It's Not the Destination that Defines Us - It's the Journey!

Destination: The point or place to which something or someone is directed

Journey: A trip from one place to another over a long distance

We are on a journey filled with different lessons, hardship, heartaches, joys, celebrations, and a lot of special moments that will ultimately lead us to our destination. The destination I’m speaking of is to live eternally with Jesus Christ.

It's important that we make the most of this God-given energy we have been given, because we will undoubtedly be faced with challenges throughout this journey that will test our courage, strengths, weaknesses, and faith. Along the way, we will certainly stumble on obstacles, but in order to follow the right path, we must learn to overcome them. Sometimes these obstacles are really blessing in disguise, we just don’t realize it at the time.

On the headstone of people that have passed on you will see when they were born and when they died, but those dates are not the most important thing - they don't define the person buried beneath them. Instead, it's what that person did between those dates that defines their character and their integrity. And ultimately that's what will take them to their final destination.

My friends, we must become busy doing the Lord’s business on our journey. As we are told in Hebrews 10:22-23, "Let us draw near with a true [sincere and honest] heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised)."

Our journey will not always be smooth, so when we find ourselves filled with heartaches, and disappointment let's just refer back to our manual - The Holy Bible - every instruction and every direction is right there.

Remember, everything that happens on our journey happens for a reason. Sometimes that means we must face heartaches in order to experience joy. Just keep in mind that at the end of the day, the person that trusts God enough to get up and face the next obstacle is the one that wins. These worldly situations are only temporary setbacks; we must stay focused for our eternal destination depends on it!

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

Let's Pray When the Sun is Shining!

Pray: address a solemn request or expression of thanks to the creator and supreme being

When the sun is shining, the beautiful white clouds are in the sky, and there are no storms in sight, that's when we should be praying, worshiping, and magnifying the almighty God for His goodness! If we wait until the storms come (and they will!), we might be so busy trying to fix the problem that we don't take adequate time to pray.

Have you ever been in so much pain that you just didn't feel like praying? Did you know that if our prayers and worship are already before the Lord, He will honor them. The bible tells us, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister" (Hebrews 6:10). He not only remembers what we have done toward Him, but what we have done toward others as well.

Look at Hezekiah - when the Lord told him to get his house in order because he was going to die and not live, Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and cried out to God and said remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. You see, he didn't wait until he was in the storm, he took care of  his business when the sun was shining, and beautiful white clouds were in the sky. This is actually some thing my grandmother told me, she said stay prayed up, so when you can't pray, your prayers will be already up there.

Speaking of grandmothers, as we all know, this Sunday will be Mothers Day, so let's be sure to give honor where honor is due by showing that special lady in your life some appreciation. It could be as simple as a phone call that goes like that famous song, "I just called to say I love you!" Or 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 some 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. Don't forget - without her, there would be no you!

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

Trust God in Every Situation!

Trust – to have confidence or faith in, to depend on

The message below was e-mailed to me recently and I was really blessed by it, so I wanted to share it with you all. I have to admit that I’m very guilty of wondering why did "this" or "that" situation happen; why things didn't work out the way I planned - after all, I did get up and pray! I've even asked the Lord to order my steps. But when things aren't going the way we want, we so often forget we have a heavenly Father who ALWAYS knows what’s best for us. This e-mail really helped put things into perspective. We must learn to "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; lean not unto thine own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5) I hope this blesses you as it did me.

Me (in a tizzy): God, can I ask you something?
GOD: Sure
Me: Promise you won't get mad?
GOD: I promise.
Me (frustrated): Why did you let so much stuff happen to me today?
GOD: What do you mean?
Me: Well I woke up late
GOD: Yes
Me: My car took forever to start
GOD: Okay....
Me (growling): At lunch, they made my sandwich wrong and I had to wait
GOD: Hmmmm..
Me: On the way home, my phone went dead, just as I picked up a call.
GOD: All right
Me (loudly): And to top it all off, when I got home, I just wanted to soak my feet in my foot massager and relax, but it wouldn't work. Nothing went right today! Why did you do that?
GOD: Well let me see..... the death angel was at your bed this morning and I had to send one of the other angels to battle him for your life. I let you sleep through that.
Me (humbled): Oh...
GOD: I didn't let your car start because there was a drunk driver on your route that might have hit you if you were on the road
Me (ashamed): ...
GOD: The first person who made your sandwich today was sick and I didn't want you to catch what they have, I knew you couldn't afford to miss work
Me (embarrassed): Oh.....
GOD: Your phone went dead because the person that was calling was going to give a false witness about what you said on that call, I didn't even let you talk to them so you would be covered
Me (softly): I see, God .
GOD: Oh and that foot massager, it had a short that was going to throw out all of the power in your house tonight. I didn't think you wanted to be in the dark.
Me: I'm sorry, God.
GOD: Don't be sorry, just learn to trust me.........in all things, the good and the bad
Me: I WILL trust you God
GOD: And don't doubt that my plan for your day is always better than your plan
Me: I won't God. And let me just tell you God, thank you for everything today.
GOD: You're welcome child. It was just another day being your God and I love looking after my children.

~ Author Unknown

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

Know Where You Are Going!

When her car broke down, a woman called out a local mechanic to repair it.
The mechanic lifted up the hood, looked in the engine, whacked something with a hammer and said: “try it now.” To her amazement, the car started straight away.
“That’s incredible,” she said. "You’ve been here less than a minute and you’ve already managed to fix it. I’m so grateful."
The man replied, "It's all part of the job, madam. That’ll be $250.00."
The smile vanished from the woman’s face as she asked, “How much?! How can you charge $250.00, when all you did was hit it with a hammer?"
The mechanic told her, "I can write you out an itemized bill if you like."
"Yes, please," she said firmly.
So he wrote out the bill and handed it to her; it read:
Hitting engine with hammer: $10.00.
Knowing where to hit it - $240.00.

In terms of travel, knowing where you’re going is key, wouldn't you agree? What do you do when you don't know how to get where you're going? No problem -- you simply pull out your GPS and type in the destination. Similarly, in your spiritual journey, you have a tool that will guide you along your path.

Whether your destination is Heaven or The New City, your spiritual GPS will get you there with no detours (that is if you don't leave the planned route!). It doesn’t wait until you get right up on the turn to let you know that it’s time to turn, instead, it lets you know in advance. And just in case you do accidentally leave the planned route, your spiritual GPS will give you an opportunity to “recalculate," and be redirected back on the right track!

Now, while we're getting back on the right road, we may encounter a bumpy road or two (sure to give us a serious headache). We might even have to take a side street or a different highway. That just means that it might take us a little longer to get back on the right road... ohhh, if only we had listened to the original directions from our spiritual GPS!

As you have surely figured out by now, the Word of God is our spiritual GPS. It's always updated to give us the most accurate directions around any hazardous signs or roads. Our spiritual GPS warns us about unexpected accidents and heavy traffic (trials and tribulations) so we don't have to worry about them. In fact, the Lord told us to be of good cheer for he has overcome the world.

Our spiritual GPS also alerts us to detours, where the Lord will recalculate and give us opportunity to turn back to him. He is so great in His love and mercy that He shows us where we are going AND tell us how to get there. So while our natural GPS might be good, our spiritual one is AMAZING!

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