Before we get back into our study let me just share with you some of my New Year goals. Each year, I write out a list of the things that I want to accomplish for the New Year.   I believe in “writing the vision and making it plain.”   I don’t make the list too overbearing or too “out there” but I do reach for the impossible and I do dream big for I believe that all things are possible if we only believe.  But I am also aware that whatever I put before the Lord I have to be willing to work towards it.  Things are not just going to happen.   The bible teaches that “faith without works is dead.”   

While I will not go into the specifics of my list because I want to keep it private because it involves other people, I will give you a general overview of what I do. 1.     I make my goals in three areasa.   

Spiritual                                                            

i.      I create a certain prayer time and bible reading time everyday that I can meet.   I make this goal realistic.   If you are not use to praying an hour a day or reading God’s word an hour daily, do not make that commitment.  You will find that it will be very difficult to commit to.   Start slow and reasonable and it will increase and become a habit.                                                           

ii.      There are certain subjects that I attempt to perfect or learn through the word.  This year I aam attempting to master the book of Matthew and master the period of Israel called the Monarchy.   I will spend the entire year reading and gathering material on those two subjects.                                                      

iii.      Meditation time-   I always schedule some time just to meditate on God’s word.  NO concordances, no dictionaries, no study materials, just meditation.  Reading for reading sakes.   For this task, I actually use one of those Get through the bible in a year books.  I used the chronological one that takes you from Genesis to Revelation and it has the date from Jan 1 to Dec 31 on what your reading should be so it is very easy to follow.  It also allows me to constantly read through God’s word afresh each year.                                                         

iv.      Fasting-  I am getting ready to start a 21 day fast.  I always like to give God the first 21 days of my New Year in fasting and prayer.   If you are not use to fasting and would like to try it, please start slow and make a commitment of something you can keep but at the same time it must be a sacrifice.   Those of you that have medical conditions should consult with your doctor and share your plans with them before you attempt any type of fast.   Should you want more information about what I am doing, please email me and I will share with you personally what my fast entails.  I also try to fast at least 3 times a year.  They are all different and are guided by where I am spiritually and the needs of people around me.                                                         

v.      Outreach-  My spiritual goals always include some type of community outreach that will help me be a witness or help win souls to the Lord Jesus Christ.   Currently, I function as a volunteer chaplain at a local women’s prison in my state and I can be found there every Second Sunday of the month preaching the word of God.  It is so rewarding.  Also my business contributes to community outreaches and events periodically throughout the year.  I intend to work with a newly formed foundation this year in their efforts to provide services to youths and the elderly which I have always had a heart for.  b.    Physical                                                            

i.      I have weight goals that I am attempting to reach through “eating right” and working out.  Currently I worked out 5 days a week for an hour Monday-Friday.                                                           

ii.      Time for ME-   Sometimes I just shut away and maybe eat dinner by myself or go to a movie or get by the water.  I love the water.  It allows me to focus inward and my goal is to make sure I am bringing balance in my life.   Take time for YOU!!!!!!!!!   In this life, people pull on us from so many areas.  The needs are as diverse as the people and if we allow them, they can drain us and we will end up in a depression.   Even Jesus teaches that we must love our neighbor as ourself.  In other words, don’t take care of someone else’s needs and problems at the expense of neglecting yours. 

c.    Financial                                                            

 i.      Debt Free Living- 3 years ago, my husband set us out on a journey to get out of debt.   I am so happy to announce that this past December 31, was the third year.   My husband and I are personally debt free except for a mortgage and utilities bills.   Our trucks and cars are paid for, our credit card debt is gone, our student loans are gone, etc.   We are practicing living debt free.  If we cannot buy it cash or pay the whole balance when the credit card bill comes, we do not purchase it.     It feels so good to know that those bills will no longer be coming.                                                         

ii.      Savings-   We always put a little aside for saving.  According to some of the financial experts that we have learned from, we are currently taking their advice and now that we are debt free, we are accumulating in our savings enough money to handle one years expenses which includes mortgage and utilities just “in case.” 

    iii.      Investments-  In our economy, we are not investing in the stock market though we do have investments there that we are holding on to waiting for them to recover, but now that we are out of debt, we will start back contributing to  our retirement fund. Some of you may say I can’t afford to do any of this.  These steps came from years of work.  Just begin your journey this year.   For some of us, it will just be working on getting out of debt.  We can all stop excess spending.  Even if we can’t pay a lot off of our debt right now because of the economy, you will be surprised how just cutting back on things as eating out, bringing lunch, conserving energy at home to cut utilities bills, etc.  It all adds up and that extra money saved can be used to pay towards existing debt.    Okay, I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of questions.   So email me and I’ll address some more things that I am doing on tomorrow.  Just think about what I have written.  Each one of us has to do what works for us.  What I do know is that at the end of the year, seeing these goals accomplished and come true is phenomenal.   

