Sharing the life changing Gospel message found in Jesus Christ
Tag: Life
the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
As a child, one of my favourite games was hide and seek. We looked for the best place to hide in the house or back yard, and waited quietly for our friends to try to find us. It’s a great game for kids, but as adults, we also look for a good place to hide from time to time. A place of refuge, a place of safety, or a place to rest when we feel overwhelmed by the circumstances of life, a place where the enemy of our soul can never find us.
I’ve got good news. God has the perfect hiding place for you! You don’t have to hide at work. You don’t have to hide in relationships. You don’t have to hide in food or addictions, because God Himself promises to hide you! He freely offers you shelter from the storms of life, any time you call upon His name.
Today, remember there’s only one place the enemy cannot find you. There’s only one place where opposition cannot steal from you. There’s only one true place of safety and rest for your soul, and that is in the arms of Jesus. Know that He loves you, and He is ready to receive you when you call upon His name! Hallelujah!
“In the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.”
(Psalm 27:5, NIV)
Pray With Me Yahweh, today I come humbly before You giving You all of me. Father, thank You for hiding me in Your shelter and keeping me safe from the storms of life. God, today my soul finds rest in You, please hide me from the enemy of my soul, as I seek You and praise Your Holy Name, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.
Have you ever questioned God? Have you ever gone through a situation in your life that you don’t quite understand? During these uncertain seasons, it’s natural to question things in your mind. But in order to move forward, we have to look forward with our hearts. We have to look beyond the questions, and continue to trust in Almighty God.
As Christians we’re going to have some unanswered questions. You may never understand why a relationship ended too soon. You may never understand why someone died. You may never understand why you went through that illness, or why your prayers didn’t get answered. At some point, you have to decide to move beyond your questions and go with trusting God. We have to decide to trust His character even when our circumstances don’t make sense.
Today, God’s Word tells us that difficulties and adversities will come, but God is the one who promises to lead us into victory. He has promised that He’s going to turn that difficulty around and use it for your advantage. He is faithful to His Word and keeps all His promises, and you can be sure that He will fulfill them, and at some point He will make the answers clear. Ask question yes, but trust Him “for the just shall live by faith.”
“The secret things belong unto the Lord our God”¦”
(Deuteronomy 29:29, AMPC)
Pray With Me Yahweh, I will trust You with all my unanswered questions. Father, I release any doubt and confusion to You. Help me to focus and trust You and Your Word, which is the truth that will set me free. Thank You for Your goodness and for the blessings You have in store for me. God, today I choose to look beyond my questions and doubts and believe You, in Jesus’ name! Amen
Albinism is the “congenital absence of any pigmentation or coloration in a person, animal or plant, resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink eyes in mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish and other small invertebrates as well.”Varied use and interpretation of the terms mean that written reports of albinistic animals can be difficult to verify.
For ages, Judith had a feeling that she would struggle to become pregnant. There wasn’t a medical explanation for this — it was simply a niggling fear.
She and her husband struggled to believe they would ever become parents after years went by without her becoming pregnant. “I found myself getting anxious and desperate,” Judith first wrote on Love What Matters.
“The fear remained no matter how hard I tried to stay positive. However, Eight years down the line, my husband and I decided to go for our second round of IVF. The first of which failed, as well as other various procedures and fertility treatments. Every ultrasound visit after that was horror”
Judith
The couple could hardly contain their joy when that second round of IVF proved successful.
Judith was carrying twins — a boy, Kamis, and a girl, Kachi.
It felt remarkable that after all these years, their aspirations and dreams of a family were about to be real.
However, mum’s joy quickly turned to horror as doctors broke the news that Kachi was “at risk and might not make it”. “Every ultrasound visit after that was a nightmare as Kachi was far behind in growth whiles Kamsi did great.
“Finally, at 37 weeks, I had to be induced immediately because I was told that Kachi had stopped growing..” After the birth Nurses let Judith hold her daughter briefly before she was whisked to the NICU.
“The first time I saw her, I wondered if the nurse was handing me my baby, or someone else’s,” Judith said. “I waited a few seconds for someone to tell me there was a mix-up?” “Soon the joy of seeing them both healthy surpassed any other feeling at that instant.”
“How did I get black and white twins?”
Several days later Judith and her husband were told that their baby girl had albinism.
“I loved my princess like every mother would love her baby but worried about her condition,” Judith said.
“I worried about her future, how society would treat her, how she’ll be accepted.
“Gradually, worry turned to sadness and I started questioning “I envied other black babies and thought, ‘Why me? Why was I the one to have an albino baby?’
“How did I get black and white twins?”
“I threw the braille sheets in the garbage”
Unfortunately, medical professionals were quick to affirm Judith’s worst fears and told her that Kachi would struggle to see and would likely need to learn to read braille.
“I couldn’t imagine Kachi reading with braille and threw the braille sheets in the garbage.” She said
“She’s so smart and has a strong personality. She knows what she wants and will always go for it. “I always tell her how beautiful she is, because she really is.
“I’m not sure she`s aware of her uniqueness at the moment, but eventually she’ll know.”
“It’s my responsibility to educate her and teach her to love herself no matter what.
