It happens to all of us. A situation arises where we feel we deserve an apology…but don’t get it.

Think for a moment about Jesus on the cross. As He was being brutalized and mocked, He still had enough love to say, forgive them…
 Luke 23:34 (NKJV)

³⁴ Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”^[a]

And they divided His garments and cast lots.

Think about the fact that Jesus offered this forgiveness and love, without an apology. It’s one thing that the Romans crucified Him, but His own people…those closest to Him consented to and called for His death.

One of the most difficult things to do is move forward with people that we feel owe us an apology…especially if they’re someone close to us.

Yes we still have to work with and relate to people who aren’t close to…

God wants a REAL relationship with us. It’s almost become cliché to say that He wants relationship and not religion, but it’s very easy, if we aren’t careful to slip into…

Religion…

Ritual…

Even let our faith be reduced to Superstition…yes just like a rabbit’s foot… a good luck charm.

It’s easy just to go with the flow of what you’ve been taught growing up.

It’s easy to ‘come to God’ simply because you are looking for something (not necessarily someone) to make your life better, or to get it on track.

It’s easy to worship and go to church because you think it’s the right thing to do.

But, God wants to be just as real to us as the people in our lives, and to be treated as such.

You spend quality time with the people you love. You communicate with the people you love (communication is talking…

Be careful of what’s in your heart when you decide to “KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS”.

That IS NOT what God told us to do. He told us to love our enemies.

Love’s intention is to give life, not kill.

Love’s intention is to build up, not tear down.

God says don’t seek revenge, that belongs to Him. God says don’t repay evil for evil, but instead to help your enemy.

The problem is, that many of us choose to ‘kill them with kindness’, ONLY to “heap coals of fire on their heads“. Many of us are only being kind because we see heaping coals of fire on their head as just another way to get even.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we may just be showing kindness to show them up, to annoy them, to make them feel bad…if that’s the intention then we’ve totally missed God’s meaning.

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We can “Photoshop” inches (or centimeters) off our stomach and years off of our faces. We can add muscles, facial hair and fine tune ourselves to look exactly the way we want others to see us. How many pictures do you take before you’re satisfied? How much editing do you do. No matter how many pics we take, or how many edits we do…each picture is still us.

We live in an age of selfies, live videos and profile pictures. Everyone wants to look their best. Even if people don’t alter their appearance through plastic surgery, they alter their photos with applications and software to digitally alter our images. Hence, comes the term “Photoshop”, that because the software is so well known, it has become the term used for altering ‘images’ much like ‘Google’, ‘Frisbee’, ‘Klennex’ and ‘Styrofoam have all becomeeponyms extending to other brands and uses.

But, those closest…

John 13:34-35 (NKJV)

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 8:31-32(NKJV)

³¹ Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If youabide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.³² And you shall know thetruth, andthe truth shall make you free.”

Acts 11:26(NKJV)

²⁶ And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

Let me say first that I’m not excusing adultery, fornication or any other sexual sin. These sins also result from an innate, natural desire that we don’t ask for, and people make a choice to commit these sins based on that desire.

However, there are many people who are now trying to defend homosexuality by saying that Jesus never addressed it, or forbade it. They say only the Apostle Paul addressed it, and some even try to contend that he wasn’t really talking about homosexuality.

I’m going to keep this short and sweet.

We all know there are several sins that Jesus never directly addressed…

Rape…

Incest…

Domestic Abuse…

Bestiality…

Gossip…

Jealousy…

To name a few.

Jesus didn’t even say directly that getting drunk is a sin. It was indirect.

He did address marriage, fornication adultery and divorce.
And, no one disputes that the LORD only permits sex within marriage.

We all have them…regrets.

We regret things we’ve done…

Things we’ve said…

Things we’ve thought.

Even our regrets are an aspect of being created in God’s image.

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Genesis 6:6 (NIV)

⁶ The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.

 The word regret here, according to Strong’s Concordance, means to sigh, groan or ease oneself.

God’s ‘regret’ wasn’t lamenting over a mistake He made, because He makes no mistakes, but rather His comforting Himself as He progressed with His plan that eventually led to man’s salvation.

