Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 12/01/09)

Today’s Devotional Written By An Extraordinary Young Womant: Tracy Koweh

Love Lifted Me……….

1 Peter 4:8 (Amplified Bible)

⁸Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and ^[a]disregards the offenses of others].^(A)

As I sat down to my computer to write this blog, the words of an old Sunday School song fell on my heart, Love Lifted Me. I couldn’t remember the verses but the line- - -When nothing else could help, Love Lifted Me- - - -stood out so clearly in my mind.

In the past 6 months, several women close to me (including myself) have met and fallen in love with men that don’t fit our normal profile. Although we are of different races, spiritual positions, ages, and backgrounds we all share a common bond of recently and repeatedly being in abusive and unhealthy relationships. We were all guilty of letting ourselves completely go in order to become the woman that our partners wanted us to be, and not the women that God had created us to be.

I can recall each one of us saying that we were finally done. That we were just going to give up on men all together. We had been so broken, so misused and abandoned that we had convinced ourselves we were no longer worthy of respect, honor, faithfulness, and love. But God had other plans for us. He sent each of us a unique creation, designed just for us. The men in our lives have all been hurt and scorned deeply, but they saw something in us that made them want to love again. Each one of them found us. God equipped them with an indescribable amount of compassion, patience, understanding and love.

No one can understand where we are, and we can’t explain it ourselves. Whether it’s the 9 year age difference, the race issue that our family won’t support, or being completely connected and never have once met face to face, we all are in a place of pure bliss and happiness. We all are still struggling to understand what we did to deserve such love, and how to accept it in its fullness. I truly believe that God used these men, to restore us. His love through them lifted us. Love is a powerful thing. It will make you do crazy things, lose your mind, and go completely insane. But when used the right way, love will heal. Love will rebuild. Love will restore.

Today as you go through your normal routine, remember that no matter what hurts, disappointments or failures you go through, God’s love is stronger than that. No matter how deep in the darkness you may think you are. God’s love is brighter than that. No matter how rough the storm gets, God’s love is able to carry you through it. And lastly……….No matter how down on life you may get, God’s love will lift you.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Monday 11/30/09)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Young Woman That Is A Keeper Of God’s Promises In Her Heart: Tracy Koweh

Promise Keeper or Breaker?

Titus 1:2 (New Living Translation)

² This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began.

Today’s message in the music comes from Dru Hill’s “Never Make a Promise”. The chorus of the song says: You told me what you wanted, I gave you what you needed. I told ya that I'd love you, make it good for you and me. I never make a promise that I can't keep, that ain't me.

This past weekend while cleaning my house, I accidentally added this song to my playlist of music I listen to, to help the time go by. Well, the words in this song instantly arrested my spirit. The Holy Spirit said to me in such a calming, loving, and quiet voice, “that describes me, EXACTLY how I am”. We call out our daily wish list to God with no full understanding of what “being blessed” with it all could really mean. Then God answers our prayers, but sometimes it’s as if He hadn’t heard a word we prayed. Now I understand, that although we ask for what we want, He gives us what we need. The old school church use to say, “He may not come when you want Him, but He’s always on time.”

The last part of the chorus reminds me of God, because He never makes a promise He can’t or won’t keep. So many times in our lives, we promise our time, our love, our finances, our support or something else precious to us, only to later break our vow. We speak words that are packed with meaning, but no real feeling or commitment is attached to them. If God gave up on His promises to us, like we do to our family, friends, jobs, responsibilities, or most importantly God the Father Himself ……………..where oh where would we be.

Today as we prepare to begin another week, let us become promise keepers and not promise breakers. Let us not speak words that sound good, but produce no real fruit. Be who you truly are, say what you truly mean and be about the Father’s business. If He says it’s so, its so. If He promises it to you, then it’s yours. Like the song, He can’t lie…………..”that ain’t Him”, so don’t let it be you.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Friday 11/27/09)

If Nothing Else I am Grateful…

Romans 11:22 (Amplified Bible)

²²Then note and appreciate the gracious kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's gracious kindness to you--provided you continue in His grace and abide in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off (pruned away).

My mother and I pray in the mornings. God had instructed us at the beginning of the school year to tithe the first portions of our day to Him. So we rise and praise, worship and petition God in the early mornings before the morning light often parts the darkness. It is in these times that we have had some of the best revelatory moments, insights flow and God speaks and directs us in our prayers. On Wednesday morning during such a time of sweet communion, my spirit began to cry out in gratitude for all the Lord had kept me through in my past, and all He had and was doing in my present and all He intended to do in my future. My spirit was so full, it was hard to utter words, and tears flowed without hesitation. My Grandma James use to walk around her apartment in a state of gratitude, saying “when I think about the goodness of Jesus and A L L He has done for me, my soul cries out Hallelujah Thank God for saving me. This was a sign to us in the house that she was in a place with God where she was just thankful, where if God had chosen never to do anything else for her she was still in a place overwhelmed with gratitude.

