Encouraged by God's Word

Archive for June, 2010

Hello Family,

There was a movie that came out in 1979 and it was about a gang called “The Warriors”. In the beginning of the movie the Warriors were accused of killing Cyrus, the leader of the Gramercy Riffs during a truce in Central Park, NY.

As the Warriors fought their way back home to Coney Island, they came up against other gangs that were trying to kill them. They faced all types of adversity; some brawls, police pursuits, lives were lost and there were other struggles and tribulations.

When the Warriors finally made it back to their home turf, there was one last rival gang waiting for them called the Rogues. When Luther, the leader of the Rogues, saw the Warriors he started chanting, “Warriors, come out to play-yay.” in a creaky, demented voice. Now he really didn’t want to play, he and the Rogues wanted to kill the Warriors.

When the Warriors were facing the Rogues in the last battle, the truth was made known, they were found innocent and the Warriors were vindicated. The Warriors came out victorious!

A Warrior is defined as a man (or woman) engaged or experienced in warfare. A person engaged in some struggle or conflict.

Psalm 50:15 says Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

As you go through your troubled days, are you acting like a warrior or a wimp? Are you fighting or are you giving up? 

The Lord wants us to call on Him when we are in trouble because He will deliver us from whatever we face. And all He asked is that we glorify Him. Give Him the credit that is due and realize that He is in control and He has our back.

And how do we call on Him? We PRAY!

The battle we fight is not a physical battle so physical weapons are no good. The knives, guns, broken bottles and pipes used by gang members are worthless. We must enter into the spiritual realm and use our spiritual weapons to defeat the enemy.

Are you a warrior who is fighting and doing all you can do to win? Are you a warrior who won’t back down from a brawl? Are you a warrior who is strong in the Lord?

When the enemy comes your way to fight, I don’t want you to think about the saying from the movie, “Warriors, come out to play-yay”. I want you to turn it around and shout, “Warriors, Come Out and Pray-yay!” and pray your way to VICTORY!

Be Encouraged and Have a Prayerful Weekend!

Hello Family,

I know some of you remember that song by Carl Carlton. C’mon and sing it with me…She’s a bad mamma jamma…Just as fine as she can be…hey! And then the song goes on to describe her physical attributes and how attractive she is but I want to talk about someone else who is a whole lot better than the woman Carl Carlton was talking about

and I want you to see if you can figure out who it is.

She has a lot of qualities that make her so fine, we would be foolish not to be involved with her. She has it all and when we have her, she makes us better in so many ways. Because of her, we’re able to reach heights we never could have imagined. People look up to us when we have her and seek our knowledge. She’s a lot deeper and insightful than any physical being. She is profound and meaningful.

Do you know who I’m talking about?

Her name is WISDOM and according to the word:

She will help you grow in knowledge.

A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels. -Proverbs 1:5

She makes you happy.

Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding! -Proverbs 3:13

She will give you recognition.

The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the legacy of fools. -Proverbs 3:35

She is close like family.

Say to wisdom, “you are my sister!” and call understanding, your nearest kin, -Proverbs 7:4

She is contagious.

Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. -Proverbs 9:9

She brings pride to the family.

A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief to his mother. -Proverbs 10:1

She brings joy to other’s hearts.

My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself; -Proverbs 23:15

She makes you strong.

A wise man is strong, yes, a man of knowledge increases strength; -Proverbs 24:5

So instead of looking for that bad mamma jamma who is physically attractive on the outside and has no substance and can’t do anything for you, fill yourself with wisdom and live a prosperous, spirit filled life.

Be Encouraged and Have a Wisdom Filled Weekend!

Hello Family,

Lately my mind has been preoccupied with a lot of things. I have one child who just graduated from high school and will be attending college in the fall. My other two children are running track and that keeps me busy with practice and track meets that last all day long on Saturdays and some on Sundays. And I have other things that I’m involved with and MANY things that I need to catch up on. The “to do” list is out of control.

In the midst of everything, I’ve gotten out of my routine. The things that I do that bring balance to my life and keep me grounded have been disturbed.

And it’s no one’s fault but my own.

Because I’m not in my flow, I find myself being worried about things more than I normally would be. I feel as though my faith is wavering. Sometimes I just can’t see how God is going to work it out.

I had a conversation with a fellow Hamptonian Horace Christian and we were talking business but in reality it was ministry because he said some things that reminded me about what I needed to do and what I needed to be about. I don’t think it was his intention but he was right on point.

Afterwards I started to think how lately I’ve been limiting the power of God in my life. I didn’t have big expectations of Him. My limited mind got in the way of my limitless God.

Psalm 27: 14 (Amplified Bible) says Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.

We limit our blessings because we look at life from our perspective. We think that if we can think it, it can happen. Conversely, we think that if we CAN’T think it, it CAN’T happen.

Stinkin’ thinkin’ like this puts handcuffs on God and He can’t and won’t move in our lives until we adjust the barometer of our faith that we have.

There’s nothing too hard for Him to handle.

There’s a song called the “The Harvest Song” written by Anthony Brown who is a member of my home church, The First Baptist Church of Glenarden. The best part of the song for me is the vamp.

Solo: I don’t know just how He’s gonna do it but
Choir: But I know that He’s gonna do somethin’
Solo: I don’t know how He’ll meet the need but
Choir: All I know is He’s gonna do somethin’
Solo: I don’t know how He’ll save the day but
Choir: But I know that He’s gonna do somethin’
Solo: All I know is somehow, someway
Choir: All I know is He’s gonna do somethin’

Plain and simple, I don’t know how, when and where God is going to do it, but He’s gonna do something unexpected. It’s up to me to keep the faith and walk with the blessed assurance that God knows exactly what I need and when I need it.

Be brave and of good courage, have a strong and enduring heart and expect God to do some awesome things in your life.

Be Encouraged and Have a Faith Filled Weekend!

P.S. Go check out “The Harvest Song” on YouTube.