Albinism
Albinism affects the production of melanin, the pigment that colours skin, hair and eyes. It’s a lifelong condition, but it doesn’t get worse over time.
People with albinism have a reduced amount of melanin, or no melanin at all. This can affect their colouring and their eyesight.
Albinism is caused by faulty genes that a child inherits from their parents.
Symptoms of albinism
Hair and skin colour
People with albinism often have white or very light blonde hair, although some have brown or ginger hair. The exact colour depends on how much melanin their body produces.
Very pale skin that burns easily in the sun and doesn’t usually tan is also typical of albinism.
Eye colour
Someone with albinism can have pale blue, grey or brown eyes. Eye colour depends on the type of albinism and the amount of melanin. People from ethnic groups with darker pigmentation tend to have darker coloured eyes.
Eye problems
The reduced amount of melanin can also cause other eye problems. This is because melanin is involved in the development of the retina, the thin layer of cells at the back of the eye.
astigmatism — where the cornea (clear layer at the front of the eye) isn’t perfectly curved or the lens is an abnormal shape, causing blurred vision
photophobia — where the eyes are sensitive to light
nystagmus — where the eyes move involuntarily from side to side, causing reduced vision; you don’t see the world as “wobbling” because your brain adapts to your eye movement
squint — where the eyes point in different directions
Some young children with albinism may appear clumsy because problems with their eyesight can make it difficult for them to perform certain movements, such as picking up an object. This should improve as they get older.
How albinism is inherited
The two main types of albinism are:
oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) — the most common type, affecting the skin, hair and eyes
ocular albinism (OA) — a rarer type that mainly affects the eyes
Autosomal recessive inheritance
In most cases, including all types of OCA and some types of OA, albinism is passed on in an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. This means a child has to inherit two copies of the faulty gene (one from each parent) to have the condition.
If both parents carry the gene, there’s a 1 in 4 chance that their child will have albinism and a 1 in 2 chance that their child will be a carrier. Carriers don’t have albinism but can pass on the faulty gene.
X-linked inheritance
Some types of OA are passed on in an X-linked inheritance pattern. This pattern affects boys and girls differently: girls who inherit the faulty gene become carriers and boys who inherit the faulty gene will get albinism.
When a mother is a carrier of an X-linked type of albinism, each of her daughters has a 1 in 2 chance of becoming a carrier and each of her sons has a 1 in 2 chance of having albinism.
When a father has an X-linked type of albinism, his daughters will become carriers, and his sons won’t have albinism and won’t be carriers.
If you have a history of albinism in your family or you have a child with the condition, you may want to talk to your GP about getting a referral for genetic counselling.
A genetic counsellor provides information, support and advice about genetic conditions. For example, you can discuss with them how you inherited albinism and the chances of passing it on.
Albinism is usually obvious from a baby’s appearance when they’re born. Your baby’s hair, skin and eyes may be examined to look for signs of missing pigment.
As albinism can cause a number of eye problems, your baby may be referred to an eye specialist (ophthalmologist) for tests to check for conditions such as nystagmus, squint and astigmatism.
Electrodiagnostic testing is also sometimes used to help diagnose albinism. This is where small electrodes are stuck to the scalp to test the connections of the eyes to the part of the brain that controls vision.
And right now white people are really frightened. If you don't understand the destruction of Planned Parenthood offices and you don't understand the wall that we're going to build on the southern border of the United States. You haven't read the book The Birth Death by Ben Wattenberg then Wattenberg was a brilliant Jewish man who was a member of the American Enterprise Institute and he wrote a book the first paragraph of which says. The main problem confronting the United States today is that there isnt enough white babies being born in this country. He was an adviser to presidents of the United States he wrote the book in 1987. He says there if we don't change this and change it rapidly white people will lose their numerical majority in this country and this will no longer be a white man's land. Now I'm not misrepresenting misrepresenting this I'm telling you exactly almost exactly what he says. He says there are three things we can do to solve this. Number one we could pay women to have babies as they had been doing in Western European nations for years. Then he says and these are his words not mine. Unfortunately we would have to pay women of all colors to have babies so we don't want to do that. He says the second thing we could do is increase the number of legal immigrants that are allowed into this country every year. Then once again he says unfortunately the vast majority of those waiting to come to this country today are people of color.
So we don't want to do that. The third thing he says and white men women had better pay attention to this. Sixty percent of the fetuses that are aborted every year are white. If we could keep that 60 percent alive that would solve our birth dearth. Does that sound like racism to you. Can you talk a little bit about the trauma associated with the trauma associated with it. One of the main traumas is it tells white people that they are superior because of the lack of melanin in their skin and then they find out suddenly that we've got a black president that's traumatic. That's where the trauma is living a lie. Finding out the truth is traumatic finding out now recently that within 30 years white people will be in the new miracle minority in this country is going to be traumatic. White people are scared to death right now particularly white males. They're scared to death that they are going to lose their power in the future and they are. But if you want to get ready for the future if you want to be treated well in the future treat others well in the present. What we do in the present constructs the future we call the Japanese and you'll pardon me but this is what we call them slant eyed little yellow.
