Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Friday 1/01/10) Happy New Year

Today’s Devotional Written by a Young Woman of Devotion and Increasing Revelation: Tracy Koweh

Richer but No Monetary Gain…….

Psalm 65:11-13 (New Living Translation)

¹¹ You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance. ¹² The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture, and the hillsides blossom with joy. ¹³ The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain. They all shout and sing for joy!

Every year my church has a theme that takes us through the whole year. In 2009 the theme was “Year of Expansion”. I was so excited…………I couldn’t wait for my promotion at work, my other sources of income, and the wealth of the wicked to come flooding in. Well, it’s the first day of 2010, and none of that happened.

The truth of the matter is that I gave more to others, switched Jaida’s school twice (which was a tuition increase both times), had more car trouble, more house maintenance issues that were not covered by insurance, and greater financial responsibilities than any year before. So I sat frustrated with God a few weeks back and asked where was my increase, where was my gain, my Heavenly resources, my Year of Expansion.

Then the truth stopped me dead in my tracks. God showed me that I had expanded first in my relationship with Him, then in my relationship with my daughter. Showed me the expansion of Jaida’s mind and social skills. Showed me how every time something came up, it got taken care of. Reminded me that in the same year my heart was broken and trampled on, was the same year He sent the man of my destiny to restore and repair that same heart. Flashed back in my mind, that I had more peace, joy, and sanity than I started the year off with. And that my confidence in who He created me to be, was finally starting to take residence within myself.

A lot of times we miss God or what He is trying to do, because we are waiting on Him to come in the pre-packaged wrapping that we want. Today is the beginning of a new year, a new day, a new dream, and another chance to trust God with your life. Let Him do what only God can do in your life, and that’s sustain you and keep you.

Today let us be excited and expecting God to do more than He did for us last year, but let us also be excited to do more for God than we did last year. Give a little more of YOU to others, spend a few more moments holding your loved ones, a little less time complaining about the job you’re blessed to have, while others pray they find a job that will make the ends meet………….but most importantly give God more glory , praise and honor than you ever have before. Happy New Year

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 12/31/09)

Today’s Devotional Written by a Young Woman of Devotion and Increasing Revelation: Tracy Koweh

Your Future is Waiting on You

John 14:29 (New Living Translation)

²⁹ I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.

Like most, I’ve heard the saying- - - -“Your past is behind you, Your future is in front of you, so enjoy the present because it’s a present/gift from God.” Well, yesterday God gave me a totally different perspective on the term “present”.

The morning was very peaceful and quiet because most commuters on my route are on holiday leave right now. So with the tranquility of the ride into work, my spirit was able to soak up all that God was pouring into me. Recently I find myself in a crazy place in my life. I have so much love in my heart and home, and yet so many haters trying to kill my joy. The more they come against me, the more they are only defeating themselves.

So this morning I thanked God for allowing me to be in a place of peace and sanity while all hell was trying to come against me. But I couldn’t help but ask God, why was this test so different. Why hadn’t the opinions of others been able to shake or break me like times before. And He simply told me it’s because I’ve come to trust in Him and His ability to bring me through whatever and whoever may come against me. He said that I had finally got to a place where I recognized that my present was PRE-sent before I was even in my mothers’ womb.

So many times we allow people and distractions to make us forget that nothing is new under the sun to God. Nothing is shocking to Him. No test or trial is strong enough to break us. If we begin to enter every situation in our lives, good and bad, with the mind-set that its apart of our destiny and that God has already signed off on it, we will save ourselves a lot of headaches, heartaches and time.

Today as we enter into the last day of this year, let us know that every devil and blessing that has our name on it, is already waiting on us. Don’t walk in fear, walk by faith. Don’t procrastinate, pray. Don’t walk away, walk with God. Don’t regret, re-evaluate. You have a date with destiny……………don’t be late. Have a Happy New Year

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Wednesday 12/30/09)

Could You Be Left To Cast A Stone?...

John 8:1-10 (Amplified Bible)

¹BUT JESUS went to the Mount of Olives.²Early in the morning (at dawn), He came back into the temple [^[a]court], and the people came to Him in crowds. He sat down and was teaching them,³When the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They made her stand in the middle of the court and put the case before Him.⁴Teacher, they said, This woman has been caught in the very act of adultery.⁵Now Moses in the Law commanded us that such [women--offenders] shall be stoned to death. But what do You say [to do with her--what is Your sentence]?^(A)6This they said to try (test) Him, hoping they might find a charge on which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger.⁷However, when they persisted with their question, He raised Himself up and said, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.⁸Then He bent down and went on writing on the ground with His finger.⁹They listened to Him, and then they began going out, conscience-stricken, one by one, from the oldest down to the last one of them, till Jesus was left alone, with the woman standing there before Him in the center of the court.¹⁰When Jesus raised Himself up, He said to her, Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you?

