Almighty and eternal God, you know our problems and our weaknesses better than we ourselves.  In your love and by your power help us in our confusion and, in spite of our weakness, make us firm in faith; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

IS THE HEAT ON???

I LOVE IT!!! Such powerful words…  That introduction to my interpretations and to stories that I have experienced this week of the Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost makes me want to continue walking with Jesus.  I must admit… it doesn’t appear that I am walking… IT APPEARS THAT I AM RUNNING… 🙂

I would love to share a story written in the Old Testament of our Holy Bible that I think speaks volumes about the unity of Christianity.  It is the story of 3 friends written in the book of Daniel that would not bow down to a statue of a false God… The story reads…

Daniel 3:16-29

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If that, is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.¹⁸ But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Saved in Fiery Trial

¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰ And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ²¹ Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. ²² Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. ²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”

They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”

²⁵ “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”^[a]

Nebuchadnezzar Praises God

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire.²⁷ And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel^[b] and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! ²⁹ Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”

 

Did you catch that???  The King (Nebuchadnezzar) saw the Son of God with the 3 friends in the fiery furnace.  That brings me to a scripture in the New Testament that reaffirms my faith in our Lord Jesus Christ… (Matthew 18:20)…

20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

I WANT TO GO TO CHURCH…

THANK YOU GOD FOR TODAY!!!

Matthew 18 is about Christians arguing with other Christians…

SUBJECT CHANGE.

This week, I again volunteered my time to read lessons from our Holy Bible at church.  We still are on the summer schedule; therefore, I am going to read on Thursday and Sunday.  These scriptures are really grabbing my attention.  I feel the urgency to share these scriptures with you and will do so this Sunday… until then May the Lord bless you and keep you; May the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.

8/31/2016 – I was driving to the library from Karn’s after eating my salad when I read a cool quote on the Masonic Temple’s sign… I noticed that they like to put up different encouraging sayings… Today it READ… “To prevent is better than to cure”

I had a weird feeling about this… At the same instance I saw a dude run by with a weight vest… AWESOME!!!  I NEED TO WORKOUT WITH MINE MORE!!!

Anyway, the reason why I got a weird feeling about this saying is I know what NUMBER MASONIC TEMPLE THIS IS…

Our Faith in Jesus Christ our Lord is the cure for all my diseases.

GLORY TO GOD!

9/2/2016 – I read last night at church.  The air-conditioning still is not working in the chapel; therefore, we held our service in the lower level under the chapel.  I asked my pastor if we could have service outside.  Upon entering the lower level, I realized all of the work she did setting up the alter, candles, chairs, hymnals… and how stupid my question must have been.  I am glad we had the service inside.  The readings I went over appeared to resonate with the congregation… I included these readings on the following link… BE SURE TO CYCLE THROUGH THE PRESENTATION TO READ THE SCRIPTURES.

LESSON: A Church is just a building, unless the WORD of GOD is spoken in it… Then it becomes Holy.

THANK YOU GOD FOR YESTERDAY!

 

 

 

O God, we thank you for your Son who chose the path of suffering for the sake of the world.  Humble us by his example, point us to the path of obedience, and give us strength to follow his commands; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

STANDING

The end of the year recap is going to be crazy.  If you are keeping up with the news (whether it be local or international) you see all the hurt, anguish, trials, and tribulations that individuals of humanity are experiencing… (Roanoke, VA)

When these trials come into your life… my advice is to STAND… STAND IN FAITH… Trust that the Lord will supply you with everything you need to live an awesome Christian Life…

I want to share with you two scriptures that I came across this week…

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING THIS PICTURE VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

The first scripture is from the book of Jeremiah found in our Holy Bible.  IT READS…

Jeremiah 15:15-21

 

AWESOME huh?  This scripture mirrored with the other scripture found in 1 John 1:1-3 referenced below the Omega tattoo, makes me want to STAND IN FAITH…  Jeremiah prophesied that the Lord is with you and will save, deliver, and redeem you.  In the 19th verse of Jeremiah the Lord says… If you utter what is precious you shall serve as my mouth.  What is more precious than the gift of eternal life uttering scripture from the Holy Bible???

1 John 1:1-3

The Word of Life

1 We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ² this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— ³ we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

 

I, personally, had a problem understanding some of these scriptures and felt p+ssed off for my lack. I PRAYED, AND PRAYED, AND PRAYED… In a twinkle of an eye 🙂 it came to me… FAITH… STAND IN IT.

