Philippians 3:13&14

 

Philippians 3:13 & 14

Just get Started

 Just get started 

I was talking to my good friend, I call him big bro, and we were talking about exercising. 

He was telling me that he walks so many miles a day to get his exercise and I told him I needed to be like him.

He said “ the key is to just get started”.

I like that, it make since. 

But why did God show me somthing in those few words.

We often say that we want to do a work for God. But in the same breath, we make every excuse we can think of as to why we have not done it or even started the task that God has given us. 

Just like us wanting to do something meaningful in our lives and we do it, we have to have that same attitude toward our walk with God. 

2 Corinthians 5:7: "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (KJV)

We may not know where God is leading us. He may be taking us to a place where it is new territory for us.

But if we just get up and START, who knows what blessing he has in store for us. 

God bless. 

Purpose in Praise.

Have you ever thought about why it is that we praise God? 

 

Is it because it is something that our mothers, fathers, and grandparents told us to do? Or is it because we read it in the bible and that is what we are supposed to do? 

 

Or is there a purpose in us praising God?

 

I think that is a great question to ask yourself. 

 

“I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” Psalm 18”1-
2

 

 

 

Just take a moment to read Psalm 18. Not just Palm 18 but the bible in general. What is the one thing that no matter what is going on that happens?

 

God is always there. 

 

God is always there for his children. No matter what is going on, he is always by their side. 

 

There may be times, that you may feel like you are alone, but you are not. He is always there.

 

That is reason enough to give God praise.  That has me go back to the question I proposed earlier. Is there a purpose in our praise?

 

The answer is simple…. Yes!

 

“Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.” Psalm 145:2

 

 

God deserves all the praise that we can give him. He has done so much for us in our lives, we dare not let a day go by without giving God what we owe him. We should praise God, because he is a great God. 

 

 

In Psalm 145:3 it says, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.”

 

Wow! Just think about it. God is so great!

 

 We do not fully understand how great he is.  We cannot understand just how awesome he is. 

 

That is why no matter what, we should know that there is purpose in our praise. And that purpose is to show God how grateful we are to him for the things that he has done in our lives and show just how much we love him. 

 

God bless.

Be on the Watch

Life can be going great. You are happy and it seems like you find yourself on cloud nine. 

 

And you find yourself having zill to do something for God, or God has giving you an assignment to complete, and you are up for the challenge. You want to do for God, because that is what he requires of us. 

 

But then, it seems like everything starts going wrong in your life and the feeling you had is gone. 

 

 

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeing whom he may devour”

 

It is funny how God brought this scripture to my mind. 

When I wrote this blog, I was getting ready for a women’s program at my church, and I was getting my mind and my heart ready for it. It seemed like everything was coming my way to get my mind off what God had for me to do.  But I had to realize what was going on. 

To give a better understanding, I had to look up the meaning of a few words.  

 

So, in my Strong Concordance, I looked up the word adversary.

 

It stated that the word adversaries mean “those who actively oppose” Then it gave me who that word described. It listed Satan, gospels enemies and a rival. That is just to name a few.

 

Then in 1 Peter 5:8 state he was “as a roaring lion seeking who me may devour”

 

Have you ever watched on of the animal documentaries and you see a lion waiting on its prey. They just don’t pounce the minute they see it; they wait. They take their time, and they watch their prey. They study its movements, and when they see they have their guard down, that is when they strike. 

 

See, the devil does not want to see the children of God happy. He wants to see us down and not looking to God for help. He strikes when we are at our weakness. 

 

And that is when he gets what he wants, and he tries to devour us like he wants to.

 

Devour simply means to eat up. 

 

So, 1 Peter 5:8 is saying to watch out because the devil is watching you and waiting for the right time to jump on you forget your mind off God.

 

 

 

But the first part of that scripture says “be sober, be vigilant” well what that means?

 

Vigilant means keeping a careful watch for possible danger or difficulties. 

 

Sober simply means not drunk.