There are dynamics in all of our lives that can test us, sometimes we pass the test the first time out and other times we will see that test coming at us again because we have failed miserably. Going through many of the things in my life the Lord has given me certain instructions, going through this divorce the Lord instructed me not to throw stones, not to drag up his past for my gain and benefit, (although every lawyer says if he does it they will do what they must to win, and I have walked away from all of them, because of it). He said that in my singleness that I had to live a life that is pleasing to Him, one where I did not stay out all night long, engage in sex before marriage and that I continued to honor Him first and took care of my family in a way that He is pleased with. He has instructed me to let many things go, because it was not my place to seek revenge, but He would deal with those that dealt unfairly with me. There have been so many other things, these are just a few. These are the few that I have been able to be obedient to, but there have been others that I have taken the “F” on, (praying for people when initially instructed who have hurt me, is one of them). It is in my areas of failure that I have realized that I have little room to judge someone else or try to manipulate their demise. I have only succeeded by God’s grace, mercy and assistance.

I have witnessed recently many people, who are living a less than stellar existence stepping to and trying to confront, correct or tear down the lives of others, that they do not understand or agree with. How is that possible if they looked at their own situation for one minute? But that is just it for many of us who set out to get our way, to judge others, to punish or destroy others based on our interpretation of right and wrong and to be as pious as a Pharisee; we have not bothered to look inside the temple of our own undoing. It is so easy to look around and see everyone else, (especially someone we have deemed unlikable and do not care for) and see their faults failures and short comings and see how they should be handled and dealt with. But what about us, what if God in His infinite power decided to judge us and treat us the same way we treat others…Whew… for most of us we would be in a world of hurt. Many of us would be stoned, resurrected and stoned again. But thank God Jesus is interceding for you and I, because if God the one that judges decided to opening up that can of “just desserts” on us, the earths would be opening up and swallowing us up, pestilences and plagues would be hitting our house and situations, some would be pillars of salt, and many of us would cease to exist on any level, it would be total annihilation.

We make the mistake of not allowing God to search us and find our wicked ways and pull them out; instead we would rather interrogate, talk about, plot and plan on others. This is dangerous on so many levels, first off the Bibles says, “Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm,” (Chronicles 16:22). We are messing with and trying to bring down people who we have no clue who they are, let alone that they are chosen of God, because we have not once taken a look at who they are through the eyes of Christ, we are too busy looking out through our glass house where we haven’t even bothered to clean the windows. Another passage says “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones,” (Luke 17:2). We are messing with the lives and futures of God’s children and just as a mother eagle will take out anyone or anything trying to mess with her eaglets, God is the same. For many of us it is high time that we wake out if this haze that we have been living in and catch a clue of how we are living and dealing with others, before God does it for us, and trust me when I say and it won’t be pretty.

Today come down off the judgment seat, and get yourself to the mercy seat. Let God begin first to deal with you, and your issues, before you even “attempt” to help someone else. If there is something that concerns or worries you the word instruct us to “cast all our cares on Him for He cares for us!” It is time to stop throwing stones for the stones you throw could be the thing that shatters and destroys your own house!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 12/29/09)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Young Woman God is Molding For His Service: Tracy Koweh

Follow My Voice...........

2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (New Living Translation)

8 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters,[a] about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 10 And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.

Last night I was sitting alone in the dark in my living room after spending some time with God. Jaida kept coming out of her room looking for me. I laughed because she would run back into her room when she realized the absence of light wouldn't allow her to see me. So finally she got up the courage to walk into the living room blindly, and then she called out for me. I said, “ Jai Mommy is right here, come here babygirl.” She immediately turned towards me and walked right into my arms.

This precious moment brought me to tears instantly. How many times in my life had I been in the dark, and thought that was going to be the end? Where would I be now, If I had the courage to just call out to God when I couldn't see my way out of a situation? How much stronger would I be had I not turned and ran back into the comfort of “my” room, instead of into the arms of my Daddy? I loved that she not only came to me, but she came boldly. As if to say, I may not be able to see a thing in sight, but I know my mommy has got me.

All she needed was to hear my voice, and it assured her that she was safe. We hear God speak so clearly to us at times, but we still need Him to send 3 angels to show us a sign, 4 prayer partners to confirm it and a big bang explosion to trust He is going to do what He promised.

Today as we begin another day, let us lay down our fears and follow His voice. When the storms and things of our past begin to hinder the view we have, let us close our eyes and follow His voice. The Bible says He will never leave nor forsake us, so even if you can't see Him, or see what it is that He is trying to do, just lay down your fears, and follow His voice. Don't be afraid of the dark, “Daddy, is right here, come to me my precious child”.

Words OfEncouragement To Start The Day (Monday 12/28/09)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Young Woman of Devotion: Tracy Koweh

Let Go of Your Elephant Syndrome…

Micah 7:18-19 (New Living Translation)

¹⁸ Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love. ¹⁹ Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!

Today’s message in the music comes from Keyshia Cole’s song “I Remember”. The song is mostly about her remembering one of the greatest heartbreaks of her life. Listening to just the music of the song, you’d think it was a beautiful love song, but the words tell a different story.

Like Keyshia Cole, I use to sit up and replay all the bad things that happened in my life, to protect myself from letting it happen again. What I’ve learned now, is that by not letting my past go, I was only hindering my future and stunting my present. You would think that we as Christian would be able to focus on all the good that God has blessed us with, and all of the storms He has brought us from. But most times we only speak of the hardships and trails from our past.

