Are You Ready?

Matthew 24:27-31

²⁷For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

²⁸For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

²⁹Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

³⁰And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

³¹And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Let go of the past and grab onto your future

Philippians 3:13-14
Joel 2:1

How many times have we thought about, planned, or even made arrangements for our “New Year’s Resolutions” only to have them pushed aside? Even the best of intentions have a way of getting sidetracked by unexpected circumstances and/or life changes.

If you are anything like me, 2003 was filled with ups and downs. Whether it be losing a job, staring school, or dealing with the loss of a loved one, the unforeseen trials and tribulations of life can be a bit discouraging.

We often tend to carry over our unfinished dreams and expectations into the New Year, not realizing that we also bring with it baggage and failures from years past. It is understandable that the effects that our pasts had on us, or how we dealt with or chose not to deal with those events, help to shape our future. However, we do have some control over them by forgiving those that wronged us and forgetting those events that we had no control over.

In Philippians 3, Paul expressed his feelings and thoughts on letting go of the past in order to achieve his goal of the future. “One thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on to towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” At this point, I am sure most of you all are saying the same thing; “putting the past behind me is easier said than done.” But no one said it was going to be easy. Even Paul himself said that this task was indeed a straining one, but he knew what most of us fail to realize: we need to “press on.”

We have done things for which we are ashamed and we live in the tension of what we have been and what we aspire to be. But it is when we place our hope in Christ, we can let go of past guilt, trials, and tribulations and it is only then that we can look forward to what God will help us become.

Don’t spend your days dwelling on the past; instead, grow in your knowledge of God by concentrating on your relationship with him. Realize that you must learn to forgive those that have hurt you and by doing so, know that God has also forgiven you. “He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness (Joel 2:13). Move forward in your goal of ever increasing faith and obedience. Know that we can forget the past and strain for the goal because we know God promises eternity with him at the end of the race.

Peace and Blessings

Peak-A-Boo, I see you….

Genesis 16
Psalm 31

Well over the past few months the devil has been putting in overtime on my job (previously with Baltimore Life), my finances, and my family, but as most of you know, whenever the devil makes you the object of his eye, it means that you are doing good by God’s eyes and that is what counts. Because of that, for everything that the devil laid his hands on and tries to bring turmoil to, the Lord our God stepped in and increased his blessings upon me to compensate.

It is nice to know that whenever I am troubled with a heavy burden, the Lord has got my back. No matter how bad things are going, and even if no one else around you understands what you are going through, you can be rest assured, that the Lord, understands, and “ God will never fail us, he will never forsake his eternal covenant, God will never break, resting on his promise, what have we to fear?”

In Genesis 16, we find a similar example of the Lords goodness. Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid, was being mistreated and felt so alone. She did not have anyone to turn to, for no one would understand this feeling that Hagar had inside, at least not of this world. Feeling this sense of loneliness, Hagar fled to be alone and pray. It was there that an angel visited her. The angle prayed with Hagar and assured her that the lord felt her pain, and understood what she was going through, and it is in that, that Hagar found her strength. She knew then that everything would be all right.

Comfort, strength, security, these are the things we as humans search and long for most of our lives, but we can find those same qualities that we seek out in our Lord, and it is there that we should rest our faith. You see, sometimes it is hard for us to put our thoughts and feelings into words for others to understand what we are going through, some of us even pay hundreds of dollars for doctors of all types to interpret our thoughts for us, but how many of us haven taken the time out to trust in the Lord First.

God is with us no matter what it is that we are going through, and no matter how over whelming or perplexing it may be, and if we leave it in his hands, he WILL take care of it. Like I said earlier, I have been going through some things, even still, I have be afforded the opportunity to finish school and earn my degree as well as changed career paths in to a more stable and profitable market. God is good all the time, and ALL the time, God is good. I could go on and on about the countless blessing that the Lord has put to my door, but I am sure you get the point.

Look, what every your troubling circumstances are, things not going right on the job, the bills falling behind, people getting on your last nerves, the Lord hears and sees all of that, and moreover, he understand. If you leave it in his hands I assure you, it will be resolved.

“When we're abandoned to God's will, we need not doubt nor fear; we'll know that He is in control, that He is always near.”

Peace and Blessings