God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah Psalm 46: 1-3

Good afternoon, pardon the delay, I had a presentation to give so I was unable to sit at the computer. But I already knew what I wanted to write, I just needed to find the bible verse to go along with it. Low and behold I found it in the Great book of Psalms. God is our refuge, our strength, an ever present help in trouble. I could not agree more and i am thankful that I can find such truths within the bible. So where does all this come from you ask? Well yesterday while traveling home I reflected on my day. I decided to write a message and the contents I will share with you:

Today was just another day where the Lord showed me that I am blessed. Blessed to have such a father, blessed to have such a savior. A God who looks past my many flaws and even looks past the fact that at times I doubt that he hears me. No today the Lord managed to cement more in my head how much he loves me. He never ceases to amaze me, I think its time that I begin to pray for that unyielding faith, that faith where nothing affects me because if something does I know it is the Lord who is channeling his energy through me. I know it is him preparing me to be  the greatest good that I can be. Thank you Lord for your blessings, you are forever loved, appreciated. I pray that we only get closer, I think back to a year ago and where we were then and where we are now. How far you have brought me, what a noble, amazing God we serve. Simply amazing!

Shortly after I wrote this I lost my wallet on the train. My wallet only included my license, credit cards, school id, and my expensive LIRR monthly train pass. It may not sound like much but for like 5 minutes I was devastated. There lay my wallet under the seat and the conductors would not open the door for me and the train just coasted off. So here i am stranded at the train station 40 minutes away from my house with no money, no id no nothing. Well I did have my computer, if I didn’t have that i may have had to jump! But seriously in such a moment of trouble God reached down to help the Ced Meister out. The conductor of a different train went above and beyond to help me. Took me into the conductor’s booth and I literally watched him call any and everybody that could possibly help me. At that moment I knew God was helping me, that god was moving through this man and guiding me out of the situation. Right then I said even if I don’t find the wallet, I don’t care. I am just thankful that even when I am in a bad situation I know I can depend on the Lord. Peace and Grace be unto you!

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t and life can’t. The angels can’t and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow and the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 38-39

I was just thumbing through the pages this morning hoping to find some inspiration. Just some words that might correlate with what I was feeling and I am thankful because God did not fail, me in fact he blessed me with these words that helped make sense of my thoughts earlier this morning. Here in Romans the word is speaking about God’s unfailing love for each and every one of us. That’s something marvelous to think about, we experience love from human beings and are overjoyed. How great does it make you feel to know that the Creator of all things, a being that is ever present and all knowing has your back. The script writer, the world’s greatest author, the top notch director is casting the scenes of your movie called life.

And nothing can separate you from this role, nothing can separate you from this director; and he has the role that is best fit for you.  But its a movie yall, which means their is going to be some ups, some downs and depending on the acting some bad and some good reviews. The director has the plan, he knows how this plays out so allow him to guide you. I love that the word speaks of our fears,  and our demons because these two things can constantly keep us from truly connecting with our purpose. But I look back to the scripture and I see the words “I am convinced”, like I believe with all my heart that nothing can separate me from God’s love. And if God loves me this much I know that no matter what valley he makes me cross, what horrible situations that may occur in my life, through my faith I will not only survive but I will flourish because of the trials he set before me. I can’t front like I am always convinced, sometimes we all have doubts. We want what we want or what we think is best for us. However, I am looking forward to being able to speak with such conviction. Peace and Grace be unto you!

The miserly man is like a fattened ox: he will give of his fat only when he has been deprived of his life.

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3: 17-19

Ok, Im coming to you live from the Fordham Law Atrium, there are a lot of boring conversations going on around me so bare with me. I’ll be in court all day so I am writing this message at 9:14am but I am sure it will not get to you until after 12pm. Maybe even 1, they are actually calling me now boooo! Ok I’m back, had to find a starbucks while on this quick break. But I am glad I was interrupted because shortly after I stopped writing I got a text from a close friend who is in the hospital. He is dealing with high blood pressure and kidney failure. A young man might I add and at that moment this scripture made a little bit more sense to me. I ask that we all keep him in our prayers.

