There is no way that I could let time pass without saying anything about this terrible situation that has happened. We have all been watching, listening, and participating in what has become a tragic event surrounding one young man and his family to people protesting all over the country about justice for this young man who was gunned down. What is causing people to be extremely upset and irate is the fact that all Trayvon had in his hand was a can of Arizona Ice Tea and a bag of skittles, that the gunman, George Zimmerman felt was a threat enough to kill him. Regardless of Zimmerman being told to stop following Trayvon and leave him alone he continued following this young man and later killed him for being a 'threat' to the community. The nation is in an uproar, while wearing the gear of Trayvon Martin, a hoodie; because while Trayvon's family is planning a funeral, George Zimmerman has been allowed to seemingly walk away from this crime...FREE!!! Are you serious?!?
What kind of world do we live in where you can now kill people just for looking like they are a threat?!?!? What kind of world do we live in where you still get nasty looks and bullet wounds just for the color of one's skin??? Be honest with me for a moment...Soon after 9-11 happened, every time you saw an Arabic person, your thoughts turned to anger and annoyance because they had the appearance of a threat!
I'll be honest, as a pastor, who feels called to address and speak on social concerns will no doubt this week at church be in a hoodie while I preach! Though there had been much discussion on what will wearing hoodies do, or information surrounding how Trayvon died is not really an issue for me. The facts are clear that Zimmerman was told to STOP following Trayvon, and I would suggest that if he was obedient to police Trayvon would still be alive. I do however want to post something that I find extremely shocking yet eye opening:
George Zimmerman, after his shooting was allowed to walk around like nothing happened. Despite reports that he has feared for his life because of threats on his life, he still has his life. I want to focus on the FACT that it was almost like he carried on like nothing happened...DESPITE his shooting and killing Trayvon Martin....BUT (and I know this is rough to compare) isn't that was God does for us?!??! We do crazy crimes every day against God...and yet He allows us to go around like everything is fine. His grace toward us is crazy isn't it?
I do however long for the day, when these situations won't happen. When we all get to heaven and true justice will always be the rule of the day. Be blessed!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Waiting
One of the most difficult things for us to do is wait on God. Most of us are right now, waiting for God to do something specific in our lives. I continue to wait for 100 percent healing in my body. For some, you may be waiting for God to give you a much needed job. Others may be waiting on him to bless you with a life partner in marriage. Still others may be waiting on God to work out particular situations in your life that no one knows about but it definitely keeps you up at night! We are all waiting on God for something...
If you are like me, especially because its something I feel every single day, you get frustrated, disappointed and wonder at times if God is even listening to your prayers. If you are like me there are, if you are honest with yourself, times when you don't even feel like praying because you have been praying the same thing for so long and you haven't seen any desirable results from your prayers. Its at this particular time that I have learned in my world that the Enemy loves to come and play the most mind tricks with you. He will literally talk to you and say things like this: God is lying to you. You know its because of something that you did as to why God hasn't answered your request yet right? You are not good enough for God to answer that prayer! You should just stop praying and do something better with your time! Anybody ever felt or heard these things? They came from the devil! I hate him and and now realizing more than ever that for many of us, we have listening to the devil for so long that we have forgotten what God has told us already:
They that wait on the Lord
He will renew their strength
They will mount up on wings as eagles
They will run and not be weary
They will walk and not faint
I'm not that young and I'm not that old, but I do know that God has never lied to me. If he said it, I know that one day, and it could be just around the corner, that God WILL make good on His promise! Besides, there's something that you learn about yourself while waiting on God. You learn how far away from him you currently are. When you wait it reveals how many of his promises you may not know, which allows the enemy to tell you something that God hasn't said. Can I encourage you that while you, like me, wait on God to perform something in your life: Find as many promises in His word as you can. Memorize them, Read them back to yourself and Remember how powerful our God really is!!! Thats what I've learned to do...In my world, in wash's world!
If you are like me, especially because its something I feel every single day, you get frustrated, disappointed and wonder at times if God is even listening to your prayers. If you are like me there are, if you are honest with yourself, times when you don't even feel like praying because you have been praying the same thing for so long and you haven't seen any desirable results from your prayers. Its at this particular time that I have learned in my world that the Enemy loves to come and play the most mind tricks with you. He will literally talk to you and say things like this: God is lying to you. You know its because of something that you did as to why God hasn't answered your request yet right? You are not good enough for God to answer that prayer! You should just stop praying and do something better with your time! Anybody ever felt or heard these things? They came from the devil! I hate him and and now realizing more than ever that for many of us, we have listening to the devil for so long that we have forgotten what God has told us already:
They that wait on the Lord
He will renew their strength
They will mount up on wings as eagles
They will run and not be weary
They will walk and not faint
I'm not that young and I'm not that old, but I do know that God has never lied to me. If he said it, I know that one day, and it could be just around the corner, that God WILL make good on His promise! Besides, there's something that you learn about yourself while waiting on God. You learn how far away from him you currently are. When you wait it reveals how many of his promises you may not know, which allows the enemy to tell you something that God hasn't said. Can I encourage you that while you, like me, wait on God to perform something in your life: Find as many promises in His word as you can. Memorize them, Read them back to yourself and Remember how powerful our God really is!!! Thats what I've learned to do...In my world, in wash's world!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Inhale
A few years ago, I was pumping gas at a station on a chilly fall day. I stayed outside of my car while I filled up my tank even though it was rather cold. Just across from me there was a car with a lady who was filling up her car as well, but because of the chill she decided to wait inside while her tank was filling up. While her tank was filling up I noticed something extremely sad but also interesting. A young man, who appeared to be her son, was inside the car sitting in the passenger seat. While he sat there, the lady proceeded to pull out a cigarrette and began to smoke. I have probably seen it before, but this time I watched it with fresh eyes. Here was a mother who was smoking with her son sitting there inhaling everything that she was putting out. The windows were rolled up and there was no escape from him inhaling ALL of the nicotine that she blew out. Whether or not he wanted to smoke didn't matter. He was smoking, just because of his proximaty to his mother. Because of how close he was sitting to her and the fact that there was no other ventilation, he was taking in everything.
While driving home, God gave me this revelation: Wouldn't it be great, if I was so close to Jesus that I inhaled everything that He put out?!?!? Every blessing, every miracle, every instruction, every direction that I needed to be absorbed in my life would be received because of how close I was to him! What usually happens to most of us though is that we end up chocking and coughing terribly in life because we are inhaling the wrong people, places, and things. We get so close to certain people that we inhale every bad habit that they give off. We get extremely close to certain places (not for the sake of ministry lol) that the poor stench of remains on us for years! We get too close to things that we wonder why is so hard to shake bad habits!
However the word is clear: By beholding we become changed! Our behavior really reveals what we are inhaling!!! Are you chocking your way through life? Or do you breathe easy? iNHALE Jesus today!
While driving home, God gave me this revelation: Wouldn't it be great, if I was so close to Jesus that I inhaled everything that He put out?!?!? Every blessing, every miracle, every instruction, every direction that I needed to be absorbed in my life would be received because of how close I was to him! What usually happens to most of us though is that we end up chocking and coughing terribly in life because we are inhaling the wrong people, places, and things. We get so close to certain people that we inhale every bad habit that they give off. We get extremely close to certain places (not for the sake of ministry lol) that the poor stench of remains on us for years! We get too close to things that we wonder why is so hard to shake bad habits!
However the word is clear: By beholding we become changed! Our behavior really reveals what we are inhaling!!! Are you chocking your way through life? Or do you breathe easy? iNHALE Jesus today!
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