Last night my cousin came to me and apologized for something that happened over 15 years ago. We were little kids who really had no clue of the impact of our choices back then. He told me about 8 times how bad he felt and that through his wife, God had begun to deal with him about the physical and emotional scars he had left on people. There were tears shed, but the part that bothered me………was that he kept holding his head down. So many times God will deal with us about something, deliver/heal us from it, then forgive us and move on, but the problem is that we don’t. We try to give it to God with one hand, while keeping our grip on it with other.

Today as we begin the last Monday of this year. Let us not carry the burdens of our past into another year. Let us leave the failures, disappointments, missed opportunities, mistakes and bad choices behind us. Let us remember that God is, has been and always will be an awesome God. If God has placed it into the sea of forgetfulness, why don’t you follow His lead. As Aaliyah said ……………Dust Yourself off and Try Again.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Friday 12/25/09) Merry Christmas To All!

Today’s Devotional Written By A Miracle and A Blessing: Tracy Koweh

Which Town Visit Will You be Attending?

Philippians 4:19 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁹And my God will liberally supply (^[a]fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Today’s message in the music comes from the famous Christmas song “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. I was in my car last week just signing away and the Lord asked me to listen to the words. Of course I felt the need to remind Him, that like most, I already knew all of the words. Then He just said, “I hope Santa doesn’t visit your town, when Jesus comes back, cause like most, your going to miss THE visit”.

Whoa, is all I could say. So I decided to listen to the words I had been listening to and singing and teaching Jaida. The song says: “You better watch you, You better not cry, You better not pout, I’m telling you why……….Santa Claus is coming to town. He’s making a list, and checking it twice, Going to find out who’s Naughty or Nice….” and so on. Then it hit me, Santa has become another way of taking the focus off of Christ.

We take our kids to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what they want and need, on somebody else’s birthday at that. We have them write a list and even let them mail it to the North Pole. We take them to have breakfast with Santa, pictures with Santa, and even help them leave cookies out for Santa. My oh my, when was the last time you taught your kids to sit at the foot of the throne and tell the one true living God what they wanted and needed. When was the last time we showed them to eat from the Word of God to start their day off, because breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And when have they ever saw us leave something or do something for Christ.

We sing songs like Santa Baby, all the while forgetting that the baby in the manager is not only the real meaning of the season, but that His Father is the true provider of every present under every tree. It’s funny how we’ll allow our kids to stay up all night trying to get a glimpse of Santa, but we won’t make them stay awake a few hours in church, to get a glimpse of Jesus.

So today I say: “You better watch out, You need not pout, You don’t have to cry, I’m telling you why…………Jesus Christ is coming back to town. He has a list, He won’t check it twice. He already knows, Who’s naughty and nice. Jesus Christ is coming back to town. Merry CHRISTmas to all and Happy Birthday Jesus. Thank you for dying so that we may live.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 12/24/09)

When Ordinary Just Won’t Do…

Luke 1:26-38 (New International Version)

²⁶In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

³⁴"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

³⁵The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[a] the Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God."

³⁸"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

I have found myself recently in an unusual place and unusual season, where nothing is ordinary everything seems to be flowing and existing out of my means and resources but according to how God plans for them to be. When I took very ill several months ago, I had nothing but time on my hands to talk with God and pray with and for others. But I also entered into a time when I submitted everything I was to God. I realized that I really had no control and I was either going to fully surrender all to Jesus or I was going to become a slave to the illness that was attacking me. I chose God. I chose as Hezekiah to turn my face to the wall, I chose as Jacob to say I will not let go until you bless me, I chose as Job to say though you slay me yet will I trust you, I chose as Joseph to declare what may have been meant for evil God was going to turn around for my good. All in all it was God’s strength to declare these words that kept my mind and heart, even when my body did not follow. This process in God caused me to enter an unusual season one out my ordinary.

Can you imagine being Mary here she was engaged and thinking she was marrying the man of her dreams, and then she gets sidelines and told the Holy Spirit is going to overshadow her and get her pregnant and that she will give birth to the “Savior of the World.” I know Mary’s initial reaction must have been there goes my beautiful ordinary life; the Bible said she was troubled. I could imagine how many of us with that type of news would have just said oh how wonderful, thank you so much…I understand how that could be, because I am sure she thought one day she would have children, with the man she was engaged to marry, but here she is with a God wrench thrown into the middle of her life. You see when God shows up He has something to say and things to accomplish. The Bible in Isaiah 55:8 reminds us that: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. God doesn’t do things according to our limited resources, mindsets or time tables. He works in and out of eternity, with a limitless base of knowledge and understanding as well as an unlimited resource at His disposal. So it was nothing for Him to cause a virgin who was just living a normal life and make her name great and establishes her in the heritage of Jesus from ordinary to extraordinary in a moment.