We didn't say that about the Germans. After the war we rebuilt Germany and Japan and we get along beautifully with the Japanese. That was in 1945 that we finally won that war. How many how many years ago was that figure that out quickly. I'm not a math person but you're not a math person but you know it wasn't that far and it didn't take 50 years for us to have peace with the Japanese and the Germans even though even though we dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. The Japanese hadn't killed 10 million people. Nowhere near that. We didn't drop any bombs on Germany because any any atomic bombs on Germany they were a different kind of people. We couldn't afford to do that. We killed how many Japanese people with two atomic bombs. And they for Davis. You want to talk about forgiveness. You want to talk about changing this thing. I cannot understand how Japanese people can stand the sight of any of us and yet they do. I cannot understand why black people who have been subjected to the ugliness that they've been subjected to in this country can get up every morning and go to work among us and not be absolutely furious. And I don't understand why we allow white people to behave the way they do. I don't understand that. And my third graders after they've gone through the exercise couldn't understand it and wouldn't tolerate it.
And when they went up to junior high and a junior high teacher used the N word. One of my bullet. My former student said if you're gonna use that word I'm going to go out in the hall until you stop using it as we don't use that word in this school. I was a sixth seventh grader who told his teacher off when we have enough students who are willing to confront people who are making racist sexist just homophobic statements we're going to be better off. We have got to stop tolerating the intolerable if it's intolerable for my black cousins and every black person on this earth that's one of my cousins. It was intolerable for them. It's intolerable for me. I will not tolerate it. I will not tolerate it. That is not that I am required not to tolerate that kind of treatment for the people who are related to me. And that's every person on the face of the earth. If your ignorance is such that you mistreat somebody because of your ignorance about the color of their skin don't do it around me. Number one. I've been threatened with death lots of times. Now I say go for it fool. My husband died four years ago. Being with him would not be a bad thing for me. That is not the worst thing that can happen to you living a worthless useless life is much worse than dying.
As I celebrate another year of life today, I’m reminded of what God has done for me. No matter what difficulty I’ve faced over the year, God has drawn me out. Hallelujah! When I felt overwhelmed, God reached out His hand. He wouldn’t let me sink, and He wouldn’t let me slip. He took hold of me and rescued me from the deep waters of opposition that raged against me.
He will do the same for you. Scripture says that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a barrier against him. If you are facing adversity, know that you are not facing it alone. God is with you, and He is for you. He will draw you out!
Today, I say to all of my friends and those that follow me on social media, who over the past year may have been affected by major difficultities of life, know that you have only made it this far because God reached down, held you, rescued you and drew you out. Hallelujah! Today, on the day of my birth, I know that it was God who was working behind the scenes, that has brought me this far and He’ll do the same for you. He will bring us out better and stronger.
“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy”¦”
(Psalm 18:16-17, NIV)?
Pray With Me Yahweh, thank You for Your grace and mercy that has held me together this year. Father, I reach out my hand to You today, knowing that You have been an ever present help in my day of trouble. God, I thank You for another year of life, and in advance for all that You are doing, and for bringing me to a place of peace, in Jesus’ Name! Amen. …
Everyone goes through times when they feel overwhelmed or outnumbered by whatever is coming against them. Just about the time the car needs repairing, the power goes out in your house and the doctor gives you bad news. It can seem like one thing after another.
You might be in despair, worrying, and stressed out. It may feel as if all the forces of darkness are coming against you. But Scripture promises that with God on your side, you have everything you need to overcome every situation. The truth is, you are never outnumbered. You and God are a majority! Hallelujah!
Today, you may be feeling anxious, fearful or worried about something, but remember – if God is for you, who can be against you? Difficulties may come, but He promises to guide and protect you. The story isn’t over until God says its over and you end in victory!
“‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’”
(2 Kings 6:16, NIV)?
Pray With Me Yahweh, thank You for Your faithfulness to me. Father, thank You for the peace You give me even in the midst of the storms in my life. God, I know that You are with me, and will always be by my side no matter what the enemy does. Today, I can stand strong, because You will always lead me into victory, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.
Time is something that we have no control over. We can use it well or waste it, but we cannot get it back. Many people believe that they have all the time in the world to live their lives the way that they want to, and as long as they are good people, then things are going to be all right. We see the smaller picture, what is in front of us, but we fail to see the bigger picture. There is an unseen battle going on around us every day, and time is certainly on no one’s side.
There are times when I have spoken to people about Jesus, and they have readily believed in Him, but were unwilling to give their lives to Him just yet. They still wanted to live their lives their way and felt that Jesus would ‘stifle their vibe’. I have listened to them give me a bunch of reasons as to why they cannot come to Jesus yet, and these are the main ones:
I still want to have fun! That life sounds too difficult for me. I don’t like being religious. I’m still too young for that kind of commitment. I have too many things that I want to accomplish before being born again.
No amount of Truth or explaining will sway their opinion because of one significant factor: repentance. You see, you can believe, but if you are not willing to turn away from your sins, then you are not willing to repent. A person can be aware that they are sinning, but if there is no conviction within them to help them understand the terrible situation they are in, then repentance is not about to happen.