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING THIS PICTURE VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

“The only way to learn strong faith is to endure great struggles” – Anonymous

LET’S READ (psalm 26)

8/24/2016… Found a really cool book at the library today… GOOD READ

THANK YOU GOD FOR TODAY!

I want to share with you a conversation I had with my Pastor Thursday (8/25/2016) at church…

Me: I will take the blame for the air conditioning at church not working.

Pastor: WHY???

Me: IT’S THAT AIR CONDITIONING MONKEY… I MUST HAVE BROUGHT IT WITH ME… WE HAVE BEEN WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING SINCE TUESDAY AT MY MOM’s.

LESSON: You might be uncomfortable praising God; however, it is wise to JUST DO IT!

THANK YOU GOD FOR YESTERDAY!

I am really amazed… what are the chances??? On Friday 8/26/2016, I put in a request  for a music artist to be played on the radio by the RIVER 97.3… Wouldn’t you know it, on my way to work they played a song by them (PEARL JAM) and said my name.  This made me have tears of joy because on my request (facebook) I thanked God for yesterday… I thanked God for today… & I thanked God for tomorrow.

THANK YOU GOD FOR TOMORROW!

LET’s GO2 CHURCH.

God of all creation, you reach out to call people of all nations to your kingdom.  As you gather disciples from near and far, count us also among those who boldly confess your Son Jesus Christ as Lord.

Q: Who am I???

A: Loved by God

Am I alone in not liking the answer to my question???  The answer does not directly answer my question; however, it does not need to.  I have learned that God works in mysterious ways.  The reassurance that we have a God that loves us, no matter what obstacle/“hardship” is put in our way, pales in comparison the love that God has for us.  This reassurance gives me strength to overcome that obstacle/”hardship”. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”…  (Philippians 4:13)…

I have to be honest… these translations of the Holy Bible are p+ssing me off.  Let me explain, I am currently looking up different translations of our brother Paul’s written words in Philippians 4:13 and I have yet to find a translation that capitalizes the word “HIM”… *I did on this blog*  Jesus Christ was a male… The Son of Our Heavenly Father (John 3:16) shall be capitalized when showing glory to God.

That’s the thing… we should stay curious about God.  We might be wrong sometimes in our answers; however, the feeling of being wrong (no-one likes to be wrong) should not prevent us in our own unique walk with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

“DARE TO BE DIFFERENT”

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

I want to share a scripture, I discovered on my walk…

Romans 11:33-36 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

³³ O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
³⁵ “Or who has given a gift to him,
to receive a gift in return?”

³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

THERE IT IS AGAIN… THE WORD “HIM” IS NOT CAPITALIZED…

This should not be a big deal, but to me it is.  I know that this translation (NRSV) is recommended by a certain seminary… but WHY???

God created me… God loves me… God empowers me… (Psalm 138)

I pray that everyone that comes across my words understands the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is our belief in the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ that opens the gate to heaven…

Thank you God for creating me… me.  THANK YOU!!!

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

This past week, I have been traveling around central PA… It seems that where ever I go, I realize it is how important it is for the body of Christ to treat other human beings.

On 8/19/2016 I went to Lancaster to check out a church that has the same name as my local church… Holy Trinity… on the way home I stopped to order subway for lunch… I LOVE THEIR CHICKEN TERIYAKI SUBS.  The cashier swiped my bank card and said it was declined, that’s cool I said… (I just got paid Wednesday)… I then went to Hershey and got a new card issued to me from the bank… My account is all good… THANK YOU.

The bank brings to mind a cool thing a good friend said to me at the Gym the other night.  “When you are thanking God… it is like making a deposit in a bank… a THANK BANK… when you need help Jesus will pay you back with interest.”

THANK YOU GOD FOR YESTERDAY!!!

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

THANK YOU GOD FOR TODAY!!!

I am now going to Hershey to read my favorite PSALM to the church that I am a member at in Hershey, PA… Let me teach you if you are not familiar with a Lutheran service… I volunteered my time to be a reader… I will read 2 lessons, a psalm, and a church prayer… The lessons will consist of a scripture from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament… The Holy Gospel is read by the pastor… Cool HUH???

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

BLESSINGS TILL NEXT TIME 🙂

THANK YOU GOD FOR TOMORROW!!!

