The Resurrection and The Life

....Last night I arose from my bed and I decided to pray....
After I was done I opened my eyes and there stood a cross before me.
I rubbed my eyes and fell to my knees to assure myself that it wasn't a dream.
I looked again and there was a man upon the tree....
There were nails in his hands and nails in his feet, at this sight I could not believe!
There was a crown of thrones upon his head and from this his face did bleed.
I begged and pleaded for someone to help, but no one heard my plea.
I attempted to stand to my feet, but there was no strength in me.
I began to cry, I began to weep.........
I couldn't believe how deep the nails were in his hands and feet.
He turned his face and looked at me - and my heartrate did increase....
I fell to my face when he looked at me --

Because his eyes were like fire burning deep within me.
When I looked up again no one was upon the tree.....
I looked for him frantically, but it was only the cross I could see.
I became sad, I became blue, because there was no hope in me.
I rose to my knees and shouted: "Oh woe is me!"
As I proceeded to get off knees, someone laid their hands on me
I turned around and it was he that was upon the tree!
He wiped the tears from my eyes and began to speak:
"What you saw was not a dream but "reality"
Look at my hands look at my feet, the nail prints you can see."
He had on a beautiful white robe and upon his head was a golden crown;
This alone turned my frown into a smile!
He went on to say: "Tell everyone what you have seen...
Let them know that through my death, burial and resurrection they have been redeemed.
Abide in me and I will abide in you - Eternal life I now give unto you"
Jesus is the way the truth and the life....
Do I believe he did this for you too, absolutely!
...And this to me my friend is "reality"

...Dark Room

One of the most difficult things to endure is development and process. It sounds quite easy, however in order to ascend to higher heights we have to endure valley experiences or the dark room as I like to call it. When I think about a "dark room" the first thing that comes to my mind is picture development. One of the challenges of development in the darkroom is that you can’t see the changes happening. You are only relying on your experience and intuition. Today things are done much faster with Photoshop...this gets it done a lot sooner, however there is something about watching, waiting and seeing the development of the photograph.

When I pondered this thought...life came to mind and the challenges we often face. We desire people to change the moment we begin to pray for them...it may not happen that way - we desire the job shortly after we apply for it....it may not happen that way, we desire the house - as soon as we sit down with the relator....it may not happen that way - we desire for our son's or daughter's to be delivered as soon as we pray for them....it may not happen that way - we make our request known to God on Monday and expect the answer on Saturday....it may not happen that way. God is more concerned with our development and growth opposed to giving us what we want when we want it. I love the scripture: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31). Also, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication and thanksgiving; let your request be made known to God and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7). And lastly, "Let patients have its perfect work in you so that you will be mature and lacking nothing" (James 1:4) .

When you find yourself in a "dark room" its not about throwing in the towel, its about enduring until the end. You are in "wait training" and the key is to allow the stretching to happen, allow the breaking to happen...it doesn't feel good, but God has an amazing way of making all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28).

...Grace Period

One day a call center representative received an escalated call from a customer; the customer was puzzled to find out that his policy that he so feverishly went about obtaining had come to an abrupt end. "How could this be?" the customer asked. Politely, the customer service representative advise the customer that there was nothing that he could do. The representative went on to remind the customer, "Sir, you were under the grace period, we gave you an ample amount of time to make the wrong right." The customer,  deeply concerned, went on to say, "But what about my consistency prior to this? I was faithful! You know, January, April, July, I thought I was doing everything right." It was at this time that the customer service representative became very empathetic; Yes you are absolutely correct, I can see that you were consistent, however its about now, today, current date." The customer stated, I never received any communication that I no longer was covered, is it written?" The representative stated, "yes it is written, as a matter of fact, let me read the letter to you." The representative went on to read the letter verbatim to the customer. The customer became silent for about 10 seconds. Shortly thereafter the customer began to blame other people for providing him with information contrary to what was written in the letter informing him that he was under the grace period. Unfortunately for the customer there was nothing documented that indicating that he was provided inaccurate information. In essence the customer took for granted being under grace.

