And then it clicks

You know I would like to believe that I'm a pretty bright person. I'm a college graduate and I'm working on my masters. I think I have a good head on my shoulders, or I would like to think that. But on occasion we have to real with ourselves, get transparent. We have to lay aside the education, the titles, and who people think we are. We have to lay aside who we think we are or who we are trying to convince ourself that we are. We have to get naked regardless of our shame.

When we get to that point, it's no longer about excuses. It's not about what he did, what they said, or how she treated you. Not about your mama, your ex, your daddy, or the rest of them. We have to move beyond the norm. It's so easy to blame everyone else, but when you find yourself in a holding pattern and you don't have the strength or grace to do it any longer, you have to ask yourself, "what am I doing wrong?"

I can't control him, her or them, and the truth is I'm not required to. God is not going to ask me about what they did, He's going to ask what I did. Truth is I thought I was doing things right, but I wasn't. And sometimes we have to come to grips with that. You know the faster we move on and get over our mess, the faster God can bring us into our own.

I found myself putting my hope and energy in people and when it didn't pan out the ways I wanted to I was constantly hurt. When you are looking to people for your worth, you find yourself on this roller coaster. Some days are good and others are bad. Some days you are on your way up the mountain and the next you are in the pit of despair. You are doing all kinds of twist and turns and it doesn't profit anything.

Is. 55:1-3 says:
"Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David.

We've all found ourself laboring for the wrong thing, but it's time to wake up and go back to our Father, he has abundance for us. Don't let the sap suckers suck the life out of you. Come to his fountain. He's got abundant life to give you.

Why are you cast down oh my soul

Okay I took this off of someone's page. It really ministered to me. I needed to hear this today.

Ps. 42:11 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

Some days are good and some days are bad, and there are some days that you wish you never had. However, hope in God and He will bring you through. Whatever you are believing, He is able to do. Life can sometimes dish out blows that we are not ready for. We can find ourselves broken inside in a matter of seconds by situations around us. You know even as Christians, there are times that we have said to God, "I'm ready to come home because I can't handle the pressure." It's okay to feel this way, but for a second. Because the psalmist in this chapter, asked a question about why He is upset. Sometimes we have to start analyzing things around us. The Psalmist asked this question so that he can get to the root of the problem. It seems that even as he's searching for an answer, he starts to think about God being a Person who can do all things. Therefore he says to himself, "Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him."

You may not know how a situation is going to turn out. You may not know what will come of it, but one thing you must remember is where the Lord brought you from. In order for the Psalmist to be able to praise God, he had to remember what God brought him through in the past. He had to remember the joy that he felt when he basked in the Lord's presence. In God's presence, there is an overwhelming sense of joy that we should take advantage of. Call on the Lord, while He is near. Seek His face, while He may be found. Go into the Holy of Holies and start giving God praise. Focus on God and not what you are going through. This is what the Psalmist closed out with, "...for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God." He had to know that God would once again make him smile and be exceedingly glad. He had to know that the Lord loved him. He had to once before experience the love of God, the mercy of God, and the hand of God; and this is what drove him to the point to say, "I shall praise You." It is important my brother and my sister to give God praise nomatter what you are going through. Because when you stay in that place of depression, weakness, and distress you will find yourself being played by Satan. But when you raise up and give God glory, you not only play the devil, but you end his nonsense in your mind thus causing you to break free from his hold.

Lord, bless us to focus on you even through our hard times. We are tired of looking down everyday God. We are tired of feeling like we can't make it. We are tired of falling apart. However, we will still give you praise. We love you and thirst for you more than we have ever in our lives. You are our God and we are Your people. Thank God...Amen!

Tyree W. Foster

New Mercies

God is so good and so faithful.
The word says in Lam 3:21-23:

"This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness."

The awesome thing is that God is really that faithful. In the preceding verses of this chapter Jeremiah lamented injustice, disappointment, and what seemed to be God's abandonment of his people. Then Jeremiah was reminded of God's mercy and His faithfulness. All of a sudden that gave him a reason to hope again.

Sometimes we go though things or situations arise that seem sap our hope. However, the beautiful thing is that when you woke up this morning, God gave you enough mercies to go through whatever the day had in store. God gave you the mercies for the day, good or bad, stressed or relaxed, happy or sad, whether you were delighted to see you expectations come to past or disappointed because they went unfulfilled. He gave the mercies to press through.
If you put you hope in man, disappointment will always await you, but whoever trust in the Lord will see a fulfillment of those things that He promised.

"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Psalm 119:165

Rest in that peace.

Learn Well, Live Well

It seems that this week God has been helping me learn those lessons that it seems like I've been learning forever. God does not want us overwhelmed and trying to play catch up in the next season of our lives so we don't seem to move on until we learn the lesson in this season.

What's next?

You know sometimes you find yourself in shear frustation. Yesterday, I was just sitting there asking myself, now what? It's those now what moments that I usually hate the most. It's those moments that you know things cannot stay the same, but you honestly don't know where to go next. Honestly, what's the next move?

You ever been playing a game of chess and you are looking at your options and you feel like you are in such a catch 22. The knight has got your king and your rook in check. You know are going to have to lose something and you are wondering if you can still win the game without it. So I'm sitting there wondering do I lose hope or my mind. Heck, I need my mind so it looks like hope is losing out. And without hope, what's the point?

So you sit and analyze the board a little longer. You wait, ponder, replay all possible outcomes. And then you wait somemore. And you finally give it up. No matter how long you try to prolong it, the board is not going to change until you move. Truth is that life is not going to go on until you move. As much as you hate to admit it, you are in this predicament because you weren't watching the board close enough. People do to you what you let them do. Lose what you must lose. Sacrifices will always be made, learn from it, but don't stop playing the game. It's not the first rook to be lost, lose hope in the rook. Can't stake all your hopes in one piece anyway. Even when you don't like the way it looks, your still gotta make you move. I'm moving on.

Is it time?

Where is the line that says you can finally give up? When is it okay to just stop believing, because maybe what everyone has been saying is absolutely right? I think we all have these moments in our life where we say ok this is more than I can bear, but yet we press on. But like, isn't there a line where it actually does kill you. And the truth is it is not an honorable death. It's like you are pressing on like you are some martyr, but the truth is it's suicide. When is enough really enough?