Stay encouraged!!!! 

All is well, everything is safe, and everything is as it should be.

 Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily. 

I hope all of you will be bringing in the New Year at the house of God worshipping and praising our God.   If circumstances do not permit then at midnight where ever you are just say a  quick prayer in acknowledgement to our God.

 I will not post again until Monday and we’ll continue with our study of the book of Matthew.  To my friends in Australia and other places that are ahead of us, you are already celebrating the New Year and I wish you the best.

It’s gonna be a great year.  I can’t wait to get into it.

Be Safe this holiday weekend..

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

You may have noticed that I have broken away from our Matthew study.  We will start it again in the new Year.  

I have been studying the history of the children of Israel moving from a theocratic (God ruled) state to the Monarchy (one man ruled).Under the Monarchy, Israel has three kings.  These kings are Saul, David, and Solomon.   I have been studying Saul’s call to the kingship and I have found it most encouraging especially for the New Year. 

Look at this text below:  I Samuel 9:18 Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer’s house is. 19 And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me unto the high place; for ye shall eat with me to day, and to morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. 20 And as for thine asses that were lost three ^F45 days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father’s house? 21 And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so  to me? 

Let me briefly give you the context.  Saul’s father has sent him out to search for his asses (donkeys) that had been lost.  Saul takes a servant with him and begins their journey “chasing after jackasses”.  After a while, they cannot find them so the servant says that there is a prophet in the land and let’s go to him and he should be able to help us locate the asses.  Saul agrees that it is a good idea and they begin to inquire as to where the prophet or seer is.    What is fascinating about this text is that God had told Samuel the day prior that he would encounter Israel’s king on the day that Saul was seeking to find the seer.    When Samuel and Saul meet, he tells them that the asses that you have been chasing are fine and do not set your mind on them or don’t be concerned with them anymore.    Today, you have just encountered your destiny.  The hope of

This story encourages me so.  Saul was sent out on a trivial task of finding some jackasses.   As a matter of fact, his father could have sent out some of the servants to do this task instead of his eldest son.  This may have spoke to how they felt about Saul or maybe he was considered insignificant for he clearly had low self esteem when he responded to Samuel about him being the first king.     It doesn’t matter what you have been doing, how people feel about us, how little or insignificant they think we are, God’s plan will prevail in our lives.  But check this out, the duties that we have been given no matter how demeaning they may be all takes us into our destiny.    If Saul had never been assigned to chasing after those asses he would never have met up with Samuel and encountered his destiny.  That’s why I always say that no experience is lost and all things work together for our good.    So in 2009, no more “chasing asses” I’m encountering destiny.    As Samuel told Saul, as for the asses that you seek, they have been found, do not set your mind on them anymore,  your purpose is here……. Be encouraged my friends, 2009, a year of fulfillment. 

God Bless!!!!!!! 

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

I have been studying this scripture and it has been such a blessing with me so I want to share it with you. 

The part that blessed me so is verse # 24.   

My prayer for you in 2009 is “that the Lord will manifest what has been reserved for you because you have reached your appointed time.” 

Stay encouraged!!!! 

All is well, everything is safe, and everything is as it should be.

 Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily. 

Have a Very Merry Christmas.    I’ll return to posting On Monday, December 29th 08.

Be Safe, Take Care and when you’re around family and friends, Share the Gospel of Jesus Christ this Holiday Season…

 All is Well, Everything is Safe and Everything is As it Should Be.

 Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

Our text for today is:

Yesterday, we talked about the phase the “tradition of the elders.”  In our passage today, we will see two examples of those traditions.

Let’s look at the text.

