Don’t Let Your Mouth Write Checks Your Flesh Can't Cash!

Words can sometimes be like an egg dropped from a great height - you can no more call them back than you can ignore the mess they leave when they hit the ground. As Ecclesiastes 5:6 tells us, "Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that is was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?"

There is so much power in the tongue - we can speak life or death to our situations. For that reason, it's imperative that we learn to speak life! Let me share with you the 12th chapter of Numbers, which details about what happened when Miriam and Aaron spoke against their leader (aka Moses): 

"And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman." The chapter goes on to tell us about how the Lord spoke suddenly unto Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and came down in a pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam, who came forth (verses 4 and 5). The Lord was angry with the words they spoke against Moses and as a result, Miriam became leprous, and she was shut out from the camp! Miriam and Aaron allowed their mouth to write a check their flesh couldn't cash!

If we feel as though things are not going the way they should - maybe at work or even at home - we need to be mindful of the words that we speak regarding them. Let's learn to hold our tongues against them and instead lift the situation up to the Lord. It’s His job to deal with those situations or those people; it's our job to pray honestly for them.

I know you have probably heard on the news the story about the seven year old child that was recently kidnapped and held for three hours. As you might remember, the entire time he was being held captive, he sang the song “Every Praise” by Hezekiah Walker. You might wonder what was that young man doing? Let me tell you - he was speaking words of life to his situation. The song says, "God my Savior, God my Healer, God my Deliverer, yes He is." God was truly that child's savior, his healer, and his deliverer that day. At the end of three hours the kidnapper let him go. We can really learn a lesson from that seven year old; his words spoke life into what I imagine was a scary situation and God gave him life!

That's why it's so important to guard what we say, because with those words, you can either open the door for God to move on your behalf or you can open the door for the enemy to sneak in and devour. Speak only positive words over your situations, yourself and your family so your mouth won't write checks your flesh can't cash!

With all that said, let the Church say amen… and AMEN!

Sometimes You Have To Lose In Order To Win!

Lose: fail, sacrifice

Win: gain, succeed, achieve

No one likes to lose; we all like being on the winning team. We don’t like to humble ourselves to take the low road or place because we are always concerned about what other people might say about us or about how things might look, but it's a fact that in this life, my friends, sometimes we have to lose in order to win.

Several years ago, I was working with a friend and we both lost our jobs. As you can imagine, it was devastating. However, while that situation might have been bad, but it only lasted a short time. I went on to work in another position where I had much fewer worries and much more money because my salary doubled! My friend found another job that paid more money, and a short time later he became a supervisor. He still has that job today and is still very happy in it. That's what I mean when I say sometimes we have to lose [what we thought was good] in order for the Lord to bless us with something better. That's how we get to the next level!

There may be people in our lives that we will have to lose (or just simply take a step back from) in order to move forward. Just because someone calls us a friend, doesn’t really mean that we are and it doesn't mean that we have to be. When you begin seeing that so-called friend engaging in lots of gossip, unkind acts, being haters of others who are doing well, and they stop showing love to others - you have to know when to take a step back! We all know that engaging in those types of things are not pleasing to the Lord, so in order to succeed or to achieve what the Lord has for us, we might have to lose those friendships.

Just the other day, my Son was telling me about this lady with a brain tumor, who will likely lose her hearing in one ear, because the doctors have to go through the ear to reach and operate on the tumor. Undoubtably, The hearing loss will be devastating, but in the end, it could save her life. Sometimes you have to lose in order to win.

There are so many things I could say about this topics and so many examples I could provide, but let me just leave you with this: faith is the key element in times of lose. We can’t be afraid to trust God and to agree with Him... i.e. we can't be afraid to have faith in Him and His will for our lives. Like any Father, He’s always going to make sure that we gain, succeed, and achieve!

With all that said, let the church say amen… and AMEN!

Our Heart Will Deceive Us!

Deceive: To mislead by falsehood, to lead unto error.

If I’ve heard it once, I've heard a thousand times, "God knows my heart!" And you're right, my friends, He definitely does - but let me share with you what  Jeremiah 17:9 says about our hearts; "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Well let me tell you, only God knows - He knows our every thought and every hidden motive. I’m sure that you've heard people say, "I’m following my heart." If I could give you one word of advice it would be -  don’t follow your heart; follow Jesus - He’s the only sure thing.

Our heart is so deceitful that sometimes we think that we can actually deceive God Himself, but let me tell you - that's impossible, especially when you consider what the Word says in Hebrews 4:13, "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."

We certainly know how to deceive others - we know how to make things seem perfect on the outside, when corruption is working on/through us deep inside. For instance, our heart might have us thinking that we are doing something good when we unload other people’s dirty laundry on a friend. This is not being a friend, it's only the imagination of deceit. We can put smiles on our faces and mislead man, for they only focus on what they see, but not the Lord: "...for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

The Lord knows what’s in our heart and in Mark 7:21-23 He identifies thirteen things that are evil and defile the man: "...evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness."

So with all those things in us, it’s easy for our heart to deceive us. God wants to give us a new heart and create a right spirit within us, but first there is some thing we have to do. We must invite Him into our heart as our personal savior and acknowledge the fact that those 13 evil things are there. We must then repent for them and He will give us a new heart. After that, we have to get busy in prayer so that the word of God can starve your old heart and feed your new heart until it comes into the likeness and image of Jesus Christ.

Jesus loves us and He is more than willing and able to help us get rid of those things that are not like Him. Thank God for Jesus!

With all that said, let the Church say amen… and AMEN!    

Thank God for Moms!

I heard my Grandmother say many times; "Give me my flowers while I yet live, so that I may see the beauty of them." You know, once our moms are no longer with us, flowers (and anything else we might do for them) are really of no avail to them. So it's important that we be mindful to show the Moms in our lives how much we love and appreciate them everyday - not just this Sunday on Mother's Day!

Today, your showing of appreciation could be a simple phone call that goes like that famous song, "I just called to say I love you!" It could be some kind words like, "Mother, I appreciate you and all the sacrifices you made for me," that are said exactly when she needs them. Or maybe it's a nice surprise she receives in the mail like her favorite perfume or a bouquet of flowers that brings a smile to her face. Whatever you decide to do, never miss out on the chance to tell your Mom just how special she is - because she truly is. Without her, there would be no you!

With that, I would like to share this poem, written by our resident poet, Ms. Shonta Alexander. Be blessed, my friends and Happy Mother's Day to you all!

MOTHER PRAYED

When I think of my mom on this Mother’s day

I think of all the things that I would lovingly say

Like thanks for your concerns and all your prayers

Not just for me but for all your heirs

You went without food so that we all could eat

You made sure we came first and you took the backseat

You dealt with so much pain just to get us up and grown

Then by the grace of God you moved out on your own

Everything you did, you did it for us

You never complained; you never caused a fuss

How grateful I am when I look back today

On how you sacrificed and how you made a way

For us to grow strong, Independent and smart

To not just be good but to have a good heart

Late one night thru the crack of your door

I saw you bowed onto the floor

Down on your knees in a special way

Thanking the Lord for another day

Another day your children survived

By the grace of God, is still alive

And from then on, I would always say

My mother prayed for me both night and day.