God Is

Since Sunday, I’ve had the song “God Is” running through my mind.This song is stuck on repeat in between my ears. And, since I did not know all the words, (you know how we can make them up), I decided to purchase it and download it from iTunes. 
In the event that you fall into the same boat as me, the lyrics are: 
God is my protection.
God is my all in all.
God is my guide and direction.
God is my all in all.

Verse 2
God is my joy in time of sorrow.
God is my all in all.
God is my today and tomorrow.
God is my all in all.

Chorus
God is the joy and the strength of my life,
He moves all pain, misery, and strife.
He promised to keep me, never to leave me.
He's never ever come short of His word.

I've got to fast and pray, stay in His narrow way,
I've got to keep my life clean everyday;
I want to go with Him when He comes back,
I've come too far and I'll never turn back.

God is
God is my all in all.
Perhaps in all the rush and fervor that has been the components of this week, I just needed to be reminded that God is. Maybe you need to be reminded too. Will you just spend a moment meditating on the truth that God Is. 
Have a great weekend!





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Real Riches

As part of my 140 days of prayer for our nation, In Touch Ministries and Dr. Charles Stanley provided us with a schedule of issues to pray about. This week, we are praying “for God to open the eyes of our fellow Americans” based on the Scripture reference Psalm 73. 
When I read over the Psalm, “real riches” became a dominant thought. So many times, we think that real riches are when we can retire early or have the fanciest things. We confuse real riches with $100,000 cars and multi-million dollars houses. And in our pursuit of those riches, we compromise with the adversary. Sometimes unknowingly and far too often, knowingly. We trade the eternal for the temporary so that we can hear the applaud of our friends or provoke the jealousy of our foes. Oh, the things we get ourselves into when we stray away from the Truth. 
Yet, Psalm 73 reminds us of what’s real. We don’t need a necklace beaded with pride nor garment that signifies our worldly dealings. Sin is always the wrong path. Instead, we need to find our strength in God. Draw near to Him and trust Him. 
The relationship that we develop with God when we give Him our whole heart is the real jewel. That’s the real treasure. Our riches come not from what man can manufacturer or build with his hands. Think about that the next time you feel a little discouraged because the wicked seem to prosper. They are not prospering. They are storing up phony riches in the wrong place. You, sweet Christian, keep focused on the real riches and store them in the right place - in eternity. 
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasurers on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasurers in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” - Matthew 6:19-21


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I Didn't Ask God, "Why?"

I got some encouraging words from my subscribers about my post on Wednesday. Thanks y’all! And I should have known that since the message was poignant to some of you to the point that you replied back in the manner in which you did, that I would have a test coming. You replied back with some sweet things to me and I should have been on the ready expecting that I would get a chance to put my own “why’s” to rest and to trust God. And that is what happened Thursday.


You see, Thursday to me, is Friday Eve. I don’t mean to imply that I rush the week away or anything like that but good things always seem to happen on Thursday for me – kinda like the eve of Holidays. Thursdays are filled with joy and laughter and all kinds of neat things. I like Thursday, yes, I do! I like Thursday, how bout you? (okay, you know you know the cheer!)


My adversary knows how much I like Thursday as well, so he made sure to test me on Thursday when I’d be off guard … or so he thought! HA!


When I got home Thursday, my kitchen was under siege. Now, I have pest control service so don’t go thinking something crazy. But, needless to say, I had some unidentified, never-seen-before, and certainly not welcome visitors, for which I had to sweep, Clorox down every single thing and then mop on top of that. Whew!!! Better safe than sorry.


In the midst of my defense to the offensive move of my unidentified, never-seen-before, and certainly not welcome visitors, I had to call my daddy and granddaddy to get some advice, calm my puppy about why he couldn’t come into the kitchen and had to stay steady so I could do the work and calm so I wouldn't go ballistic on those unidentified, never-seen-before, and certainly not welcomer intruders. Ugh.


When everything was under control, my nerves, which had heretofore held steady, powered up the vacuum cleaner and let’s just say I went to town on that floor. My downstairs looks rather nice right now! Or so we hope…I hope I don’t have round 2 waiting on me when I get home today. It would be rather inconvenient! I have guests coming!


In the midst of the assault and recovery, I wanted to ask God, “why am I having to do this on Thursday?” Bump that – “Why is this going on in MY kitchen?” That’s the real question. But I didn’t ask the “why” question. I asked “what” instead. What should I do to get this situation under control? Sure, I had gotten some advice from some wise folks, but I really need to know what God would have me to do. What would You have for me to learn here? “How can I make sure You get the glory?” And as I thought about these things, the clean-up went quicker until I finally looked up and everything was as it should be. Thank You Jesus! I didn’t ask “why?”. I trusted God with everything I had. And in turn, He made me glad!