Of course, some people do not believe that they are bad people. However, what do they mean by ‘bad’? We all have a conscience which tells us right from wrong, but when we begin to rate how bad our actions are instead of acknowledging that they are a sin, we are in trouble. We all know, or should know, that it is wrong to steal, kill, look at a woman or man with lust, covet someone else’s belongings, to lie, and the list goes on. Whether or not a person is aware of the Ten Commandments, our conscience is innately aware of moral values. Obviously, as we grow older and get away with these sins, we begin to justify them more and more, giving evidence to our depraved state of mind.
I guarantee you that there is not a soul alive that has not committed one or more of these sins. It does not matter how socially accepted the sins are or how many times you get away with it, GOD will judge us according to the sins we have committed. Once we are judged and found guilty (which is a definite), we will be thrown into the fiery lakes of hell. It is only belief and repentance that will save us, and even then we need to remain steadfast in our faith because the devil doesn’t mess around, he’s out for our souls.
Think of it this way: when you stand before a judge for a crime you have committed, he is going to judge you on the offence, not on how good you believe you are. No amount of giving to the poor is going to take away the fact that you stole from your boss. According to Scripture, when we go against what GOD has stated in His Word, then we have sinned- there are no two ways about it.
People say to Jesus ‘not right now’, having no idea if they will live to see another day. When they stand before GOD to give an explanation for their failure to come to Him, the excuse ‘but I do believe in you LORD, and I’m a good person’ is not going to cut it. Even the demons know that He Is and they are terrified of Him. They fully understand what He is capable of. In the futility of our minds, we fail to recognise just who Jesus is, thinking that His love is going to let us get a pass into heaven. Yes, GOD’S love for us was demonstrated in the fact that He sent His only Son to die for our sins, that if we believe in Him, we will be saved. But if you are not going to come to Him with repentance in your heart for your sinful ways, then you do not understand His sacrifice.
Yes, our lives as Christians are not easy. We face trials and tribulations because our enemy, the devil, hates us. He hates mankind already, but he truly loathes Christians because we have the power of Christ within us. However, we must give our lives to Christ so that we may have life, we must put Him before everything else in our lives or else we are not worthy of Him. At the end of the day, we are either going to spend eternity with our King and Saviour, or an eternity in hell with endless suffering. Stop looking at your life and focus on Jesus, or you might as well not have a life.
There are two kinds of prayer – the prayer of form and the prayer of faith. The repetition of set and the customary phrases when the heart feels no need of God, is formal prayer.
We should be extremely careful in all our prayers to speak the wants of the heart and to say only what we actually mean. All the flowery words at our command are not equivalent to one holy desire. The most eloquent prayers are but vain repetitions if they do not express the true sentiments of the heart. But the prayer that comes from an earnest heart, when the simple wants of the soul are expressed just as we would ask an earthly friend for help, expecting that it would be granted – this is the prayer of faith.
The publican who went up to the temple to pray is a good example of a sincere, devoted worshiper. He felt that he was a sinner, and his great need led to an outburst of passionate desire,
“God be merciful to me a sinner.”
Luke 18:13
After we have offered our petitions, we are to answer them ourselves as far as possible, and not wait for God to do for us what we can do for ourselves. The help of God is held in reserve for all who demand it. Divine help is to be combined with human effort, aspiration, and energy. But we cannot reach the battlements of heaven without climbing for ourselves. We cannot be borne up by the prayers of others when we ourselves neglect to pray; for God has made no such provision for us.
The unlovely traits in our characters are not removed, and replaced by traits that are pure and lovely, without some effort on our part!
In our efforts to follow the copy set us by our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall make crooked lines. Yet let us not cease our efforts. Temporary failure should make us lean more heavily on Christ.
The more you pray, the more you will find to pray about, and the more you’ll be led to pray for others.
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:12, 13
Pray With Me Heavenly Father, I look up to you in this time of change. Allow me to have the courage to change my life for the better. Allow all my burdens to be risen up to you as I know that You will see me through. Forgive those who have done evil and allow me to do the same. Teach me to love with an open heart and open spirit. Take time for me today to help with all the trials you have set out for me and allow me the strength and energy to follow you. Give me the blessings to find a new home, keep my family together, and bless those who are away, may they be strong and know how much love is out there. Let them know you and I are thinking of them and missing them dearly. Bless me with love, strength, wisdom, health, courage, forgiveness, and a willingness to learn.
Did you know?
Here are five facts about prayer, including survey data on Americans’ prayer habits and historical instances of prayer intersecting with the government:
A Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2014 found that 45% of Americans — and a majority of Christians (55%) — say they rely a lot on prayer and personal religious reflection when making major life decisions. The same survey found that 63% of Christians in the U.S. say praying regularly is an essential part of their Christian identity. In 2014 — in the case Town of Greece v. Galloway — the Supreme Court ruled that U.S. legislative and administrative bodies may begin their sessions with a prayer. On some occasions, however, the high court has rejected other types of state-sponsored prayer. For instance, in 1962’s Engel v. Vitale, the court famously struck down a policy requiring public school students to begin their day with a nonsectarian prayer.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation unsuccessfully challenged the National Day of Prayer in court. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2011 that the group, which aims to promote the separation of church and state, did not have legal standing to challenge the law.
