The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. Proverbs 4: 18-19

It’s Friday night, just got paid lalala. I can’t remember the rest of the words but I remember hearing that song when I was a little kid, I had no job and I wasn’t going anywhere but I sure could dance in front of the television. I saw something interesting and I just thought I would share it with you. The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. What happened was I read the second line first, where it spoke about the darkness and a person stumbling but not knowing what made them stumble. It made me think about walking through the house at night and tripping over something, you know when you stump your toe. But I still continue to walk in the darkness because the light hurts my eyes. Even though I know I could slip on something, fall over something, I still walk in the dark because it’s easier to figure my way through the darkness not knowing what is ahead then to turn the light on and for a short second and let the light blind me.

I think life is like that, sometimes we feel better walking in the dark because we are afraid of what the light may expose. Think about it the night represents fun, we all like to have fun and act like we don’t have a care in the world. The night also represents sleep, sleep is so comfortable, and rewarding. In our dreams we can often escape all of life’s troubles, for a few hours a night we are free from our day. Which brings me to the day, the day is where the sun shines, waking you up disrupting your sleep, your comfort. The day is where you work, work, work and work. During the day you can bet that your boss will want something from you, that your friends want something from you, it just seems like you’re doing a lot during the day.

Well Righteousness is hard, it’s work and we can be lazy people. It’s hard to do the right thing sometimes, because most people will do the wrong thing and even when you do right you may be wronged. So what’s the point in that, might as well stay in the dark right. I wish it was that easy, no matter how dark the night is there’s a bright day after that. And during that bright day we have some things to face, like ourselves. Our fears, the triumphs and life we wish to lead. We can’t make our most important decisions in the dark so maybe it’s time we start at least trying to live in the light. Peace and Grace be unto you.

If you are on a road to nowhere, find another road.

There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-3

I told you I would revisit this scripture because I feel it is so rich with knowledge and understanding if only we allow the wisdom to be applicable in our lives. As I was riding the train this morning it was raining, the beautiful blue skies had turned a stark grey. Mentally I prepared for the gloom, in the Western world some tend to de-value the rain and associate it with sadness. However, it’s funny that in other cultures the rain is honored, it is seen as a blessing from the Supreme Being. So all this thinking about the weather made me think of the storm of life and brought me back to this very scripture.

There is time to plant and a time to harvest. We can’t plant all of the seeds that we want into our lives but without the rain they will not grow, our harvest will not flourish. The rain in your life is the same way, it is vital for your growth and continued living. You ever see someone you love wet with rain on their face, with their smile you are reminded of life and growth. Whether the rain is a golden yellow with the light from the sun or that dark grey from the clouds it is still serving a purpose in your life at that moment. Allow yourself to be immersed in the rain, cherish the experience because it is only making you stronger and more beautiful. I think of the storms that I have seen in life, I walked out of every storm a better man. A step closer to the man that God wanted to me be. We are his crops, and without the rain that he showers into our lives we cannot grow and be the full blessing that he wants us to be. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Patience can cook a stone.

even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139: 10-14

It’s funny I would stumble upon this verse. I feel like this is the basis for how I feel about my relationship with God. You know how they say you reap what you sow, that’s why I am amazed at the type of relationship God and I have. He doesn’t let me get away with anything! If I do something incorrect, he gets at me immediately and I just sit back like “wow, he’s good, I thought I could get away with that one.” Of course sometimes I get caught up watching what others do, how they hurt people and continue to press on and be happy. However, I know it is not my place to judge their actions and I know that by him showing his disapproval of my actions he is only attempting to make me wiser. Everything that is done in the dark will surely come to the light, so I am thankful that I catch the jack immediately rather than way down the line.

The words are so genuine; “for you created my inmost being, you knit me together”. God is our creator, the masterpiece that you see in front of your mirror every morning is his work. Beauty fades and this is why the Lord teaches us humility and to be noble. A loving, kind, helpful person will receive the blessings of the Lord because they are remaining faithful to his word. We can not hide our flaws from the lord in darkness because he sees us there. Instead we might as well just confess our troubles and flaws to the Lord and ask for his guidance so that we may move out of the darkness rather than trying to hide in it. Today I am going to follow my own advice and try to steer away from doing incorrect things that I will catch the jack for later. Peace and Grace be unto you.

The fool is thirsty in the midst of water.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Matthew 24: 6-11

I remember being a little boy and it was snowing in April and my mother quoted that the bible said when the end was near we would not know the difference between the seasons. Now I am far from suggesting that the world is about to end tomorrow but I was drawn to this verse last night via a Common song called Heaven Somewhere. Maybe I have to much free time on my hands but I surf the internet an awful lot and the news gets more disturbing by the day. Wars and rumors of war; are we not in Iraq and some folks are trying to push us into Iran while we watch beautiful young men and women die for unjust causes. Are people in Haiti not creating a revolution because they have no access to food and bare necessities for survival. Today I read that 50 students have been found in the wreckage of a high school in China after a powerful earthquake, and over 7600 are feared dead throughout the country. The economy is spiraling downwards, people are losing their jobs with no new work in sight or means to provide food for their families.