I told him that by allowing Jesus to dwell in our hearts though our faith we are strengthening our belief, we are strengthening the legacy which he has shown us. I am not sure if I am even wording my thoughts clearly but what I was trying to convey is that by us believing in our hearts through our faith that Christ will pull him through we are strengthening the legacy of Christ, strengthening our belief in the spirit and allowing the Lord to know that we know that he will prevail. The scripture say that our love for Christ, for our Savior surpasses knowledge and allows us to be filled to the measure of all of the fullness of God. I just took it like through my belief and my faith, that God has better days for me and loves me as I love him, I will peak! I will reach my destiny, our dreams and prayers will be granted because of our faithfulness. No matter what a person is dealing with, we can find comfort in two things. One is that we have God and he will never leave us and secondly we have friends and family who engulf us with love even when we reject it. And it is through these two types of love that we conquer our fears, accept our dreams and prosper. I gotta go back to court. Peace and Grace be unto you!

If the glove does not fit, you must acquit!

Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him. 2 Samuel 14: 14

In another bible I read this same verse read “All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which can not be gathered up again. That is why God tries to bring us back when we have been separated from him. He does not sweep away the lives of those he cares about - and neither should you!” The first thing that stood out to me was the analogy of life and water. I thought of how when a cup spills onto the ground, the water soaks in whether it is concrete or soil. You know I like metaphors so I started thinking about how in a perfect world life would be more like a counter top and we could run some of the water off the edge back into the cup but this is not the case. Life is like the concrete, jagged at times, smooth at others. It can be like the soil, plentiful for growth or it can bury you alive.

Just made me think about how when a moment is gone, it is what it is! That moment is gone, we can not live life by the water that is spilled but more by the moments we still have left to live. Making the best out of those opportunities. I like how it speaks of God bringing us back when he feels we have been separated, it shows the compassion the Lord has for us. That he will continue to protect us if we allow him to, he will not just discard us as if we never existed. All in all from today’s verse I recognize that life is short and we must make the most of every moment that we have, fill our days with love and glory. Set out to accomplish what will make you feel whole, what will make you feel warm in heart. And while doing so if we make mistakes, let’s be thankful that we have a God who will continue to hold us down. How will we hold him down? Peace and Grace be unto you!

Proverbs are the daughters of experience.

Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me. How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. Psalm 119: 5-9

You ever look at a train yard while passing through a major station. It looks sorta desolate, almost like an abandoned piece of space. Ironically this piece of space is used everyday to transform someone’s dreams, put food on the table for small children and a host of other things through its power to transport people to and from a variety of places. Our minds have that same ability, while sometimes they feel dark, look abandoned it is still the only key we have towards reaching our goals.

Our mind coupled with God’s word can and will take us to another level, an idea of success that we have yet to fathom. When I first started reading the above scripture I was more dis-satisfied with myself than anything. The word shame resonated with me then I began to think of all the principles and nobility I had been raised with in understanding God’s word, myself and how I have often strayed from that path. But then I looked at the train yard and I thought of all its potential, I wondered where would people get if they just sat in the wreckage of the train yard and never ventured onto the tracks, or if they got off at one stop, all they had to do was get on the next moving train. How can a young man keep his way; by living according to the word. In order to live according to the word we must see our mistakes and use them as a guide of what not to do but we can not dwell on them because then we have just done two unproductive things and that definitely does not lead to a productive move. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Copying everyone else all the time, the monkey one day cut his throat.

I like the second video the best so far, THOUGHTS?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm9SwCjwEH0&hl=en]

I love to big up people doing big things in our local communities and spreading knowledge to our people. Common is always pushing the envelope of awareness and integrating our communities with a sense of pride. If you are not familiar, I suggest you get familiar with his non profit Common Ground Foundation. There are several programs that this organization uses to empower our youth, I want to thank Common and the other artists who recognize that we need organizations like this to build our communities together!