When I think about all of the obstacles in my life right now, I could easily become discouraged and out of sorts. But I have a reference point. I know God, and I have experienced God working in my life. So I am afforded a point of reference that reminds me of how many times God has been faithful to me, how many times God has seen me through, how many times God has healed me. This indicator allows me to be grateful for where God has brought me from, what He has done for me and allows me to grasp that He can do it again, right here, right now in my present. When I recognize who I am and to whom I belong, I am grateful to God for His goodness, His kindness and His faithfulness towards me. Armed with all of this knowledge it becomes common place for me to find myself engulfed by my gratitude instead of my would be attitude. I find myself choosing life, rather than to crawl up and die and lose hope. Even when it looks like all hell has broken loose, if we know who God is to us and we know who we are in Him, we are just grateful to be!

So today, take a moment to get your mind off of all that you do not have, all that is not working for you, all that could go wrong and should go wrong, and place your mind back at Calvary’s cross and recognize all he has already done, and how He is keeping you now. Thank Him in advance for your deliverance and your needs being met; for if nothing else you should have an attitude of gratitude. One that allows you to believe that the God that has provided will continue to change; the one that healed can heal again! Be Grateful!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 11/26/09: Happy Thanksgiving)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Young Woman Who Is Giving And Full Of Thanks: Tracy Koweh

Happy ThanksGIVING…..

2 Corinthians 9:7 (Amplified Bible)

⁷Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He ^[a]takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, "prompt to do it") giver [whose heart is in his giving].^(A)

Today is a day when most are preparing to sit and eat a turkey dinner somewhere. Either as a party of one, two, a huge family or a guest at a restaurant. Most will go around in a circle and name the things they are thankful for. Some will just be glad they didn’t have to cook, nor will they need to clean. Others will be home worried about their loved ones, for whatever reason couldn’t be at the table.

I sat the other day thinking of all the preparations I needed in order to celebrate this holiday known as Thanksgiving. I listen as people talk about the meaning of this day and realize we all seem to focus on the “Thanks” and give no attention to the “Giving”. What better way to show our thanks and appreciation to God, than to continue to give unto Him and others. God gave us His son Jesus Christ. Jesus gave us His life so that we may live eternally. Today shouldn’t just be about turkey and words of gratitude, but a time of giving unto others. A time to reflect on all God has blessed us with, and then a time of asking what the purpose of those blessings are.

As you sit today with your family, friends, or God alone, make a conscience decision to give a little more of yourself from this day forth. Give a few minutes in your Word. Give someone a hand who may not be as well off as you. Give a little more offering unto the kingdom. Give a few extra minutes of quality time with your children and spouse. Today be thankful for all God has given you, but don’t be selfish and keep it to yourself. Happy ThanksGIVING.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Wednesday 11/25/09)

Serving To Love…Loving To Serve

Romans 12:9-13 (Amplified Bible)

⁹[Let your] love be sincere (a real thing); hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good.

¹⁰Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing honor to one another.

¹¹Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord.

¹²Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer.

¹³Contribute to the needs of God's people [sharing in the necessities of the saints]; pursue the practice of hospitality.

I was speaking with a friend of mine recently and we were conversing about how strange family dynamics can be. It is those who are closest to you that will hurt you the deepest, and seem to at times abandon us when we need them most. I have found that is has been hard for many that encounter me to understand the dynamics of my life. In spite of my situation that left me a less than perfect predicament in many areas of my natural life, and in material things, I have still been determined to trust God and help when I am lead to and to give more than many think that I should. What is it that is driving me, LOVE! Love first for God and then for those who God has allowed me to encounter. Love will drive us to be a servant and love those even when we don’t receive that same in return. We have an obligation to get it right that will rarely lie with individuals but instead will always lie with God the Father.

How many times have we all been in a place and God asked us stretch and do something for someone? We have all probably had this at least a few. But what about those times when God asks us to do for or sow into the life of someone who has hurt or used us? These are times when we may question is our love for God enough to sustain us through the task ahead. But the truth of the matter is that when we have the heart of God, we love people as He does, we begin to see the need and not so much the sin that may be gripping the individual. When will realize that the love we have that abides through Christ transcend a multitude of sins and transgressions. Loving God gives us an appetite to serve no matter who it is and what the circumstances. We find joy in just knowing that God loves us and is pleased by our ultimate obedience to Him..