Go into this weekend feeling glad! No matter your circumstances! For God is still in control! He has not abdicated His throne. And, well, just the thought of that ought to make you glad too! Happy Friday!




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When the "Whys" Come, Will You Trust God?

Do you ever wish you could pound your fist on the proverbial gates of Heaven and ask God, "Why?"


"Why so much pain?"
"Why so many tears?"
"Why so much heartache?"
"Why so much joylessness?"


Life can challenge us in ways in which we never anticipated. And while I'd like nothing more than to hold your hand and give you the answers to your "why", we both know it's impossible for me to explain your pain. Only God knows why and sometimes, it seems like He is just not telling. Somethings we endure without an explanation accept for that it's His perfect will for our lives. But, even when we can't explain the "why" we must always remember that His way is better than ours - and He loves us. He will not cause us to endure more than what is necessary for the accomplishment of His will. And we also must remember that everything is consequential - meaning that our actions have consequences both good and bad. Yes, we have a part in this. We have freewill. We are not mindless puppets in some eternal game.


Since we can't bang on the gates and make God answer us, then we are simply left with our own choice of personal response when the "whys" come.


When the tough times come and tears shake hands under your chin, it's then time that we have to ask ourselves where we want to put our focus. Do we want to worship grief or worship God? Will we take time to remember God's faithfulness to us or will those memories be overshadowed by how we feel in the moment? Will we simply trust Him enough not to ask Him "why?"


Jesus came and suffered so that we might have the right to eternal life. He didn't spend his time of suffering questioning God. He simply obeyed His Father. He ultimately submitted to His perfect will. And thus, it should be with us. Don't waste time asking "why". Just trust God.


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Hope that Does Not Disappoint


The truth is, people will disappoint you. Sometimes, it is intentional while other times, it’s an unintended consequence. Let your mind marinate now on the times when you have been disappointed. Now, let your mind recall the times when your actions and words have been disappointing to others. Doesn’t feel good, does it? 

It can hurt to deal with disappointment, but we must accept the fact that it is inevitable in this life. No one person will ever be able to meet all of your needs. No one thing is going to provide all you desire. So, where’s the hope?
The hope is in Jesus. He is the hope that does not disappoint. This does not mean that we can order Jesus around like a genie in a bottle and get salty with Him when He doesn’t answer us in the way that we would prefer. Instead, it means that as we submit our will to His for our lives, the hope we have in Him does not fade. Instead, it grows.
Living life for Jesus and living in the hope that He makes available to all that would believe is of the utmost benefit for our lives. Instead of letting our circumstances push us to doubt and despair when people or things let us down, when our hope is in Jesus, we know He’ll always be there. So, no matter the situation that we endure, we can make it because of our hope in Jesus - the One that does not disappoint.  


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Healing Psalm for Quicksand

Have you ever hit rock bottom, and then pondered if there could be an even deeper descent? It may seem like everything is going wrong and there is no way of escape but wait...suddenly, you convince yourself that there is no escape. Deeper Descent. You’re paralyzed; stuck in the situation and cannot move. The weight of the situation compounds. No way of out. Nobody around. You’re up to your neck. Now what?

How do you recover from quicksand? What solution could possibly be the right one and who is going to risk their life to save yours? The answer is found in Psalm 30. I love this Psalm because of it’s relevance and truth. I have been the one that has cried out to the Lord and I received rescue, healing and restoration. Thus, Psalm 30 is special to me. In fact, it’s the basis of this ministry. 
It is encouraging to know that God will bring us up from the low places where we are and restore us. I once thought to myself, are His arms that long? Can He reach even me from here? Yes, He can. Yes, He has. Praise is due Him. No matter how far we may descend, we are never out of reach. All we have to do is to call on Him. 
When we beckon unto God, and praise Him, He provides for our every need. Can you imagine that? The Sovereign God of the Universe has not only reached down to my low estate, but He has restored me and then provided for me. He is an unmatched and unparalleled Helper.
As a result, my perspective on rock bottom changes. I’m not held captive there thinking that I can only go lower. With my focus on Jesus, I can only go higher. That’s great news! God turns our low places into a dancing ground of gladness. 
Now, who in their right mind, wouldn’t serve a God like that? 
Tell me - what hinders your praise when you are going through trials and sufferings? 


