How many of you guys out there have come to realize that what your enemy meant for evil, God meant for good? Joseph’s brothers found that out the hard way. 

I can imagine that at that time his ten siblings were thinking thoughts that many of us have to this day: does not God only dispense blessings when something good happens? Our intent was to permanently dispose of our day-dreaming-braga-dose brother! Modern day researchers and bible scholars suggest that quite possibly, in the Christian’s vocabulary, the word blessed is the most frequently used word.

So, the question for this week’s blog is ‘how do you process your thoughts when someone’s actions towards you were suppose to have been a stumbling block, but in hindsight turned out to be a blessing from God (**). If your thoughts resemble those of Joseph’s brothers, then what you are really saying is that blessings from God are transient and therefore unreliable. That is, they are like a person who moves from place to place…similar to a homeless person. Unbeknown to the ten brothers, it was God who all along orchestrated them to execute a mis-deed that would in the future work out for God’s good in the form of a blessing. Needless to say, many Christians often only credit God for blessings received when something good happens to them. 

God proclaims with a loud voice…REVISE THAT MISGUIDED WAY OF THINKING! UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES CAN MAN EARN GOD’S BLESSINGS . BLESSINGS ARE A GIFT FROM GOD!

May I draw your attention to one of the most misunderstood biblical stories in the Holy Bible. It is found in Luke 15:11, “The parable of the prodigal son.” Basically, the elder son felt that he should earn the blessings of his father by remaining at home and working for his father. But that was not necessary.

For the father had already freely provided (on a daily basis) every thing for the elder son’s welfare, who, on the contrary, did not have to wait to receive it. Everything that the prodigal son received on his return to his Father’s house was awaiting him and freely given even though he did not deserve it. The prodigal son had not earned the loving blessing he received. 

The elder son had taken his father’s provisions for granted and perhaps had not thanked him nor shown his appreciation or gratitude during the time period his prodigal brother was on the fly. Ask yourself which brother are you. Do you take people’s generosity for granted?

And since the Truth is being told, neither have any of us done any thing worthy enough to receive forgiveness from God our Father, BUT because (like the father of the prodigal son), our Father God so loved us that he gave his only Begotten Son to shed blood and to die on the cross as atonement for our transgressions.

The lesson to be learned is this…

From the beginning, God created mankind to receive blessings. The very first words God spoke over Adam and Eve were blessings. For example, initially, human beings were created to be fruitful and multiply (meaning human beings should procreate). Also, God placed human autonomy over animal life; and last but not least, over all his creation. God also extends his blessings to us when we persevere under trials and tribulations. (James 1:12)

To refresh your memory of how we can surely please God and express our gratitude for his blessings is to practice all the attributes mentioned in the beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12 and Luke 6:20-23. These verses describe the inner qualities of a faithful servant of God.

So, I invite you to take some quality time to count your blessings by naming them one by one. I’m sure you will give God a little chuckle as you erroneously credit him for ‘blessings’ that you actually received from Satan and to Satan those genuine blessings that you actually received from God although you declared at the time…..the Devil made me do it! 

(*) NOTE: The references below concerning when God laughed were supplied from a Google search reference.

Three times in the Book of Psalms (Psalm 2:4; 37:13; 59:8) we read that God shall laugh. The word “laugh” does not mean what we usually think of today as laughing with “joy” or “making a joke of.” It always means, “to hold in derision — to mock or to scorn.” And when he laughs, he does so for our sake, to communicate to us.

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. (Psalm 2:4)

God’s enemies may plot against his people, “but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming” (Psalm 37:12–13).

God laughs at those who set themselves against his anointed (Psalm 59:8).

(**) NOTE: When you finally received your ‘blessing’, did you proclaim to others…”see, God don’t like ugly!’ If that was your response, then you actually were taking credit for something you thought you had EARNED. Think about it. And remember that blessings are NOT earned. God alone put you in that new position perhaps for you to mentor a future employee for an assignment he alone had ordained. 