After hearing this story I was reminded of God's amazing grace that has been extended to all humanity. My, my, my how amazing is God's grace! What is grace you ask, its unmerited favor, that you and I do not deserve. When we're under grace, we should be cut off, but grace will not allow it to be so. What Jesus did on the cross catapulted humanity into a position to be recipients of God's amazing grace. Unfortunately, like the customer so many people take the grace of God for granted. We often skate through life nonchalantly not considering the fact that our life upon the earth is but a vapor! We too have been given a letter so to speak to remind us of God's grace and the decision that we have to make before our final exit from life as we know it into eternity. Obviously we do not have to send God payments to stay in grace or out of grace, God's grace is free. As I mentioned before we do not deserve God's grace! But in order for us to spend eternity with Him, we have to comply with the letter or in our case, God's word (the bible). The customer ignored all the signs, as a matter of fact he never read the letter; that is why when he was confronted with the truth he continued to make excuses instead of taking ownership for his own actions. The customer never called to speak to anyone. We do the same thing to God; we turn our backs on him, we don't talk to Him consistently, we don't read His word, but He still loves us and is quick to forgive. But we have to embrace His grace, not trample it under our feet. Unlike the customer who knew specifically when the grace period ended, we do not know the day nor the hour when "grace ends" or when Jesus returns.

I look at everything that is going on around the world today and it is as if we are on fast forward, quickly coming to the end. I don't know if you are a believer in Jesus Christ that is out of fellowship with Him or a non-believer that doesn't know Him in the pardon of your sin. What I do know is that time is winding up and we have to make sure that we are familiarizing ourselves with the letter that was sent to us thousands of year ago called the bible. To the believer that confuses religion with relationship, please, please don't be associated with those that will hear Jesus say, "Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven or "Depart from me, I never knew you." (Matthew 7: 21-23). To the non-believer there's still room at the cross for you (Romans 10:9; John 3:16). You're under a grace period...while you have time, choose Christ for your life!

...Parenthood

...have you ever observed your son or daughter while they slept?  ~ how grand, how awesome, how blessed... my baby graciously trusts me to continue the flow...by holding the bottle steady you know....perhaps it was their mother's breast that kept them at ease...the trust that our children have in us as parents brings me to my knees ~ I'm humbled to have the opportunity to raise someone until adulthood; what a task and my how fast is that task...that is given to you and me for but a short time/from bottles to sippy cups and spilled milk, no worries daddy or mommy will wipe it up....holding hands in Disneyland to our child becoming our number one fan....just by being who we are...no cape or boots required just quality time and being on time with the snacks...oh and maybe watching a cartoon or two...its nothing like hearing your child tell you, "I love you" ~ Parenthood, often misunderstood...but its all good because its parenthood...and it can't be compared to anything on this side of heaven...can't believe my baby is now eleven...now its school buses and being on time for school...and signing multiple papers in regards to school rules...then comes summer and swimming pools...that's when you realize how much your children respect you...no looking back just continue to lead...no more bottles...you have growing kids to feed. So we encourage them and continue to provide direction...and we always remind them that we are here to pray and protect....we cover them from a spiritual standpoint...now its time to prepare for college...and with all that you've done...you know he or she has the knowledge...to take it to the next level...pursuing their bachelors with no hesitation..this is when you really feel the degrees of separation...but its cool, we will make it through this...what, what is this...wedding bliss? Now my baby is about to tie the knot...seems like yesterday when I was taking the pacifier out of her mouth...well it'll be ok, I trust he's the one...wonder if I should purchase a gun? No, no I just have to let go...this is their time...our time together was sublime...what, she's expecting a child, my oh my, my baby will be the mother of a child? This is surreal, but I can't express my pleasure in seeing her smile as she supplies her child with a sip...from the bottle, the way I once did her...now I can just kick back, watch and observe. I love where we are and how things have progressed, praise be to God my family is blessed!

Trees, Leaves and Branches

....just sitting on my back porch wondering just how it could be...how a seed becomes a tree, becomes leaf, becomes branch on the tree. It's actually phenomenal if you give it some thought....how a seed becomes a tree. The conditions are not the best when the journey begins...placed in the ground...with layers of dirt all around him. No one knows it's whereabouts...everyone use to talk about him, but now there are no words in their mouths. Obscurity is the seeds new best friend...no Facebook friends or Twitter retweets for him. Just seasons of no recognition....if it gives up now, no one would remember him. The struggle is real when you're goingthrough process...not to mention seasons:winter, spring, summer, fall and winter again ~ I digress: but the seed dies. Not itself, rather his will or better yet, it's outer case...a sprout springs forth...now it sees the light of day. Just when everybody thought the seed wouldn't make it through, it stands tall and provides shade for me and you. Can you imagine if it had given up...the birds that were destined to place nests in him would have given up. You see they would've thought that giving up was the only alternative, no hope day to day with no words to say...but because of the trees faith, it showed mother bird the way. I said that to say this....whatever you do, don't quit!