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Ugly IS Ugly


I found out on Monday that Walter Hawkins had gone home to be with the Lord on Sunday. Immediately, I wanted to hear his music. “Be Grateful” continues to be one of my oldie but goodies. The power of the lyrics and the anointing that comes through when played still calls me to immediate attention. 
I like those songs that grab your attention and cause you to really examine who you are against who you are striving to be. Which brings me to the continuation of my post from yesterday. We continue to talk about how ugly can look good but can never be good. Well, from the perspective of Walter Hawkins’ “Be Grateful” I would surmise that it is impossible to be both grateful and act ugly. 
When we act out or act ugly, we are allowing our pride to drive us and our flesh to rule over us. This is not the way of a grateful heart. A grateful heart says, “no matter what comes my way, I’m going to praise God”; “When people talk about me, I’m going to praise God”; “When people give me a hard time, I’m going to praise God”. Why? Because a realization exists with the grateful. A grateful heart recognizes that outward conditions do not have to control inward conditions. In other words, my outward state, does not have to control my inward response. Things can be breaking loose in my life, but my response to the external stimuli is my choice. Mine alone. 
Will I then choose the pus-festering, never-ending, disease-ridden route of defeat or will I turn to God for victory? Will I surrender to my flesh or will I surrender to His will. I know it can hurt and I know that it is hard to condition our response to be one that honors God always. Yet the lyrics from Walter Hawkins tells us “God desires to feel your longing; Every pain that you feel; He feels them just like you” 
The lyrics go on to talk about salvation and Jesus’ work on the cross. There is nothing that we face that compares to the cross. And since Jesus didn’t act ugly on the cross, nor at any point when He was being spit upon, beaten, mocked and jeered at, it kinda makes the things that attempt to rile us up seem as trivial as they really are from the lens of eternity. 
Ugly doesn’t look so good anymore, hunh? If you are able to answer that it doesn’t, then thank God and be grateful. Ugly is ugly. 
RIP Walter Hawkins. I thank God for his service to God’s children.  


Copyright Beams of Light Ministries

When Ugly Looks Good

Have you ever wanted to tell somebody off?  You know, share a little piece of your mind. Get all up in their face and let them know what’s up? I mean really. Let’s just take off our tiaras for a minute. I just need to know if sometimes, you just want to let somebody that has been pushing your buttons know that they can push no longer.

I’m not saying that this IS you - I’m just posing the question - but if it is, if ugly looks good to you every now and again, then keep on reading. 
When we have had it up to there with a situation or a person, and we choose to let our minds linger every so slightly onto the other side of righteous living, we may find ourselves thinking of ways to convey what we are feeling. Whether it be anger, disgust, irritation - you name it, the list goes on and on. 
If we allow those negative feelings to take root and have their way, they can fester ... and then we are really in a world of trouble. Festering sores are no good to anyone. I mean really, would you really like to have a rotten, stinking, cankerous sore on your body? Not so much. Not when it can be avoided. Thus with the same zeal that we move to heal up pus-filled nasty sores that may strike our body, we have to be extra-vigilant when it comes to our spirits. 
And that’s what we’re going to talk about in this post - when ugly looks good - even though it is never good. It’s never, ever good. And, just one more time for clarity and so you can’t say that I didn’t tell you - it’s never good. 
The first reason is that we are to reflect God’s glory. Ugly can look good but it cannot be good because it is opposite from God. 
As his children, we are to reflect His image. Man was made in the image of God [Genesis 1:26]. You can search all of Scripture and you will not find God acting the way we do. God’s ways are not like ours. He doesn’t need to call us up to tell us off nor does he need to consort to tactics that we may implore to get our misguided point(s) across. Why? Because He’s God. He works everything out according to His plan. 
Therefore, to be on the same page as God, we need to stop and think about His character when our ugly tries to come out. And, let me tell you, it will scream to try to come out. It wants to tell so-and-so a thing or two. But y'all, I exhort you to practice some godly restraint. And in so doing - maybe then ugly won’t look so good but instead, with Christ-focused eyes, our sinful hearts will look so bad ... so putrid - that we are convicted to change so that our hearts match his. 
Stay tuned.  We’ll explore this more. On tomorrow, we will explore more reasons why ugly can look good but never be good. 


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When Emotions Are Raging

Oh boy did my emotions get the best of me recently. It's like that sometimes. I wish that I could tell you that I float around on clouds feeling super good about myself and mankind all the live-long-day, every single day, but that would be a blatant lie. The truth is that somedays are good and somedays need to be repeated because I made so many errors. In other words, on somedays, I make an "A" and on other days, I just plain flunk. I recently had a failing grade kind of day.