I guess the question for us today is how much do we love God? Is it enough to get us past the pain or offense of another to do what is right by them, even when they won’t do what is right by us? Something will help is just to think if God negated to do for us when we offended him, or lacked obedience when he requested it. But God loved us enough to do the ultimate service for us by giving us His on to die in our stead. His service was love and He showed His love us through His service. If He can do this for all, why do we have such a hard time doing it for one another? Isn’t it time to get some real love in our lives, love that gives us a heart of service, and a love in doing it!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 11/24/09)

Today’s Devotional Written By My Spiritual Daughter Whose Spirit Is Ever Expanding In Knowledge and Sensitivity: Tracy Koweh

Not About You………..

Philippians 2:3-5 (New Living Translation)

³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. ⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Recently I find myself in a place asking God, “When will this end?”. See every time I seem to get “back on track” in one area of my life, another area seems to go crazy. As soon as I started to get caught up in my finances, I got a $1100 hole in my roof the size of a golf ball. As soon as I started to get my leave built back up at work, Jai came down with an ear infection and virus that took me out of work for a whole week. The moment I was placed in position for my promotion, the criteria for that promotion was changed and automatically caused a delay in the process.

I found myself frustrated and confused. Why God do you continue to allow these things to fall upon me. I tithe, I give, I pray, I this and I that, and as clear as day He said to me………..Sweetheart It’s Not About You. I thought for a second that I had water in my ear, but He said it again. He said He had to keep me in a place where I wouldn’t be able to do it without Him, without Faith. He also said that He blesses us, to be a blessing to others. Jesus wasn’t born to get the glory and praise He gets, He was born so that He could die for the sins of others. He now walks in the benefits and rewards of His obedience. Everything Jesus had, He used to fulfill His destiny and purpose.

So many times in our lives, we miss God, because we get stuck on ourselves. Our problems, our wants, our needs, our failures, and we don’t take the time to look at all we do have or those around us in true need. A lot of times we think we know what’s best, or that there is something much better on the other side. But I’ve come to learn that if it’s not on the side of Jesus, it’s not worth it in the long run.

Today as we move, live and breathe, let us be reminded that we are not here for the perks of Christianity, but for the praise and purpose of God. Let us remember to put God before everything we do, touch or commit to. Through our obedience and faith, the blessings will come. So let’s begin to get over ourselves and begin to turn it all over to God.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Monday 11/23/09)

Today’s Devotional Written By My Spiritual Daughter Whose Spirit Is Ever Expanding In Knowledge and Sensitivity: Tracy Koweh

It’s All About Who?............

Luke 6:38 (Amplified Bible)

³⁸Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour ^[a]into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you.

Today’s message in the music comes from Mya’s “It’s All About Me”. The first two lines of the chorus say, “Tonight it`s bout me, me, me, me, me. Forget about you you you you you”. Yesterday sitting in church, the Lord dropped this song into my spirit. At first I assumed He was going to make the revelation that its time for us to make it all about Him. That everything we do should be about and for Him, but that’s not what happened.

God showed me that this is what is happening to the body of Christ. We are letting our fellow brother or sister fall by the wayside as we continue to go higher and higher. We are so busy trying to get out blessing, that we lose sight of blessing someone else. We are so anxious to get our deliverance and forgiveness, that we forget others need a breakthrough and our forgiveness.

A few weeks ago my Bishop pointed out that as much as we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we never have truly paid attention to the very first word, Our………….it says OUR Father which art in heaven. In today’s society it’s easy to fall into the “every man for himself” attitude, but as Christians it is God’s desire that we be there for others. Jesus was the greatest example when He laid down his life for us. Sometimes we do the smallest thing for someone, and expect an announcement to made as breaking news on CNN, when really we should need no recognition at all.

Today as we begin another week, let us look for opportunities to pour into the lives of others. What you take the time out to do for someone else, God will take the time out to do for you. If your marriage is failing, bless someone else’s. If your finances are shaky, give more to the kingdom. As we prepare to enter into this holiday season, show God how thankful you truly are………..by using your time, energy, finances and gifts to bless someone else.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Friday 11/20/09)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Young Woman That Shows Her Appreciation and Adoration,Unto God and Man: Tracy Koweh

Where’s The “ppreciation”?

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁸Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].

I remember this joke I heard about “getting your ppreciation”. The comedian set up the joke by talking about driving on the highway. You know when someone is trying to get over into your lane, and you choose to slow down and let them in. Well, the unspoken universal sign is to put an arm up…... as a sign of your ppreciation. Now, for some reason, speaking as a person who doesn’t get road rage……this gets me very upset when I find myself in this situation.

Not just on the highway, but in life. I’ve gotten to a place where I can bless and give to others without any want or desire for them to return the gift, thought or gesture. But I still am at a place where I need more than a reward from heaven. I still have a need to feel “pprecation”. What’s so crazy about the arm raise, is that it’s something so quick and simple to do, but the affect it has is so great. I find myself at times letting cars in, just to see if they will show me some ppreciation. I then get angered when I feel my good deed has been wasted on someone who didn’t deserve it.

