"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - Do YOU Know What Time It Is?

In this world of super technology you have access to millions or even trillions of searchable data on your phones; programmable cars, coffee pots, thermostats, lighting and even programmable kitchen appliances.  We have super computers that can accurately predict our daily weather patterns and forecasts that can extend upwards to 15 days with a high level of accuracy.

Yes we know and have all of this vast knowledge, yet we fail to comprehend the signs of our present times.

Jesus warns us by saying, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is.  And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is.  Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?"(Luke 12:54-56 NKJV)

Jesus is coming back, look around, the signs are everywhere. Do YOU Know What Time It Is? Let me help, it's time to get things in order. It's time for your salvation. It's time for time as you know it to come to an end. Will you be ready when time runs out?

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - Does Pain Have a Purpose?

Another way to ask this question would be to ask, "Is God really good?"  In Romans 8 Paul equates the groaning and suffering of creation with childbirth, not death.  Again, another way to put it is that Paul equates pain with purpose…in the pains of childbirth, we know that there is a purpose for the pain.  Perhaps this is our clue about pain's purpose.

About childbirth, think about the physical pain a mother experiences during childbirth. As intense as it is, it's (hopefully) relieved the moment a healthy baby is placed in the mother's arms. Our pain, like that of childbirth, it is there for what comes AFTER the pain. We often forget that God knows what comes AFTER the pain, so it's not easy to trust Him in the midst of the pain.

Nothing can be more senseless than purposeless pain. So we have to ask ourselves if there is an ultimate purpose for our own suffering and pain.  Through our agony and pain that reaches down to our very souls (struggling with an untimely death, divorce or wayward children), we experience God in a much different way.  We come closer to God and when we move closer to Him we begin our healing process and are comforted by Him.  It is in the comforting that we  begin to realize that this pain-filled life is short in comparison to a pain-free life that is before us in eternity with God. Pain reveals our hearts and removes the filters that separate or prevents us from sincerely realizing our constant need for God in our lives.

Yes, pain has its purpose and that purpose is to expose the fact that we cannot be self-sufficient. Through our pain, with God in control of our lives, we know that what is coming AFTER the pain will be for our good. God is God and God will be God through the pain and God will be the Giver of the good that comes AFTER the pain.

For those grieving, struggling and "going through"…know that  troubles, worry, doubt and confusion doesn't last always!  Know that you will soon experience your "Late in the midnight hour, God will turn it around" moment.  Wait on The Lord and watch Him do it!

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - A GOD MORNING Is A Good Morning

Early mornings allows me to concentrate and meditate uninterrupted. Mornings are still and mornings are quiet. It is in the morning that I hear God best and it is in the morning that I speak to God more. My mind is not cluttered with the concerns of the day and my heart is not heavy with worry. It is in the early morning that I'm alert and not distracted. It is in the early morning that I'm not rushed because it is at this hour that I dedicate myself and my time to God. The only conversation in the morning is between God and I while the birds outside of my window are singing their praises. Truly, my entire day is formed and energized by the time I spend with my Lord in the morning!

Yes, when I say "Good Morning", it's a testament of something awesome, powerful and sustainable that has already happened earlier in the morning. The "Good" is what has been revealed and what has been confirmed concerning the love of God.

Today, I speak bkessings and favor over all contrary actions and schemes. Yes, it is "A Good Morning " because it was first a GOD MORNING!

"Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."(Psalm 90:14 NIV)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - The necessity of self-denial

This past weekend, I have read many accounts of Baptisms on Easter Sunday. Congratulations to each and everyone of you and all praise, honor and glory to God!

Some would like to hold on to the temporary and forego the eternal. What I'm saying is that wealth, position, titles, prestige and conceit has such a stronghold on folks that they can't seem to understand what Jesus is saying in the gospel, "For whoever wants to save their life  will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it." (Matthew 16:25 NIV)

This morning I celebrate that there were those this weekend who understood that with Christ we have everything and without we have nothing. You chose to lose the worldly to gain The Kingdom!

On my Playlist right now: "I give myself away, so that you can use me.  My life is not my own, to you I belong, I give myself to you!"

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"

Jesus, Thank You

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - Who are you trusting with YOU?

Father God I am able to live because You bless me to do so. My heart beats, my lungs breathe in air, my mind dreams beautiful dreams, and my soul rejoices in salvation!

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him. (Psalm 28:7 NIV)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - Self-awareness!

"By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect." (1 Corinthians 15:10)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - I Gave Up...So that I may be Lifted Up!

I just stopped by this morning to tell you that I had to be captured in order to be released. I had to become a slave (to the love of God), in order to be free. And I had to surrender in order to gain everything!