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God gave us every emotion for a reason…even those we consider negative.

He gave us anger to lead to passion in order to make positive change.

He gave us hate to have hatred for evil and sinful behavior…not people.

And, he gave us REGRET to be seeds to repentance rather than depression.

Sometimes when…

Okay, you were hurt. BAD!

Not only that, but you were hurt by someone who loves you. Someone who is close to you. Someone who instead of having your back, instead of scratching your back…stabbed you in it…talked about you behind it…didn’t watch it.

But, you know what the word of God says…

Matthew 18:21-22 (NKJV)

²¹ Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Plus, the relationship you have with them is important to you. It’s bigger than the betrayal. It’s bigger than the denial. It’s bigger than the pain they caused you, so you make up your mind to forgive them. And, the fact is that you know that as much as…

SOME OF THE BIGGEST LIES WE TELL ARE…

Not intentionally (most of the time)…have any of these come from your mouth????

I love you…

I’ll pray for you…

I’ll call you back…

That’s okay…

I’m okay…

What’s wrong? “Nothing!”…

That’s hilarious…(and you don’t laugh)

Oh yeah, I remember that…

I don’t remember…

I don’t have it on me…(when asked for money)

That tastes great…

You look great…

I like that…

I’ve got your back…

I love everybody…

I don’t see color…

I’m doing this for you…

That didn’t bother me…

I don’t even care…

I’m over it…

It doesn’t matter…

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 12…

 Matthew 12:36 (NKJV)

 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

Take a moment and thank God for His grace and mercy for the lies…

Most cake recipes call for a little salt. Many of us like to satisfy our sweet tooth with a good slice of cake. In fact, when it’s really good, one bite just makes you want another. The right amount of salt makes cakes taste just right…making you want more with each bite. However, too much salt will make us quickly spit it out of our mouth.

Colossians 4:6 tells us to let our speech be full of grace and seasoned with salt. Ecclesiastes 7:16 says, “Do not be overly righteous,” Nor be overly wise:..”

It’s good to have passion for the Kingdom of God, but when we are over-zealous, arrogant, mean-spirited  self-righteous, we can turn people away rather than attract them to Christ. All things in moderation. If we are trying to talk about the Lord in EVERY conversation, claim we never do anything wrong, or down people who are…

God has said it to me many times.

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The ‘N-WORD’

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And I must admit that it’s very rare that I like it.

It’s very hard for me to hear.

Sometimes, I think it’s not fair.

I will think to myself, “You didn’t say the ‘N-WORD’ to him…or to her!”

I know that God is sovereign, and He can say whatever He wants to say.

I know He loves me…knows what’s best for me…and everything He does is always working for my good.

I know He knows me better than I know myself.

Yes, I trust Him, and I submit to His perfect will for my life.

But, that doesn’t make it hurt any less when God decides to respond to me with…

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The ‘N-WORD’

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Sometimes I reason within myself, He really didn’t mean that.

Sometimes I will keep pushing, trying to force a different response…

But, still His answer remains…

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM (OR CHURCH)

It’s impossible to ignore the presence of slavery in the bible. Many people wonder if slavery is evil, then why is it in the bible, both Old and Testaments. To fully explain this concept would take a series of lessons, which I do intend to publish soon, as I get time to responsibly put them together. I will however give you a brief answer for general understanding.

First and foremost, we in the 21st Century have the tendency to view things only from a 21st Century perspective, but God exists outside of time and relates to us holistically throughout time, beyond time and the cultures we have created. God deals with us from and through the lens of HIS prospective. We must look at the many aspects of servitude throughout history.

IT’S CLEAR AMERICAN SLAVERY WAS EVIL

Slavery and servitude have existed in…

It may be a group of friends, professionals, artists, singers, musicians or preachers.

It’s a circle that you wanted to be a part of…

That you tried or even prayed to get in…

And, they rejected you.

It may not have even necessarily been a ‘bad’ group, that’s why you wanted in.

