God is our waymaker. God is always working behind the scenes in our lives and He has a good plan and a purpose for each of us. The Lord said this in Isaiah 43:19, ”For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

You might not see the Lord at work yet but just trust that God is making a way through the wilderness and He promises to make rivers in your desert to refresh you and sustain you. God promises to make a way through the storms of your life and to pave a pathway through the mighty waters that threaten to overwhelm you.

My brothers and sisters, I get it; trusting that God will make a way out of no way can be a hard pill to swallow when everything around you is not as it should be. However, it behooves you choose hope and continue reading your Bible because I guarantee that you will find someone that God delivered out of their situation(s), circumstance(s), and/or mess(es).

In fact, The Old Testament of the Bible is full of stories of how God rescued the Israelites from their enemies. The people of Israel weren’t always obedient to God and sometimes they forgot their love for Him. There were times that they even forgot all the miracles that God performed for them on their behalf! But God always made a way for Israel when it seemed there was no other way for them to be saved as a nation from their enemies.

God stepped into impossible situations for many people that we read throughout the Bible and He made a way for them. And just as God made a way for Israel and many others, He will make a way for each of us in our situations despite the level of intensity!

Never forget what God does for one, He will do for another because God is effectively impartial, unbiased, unprejudiced, and incorruptible. He is equally immutable, meaning He is unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore (Hebrews 13:8).

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#GodWillMakeAWay

We’ve all heard the expression, “you are what you eat.” Well, one of Solomon’s ‘word to the wise’ statements found in Proverbs 23:7 (KJV) suggest a different but related truth—that we are what we think: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Unfortunately, this translation fails to give contemporary readers a precise understanding of what “as a man thinketh, so is he” really means.

In short, the Hebrew verb translated “thinketh” in the Authorized Version of Proverbs 23:7 means “estimate” or “calculate.” The clause might more accurately be rendered “as one who calculates with himself, so is he,” or “he is like one who is inwardly calculating.”

Now to find the context of this ‘word to the wise’ statement you must read Proverbs 23:6-8. Essentially Solomon is encouraging his readers to understand the heart of a stingy (miser) person. According to most modern translations, the ninth saying of Solomon instructs seekers of wisdom to avoid greedily eating food served by a stingy man. Craving such a man’s delicacies is dangerous because his generosity is false. With a warm welcome, he says, “Eat and drink,” but his heart is not in it.

In contrast to not dining with a stingy man, this wisdom nugget can also be viewed as a form self-awareness or warning. In other words, you become what you think about. If you are constantly thinking negatively your behavior or attitude will most likely reflect or cast negativity. Look at it from this perspective, your mind is like a garden and your thoughts are like seeds. You will either do one of two things: you can either grow flowers or weeds. The decision is yours!

So, the life lesson points from today’s message is don’t eat with stingy people and make sure your not that stingy person!

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#ThinkAboutIt

God wants us to come to Him humble like a child, but the Bible never exhorts us to have “childlike” faith, at least not in so many words. In Matthew 18:2 Jesus says that we must “become as little children” in order to enter the kingdom of God. The context of Jesus’ statement is the disciples’ question, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (verse 1). In response, Jesus “called a little child to Him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the ‘lowly’ position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me’” (verses 2–5).

There is no virtue in being childish, but as Jesus implied in the scripture above, we should never outgrow our childlikeness. As His children, God first wants us to be vulnerable, in a position of recognizing our need for His care and protection. Second, God wants us as His children to trust Him—to trust that He made us, knows us, loves us, is with us, and enjoys us. Third, God wants us to remember no child is fully developed —let alone perfect.

My beloved brothers and sisters, as children of God, we are always in a process of growth (aka) works in progress, which our Father understands and accepts. God made us to be dependent on Him, with needs such as love, affection, acceptance, and a sense of belonging. God highly esteems dependence as a characteristic of our ongoing condition and position with Him. WE never outgrow our NEED to lean on Him, TO BE weak or vulnerable SO THAT HE CAN BE STRONG on our behalf.

