All of my life, God has been tenderly calling me to come.

(This is an updated re-blog of a true event in my life that helped me to consummate my relationship with the Lord.)

Today is the first day of the rest of my life!  And life (especially eternal life) comes from the Son of God…Christ Jesus and what He did on the cross!

When I was a child, growing up in the church back in Illinois, one of my favorite Sunday School songs was “Jesus Is Tenderly Calling Thee Home,” by Fanny Crosby a blind Methodist hymn writer.  My sister and I used to sing that song in two part harmony.  We were pretty good, too, if I must say so myself.

Although, my family was Baptist, my sister and I and our father used to perform gospel music in a variety of other denominational churches in our town upon their invitations.  Dad also sang bass in his men’s octet group called the Benevolent Gospel Singers.  Their group performances were somewhat famous because they secured a contract to broadcasted locally for fifteen minutes on WDAN Radio station every Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m.   I remember walking down the dusty roads in our town on Sunday mornings, heading to Church with my siblings on a bright and sunny day, while listening to the 8-part harmony of the booming male voices of the Benevolent Gospel Singers. You could also hear them slapping their thighs as they metered out the rhythm.

Two people on their way to Church on a Sunday morning.

How was that possible you might ask more than seventy years ago.  Well I’ll tell you.  All the houses along the street in the neighborhood had their doors and windows open to collect the warm summer breeze and as my family walked along the sidewalks towards the Church we could  hear the voices of my dad and the other men blasting aloud from the radios of our neighbors all the way to church.  The music would be coming from their home radios.  I want you to visualize 5 little children jumping and strutting along to the rhythm of the gospel songs.   Happy as a lark.  Strutting to the beat or our dad as the Good Lord invited us to come and be a part of His family. What precious memories I have of those childhood days.

 Children on their way to Sunday School

The Holy Spirit Called Me a Second Time…

You see, not only was God calling me from the doorways and windows of houses as a child, but when I grew up, He was also calling me from the jitterbug floor of my favorite nightclub.   As a young adult in Motown (Detroit, Mi.), one Saturday evening a few of my girlfriends and I went out for a night of dancing.  We stayed out late and into the wee mourning hours. We had a good time.  The next day was Sunday and I had to be at church because I was the church clerk and had to read the weekly announcements to the awaiting congregation.

While sitting in the pew and bidding my turn to speak, the Sister sitting next to me kept  turning towards me and sniffing me.  Finally, she whispered, my sister, you smell like smoke!  Fear ran through me and I started to tremble.  (The night before, at the club, everybody was smoking cigarettes and that smoke was in my hair.  (For the record, I was not smoking.) Although I had bathed in preparation of Church, I did not have time to wash my hair.  My perfume and hair spray was no disguise!  But what was more frighting, I heard a silent-still-small voice say; ‘You cannot serve two masters.’  Now I realize that God was calling me even then.

Ooops! You smell like smoke!

Okay.  So I have been very transparent with my readers today and do you know why?….because what God was actually conversing with me was this message…Come as you are but don’t stay as you are.  You know the scripture verse: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” I Corinthians 13:11)

Please pray for me that I will forever be on the battle field for the Lord. And I will do likewise for you. Amen!

Scripture Lesson: “And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and he who is hearing — let him say, Come; and he who is thirsting — let him come; and he who is willing — let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17

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…for You have ears to hear and eyes to see…tarry with us just for a little while…

Welcome to Part 2 of the continuation of last week’s blog with the same title. You are invited to review Part 1 prior to embarking on Part 2. Just scroll down this page until you see last week’s post.

Also, please consider the contents of Part 2 only as an example dialogue in prayer for you to lift up to the Almighty when you devote deliberate solemn time in meditation.

Most holy and Everlasting Father; the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:  The God who has ears to hear and eyes to see...Please hear our prayer this evening.

For these are troubling times, My Lord, and the world needs Your guidance, Your help and Your strength.  We are asking that You look down on us as a people...as a nation...as a world in chaos and have mercy on us.

We are pleading that You remember the cries of a destitute flock of believers and accept our offerings of repentance.  Oh, Lord, our God, please grant to us according to our hearts desires and within Your will and Your ways and fulfill all our needs.  Within Your DNA and strength we will forever raise our banners high to give You all the praise, all the honor and all the glory in Christ Jesus' Name.

We beseech You, therefore Heavenly Father, to grant us Your peace, Your tenacity, Your true grit, Your steadfast determination and faithfulness by which abilities we will become more than conquers.  For we are weak and You are strong.