There are times when God will use unusual circumstances to change our thinking, our attitude, our living, our commitment and service to Him by the strangest of situations, because the ordinary just won’t do. Ordinary circumstances just won’t get our attention fully, or it may not even be us; it may be the attention of those witnessing the situation and the elements that surround us, that need a jolt to see and believe. Other times there is a point He wants to prove, or circumstances that need to change in a radical way, so God will allow the ordinary to become the extraordinary to get the attention of all involved

So, today when things look odd or out of the ordinary realize God may be at work. Let us submit ourselves and all that we think we desire unto the Lord, for His plan or way of getting us where God needs for it to be may be extraordinarily different from ours. He may have need of what use to be our ordinary lives to bring extraordinary change to all who see, hear and come in contact with us.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Wednesday 12/23/09)

Recognizing Your God Ordained Destiny Verses Your Own…

Matthew 1:18-22 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place under these circumstances: When His mother Mary had been promised in marriage to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be pregnant [through the power] of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹And her [promised] husband Joseph, being a just and upright man and not willing to expose her publicly and to shame and disgrace her, decided to repudiate and dismiss (divorce) her quietly and secretly.

²⁰But as he was thinking this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary [as] your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of (from, out of) the Holy Spirit.

²¹She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus [the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, which means Savior], for He will save His people from their sins [that is, prevent them from ^[a]failing and missing the true end and scope of life, which is God].

²²All this took place that it might be fulfilled which the Lord had spoken through the prophet,

As I recently sat back and did my year and life in review, I realized how many times I may have missed God or God trying to get me somewhere or out and away from some things, but because of how it looked at the time I neglected to yield to God and recognize my destiny. I was viewing it through natural eyes instead of the eyes of the Spirit, that made my vantage point skewed at best. It is so easy to become distracted especially when you factor in what people may think or how it may appear in this venue we abide in which is the earthly realm. There have been times God gave me clues that people were not for me, but I ignored them, because I heard everyone around me talking about their Boo or how good a man or person they thought this individual was. There have been times when God said stretch in my giving or give to someone in a situation worse than my own, and immediately I thought of my own laundry list of things, and hearing people say you better take care of you, because no one else will. Well that is a lie; God will take care of me, better than I can take care of myself. Often we do not realize God is setting us up for His next move or for destiny, purpose and expansion, and so I have had to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.

Imagine Joseph, here he is betrothed to Mary, engaged if you will, and she drops the bomb on him that she is pregnant, and who she claimed the Father to be was crazier then the thought of his virgin bride being not so much of a virgin.. Joseph was a lot like all of us, he knew he was a righteous man, a man of standards, a good man, and his thoughts were I am above being in the mix of some mess. I am sure he was thinking, what are people going to say, and how is it going to look, if I believe this story or take this challenge, I will be a laughing stock. But the one thing He was missing was that God was in the mix and when God is in the mix He is the ultimate match for any mess or misunderstanding. You see when God places a calling on your life He can take a mess and make it a miracle. He can take some thing broken and make it something beautiful. But often it is hard to see anything but the mess, or what we thought should be the end result. It was only when Joseph could settle into His God given destiny and purpose that God could use Him to accomplish His will. The focus was no longer on man, his words, thoughts or agenda, but it became on the eternal magnificent of the moment God chose him. It is in theses moments that our agenda becomes subservient to the will of God being done in our lives, and the reward surely outweighs the talk, the criticism, the struggle (the cost).

Stop looking at how you think things should go and start allowing God His flow. Allow Him to use you for His glory and to relay to others His story. A story that displays His love sent down from Heaven above.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 12/22/09)

God, God, What Do You See…

Psalm 139:23-24 (Amplified Bible)

²³Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

²⁴And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Last week Thursday I went to my God daughter Jaida’s Christmas program. It was very entertaining. Jaida’s little class of “terrific two year olds” did a rendition of the poem, or story, if you will of “Brown Bear, Brow Bear what do you see,” but their teacher changed it to people and items associated with Christmas. As she held up each picture the children would say for example, “Reindeer, Reindeer what do you see, I see,” and then the children would name the item that was looking at them in the picture…It was priceless to see some of the children’s enthusiastic rendition. As I reflected later on that night it hit me strong in my spirit, God, God what do you see, when it is that you are looking at me? I began to think what is it that God sees when He looks straight through the outer me to the inner recess of whom I really am.

It is amazing to me that we can see an image of someone and draw a conclusion and perception just based upon what they look like or what they do for a living, what kind of clothes they wear or the type of job they have. But God could care less about that. He is looking to what is in our hearts, what is the very soul of us made of. The Bible says in Psalms 119:11 “Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” What is it that God is seeing in us, is it His word, His ways, His character, His joy, His peace, His love and obedience towards Him? Or when He looks is seeing our will, our unforgiveness, our bitterness, our choices, our disobedience, and our priorities? I often wondered how Mary become “Highly Favored,” It was because when God looked inside of her He saw something that allowed Him to know that Mary would be the right choice to carry the Savior and be entrusted to be a parent as He aspired to and grew to His God ordained destiny. Could this have been any of us? I must confess I do not think it could have been me.