So one day while I was in my car about to get upset, God asked me if I ALWAYS gave Him a signal of ppreciation. Now, to me that was a low blow, but He got my attention with it. He reminded me of some of the times He had let me in, let me slide by, or let me have another chance………. only to have me act like I deserved His blessings, coverings, and love. Told me that sometimes He blesses us, just to see if we will appreciate the blesser or the blessing more.

Today as we prepare to head into the weekend, let us show our “ppreciation” to those who take the time to do things for us, no matter how big or small. But more importantly, let us give God all of the “ppreciation” He so rightly deserves. Don’t let another day go by, that your lack of gratitude would have God regret sending Christ to the cross for you.

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Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 11/19/09)

Today’s Devotional Written By An Anointed Young Woman: Tracy Koweh

Something About the Name Jesus…….Part II

Hebrews 2:17 (New Living Translation)

¹⁷ Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters,^[a] so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.

Would you ever go to Burger King and try to place your food order with the person mopping the floor. Would you ask the receptionist at the hospital to perform your open heart procedure? Would you summon a second grader to drive you to the airport? Of course the obvious answer to these questions is no.

Well, sometimes we do exactly that in our spiritual and prayer life. We confuse Jesus with His counterparts: God the Father and the Holy Spirit. We seek Jesus for counsel when we should be asking the Holy Spirit for that. We ask Jesus to take care of those who spitefully hurt us, when that’s the job description of the Father.

When you say the name of Jesus, that’s pure power. You are activating your very own personal savior. Jesus is the one who is constantly at the foot of the Father pleading on your behalf. Jesus is the one in your hospital room waiting to heal you. Jesus is the one at the well, waiting to love and forgive you. Jesus is the one who grants you grace and mercy. Jesus is the one who saves our marriages, keeps our children and intercedes for us.

Sometimes our prayers aren’t being answered, because we are directly them to the wrong place. In any place of business, there are many employees, all working for the same company but performing different duties in order to accomplish optimum success for the vision. The same is true with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Today, rediscover just what that “something” about the name Jesus really means. That something special is love, healing, forgiveness, second chances, grace, mercy, and POWER. May you be blessed- - - - - - in Jesus name. Amen

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Wednesday 11/18/09)

Today’s Devotional Written By An Anointed Young Woman: Tracy Koweh

“Something” About the Name Jesus!

Philippians 2:9-10 (New Living Translation)

⁹ Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

One day last week Jai said “Bless You” to someone she had heard sneeze. After the “Thank You” came, I told Jai that it’s “God Bless You”. It’s so amazing to me that the worse off the world gets, the more the world is trying to put God on the back burner. They’ve taken Him out of the schools and now we hear of shootings left and right. Some wanted to remove “In God We Trust” from our currency, and right now the dollar isn’t worth much. We went from Christmas to Xmas and from Happy HOLIdays to Seasons Greetings.

I can only imagine how angry this must make God. But then we as professed Christians do the same thing. We bless a stranger, pray for a co-worker, get healed from a disease, or delivered from a stronghold and we are not bold enough to say, “God did it”, “the Holy Spirit spoke to me”, or “Jesus healed my body”. Instead we say, “something made me do it”, “I just had a feeling they needed a blessing”, or “the doctors say it must have been a mistake on the first test”. As much as God has done for us, why are we so afraid of what the world will think of us for praising Him. Why are we more concerned with sounding crazy, then going crazy if God didn’t keep us in our right mind.

It’s one thing when your enemies come against you, but it’s a new level of hurt when its your own flesh and blood. No nail hurt Jesus more than being disowned or embarrassed by the very people He took the nail for. The Bible says that at the name of JESUS every knee shall bow and tongue confess, not at the name of “something”.

Today let us speak up and speak out so the world knows the true power of our living God. Let us not operate in a spirit of condemnation by the thoughts or opinions of others. Declare that God is God and Jesus is Lord, before He leaves it up to “something” to bless you, keep you, love you, and save you.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 11/17/09)

Today's Devotional Written By The Serious Minded and Committed: Tracy Koweh

Tit for Tat

Psalm 116:5 (New Living Translation)

⁵ How kind the Lord is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours!

Have you ever been in a relationship with someone that always had to go tit for tat with you. Over the last decade of my life, I’ve encountered several different types. There is the person, that no matter how hard or great your trail or testimony is, they have one that’s harder or greater. Then there is the person, that if you do something wrong they point out several other things you don’t do to great either. Or how about the person who does something wrong, is caught, and then turns the spotlight on the time you did that in your past.

