Seasons Greetings!

This is a simple animation that I did with Adobe CS4 Flash.

Happy Born Again Birthday To Me!

Thirteen years ago on the Saturday after Thanksgiving I gave my life to the Lord. I was in my college dorm room lying across my bed feeling rejected and hurt. Sometimes people don’t accept God until all hell has broken loose in their life. I wish I could say that wasn’t the case for me but it was. I needed God really bad then, but you know what, I STILL need God really bad now.  That was the best decision of my life: one that I don’t regret making during my college years.

The past few years have been hard for me. They left a lot to be desired but thank God that He brought me through those trials. I remember thinking that it seemed like my best days were behind me. I was making more money back then. I had money left over from paycheck to paycheck. But the Lord assured me that my best days are still before me. God has been excellent. I have to praise Him for his continuous support. I was facing foreclosure this year but God kept me in my house. My little cousin was killed in a hit and run accident but God’s grace has sustained our family. Another cousin needed a heart transplant and received one through the grace of God. There were a few other emergency situations that took place in my family this year but God kept us through those times.  He’s been covering us under the shadow of HIS wings and I’m not moving from that place. I have so much to be thankful for! God is TOO good! I give HIM all the glory & praise for blessing my life. 

Lusting After God

Lust is one of those words that is instantly thought of as negative because it is associated with a strong desire for something, often sexual. It is wanting something to gratify or please our flesh. When we turn those strong desires toward God they can be beneficial to our walk with Christ. It’s a prerequisite to living a life full of worship. God should be the object of our affections. Lusting after God means that we long for, crave for, and thirst for Him. I love the way David illustrated this point in Psalms 63:1, O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. His desire for God was vital to his life. God is the fulfillment in all that we need, want or desire.

Running to God

It was 5:30AM and my alarm had just gone off. Instead of sleepily hitting the snooze button and rolling over to go back to sleep, I grab my phone to call my sister.  As soon as my eyes had opened, I heard the words to that beautiful song Whitney Houston sung in the Preacher’s Wife, ‘I’ll hasten to His throne.’  What made that song come to my heart I don’t know but I was super excited. I felt like God was excited about my sister & I meeting Him in prayer. My sister couldn’t recall the song at the time and I definitely couldn’t sing it to her, especially with my ‘frog lady voice’ that I have most early mornings. The name of the song is “I Love the Lord” featuring the Georgia Mass Choir. It is basically about hastening or running to the throne of God when we are facing trouble and trials. We don’t have to run to His throne only when situations are bad, though.  We can run to His throne just because…. Just to worship Him. Like children who rush outside when they’ve been waiting for their parents to come home; they just miss seeing their mom and dad and are glad to be in their presence again.

My Heart is Inditing a Lovely Matter.

My heart is inditing a good matter. Those words kept coming to my mind as I listened and sang along with Israel Houghton’s My Tribute Medley.

How can I say thanks for the things you have done for me. Things so undeserved yet you gave to prove your love for me. And the voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude. All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe it all to thee.

Chorus: To God be the glory, to God be the glory, to God be the glory for the things He has done. He has done.

Just let me live my life. Let it be pleasing Lord to thee. Should I get any praise, let it go to Calvary.

How great is our God. How great is our God. How great is our God….

As I sang the lyrics to this beautiful song I realized how much it made me want to love God more. Can a song make you love God more? Its weird but that is what I was feeling. I was loving God ‘hard.’ My grandmother used to refer to people loving hard, as in ‘giving it all, holding nothing back.’ All I could say was “I love you so much, God.” My heart felt like it was literally throbbing for God. I know people have used the term ‘heart throb’ often, but I’m not using it as a cliché. My heart was pulsating as I worshipped God. I thought, ‘Wow, Israel is so talented. His song makes me want to love God more.’ My heart is inditing a good matter, continued coming to my mind. It was Psalm 45:1. As I continued to sing about how great God is, I read the scripture and wondered on how it applied to me. So much revelation came forth after I read a few commentaries.

This scripture was the beginning of a poem that someone was writing about the King. The writer’s heart was engaged and it was bubbling over. The writer had so much love towards the king that he couldn’t really speak to express the emotions coming from his heart. He felt that by writing what he was feeling it would give greater clarity to what he was trying to say. This is understandable for me. I am a much better writer than I am a speaker.

The psalmist was describing exactly how I felt. My heart was overflowing with love for God as I repeated, “I love you so much”, over and over again.

We can all experience what the writer was expressing. God wants our hearts, our undivided attention. He wants us to crave him and be in love with Him. David said as the deer pants after the water brooks so pants my soul after God. God is so wonderful. I know that it is His love that I was feeling because His love is ‘poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit’. Isn’t it wonderful to know that He pours His love into our hearts so we can have a glimpse of how much He loves us?

I forgot about the bad report that I had received regarding my car and the repairs that I needed. It was just me lying on my bed telling God how much I love Him.

Know How The Story Ends.

Recently I've been thinking of all Jesus had to go through while on Earth before being crucified. He was beaten badly. I began to feel sad for a second but then realized it HAD to be done. For me to be sitting here with hope for tomorrow, Jesus had to endure through those things to get to [Resurrection] Sunday morning. I know it's not Easter but the Resurrection of Jesus is an every day message. We can get through these light afflictions because joy comes in the morning. Jesus had a purpose. Although on the night before He was taken He prayed to the Father three times, 'if it is possible let this cup pass from me'; He wanted to fulfill the Father's will more than His own, 'not my will but thou will be done'. Ultimately it was Jesus' will, too. His sole purpose was to do what He saw His Father do. Say what His Father said. Jesus was the perfect Son, doing exactly what He was told to do, not straying although it appeared that His Father had left Him. How many times has the temptation been there to stray from what you know to do just because things don't look like they are working out the way they are suppose to. We can't lose heart because of the way things appear. We know how the story is suppose to end. Why do we want to give up? The scripture says we are hard pressed on every side but we are not crushed. What ever doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Remember which side wins. All things work together for your good. Know how the story ends.

Happy Mother's Day 2011!

Thank God for my beautiful mom! Like a lot of teenagers I went through the stage of thinking that I knew more than her. Who was I kidding? Now I am grateful for the many times I can call her and ask her advice about everything. From cooking a roast to changing a flat tire, I've learned and am still learning so much from my mom. She's always been there for my greatest achievements and my failures, reminding me that all things are gonna work out for my good. Not only today but, every day I choose to honor her because I know that it will increase the days of my life. As proverbs 31:28 mentions, 'I rise up and call her blessed!' Happy Mother's Day, mom!