Become A Better Person

I’ve often wondered why we just don’t get it(self-included). Why do we waste our time and God’s if we’re not going to try and be a better person?

Well, the most obvious reason is that we’re all sinners; yet this isn’t so obvious to everyone. I encounter so many people that act as if they never had a past. I encounter so many that turn their noses up at people doing the same thing they used to do.

During a Bible Study class, years ago, the preacher on the video said some of us never get better because we choose to view the Bible narratives, Sunday School lessons, sermons, etc., through the lens of the powerful instead of the powerless.

He wasn’t implying that we shouldn’t strive to be victorious or that we aren’t victors. He was simply making the claim that if we’re always puffed up and identifying with the person that wins; we will never be able to recognize what needs fixing in our own lives.

Trust me; we all have something we can improve upon! So, let us stop wasting God’s time and ours and say, “It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, Oh Lord, standing in the need of fixing!”

Yours Because He Lives,

The Blessings of the Lord

“The Blessings of the Lord makes rich and God adds no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22). Some days I have to recite this to myself over and over again. Just reading it gives me strength on those days that I don’t feel rich and sorrow has camped out on my doorstep.  However, the true blessing is that I finally got it.  The more opportunities I have to recite or read God’s word, the stronger my faith becomes.  I don’t particularly like having to go into battle mood, but when I do the Word of God secures the victory-in Jesus’ Name!

Yours Because He Lives

Transfiguration Sunday

Today is ‘Transfiguration Sunday’; a time of change. It is said to be a defining moment in our lives where our human nature meets God with Jesus as the connecting point. We moved through the season of Epiphany (a time of realizing that Jesus was born and continues to be born into the lives of his people) that lasted five Sundays. Now we enter a phase of transformation that for some of us might begin with ‘now what’. “I’ve walked the aisle and joined the church-now what?” “I’ve gone back to the church after a period of absence-now what?” “I’ve given my life to the Lord because it’s time for something different-now what? “Now what’, is a good place to start. It signals our surrender from the way it was before, to God’s way. I’ve heard it said like this, “You’ve left ‘your way’ for ‘Yahweh’. On this day as we enter the Lenten season; let’s ask God to give us a close examination of ‘our way’ and then let us be led into ‘God’s way’.

Yours Because He Lives,

A New Marketing Tactic

Texting on a qwerty keypad phone (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve just become familiar with a new marketing tactic. This past Monday when Chicagoland stood still, from the effects of the weather, I began to receive these inviting text, calls and emails from car dealerships in the area.

The calls and emails indicated that I had actually expressed an interest in not just any vehicle, but a specific one. They told me which one I said I wanted and invited me to come in and move the conversations further. The text referred to me by my first name and then asked how I was doing.

These dealerships have studied psychology 101 and know that many emotions are set into effect when we have to be still too long (sometimes alone) or things appear hopeless or restrictive. They also knew many people were home either by choice or decisions of their employers.

What a great time to entice you to do something that will make you feel better about a situation you didn’t ask for!  I too have studied psychology 101, but have long since moved to The Bible: Alpha to Omega.  I have also experienced all of those emotions; the marketers capitalize on and know they can be effective if you aren’t rooted in your study of God’s Word.

So I invite you through this bulletin and social media to receive God’s daily greeting.  You will not only see your name, but you will find the solution to your situation and it won’t cost you anything!

Yours Because He Lives,