Christmas is about giving. We search high and low – Macy’s, Amazon, specialized boutiques, the local Mall – for the elusive perfect gift. We scour everywhere looking for the gift that will put a smile on our friends and families faces. But before you bundle up in your coat, scarves, and gloves, and brave the weather and holiday shoppers, allow me to share with you a gift idea that you...
A Frustrated Husband
My husband became frustrated with me the other day. He said, “Honey, you are a great cook.” I jokingly said, “You mean when I actually cook.” He sighed in frustration and said, “No, I meant what I said.” You see over the last few months, every time he gives me a compliment, I find a way to discount it or disqualify it. I didn’t realize I was doing this until...
Superhero
I am a superhero. I was not bitten by a radioactive spider but I was anointed by a Holy Spirit. I did not come from a foreign planet although I live in a different Kingdom. I don’t have a lasso of truth but I do have a Spirit of discernment. I am not the result of a lab accident that went terribly wrong but of a Divine Gift that went...
Past Defining Present
Wednesday, my beautiful, smart, precocious five year old niece was called the “N” word by a classmate. Yes, in 2018 this is still the reality of African-American parents.(Please don’t respond how you were teased on the playground. We all were. The difference is we have had to deal with normal teasing AND this crap.) The anger I felt when I heard about this, the sadness I felt when I had...
The Divine Encourager
It’s 2:49 am and BAM I’m awake. I tossed and turned for a bit, but couldn’t go back to sleep. I started thinking about someone who I admire and then suddenly realized I was jealous of her. Now, this was not the enemy because I didn’t feel guilt or condemnation just puzzled. I wanted to discern the feeling behind this jealousy. So I asked the Holy Spirit. Now as most...
No More Cave Dwelling
Hiding and afraid. Gideon and probably most people around him, did not see himself as a warrior. Like most people in Israel, he feared the Midianites, he was anxious as to where his family’s next meal would come. He was a weak, little man hiding in a cave, trying to thresh wheat in a winepress because of fear. But suddenly God appeared. He saw who he had created Gideon to...
Married
The book of Isaiah is prophetic and Messianic. It spoke of Israel’s exile ending but it also speaks of Christ’s coming and the days of His reign (today). We can grab hold of the promises spoken in Isaiah. Have you gone through or are you going through a difficult season? Do you feel exiled? Isolated? This is what Israel was experiencing when Isaiah prophesied their glorious future. His prophecy speaks...
Thought Life
I had a pretty good day yesterday. I got papers graded, got some writing done and spent the evening catching up with a dear friend. But when I got home, I was mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, saw a post (it was not a bad post or anything) but it suddenly made me feel inferior and unloved. Now I had a choice. Do I agree with those feelings or do I...
Recognize
Let me tell you a secret. The enemy has a better understanding of who we are and the authority we possess as Christians than we do! After forty years of wandering and waiting, it was time to enter the promised land. Joshua, their new leader, sent two spies into the land. Forty years earlier, the spies saw the giants, the fruitfulness of the land and panicked. They saw themselves as...
Take Your Position
Yesterday at church, we sang the words, “I am who You say I am.” As we sang those words, I felt as if God were saying, “Tell my people to take their position.” What I then saw was something that look like the Formula One’s Winning Podium. In a Formula One Race, the winner stands in the middle on a higher step, the second place driver on his right and...