Although these relationship dynamics are unhealthy, I want to talk about the friend who goes tit for tat only when it benefits them. I can recall several situations involving guys I’ve dated, that the second I popped an attitude they did too. The moment I tripped about something silly, they used that as a green light to trip too. It’s almost like they were waiting on me to do something wrong so they could jump on the band wagon and get me back. Now what’s really crazy about all of this, is the fact that this is not the part that bothered me. It was the fact that the tit for tat was only used on my negative behaviors.

If I gave gifts, gifts were not given back. If I called, wrote or texted “just because” the same wasn’t done for me. There were plenty of times I dropped plans, made sacrifices and made myself totally available, only to find myself alone and stranded in my time of need. Then a few days ago God raised the question, “What if He went tit for tat with us?” How would that change our relationship with Him, and our life in generally?. What if God measured your blessing, simply by how much time you spent with Him versus Facebook, baby boo, or whatever else has your attention? What if God choose to answer your prayer, only when you choose to obey His request? What if God gave you your financial status, based upon how much you gave to His kingdom?

Today let us live a life, that if God decided to go tit for tat with us, we would still be Blessed and Highly favored. Let us make God a daily priority, and not a situational necessity.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Monday 11/16/09)

Today’s Devotional Is Written By A Ms Big Stuff In My Book, Growing In Grace and Faith…

Big Stuff…….

Psalm 83:18 (New Living Translation)

¹⁸ Then they will learn that you alone are called the Lord, that you alone are the Most High, supreme over all the earth.

Today’s message in the music comes from Jean Knight’s “Mr Big Stuff”. The song is about a man trying to impress a woman with his big fancy this and his big fancy that. She lets him know that he will never ever get her love based off of those things. One verse in the song says…….I'd rather give my love to a poor guy that has a love that's true (oh yeah),Than to be fooled around and get hurt by you, Cause when I give my love, I want love in return (oh yeah), Now I know this is a lesson Mr. Big Stuff you haven't learned.

So many times in our spiritual lives we make this same mistake in a two part series. First, we try to show the world how much God we have, not by our lifestyle, but by the number of Jesus loves me bumper stickers on our car. Our million Jesus on or off the cross pendants we wear. The covered by His blood t-shirts and the three scriptures we quote for every situation because we’ve taken the time to memorize them.

Secondly, we mess up by trying to impress God with everything but the right thing. Our lives, our heart, our soul. We praise Him when we feel like, show up when its not going to interfere with plans already in motion, and say the same three prayers to Him because we’ve taken the time to memorize them. God is not impressed or moved by the number of houses we own, the size of our car or bank account………if we are not using them to uplift His kingdom. Like the song says, God would rather love a poor man who will serve Him wholeheartedly than a rich man who will betray or hurt him.

Today, as we begin another work week, let us become the little man so that God can be Mr Big Stuff in our lives. Let us die to ourselves, so that we may live big in Him.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Friday 11/13/09)

Speaking Victory Through The Test

1 John 5:4-5 (Amplified Bible)

⁴For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith. ⁵Who is it that is victorious over [that conquers] the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on that fact]?

Mark 11:22-24 (Amplified Bible)

²²And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. ²³Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place; it will be done for him. ²⁴For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].

Recently, a friend of mine has been going through some things. Granted these are things that could try men’s souls and challenge the faith of almost all. As we discussed different aspects of the test that they were facing we shared the Word Of God and prayed together, but almost like clockwork when it came to a certain point in the conversation instead of leaving in the Hands of the Almighty, they began to discuss an alternative plan. The first time I tried to just encourage them to stand, we went over some additional scriptures and I tried to speak words of life and faith. As the week wore on and every conversation, repeated the same process, I guess righteous indignation rose up in me and I said “either you believe God or you don’t, either you trust him to deal with this or you don’t.” By putting a plan B into place what are we telling God, He is incapable of handling it for us?

For many of us depending upon the magnitude of our circumstance will depend on our ability to speak life over ourselves and to stand in faith knowing God is able. If the test or trial is minimal we have no problem, speaking to that little hill and telling it to move. It is not a chore and there is little to no effort that we must apply to staying focus and believing we will walk away in victory. But it is when the test is big or it is in an area we have never seen it before, that is often where we fail. We want to ensure victory is ours so, we feel it is our duty to help God out or try to under gird His word and His abilities with our own. If God reminds us in His word that the power of life and death is in the tongue, then how come we only think that is applicable to certain things and not to others. If we speak the Word of God it is the breath infuses life into our situations that appear dead and or that will cause us harm.

Today chose to believe God and to take Him at His word by speaking victory into your life, into your circumstances, by trusting God and reminding God of his promises. Stand and deliver through faith, the Words that will encourage your soul and see you through to victory. Speak over yourself, encourage yourself in the Lord!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 11/12/09)

Who Are You Reppin’?

1 Peter 4:8-10 (Amplified Bible)

⁸Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and ^[a]disregards the offenses of others].