Undoubtedly, children are valuable, unique, and special to God Himself. Don’t ever forget that He planned for us from the beginning and knit us together in our mother’s womb (Pslam 139:16). We are never too grown of Jesus and when we emulate the faith of a child, we are not responding childishly, rather we are simply choosing to take God at His Word. As children trust their earthly fathers, we should trust that our “Father in heaven [will] always meet all of our needs according to the glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Pray with me!

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#ChildlikeFaith

If you’ve lived in the southeastern Texas area for any length of time and you had ride out one or more hurricane storms than you know the importance of a safe shelter to protect you. It’s pretty obvious that whenever there is a natural threat, we need something stronger than that threat to shield us. Well, the same is applicable with spiritual threats!

The bottom line is that we are susceptible to attacks from our spiritual enemy and from other dangers in life. Sometimes we need to be rescued from spiritual wickedness in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12), negative thoughts, and bad habits. Other times we need someone to help us heal from something that we can’t handle by ourselves.

Psalm 91:1-2 refers to our heavenly Father as our refuge and shelter. As children of God, we can rest in His strength and power, knowing that He is able to keep us safe from any situation we may experience.

Because God created us, He truly knows what’s best for us. He knows how to protect our souls and keep us from looming and lurking dangers that we often can’t see through our carnal lens!

However, this requires that we go to Him when we need help. Hebrews11:6 says, “He who comes to God must come believing that He is a rewarder for those who diligently seek Him.” Beloved, we cannot experience the dwelling and resting in Psalm 91 if we do not spend time in His presence. He is the only true refuge to those who actively trust Him and seek His help. Regardless of what difficulty we may experience on this side of heaven, God is ready, wiling, and able to help us through it.

The best practice to seeking God’s help is through prayer. Spend some time talking with God, telling Him exactly how you feel. Ask Him for the things you need. As you seek His presence and trust in Him and He will protect you and keep you safe. Never forget that God’s word will never return void (Isaiah 55:11) and God’s promises are [always] ‘YES’ in Christ and ‘AMEN’ to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 1:20).

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#DwellingAndResting

One vowel indeed changed everything. If you didn’t know according to Romans 5:12, “….sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” BUT the cure for sin is found in Romans 10:9-10, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

Although I don’t know the day, hour, or minute; Jesus is coming back soon and if you haven’t made a decision to follow Him and make Him Lord of your life, today is the day for your salvation. Jesus loves you and He wants you to be part of the family of God! The knock you’re feeling on the door of your heart is Jesus…will you let Him in today?

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#OneVowelChangedEverything

Back in the day I had a terrible mouth. If you said or did something to offend or hurt me, I would retort or respond with some rather colorful words. I guess you could say I made cussing poetic.

I thank God for His patience with my tongue more less my physiological maturity in navigating through difficult verbal altercations (aka arguments). I have heard it said that when you are angry, the brain loses oxygen and the only words it can verbally articulate (without enough oxygen) are 3 to 4 letter words!

Indisputably, our words and the way in which we communicate matter. As Believers we are exhorted or encouraged in Colossians 4:6 to, “Let your words be seasoned with salt.” As believers, our words should reflect to others the truth of the gospel. They should reveal how this gospel has transformed our lives. Our words should impact our conversations for the better as we bring a different “flavor” to our interactions, build others up, and share as well as defend the gospel or our feelings.

Solomon reminds us in Proverbs 16:24 that, “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Just as salt has healing properties, our words should bring healing and goodness, encouraging its hearers and pointing them to the One who is vital for life.

Jesus said, “Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other” (Mark 9:50b). What we say and how we say it should always be seasoned with the salt of grace and peace. In order to give a seasoned answer, we must present what we say and how we say it in a way that reflects Christ.

With that being said, never speak mean or nasty words out of anger because eventually your anger will pass. But, your mean and nasty words can scar a person for life. So use kind words (salt) or simple take a deep breath and just be silent (aka listen).

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#SeasonYourWordsWithSalt