Today as you enter a new day, a new moment, in this season of giving ask God what is it that He sees, you might be surprised and what you find out. God needs vessels that He can deposit His will into that will show forth His reflection and be obedient to carry out the task no matter how it may look to others as long as it looks right to Him. Isn’t it time to give all of you over to all of Him, for His glory? You see God already knows what lies within us; He has only been waiting on an opportunity to reveal it to us, so we can make the changes necessary to be the one that He finds favor in and can use to carry out His story…

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Monday 12/21/09)

Today’s Devotional Fashion By The Faith of A Young Lady That Is Being Tailored For The King: Tracy Koweh

The Time of My Life

1 Peter 4:13 (New Living Translation)

¹³ Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

Today’s message in the music comes from the chorus of the famous song from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, “I’ve Had the Time of My Life”. The entire chorus says: “I've had the time of my life. No I never felt this way before. Yes I swear it's the truth.
And I owe it all to you. 'Cause I've had the time of my life. And I've searched through every open door. 'Til I found the truth. And I owe it all to you”

I have always loved this song simply because of the dance lift in the end of the movie, but I never truly listened to the words of the song. As I sat in church this past Sunday and this song played in my spirit, it gave me a renewed love for Chirst. This year has been one of many ups and downs. Many missed opportunities, regrettable choices and wasted time, but it’s also been one of the greatest years of my life. I’ve been exposed to, expanded and excited about things I never ever dreamed I would be again. And not because of anything I did, but because of the new level of truth God had allowed me to experience in Him.

Like so many, I had been chasing after so many things, people and resources that were not the truth. They were masked in what I had believed to be the real deal, only to later disappoint and hurt me. It wasn’t until I was able to look past the idea of what I thought my life was suppose to look like, and allow God to show me what His vision for my life was, that I was able to sit back and enjoy the ride…………..bumps and all. See when you’ve come to a place of realizing that God is going to get you to your destiny, the road blocks, speed bumps and minor blows are no longer set backs to you, but set ups.

Today as we enter into the final days before Christmas, let us determine to have the greatest life we can possibly have. This walk is something kind of crazy and scary with Christ, but if you can just relax and trust Him, it will be all worth it in the end. The choice is yours, today choose Him, and like Baby in the movie……… don’t be afraid to leap into His arms, and know that no matter what, He will always catch you.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Friday 12/18/09)

Carpe Diem…Seize The Day!

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (New Living Translation)

¹⁹ “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! ²⁰ You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This^[a] is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

This week it seems like my days have been packed with things to take care of, whether phone calls to make or things to prepare for. It has seemed as if I have not had time to think on some days. But I remember just a month ago when I was so sick, I could not even lift my head off of a pillow. I think about just a week ago when my head hurt for two days and sleep was my only relief, besides the prayers I prayed in between. So when I thought this week to complain, I didn’t, I was just thankful to be able to have the ability in these moments to seize the day, to make the most of the good days that I have been afforded.

In this Holiday season, I have listened to so many people complain about everything, money, time, projects, work, kids, spouses, etc…but if for one moment we could rejoice in our ability to have life and to have the strength, time, people and ability to be stretched we would rethink our complaints. Many times we take our opportunities for granted. We take our days for granted because we always figure there will be another day, another moment to do things, gets it right, say I love you or I am sorry. But we have choices that are before us daily, it is our job to choose wisely. We should be choosing with God in mind. What things does God want me to do, what are the eternal ramifications for my words and actions, and how can I be an example of God’s character today. Everything from work, to shopping to time with family should be a reflection of something bigger; bigger than just the act itself. When we are shopping are we thinking we are honored to have a family to shop for and thankful that God placed them in our lives? When we go to work, (no matter how much we may not like our job), are we thinking I am going to honor God in the way I conduct myself on my job and I am thankful just that He has given me a job that I have the ability to provide for myself and/ or my family? We should be approaching each act that we are afforded the opportunity to do, with an attitude of thanksgiving, worship and service. We should be seizing the opportunity to embrace the life that we have and if for some reason it is not where we would like it to be, we should be embracing the opportunity to improve our situation and the lives of those who are in our lives or we encounter.

Today, looks like a great day to change your outlook, and the way we approach our day. It is time to seize every opportunity to live, to love, to be a blessing to others. We have a choice to complain and wrestle with our circumstance and die, or we can choose to embrace the opportunity to let God use us to lead, love and be a blessing… Choose to live to give and live in a place of thankfulness! The choice is up to you, to seize or not to seize that is the question?

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 12/17/09)

The Number One Paper Chase…

Exodus 20:2-3 (Amplified Bible)

²I am the Lord your God, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

³You shall have no other gods before or besides Me.

I have a friend that made a vow to God that He (God) would be the priority. This vow was made in a time in their life when circumstances were rough and they really needed God. But since God was gracious and kind to deliver, (God standing by His word), they have not totally stood by their word to God. The number one chase in their life has become about ensuring that they make enough money to obtain things, and that they live comfortably. God being the priority has taken a back seat to work and the great paper chase. I was speaking with yet another friend of mine today, who made mention of the fact that they have the opportunity to work extended hours ( a lot of overtime) but that, they choose not to. They choose to do the time assigned to them, and to have a life outside of work, one that prioritizes and honors God, family and others. It is funny, that we have choices and often when we are in a jam or a tight we make all sorts of promises to God, but when all becomes well with us, we forget about God or we reprioritize and it displaces Him out of His place of Honor and precedence in our lives.