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Dear readers of this week’s blog post, as you can see in the picture above, an Archangel is at war with Satan, the arch-enemy, par excellence, of God and the people of God! In other words, Satan, that ole serpent, as you also know as the deceiver that leads humanity astray. According to biblically records, this scene is to take place during the End Times(*).

Every generation believes that because of the world events that are taking place politically, religiously, and economically, during their life time is indicative of the End Times.

As you can imagine, the end of the world ‘talk‘ has been a topic of discussion for a very, very long time. There has been sightings/reports of people and organizations stocking up on food, furnishing safe houses and building storage shelters, etc. Yes, world societies have become obsessed with the idea of preparing for the apocalypse.

In March of 2006, I was a theology student at a Christian Academy, and one of my professors assigned students in the world/international missionary class to compile a scrapbook of prayers that Christian believers might pray about to Father God in preparation for the End Times. For this assignment, students had to work in pairs. So, I would like to share with you a few of the subject matters my partner and I chose. We decided to pray for some future and incumbent civic leaders in different societies. Basically, we emphasized keeping it together and to remain strong in their pursuit towards greatness.

A Suggestion For How To Prepare For The End Times

In a 2006 Dallas, Tx., newspaper article by Brian Davis, Staff Writer, it was reported that Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol for a second time. My study group partner and I decided to pray for him to find the courage and strength to get back on the straight and narrow path of righteousness and not destroy his early blooming and successful football career. Rhett's legacy has proven he did just that.

During that same period of time, two other former political administration officials faced criminal charges: Former Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby was indicted on charges related to the leaked identity of a CIA officer. And also, David Safavian, former chief of staff to the General Services Administration, was fighting charges that he obstructed a federal investigation and made false statements in connection with the corruption investigation linked to a lobbyist. 

And finally, we prayed for the misgivings of a former domestic policy adviser to Ex-president Bush who was arrested and charged with claiming phony refunds for more than $5,000 worth of merchandise at department stores.
 
Below are the prayers my study partner and I  composed with the aide of the Holy Spirit, during those bleak years in 2006 of the lives of those who desired to become men of influence in the lives of others...
Our prayer summary was...even though they fell down...they got up and held up righteousness.


"Dear Heavenly Father, 
Once again, I call upon Your holy and blessed Name. We beseech You to receive our praise and adoration for Your wisdom and tender mercies showered upon those persons in leadership positions; be it government, or other forms of society, whose role is to administer to the masses and to be role models for those persons who are looking for hope. I earnestly pray, Lord Jesus, that all leaders take their positions seriously and that they feel obligated and responsible to put their best efforts forward in everything they do. As I think about their awesome responsibilities, I can imagine that many times they may feel overwhelmed but, Lord, I am trusting that they will become examples of righteousness to our society and learn to depend on You and Your wisdom in their deliberations. These partitions are raised up to You in Your Name, Lord Jesus. Amen and Amen! 

Donnie McClurkin – We Fall Down But We Get Up

(*) Notes: But I WANT TO WARN YOU! DO NOT ASK ANY ‘ONE’ PERSON WHEN THE END OF THE WORLD WILL BE UNLESS YOU WANT TO BECOME ENGAGED IN A HOT MESSY ARGUMENT! ONLY GOD KNOWS!

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Now, as a seasoned senior citizen (try repeating that phrase 3 times in a row), I remembered making a vow in my middle-aged moments of melancholy(*). I vowed that as I attained citizenry(**), I would strive to continue ‘living in the moment‘. That is, letting go the past (especially those difficult and troubling years); yet, not waiting for the future. I wanted to live my life, being consciously aware that each and every moment you are alive and breathing is a precious gift from God.

What this life long way of existence has taught me is that as I aged, I would have to monitor, adjust and continuously calibrate my attitude. That jewel of advice came from my indulgence with God’s holy word in the Bible. So for this week’s blog, I decided to engage the Holy Spirit and inquire of Him to give me a report on what He thinks of my attitude towards life and the people I come in contact with on a daily basis.

