A CLASSIC SADE COVER FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY ~ “PEARLS”

In celebration of National Women’s Day and dedicated to all the women who sacrifice, married or single — snippet of My wife Mechelle Johnson covering Sade’s classic anthem, “Pearls”.

Proverbs 31:10-31 (NKJV)

10 (A)Who[a] can find a [b]virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
15 (B)She also rises while it is yet night,
And (C)provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
From [c]her profits she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
18 She perceives that her merchandise isgood,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
20 (D)She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 (E)Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
25 Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 โ€œMany daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.โ€
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

HOW THAT GRUDGE THAT YOU’RE HOLDING IS ACTUALLY HOLDING YOU…

We have all been hurt, wronged, betrayed, mistreated, let down, disappointed. used and abused.

It’s a part of life.

Sometimes we feel we have been wronged when the other person of people actually meant no real harm.

Sometimes we feel we were wronged when the other person or persons was actually doing something for our own good.

Sometimes it’s us who was in the wrong.

In many situations we can’t change how we are treated, but we can always control how we react to when we are treated badly….ALWAYS.

So, I have a quick reminder for you. God expects to not only forgive, but have an attitude of forgiveness, even when the other person doesn’t seem as though they are sorry.

Have you ever had a person apologize to you and you weren’t ready to hear it? You want to remain angry…


YOU’RE HOLDING A GRUDGE, AND GOD AIN’T HAVING THAT!


Leviticus 19:18 (NKJV)

1You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Ephesians 4:32 (ESV)

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Romans 12:17-21 (ESV)

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, โ€œVengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.โ€ To the contrary, โ€œif your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.โ€ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.


GRUDGE (Oxford Online Dictionary)

Noun: A persistent feeling of ill will or resentment resulting from a past insult or injury.โ€˜she held a grudge against her former bossโ€™.


Grudges are birthed from pride.

Grudges require huge amounts of mental, emotional and spiritual bandwidth.

You can’t be grateful, thankful, forgiving, joyous, kind, or love the way God requires while holding a grudge.

Grudges our a spiritual drain and they ruin your testimony.

It is impossible to move forward while you hold a grudge.

The fact is…

THAT GRUDGE THAT YOU ARE HOLDING IS ACTUALLY HOLDING YOU!

How many blessings is God trying to put into your hand, but He can’t because you’re holding tightly to a grudge?

Please, let it go.

HOW TO MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT AN APOLOGYโ€ฆ

ARE YOU EASY TO APOLOGIZE TOโ€ฆ?

WHY WE SHOULD STOP SAYING, โ€œFORGIVENESS ISNโ€™T FOR THEM, ITโ€™S FOR YOUโ€ฆโ€

BE BLESSTIFIED!

9 BIBLICALLY PROPER PRAYER POSTURES/POSITIONS…

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Iโ€™ve found the most intimate refreshing place to pray at my home. I love sitting in my chair on my front porch and enjoying quality time with God in prayer. When I’m out there, it’s like it’s just Him and me. Yes I pray everywhere. But, that place is special.


And yes, I said sitting.


You see, it’s good to get on your knees in submission to God, but contrary to what many may have been taught it’s not mandatory. That is not the exclusively acceptable prayer posture.


Your proper prayer posture isn’t the position of your body, but of your heart and spirit…


To a humble spirit… it’s about humility.

Psalm 51:17 (NKJV)

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heartโ€”
These, O God, You will not despise

1- On Your Knees

Ephesians 3:14 (NKJV)

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,[a]

 2 – In Your Bed

Psalm 4:4 (NKJV)

Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.

3 – Out Loud

Psalm 34:6 (NKJV)

This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.

4 – Silently

1 Samuel 1:13 (NKJV)

13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.

5 – Hands Lifted

1 Timothy 2:8 (NKJV)

I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;

6 – Eyes Open

John 17:1 (NKJV)

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: โ€œFather, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,

7 – Head Bowed

Genesis 24:26 (NKJV)

26 Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord.

8 – Prostrate

Matthew 26:39 (NKJV)

39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, โ€œO My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.โ€

9 – Standing

Mark 11:25 (NKJV)

โ€œAnd whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

God just wants you to be humble. Many have even misunderstood โ€œcome boldlyโ€ in the book of Hebrewsโ€ฆ

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV)

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

It’s not about ‘telling God what to do’, but direct access to Him. We don’t have to go through a priest, or a preacher to talk to Him…just submit to Him humbly in prayer through our Lord and Savior Yeshua, Jesus Christ.

So, bow your head, lie in your bed, fall on your knees, lift up your hands, as long as you’re sincere…God will hear.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

 

THERE’S A THIN LINE BETWEEN GOOD HEALTH AND NARCISSISM…

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Thereโ€™s thin line between narcissism and good health…between being healthy and vanity.

Between discipline and self worship…

Between keeping your temple healthy for God and provoking others to lust or envy…

Between putting in hard work and eating right and being lazy by wanting a โ€˜magicโ€™ pill to do all the work.

Thereโ€™s nothing wrong with exercise and eating right in an effort to be healthy and even look good, but we must be honest with ourselves about our motives.

What are you thinking about while youโ€™re runningโ€ฆlifting weights…at the gymโ€ฆtaking that โ€˜weight lossโ€™ pill? Are your thinking about how HEALTHY you will be or how SEXY you will be?

Do we put as much effort into making sure our spirit looks good to God as we put into making sure our bodies looks good in our clothes (or out of them)?