So, Dear Lion of Judah, there is no doubt that You can save to the utmost...and save You will.  Forgive us and hear our prayers and become our Strong Deliverer and save Your children!

All of our supplications this day have been directed upwards towards heaven...towards the All-powerful God of our strength.  Forever, Lord, may Your mighty right hand reach out towards our enemies and render them discombobulated.

We stand in unison on these requests; bound together in love, determination, steadfastness and harmony.  Being ever so careful to give You our praise and not to put our trust in chariots of fire, or swift horses, or human might.  But remembering Your Name, Lord Jesus.  The precious Name unto which every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.  The matchless Name of Jesus.  The Name that is able to cause our enemies to stumble and fall.

The Name that is able to raise up all those who call upon it!  JESUS!  Hallelujah to the Name of JEUS!!

SAVE, OF LORD.  That is our warrior cry.   Send down Your Holy Spirit and Waring Angels among us so that they may orchestrate Your commands and will in this sweet hour of prayer and praise.

This is our petition unto Thee, this day.  In the Precious Name of Jesus Christ, we pray...AMEN AND AMEN

And I/we don’t mind waiting, My Lord, on Your answers.

(Please just click the ‘red’ recording time below to be highly blessed in a mantra-style meditation hymn.

5:54 Juanita Bynum -I Don’t Mind Waiting

Scripture Lesson: “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1

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Was Valentine’s Day Pre-Ordained?

Let’s pretend that the gentleman featured on the front of this card was given a nomenclature, that is, a system for giving names to things within a particular profession or field. The name this gentleman was known by was Valentine of Rome. His initial particular profession was that he lived under the rule of the Roman Empire and the dictates of Emperor Claudius II and false pagan gods. However, if you examine the image closely you will ascertain that Mr. Valentine of Rome disputed that assessment and clandestinely places his hand over his heart to indicate that that chamber rules him under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And it was in that field of thought he later became a priest under the Catholic Order of faith.

After the short lived life of Mr. Valentine of Rome, antiquity records his persona as a saintly man who aided and abetted persecuted Christians that lived under the rule of the Roman Empire; as an advocate of teaching, preaching and endorsing agape love which demonstrated the highest form of a fatherly love of God for all human beings. This form of teaching was in contrast to what his pagan government taught and lived by. It transcended the norms of promoting erotic love, philia, promiscuous or eros love which paganism endorsed.

Saint Valentine of Rome was Canonized by the Catholic Church in the 5th Century A.D….

It goes without saying, the antics of Cleric Valentine of Rome far surpassed the lifestyle of his fellow countrymen. The feats of Father Valentine of Rome irked Emperor Claudius II and it landed this mortal man in prison. Legend has it that the Emperor, who viewed himself as a god, was impressed with Valentine’s fetes and agreed to release him from prison if only he would convert to Roman paganism, but Valentine refused to save himself. Rather, he attempted to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. That invitation was not heeded. But while awaiting execution in prison, SaintValentine performed a miracle by healing the blind daughter of his Jailer. This miracle alone caused the Jailer, his healed daughter, the Jailer’s servants and 46 additional family members of his household to believe in Jesus Christ and they all were baptized.

The birth of celebrating St. Valentine’s Day on February 14th every year…

Sometime during the 4th Century on February 14, Saint Valentine was executed. Antiquity records that Julia, the daughter of the Jailer, planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave…an agape demonstration of love. Today, in some countries, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship. Another embellishment suggests that during his priestly duties, Saint Valentine performed clandestine Christian weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry by the Emperor Claudius II. Also, according to legend, in order to remind these men of their vows and God’s love, Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment paper, wrote encouraging notes on them and gave them to these soldiers and persecuted Christians, as a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts and valentine cards sent on St. Valentine’s Day.

Today we have an extra Valentine’s Day treat for you!

My prayer for you…

Thank you Lord for creating ways to incorporate eternal meaning into nomenclatures. The name Valentine is such a befitting name to apply to a human who displayed love and unabashed protection for his fellow human beings. It truly was ordained by You that Saint Valentine’s name be canonized as an example to show generations to come how to demonstrate enthusiasm, undying energy and love to their fellow man.

We earnestly pray that our life’s contributions towards society will bring honor, glory, respect and lasting reverence to your Name. Amen and Amen!

Scripture Lesson: “As for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all Your deeds.” Psalm 73:28

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To perceive persons as being politically minded is to define them as having an interest in the way power is basically achieved and used in a society through government run policy-making entities. History reveals while the earliest mentions of the phrase ‘In God We Trust’ can be found in the mid-19th century, the origins of this phrase as a political motto lie in the American Civil War, where Union supporters wanted to emphasize their attachment to God and to boost their soldiers morale.