 

The bible tells us to be sober and vigilant because God wants us to keep a clear mind so we can be on a lookout for possible danger the devil may try to bring in our lives.  

 

See, he is not always going to show his true self. He could come as a friendly face, someone we have known for a long time, or even a family member. 

 

We must be watchful so we can recognize when he shows himself and we can recognize that it is time for us to remove ourselves from that danger. 

 

 

Being a child of God does not mean that we just take whatever the devil throws at us. That is why the bible says we must sober. Just like the devil is watching us to try to get us off track, we must watch out and understand what he is doing so we can remove ourselves. 

 

God Bless.

 

 

 

*Please leave a comment of encouragement for everyone. 

Being a Godly Example for our Children.

  

Children watch how their parents respond to certain things. 

 

We could get mad at the person driving the car in front of us and get mad at how they are driving. That is when we make the excuse of having road rage in how respond to the next driver.  

 

But it is how we respond that our children are looking at. We are who they get their behavior from when their lives began.   That is why if we flip people off and curse them out, our children are going to follow what we do. 

 

 So, I am going to give you an example by tell you what happened this week. My kids must be at school at a certain time, or they will not be able to get breakfast. This particular morning, I got them up late because I overslept. So, I knew they were going to be late, so we got dressed and I took them to Bojangles to get them a biscuit. So, it was right at 8:00am when we got to the school, so I knew they were going to be tardy.

 

So, they close the drive line right at 8:00am and you have to go inside the school and sign in your child. So that is what I did. I could not be mad at anyone else, because I was the one in the wrong because I had overslept. 

 

Well, there was this mother who was just not having it, so she got out the car yelling at the principle and just upset. 

 

So, if the kids are late, they must get a tardy slip to give to their teacher. The lady at the door gave her kids a tardy slip and she snatched it out their hands and instructed them to go to class without the slip knowing they needed it to get in the class.

 

Now, if those children went and went against the rules of the school or because they were mad just to prove a point, who can that parent blame? Nobody but themselves.

 

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  

 

God requires us to train our children on how to behave. They look to us as their parents in how they should act. 

We cannot say we are Christians in one breath and curse someone out in the other breath. 

 

That simply shows children that there is no standard they need to follow.  That is not good. You are just teaching your children that it is ok for you to act one way, and then name the name of Jesus in the other.

 

Not only that, but we also must teach our children how to navigate this life. 

 

It is our job to teach them, not only teach them, but  show them what they need to get through this life.  We are to be that example of how a man or woman needs to conduct themselves. 

 

Most people feel like children should figure it out on their own. They take on the mindset that “well I had to figure it out by myself, let them figure it out.”

 

Wrong mindset as Christian parents. 

We must have the mindset that God blessed us with our children, and he charged us to teach them how to live a Godly life.

 

If we don’t be that example to our children on how to live Godly, who will? 

 

 

God bless.

*Please leave a comment of encouragement for everyone. 

A testimony about Giving God Praise while going Through.

This is not one of my normal blogs. This is more of a testimonial. 

 

See, over the past 8 months, my husband has been going through a few battles of his own.  ( I mentioned it in my last blog but I did not go into depth about it) 

On August 25, 2023, my husband and my oldest son was hit head on by a drunk driver. Praise God they both made it out alive, but my husband’s left leg was injured.  My son just had a few scrapes and bruises, but he is ok. 

 

So, I have watched my husband go through this season in his life. 

I saw him laying on a hospital bed with his leg bleeding bad, and I saw him being whisked away into emergency surgery. 

 

I saw him spend 50 days in the hospital, all the while thanking God and praising him for everything he was going through. 

 

Even now, as I write this, he is back home from the hospital recovering from an above knee amputation of his left leg. 

But in spite of everything, from the months of physical therapy, and the pain, the infection in his knee, even now to the amputation, I watch my husband be that man of God that I know he his, and who God has called him to be.  

 

His smile is contagious, because even when I watch him talk to people about what he been through he is not mad. He knows God has been with him every step of the way, and he smiles. 

