No matter how confident we may seem to be, we all have days that we just don’t know what to do. We have those moments when we get away to ourselves just to fall apart for a few minutes. Sometimes, we don’t want anyone to see us. And, sometimes we do.

Sometimes we want someone to see our tears, put their hand on our shoulders and tell us, “It’s gonna be alright”. At that point we don’t even need a solution.

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A well-timed, “It’s gonna to be alright” is all the encouragement it takes sometimes to give us strength we need until we get to our solution.

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Proverbs 12:25 (NKJV)

²⁵ Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression,
But a good word makes it glad.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NKJV)

¹¹ Therefore ^[a]comfort each other and ^[b]edify one another, just as you also are doing.

You are more powerful than you may realize. Be sensitive to when God is specifically sending you to someone to encourage them.

These may bless you too:

THIS IS FOR THE DAYS YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE BEING ENCOURAGED…

ENCOURAGE YOUR ENCOURAGER…TODAY!

BE BLESSTIFIED!

I’ve written about this before, but I’m addressing it again because I’m concerned about our traditions that blatantly go against the bible, but we feel compelled to keep them going.

The constitution demands that the President of the United States be bound by oath or affirmation per Article II, Section One, Clause 8 (Wikipedia)…

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”^[

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There is absolutely nothing wrong with ‘affirming’ that you will execute your duties, but swearing to do so is a sin…

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Matthew 5:33-37 (NKJV)

³³ “Again you have heard that it was said to those of ^[a]old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ But let ^[b]your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

Calling it an ‘oath of office’ and doing so on a bible that forbids it is downright foolish.

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Can anyone give one, just one reason justifying this when the bible forbids it?

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And this is what’s really absurd. When someone swears on a bible (such as in court) who has no regard for the word of God, what weight does that carry? If they don’t believe in God, they have no problem lying with their hand on that bible.

Quite frankly, some of our traditions need to die. Insisting that our elected officials or people testifying in court swear on a bible is sin.

Can you think of any other traditions that are in conflict with the word of God?

You may also enjoy this: THE UNHOLINESS OF HAZING: TRADITIONS FROM HELL…

BE BLESSTIFIED!

 

 

 

The battlefield or the football field. Which is an appropriate field of protest?

Again, here’s another spiritual post with political implications. There are many people so enraged by Nike’s decision to feature Colin Kaepernick as a part of the 30^th anniversary of their “Just Do It” campaign that they are burning their Nike gear and vowing to boycott the brand.

They are enraged at Colin’s, and other athletes’, peaceful kneeling during the national anthem protest of police brutality and racial injustice. They contend:

1. It’s disrespectful to the American flag and those servicemen, servicewomen and veterans both living and dead who have fought under that flag.
2. The football field is not the proper place to protest.
3. That Nike is seeking to profit from what they view as disrespect.

Many of these same people however are very passionate about their support of the Confederate flag and their support of its historical significance.

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As much as I respect anyone’s right to feel the way they do, I have to ask, why aren’t the people who are boycotting Nike boycotting the Confederate flag too.

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Here are 3 reasons why I feel this is an act of blatant hypocrisy:

1. During the Civil War, an unpeaceful protest, people who fought under the Confederate flag fought against and killed soldiers fighting under the American flag that they claim to hold so dear. That was another country and another government fighting against the United States and our flag. How much more can you disrespect American soldiers than honoring the symbol of the unpeaceful protest that fought against and killed them?
2. If the football field is an inappropriate place for a peaceful protest, then how were the battlefields of the Civil War an appropriate place for the unpeaceful protest of war?
3. Many companies today profit from the Confederate flag and paraphernalia that is viewed by many as disrespectful to many American citizens.

Jesus constantly confronted the Pharisees and religious leaders about their hyprocrisy…

Luke 12:1 (NKJV)

 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the ^[a]leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

 Matthew 15:1-3 (NKJV)

 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ² “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

³ He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

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 Who has the right to determine which protests are acceptable and which are not? How arrogant is that?

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It’s amazing how many people consider protesters as whiners until there’s an issue that is important to them.

The reasons behind the kneeling protest are no less important and no less honorable than those who chose to protest and fight against the American flag during the Civil War. To say anything otherwise is the height of arrogance, selfishness and hypocrisy.  When will we learn to disagree without insults?

You may also enjoy these…

WHY I WILL NEVER HAVE AN US AGAINST THEM ATTITUDE… 

WHEN FOOTBALL BECOMES YOUR GOD (Self-Check)…

BE BLESSTIFIED!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn’t it interesting that people who feel that ‘people are too easily offended these days’ are so easily offended by those they feel are so easily offended?

God still holds the person who offends accountable, not the person who is offended.

Luke 17:1 (NKJV)

Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!

Before you insensitively decide that people are too insensitive, remember our God is sensitive.

Exodus 34:14 (NKJV)

¹⁴ (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

BE BLESSTIFIED!

As a man of faith in God, I enjoy many of the benefits that have come through science. But, when it comes to the origin of the universe, how life began on earth and many other things, science and religion are at odds. In those instances, I like to define science as the attempt to give a physical explanation to the spiritual world.