"Surrender your heart to God, turn to Him in prayer,  and give up your sins — even those you do in secret.  Then you won't be ashamed; you will be confident and fearless."(Job 11:13-15 CEV)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - Truly, we have an UNFAIR ADVANTAGE!

During this time of year our televisions are saturated with basketball. It's March Madness and the madness begins prior to the teams even taking the court. We get in a frenzy in our office pools in filling out our brackets and depicting who are our favorites to advance to the Final Four and ultimately, the championship.

Well, for those of us who have been Saved, we've been given an UNFAIR ADVANTAGE! Unlike all other teams that we will have to contend with, we have an extra player on the court that causes us to triumph, giving us the victory every time! When we get tired, He's still going! When we miss a shot, He's there to tip it back in for us! When we need a strong defense, He is the ultimate defender!

The game has been rigged. There's an extra player on your team! Yeah, it's UNFAIR but so is our opponent who will stop at nothing to cheat us out of our victory; trick us out of our victory; and steal our opportunity to compete for the prize!

Today know that you have the ADVANTAGE, utilize it!!

"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:14a NKJV)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.  But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NLT)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - MORE THAN...

"Hallelujah" is all that I can say on this early Thankful Thursday morning! I went to bed tired, drained and a little overwhelmed by many things professionally, spiritually and emotionally. But God woke me up early to speak these words into my spirit, "MORE THAN". I'm now up with the knowledge and understanding that the God that has Called me is a  "MORE THAN" God!

He has made me in His likeness and His image so that I may be MORE THAN a conqueror. He reminds me that I am lacking absolutely nothing because He is MORE THAN able to keep me from falling. He loves me MORE THAN gold, silver or any other precious gem. My God is MORE THAN enough and says that if He's before me then who can be against me. Yes, every day gets sweeter than the day before!

I'm Thankful on this Thursday because I know that He has made me MORE THAN ready for whatever this day decides to throw my way!

I'm also convinced that if you slow down just enough to see how God has been a "MORE THAN" presence in and over your life, you would also have a Thankful Thursday...giving God thanks, love and adoration even before you start your day, because you realize that He has already done MORE THAN you could have ever asked, thought or has entered into your heart to ask of Him!

Have a Blessed and Thankful day.

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - "iknowuknowiknow"

There are just some things that you must have complete confidence in knowing; and those that know you understand that you know what you know because you do what you do!

Sounds confusing? Well, it can be somewhat confusing if you don't know me and if you don't know what I know. If you truly knew me, then you would know what I know because I would surely tell you all about The One who knew me before I was me!

You may have known the old me before I became the real me. The old me was a counterfeit me. You may have known me to be  conniving, conceited, contradictive, combative and cocky. I'm not embarrassed by those who agree because "iknowuknowiknow" this to be factual.

But praise be to God who has convicted me, comforted me, converted me and still covers me by the blood of Christ Jesus!

• "iknowuknowiknow" that it wasn't anything but the Grace of God that Saved me and changed me to be who I am today

• "iknowuknowiknow" that because of His Mercy towards me that I was not consumed by my old ways

• "iknowuknowiknow" that my life has been forever changed, my conversation has been forever changed and my spirit has been forever been filled with Purpose

Finally, "iknowuknowiknow" that God is not a respector of persons and what He has done in me, He will also do in you...and even greater He has in store for those who love Him!

"iknowuknowiknow" that this entire post may be difficult to read, but if you give it a chance, you'll find it easy to understand. The phrase "iknowuknowiknow" is a title of a rap song my son Keith Jr wrote and performs. I used it, not because I agree with his lyrics, but because I know that God has a plan for his life and that God will use the talent that He gave Keith Jr to help someone else. You see, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I was also talented using cuss words, but God used my talent with words to speak life, hope and love. So, "iknowuknowiknow" that He can and will do the same with my son and with you.

"iknowuknowiknow" that I'm completely confident in giving God my heart's desire and that is that  you shall be Saved!

"I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. (2 Timothy 1:12b; Jude 1:24-25 NKJV)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - Our Love for God is Motivation Enough to be Gracious in EVERYTHING We Do.

In our work; In our community; In our homes:

It's important to have a higher standard within you than what others may place upon you.

There are always two ways of doing things. We can do the bare minimum and nothing more; we can do it in such a way as to make it clear that we hate the whole thing; or we can do it with a smile, with a gracious attitude, with a determination not only to do this thing, but to do it well and to do it graciously. We can do it not simply as well as we have to, but we can do it far greater than anyone ever expected us to. 

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23-24 NIV)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - It's a Faith-filled Friday!

I am persuaded that NoThing can and so NoThing will be able to separate me or keep me or block me or hinder me or fool me or stop me or trick me or lead me away from the love of God in Christ Jesus! Hallelujah!!!