⁹Practice hospitality to one another (those of the household of faith). [Be hospitable, be a lover of strangers, with brotherly affection for the unknown guests, the foreigners, the poor, and all others who come your way who are of Christ's body.] And [in each instance] do it ungrudgingly (cordially and graciously, without complaining but as representing Him).

¹⁰As each of you has received a gift (a particular spiritual talent, a gracious divine endowment), employ it for one another as [befits] good trustees of God's many-sided grace [faithful stewards of the extremely diverse powers and gifts granted to Christians by unmerited favor].

I had the opportunity to speak with a dear friend of mine today. We were reminiscing over times past. We happened on a time when we worked together, and I use to try to witness and encourage her and some other young ladies about Christ and about His love and expectations for us. When they needed someone to pray they would “b-line” for me, but when it came to getting down to hear what God wanted of them, I now felt as if I had grown two heads and an extra set of eyes that were green. I never pushed, but would always pray that the example I lived and the words spoken would be enough one day to affect their lives to come to Christ and to fully submit to them. This friend I thank God is one such product of God’s faithfulness and prayers in that area and there are others. As we spoke she was now relaying to me that people were seeing a change in her and that she was now sowing seeds into others and watching the seeds grow.

During this conversation she shared how God had showed her some ungodly characteristics that she once possessed; I laughed thinking to myself we all have those. But the difference is when we begin to submit and yield to God through the Holy Spirit we now give Him access to our inner most places and He is able to really show us ourselves, the good, the bad, in-between and the ugly. What we are showing people ( in our living, speaking and doing) shows the really content of who we serve and who we belong to. If anger is our natural reaction, we may still be giving too much place to the enemy, or we may still have too much self that we have not allowed God to deal with and deliver us from. If we are selfish and stingy we are worried about preserving our own and God has not become our provider we are still handling it. We are constantly walking in fear and anxiety, faith is not our motto so we have not gotten to the point of trusting and yielding to the Holy Spirit, in order for us to live in peace. If we are saying Lord, Lord our life should be speaking the same. We should not be reppin’ self and claiming God, nor should we be reppin’ God and claiming it was in our own power that things were done.

Today let who you rep be evident in your words and in your lifestyle. Don’t be double minded and unstable in your living. Let those around you either see you and hear you or see God and hear Him too! If we are following Christ let all we do bring Glory and Honor to the kingdom and to the King!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Wednesday 11/11/09)

Exchanging My Issues For His Virtue…

Luke 6:17-19 (King James Version)

¹⁷And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; ¹⁸And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. ¹⁹And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

Luke 6:17-19 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁷And Jesus came down with them and took His stand on a level spot, with a great crowd of His disciples and a vast throng of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to listen to Him and to be cured of their diseases-- ¹⁸Even those who were disturbed and troubled with unclean spirits, and they were being healed [also]. ¹⁹And all the multitude were seeking to touch Him, for healing power was all the while going forth from Him and curing them all [^[a]saving them from severe illnesses or calamities].

Just about everything we do requires some form of exchange. If we want to purchase something we have to exchange currency for goods. If we work, we exchange time and effort for money. For some people they have exchanged happiness, and peace of mind for wealth and status. There are many of us who have exchanged who we are to be with people or to be in a certain place at a certain time. The point I am sure you have all gotten is that exchange is apart of who we are there is no way around it. Jesus served Himself as a ransom for us, He took our place, and He exchanged Himself so that we could receive salvation and receives eternal life. It is very infrequent that we will find an exchange like this, where one benefits and the other does not receive as much or anything as a result.

When I think about how awesome God is and how much He loves us, I am overwhelmed. God sets up systems of exchange for us that affords us to be the benefactor of some awesome things, even when we are broken, tore down and not in our right mind and heart. The old saints in the church where I grew up use to say, “He didn’t have to do it but he did, oh and I am so glad he did.” This was a testimony that we have issues that are sometimes of our making, sometimes they are things we were born into, and other times they come upon us as a result of who we hang with, prioritize, turn to, or make our gods. But even with all that God instructs us to, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need,” (Hebrews 4:16). We can give can bring God a life filled with issues and He provides us new life, joy, love and peace. We can give Him a withered hand and body and restores Health and prospers our way. We can bring Him the barrenness of who we are physically and spiritually and He will give us off spring and descendants that out number the stars and lives are changed just from the connection.

Then if all of this is ours just for the asking and the reaching why are so many of us still standing in the midst of our issues and misery? Wholeness, healing, salvation and so much more are just a touch a way, it is right at our fingertips. All we need to do is touch the hem of His garment reach for His presence and we will be made whole. Today is a great day to exchange the issues that have kept us all bound, for the virtues and character of God! It is high time to stop waiting by the pool to be put in Jesus is passing by!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 11/10/09)

You Can Choose Who You Are Related To?