For many Americans, every day is a day of prayer. More than half (55%) of Americans say they pray every day, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center survey, while 21% say they pray weekly or monthly and 23% say they seldom or never pray. Even among those who are religiously unaffiliated, 20% say they pray daily. Women (64%) are more likely than men (46%) to pray every day. And Americans ages 65 and older are far more likely than adults under 30 to say they pray daily (65% vs. 41%).
A photo of Lovie Hope Duncan reaching out to touch Tubman’s hand in the mural has already racked up nearly 12,000 likes and has been shared about 4,000 times on Twitter, where journalist Yashar Ali shared it May 18. The original photo was posted on Instagram by the account Maiden Maryland.
Sometimes the simple things in life mean so much as evidenced by a child high-fiving a mural depicting the freedom fighter. Awesome.
In the photo, the young girl, named Lovie, can be seen high-fiving Tubman’s extended hand in the painting.
According to the 3-year-old’s grandmother Tracy Kilgore Lynndee, Duncan was captivated by the painting after going on a walk with her grandmother.
Amazing photo
A little girl touches Harriet Tubman’s hand
This is a new mural on the side of the Harriet Tubman Museum & Educational Center.
The original photo was captured by Lovie’s grandma, Tracy Kilgore Lynndee, at a recent visit to the new mural, which was painted outside the Harriet Tubman Museum & Education Center, Cambridge, MD.
“Lovie is only 3. She loves to walk around town with us on pretty days to look and explore,” Kilgore Lynndee told a local NBC station in an interview this week. “When she saw the mural it startled her for a moment because she wasn’t expecting it.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) was one of hundreds on Twitter who celebrated the photo.
Such a powerful photo of 3-year-old Lovie Hope Duncan at the Harriet Tubman mural in Cambridge. Can’t wait to visit and see Maryland artist, Michael Rosato’s artwork. Now, let’s make sure we also honor this great American hero by putting Tubman’s image on the $20 bill. pic.twitter.com/FP1OjreZAH– Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) May 21, 2019
In an interview with a viewer, Rosato talked about what he is trying to convey through this mural.
“The inspiration comes from that moment when a slave has to make a decision to go. This incredibly strong and compassionate woman is about to offer that hand for that freedom. And I thought, how do I capture that moment where it all happens, when the risk was taken to run from the slave owner, to a woman taking a risk to bring you through to the other side. This is that special moment when the hand is being offered. She has to be compassionate, but has to assert a certain authority.”
The mural was commissioned by the Dorchester Center for the Arts for the 50th Anniversary of the Maryland State Arts Council. It is a partnership project between Dorchester Center for the Arts, Alpha Genesis CDC, The Maryland State Arts Council, and the Harriet Tubman Organization, with additional support from Downtown Cambridge. As public art it represents a gift to the people of Cambridge, Dorchester County, and beyond.
The Tubman Museum & Educational Center, located at 424 Race Street in Cambridge, MD, is run by volunteers who have been working to share Tubman’s legacy for decades. The museum includes exhibits about Tubman and the Underground Railroad. . The museum is also the site of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Conference, coming up May 31-June 1.
At 15 years old, Emily Thomes began dating a girl for the first time. Word began to spread, and she started getting questions from friends.”Are you and her gay together?” they would ask.
Emily knew that she could either cower away or own her homosexual lifestyle — so she decided she was going to own it.
Emily's testimony:
"I was 15 and I started dating a girl that lived down the street from me. It was my first time ever dating someone and being official. I was pretty pumped. I got a hickey. My dad saw it and was livid. I love her. It's a girl and I'm going to be with her. And this is how it is. It went terribly wrong."
"I said yes what about it. Love is not necessarily between a man and a woman. The problem was backwards thinking that":
Like many people in today’s culture, Emily clung to a watered-down version of the Gospel that said, “God being love meant God was nice and God was chill with what you were cool with.”
Emily said “If you were truly a Christian, you were on my side. If not, you were legalistic and needed to reread what God was really about. Judge not. God being love meant God was nice and and God was chill with what you were cool with. By 18, 19, 20 I was super wild and in serial relationships with women,” Emily explained of her past views."
"When I got to nursing school I met the girl that I ended up being engaged to. I kind of slowed down a little bit for her because she had two kids. And then at 22 I got invited to a Bible study."
Eventually, Emily became engaged to one of the women she dated. And then, at 22, was invited to a Bible study. “I expected them to bring up my lifestyle really early, and then (I) would use that as justification for not coming back, so I agreed to go.” As women shared their own testimonies, she started realizing she had nothing like that and it “bugged” her. “I could not stop thinking, ‘what if all of it is true?'” she said.
Emily Googled verses on homosexuality and was directed towards a passage that would strike her to the core. It was 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10, which reads:
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Emily's testimony continued:
"It scared me really really bad. And then I read verse eleven"
Amazed by the fact that there were people who’d been equally as reckless as her in the past, but Jesus still washed them clean, Emily had a revelation.
“I knew that God could do that for me too, and that I needed that. I could hold onto my sin and reject God, or I could turn to him. All the debt that I’d racked up living like I lived, didn’t have to be mine, if I could trust Him. So that was it. I knew what I wasn’t going to do, because it was right there it was black and white. I’d twisted those Scriptures before, I’d argued them down. I said judge not to them like that mattered. And then, that day, it was like my eyes were really opened. I was amazed at the grace He showed me.”