Many times we do not realize that the choices that we make to dethrone God as head of lives; we do so in a manner in which we are carving graven images within different arenas in our lives such as work, friends, hobbies, etc. and making them gods, idols. We place them as kings of our hearts, while the true and living God, the one who is suppose to be Savior and Lord is left like a child in a bakery window with His face pressed against the glass. He is on the outside looking in, desiring to be apart of what is going on inside, desiring to have what is inside, but is denied, the delicacies that abide. God is a jealous God and He will have no other God besides Him or before Him. It is no wonder when we kick God to the curb that he becomes a bit miffed with us and His hedge of protection comes off and we are left uncovered to face the elements of our own record. When are we going to get it, when God said in, Matthew 6:33, “But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.” It is when we choose God first that we can have the blessings of God. If God’s word becomes our number one paper chase and He becomes our number one priority, we give up the way the world prioritizes for how God prioritizes and then we place ourselves in a position to be covered and blessed of God!

What has become the thing that you are chasing? What has your attention and focus more than God? Whatever it may be, it may very well be time to reprioritize and allow God back in the number one spot, the top position so that He becomes the object of our affection once again and the true Lord of our life and over us!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Wednesday 12/16/09)

Why Can’t I Just Get What I Want, When I Want It?...

Psalm 84:11 (Amplified Bible)

¹¹For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

My daughter and I were having a conversation tonight, not unlike ones we have had on subsequent nights, recently. She is 17 years old, and wants to date, but it seems to her that guys are not attracted to her. She was venting, ranting and even raving about her plight. I always remind her that there is a season for all things. She told me tonight as she had previously that she was tired of hearing about seasons. As she looks around it seems as if all her friends and associates are hooked up with someone and she isn’t. She said it can’t be about the flesh issue, I said in a way it is. I told her she did not carry herself as if she was giving away anything, for free and often “the waiting,” is an issue not on a young mans agenda. I also reminded her of the prayers that have been prayed on her behalf and how we had asked God for the right person for her and her brother in the right season, I gently reminded her God knows what He is doing and what she needs in every season of her life. Out of sheer frustration, she looks me straight in the eyes and says “mommy why can’t God just hurry up and give me what I want.” I wanted to laugh, because it was a bit like a tantrum of a younger child, but I knew better than to appease my amusement. But the other side of me understood full well the frustration of not understanding why God was making you wait, that part of me wanted to hold her and reassure her I understood better than she knew.

How many times in our lives do we want, desire or even sometimes need something and it is no where in sight? It seems that everyone else around us has it, but we just can not seem to get it. It seems to elude our grasp on a regular basis. We become discouraged and frustrated, wanting to fire God from His job of ruler, creator and God of the universe, because we are sure that he has fallen asleep on the job, or maybe has just plain lost His mind. Doesn’t He hear us down here crying out to Him; doesn’t He see how miserable this unmet desire is making us? Things like this often makes you want to go up there and just shake Him and ask Him, “What are you doing?” The Bible reminds us in Isaiah 55:8, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.” What we think should be a part of our lives may not be the will of God in this particular season or time in our lives. Some times God is trying to prepare us to receive what He has for us, other times it may be if God gave us what we were asking we would cease to serve Him, other times it would become a distraction, or it could be any number of other reasons. We have to learn that God really does know what is best for us. We often tell the Lord that we trust Him, if we really did, we would stop complaining about what we do not have and know that God is our heavenly Father and that He loves us so much that there are times when He needs to deny us things that may be harmful to us at this particular juncture. Trust often means releasing control and allowing someone else to orchestrate our situation, (in this case it is God).

Today is a perfect day to realize that God never withholds any good thing from us, but He does determine the timing or season of when things come and when they leave. But that is what God does he is the determining factor, He is the one that should be able to say yes, no or wait and we should trust Him enough to adhere to whatever He is saying to us in the season that we are in. Understanding that God does love and care for us, He cares about what is happening to us, even when it is us that is happening…“Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.⁶In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.”(Proverbs 3:5-6)

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 12/14/09)

Has Your Morning Arrived?

Psalm 30:5 (Amplified Bible)

⁵For His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime or in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

The other day during my devotional time I was listening to some praise and worship music and Israel, came on and He was encouraging his listeners by saying, “weeping May endures for a night but joy comes in the morning,” he went on to say something to the affect that, morning isn’t at the beginning of a day, but morning comes when we realize or have a sense that God can move and change our situation.” It is not the awakening of the day but the awakening that occurs within us. “Let God arise and His enemies be scattered,” (Psalms 68:1(a)). It is when what was sleeping in us now becomes awakened to the awareness of God’s power, abilities and that He is the entire source, we need.