Proverbs 7:4 (New Living Translation)

⁴ Love wisdom like a sister;
make insight a beloved member of your family.

I use to laugh all the time when people would say “you can pick your friends, but you can’t choose your relatives.” I have a girlfriend that had little no relationship with her own mother because of drama in her formative years. But God blessed her to become a part of our family while we were stationed together at one of my first duty stations. I have also been blessed over the years to watch my mother guide, nurture and love on so many that did not have mothers or those that had them, were lacking some significant element in their lives. They saw or found what they needed in her and chose to adopt my mom as their own.

There are times in life that we need to chose companions or God will allow us through free will to allow us to chose who or what is in our blood line. I remember a line from a movie I love called “Ever After,” and this mother who had been devious and conniving went before the King and Queen for lying, when she was confronted, the Queen issues her a warning, she says, “choose wisely.” If we have a choice why would we choice to be related to things like bitterness, wrath, unforgiveness, anger, envy, strife, vengeful and things that keep our lives and the lives of others in so much turmoil. Instead, why wouldn’t we recognize that God is love and He is merciful, kind, long suffering, forgiving, patient and he forgets our sins to remember them no more…But we chose to make a home with things that are destructive in nature just to keep control have the upper hand or to ensure people get back what they have been perceived to have given us.

If we are to follow the Word of God it encourages us to make wisdom like a sister. It is saying that we should adopt wisdom and it should become apart of our lives in such a way that it is like a sibling that we love and nurture. It also says to make insight like a family member, a close family member. The implication is that insight (understanding) will be close enough to us, it is easily accessible, and it is close enough to provide us counsel and to be infused in situations easily because it is a trusted member of our family, of our value systems.

Today is a good day to assess, who you have adopted into your family. What attributes, values and characters have unlimited access to you, your life and your family. It maybe time to emancipate yourself from some for irreconcilable difference and others, you need to get on your knees and fill out the adoption papers, and bring them home today!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Monday 11/09/09)

I am writing Today’s Message In the Music, because My Baby Tracy Koweh, Was Under The Weather

Who Are You Keeping Time With?

Psalm 27:4 (Amplified Bible)

⁴One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.

Today’s message in the music comes from Eric Benet’s song “Spend My Life With You”. This song is sung as a duet between Eric Benet and a female artist. In this song they are doing a comparison of sorts between life before and after they found each other and the love that came with that connection. They express the fact that “they never knew,” such a love could be, and the attributes that this type of love brings. The line that caught my ear was the hook or chorus, which says, “Can I just see you every morning when I open my eyes, and can I feel your heart beat beside me every night. Can I feel this way until the end of all time; can I just spend my life with you?”

We focus in on so many things in life. We spend an enormous amount of time at work and doing the things that we deem important to get the job done or the task at hand accomplished, (and for many of us we don’t even like our jobs, let alone love them). But yet we say we love God and we spend little to no time with Him. Many of us lack the very knowledge of who he is and the intent of His heart towards us. We spend time going through the motions in life and even in our relationship with God. But when we find truth of the love of God and the value that is in Him. The realization that God’s love offers us a life changing love, one that strengthens us, and gives us everything we can possibly need; it should make us want to feign after it and the individual giving it to us. Our desire should be to want to spend as much time basking in that kind of love and what it holds for us as we can. But we don’t, instead we are running after things that don’t mean much or holds temporary value. Our desire should be such, that we hunger and thirst for God’s love in such a way that we need it to sustain us, that we crave to feel it every waking hour of every day; it should have eternal value. It should be the type of love that is so real and evident that it can not be contained but it is evident in the way we deal with others and how we show them who we belong to.

As we begin the work we ask yourself these question, when, I wake what is the first thing on my mind and who do I want to spend time with? When I go to bed at night who is the last person I think of? What love is the biggest desire for me to obtain? Who is getting most of my time and energy? For where you are expending all of that time, energy and effort is who or what has you. Tracy says that I am Jesus’ stalker; I would not have it any other way, because He alone is my greatest desire, and the greatest love of my life!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Friday 11/06/09)

Time Spent…Looking and Searching For…

Psalm 119:10 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁰With my whole heart have I sought You, inquiring for and of You and yearning for You; Oh, let me not wander or step aside [either in ignorance or willfully] from Your commandments.

Proverbs 8:17 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁷I love those who love me, and those who seek me early and diligently shall find me.

