couldn't be happier. He prayed to God for his wife and he got exactly what he prayed for. God can show you who's right for you just as well as He can show you who's wrong.

So consider yourself warned. Here is your big yellow sign: CAUTION. God gave us His Holy Spirit because He knew we would need it to deal with all of the things that this life may bring. Fortunately, whether you're foolishly tripping over love lost like me or you're dealing with something more serious God is there to lead you, guide you, and comfort you... Even when you find yourself praying for selective amnesia, LOL.

Psalm 23

   ¹The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

   ²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

   ³He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

   ⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

   ⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

   ⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

                  

Only Believe

I follow several blogs and I am a reality TV junkie. After a while I started to wonder, "What is it that has me hooked to this stuff?" The answer is simple. I'm nosey. =) Just kidding. The real answer is I appreciate the opportunity to peer into others people's lives and witness their stories. It amazes me that there are people who are bold enough to share their stories with the rest of the world whether the stories are written or televised. That is a level of vulnerability I admire but as of yet have been unable to achieve. When I created this blog I intended for it to be a personal account of the life and times of me... myself... and yes, you guessed it, Jesus (yet another thing I have been unable to achieve). Once again Imma try harder to do better. There's no false advertisement today. This entry is really about Me, Myself, and Jesus. Now I'll tell yall like Erykah Badu told her audience, "Now keep in mind that I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my shhh." =)
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So once upon a time there was this boy. It was 10 years ago... I was a freshman in high school and he was a senior. I was in Fish Camp for marching band and he was my field officer. He was tall, light-skinned, and handsome; the stern but gentle leader of the low brass section. I had known him for years prior but this was different, this was high school. I just knew that being in marching band together would allow us to spend long days and nights together, practicing our music, sweating in the hot sun, getting to know each other better...  When the band director assigned us to stand next to each other on the field I thought that I would die from nervous excitement. He was so much more experienced and as he stood next to me I could hear his perfect tone as he played the music that he had already effortlessly memorized perfectly as he marched with his perfect posture and perfect toes. I felt so inferior as I stood next to him trying to match his tone while struggling to hold my sheet music that I had not yet memorized in one hand while moving my trombone slide with the other. He criticized me daily for not playing loud enough and not pointing my toes high enough and I worked everyday to be better. 


Then came our first game. I was beyond terrified standing there holding my trombone, praying that I would remember my notes, praying that I would remember my steps, and praying that I wouldn't fall. Then, out of no where he whispered, "Don't worry, you'll be fine. I'm right beside you." I felt a calmness sweep over me. That was all it took... I was in love. I failed to realize then that handsome senior men tend to have gorgeous senior girlfriends, therefore my crush remained exactly that- a crush.


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Okay, okay I admit it. Parts of that story may have been fantasized or romanticized but hey it was 10 years ago. I can barely remember 10 days ago, much less ten years... Anyway, imagine my surprise when sexy, single, Mr. Band Man walked into bible study this week. Suddenly I wished that it was not the day BEFORE my hair appointment and that I had not worn my nerdy glasses and carelessly thrown my hair into a ponytail. He waltzed in looking just as good as he used to in high school. He recognized me and came straight to me and shook my hand. We both said hello and commented on how it had been forever since we had seen each other and he went and sat directly across from me at the table. Everyone said their hellos at the table and eventually bible study began. We were a small little group of 5 but the discussion was powerful. I appreciated how everyone shared what part of the scripture stood out to them and discussed how it was relevant to their lives today. In that small group there were people of different ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, and religions but we were all there for the same reason- to study the Word of God. It reminded me of 1 Corinthians 12 where the Bible talks about the fact there are many parts but we all make up one body in Christ. This experience showed me that it doesn't matter what race you are or what religion you are, all of us are a part of the body of Christ and all of us have gifts, stories, and experiences that are relevant and that can be shared with others to upbuild the body of Christ. 
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Now who's to say what, if anything, will happen between me and Mr. Band Man... I'm not even concerned. I appreciate the important lesson I learned though. No matter who you are or where you're from you will have something in common with millions of Christinas around the world if you do this one thing- only believe.

