You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-15

Looks like I stumbled upon a jewel this morning. It’s amazing how when you are not looking for something, you find everything. I was thumbing through the Bible and I found the above scripture and the metaphors blew me away. Sometimes in life we see so much pain and conflict that it hardens us to the beauty within ourself. So the word compares us to salt, when we lose our taste, the flavor that makes us unique than we have just made ourselves worthless. And for what; everyday that we wake up is a new chance to create something beautiful and everlasting while we’re here on earth. Everyday is a chance to cultivate our flavor into the best flavor it can be.

The word compared us to a light, meaning that our mere existence can give sight to things. I see myself in these words; when I am doubtful and I take my light and put it under something so that it can’t be seen. I do it because of low self esteem, I do it because its easier to be mediocre than to really try and fail. No matter what the circumstance, the sun shines through the clouds and breathes life on the food that nourishes our body. If we only saw our true strength we would realize that God has given us a light that he wants us to shine. A light that can change my life, your life and touch lives that we are not even aware just through us shining our talents. This is a dope scripture because when we shine our lights, than others see the beauty within us and attribute them to the Creator who bestowed the blessing upon us. It’s not for those who don’t appreciate your light, and boy is that easier said than done but it’s not. Shine on, shine for those who will appreciate your light and allow others to benefit from you! Peace and Grace be unto you!

There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them” Ecclesiastes 12:1

This scripture stood out to me as I was thumbing through the book of Ecclesiastes. I can already tell that there will be many more messages set from this book alone because it is so rich with knowledge. Today’s scripture reminds me of my thoughts as a young man and some of my thoughts right now. I grew up watching my Grandmother be holy and sanctified. She was a true woman of God, she kept his word near and deep to her heart. So my concept of being saved was seen through the lens of her salvation. There was a lot of things that she did not do and would not indulge in because it was against the way of God. My own tattoo that I bear on my left arm celebrating her life would be an abomination of the body. So I grew up knowing that I wanted to go to heaven but figured I would make the transition when I am older . I’m still having fun; it didn’t seem like you could have to much fun and truly be committed to God.

Slowly in my mind however, fun is changing, what was fun at 14 is not fun at 24. I am also starting to see that one does not wake up and be as devout a Christian as my grandmother was. Like with everything else, spirituality it is a process. Today’s word once again pointed out that fact to me. I often hear people preach fear into our hearts when they talk about getting to know the Lord. “You don’t want to end up like those who will be judged and thrown into the pit of fire”. No one wants to be judged in that way but I find more happiness in not just thinking that the Lord will save me from a life of eternal damnation but what can I do for him while I am here to put forth the principles that he has has blessed us with. Humility, nobility, and being kind towards others. All of this to say we don’t have to be old, driving a Buick to get to know God. It is important that we get to know him now so that we can give glory to him through our works and appreciate his blessings all the same. Peace and Grace be unto you.

The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its people.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1: 26-27

When I am consumed in my thoughts, I try and turn to the word so that I can find some words that may give me strength. I always find something but sometimes it’s a temporary fix, it doesn’t feel permanent. Last night while I laid in bed I was thinking about how the bible teaches us that we are made in the image of God, in the likeness of God. Those thoughts were giving me strength because I know how great God is but I needed to tangibly see them to embrace what he was saying. It was like I knew the words were in the bible but because it wasn’t staring at me I was doubtful that it was there or that it was talking about me.

Maybe others, you know the people who smile all the time are those who are made in his image. Those who don’t worry, don’t stress, maybe they are made in his image. I know none of this is true, well it is true because we are all made in his image. Growing up I never liked the passage where it spoke of God being a jealous God, saying that you should have no other God’s before him. It isn’t until right now that I sort of understand that statement. I felt like my God can’t be jealous, jealousy is a sin, only wack people who are haters are jealous so this is a part where they got it wrong. But this morning as I write this daily prayer I feel differently. I think about what it must mean to be all knowing and still watch people defy you and go to something that is not you. I still don’t like the term jealous but I think I understand what is trying to be conveyed. If you believe you are heaven sent, if you believe you are blessed does that mean that you never doubt yourself especially when others doubt what you know is right. Today I am a little all over the place but before this gets to long and you stop reading, just know that we are made in the image of the Lord. Flaws and all we are still beautiful beings who with courage and faith have the strength to muster over any obstacle placed before us. Peace and Grace be unto you!