After reading several books on how to meditate in order to receive the most spiritual understanding, it appeared to me that the question put to me was simply this: How do you converse with yourself! Is it with curses or with praises! Are your innermost sentences and ‘head talks’ prefaced with…’I hate this or that’. Or, ‘why am I always late or forgetting something’. (You’re getting the idea.) The question is are you constantly belittling and/or criticizing yourself? While at the same time, the Holy Spirit is trying to remind you that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) King David realized who he was and just how meticulously God had created him. And David also declared…’my soul knows it very well!’

If you need any help in learning this jewel of advice consult your Bible. Mindfulness meditation also teaches us how to practice speaking kindly to ourselves in all kinds of situations. And if we can master this practice in the quiet situation of our minds, we can transfer this practice to others and become more accepting and friendlier towards them along with ourselves and less judgmental and critical of everyone when we engage them in conversation.

The “truth” that will become more evident and authentic in your mind is this: You will learn the difference between “knowing” and “realizing“. For example, you will know that a certain body of water is deep, ‘But‘ you won’t realize just how deep the water is until you start to drown.

The same is true in mindfulness meditation as friends and family begin to comment on the new way you are communicating with others…much gentler, more empathy, employing a sweeter and more quiet spirit than ever before.

Becoming less judgmental in your interactions with others will cause you to know that intellectual thinking about something, is shallow thinking, compared to intellectually experiencing that same something.

(*) NOTES: Adjective meaning of ‘melancholy’; having a feeling of melancholy; sad and pensive: “she felt a little melancholy”.

(**) Old age

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On a bright and sunny day in July 2011, (some twelve years ago), I was privileged to accompany 6 other members of my Sunday School class on a short term mission trip to a small orphanage in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, that our church had adopted and supported financially. So, this first week in the New Year 2024, I decided to converge upon my home office computer and put typing strokes to an electronic page and to share with you my experiences on one of the earliest saintly duty-calls our Lord and Savior ‘shackled‘ me with. In my humble attempt to eke out from my limited understanding of what God’s plan was for his people down in Mexico, I will share with you how He used me and my small mission team during those five days of service.

You see, that assignment, all those years ago, reinforced and put pep in my steps because I had always known that international mission work was far more different from ministering to God’s people in your local venue; and have wholeheartedly embraced His call on my life to step out from my comfort zone and to follow the wind. Let me be perfectly clear, that this is not to infer that international mission work is superior to domestic mission assignments, because both tours of duty are necessary to spread the message of salvation to everyone.

The wind was a cool 78 to 85 degrees each day down in San Miguel from the time our plane landed at the Leon Airport on July 22nd until our departure on July 29th. Each night we saw heavy rain clouds and most evenings it did shower. Light jackets and plastic rain slickers became our mode of dress at night. But nothing hindered the active lives of the local residents of this mountainous central region of Mexico.

The assignment given me by the mission leader was to select and coordinate five Bible story lessons for Vacation Bible School for three age groups of children, all Spanish speaking, that would be in attendance. Their ages ranged from three years to twelve years old. This required that all stories be age appropriate and related in a fashion that would include interaction with as many children as possible.

I sought the Lord who guided me to draw stories from the parables (New Testament) rather than the usual Daniel or Noah or Joseph stories (Old Testament). You see, most of these children come from homes heavily steeped in Catholicism where the worship of Mary and other biblical saints as their 'savior' is prevalent. So the Holy Spirit led me to develop the parable of the lost sheep; the parable of the Sower of Seed, the parable of Jesus feeding the 5,000, the parable of the Women at the well and the parable of the Paraplegic as my five-day lesson plan. All of these parables emphasize Jesus' divine authority as Savior and soon coming King. I was blessed to have the Pastor's wife, Sister Janice, of our host city as my Spanish interpreter. I furnished a cache of bible character costumes to outfit the children who were assigned to assist me in retelling the stories.

