Encouraged by God's Word

Archive for April, 2009

Hello Family,

Today is a wonderful day. A day of celebration. Today, Friday, April 24, 2009 is my parent’s 44th wedding anniversary. Woo Hoo! Hip Hip Hooray! You Go Boy, You Go Girl!

Yes April 24th is their day to celebrate the many wonderful years that they have been married. And from this marriage were birthed two OUTSTANDING children who went out and found GREAT spouses of their own. And from those marriages were birthed five OUTSTANDING grandchildren. (Okay, I’m getting a little off subject here.)

Last Friday, April 17th was another great day to celebrate. It was me and my wife’s 17th wedding anniversary. Yes my lovely wife has managed to put up with me for a loooooong time.

And yes, there is one more anniversary to celebrate. Can you guess what it is? Tomorrow Saturday, April 25, 2009, I will celebrate one year since I started writing my weekly words of encouragement. Yes it has been 52 weeks of online ministry for me and you know what, I can’t believe it.

No, I can’t believe that I’ve done this for 52 weeks regularly because I know how I am. For me to be consistent and disciplined for a year is remarkable. Now there have been times when I have been consistent in doing something, but it’s usually bad. Oh yeah the bad things are easy to do on a regular basis but to do something that’s good over and over again is very hard.

Now for something to work over a long period of time, you must be able to persevere.

What are you persevering in that’s considered good? Do you persevere in things that will benefit you or someone else?

Hebrews 10:36 says You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.

To persevere means to continue in an undertaking in spite of opposition or discouragement.

Although I like writing, there have been times of opposition. There is always something trying to get my attention and take time away from me when I should be in front of the computer. One thing is football. During the football season there was football all day and night on Sunday. There was Monday Night Football. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, my son had football practice. Then on Saturday he had a game.

And then a lot of times on Saturday we would go and watch other games so it is easy for me to say that football could have been an opposition.

I want to know what is keeping you from persevering and doing the will of God. What is stealing your time and attention? Once you’ve figured out what it is, determine if it is worth losing out on the promises of God.

And what are SOME of the promises of God’s?
Eternal Life-John 6:47
Wisdom-Proverbs 2:5
Peace-John 14:27
Joy-John 15:11
Love-Proverbs 8:17
Mercy-Psalms 103:13
Comfort-Psalms 46:1
Protection- Psalm 121:7, 8

Now who in there right mind wouldn’t want these things? This is what we strive for everyday and God is waiting to grant them to us.

Plan and simple, in order to be good at something, you must persevere. You must put forth the effort to continually do something with dedication and passion.

Be Encouraged and Have a Great Day!

Hello Friends,

One of my daughter’s favorite television shows is Making the Band 4. This TV show is about a 5-member male singing group, and others, who had to compete with thousands to make it in the band.

Since the show has started there have been a lot of heated arguments between the band members. I mean these guys have had episodes where they were going at each other trying to kill one another.

Now when I watch this show, I always make the same comment to my daughter about how these guys really don’t want to fight each other and the reason I say that is very simple. It always starts off with a disagreement which turns into an argument which then turns into a yelling and cursing match. From there, someone steps in between the two people that are arguing and that’s when both guys swell up in the chest and try to fight each other.

Now if they really wanted to fight each other, why do they always wait until someone is holding them back

? This is when I explain to my daughter that these guys are a bunch of talk and no action. Talk is cheap!

How many times have you heard the phrase “Talk is cheap”? You can talk all you want but if you don’t back your words up with action, your words mean nothing.

Proverbs 14:23 says In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty.

Idle chatter, or talk that lacks worth, leads to poverty which means that your worthless words have no value. They do nothing for you. They are insignificant, rubbish, empty, useless or of no value. They get you nowhere. Your worthless words do not profit you at all.

BUT, in all labor there is profit. When you work, put forth an effort, do something, or take action, there is a valuable return. Your actions help you to achieve.

To profit means to gain something, to increase what you have. So even if you fail while laboring, you can gain knowledge from your mistakes. But if you don’t try and put forth an effort, you’ll just talk and gain nothing.

Early in my education, I learned the days of the week. There was Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. But when I became an adult, there was another day added and it’s called Oneday. Oneday is the most commonly used word when it comes to idle chatter. You’ve probably said it a thousand times; oneday I’m going to lose weight, oneday I’m going to call this person, oneday I’m going to start my business, oneday I’m going back to school, or oneday I’m going back to church. But guess what, oneday never comes and when we always use oneday, its just idle chatter.

