If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. I Corinthians 13: 1-3

I never really talk to much about love, yet my heart is filled with love. Sometimes I try to ignore the heart, I remember reading in the bible somewhere that the heart can deceive you. Please, I might have read and experienced that in some form or fashion (LOL). However the love verse in the bible is one of my favorites, it follows right after the above verse and it speaks volumes to what love really is rather than the superficial love we see on television or possibly chase in our own relationships. Today’s verse to me more so resonates with love as it relates to your passions. How love relates to the driving forces in your life.

Love is the basis for creation, when you love something you nurture it. You care for it, and do anything in your power to see it grow. This may be a person, this may be an idea, or this can be one of your favorite pastimes or hobbies. The scripture tells us we can do all things but without love we have nothing. Look at rich people who have the world at their feet but they still commit suicide, use drugs and destroy their bodies; for what. Listen to some of their interviews and you will hear that they lack love in their heart. Not love in the sense of a significant other but the love that you feel when you are trying to achieve a great feat. In order to grow something, anything, we need love; our love is the passion that drives us past our fears and towards our goals. Peace and Grace be unto you.

Time’s a wasting, don’t you waste your time young man!

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. II Corinthians: 7-10

Today’s scripture couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s a message that I truly believe in; people who are blessed deal with strife and struggles as testament to their faith. Tuesday I’m getting interviewed on CNN, my blog reaches the highest numbers its ever seen. Wednesday I feel like I am in utter darkness; literally. Through it all I smile because I know that i have been blessed time and time again so any troubles that I receive just build my character. Times of hardship also show us our true friends who surround us and the Lord allows them to come to our aid. What a blessing! The experiences that we have in life build the people who we are becoming. If everything in life was easy, we would take the beauty of life for granted. I want to appreciate all of the blessings I am given, and so if that means I have to be in the dark before i can see the light then so be it. For I plan to be relish in the light much longer than I will ever be in the dark and I pray the same for you. Peace and Grace be unto you.

Water always finds a way out.

March 11, 2008

“Everything is permissible” - but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible” - but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. I Corinthians 10: 23-24

Everything is permissible huh, but what does that mean? We have been given the gift and the curse of free will which makes all things permissible but not necessarily beneficial, not necessarily constructive either; starting with our own minds. After sending out these pardon me messages and rapping with friends I have learned that we are all going through very similar struggles. One person and I always speak about how the Bible tells us to be still, but from reading this word and speaking with another friend I have learned a part of being still it literally being still. The mind, this free will we have starts with our own imagination. Point blank sometimes we think to much, we think about what is permissible but we know it may not be beneficial, it has already shown that at this point in our life it is not for us. We think about all the things we can do, but then we are not constructive because we are so busy thinking about one million things that we don’t have the mind capacity to get things done. I am trying to learn how to be still, literally, freeing my mind of all its crazy thoughts and just relaxing and finding my own inner peace.

There are consistent themes throughout the bible, throughout the word they tell us to surrender these thoughts and let God guide us. We say that we are surrendering ourselves but we are not surrendering these babbling minds. I know my mind is my best friend, works me through alot but she and I’ll call her she because she confuses me. (come on laugh) She helps me through things but she also puts me through things that may be unnecessary had I just relaxed, relied on faith and stuck to whatever the task at hand was. Lastly this concept of not seeking your own good but seeking the good of others. Anything in excess can and will consume you and then it becomes hard to see yourself. I don’t think that anyone should just only seek their own good, because to only seek the good of others will put us in a situation where we are not loving ourselves. We have to learn how to love ourselves before we can love others, if not we get caught up in a self defeating mindset that does not allow peace in our hearts. But to me this word is saying don’t be so consumed and selfish in your own good, take some of that time to think of others and bring joy into their lives. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Practice all that you know so that you can be shown more!