 

He inspires me, because he never complains, and he gives God all the Glory. 

 

“I will bless the Lord at all times:his praise shall continually be in my mouth” Psalms34:1

 

I have learned the true meaning of this verse.  Because no matter what we go through, and no matter what is going on in our lives, we should bless the Lord.

 

See, in this situation my husband could have very well had his own pity party. He could have been sad, and just gave up.  But as his wife, I saw him praise God when he was in pain, and he couldn’t move. 

 

He Praised God though everything that came his way these past 8 months. God has shown me the meaning of praising him, and trusting him, and having faith in him. 

 

He did not become his situation. He prayed, gave it to God, and thanked him for just keeping him though it all.

As his wife, as my sons mother, I had to thank God for everything.  

I thank God that they both made it out alive. 

I thanked God that even though it ultimately had to to amputate my husband leg, my husband still is in his right mind.

I thank God for just keeping us through out this difficult time in our lives. And I even thank God when I felt all hope was lost and I did not know how we were going to get through this, God still showed us the way to go. 

I pray that this blog encourages someone to understand no matter what happens, praise God for what he has done for you in your situation in life, and thank him for bringing you through it.  

 

I am thankful to say that he is on the road to recovery, and he is doing wonderful. 

 

Just remember that God sees what you are going through. He knows what is going on in your life. He is going to all ways be by your side no matter what the situation is. Good, bad, or ugly God is always there. Give him all the praise and know he got you.

 

God bless. 

*Please leave a comment of encouragement for everyone. 

New Meaning of my Wedding Vows.

May 17,2007 was my wedding day. And though parts of it were not a happy time, when I saw my husband standing at the alter waiting on me on that Thursday night, I was so happy. I was starting my life with this person that I dated for three years.

 

I was excited to start my journey as his wife, but I had no clue what I was getting my self into.

 

When I got married, I had this illusion of something I say in the movies. I thought it was going to be all fun and games. We were going to love each other, and we were going to have a happy life and we were not going to have to go through anything.  

 

But that is a different topic for another time. 

When we got married, we had to say our wedding vows in front of everyone in the church.  

 

We stood and we said those vows proudly. In front of every one that was there and God, we said those vows. 

 

But who take their wedding vows seriously? 

 

For me, August 2023 those vows took on a different meaning.  My husband was in a bad car accident. For months he was dependent on me to help him do everyday tasks because the bones in my husband’s wrist was shattered and he had to get it repaired and so was his knee.  He had to wear a contraption to keep his knee stable. 

 

Things I normally must do for my patients as a CNA I found myself doing for my husband.  

 

And it was not an easy task. To find yourself one day having an independent husband to having to care for him was not easy.   I found myself in tears at times, because I could see the frustration he was dealing with. 

 

I was back and forth from the hospital to take my children back and forth to school, to the hospital to help take care of my husband. 

 

But God showed me something all the while he was in the hospital.  He brought back to me rembrace our wedding vows.  

 

“For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness an in health.” 

 

This part stuck out the most because no one thinks the day of their wedding that years down the road their lives will change, and I would have to remember them.

 

For me it was a little over 16 years of marriage when God had to show me the true meaning of my wedding vows. 

 

Those words are not just words. To me, they have a meaning behind it. 

 

Simply put, you will have good days, you will have bad days. You will have everything you need at times, and there will be days when you just don’t know. But in spite of everything you may have to go through, there should be love, honor and you should cherish one another, through everything. 

 

See, I had to step up and help my husband in ways I never thought I had to.  (Sickness and health, better or worse). 

 

I had to be a different type of wife. I had to be his hands and his legs when he could not use them.  I had to pray over my strong man when he could not pray for himself.  

 

I had to be strong in the Lord when I wanted to just throw in the towel and give up. But God gave me the strength to uphold my vows. 

 

 When I wanted to give up, God showed me this is what I signed up for that Thursday night all those years ago. 

 

God bless. 

*Please leave a comment of encouragement for everyone.