Our God Is An Awesome God!

Bragging: To assert or talk boastfully

Today I would like to brag on the Lord - you guys know how we often brag on our children, our possessions, our spouses and even our jobs. Today let's spend some time bragging on the One who does every thing; the One who gives us not only what we need, but also the very desires of our hearts! Let's put the spotlight on our Awesome, our Great, our Merciful, and our Almighty God - the One that was, the One that is, and the One that will always be!

Now check this out - Our God is so great; He created the light and He is the light. He is the author and He is the finisher (i.e. man started nothing and man can’t actually finish anything either). He is the cause and He is the effect. He is the cash and He is the cash register! He is the alpha and the omega (He always has been and He always will be). Our heavenly Father is the perfect father. He is our great provider and He is our great protector. To make a long story short - He is EVERYTHING we need!

Our God raises the dead; He opens the eyes of the blind; and He made the lame walk. He heals the sick. He is great and He is powerful. Our God is so powerful that when He grew weary of all of Job's complaining, He put him in his place by asking: "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding" (Job 38:4). In other words, where were you, little man, when I was creating the foundation of the earth?! He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords; He is the Master and Owner of everything. He’s wonderful and totally bad (in a good way, of course)!

Our God is so bad that He told Moses, "Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Exodus 3:10-14). Our Lord didn’t say I was; He didn’t say I will be, He said I AM - present tense. In other words, when He said I AM, that means He is whatever and wherever He wants to be - back then with Moses and right now here with us!

Our God is mighty - He can open doors that were once sealed shut. Those things that are impossible for us are just everyday occurrences for Him. His awesomeness is worthy to be bragged on, so my friends, let's start bragging on His excellent goodness! Brag on His awesome miracle working power.  He is excellent; His name is excellent in all the earth and He can do everything - but fail!

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

Put Your Trust In God!

Trust: confidence or faith in a person or thing.

Some people trust in their riches, some trust in themselves, and others trust in man. It’s like when EVERYTHING and EVERYONE else fails, then we look to the Lord to bail us out or to fix the situation, when He is where we should always go first. He’s the one who can turn around any situation, He’s the one who has all the riches, and He's the only one who can do everything -- but fail! Not to mention, He has all the power and authority. To put our confidence and faith in Him is truly a must!

Let us not place our trust in riches -- Proverbs 11:28 tells us, "He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch." In Mark 10:24 we see that "... the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!" The Word doesn't say that it’s wrong to have riches - God just doesn't want us to trust in them. Instead, let’s put our trust in Him.

God doesn't want us to place our trust in ourselves -- according to Proverb 28:26, "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered." And in Jeremiah 17:9, we learn that "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Finally, we're instructed to "Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us, a fortress and a high tower" (Psalms 62:8 (amplified)

We certainly don’t want to put all of our trust in man -- as it is told in Proverb 25:19, "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint." We also find that "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man" (Psalms 118:8). Man can not direct his own steps, how can we expect that he can direct ours? "Thus saith the Lord; cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord (Jeremiah 17:5).

Friends, God knows what's best for us, so let’s put our trust in Him -- He will never let us down! After all, He wrote the master plan before the foundation of the world. We don’t know what today or tomorrow will bring, but He does, so let’s trust God and leave the choices up to Him!

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

Never Give Up On Your Dreams!

Never: not ever, not in any degree, way, or condition

I was so impressed with Tiger Woods recently. He didn't give up on his dream and he won another Masters Golf Tournament. Despite the major bumps he faced along the way - knee surgeries, back surgeries, married problems, incidents with the law, people constantly putting him down - he persevered. It took eleven years, but Tiger didn't give up due to his struggles or setbacks... and he could have easily done so. He went from being a big time winner in the past to playing in tournaments where he was almost the lowest scoring person and there were some tournaments where he didn't even make the cut, but he never gave up on his dream.

One might have thought perhaps Tiger would have given up, but he didn't. He continued to pursue his career and his goals. Thank God that he didn't listen to people, because people will always have something bad to say, as well as negative advice. The same thing goes for us. It's important that we hold on to the dreams that God has put into our hearts. He's the one who put them there, and He's the one who's going to bring you through. Sometimes it's up to us to show Him how bad we want something.

We must remember that if there's no struggles in life, there will be no progress. So my friends, we can't give up in the face of our struggles, we must persevere. Take Thomas Edison - did you know that he failed time and time again? Now consider what would have happened if he had given up? Let me give you the short version - there wouldn't be any light bulbs! Although Edison failed many times, he stayed in the race. There will always be roadblocks along the path to success, we simply take the detour and keep pressing forward.

Friends, life is not always going to be peaches and cream, so when you are given lemons - make lemonade, lemon meringue pie, and lemon bars! Never give up on your dreams and never give up on God, because He will never give up on you. Always remember that He loves us so much that He died for us.

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!

A Mother Will Always Pray!

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. Of course, you can never go wrong with green backs! 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.

He is the Author and the Finisher!

Author: one that originates or creates, one that writes or compose a literary work
Finisher: to bring to completion, to come to the end of a course

Have you ever thought about Authors? In many ways, an Author is also a Captain and a Chief leader. They spend their time creating the story line, working out the plot, developing the twists, and then writing the perfect ending. There's a lot of planning that goes into writing a good story. If the planning or the story itself gets off track, in most cases, the author can "right the ship" or to steer it back on path - just like any other captain or leader would do.

Have you ever thought about God as an Author? He's our creator, right? Before the foundation of the world, He spent time writing our story, thinking about the twists and turns our lives would take. And like a captain, He's had to steer us back on the right path more than a time or two. Psalms 23:2-3 tells us that "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Likewise, He's the one who's going to bring His master plan to completion: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever" (Psalms 23:6).

That doesn't mean our story will be all sunshine and rainbows. There will be dark times. He will allow us to get off track here and there. Not because it's the right thing for us to do. Sometimes He allows us to follow our own plans because He's giving us the opportunity to chose. To chose Him, and his master plan/story for our lives. Even after we have hit a few bumps in the road, and had a few heartache and pains, He will allow us to get right back on track with His story line for us and will allow us to complete His plan for us.

Consider Jonah. Jonah felt like he could be the Captain of his own story. You probably know his story well, but just in case you don't, here's the highlights: Jonah went to Tarshish when the Author told him to go to Nineveh. The Lord allowed Jonah to deviate from the plot that had been developed for him. But like any great author, the Lord developed a twist in the story line - He allowed a great fish to swallow Jonah up!

The Bible says, "out of the belly of hell Jonah cried out and the Lord heard his voice, and spake unto the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land" (Jonah 2:1-10). We must not forget, the Author wrote the plan, so if we get off track it's going to cost us something and we will still have to finish that chapter of the story that God has written for our lives; just as Jonah still had to go and preach to the people in Nineveh.

When in doubt; when you don't know what to do in a situation; just read the book - i.e. the Bible - that God left for us  as a road map or a guide for how our story should go. If it's still not clear - just ask the Captain, "Lord, what would you have me to do in this situation?"

Remember, He's the Author and the Finisher, whatever He starts, He will surely finish it. Most importantly, He's the best author out there, so He doesn't need our help! He wrote the plan, all we need to do is listen and obey! Jesus loves you, my friends.

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!