Call It What It Is

Last night I stayed up late watching the movie, "Let's Give Them Something to Talk About," with Julia Roberts and Dennis Quaid. The movie is forever old but last night was the first time I have had the opportunity to see the entire movie from beginning to end. I think it's a cute little movie but I'm biased because I'm a Julia Roberts fan. I don't want to ruin it for you just in case you haven't seen it and you plan to in the future so I want tell you what happens at the end but I do want to talk about the beginning.

The protagonist, Julia Roberts, finds out that her husband, played by Dennis Quaid, is cheating on her. She sees him on the street kissing another woman and immediately her life is turned upside down. After confronting him later that night she takes her young daughter and moves in temporarily with her sister. She is dealing with so many emotions and she is questioning whether or not her marriage is over. I felt so bad for Julia's character but it helped normalize the situation of my life for me. Almost a year ago when my life changed drastically, suddenly, I felt like I was the only one going through it. In my mind it seemed like everyone else was living life as usual while I was the only one going through changes, but that's not the case. Car accidents, a partner filing for divorce, unexpected pregnancies, unexpected illnesses, unexpected deaths, unexpected marriage proposals... There are so many things that happen to people everyday that change people's lives around for better or for worse. I suddenly felt so silly for feeling like I was the only one going through... I'm not the first one to have to deal with life changing circumstances and I won't be the last. Although what I'm going through and what Julia's character went through has no comparison to what he went through, these situations remind me of 'ol Job.

As always I would encourage you to take the time and read the scriptures for yourself but I'm gonna give you a little synopsis of what happened in the book of Job.

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So what happened was... Job was chillin' at his house in Uz. The Bible explains that he was a good dude. He was described as being blameless, upright, God-fearing, and as shunning evil. He lived with his wife and 10 kids and he was very wealthy so he had thousands of animals and a lot of servants. Then the story moves to heaven where the angels are about to present themselves before God and Satan is rolling with them. The Lord is like, "Satan, where you coming from bruh," and Satan is like, "Man, You know how I do. I've been roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Then the Lord is like, "Say, did you ever consider my servant Job? He's a really good dude, real talk." Satan responds, "Man You been protecting and blessing that dude that why he gets down with You. Watch, if he loses his stuff he'll curse you to your face." The Lord responds, "That's a bet. You got this but don't hurt him." So then Satan dipped. Next thing you know Job loses everything. His children, his servants, and all of his animals are either killed or stolen and his house is destroyed. Job immediately goes into grieving but He praises the Lord in spite of everything that he has lost by saying, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." (NIV- New International Version.) Satan's plan didn't work because Job did not sin by blaming God.

Chapter 2 starts off with the angels going to see the Lord and again Satan is going with them. Once again the Lord asks Satan where he had been and once again Satan replies that he has been roaming the earth. Then, Job's name comes up again. The Lord again asks Satan if he has considered Job and says, "even though you tried to ruin his life he still kept his integrity." Then Satan gets crunk and starts yelling, "Man that's only because he's still healthy. A man will give up all he has for his own life. I bet if you attack his body he's curse you to your face." (See this is where yall need to be happy God is not one of us... The minute the devil got mad and starting yelling would have been the last time yall heard from the devil. It would've been like, "Boy who you yelling at!?! Don't you know I'm God?!? You better recognize who you're talking to..." Neck rolling, finger waving... all of that. Thank God, He's God. LOL.) The Lord's response was, "Aight then. He's in your hands but don't kill him." So then Satan left the Lord and the Bible says he afflicted Job with painful sores all over his body. His wife comes to him and is like, "Why are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!" Job responds, "Woman, you talking like a fool. Are we just supposed to accept good from God and not trouble?" Job still did not sin by what he said.

Next thing you know, here come his three so-called friends. They heard about all he was going through and went to go see him supposedly going to sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a far they could barely recognize him and they cried and mourned with him for 7 days. They didn't speak that entire time because they saw how bad he was suffering.

The next 28 chapters are spent with Job "agonizing over his situation" according to my Bible. His friends try to explain to him that he must be suffering because of some horrible sin he committed so they try to get him to repent. Job argues that he has done nothing and does not deserve what is happening to him so then they begin to accuse him of even worse things. The commentary in my Bible says that there were partial truths in what they were saying, however, they were wrong to assume that he was suffering because of sin. Now I could keep going and talk about hot messes who call themselves friends but I'll stop here and make my point.