The fool speaks, the wise man listens

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R.I.P JOSHUA SIMMS

Words can’t express a mother’s pain when her child is lost. Lost to the senseless violence and killings that are frequent amongst young black men today in America. Today I asked myself, why, and if not why how. How can we help, how can I help, is it worth the energy, will people listen? I am sure that it is worth the energy, to save what many are calling an endangered species; the young black male in America. A close friend asked me yesterday, why do you write, what is at your core? I didn’t know how soon I would be able to show her my answer rather than tell her. Why you ask, because that picture above us, that young man’s soul prayerfully resting in heaven could have been me. It can be any one of us who walk this earth searching for a better way. And because it could be us, might be us, this is even more reason why we must stand against the death of our people.

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Luke 12: 22-26

Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6: 10-12

A close friend of mine hit me up yesterday and said “can the next pardon me be about how much the devil is a hater”? To which my response was “well you know he’s a hater, he hates on me all the time; you just gotta ignore that dude”! But we can’t just ignore the devil; we cant feed his power either because he is a powerful being. Just look at all the evil and hurt in the world! What we must do is what the word above says; be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. While attending a church in Carol City, Florida; a section of Miami, the pastor gave three consecutive sermons about the full armor of God. The way he broke it down was so artful, essentially he spoke of our faith being the strongest part of this armor. We need this armor of God to protect us from the many ills of the world.

Look around at all the senseless killings, the molestation of our children, raping of our women; these are all acts of the devil, inspired by his evil schemes to corrupt us. The political climate; people rioting in Haiti, all across America people are losing their homes; the state of people’s lives is becoming chaotic. How many times have you heard; if your God is so good than why would he let you live like this. The movie “The Devil’s Advocate” displayed this lovely, they questioned our minds about the ills of this world and then threw it back on God as to say he was not protecting us, so he must not exist. That faith and the true armor of the Lord tells us this is not so. Don’t be fooled though, it should tell you something else. Its a war going on outside; the devil’s troops are strong in their conviction to collapse our faith, our good spirit and energy. Look at the spread of disease, drug epidemics, families turning on families. The media turning on the church; the church turning on the church and being more involved with numbers than wisdom and the word. You see it in your daily life, you find yourself struggling despite the fact that you believe you are doing right and being faithful to the Lord. These are all acts of the devil that we can not ignore. We have to suit up; get together and fight for our happiness, for the betterment of our families. We serve a higher power, we are playing for the right team so let’s acknowledge that we have some haters but be wise enough to know that we are blessed with the best protection and knowledge to defeat such clowns. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Snake at your feet a stick at your hand.

Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. - Joe Louis a.k.a. The Brown Bomber

A wise man’s heart guides his mouth and his lips promote instruction. Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones…. Proverbs 16:24

Last night I read something extremely powerful, I did not find it in the word, though I know it was heaven sent. I did not find it in any scholarly text books, nor was it a lecture by a famed orator. Nope, it was actually handwritten, on small sheets of notebook paper. Hopefully one day the contents of this letter I will be able to share with you but what impacted me most were the words. A gentleman who is locked away in prison sent me some of his writings and his words were so poignant, filled with hope and despair, filled with joy and pain. He thanked me for reaching out to him in his time of need and although he knew my reply would be “it’s nothing”, he went on for a paragraph or so just to thank me for taking the time out to build a relationship with him. Reading his words touched me in a way that I did not expect them too. His words gave me a sense of purpose and were extremely beneficial in me then writing three letters to three different brothers who are locked away as well.

With all the judgment that swirls around in today’s world it is easy for people to judge this man and his situation. However today’s scripture tells us that a wise man’s heart guides his mouth! This scripture is subtle yet extremely heavy because often the words that come from our mouths are not from our heart. We let our pain and fears speak for our heart and our lips just let it fly. But if we spoke from our hearts, think of all the good energy we would speak into the lives of other people. The word says pleasant words are sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. The young man’s words were healing to me, his compassion, his gratitude. What if we promoted this type of dialogue, would more souls be touched, would we be helping to create a more perfect world in which we are following Christ like principles? Just some food for thought. Peace and Grace be unto you.

Still your mind in me, still yourself in me, and without a doubt you shall be united with me, Lord of Love, dwelling in your heart.