All of this despair would make me think we would get closer to God and pray for a true blessing. Yet the word says you will be hated, and that many will turn astray. While watching Forrest Gump, the handicapped sergeant summed it up. Where is Jesus now, why would he let me live this way. This is the way people look at you who choose to believe in such tough times. And then others in such despair turn to those who claim to profess the word of God. Millions of viewers turn into youtube fanatic preachers, who spew venom and ask for money preying on people’s fears and using the word to sound as an authority. Don’t ask me why I brought this message to you today, I just wanted to share my thoughts and think objectively about the times we are living in. Be careful during these times of trials and tribulation to not fall victim to false hope. Keep your faith in God for he predicted that rough times would come. Remember that if you ask you shall be given (sometimes you gotta keep asking, I know I do lol). Peace and Grace be unto you.

Being my bloodline is one with the divine, in time brother you will discover the light.

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.

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.

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

March 4, 2008

The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands. Proverbs 14:1

Today it is 60 degrees in the middle of nowhere, I can’t help but have a good day with all this great weather. Interesting that this verse speaks of wisdom, what is the basis of wisdom and how does one achieve such a lofty title; to be considered wise? To me wisdom is a combination of knowledge gained through life’s experiences and also common sense which nowadays is not very common. We have all been the foolish one who tears our own house down with our own hands. We were foolish, yes, but we are even more foolish if we do not learn from these experiences. The wise woman can only build her house because she has been smart enough to pay attention to the other builders around her, she endeavored possibly to create a new way of building her home, but she could not do so without life’s experiences. So let’s not only learn from this scripture but let us learn from our mistakes. There is nothing worst than being the one who causes your own demise. Demise is a strong word but there is something grueling about feeling solely responsible for the strife that comes into your life. However, do not be bothered by these obstacles, for if we walk in the way of wisdom, in the way of the light, we will stumble during our foolish days and through those experiences we will gain knowledge and wisdom. It is then that we will be considered wise, it is then when we will build our house. And having taken the more scenic route our home will be something to marvel at, something to be proud of, because it will be our own creation. We must allow the creator to move mountains in our lives, and also give  us the strength to understand our mistakes so that in the future we can make the right decisions. Only then will we understand the hardship of experiences that went into building that home and we will appreciate it that much more, Peace and Grace be unto you!

Leave bad things, talk peace!

February 29, 2008

Hard hearted people are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. Ephesians 4: 17-19

Another scripture that has been running through my mind as of late is “a heart at peace gives life to the body”! I think of that scripture because a closed mind and hardened heart seems to be the direct opposite. Going through trials and tribulations in life harden us all, we all deal with these things differently but how we deal with them can affect our future progress. This verse is very descriptive, calling us who have had these feelings hopelessly confused, full of darkness. We shouldn’t be offended by these words because at times we all have dark periods, but once again it is how we deal with the dark period. For me when it speaks of closing ourselves to God, I think of when I am in a place of darkness and I call out to God in prayer and I don’t feel like he responds. It is sometimes in our human nature to feel abandoned even though that is not the case but sometimes we have these feelings. We build walls around ourselves, not allowing our loved ones in, and not allowing the Lord’s conventional wisdom in, propelling us further down a dark path further from the light. When we face drama, we must look to handle it in the way that will bring us the most peace and try not to close ourselves which will lead to more confusion.

The second part is interesting though. It reminds me of a story a wise woman told me recently. She did a focus group with a group of young women who were in the church, had children, and then were judged by the church for their promiscuity. The girls were angered by this of course, they felt betrayed, while they were in the church the church knew what they were doing and made no strides to reach out. This is these young ladies opinions, this is how they felt. However when they had the baby out of wedlock, people wanted to judge them. Not only driving them further from the church but further from God and his ever loving guidance. “They have no sense of shame” We all have been riddled with troubles and lost our faith, it does not mean that we live for lustful pleasure and wish to be impure, we are just confused. It is at this point that we as a community must love those who are in conflict with the Lord, and in conflict with themselves. Through our love and lack of judgment the hard hearted people become kind hearted people, their closed minds become open and loving. Why? Because we are doing what God has asked us to do, spread love and spread his word! Together this type of action will do what my man Mike calls “turning the tide” and make being spiritually minded socially acceptable, moving us all closer to having a spiritual connection and moving closer to God. Peace and Grace be unto you!

A proud heart can survive a general failure because such failure does not prick its pride.