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In this story each everyone had their own opinion of what was going on and their own answer on how to fix. None of them were there when God had the conversation with Satan and neither were we but this is what we do know... The devil has one job. 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV) tells us, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Satan is the thief Jesus is referring to in John 10:10 when he says, (NIV) "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) reveals God's plan for us. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" So there it is. Satan's plan is steal, kill, and destroy and God's plan is to prosper you, not harm you, give you hope and a future. Now when situations arise in your life occur and someone or something threatens to steal, kill, and destroy in your life CALL IT WHAT IT IS- an attack from Satan. You read it for yourself. That's what he does all day, everyday- searches through the earth looking for people to mess with. Now when you recognize who it is attacking you you can respond accordingly. YOU HAVE POWER OVER THE DEVIL AND HIS ATTACKS- USE IT! Jeremiah 15:11 (NIV) says, "The Lord said, 'Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress.'" And if He did it for them He will surely do it for you. When you pray remind God of His Word and patiently wait for Him, believing that He will do what He said.

Last weekend I was in Macy's and my friend's mom saw me. She tried to get my attention by whistling and waving at me but failed to do so until she called me by my name (well actually she called me, "(insert my momma's name here)'s daughter" Yall don't need to know my mom's name if you don't already know it. =) ) I said that to say that a lot of times negative situations arise in our lives and we try to address it all kinds of different ways but if we just called it what it is and sought the Lord about it we would be more effective. We have to vigilant and recognize when Satan is attacking our lives so that we can defeat him every time. We want to prosper, be safe, and to have hope and a future just as God plans for us to and when we find ourselves protected and prospering call that what it is to. Recognize when God has his hand on your life and praise Him in the good times and the bad times just like your boy Job. Satan had a plan for Job but God's plan won. Job's health was restored, he had more children, and he became wealthy again. He was even more blessed before the devil attacked him and if God did that for him, how much more can He do for us in our lives today...

So remember call it what it is and bounce back when you find your life turned upside down. I probably said this before but I'll say it again, it may be a surprise to you but it's never a surprise to Him. Romans 8:28 (KJV- King James Version) (shout out to my follower who loves Romans, you still the "one girl" =)) reminds us that, "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." So no matter what happens, it's all good. Love yall. God bless! =)

Appreciate the Hustle

In this day and age it seems that everybody has a hustle. From the little old lady down the street in the 'hood who sells "Cold Cups" out of her house to the actors, actresses, and singers who are choosing to be on reality shows while they try to wrangle up a new television or movie role to star in or a new CD to put out. I ain't mad at them. Everyone knows that the economy is not great and that families as well as individuals have had to come up with creative ways to maintain the standard of living they had before the recession. 50 Cent, being the philanthropist that he is, has even offered women the opportunity to, "have a baby by him, baby, and be a millionaire." LOL. =)


Now some Christians frown upon the D-boy who makes his money by selling drugs on the corner (we frown upon the activity, not the person, let's not forget that we are good Christians who love everybody, =) ). Some Christians might also frown on famous athletes (who also happen to be known adulterers) who make millions of dollars in endorsements as well as millions for putting a ball in a hole. Some Christians might also frown on the trollops who are probably lining up to take 50 Cent up on his offer but let's face it, no matter what you might say about them or how you boot your face up at them when you see them on television, people in the world find a way to make that money, honey. And guess what, Jesus appreciates the hustle.


Now I know I lost about half of you right there but give me a chance to explain. I'm not saying that He appreciates the negative ways people go about getting money I'm saying He appreciates "the hustle." There's a big difference... Like Madea said, "Just stay with me and I'm going to bless you." LOL.


Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 16:1. Now I usually interpret the scriptures in my own bourghetto way but this time I'm just going to copy and paste it from Bible.com. After all, this is Jesus talking. =)


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Luke 16 (New Living Translation)

Parable of the Shrewd Manager

  
   Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. ² So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’
   ³ “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. ⁴ Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’
   ⁵ “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ ⁶ The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.^[a]’
   ⁷ “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.^[b]’
   ⁸ “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. ⁹ Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.^[c]
   10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. ¹¹ And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? ¹²And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
   ¹³ “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
   ¹⁴ The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. ¹⁵Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.
   ¹⁶ “Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in.^[d] 17 But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God’s law to be overturned.