Reinforcement of the bible parables came during craft time with Sister Gail of the mission team as the instructor. The third hour of VBS was out door games that were supervised by Sister Tiffany. Brothers Morgan and Joe (also known as Big Country) of our team. Each day, the children had a craft to take home, along with a “Jesus” story and memory verse and usually a prize received while participating as a team-player in the games. Lunch and snacks were provided each day for the children as well as gifts and school supplies distributed to our hosts and teen helpers as a token of our appreciation and love.

It was a true blessing to witness the Holy Spirit interacting with the English to Spanish dialogues as the Dallas, Tx. missionaries and San Miguel interpreters labored to express God’s word to the anxiously awaiting ‘ninos‘. What revelation! What joy! What harmony! All I can say is; “To God be the Glory!”

As far as international mission trips go, I have fought the good fight and I have finished God’s course for me. I constantly pray for the next generation of all missionaries and financially support as many as the Lord says so. 

Click below and listen to my prayer in song as conducted by the Richard Smallwood, Hezekiah Walker, Kurt Carr, and others…

Mix – Richard Smallwood – You Are The Source Of My Strength

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Click the Red Song Title Below and be blessed.

Kings Return – Bridge Over Troubled Water (A Cappella)

Kings Return155K views 2 years ago

It only takes six minutes to listen to some melodious tunes by this young group of gospel men called “Kings Return”. These A cappella selections soothes the soul and comes from their hearts. I truly believe they trained those angels who ushered in the birth of Baby Jesus on that blessed night. Yes…angelic-harmony-extraordinaire! So, do yourself a favor and usher in 2024 by praising God with them in song.

And while you are at it, pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the entire world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall have eternal life.” John 3:16

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However, there is a caveat to the title of this week’s blog. Before you ask God “why?”, perhaps you would receive a quicker response to your inquiry if you considered other interrogatives such as “how,” “when,” “what,” and “where”! After all, God is God. And his plans are far above our meager notions and understanding.

For ten years, I was a volunteer missionary with Buckner International, a Christ-centered privately owned humanitarian organization in Texas (USA), that works with vulnerable children, senior adults and helps to build strong families in the USA and also in more than six foreign countries. And during that time of traveling abroad to those foreign countries with the Buckner mission teams, I am ashamed to admit that I was full of “why” questions for the Lord.

Once when I discovered that I did not have enough supplies to teach the children in the orphan homes, or ample desks and chairs for them to sit on in the ‘make-shift’ class rooms; or that I was not assigned an english translator; or the building where activities were to be performed lacked ample electricity; I found myself complaining and crying out to the Lord. I realize now that I must have come off as an ugly American…spoiled rotten by the conveniences of the Grand ole USA. But boy, oh boy, was I ever smacked down by the Holy Spirit.

I shall never forget the spiritual lessons that the Holy Spirit taught me. Where is your faith, young lady? This mission trip is not about you, my child. Check your attitude and your motives. Smile and show my children that you represent a God who cares, provides and knows what is needed. Now go over to that corner and look inside that box, the Holy Spirit said to me. Guess what was in that box.

Several brown lunch bags were inside the box along with some broken crayons. Just enough for each student. The kids ran over and quickly grabbed a bag and a crayon. Each child found a chair and without any instructions from me, kneeled down in front of it and positioned them selves to use the seat of the chair as their desk. The children then turned to look up at me and I realized that it was time to teach the Bible story. 

As I told the story of Joseph leading Mary on a donkey, pregnant and heading down to Bethlehem, a child in the front row repeated my words in the language of the land. The children all begin to draw that scene on one side of the brown bag. As I continued telling each part of the story, the children would turn their bags to a clean side of their bag and draw the images. When I finished the story, all sides of the children’s bag was full of the story details. And the young man in the front row showed the class how to punch two small holes in the sides of their bag and slip their hand up in it and make a paper puppet.