Even if it’s a good group doesn’t mean that it’s the group God has ordained for you.

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You have influence too!

You are anointed too!

You have purpose too!

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God has purpose for you that’s beyond and sometimes greater than that group or circle you wanted to be a part of.

And, even that group had to start with somebody. Every industry had to start with a single idea.

So, here it is…

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​The reason some people won’t accept you into THEIR circle is because God is trying to build HIS circle AROUND you.

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Look at Yeshua, our…

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We all get overwhelmed sometimes. But sometimes we can feel beyond
overwhelmed. Have you ever felt like giving up? Even if you didn’t feel like
killing yourself, have you ever felt like giving up on…

Your hopes and dreams,

Your relationship,

Your health.

Your future.

There are some days you feel so low that it takes all you can do
to get out of bed.

Sometimes your superpower isn’t superhuman strength or the ability to fly, but just summoning enough strength to get out of bed.

You struggle through every day without abusing drugs, alcohol, or being irresponsible with your body, but you can really understand why people do so to numb themselves to the pain of their struggle.

Sometimes your superpower isn’t battling villains, but battling…

Depression,

Despair,

Regret,

Loneliness,

Grief,

Anger,

Your past.

If this has ever been you, stop and give God some praise. If it’s never

Don’t worry, I’m not going rated ‘R’ on you but, I really think this is going to bless someone.

This is a much too common insult in our culture, and yes, the bad grammar is always intentional…

“You ain’t worth s**t! Of course, implying that someone doesn’t have the value of feces, crap, refuse, doo-doo, dung, ‘ish’.

It can be very hurtful if you allow it, especially if you are insecure or struggle with self-esteem. Or, if it’s told to a child by a parent, authority figure or peer. It’s damage can last well into adulthood.

So, let me give you a little ammunition with biblical support in case someone ever tells you, “You ain’t worth shiggity!”

God created everything with value. Everything! Even doo-doo! We all know that there’s an industry built around the use of animal dung to make mulch and fertilizer.

Why?

Because God put purpose and…

The Lord gives us the awesome privilege asking Him what we need or desire in His name and, He will answer according to His will.

Sometimes He says YES, and sometimes He says NO. WHEN GOD USES THE ‘N-WORD’…

John 14:13-14 (NKJV)

¹³ And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask^[a] anything in My name, I will do it.

Even though He said, “Whatever you ask”…there are SOME things that we should NEVER expect God to do. Sometimes we unintentionally ask God to contradict His holy word and His will.

That’s why the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1-13).

This is far from exhaustive, but here are 3 things that we should NEVER expect God to do…

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1. FOR GOD TO MAKE YOU STOP DOING WRONG…

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I talk…

There is great power in a transparent testimony. Sometimes people just need to hear that you’ve been through what they are going through…and made it.

But, remember this…

You can give your testimony without telling ALL your business. You can bless their spirit without feeding their nosiness.

You don’t have to give every intricate detail of what you’ve gone through, what you did, what you endured to be a blessing to someone else. In fact, some parts of your testimony could do more harm than good. We still need to give people something to aspire to.

Think about this…

While he was president, we didn’t know every detail of John F. Kennedy’s business. We didn’t know every detail of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s business. We didn’t know every detail of Martin Luther King Jr.’s business.

Yes, we know that David sinned with Bathsheba, but we don’t know every detail. Yes, we…

You’ve seen it happen before. Anger always comes back…usually harder.
Words and actions released in anger always come back, but rarely return in peace. Only love can cool anger’s searing heat.

Put your anger in check before it turns into wrath, because even though love conquers wrath, sometimes the damage remains.

Wrath kills…both figuratively and literally.

Anger is a seed, if it is used wisely, it can ignite passion that allows love to diffuse the anger and plant seeds that lead to good fruit…

Such as being angry enough at wrong to do something about it…

Such as not returning an insult, can end an argument and lead to a lifelong friendship.

If anger is NOT put in check, it ignites emotions that allow wrath to plant weeds instead of good seeds…

Such as returning an insult can lead to a fight, and animosity that lasts for years and spreads…