Mission Statement:
The Common Ground Foundation is dedicated to the empowerment and development of urban youth in the United States.

Vision Statement:
The Common Ground Foundation was created by Hip Hop artist, actor and children’s author Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known as “Common”. Common’s social-conscience message serves as inspiration for equality, opportunity and hope among youth in underserved communities. The Foundation is committed to empowering youth in urban neighborhoods and providing life skills needed to achieve their dreams.

Click here to donate
http://www.commongroundfoundation.org/donate.html

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. Psalm 103: 13-18

We flourish like a flower of the field, our beauty sits for all to see. But just like that it’s gone, and its place remembers it no more, those who marveled at the flower forget the flower was even there. What was the source of the beauty, was it genuine, was it God filled or was it an arrogant self loving flower, one with no regard for the flowers around it or the insects who wanted to taste its sweet nectar to live. Forgive me I’m listening to Miles Davis as I write this, him and Coltrane make me want to sound prolific and artsy lol.

What I like about the this scripture is God sees us from dust to dust. Our whole life span is watched through his eyes, our highs, our lows, whatever they may be he sees them. Sometimes we feel on top of the world but when we do without giving the proper thanks we can find the rug stripped right from under us. Those who were there popping bottles with us are suddenly not there anymore, they remember us no more. But the word says the Lord’s love is everlasting, that not only will we live good under his care but our children’s children as well. Just because we chose to recognize that there is a being that is supreme to us and we allow others to see that in us. We hold true to the principles that he lays out for us, living righteously, caring for one another, and just spreading love and his words of kindness and nobility. I think then and only then can we be that beautiful flower, and no winds or any type of creature can remove us from our splendor, if that makes sense. Peace and Grace be unto you.

This and that palm tree, from which one will you tear a leaf; Here and there a road, which one will you take?

“I’m, you know, not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans, because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And so, I have been very concerned about how to think and what to do about that because I don’t like … that. And then I’ve been, this, you know, concerned about, oh, how should we deal with the Olympics, because they’re not being nice to the Dali Lama who is a good friend of mine. And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma? When you’re not nice that the bad things happen to you?” Sharon Stone

Thousands of people have died and Sharon Stone has the nerve to make such a statement. I am baffled by people’s disregard for tragedies and their lack of respect for the people who lose their lives to such conditions. The people of China do not deserve to be disrespected in this way, and we wonder why people hate Americans. This cocky way of passing judgment upon other nations and its people is disgusting!

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12: 2

Funny how you find things, I read a letter yesterday to the graduates of 2008, where a Princeton professor apologized for the lack of education that older generations have bestowed upon the younger generations. One thing that struck me was that she spoke of how we are taught to be afraid to take risks, we are taught to chase the dollar and not our passions. Then I was rapping with my man who quit his job in search of his dreams, in search of his passion. Of course that’s a brave move, took a lot of courage and support to make such a transition but he’s doing it and doing it well. How can we succeed if we place all of our faith in worldly perceptions of how we should live and what we should follow?

I love that here in Romans the word tells us to no longer conform to the pattern of the world but be transformed by renewing our own minds. To me that concept is such a blessing, the road that I am traveling may not be the path of others or the path that is widely accepted by the world but trusting in God’s will will surely land me where I need to be, where he wants me to be. In order for us to renew our mind we must be concious of what we allow to affect our thoughts. In order to be transformed we must believe that we can change, that we can make a change. It does not matter if your background is finance and the world is telling you to go make bookoos of doe, if your passion lies somewhere else follow that. Follow it with God’s strength though, we have to truly believe in our own abilities. Sometimes that’s the hardest part, if we are truly honest often it is easier to see someone else’s talent and neglect your own, I know I do. But when we start thinking like that we just have to re-read the first part of today’s scripture and allow our minds to be renewed.

Realize that so many of us want more, yet do so little with what we have been given.