What do you do when the bottom falls out?

Ever had a weak napkin full of potatoes chips and the napkin tore in two? Ever used the cheap plates on 4th of July and your food you’d been waiting for “all day long” fell through to the ground. Ever had a slush from Sonic and you were so thirty and anxious your straw poked through and the drink fell out. Although these are simple and non-complex scenarios, they still can be used to illustrate a multifaceted notion. What do you do when the bottom falls out? For a lot of us, our first instinct is to get angry, give up, and demonstrate a posture of being defeated…Slumped over, hunched back, and broke down. Others of us take an “I don’t care” approach. “It’s no big deal”, although you are clearly shaken and bothered by the circumstance. Then there are some that spend so much time intellectualizing why it happen, that they never get pass the bottom falling out. Now I am a firm believer that there is always a lesson in the storm, but I also believe sometimes things happen beyond “our” understanding. Sometimes it’s just for GOD to know and for you not to. HIS thoughts are not our thoughts and HIS ways are not our ways. (Isaiah 55:8-9). So when the bottom falls out, don’t get angry, don’t become cynical, and don’t always try to figure out why. Just simply start over again. Built a new foundation. Take the lessons from that experience and learn from them. Built your foundation on solid ground this time (Matthew 7:24-27), and always begin every new endeavor with GOD at the center of it. Remember GOD won’t and HE cannot fail.

Somebody loves you baby...

You deserved to be loved, and I realize this may be hard for some of you to believe, but I want to make an announcement to you, “People really love who you are…just the way you are.” No tricks, no jive, no gag. It’s really true. Your mask and your airs that you so often put on are really unnecessary, because you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139:14). GOD has purposely positioned people around you who love, care for, and admire you. So celebrate them today, because someone’s love is not a random give-away…It’s a gift.

The Most Dangerous Five Letter Word...Alone

You are so wrapped up, pinned down, isolated, and alone. You have retreated to your safe place out of guilt, frustration, and anger. So many times you spend more special occasions with yourself than you care to admit to. You want to love, you want to be loved, you want to be social, and feel free, but you are too afraid of the hurt associated with being willing to totally let people in. You have got to break free from your chains.
The devil wants you isolated. The devil wants you confined. The devil recognizes that the bible says “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). You have to break free from your shell, and fellowship with people. You have to let people know the "Real" you. The one GOD created you to be, not the one you display either to draw attention to yourself, or the opposite of that ego, the one who always shuns attention away. Let GOD’s light shine through you. That’s the real you. And if you do that, then GOD will get all the glory, as HE should…
So get out and let your light shine. Your presence is worth alot more than you think…

Can't remember when I last saw you laugh...

When will you smile again? When will you allow yourself to feel again? When will you give yourself permission to experience joy again…It is all up to you. You have to let go of the pain and as the Bible says in Philippians 3:14 press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of GOD in CHRIST JESUS. It is a new day and the joy of the LORD is your strength “Nehemiah 8:10.” So wake up my sister, rise up my brother, it’s your time to begin a new and let restoration have it's way in your life. It’s time to shift from despair to delight. It’s time to live again…

Stop looking back... Just run your race.

Why are you so surprised that you keep falling, when you refuse to look forward? Often times people are so busy looking back and reliving the negative in their past, that they miscalculate their position and fail to realize they are closer to their finish line than they think. Let me make an announcement…this is the time to focus and let what’s behind you remain there. The Bibles declares (Hebrews 12:1) Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Stop being concerned with who is gaining position behind you in the race. Stop worrying about who is neck and neck with you in the race. Stop worrying about who even passes you. Just run your own race. So if you have fallen, get back up, look straight ahead, and run your race... Your finish line is within reach.

Why are you still angry?