Even though they are at odds, the Bible and science agree in at least 3 areas.

1. LIFE BEGAN IN AFRICA/MESOPOTAMIA

Science

Most archeologists call eastern Africa the cradle of humankind. ‘Pre-historic’ remains have also recently been found in Morocco, which is still Africa.

The Bible

Scripture also affirms that life began in Africa. Notice the location given for the Garden of Eden…

Genesis 2:10-14 (NKJV)

¹⁰ Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river isHiddekel;^[a] it is the one which goes toward the east of ^[b]Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

Wikipedia describes the location of these rivers…

Genesis 2:10–14 lists four rivers in association with the garden of Eden: Pishon, Gihon, Chidekel (the Tigris), and Phirat (the Euphrates). It also refers to the land of Cush—translated/interpreted as Ethiopia, but thought by some to equate to Cossaea, a Greek name for the land of the Kassites.^[22] These lands lie north of Elam, immediately to the east of ancient Babylon, which, unlike Ethiopia, does lie within the region being described.^[23] In Antiquities of the Jews, the first-century Jewish historian Josephus identifies the Pishon as what “the Greeks called Ganges” and the Geon (Gehon) as the Nile.^[24]

2. ENERGY CAN’T BE CREATED OR DESTROYED

Science

First of all in science, laws are absolute. They are non-negotiable. Even if we try to challenge or resist them with technology, the laws will always win. That being said, THE LAW OF CONSERVATION OF ENERGY states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but only transferred from one form to another.

The Bible

God is absolute. He is non-negotiable. Even if we try to resist or challenge Him with our technology, God will always win. God is an all-powerful Spirit. He is eternal. He was not created and can’t be destroyed. And yes, He can be transferred from one form to another.

Isaiah 40:28 (NKJV)

²⁸ Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.

Philippians 2:6-7 (NKJV)

⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it ^[a]robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but ^[b]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

To me, The Law of Conservation of Energy sounds like science’s attempt to define God.

3. LIFE SPREAD FROM WATER TO LAND

Science

Most of us remember from school that our science books taught that the earliest and smallest life on earth was first in the waters and then on land.

The Bible

Whether you believe Genesis is literal or symbolic, a literal week or thousands of years, all believers in God agree that He created the heavens and the earth in the exact order of Genesis. And in that order, God created the waters and the creatures in the waters first, just as science teaches…

Genesis 1:20-21 (NKJV)

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living ^[a]creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the ^[b]firmament of the heavens.” ²¹ So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both the Bible and science agree in such foundational areas. Here’s the thing. God created those brilliant scientific minds that contend He is not real. And, who can really prove that the sun is 93,000,000 miles away, or that the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. Who can travel that distance or speed to prove it? It takes faith in the formulas and scientists who ‘discovered’ these scientific ‘facts’.

I guess science and the Bible agree on faith too.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

We all go through trials and storms in life, but there are some people who can really relate to what Job said…

Job 14:1 (NKJV)

14 “Man who is born of woman
Is of few days and full of ^[a]trouble.

While some people seem to have lives filled with ease and pleasure, there are others who feel that their lives have been one long constant storm. Yes, they have moments of joy and happiness, but that comes only through pushing through pain, struggle, frustration, resistance, difficulty and disappointments.

Some even question are they going through a perpetual curse. But long stormy seasons doesn’t always mean there’s a curse. Think about the man born blind in the book of John Chapter 9…

John 9:1-3 (NKJV)

9 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. ² And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.

As you continue to read the account of what happened we find that Jesus healed this man by spitting on the ground and making clay of His holy saliva and anointing the blind man’s eyes.

This was an adult man, and his days and nights were just as long as ours. He had no idea that he would be healed that day. My point is this…

The man wasn’t blind because of anything his mother, father or he had done, but so God could get glory out of his life at the appointed time. He spent many years blind.

There are people who spent their entire lives as slaves and this went on for generations.

Think about the fact that when Israel was enslaved in Egypt for over 400 years the bible doesn’t say it was because they had fallen away. It simply says that a king came along that did not know Joseph and they felt threatened…
Exodus 1:7-11 (NKJV)
⁷ But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and ^[a]grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
⁸ Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹ And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; ¹⁰ come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” ¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.

For generations people lived their entire lives in a ‘storm’.

There are many people today who are living their lives through constant challenges…

Through sicknesses…

Through oppression…

Through poverty…

Through abuse…

Through danger…

If you feel you’re life has been an ongoing storm, please remember that God loves you and He trusts some of us with higher levels of storms, trials and trouble to bring glory to His name.

No, it’s not fair, and I can’t promise you that it will soon come to an end.

Remember God heard the cries of His people in Egypt. He healed the blind man in John 9 after his long ‘stormy’ season of blindness.

What I can do is encourage you to be strong in the Lord and trust Him. Just as that man born blind, God is looking to get glory out of your life. As the days turn into weeks, the weeks into months and the months into years…be strong. Every man and woman of God who endured went through the same long days and long nights.

God has not forsaken you. He loves you. Just be ready for how God chooses to get glory out of your story.

BE BLESSTIFIED!