God of all creation, you reach out to call people of all nations to your kingdom.  As you gather disciples from near and far, count us also among those who boldly confess your Son Jesus Christ as Lord.

Q: Who am I???

A: Loved by God

Am I alone in not liking the answer to my question???  The answer does not directly answer my question; however, it does not need to.  I have learned that God works in mysterious ways.  The thought that we live in an evil world and time, pales in comparison the love that God has for us. We might ask the question if God loves us then why is there so much hatred in the world?  It is ok to ask… That’s an easy answer… IT’s NOT OVER YET… Be a shining light of God’s love for us.  The reassurance of God’s love gives me strength to overcome any obstacle/”hardship” that is my way of honoring God. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”…  (Philippians 4:13)…

I have to be honest… these translations of the Holy Bible are p+ssing me off.  Let me explain, I am currently looking up different translations of our brother Paul’s written words in Philippians 4:13 and I have yet to find a translation that capitalizes the word “HIM”… *I did on this blog*  Jesus Christ was a male… The Son of Our Heavenly Father (John 3:16) shall be capitalized when showing glory to God.

That’s the thing… we should stay curious about God.  We might be wrong sometimes in our answers; however, the feeling of being wrong (no-one likes to be wrong) should not prevent us in our own unique walk with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

“DARE TO BE DIFFERENT”

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

I want to share a scripture, I discovered on my walk…

Romans 11:33-36 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

³³ O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
³⁵ “Or who has given a gift to him,
to receive a gift in return?”

³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

THERE IT IS AGAIN… THE WORD “HIM” IS NOT CAPITALIZED…

This should not be a big deal, but to me it is.  I know that this translation (NRSV) is recommended by a certain seminary… but WHY???

God created me… God loves me… God empowers me… (Psalm 138)

I pray that everyone that comes across my words understands the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is our belief in the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ that opens the gate to heaven…

Thank you God for creating me… me.  THANK YOU!!!

Today 8/19/2016 I went to Lancaster to check out a church that has the same name as my local church… Holy Trinity… on the way home I stopped to order subway for lunch… I LOVE THEIR CHICKEN TERIYAKI SUBS.  The cashier swiped my bank card and said it was declined, that’s cool I said… (I just got paid Wednesday)… I then went to Hershey and got a new card issued to me from the bank… My account is all good… THANK YOU.

The bank brings to mind a cool thing a good friend said to me at the Gym the other night.  “When you are thanking God… it is like making a deposit in a bank… a THANK BANK… when you need help Jesus will pay you back with interest.”

THANK YOU GOD FOR YESTERDAY!!!

THANK YOU GOD FOR TODAY!!!

THANK YOU GOD FOR TOMORROW!!!

Please check back on this sight… I will be updating it daily before I go2 my local church to read other scriptures for Sunday the 21^st

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

🙂

Almighty and ever-living God, you have given great and precious promises to those who believe.  Grant us the perfect faith which overcomes all doubts, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

FREEDOM!!!

We live in a country where I am free to express my belief… THANK YOU GOD for having me be born in Harrisburg Hospital… My mom has told me that the doctors that were present were listening to a football game… a Penn State game… Yet another reason why I am a Penn State fan for life.

Anyway, back to the freedom to express myself… Under man’s law…

US Constitution First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances…

This is man’s law, which coupled with religious beliefs brings me much hope.  Hope in a brighter tomorrow.  The First Amendment protects me from governmental intrusion when worshiping God with other Christians is right.

I want to share with you something that happened to me this morning while I was working on my relationship with God (reading the bible and creating some MS PowerPoint Slides)… I was reading the 56 Chapter of the book of Isaiah found in our old testament in the Holy Bible… Isaiah testifies that the people that recognize the Lord’s reign with pureness of heart will be welcomed in His house. (Please excuse my paraphrasing) I then followed a reading I found for the Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost in the Lutheran Book of Worship (Hymnal) and continued to add my creativity to a PowerPoint slide.  This second reading was written in the 11 Chapter of the book of Romans through life experiences of our brother Paul.