A very powerful testimony, and one that clearly articulates how we can witness to those who find themselves in the same lifestyle Emily was in. Watch & share below:
Life is challenging. It is always full of ups and downs that can make or break you. At times, our situations seem to back us into a corner, and that is when we are most likely to make the wrong decisions. However, bringing the devil into the situation is never the answer. I knew that, but I did it anyway.
Recently, the LORD reminded me of a time in my life when I had been ready to turn my back on Him. He did it to show me how far I had come in my walk with Him, how I had spiritually matured in the past ten plus years. To tell the truth, I had actually forgotten all about it, or perhaps I had purposefully moved it to the back of my mind because of the foolishness of it. I was a young Christian then, having only become Born Again a few months prior to the incident. I liken becoming Christian to marriage; you first meet the person and fall in love with them. You then make the covenant or promise to spend the rest of your life with that person, to bond yourselves together in holy matrimony. The honeymoon is a wonderful time, and all is blissful, but once reality hits and problems begin to surface, it becomes harder to remember the vows you made to each other. Well, when I heard the Truth, I desperately wanted Jesus in my life. I made Him the LORD of my life and was mostly happy in the few months that followed. However, I soon found myself in situations that left me flabbergasted. I couldn’t understand why so many horrible things were happening to me. I didn’t know it then, but the devil was coming after me fully loaded with all my weaknesses, hurts, insecurities, and painful memories to bring me down.
I would say that the attack started about two months after I was Saved. I have always been a sensitive person, feeling things that others cannot. As a child, I experienced and saw things that I couldn’t explain and my parents shrugged off as an overactive imagination. Sometimes, I would be too frightened to sleep because of the vivid dreams I would have or the ‘things’ I would see during the night time. This continued on into my adult years, but I largely ignored it as best as I could. When I became Born-Again, these dreams and ‘feelings’ stopped, or, at least I thought that they did. So when the first attack came, it left me scared and confused. It was a dream about being chased, where I was running for my life. I remember waking up in a cold sweat, not understanding why I was having such a dream. I received the interpretation of the dream some hours later, and it just made me feel worse. The dream was warning me that the devil wanted to take my salvation away, that he was after me. I took the matter to the LORD in prayer, but the devil certainly didn’t stop there.
Suddenly, I was the focus of rumours, ridicule, and false accusations. Strangers began to laugh at me out of the blue, literally pointing at me and laughing. I thought that I was going mad at one stage, that I was reading into things that were not there until a woman stopped me on the street and called me a monster. I remember going numb and walking away, hardly aware of where I was going. This had never happened to me before, and before long, it became an everyday occurrence. Whether I was walking with friends or walking alone, people would begin to point at me and laugh, calling me all kinds of horrible names. Many times I would rush to the bathroom to see what they were talking about, but all I saw staring back at me was, well, me. I couldn’t understand where all of this was coming from, and I didn’t know how to handle it. I didn’t tell anyone about it because I believed that they would also laugh at me or would not believe that such an odd thing was happening. The only days that I escaped such ridicule were when I refused to leave the house.
Rumours started to surface about me and being a reserved and respectful person, I was shocked. I was confronted by my parents regarding these rumours, and I had to defend myself, but they didn’t seem convinced at first. Apparently, I attended a church that had frogs and snakes coming out of people (they exist, people), and I was carrying on with the type of men that my parents would not approve of. This may seem small to others, but with my parents, it was a major thing. I was basically bringing dishonour upon the family name by my supposed antics in college, and they were embarrassed to hear about it from other family members. During this time, I was still having nightmares nearly every day, hardly sleeping for fear of what I would see. My marks started dropping, and with always having been an academically strong student, it affected me terribly. Thoughts of failing soon consumed me, but no matter how much harder I would try to do well, I just couldn’t do it. My health also began to worsen with my endocrine disorder affecting my entire life. Hair loss, acne, unexplained weight gain despite my small portions of food, hirsutism, persistent swelling of my face and limbs, fatigue, hormones that were all over the place… I was a mess. As my self-esteem and confidence dropped, so did my will to live.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, my family was also being targeted by some witches. I cannot believe that there are still Christians who do not believe that there are witches or the damage that they do. I don’t know about witches in other countries much, but in Africa they are hardcore. In my case, they have all been women who were jealous about what my family has, so they sought our destruction. Crazy, right? I cannot tell you the number of times they have attempted to kill my mother, bewitch my father, or bring about the ruin of my sister’s and I. Imagine having to rush your mother to the hospital at one in the morning because she’s gushing blood from her nose and mouth and can hardly breathe? To make matters worse, the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with her despite having done numerous examinations. Or perhaps sitting on your bed at night playing games on your phone when you suddenly hear a loud voice speak into your ear and ask you what you’re doing? Or your cousin waking up in the morning only to find that the palm of his hand had been stitched and having no recollection of it? For those who do not understand what this means, it’s basically the first stages of a witch turning a person into a ‘zombie’, not the flesh-eating ones you see on TV, but the walking dead. They put something into the hand and stitch it closed, ready for the next stage. It sounds crazy, but it happens. Put it this way: when it comes to the forces of evil, expect anything to happen.