February 25, 2008

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. II Corinthians 4:17

Good morning, just the words that I needed to start off my day. Light and momentary, telling us that these dilemmas that we face are not that serious. We actually give power to our troubles, more than they were ever meant to have. The word the other day spoke about the unseen, because what we may see now can be hard to bear. But today the word tells us that those troubles are momentary, that they are temporary in nature no matter how big or small and how much they are consuming our lives right now. The sooner we stop stressing and just allow the trouble to manifest itself out of our lives, it will. Stop spending precious time and energy giving something power over you, when all you need is the power to get by. Interestingly enough this verse also speaks to me about the strength that we muster up while in the valley. When times are hard, when we face struggle, God is preparing us, making us stronger. Training us to deal with the complex problems of today, of the world we live in, and preparing us to combat the battles that we may face.

Opposition is needed, it makes us push harder, it strengthens our drive to achieve. Let Go and Let God as the song says and I am sure we will all be the dream that we wish to achieve!

And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Gallatians 6:9

This verse was on my mind all last week and it continued into this weekend. The passage preceding it speaks about how we reap what we sow. If we are in the right we shall reap good things, if we are in the habit of doing bad things then that too we shall reap. But what about those of us who try to do the right thing and we keep getting “the jack”. Pardon my terms, but we keep feeling left out no matter how much right we do. And then we start to look at all of those who do bad and get good. We become envious of those who are living the wrong way because it seems that they know something we don’t because they are “achieving”. Well the verse says not to be weary, don’t get down on yourself because what you’re doing is right. And in due season, meaning soon you will reap the benefit of your good deeds, if you faint not. If you faint not, what that means to me is we will get our blessings if we keep doing what is right, if we don’t give up, if we stand as a testament to our faith rather than fleeing from it. If we fall off track and start following in the ways of those who aren’t walking along the right path then we wont receive what’s rightfully ours, the blessings that the Lord has bestowed upon us. I don’t know about the next person but I WANT you to get all of yours because I want all of mine! Peace and Grace be unto you!

February 22, 2008

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. II Corinthians 4:18

Yesterday a couple of different people hit me up and said that yesterday’s word was truly meant for them and they thanked me for it. It wasn’t me, God has led us to such a relationship that I would even feel comfortable to send this type of message and more importantly that you would receive it. The verse above speaks to me in such a way that I could write for hours, it is so timely and so pertinent in my life right now that its amazing. This verse is asking us to not become fixated on what is directly in front of us for that is temporary. However our dreams, our ambitions that are endless and unseen, those things will be come eternal. Constantly the Lord is asking us to not rely on sight, but to rely on our faith. My ears are wide open because when you hear something once, you know it glazes over you. You hear it twice, you start to pay closer attention but when you continuously keep hearing the same message you have to give that piece of advice some attention.

For what is seen is temporary; pain is temporary, happiness can be temporary if we are not thankful for the greatness that we receive today. But what is unseen, those dreams that you yourself haven’t even realized yet, those are eternal. Think back to five years ago, where were you? Think about the good things that have happened in your life, can you honestly say five years ago that you saw some of those things as feasible. I know for a fact that five years ago some of the accomplishments that I have made I had not even dreamed of. I say this message is so on time, because today as I was driving to school, with a major assignment due, I was becoming stressed out. Head in my lap, almost defeated in a sense because I’ve been sick for the past 3 weeks. I’m a student, so you know I’m broke, I live in the middle of nowhere where snow is on the ground more often than its not. I was just blinded by all of the things I see, the things that are right in front of me. A friend acknowledged that all of these pressures may be building up on all of us, but what is unseen, that is what I am now looking forward to. While I sit in class, graduation is imagined but its unseen, the greatness I can achieve afterwards is unseen but even though I can’t see it I know it’s attainable. All of the drama and problems of today are seen but WE cannot fix our eyes upon them. WE cannot lock our minds into what is temporary for there is a GREATNESS that awaits us ALL and it is UNSEEN. Be the key that unlocks your own destiny by mentally removing the temporary obstacles that sit before you! Peace and Grace be unto you!

In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.