I have a teenage daughter, who like most young ladies her age loves to hit the mall or Wally World for that matter (the Wal-Mart). She will often tell me that she has to go to the store for one item and hours later after she has searched for that item and related to several others we find ourselves still confined to the store or the mall that was only suppose to yield us the one item we set out in search of to begin with. I have often vowed never to enter into an agreement to attend these little outings, after a time like this, especially if my mind is in a zone to find the item and return to the solace of my days plan. Yesterday, as we discussed one such outing to purchase paint for a bathroom make over, she wanted to begin, I sat and listened to the plans as they were being laid out, but I heard so much more than the simplicity of what should have been. I heard how often we pain stakingly apply time to everything from shopping for paint to shopping and acquiring shoes, or for some men I know, they can spend an entire day on car lot after car lot in “just looking.” How ironic is this behavior, when we often do not go in search of God, through the Holy Spirit, His word, His promises, His instructions and His blessings!

I know right, that stung, it stung me too when I discovered that we rarely spend the time we should seeking out God and really knowing who He is or who His son is suppose to be in our lives. We apply and waste so much time on temporal things, and place less than minimal value, significance and time on things with eternal value and life giving properties. God sought us out when we were yet in our sin, He sent His son to die for us and to reconcile us back to Himself. He valued us so much that He was willing to sacrifice the greatest thing to find us back in His presence. So why is it so difficult for us to seek after one that loves us so much and wants us to have life abundantly? Because we would rather gain the whole world and it’s contents and often risk losing our souls. For some of us we would just rather live in mediocrity than to take time to be that one that hungers and thirst after God that it drives us into His presence in such a way that we find the precious promises and secret places in God that will afford us shelter, protection, love and life abundantly.

It is time to get in hot pursuit of God in such a way that we find Him, His nature, His character and His promises so that we can learn who He really is and learn the true value of who He is, and who He can be in our lives! Now that is time well spent!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 11/05/09)

While We Are Yet Standing…

1 Timothy 2:1-6 (Amplified Bible)

¹FIRST OF all, then, I admonish and urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men,

²For kings and all who are in positions of authority or high responsibility, that [outwardly] we may pass a quiet and undisturbed life [and inwardly] a peaceable one in all godliness and reverence and seriousness in every way.

³For such [praying] is good and right, and [it is] pleasing and acceptable to God our Savior,

⁴Who wishes all men to be saved and [increasingly] to perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the [divine] Truth.

⁵For there [is only] one God, and [only] one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

⁶Who gave Himself as a ransom for all [people, a fact that was] attested to at the right and proper time.

The other day after a series of events had taken place in my life and people I was close to began to come under attack in a very real way, I asked what was going on. As I began to meditate and enter into a time of prayer, God reminded me of something that happened when my son was much younger. The children and I were walking across a parking lot, and my son had an awful habit of walking with his head down and not stopping to observe his surroundings, not even on coming traffic. I had spoken with him about this on many occasions and reminded him of the importance of looking up, every time we got out of the car (or at least so it seemed). This day was no different, but my son kept up his normal routine, as he reached a section of the parking lot where more traffic was present and flowing he stepped forward without a look. I looked directly at him seeing the imminent danger he was in, ran towards him and grabbed at an article of clothing he had on to push or pull him out of the way quickly. As I pushed Him into safety, and managed to thrust him out of harms way, my balance at that point was not as stable and firm as minutes before when I was just standing and walking at a leisurely pace. While I was pushing him into a place of safety, I had inadvertently placed myself in a place where harm could have come to me if I had totally lost my balance.

How many times have you lifted up people before the Lord and all hell began to break loose in your life? I am sure you have been called to pray for others in harms way and found that the peace that once was abiding in your life had taken a mass exodus. Like me, I am positive that anyone that has stood on the wall or in the gap for others has found their situation and their own footing becoming shaky at best and feeling as if you had taken the place of the individual that you had begun standing for. As the individual found themselves free from harm, from the test or attack we seem to have found ourselves thrust right in the midst of a battle or some harmful place that was not even ours to begin with. Just as Christ did for us and still continues to do for us. He made Himself sin for us, He paid a price He did not owe and He stood in harms way and the gap for us when we could not withstand the penalty that we so obviously deserved. Jesus is still at the right hand making intercession for us. His blood deposited to cover every thing that would hurt, harm or destroy us. You see we may become the sacrifice in that moment or balance may look off, and it may appear that we are wobbly, but it is in that moment that we are carrying a care, to the throne and as we stand in strength for others, but we have to keep our eyes on Christ. The enemy comes to try to get us off the wall, to distract us from the task at hand, and to cause us to doubt our purpose. But truly greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world!

Through our time of standing, pushing, pulling, interceding and being in the gap for others, remember that the enemy seeks to bring you instability, seeks to make you weak, and to discourage you off the wall and out of your purpose as an intercessor, warrior and disciple. Just as Christ withstood for us, so it is with us that we must withstand for others, not allowing a moment of imbalance to take our focus from Christ and what we are there to do. Even when we lose our perfect balance God is right there to help us recover get back on the wall to fight again and to stand stronger than before. “For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, ⁵[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)