I was talking to someone recently and they were asking me, “when is God going to move for me, when is He going to change my situation?” I wanted to say when you come into obedience to Him and realize who He is and what He is able to do. It is true that God has “ALL” power and is capable of anything, but we have to have the knowledge and the awareness of who He is and His capabilities, for without it the word says that we will perish, (my people perish for lack of knowledge, Hosea 4:6a). He already knows who He is, but do we know who He is? God is capable of doing all for us, but where is our responsibility in the changing dynamics of our lives? Are we not responsible to know who we are in Him and who we have with us and what He is capable of? Or is our role just to whine, weep, worry and complain because we are in despair or in an uncomfortable situation that we do not like? Romans 13:11 says, “Besides this you know what [a critical] hour this is, how it is high time now for you to wake up out of your sleep (rouse to reality). For salvation (final deliverance) is nearer to us now than when we first believed (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Christ, the Messiah).” If you stay asleep you circumstance remains, it is only when we wake up and begins to move that change, in our thinking, our confession, and our believing; it is here when morning comes and the new day dawns upon us, and joy can replace sorrows. It is when we embrace our morning, our new day dawning that we can stop crying, stop hurting and stop feeling forgotten, because we now realize that God has the ability to make the day new!

Today don’t let this day end on your weeping, your hurting, and your cry for assistance, your foreseen or unforeseen circumstance without you waking up. I guess the question is will your alarm go off and you meet your morning or will you continue to sleep through another potentials day’s dawning? God is waiting for you in the morning, with joy, love, peace and deliverance, will you meet Him there?

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Monday 12/13/09)

Today’s Devotional Is Written By A Young Woman That Truly Inspires: Tracy Koweh

Can’t Let Go………..

Colossians 1:23 (Amplified Bible)

²³[And this He will do] provided that you continue to ^[a]stay with and in the faith [in Christ], well-grounded and settled and steadfast, not shifting or moving away from the hope [which rests on and is inspired by] the glad tidings (the Gospel), which you heard and which has been preached ^[b][as being designed for and offered without restrictions] to every person under heaven, and of which [Gospel] I, Paul, became a minister.

Today’s message in the music comes from the great hit song “End of the Road”, by Boyz II Men. The chorus of the song says, “Although we’ve come. To the end of the road. Still I can’t let you go. It’s unnatural, you belong to me, I belong to you.”

This year has for some been a very long and trying year. For me it flew by, in spite of the many ups and downs, storms and trials I faced. As the year is coming to an end, I find myself at the end of my rope, at the end of my road. Everything and everyone around me is either apart of the attack, or under the attack with me. This past weekend seemed to be what I can only hope was the final climax.

I’ve dealt with demonic attacks, family drama, work issues and fighting to keep my sanity. No matter how great of a place one area in my life may be, the constant battles have slowly taken its toll on me. The war I felt was almost over, but I decided not to let go. No matter how big the bang of the enemy may get, I know in my heart that God’s bang is bigger. No matter how strong the spiritual oppression gets, I know God is stronger.

See after the hell I’ve been through, it’s now unnatural for me to let go of God, because I know I belong to Him. It’s not in my nature to turn from God in my time of trouble anymore, but to turn to Him. I’m learning not to trust in my emotions, my opinions or my past, but to fully trust that God has me in the palm of His hand.

Today as we begin another work week, let us remember that if we feel like we’ve come to the end of the road, God doesn’t have Dead Ends for the living; It may just be Him paving out a new road for you to begin on.

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

Living In Your Best, Not Just Visiting It…

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (New Living Translation)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² In those days when you pray, I will listen. ¹³ If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (King James Version)

¹¹For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

¹²Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

¹³And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

This weekend we are having company. As I awakened this morning running through a mental list of things I still had yet to do to prepare, it struck me like a ton of bricks. I noticed that not just myself, but my closest women friends, we sort of all have this habit of wanting everything to be near perfect. We run around dusting things that we do not normally dust and changing out things or redecorating areas of our house we know will be frequented by our guest, and let us not even get started on the personal adaptations we make to ensure that we are our best, the hair, the clothes, the make up, and let us not forget the perfect dress or suit and the shoes to set it off. It can be crazy and even mind boggling. But why don’t we see the need to be at our best just because God made us or allowed to be? Because we do not value our daily place in the universe or who we are enough to do so, this is not for all but it is often the case.

If we would and could only grasp the concept that God wants us to bring our “A game” all the time, then we would see the manifestation of His best in us and in the life that we lead. This is not true just in our natural lives but in our spiritual lives. Sunday is God’s day of visitation for many of us. It is all the Jesus we see all week long. We know He will visit us on Sunday, because we allow Him in on Sunday and we make ourselves accessible. But what about the rest of the week, should He not “get at us” the rest of the week. Should He not receive our Sunday best everyday of the week? He should because we get His. I can hear some of you asking “what are you talking about. He rose on a Sunday, with all power in His hands and victory over sin and the grave in His possession and salvations plan well in hand ( the best, I’d like to see any of us do better). So again I ask should He not get our best EVERYDAY? Yes, emphatically He should! We should value our God, Our Lord and Our Savior more than for Him just to be a afternoon delight or a one night stand once a week.