I was pretty much feeling rejected by GOD at this stage, and although He had ‘interfered’ (thank you, LORD) in my suicide attempt, I still believed that He had rejected me just like everyone else had. My depression was so great that I literally just wanted to curl up into a ball and just die. Every single area of my life had been affected, and I was not coping. So, I decided to make a deal with the devil. I told him that he could have me if he would but destroy the people who had hurt me and were hurting me. I wanted those peoples’ lives ruined, I wanted them dead. I actually cringe as I remember the darkness that had taken over me at that stage. I even had thoughts of taking those people out, putting an end to their lives myself. I wanted the satisfaction of them knowing that they died because of what they had done to me. Revenge sounded sweet to me, sweeter than anything I believed that GOD would give me. But do you know what happened? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I cannot even begin to understand the hedge that GOD put around me that day. I knew that the demons were about, listening to what I was saying, but they couldn’t do a thing. I was sinning, but they couldn’t take advantage of that open door and fully take over my life. But I didn’t think in that way at the time, I just assumed that the devil was also rejecting me. Jesus must have told those demons not to touch me, and obviously, they listened. They must have been mad, though!
Jesus showed me mercy, He showed His love for me and saved me. Again. I didn’t deserve it, but He saw past my evil intentions and words to the person who was hurting inside and was lashing out the only way she thought would bring her relief. When I had calmed down, I knew that I could never have hurt anyone, and I was deeply remorseful of everything that I had thought or said. I eventually repented of it and then began the long walk to my healing. Fast forward ten years, and I am certainly not that person that I used to be! GOD has done an amazing work in me, having transformed me into someone that I cannot even recognise, but He knew that I would become. However, learning and the change that comes with it is never complete. As long as we are still in the flesh, we continue to have temptations, but we know that we can overcome them because sin does not have a hold on us in Jesus’ name. We have the victory, it’s as simple as that. I am walking proof of GOD’S mercy and grace upon my life, of His love for His people. He meant it when He said that He would never leave us or forsake us, and we can all take comfort in that truth.
I was in a grocery store looking for a particular snack. I couldn’t find it. I had traveled those grocery store aisles for at least 30 minutes.
Moments later a friend of mine who works in the store asked me what I was looking for. I told him and he immediately pointed me in the direction I was supposed to go. I got my snack and was headed to the checkout line when he said, “Rev, all you had to do was look up and you would have seen where it was.” He was right. I looked up and the information was on the signs hung above each aisle.
Then the Spirit spoke to me. I said, “Hold up brotha, you mean to tell me if I had just looked UP I would have found what I was looking for?” He smiled. “Yeah man, if you had just looked UP, you wouldn’t have wandered around for so long looking for what you wanted.
“You mean that sometimes the answers are right there only if I look up? “
“Yes.”
We were laughing because we knew what we were saying, and it wasn’t about snacks. The Gospel has a way of connecting us all. He knew that I knew that’s a powerful Bible lesson. You see, sometimes we spend more time wandering around the aisles of life when all we had to do was look up and we would have been given the answer. However, I did find the provider of that information that directed me to that thought. You see, Christians need to remember that to get to the answers of life, we need to find the provider, and that is Jesus Christ! Psalm 121 confirms this thought. The first two verses say:
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth
Look for Jesus. Don’t wander around. Sometimes if you had just looked up to God, you would have found what you were looking for and would have been on to the next journey. He has the answers. Just look up!
“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
1 Timothy 4:8
When I was younger, this was presented as the reason why it was okay to work out. It was alright to pump the iron, drink whey protein, and get “jacked” because there was a Bible verse saying so. “For physical training is of some value”, so…do it up!
How I wish I was taught differently. How I wish I knew differently.
I was given the smallest, least important aspect of this Scripture and told to major on it. As a small kid, that messes with you.
I was skinny. I’m still skinny. I wanted anything to be not skinny when I was in school. Not to be “skin and bones” as the white-haired women in the church would call me. When I heard that I was “supposed to” be physically training…I focused on that, worried about that, and thought about only that. Not that I was able to change my skinny-ness.
But I missed out on the spiritual training.
As a teenager, as a young man, a man with energy and unlimited time to spare, I missed out on doing something that had value far beyond my physicality.
The training of the spirit, the development of the spiritual life was underemphasized, made of lesser importance. It was a secondary item in a single sermon, but…here I am, sitting and looking at my arms, disappointed that they aren’t bigger.
Our world continues to focus on physical appearance. How one looks depends on how many likes or followers you get. How someone looks makes all the difference in a job interview. How one looks changes who hangs out with who, where one goes, how one behaves. And sadly, it has infected the church.
Verses such as 1 Timothy 4:8 become “proof-texts”, Scriptures that you can use to make your point more “biblical”. Thus, securing your rightness and letting you continue in that way.
But we have sorely missed the point. We have strayed so far from what is at the heart of God when we start maximizing on minute details. When we major on the first part of that verse and ignore everything that comes after it, we are willfully neglecting that is most important to God.