......Filthy Rags

It's  the 4th Quarter, the ball is on the one (1) yard line with :02 seconds on the clock. You call a time out to go over the play that you have went over time and time again in practice. Your opposition knows you are going to get the ball so they send in extra defense of lineman to stuff the holes; to make sure that you have no way of getting in. Aware of the strategy of your opponent your team decides to fake the ball to you and have you go out for a quick pass. Focused on stuffing the holes in the line, the defense overlooks you in the end zone all alone. Your quarterback doesn't though; he tosses you the ball, all the fans stand to their feet, the players on each side line watch in silence, the ball comes right to you and just like that you drop the pass. Game Over! The other team rejoices. You sink to your knees in disbelief, the crowd and your teammates gasp as the clock reflects 00:00 on the scoreboard for all to see. Teammates come to your side to give you a hand, but you decline, you just want to sit there. Everyone has vacated the field and return to the locker rooms, but you're still there, trying to figure out how can I drop the ball after  practicing that very same throw, that very same route hundreds of times. Often times in life we miss the mark. Even after knowing all that Jesus did for us, we drop the ball. The most simplest thing, the thing we know we shouldn't do, the very thing He delivered us from, we find ourselves right back in the miry clay. We hate the sin, but deep in our soul we have become infatuated with the sensation or gratification that we get out of the wrong that we've convince ourselves is right. How do we break free. Do we continue in sin because we know that we are forgiven? Do we wait to do that which God has called us away from and shortly thereafter say "I'm sorry Lord" when subconsciously we actually love the mud, the dirt, the miry clay? Certainly not! As a matter of fact, "He became sin who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God In Christ Jesus" (II Corinthians 5:21). On top of that, "I have been crucified with Christ, its no longer I that live but its Christ that lives in me; the life that I now live in the body I live by faith through the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). We shouldn't go back to what God has already declared us free from. :For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23).  My sin no longer has dominion over me. #believerinChrist

The Effects of Music

Imagine if you will that your mattress was your brain and the frame of the bed was your skull...sounds weird? Well remember, we're imagining; so your brain is the mattress and the bed frame is your skull. Now lets bring music into the equation; the music will be the bed spread, sheets and the pillow case. Oh, I forgot the pillow....let's make the pillow your memory. Now lets run through it quickly: your brain is the mattress, the frame is your skull, the pillow is your memory while the comforter, sheets and pillow cases represent music. From the start we all understand that we do not need sheets, pillow cases or comforter to go to sleep. We have been conditioned over the years that we can not get a good night rest with out them. The truth of the matter is we actually can, but to be quite honest its hard to imagine sleeping peacefully without them. Now back to the topic of discussion...music impacts or influences our mind. Music is like that comforter, sheet and pillow case. It has a way of surronding itself around us and brining us comfort. Music is like a canvass with the picture already painted. Its intensity speaks without speaking, its colors scream without yelling. Like this painting on the canvass, so is music when it gets into our mind. Music ministers to our spirit and after we wrap ourselves in it we become one with the rhythm, the lyrics wrap themselves around our mind like a headband and it becomes injected into our memory like a sedative that relaxes every fiber of ones being. Music listeners become one with the music, so much so that they can hear the songs replaying in their minds while at work. What's interesting is the music that I once played through an electrical device is now silent...so how then am I hearing it replaying in my mind? True it is embedded in our memory, but I submit to you that its deeper than that. The music has gotten into our spirit. There is some truth to what Gloria Estevan said in her song titled, "The Rhythm is Going To Get You." Here's the interesting part you become what you say. What I mean by that is that eventually what you listen to (music specifically) 

will eventually be sung or uttered by you. It will become your words. Music has a way of invoking the image or intent of the writer into our minds. It no longer becomes the writers intent, it becomes our idea. We think about what we're thinking about. Once we cross that threshold we become more like what we have sung or uttered out of our own mouths. Music even has the potential to generate a false reality. I have seen several interviews of rap artist that state, they do not live what they rap. Frustrated over the false reality, it will then set in and ultimately the person or persons that is engulfed into the writers intent will try with all his or her might to bring the fictional portion into their reality. Music causes attitude shifts as well. For the Christian, the wrong music has the ability to block or hinder our prayer life. How so? When we try to worship or have prayer in our prayer closet, we're calling on the name of the Lord and back in the corner of our minds we here "All Eyes On Me" by Tupac. I am not bashing Tupac, but what I am saying is  music can be and will be used by satan to distract us when trying to pray or worship. I often say what you put in is what will come out and often at the wrong time. One day I prayed and asked God about secular music and if its ok for me to listen to. Now before I tell you what He revealed to me let me just say that this is the type of relationship I have with Jesus. I ask Him what He thinks. Not only is He my savior, He's the Lord of my life. I have learned over the years that if you ask God, He will speak. After asking God the question about secular music here's what He revealed to me, "If it does not glorify my name, don't listen to it." Music is powerful....think about it before you let the sound and lyrics of music minister to your soul!