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

Romans 11:29-32

²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, ³¹ even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. ³² For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

HOWEVER, I WAS TO LAZY TO REFERENCE THE WHOLE SCRIPTURE IN MY POWERPOINT SLIDE… I conveniently forgot to record the 13-15 verses in Romans Chapter 11…

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

IT READS…

Romans 11:13-15

¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, ¹⁴ if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

Isn’t that just like being human??? Our flesh makes us jealous of one another and lazy sometimes… BE SPIRITUALLY GUIDED not GUIDED BY THE FLESH…

What is it like being guided by the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit)?  It is AWESOME!  I, honestly, do not know what today may bring; however, I know where I will be.  I will be in church hearing the word of God spoken.  I am going to hear scripture from Jeremiah Chapter 23 and Hebrews Chapters 11 and 12 spoken to me along with other witnesses. THANKS BE TO GOD!

These readings are awesome… please read… please…

These scriptures are very encouraging to me… In Jeremiah the Lord speaks and tells of false prophets that don’t speak the true God’s spoken word… maybe that is why I encourage YOU to read…

Hebrews informs us that the prophets of old were not as blessed as us… they did not have the knowledge and gift of the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ’s suffering for their sins… Some prophesied of a Savior… but who would’ve thought to make it Jesus… God… that’s who.

READ!!!

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

Almighty and ever-living God, you have given great and precious promises to those who believe.  Grant us the perfect faith which overcomes all doubts, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

FREEDOM!!!

We live in a country where I am free to express my belief… THANK YOU GOD for having me be born in Harrisburg Hospital… My mom has told me that the doctors that were present were listening to a football game… a Penn State game… Yet another reason why I am a Penn State fan for life.

Anyway, back to the freedom to express myself… Under man’s law…

US Constitution First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances…

This is man’s law, which coupled with religious beliefs brings me much hope.  Hope in a brighter tomorrow.  The First Amendment protects me from governmental intrusion when worshiping God with other Christians is right.

I want to share with you something that happened to me this morning while I was working on my relationship with God (reading the bible and creating some MS PowerPoint Slides)… I was reading the 56 Chapter of the book of Isaiah found in our old testament in the Holy Bible… Isaiah testifies that the people that recognize the Lord’s reign with pureness of heart will be welcomed in His house. (Please excuse my paraphrasing) I then followed a reading I found for the Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost in the Lutheran Book of Worship (Hymnal) and continued to add my creativity to a PowerPoint slide.  This second reading was written in the 11 Chapter of the book of Romans through life experiences of our brother Paul.

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

Romans 11:29-32

²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, ³¹ even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. ³² For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

HOWEVER, I WAS TO LAZY TO REFERENCE THE WHOLE SCRIPTURE IN MY POWERPOINT SLIDE… I conveniently forgot to record the 13-15 verses in Romans Chapter 11…

*IF YOU ARE VIEWING VIA MOBILE PHONE… CLICK “REPLAY” UNTIL IT GOES AWAY…

IT READS…

Romans 11:13-15

¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, ¹⁴ if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

Isn’t that just like being human??? Our flesh makes us jealous of one another and lazy sometimes… BE SPIRITUALLY GUIDED not GUIDED BY THE FLESH…

I will continue and revise this entry for Sunday… TILL THEN… WEAR THAT CROWN!

I am off to watch the 31^st Olympiad… God Bless Team USA!

USA! USA! USA!

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve.  Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us the things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things of which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merit of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

WEAR THAT CROWN…

Dear brothers and sisters, grace be to you from our Lord Jesus Christ… It is funny to me that I pray for you all to have grace… smh (shaking my head) if only, I heard my own prayer… God knows, that I lose my grace when I workout… (YES, I am always at the gym)… An occasional swear word slips out of my mouth… To me, that is not reflecting the Lord in a good way.  WE ARE A REFLECTION OF OUR CREATOR… Truly, Truly I say to you, I must try harder to represent our Lord Jesus Christ (Jesus Christ = Immanuel = God with us) (ISAIAH CH. 7 & 8) in a good light.

The idea of representing Jesus Christ in a dark world gives me hope.  Hope for an AWESOME tomorrow.  What happened to me this past Tuesday was an awesome example of how a good representation sets a good example to other people in society.  I went to Karn’s (Grocery Store) to heat up my lunch (graciously given to me from a friend) and buy a Diet Peach Ice Tea to drink.  By the cooler, I talked to a worker employed by Karn’s.  I have met him before in the parking lot months before.   He was the “cart collector” and always had a smile on his face and a “good afternoon” for me… This time, I ran into him inside.  We started talking.  He told me that it was his first day working inside.  He had the job of cleaning the bathrooms.  That was the first time I heard frustration in his voice and saw a frown on his face.