Matthew 15: 1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 ”Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” 3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ 6 he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition

In our text today Jesus addresses two of those traditions; the washing of hands and the issue with honoring your mother and father.

As, you can see, they approach him and ask “why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?”  There was an oral law which required all Jews to wash their hands before eating lest you were labeled unclean.   

The second issue was one that Jesus brought to their attention.   Jesus addressed their tradition which said that if they gave a gift to the temple they could be excused from taking care of their mother and father.   Jesus rebuked them and told them that it was in direct contradiction with the “word of God.”

Okay,  I know that this is a holiday week, and many people are on vacation so I’ll just do a little each day so it  will not be too difficult for people to catch up.  We are about to study some fascinating history that will help you with your understanding of the New Testament and I want everyone  to be able to  stay up with it.

Stay encouraged and I’ll See you tomorrow.

God Bless.

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily. 

We are making progress, We are in the 15^th chapter. 

Our text today is the following: 

Matthew 15:1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from

Today, I want to discuss a phrase that is included in our text called the “tradition of the elders.”  As you read the New Testament, you will come across this term several times. 

The Pharisees had a list of unwritten codes, rituals, traditions, rules, etc that was known as the oral law which was not divinely inspired  but came from the reasoning of the Pharisees and thoughts of previous generations.    The Pharisees were passionate about keeping the purity of the law and in their efforts to obey God’s law they came up with a list of rules which became known as the “tradition of the elders.”  The idea was that the keeping of the oral tradition would prevent Jews from breaking God’s commands.   

Though the Pharisees had initially good intentions, Jesus called them hypocrites and criticized them for putting unnecessary yokes on the people that God never intended. 

Tomorrow, we will look at some of these “traditions of the elders” 

Stay encouraged!!!! 

All is well, everything is safe, and everything is as it should be.

 Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily. 

Since we just finished the 14th chapter of Matthew, I’ll wait until Monday to start a new study.   I just would like to share with you that today is my 16th year marriage anniversary.  

 This is such a major testimony for me because 16 years ago, I never thought that I could stay married to one man for the rest of my life.  

 BUT GOD!!!!!!!!!!  He really is able to keep you from falling and I love my husband today as if we had just met.   GOD IS ABLE.

Based on the lifestyle that the Lord brought me out of , I was afraid to commit for fear of a failed marriage but the word of God has kept me and I can honestly say that I have a wonderful marriage and a wonderful husband.  He is a daily reminder of how gracious and merciful the Lord has been to me.

 So my scripture that I want to leave with you today is:

Genesis 18:14 ”Is any thing too hard for the LORD?”

GOD IS ABLE……..    HE REALLY IS!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!!!

Stay encouraged and Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

Our text today is the last two verses of chapter 14.  It is short but I didn’t want to start another chapter so we’ll just view these lines today. 

We know that from yesterday’s lesson that the “crossed over” refers to after the Jesus and Peter walking on water incident.   

This chapter ends with Jesus being recognized and people sent word to all the surrounding country and everyone brought their sick for him to heal. 

Since our lesson was short, let me share such a special moment with you.  I go to this chapel Monday-Friday at 6:00a.m. for prayer.  I’m the only one there so it is just the best little sanctuary in the world for me.  I take worship music with me and I have this Prayer photo album that contains pictures of people and things that I petitioned the Lord for or on their behalf. As I turn the pages, I call out their names and pray.    This morning, I was playing the new release by Bishop Paul S. Morton called “Cry your Last tear” and on the end of the CD, is a song about “show me your glory.”    I got so caught up in worship with that song that I just kept playing it over and over and when Bishop Morton sings the part where he says “Arise from your rest and be blessed by our praise”  I just broke,  I couldn’t take it.   So This morning, I asked the Lord to “show me his glory.”  Just tickle me with a sign of your presence.    

As soon as I walked out the building, there was a pond to my right that immediately filled up with a smoky cloud.   I know ….. Maybe it was fog.    But I sat there in my truck and watched the smoke cloud cover the pond and then as quickly as it came, it left.   It was glorious and just so beautiful to me.   I personally feel that the Lord graced me with his presence in such a special and simple way.    I couldn’t stop crying.   It was wonderful… 

  No……  I am so not crazy, just loving where God has me and what HE has done to my heart. 