Today as you enter the close of another week and enter into the rest of the weekend, think about where you are living. Are you living in substandard in your natural and spiritual life, and only visiting the best on occasion? If you find this is you it is time for an extreme make over. It is time to change your garments whether of praise or exterior, and clean up the house, whether it is where you reside or where the Holy Spirit is resident and start living like you have a future and a hope and a God that loves you and a God that you love just as much in return!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 12/10/09)

Been Down That Road Before: Maybe It’s Time For A New Driver…

Proverbs 3:5-6 (New Living Translation)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

As I sat tonight, thinking of the devotional and which on of the many subject matters, God would give me to cover. I began to look through my notes that I had taken during my devotional time and came across a note I wrote to myself in the corner of a piece of paper which said, “been down that road before, it is time for a new driver.” I immediately began to chuckle, realizing that God was speaking loud and clear. There are so many areas in my life where He is allowing me to start over. Instead of beginning at the finish line in so many areas at 45 I am at the starting line. It is ironic, but it is refreshing. I have been down some of the roads I am at the starting line and this little reminder was not to be caught behind the wheel this time, but allow God to lead me.

So many of my friends are in what we call new seasons in their lives. But many of us have been in some scenarios that look familiar to us, but for many of us we have realized we can not do anything in our lives as we use to. Everything and I do mean everything has to be placed in God’s hands. For a few of us we are still struggling to see that we need to move out of the way and let God drive, for others we need to stop being back seat drivers trying to orchestrate our lives from the background telling God what we will and will not do. For me I have decided to give up my licenses all together and leave the driving to God. The realization that I am not qualified to drive has come on the heels of repeat accidents and moving violations. So in this season I have handed in my licenses to navigate and control my own life and destiny to one so much more qualified than I. The one that made heaven and earth, the one who is the beginning and the end, the first and the last, and every thing in between, the one who is perfect in all His way, you know who I am talking about, or at least you have heard of Him, Jesus.

I have heard people say they are tired and then when you say what are you willing to change, give up or turn over the answer is nothing, and then I realize that they truly are not tired yet. You see when you keep driving yourself into a brick wall, or navigated down a dead end street enough you will get tired of the pain, the scars, the negative effects and impact and we will throw up our hands in surrender to God and let Him have full and unfettered control of our lives. It is when we realize that all is God’s and He has the power to direct and map our lives, and it is better to go with His flow then try to steer when we obviously have both hands are tied behind our back.

Today if you are finding you are driving on the wrong side of the road, or you keep going down the same road, but the street names have only changed, but you are still misdirected, it might be time to consider the real source of the problem and it might be you. It might be time for God to revoke your license in order for Him to chauffeur you, and get you where you need to go in style and in His will in His time! Think about it….

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

God Doesn’t Make Mistakes

Numbers 23:19-20 (New Living Translation)

¹⁹ God is not a man, so he does not lie.
He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has he ever promised and not carried it through?
²⁰ Listen, I received a command to bless;
God has blessed, and I cannot reverse it!

2 Samuel 22:31 (New Living Translation)

³¹ “God’s way is perfect.
All the Lord’s promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.

Psalm 138:8 (King James Version)

⁸The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands

As I sat on the edge of my bed earlier today, I look back over my life. I began to wonder about all the mistakes I made in my life and all that had gone wrong. I began to feel less than in the perfect zone, if you know what I mean. As I began to meditate further I found myself praying and asking for help to follow the path that God ordained for me and not my own path. I could hear in the midst of my prayer “I don’t make any mistakes.” I found myself saying I wasn’t saying you, I was saying me. In that moment in dawned on me, what if many of the things that I labeled mistakes were all apart of God’s learning curb for me. What if the things that we stumbled through and fall down in were, an allowance, what if it were God allowing us to go through things in order for us to be perfected, prepped or taught to get us to a places we would never arrive at if we had not gone through those events.

I remember speaking with a friend some weeks back, and I remember a statement that was made during that conversation, when they said that they felt they had been in a preparation period, and that the hell that they had encountered was to prepare them for the heaven that was to be in their lives. At the time the statement struck, me, but not as deeply as it did today as I reflected upon those words again, realizing that we all have a journey, and if we believe that our lives ore ordained by God that the things we encounter even those things that hurt are lesson, nuggets of wisdom to add to our lives and to train us for our ultimate plan and purpose. I know individuals right now that are in a place that are thinking because they were not born in the best of circumstances that they were a mistake, but God does not make mistakes. He is perfect in all His ways. If He allowed us to be here, it is for destiny and purpose, for success and a future that gives Him Glory. It is in our weakness that He is made perfect. Truly Greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world…

Perspective is an empowering element. If we know that God is perfect and we can realize the plan He has for us is perfect for our needs; that every smooth path and bumpy road is all perfect, for what God needs to do in our lives. Even in the midst of our struggles realize that the perfection of God outweighs the pressures of the day, and that ultimately if we are allowing God preeminence in our life He is perfecting our way, and perfecting us to live in His love and Grace which is the greatest example of His perfection towards us! Remember even the things the enemy designed to destroy, hurt or maim us God has the ability to turn around to bless us, elevate us, or place us as an example for the world to see of just how Perfect He is!