Now the Holy Spirit whispered to me that now each child can take their puppet back to their village and become the ‘teacher’ and recite the story of the birth of the Baby Jesus to all their friends and parents. Glory, hallelujah! What if I had told that story by using my own drawings on a black board. There would have been no evidence for each child to take home!

I later learned that each child used their lunch bag to take back to their villages a portion of their lunch we provided for them to share with someone else. So the bags served two purposes and God was glorified and my faith was strengthened and my gratitude and attitude was emboldened.

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“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14).

“A life without regrets is a life built on a mirage.” (Author unknown)

“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

Boy, Oh Boy, have I had fun this week prayerfully calling upon the Holy Spirit to show Himself mightily and to help me understand two passages of scripture I ran across during my early mourning bible study time. One passage from the New Testament and another from the Old Testament.

The question that pondered me was this: Why did Jesus compare the example of His impending death on the cross to a manmade image of a bronze snake on a pole?

To refresh your memory of the incident in Numbers, you will recall that the Israelite people were sojourning from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea on their way to Canaan (the Promised Land). They were hungry and had no water and so they began to speak against God and against Moses. ’Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” they said.

As punishment for their blaspheming, God sent fiery serpents among the Israelites, and the snakes bit the people and many of them died in the wilderness. Then all the people came to Moses and asked him to pray to God for they realized that they had sinned against him and against Moses. God instructed Moses to make an idol of the fiery serpent and place it on a pole. And everyone who is bitten, when they see the pole they shall live.

Now, after many days, the Holy Spirit said to me, my child, what does that story remind you of. After deep thought and soul searching, I proclaimed that the event reminded me of the Garden of Eden and the first couple; Adam and Eve. They performed a sinful act of disobedience after entertaining devilish thoughts from the serpent (Devil, the father of lies). The Israelites’ acts were similar and their punishment was also death by snakes.

On the other hand, Jesus Christ was saying that the offsprings of Adam and Eve (people of the world), should/must become engaged in conversations about Him…accept Him…have faith in Him…obey Him…trust Him. AND LIVE (ETERNALLY) AND GET TO THE PROMISE LAND! In other words, we as His ambassadors, must turn our eyes upon Jesus and lift Him up before all peoples and He will draw all men unto Himself.

Satan is defeated!!

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (Church Online) – Hillsong Worship

YouTube · Hillsong Worship930.2K+ views · 2 years ag

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This is the final blog post I will be publishing concerning the subject on “God alone”, my brother and I had some 40 years ago. You will recall in Part 1, I shared a personal discussion (did I say ‘heated’ discussion?) we had on a deep theological disagreement on the personage of Jesus Christ. Since my brother had recently died with a firm belief that God alone would receive him into heaven without his having to confess Christ Jesus as his personal Savior. At the time of our disagreement, I was trying to convert him to Christianity and the acceptance of the Son of God as a propitiation for mankind’s sins.

I have since learned that…”So then neither is he that planted any thing, neither he that watered; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planted and he that watered are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 KJV

So, now, let’s come to the conclusion of the matter:

And God said to the Apostle Paul, His prisoner… (Column 1.)

And God said to me, His prisoner…(Column 2.)

25. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of another. 26. Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27. Neither give place to the devil. 28. Let him that stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needs. 29. Let no corrupt communi- cation proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edify- ing that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice; 32. And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Verses 25 through 32 instructs you on how to live in the Spirit of God. Read them and weep. (Thank you God (Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ) for my lesson. May I soon have an opportunity to do as the Word says and share. Love, From Me, Your servant and blogger.

To all my readers of this blog…Please use the Comment Section below (or ‘LIKE‘ button) to share your comment(s) on your own experience with family members that hold to different religious beliefs than you do.

• To Mary, wife of Joseph, we find this statement by an Angel: Luke 1:30-35 provides a clarifying identification: Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.“
• At Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist we read: …suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, who I love. I am very pleased with him.” (Matthew 3:16-17 – See also Mark 1:10-11; Luke 3:21-22.)
• And on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured we read: …suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, who I love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!”  (Matthew 17:1-8 – See also Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36.)

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