So the next time you think about doing something or accomplishing a goal, try not to start your phase off with oneday because oneday is not a real word and it ain’t gonna happen.

Be Encouraged and Have a Great Day!

Hello Friends,

Ahhhh, spring is in the air! The sun is shining and the flowers and Cherry Blossoms are blooming.

The days are longer and the weather is warm. Okay, the weather isn’t warm in the Washington, DC area but it is spring time.

The spring represents starting new. It represents a time or season of growth or development.

Spring is the time of year when people get back outside and work in their yards. They get the lawn mowers, hedge trimmers and weed whackers out. People plant flowers and shrubs. They also paint the house and make other repairs on the exterior of the home.

In the springtime, people also do what they call “spring cleaning.” Spring cleaning is when you proceed to do a thorough cleaning of a place, usually the inside of a home. Spring cleaning is when folks get rid of old stuff in their homes that they don’t use anymore or don’t need. They get rid of the stuff that’s useless, broken and unwanted.

Spring is a season of cleansing and purification.

Have you thought about doing a spring cleaning on yourself? Are there some things you need to remove out of your life?

Hebrews 9:14 says How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The scripture says that the blood of Christ shall cleanse your conscience from dead works. If there is one thing that I need cleansed on a regular basis, it’s my conscience.

You see my conscience is that thing in me that tells me whether I do right or wrong so in order to live a life pleasing to God, I need all dead works removed from it regularly. I need all sinful thoughts cleansed away. I need all dreadful beliefs, views and opinions of mine forever gone.

Now if my conscience is right and it is cleansed, I am more inclined to serve the living God because I can think clearly and my conscience is not cluttered with things that are sinful. My conscience is not filled with old stuff or bad habits. I’ve done some spring cleaning and my conscience is ready for spiritual growth and development.

This Sunday is Easter Sunday which is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But before there was a resurrection, He was buried. Before He was buried, He died. And before He died, His blood was shed. The blood is powerful. The blood is purifying. The blood cleanses my conscience so I can serve the living (resurrected) God.

So when you go to church this Easter, make it a spring cleaning Sunday and know that you need to be cleansed and that there is no detergent more powerful than the blood of Jesus!

Be Encouraged and Have a Great Resurrection Sunday!

Hello Family,

Terrell Owens is one of the NFL’s most interesting football players to follow. He is a good wide receiver who has had many pro bowl seasons. He’s also been known to be tough. One year he had a season ending injury and managed to rehab just in time to play in the Super Bowl. His conditioning and physical abilities have never been questioned.

Terrell Owens (also know as T.O.) has also provided some entertaining moments. There was one incident when he scored a touchdown and took a cheerleader’s pom poms and starting shaking them in the end zone. Then there was another time when he scored a touchdown and took someone’s popcorn and dumped it in his face as if he was eating it. There was the time when he scored a touchdown, pulled out a sharpie marker from his socks, signed a football and then gave it to someone in the stands.

But I think my favorite moment was when the camera caught T.O. on the sideline running his mouth and he blurted out one of his classic lines, “I loves me some me!”

Although T.O. is over the top a lot of times, I think he made a profound statement and my question to you is can you say with conviction, “I loves me some me.”

Do you have self love? Are you excited about how God created you?

Ephesians 5:29 says For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

As a creation of God, we should appreciate Him for creating us. We should nourish and cherish the body that God has given us. We should celebrate the personality that God has blessed us with. We should appreciate how God molded us. Too many times we complain about what is wrong with us and not value how God created us.

Now when I talk about self love I’m not talking about it in an ARROGANT way but self love in an APPRECIATIVE way.

I don’t love myself because I think I’m better than others. I love myself because I’m God’s creation and He cared enough about me to make me unique and different.

Just think, there is not another YOU in this whole wide world. You are unique and special. God created you in His image so we should be elated to know that God put some thought and detail into making us.

Now if you find it hard to love yourself, maybe there is something missing. I want to know do you have Jesus in your life? Have you accepted Him as your Lord and savior? If so you should know that God formed you from your inward parts and that you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14) so that’s more than enough reason to love yourself.

So the next time you’re feeling down and not feeling good about yourself, look in the mirror and with conviction say, “I LOVES ME SOME ME!” and know that you are special.

Be Encouraged and Have a Great Day!