 

My Prayer For You…(Now here comes the religious part! Show the world that you do not rely on the political base of the world…you put your trust and hope in the Lord! For God so loved the world that he gave his only Begotten Son…that who ever believed in Him shall have everlasting (eternally) life.)

Most holy and everlasting Father, the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: To the God who has ears to hear and eyes to see: We seek the Lord purposefully and sincerely ask Him to hear our prayer this day.

For these are troubling and infectious times, my Lord, and we need your help and your strength, and your guidance. We are asking that you look down on us as a nation of people, as a world, and have mercy on us. We are beseeching You to remember the cries of a destitute flock of believers and accept our offerings of repentance.

Oh Lord, our God, please grant to us according to our hearts and Your desires and fulfill all those needs. And we will forever raise our banners high to give You all the praise, the honor and the glory. We beseech You, Heavenly Father, to grant us Your peace. For we know that You can save to the utmost, and save You will. Oh Lord, save Your children. Hear our cries, Dear Master, and answer us even from on High. Reach out to us with Your mighty right hand and strengthen us.

Now Lord, Oh Lord, my prayer today has been directed towards heaven. Directly upwards toward You, Lord. Being ever so careful not to put my trust in chariots of fire, or swift horses, or human might. But remembering Your Name, Lord Jesus. That precious Name…Jesus! That matchless Name of Jesus. The Name that is able to cause my enemies to stumble and fall. The Name that’ is able to raise up all those who call upon it.

SAVE, oh Lord! Send down Your Holy Spirit and visit us during this sweet hour of prayer and praise. This is our petition unto Thee, this day. In the Strong Name of Jesus the Christ. Amen and Amen!!

Scripture Lesson: “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” Psalm 145:18

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When the Patriarchs and holy men of the bible prayed unto the God of our Salvation, they often spread out their hands towards heaven. And the wisest man in the Bible (Solomon) went a step further; he also knelt on his knees. (1 Kings 9:54)

So, at the close of this 2022 holiday season, let us posture ourselves in a position of repentance, obedience, submission and sincerity and call upon the Name of the Lord while doing so on bended knees.

Broaden your prayer to include the widows, orphans, homeless, calamity dispossessed victims, jobless, sick and shut-ins, governments, the lost, backsliders, friends and relatives and most of all…PEACE!

W H Y ?

Because God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that who so ever believed on Him should not parish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

“Be blessed and enjoy a happy, prosperous and fulfilling 2023 year of working for Jesus!”

Peace On Earth (Good Will Toward Men) – YouTube

https://www.youtube.com › watch

3:11

Peace On Earth (Good Will Toward Men) · Peace On Earth (Good Will Toward Men) · Smokey Robinson – Event Tickets.

YouTube · Smokey Robinson – Topic · Nov 29, 2018

Scripture Lesson: “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:14)

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Dear Readers, your inner most conscience has one last question to ask you before 2022 is over. Is your life today what you pictured it to be this time last year in 2021? Folks, let’s get real and ask the question a different way. (That inner voice of yours, yes, your conscience.) For the past 365 days, have you truly relinquished your heart, mind and soul to your spiritual guide? Have you allowed Him (or Her) to be your guide to the rightness or wrongness of your behavior? When it’s all said and done, do you have a guilty conscience or a remorseful one?

But what if by our faith-bent works they could actually make us be made more alive and less hell-bent on dealing with others?…

When a person is hell-bent on carrying out a task, that means he or she is determined to do something reckless even if this causes problems or difficulties for someone else. Below are 2 pictures that depict images of what sneeky little hell-bent acts looks like.

Now, let us suppose that the majority of your works/deeds were faith-bent…always searching with keen eyes like eagles!

“But those who wait on [and trust in] the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; They will run and not become weary, they will walk and not grow tired.” (Isaiah 40:31)

One night, in a boat, on a stormy billow-roaring sea, the Apostle Peter demonstrated a faith-bent kind of action. You might even call what he did reckless. The holy scriptures remember Peter’s action as performing an awesome selfless act although he could have done deadly harm to himself. For one moment, Peter’s faith blinded his judgement as to what was liquid and what was solid and upon seeing Jesus walking towards the boat, Peter, in his excitement, bid Jesus to invite him to come meet Him. Peter did so by stepping out of the boat and demonstrating what could be called reckless faith in earthly terms. Peter acted without thinking about the consequences. In other words, Peter was hell-bent on not going to that place. According to Scripture, Peter’s action bolstered the faith of others. (Matthew 14:33)

Will your actions, as far as leading others to Christ Jesus in the New Year of 2023 bolster the actions of others? Lord, please have mercy and sanction our call to emulate your Son.