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Now before I get to how I know Jesus appreciates the hustle let me break down this parable because it's really good. The header of the passage calls the manager a shrewd manager. I crossed out shrewd in a my Bible and wrote "crooked." Ol' dude was using the rich man's money for personal expenses. I know they're synonyms but shrewd sounds too nice; he was crooked. Anyway, all it took was for me to read verse one for me to be mad at the manager. In my mind I was like, "How does he have the nerve to waste what's not even his!?!" And then after verse two I was like, "Ha ha, that's what he gets." Then the manager took two verses to think about it but by verse five he was getting his hustle on. 

Now verse eight is where they lost me. The version above said the rich man admired the manager for being so shrewd and my Bible says, "the master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted so shrewdly." I had to read that two times because I was like, "What?" Then I kept reading and it started to make more sense. The rich man was like, "Dude I can't even be mad at you because you know how to take care of yourself. You are a hustler for real." Here Jesus was acknowledging that people in the world sometimes do a better job of taking care of themselves and making stuff happen that us Christians. 

This scripture teaches us that when we have financial opportunities we need to make the best of them so that we have money to help the poor and others who are in need and also so that we will have the resources we need to help bring others to Christ. Also, how we use our money shows our integrity. Jesus says that if He can't trust you with worldly wealth how can He trust you with true riches. Then many times we're asking God for more money but we're not paying tithes on the little money we have. Jesus is saying that if He can't trust you to pay tithes and do right with the little money you have now then you can't be trusted to pay tithes when you have more money. 

Now I'm not saying that money is everything and that we should completely focus on money but I am saying that we could learn a lesson or two from the world so that we can "hustle for Jesus." The reality of the situation is that in most cases it takes money for ministry to be effective. If everybody in the church is sitting in there broke then they're not in a position to be able to help the poor and others outside the church and that is what we are called to do. The church is bigger than those four walls that we go to on Wednesdays and Sundays and if we're going to be effective outside of walls it's going to take money. So get your hustle on! I have this written down in my Bible and I'm pretty sure I didn't come up with it myself but I might have... Anyway, it says, "use adversity to stimulate your creativity." Yes the economy is bad. Yes there are beaucoup people who are unemployed and you might be one of them. Use this time to come up with a new hustle. What creative ideas has the Lord given you that you are just sitting on? Imagine if the Lord were the rich man and you were the manager. Are you wasting His possessions- the gifts, abilities, talents, and money that He has given you? Do you need to be fired??? I'm just asking. =)

Now I'm not a prosperity preacher, nor do I think that preachers should solely teach their congregations how to get money and ignore teaching about salvation and sin. However, if we as Christians are going to be in a position to help others and to be able to reach others who don't know Christ it's going to take more than putting a dollar in the collection plate on Sundays. It's going to require money. Just imagine how powerful the church would be if we were really about our Father's business and were united. As many Christians as there are in the United States when that earthquake struck Haiti if we were all on one accord we could have written a check for millions of dollars and signed it "Christians of America." The world knows how to hustle. We need to step our game up and do better, me included.

Let me leave you with this. I don't have money now but when I do get to be rich don't be hating. If I happen to ride up to church in my Bentley, don't be mad because if I have enough money to go out and buy a Bentley then my tithes checks have got to be banging- trust. =) We can't be haters when we see our brothers and sisters in Christ coming up. We have to rejoice with them and make sure that we're putting ourselves in a position so that we're next. People with large salaries are a blessing to churches because with large salaries come large tithes (and for those of yall who get money and don't pay your tithes it will be Hell to pay... Jk, jk. I'm not judging cause I don't want Him to judge me, but you know you're wrong and He will judge you. Once again, I'm just saying.) =)

Anyways, love you guys and this week I'm focusing on putting the word out about this blog so "tell yo' friends about me," LOL. God bless and remember, "appreciate the hustle." =)