Yes, physical training is of some value…
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
God isn’t that worried about the size of my biceps. God is not as concerned about my body fat index or the number of calories that I have consumed today as we may think he is.
And while taking care of our bodies is important, how much energy have we honestly spent worrying about our spiritual health?
Do we have an app for that on our phones?
Do we have accountability to make sure we don’t…what’s the spiritual equivalent of cheating on our diets?
Do we sacrifice, give up, and otherwise lay down any and all excuses to make God our priority and strive for bigger, better, and bolder in relationship to him? And not our waist sizes?
I can say for myself, I thought about spending time on the rowing machine I have in my basement. Because it’s been a few days and it’s a nice workout.
At no time did prayer, silent and holy time with God enter my mind…until I was convicted to write this.
The church needs to take a step back from the weights, from the mirror, from the keto diets, and whatever other healthy trends we’re caught up in.
We need to remember what God said before he picked the scrawny shepherd boy as the future king of Israel.
We need to remember that our Savior wasn’t a looker, and it wasn’t his appearance that drew the crowds to him (Isaiah 53:2).
We need to remember the whole verse from 1 Timothy 4.
Yes, physical training is good. But there is something of infinite value that you should not be neglecting. Something that you need to be putting more, so much more energy into than your bicep curls, your stomach crunches, and your calorie counts.
The condition of your soul. The substance of your character. The treasures of your heart.
Today’s verse is taken from a time in my life when I got arrested and felt all alone, but the thought that God was always with me was comforting. It means He is present at all times – continually, perpetually, throughout all time. In your day of trouble, He promises to be a help to you.
You may ask How is He your help? “Help” means something different to each person. That’s because “help” is specific to your need. If you need money to pay your bills, a chocolate cake isn’t going to be much help! But, we serve a God who is very specific. And because He is always with you, He always knows exactly what you need and is always ready to provide it!
Today, as trouble and adversity come your way, know that God is with you. Trust that He has the answer, and that He is working things out. As you continue to believe Him and follow His direction, He will lead you in the way that you should go. He will comfort you, revive you, restore you and bless you! He will be your ever-present help, because He is forever faithful to His promise!
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
(Psalm 46:1, NIV)
Pray With Me Yahweh, thank You for being my ever-present help during some tough times. Father, I trust today that You will comfort me and restore my soul. God, I lift my eyes to You this day. Help me to follow Your commands and honour You, as You direct my steps and lead me out of trouble, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.
A special word from the Lord, from Pastor Ray Patrick
Jesus had many names that identified His character. One of those was also Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” Before Jesus came to earth, the Spirit of God resided in the temple. The people had to go through all kinds of rituals to become clean enough to go near to Him.
As believers today, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, He is the one who cleanses us and makes His home in our hearts. He becomes one with us, closer than the air we breathe. Isn’t it good to know that God is always with us?
Today, I want you to know, God’s peace is always with us. His joy is always with us. His power is always with us, and His victory is always with us. The next time you feel alone, think about this Scripture. Know that He is near because you serve Emmanuel–the God who is always with you!
“Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel-which, when translated, means, God with us.”
Matthew 1:23, AMPC
“Immanuel (Hebrew: meaning, “God with us”; also romanized Emmanuel, Imanu’el) is a Hebrew name which appears in the Book of Isaiah as a sign that God will protect the House of David.”
Pray With Me Emmanuel, thank You for choosing to make Your home in me. Father, thank You for filling me with Your peace and joy. God, I bless You today, knowing that You will never leave me nor forsake me, in Jesus’ Name! Amen
“Godinterest want’s to introduce you to a great young man Taquarius Wair (TQ) a high school football player, who is in his senior year.
Taquarius Wair burned 55% of his body and in some places to the bone in a tragic house fire at the early age 4. He lost four fingers on his left hand.
His mother saved him from the fire, but he ran back in trying to save his oldest sister. She didn’t survive, but his hero heart holds her with every stride.
“All I can remember is the fire all around me,” Wair said. “My Mother called my name and I came walking out of the fire. She said it was then that she knew I was going to be special.”
Taquarius Wair
“I don’t remember much of my life before I was 8, but I do know that is when my no quit attitude was developed,” said Wair. “I remember people looking at me and probably thinking I wasn’t going to be good, but I was really good.”
Taquarius Wair
Inspiring story of Taquarius Wair – a high school football player who was burn over 55% of his body. Taquarius never gave up on his dream to play and is playing college football next year!
He almost didn’t play this year because he thought no disabled person will ever go pro. That was until the Seattle Seahawks drafted a one handed player, Shaquem Griffin, in the 5th round.
Taquarius Wair did not quit and its a good thing because he will now play college football at Mesabi Range College. Taquarius Wair fought through his disabilities and received an offer to play football at the collegiate level.
Wair finished off his first ever complete football season in 2018. He helped lead his team to the 2A State Semi-Finals at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. T.Q. will be playing football for head coach Tom Inforzato at Mesabi Range Community College.
His goals are simple.
“My next step is to play in the NFL like Shaquem Griffin,” said Wair. “I look forward to watching Taquarius Wair be an inspiration for kids in years to come.”
Taquarius Wair
My point you have no idea who you can inspire by chasing your God given dreams. Get up and chase down your greatness!“