Stay encouraged!!!! 

All is well, everything is safe, and everything is as it should be.

 Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily. 

I smiled when I read our text today.  It is such a familiar story in the life of the church and I’m sure we have all experienced it preached in some type of setting. Some of the more popular titles that I have heard preached from this text are; “Take the Limits off” , “No Limits,”  “Why did you Doubt,” “Walk on Water Faith,” “Keep your eyes on Jesus,”  “O Ye of Little Faith,”  and the list goes on and on.  If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am talking about the story of Peter walking on water.   

Let’s look at the context in which this “infamous” story took place.  Here is our text: 

Matthew 14:22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is

The “immediately” in our text picks up with after the feeding of the 5000 men plus women and children.   Jesus dismisses the crowd and then he goes into a mountain to pray.   Evidently Jesus stayed there for a long time in prayer for when he got up the boat was a considerable distance from land and the winds were pounding against it. 

The fourth watch of the night was anywhere between 3 and 6a.m.  Jesus simply got up and walked on the water to them.  I laugh every time I read this story.   Let me share something with you, I always laugh when God is ministering to me.  If you ever see me in a public setting and I’m listening to the word and you see me laughing, it is my way of saying that the word is ministering to me.  I think I picked this habit up from my spiritual father years ago.   I just laugh when God talks to me.  I don’t know why.   

Well, back to our story.   I laugh when I read this story because I think it was just so cool that Jesus would come out of prayer being empowered and refreshed as only prayer can do and then instead of summoning another boat to meet his disciples, he just starts walking on the water.   How amazing is our God. 

When the disciples see him, they immediately think that he is a ghost.  You must remember that the disciples are still trying to figure all this out for themselves.   Yes, they are walking with Jesus, and they have seen many miracles but Jesus continues to amaze them with his wisdom and miraculous abilities and they are still trying to figure out if this is the Christ, the long awaited Messiah. 

Jesus immediately tells them to take courage, it is I.  Wow, I’m smiling again.   I just heard God’s word speak to me and say “Take courage, it is I.”  In other words, he said, let fear go, it is I. You are safe.    

Then Peter says; Lord if it is you, then let me come to you.   Peter always has something to say.  I think if I was in the biblical days, I would have been a lot like Peter.   Jesus bids him to come and while many sermons have focused on the fact that he took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink, he ran the risk to go.   I love that part of the story.      

Think about it, do you know how much trust and faith it took to get out of that boat when the text says that the wind was already stirred up against it.  Peter walked out in troubled winds.   He didn’t get out and the winds stirred up and he got scared, he walked out in the midst of the winds.   Yes, he then looks at the winds but he had sense enough to say, Lord save me!!!!!!! Preachers should give Peter way more credit than they do.  That really was an amazing accomplishment.   So we have this lesson from Peter, all we have to do is keep our eyes on Jesus and we can get there but check this out, even if we take our eyes off, Please have enough humility and lower your pride to say; “Lord save me.”   Jesus will.   He is willing.   We may have to hear about our lack of faith or why did we doubt, but if we keep stepping out, we’ll get it right.    

There are no limits in God.  We are our worse enemy.  We place the limitations and we doubt, and we walk in fear.   But it is so in us to take that step out of the boat onto the water. 

What is it that you are struggling with today?    This economy is terrible, life happens, we’re losing jobs, marriages are in disarray, children are lost; singles are lonely and think that marriage will solve their problems, businesses are struggling, companies are closing and fear has gripped the land.   A friend of mine told me the other day that watching the news scares her because of the “doom and gloom of this economy.”    

My friends, this is a wonderful time to know Jesus.  This is a wonderful time to strengthen our faith and hold on to every promise no matter what is happening to or around us.   God will satisfy his people in the midst of famine.    

In the words of Jesus, O ye of little faith, wherefore did you doubt.    

The text closes with worship.   The text says that those who were in the boat worshipped; saying “truly, you are the Son of God.”     Worship, it works every time.  It helps remove doubt, fear, and unbelief.  Worship builds faith and strengthens you to accomplish whatever task is before you. 

So in the words of Jesus,   “Do not be afraid, It is I.”   Jesus is near.   

Stay encouraged!!!! 

All is well, everything is safe, and everything is as it should be.

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.