The conclusion of the matter…

So, do not succumb to being willfully disobedient or hell-bent on stifling others from knowing Christ. Change your sinful ways. Look at the rivers in your life, pretend the waters are stagnant and walk (by faith and not by sight) on them without trepidation. Keep your eyes on Jesus.

Scripture Lesson: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasures of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45

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Believe it or not, I’m going somewhere with this! And mostly, it is for my own understanding, pleasure, and also to empower you guys to draw nearer and nearer to God by mastering some of his eternal attributes.

Question…

If you were asked ‘What are at least three important omni’s attributed to God’, what would you say? Perhaps, if you were like me, you might guess two of them with no problem: Omnipresence and Omnipotence…but… that third one might just escape from memory. Well, maybe, I can help you conquer this problem once and for all.

The reality is that a person’s own character (or attributes) just might be surmised by the spiritual influences they service and worships. And most Christians claim to serve the One True God described in Genesis Chapter One of the Holy Bible. But, do you really know him? And that question should help you recall the third attribute of God!

The first thing to remember is that the three attributes of God we are talking about start with omni and end with ent! Two of these attributes begin with om-nip, and one with om-nis. ( ‘omni’ means all.)

GOD IS OMNISCIENT- ALL KNOWING

GOD IS OMNIPOTENT – ALL POWERFUL

GOD IS OMNIPRESENT…EVERYWHERE (SKY, SUN AND MOON (ECLIPSE)

The conclusion of this matter…

Omniscient means that God has no restrictions on knowledge. God knows everything there is to know! God is the ultimate criterion (*) of truth and falsity, so that his ideas are always true. (Psalm 139:1-4)

Omnipotent means that God is in total control of himself and his creation. He does not need help from anybody or anything! There is nothing artificial about God. (Genesis 1:9, 11, 14)

Omnipresent is the status of someone or something that is present everywhere. God’s creation is everywhere. There exist nothing that God did not create. Since God’s power and knowledge extends to all parts of his creation, especially the planets, sky, moon, sun, and galaxies, he himself is present everywhere his creations exist. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

(*) Note: In the beginning God – (see Genesis 1:1, 3, 5)

My prayer for you…

Dear Heavenly Father:

I praise You for the promise that I can sleep soundly at night with the sure knowledge that You are Omnis-cient and know exactly where I am. I also thank You because personally You care for me no matter what situation I find myself in and You have the power to rescue me because you are Omnip-otent. And furthermore, Dear Jesus, I praise You because You always take good care of me and take each of my life’s concerns on Your shoulders because You are Omni-present, that is, You are everywhere and see me when I am in destress. I love You, Lord, and will faithfully continue to learn more and more of your divine attributes with the help and guidance from the Holy Spirit. Amen and Amen

Scripture Lesson: “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.” (Psalm 3:5-6)

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Let’s look at what Biblical meditation is not…

Biblical meditation certainly is not sitting in a lotus position and chanting, humming, rocking, forming circles with your fingers or washing your mind clean from all thoughts. No sir e bob!!! Neither do you need to rush out and purchase a stack of candles, incense, a mat, ear plugs and various CDs by famous gurus. (Just begin your time with the Holy Spirit (your Teacher) by reciting Psalm 19:14: “Dear, Holy Spirit, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen”

OK, now that you’ve been enlightened on what meditation is not…let’s look at what meditation is…

Biblical meditation is first and foremost simply focusing on God through prayerfully contemplation on his Word. First, you’ll want to quiet your spirit with a prayer of invitation for the Holy Spirit to come into your heart and ‘dine’ with you. Choose a scripture from your memory, recite it aloud a couple of times and audibly inquire of the Holy Spirit if your interpretation of meditating on that scripture is pleasing to Him. (You can do this by applying and reciting Psalm 104:34: “Lord, may my meditation be pleasing to him (You), for I rejoice in the Lord.”

You may want to continue your conversation (prayer) with the Holy Spirit by incorporating several additional scriptures that reference meditating.

Additional scriptures expressed in your own words, such as…

Psalm 63:6 “When I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night…”

Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Psalm 119:97 “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

Psalm 143:5 “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.”

And in conclusion, let us remember…

In the Book of Joshua 1:8, it teaches us the “why” of Christian meditation. It goes like this: “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”

Scripture Lesson: “My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. Psalm 49:3

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