I told him that he was not alone.  “I to clean bathrooms at the gym where I work part-time… BUT, you know what??? (I LOVE IT!!!) It won’t stop me pursuing a job that benefits from my educational background. ATTITUDE IS A DECISION””  This immediately brought that smile back on his face.  I continued to thank him for having such a good attitude in the past, gathering the carts outside… He then went back to work cleaning the h+ll out of those bathrooms 🙂 THANK YOU GOD FOR YESTERDAY!!!

Remembering yesterday brings to mind a letter written by, our brother in Christ, the Apostle Paul.

Paul writes in Romans:

9 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, ² that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen^[a] according to the flesh, ⁴ who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; ⁵ of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

This declaration, of being blessed, shines an AWESOME light for Christ.  I think, Paul gives us a good example of how to act as Christians.  He shows us that we are champions, one and all, empowered by God’s spirit… We will taste victory and sweet success made possible by His love and gifts to us… However, we may fear the harsh judgment of the majority or feel inadequate to standards set forth by others. We may even be unsettled by thoughts of death, persecution, and dark spiritual powers.  BUT, Paul celebrates the absolute assurance that no one and nothing can come between us and the love of God. 🙂 THANK YOU GOD FOR TODAY!!!

WEAR THAT CROWN.

That brings me to today… Guess what I am doing??? I am the “READER” at my Evangelical Church of the Holy Trinity.  In a Lutheran service there is a First Lesson (written in our old testament), Second Lesson (written in our new testament), and a prayer for the church spoken by a member of the congregation.  I will be volunteering my voice to spread these Holy words among fellow believers.

I am reading the story of Abraham before he was called Abraham (Abram)… and a testimony from our brother Paul referring to Abraham’s life and the choice of God’s people to walk by faith (Hebrews 11:1-16)… I am excited to say the least!  BRING IT.

 

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve.  Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us the things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things of which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merit of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

WEAR THAT CROWN…

Dear brothers and sisters, grace be to you from our Lord Jesus Christ… It is funny to me that I pray for you all to have grace… smh (shaking my head) if only, I heard my own prayer… God knows, that I lose my grace when I workout… (YES, I am always at the gym)… An occasional swear word slips out of my mouth… To me, that is not reflecting the Lord in a good way.  WE ARE A REFLECTION OF OUR CREATOR… Truly, Truly I say to you, I must try harder to represent our Lord Jesus Christ (Jesus Christ = Immanuel = God with us) (ISAIAH CH. 7 & 8) in a good light.

The idea of representing Jesus Christ in a dark world gives me hope.  Hope for an AWESOME tomorrow.  What happened to me Tuesday was an awesome example of how a good representation sets a good example to other people in society.  I went to Karn’s (Grocery Store) to heat up my lunch (graciously given to me from a friend) and buy a Diet Peach Ice Tea to drink.  By the cooler, I talked to a worker employed by Karn’s.  I have met him before in the parking lot months before.   He was the “cart collector” and always had a smile on his face and a “good afternoon” for me… This time, I ran into him inside.  We started talking.  He told me that it was his first day working inside.  He had the job of cleaning the bathrooms.  That was the first time I heard frustration in his voice and saw a frown on his face.

I told him that he was not alone.  “One of my jobs is to clean the bathrooms at the gym where I work part-time… BUT, you know what??? I LOVE IT… however, it won’t stop me pursuing a job that benefits from my educational background. ATTITUDE IS A DECISION”  This immediately brought that smile back on his face.  I continued to thank him for having such a good attitude in the past, gathering the carts outside… He then went back to work cleaning the h+ll out of those bathrooms 🙂 THANK YOU GOD FOR YESTERDAY!!!

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Remembering yesterday brings to mind a letter written by, our brother in Christ, the Apostle Paul.

Paul writes in Romans:

9 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, ² that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen^[a] according to the flesh, ⁴ who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; ⁵ of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

This declaration, of being blessed, shines an AWESOME light for Christ.  I think, Paul gives us a good example of how to act as Christians.  He shows us that we are champions, one and all, empowered by God’s spirit… We will taste victory and sweet success made possible by His love and gifts to us… However, we may fear the harsh judgment of the majority or feel inadequate to standards set forth by others. We may even be unsettled by thoughts of death, persecution, and dark spiritual powers.  BUT, Paul celebrates the absolute assurance that no one and nothing can come between us and the love of God. 🙂 THANK YOU GOD FOR TODAY!!!

WEAR THAT CROWN.

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