You see, I consider myself a rather direct person. In fact, I am actually very direct. I don't find it useful to beat around the bushes. So, when I found out some rather disturbing news, I knew how I wanted to handle the situation. The problem is, I couldn't really go about it that way. The "flesh" response was the rip back the cover - and by rip, I do mean rip...not peel...nothing ginger about it ... just plain rip it back. But, wisdom stepped in - PTL.  I had to spend a few teeth-grinding moments estimating what a godly response would look like. 

And guess what? I still wanted to rip back the covers! Y'all need to pray for me! Mercy! Lord, please have mercy on me! It's that cry for help that led me to really look at Psalm 51. Now, this is the psalm where David is confronted with his sin. Nathan dropped some knowledge on him that he didn't want to hear earlier. You know David's first response wasn't the right one. I know you know because you are a Bible Scholar! Get it! Oh yea, back on topic, David's response recorded in Psalm 51 - ahhhh, that's the ticket! 

So, I find myself in the same situation - well, not exactly the same. I've not been in the whole supposed to be somewhere, got caught up watching somebody bathe, now time to hide my sin type of thing. Instead, I was caught up in responding negatively the first time I heard the news and then having to get it right the second time. The first time, I flunked. Ahhhh, but the second time, I am passing. Don't know if it's an "A" just yet, but I'm working on it. 

I can work on it because I read and prayed through Psalm 51. Read it for yourself and if you are so inclined, let me know what you think. You can reach via comment section at the end of this post, FBF - you know what to do and Subscribers, feel free to keep sending me those great emails! Oh how I love to hear from you guys! You encourage me! Thank you. 

Okay, enough. I don't want to dilute or distract. Check out Psalm 51 - and have a great weekend!





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Pray for Our Soldiers

The day that I had been dreading finally came. Some time has elasped so now I can say that my godson's mother has deployed.

She is an honorable soldier serving our nation. Of course, it has been her choice to serve. There has not been a draft. No one forced her into serving our country in this manner. But life does happen. And as a result of life taking its normal course, she deployed leaving behind my godson. He is two years old and will spend at least a year without the touch of his mother.

My heart aches for the little fella. I know that he will be looking for his Mommie. I know he will. But my heart also goes out to such a fine soldier. Not once has she complained or moaned about this deployment. Not once has she cried to me on the telephone - although I know she has shred a tear or two. I cry nearly every time the little guy leaves my house - especially the last time when he didn't want to leave because he was having such a good time. She has a strength uncommon to many. And for that, I admire her. I wrote about her before - she really is Army strong.

So, all I can do now is to pray for her, along with the rest of the honorable men and women in uniform who serve this country. I give my prayer support to them for not complaining, not backing down and not giving in and giving up. Of the soldiers I have the privilege to call friends, all of them are of noble character. Strong in a way that we civilians don't have to be; well, at least not yet.

Yet because I know the pull of the heart and the wild swings it can take, when my friends call to let me know that they are deploying, then I also let them know exactly how I will be praying. She knows how I will be praying. She knows that I will be praying. And I wonder if you would join with me too. Would you join me in praying for our troops who are fighting down range, away from family and loved ones for extensive periods of time. Would you pray that God will protect them, comfort them and keep them. Pray that they keep their emotions in check so that they can stay focused on each and every mission. Pray that God's mighty hand will deliver them back to us, healthy and whole. Pray that God would bless our soldiers and may God continue to bless America.


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140 Days of Prayer

I've joined with Dr. Charles Stanley and InTouch Ministries for their 140 days of prayer for the United States of America. It is quite timely, starting today, the day after we celebrated Independence Day for our country.

So many times, we like to look at what is happening and talk about how bad it is but then we fail to act on it. I was recently engaged in messaging which discussed the vampire movie series that is all the talk on the news. Everybody talked about how this shouldn't be the news (and I agree) but few if any talked about how desperate this nation is for a change in the tide.

Initially, I was afraid of the commitment to this type of prayer. But our country needs it. It's not as if I'm not praying anyway, so therefore, what will it hurt to add the country that I love to the prayer list? Say what you will about our government, rules, regulations, politicians, celebrities or what have you, having spent so much time in the air traveling to this place and the next, from where I sit, the US is the best. So, let's make a concerted effort to stop talking about how bad things are and start praying that God change the tide of this nation.

For more information on Dr. Charles Stanley and the InTouch Ministries 140 days of prayer movement, click here.


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