It’s been three years and you’re still not speaking, but you swore after Uncle so-n-so’s funeral that you would never be apart from your family and close friends again (especially over something petty). So why are you at this same place again?
The bible says in Matthew 5:23-24 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Can I share something with you? While you are sitting around pouting and trying to make your point, the people you are feuding with have moved on with their lives. You are not punishing them; you are punishing yourself by harboring unforgiveness. While you’re sitting around avoiding contact, sarcastically bringing up something negative about them every chance you get, worrying your poor nerves to death, and making yourself look old before your time, they are out making new friends, new lives, and creating new memories…without you.
Is it worth it…to not see your cousin give birth to their first child? Is it worth it…to miss your Dad’s retirement barbecue, because you’re still mad at your Mom? Is it really worth it, to because estranged from your best friend since the fourth grade, because you don’t like her choice in a boyfriend? When did it become necessary to rule, run, or dictate someone’s life to be a part of it. What happened to agreeing to disagree? My friend the truth of the matter is “Life is too short”. It is time to bury the hatchet. It is time for GOD’s agape love to shine through you. The bible says in Matthew 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you…Whatever it is “Let It Go”. It’s time to let brotherly love prevail. You must put your pride aside and humble yourself. Don’t go another moment without reaching out to them. Don’t be afraid of what they may say or how they may respond. All you are required to do as a loving and forgiving child of the KING is take the first step. Let GOD handle the rest. It may not happen over night but, if you go to your brethren “in love”, you can’t fail. GOD will work out the situation and give you peace in it. Now go out and plant the seed of compassion, forgiveness, and love…

Will you rob the grave or will the grave rob you?

I once heard that the richest place in the world is the cemetery. It is a place filled with unlived dreams, aspirations, books, songs, and ideas. What will you allow the grave to rob you of? What dream have you deferred? What possibility have you brushed off? What vision have you set aside for a later time? Well…. I am here to proclaim to you to “Stand still no more” Pick up that pen, tune up that voice, dust off that business plan. The time is now. During a crisis is the perfect time to get creative. What are you afraid of? The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7, that GOD did not give us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Are you afraid of failing? A friend once shared with me something his mother told him concerning moving out of state for the first time. She said, “Just go. You can always come back home. Even if you only stay a little while you have already won.” Virtually what she was saying is what my great-grandmother use to always tell my grandmother. “Nothing beats a failure, but a try.” The operative word is “try”. Without you even attempting to try, you automatically fail. Not only do you have to try, you must also declare that failure is not an option. You must believe that the vision and talent that GOD has placed inside of you is your destiny… Don’t let the grave steal the next best-selling novel, or the next groundbreaking documentary, or the next Time Magazine’s invention of the year…. So get up, start work on the vision, and get in position. Delivery time has arrived!

What will your Legacy be?

The Bible says in Proverbs 13:22, A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children. What will your inheritance be? Will it only be monetary? Well although I can only pray that when we depart from this life that we leave our love ones financially stable, but I truly believe that leaving an inheritance is so much more than that. I think your witness, your walk, character, and your integrity are all part of the inheritance you leave behind. When people watch you (which so often they do), what do you show them? A life of joy, peace, compassion, love, and kindness, or a life of hopelessness, discontentment, and despair. As Christians, our walk should always resemble one of joy and peace. Now, don't get me wrong, trouble will come to try to shake your peace (and if it has'nt happened yet...keep living), But peace is not an absence of adversity, and joy is not an absence of heartache. We as Christian carry peace and joy in our pockets at all time, because we have the revelation knowledge to know that no matter what obstacles may come our way, GOD is in control. These are the type of values that we must pass on to our children. The simplicity of just letting them know "who they are" and "who's they are" will carry them further than you can ever imagine. Then in their times of trouble they will be able to reach back from their upbringing and grab the gift of scriptures like No Weapon, or Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, or "weeping may endure, or they that wait on the LORD, and it will make sense to them, because they have watched an example live those things (You)...The best gift of an inheritance that you can ever give your children is to walk upright and be an awesome example for the Kingdom... So again I ask you, what will your "Legacy" be?