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35, 37-39 NKJV)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - Competition...in Ministry? NOT!

We're instructed to "Love one another". We're instructed to support one another. We learn in Scripture that "Iron Sharpens Iron". We are to be on "one accord".

You see, I'm not to compete with you, but I am to help complete you in ministry. You must know that by blowing out my candle, that it doesn't make yours any brighter!

Let's do this together; Souls are at stake!

"Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original." (Galatians 5:25-26 MSG)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - Heaven is Real

God's Kingdom, Heaven is the #1 priority, but it is often the last thing on our minds. Each one of us will experience the reality of Heaven one day. Some will see Heaven from inside the pearly gates and others unfortunately will see it from the outside of the pearly gates.

A bystander said, “Master, will only a few be saved?” A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, ‘Sorry, you’re not on my guest list.’ “You’ll protest, ‘But we’ve known you all our lives!’ only to be interrupted with his abrupt, ‘Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don’t know the first thing about me.’ “That’s when you’ll find yourselves out in the cold, strangers to grace. You’ll watch Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets march into God’s kingdom. You’ll watch outsiders stream in from east, west, north, and south and sit down at the table of God’s kingdom. And all the time you’ll be outside looking in—and wondering what happened. This is the Great Reversal: the last in line put at the head of the line, and the so-called first ending up last.” (Luke 13:23,25-30 MSG)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - Spirit Led!

There's a huge difference between reading scriptures with your eyes and reading scriptures with your heart.

For instance we read, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9). I personally ABSOLUTELY LOVE this verse!

God has something for me that my eyes have NEVER seen. God has something to speak or say to me - something of which I've NEVER heard. What God has for me is so special that it has NEVER entered into my heart or even into my imagination!

But the Holy Spirit says to also read the next verse, verse 10. "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God." (I Corinthians 2:10 NKJV)

Now these verses combined says precisely the opposite of how I've first read it and memorized it. I was too quick to memorize part of a passage, the part that I hear most often, and I neglected the remainder of the passage.

In doing this, I've missed out on so much. God has given us His Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us and to comfort us and to reveal those things that God would have us to know.

Now that I have The Spirit of God in me, I can clearly SEE His love for me and how far He's brought me from. When I was wondering around with no direction, I clearly didn't SEE myself teaching and preaching on the love of Christ! Once upon a time not long ago, I couldn't HEAR God speak to me about His Calling on my life, saying "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left." (Isaiah 30:21 NKJV), and I missed His guidance and walked many paths that were not meant for me to walk. It had never entered into my heart that I would awake every morning with a fresh Word of Encouragement for not only myself, but for all who would read what God has placed in my spirit to share.

Yes, all of this was possible when I realized that God is not withholding any good thing from me until some far off time! He has ALREADY GIVEN me those things that my eyes have NEVER seen, as well as those things that my ears have NEVER heard, Nor have entered into my heart while my heart lusted after the things of this world!

Yes, I'm seeing. Yes, I'm hearing. Yes, my heart has been forever filled with the love of Christ. Thank you Holy Spirit for Your continued revelation, inspiration, guidance, comfort, correction and admonition. I'm wide open for what You would have me to do next!

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - Understanding What's Important IS IMPORTANT!

If it's important for you to succeed, then set your mind and heart to those things that will make you successful.

If you set your mind and heart to obtain those things that will assist your demise, then eventually, but surely you'll fail.

Once you figure out what's important, choose!

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that  I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20 NKJV)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - The Way; The Truth; and The Life!

As The Way, Jesus is our path to The Father. As The Truth, He is the reality of ALL of God's promises. As The Life, Jesus joins His divine life to ours, both now and for ALL ETERNITY!

Some would say that The Way is too narrow, if it were true that the only way to The Father is through Jesus. However, I would argue that the truth of the matter is that through Jesus, the way is large enough for every man, woman, boy and girl to make it to The Father if they so choose to accept it. Instead of getting hung up on the narrowness, how about saying "THANK YOU", God for providing a sure way to get to you!

Enjoy your journey on The Way and while you're enroute, search God's Holy Word for in it, you will find The Truth, and in The Truth, you shall have The Life that Jesus has come to secure if you only believe!

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6 NKJV)

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" - The Ultimate Hookup!

God needs for you to know today that it is not Pills, Narcotics, Pain Killers or any other medications or sedatives that can be prescribed or obtained from the streets or the doctor's office that heals. These things only subdue or mask the underlying issues.

God will keep you, hold you, nuture, care and help you. God is our loving Father, our ever present help in our time of trouble, our Creator and our Healer! If you truly want to be healed, seek the Healer!

"I am the Lord that healeth thee." (Exodus 15:26 KJV)