Yes, thereโ€™s a thin line between narcissism and good health.

Hereโ€™s Proof!

Think about the commercials and ads that you see and hear…

Companies spend millions of dollars on research to gain insights advertise on what’s important to consumers. What drives people? What provokes them to make a buying decision.

How many gyms, spas, fitness centers, diet plans, diet pills etc. do you hear advertising about BEING HEALTHY?


Most of the time their pitch isโ€ฆ

Look good!

Be sexy!

Look younger!

Sexy abs.

Sexy bun.

Sculpted arms.


You rarely if ever hear or see ads that say…

Get your blood pressure under control!

Reduce your cholesterol!

Surprise your doctor!

How about this one? How many times have you heard them simply sayโ€ฆ

โ€œFeel better!”

Most of the time they are trying to appeal to our sense of vanity.

God wants us to be healthy, as well as look healthy, but we must be very careful that we donโ€™t let our societyโ€™s obsession with youth, looking good and being sexy pervert our motives.

We canโ€™t let our workout routines and habits turn into our personal rituals of worshipping ourselves.

Remember what the bible saysโ€ฆ

1 Timothy 4:8 (NKJV)

 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

 

 

WHY CHRIST WAS PROBABLY GLAD HIS DISCIPLES ABANDONED HIM…

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In His darkest moment, those closest to Him abandoned Himโ€ฆ

Matthew 26:31 (NKJV)

 Then Jesus said to them, โ€œAll of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: โ€˜I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.โ€™

But, I think that Jesus was cool with that. I know He wasnโ€™t surprised. It was prophesied and He knew they would all scatter.

He knew Peter would follow, but far away. He knew he would deny Him three times to the point of cursingโ€ฆ

Matthew 26:74

Then he began to curse and swear, saying, โ€œI do not know the Man!โ€

Many times, in the comfort and conveniences of our 21st Century lifestyles, we will read about or hear in a sermon about the disciples scattering and deserting Jesus just before He went to the cross. We may even think to ourselves, โ€œWhat a shameโ€.

We may wonder what we would have done had we been in that situation. I can quickly and confidently answer thatโ€ฆwe would have done the same thing.

How do I know that?


Because it was Godโ€™s will that they scatter.


What could they have done to prevent Jesusโ€™ crucifixion? Nothingโ€ฆbecause it was Godโ€™s will.

What good would it have done if they had died with Him, because thatโ€™s exactly what would have happened had they stood with Him.

Had they stood with Jesus at that time and were crucified with Him, how would we have gotten the Gospels? Who would have told us of what they experienced while they were with Him?

He was preparing them to spread the Gospel, not to die with Him.

He was preparing them to GOโ€ฆ.not DIEโ€ฆ.at least not yet.

Matthew 28:19 (NKJV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Think about it like thisโ€ฆ

Jesus could have stayed here longer. He could have put off the cross until His disciples were strongerโ€ฆbut He didnโ€™t.


Jesus left them while they were WEAK enough to scatter and desert Him, but STRONG enough to get it back together and continue.


I believe that Christ was glad they scattered.

So, stop worrying about those who haveโ€ฆ

Left youโ€ฆ

Abandoned youโ€ฆ

Deserted youโ€ฆ

Ignored youโ€ฆor

Betrayed you.

Stop and look for God in it.

The next time that someone leaves youโ€ฆlook for God in it.

And, remember, that sometimes we must share in His sufferingsโ€ฆ

Romans 8:17 (NKJV)

 And if children, then heirsโ€”heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

Yes, they scattered and deserted Him, but thatโ€™s not how the story endedโ€ฆAnd, thatโ€™s why I believe that Jesus was glad they left Him alone.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

WHY A PUBLIC EMBARRASSMENT DESERVES A PUBLIC APOLOGY…

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DON’T TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT WITH YOUR APOLOGY

Has anyone ever embarrassed, hurt or insulted you openly in public? Have you ever done so? Have you ever made public some information about someone later to find out that information was wrong? Have you ever defamed or slandered someone?

For whatever reason, we all openly hurt one another from time to time. Sometimes we do it on purpose, and sometimes it’s unintentional. These ‘public displays of ‘non-affection’ can leave bad impressions and potentially ruin reputations of all parties involved.

Many times when we realize what we’ve done, truly feel sorry and want to apologize.  We’ll pull the person or persons to the side and tell them, “I’m sorry… I was wrong”.


This is good but not good enough…


Acts 16:37 (NKJV)

37 But Paul said to them, โ€œThey have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.โ€

Those who heard or witnessed the embarrassment may still think you were right. Those who heard or witnessed the insult may still be influenced by what you did or said…that public embarrassment deserves a public apology.

I remember growing up in church that sometimes in testimonies, people would stand before the church and proclaim, “If I’ve ever done anything to hurt anyone here today, I’m sorry”…if you know who you hurt and what you did, this also is not good enough.

If you know that you slapped someone in the face, simply saying, “I’m sorry IF I hurt you” isn’t enough. If you slandered someone, making a blanket statement to a group that, “If I hurt SOMEONE, I’m sorry” is just not enough.

If you know what you did and who you did it to, then you need to show enough respect to call out their name.


It’s good to apologize, but if we aren’t careful, we can take the easy way out and not fully respect the person or persons that we have hurt.


 

Matthew 5:23-24 (NKJV)

23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Don’t take the easy way out with your apology.
BE BLESSTIFIED!!!

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