Writing

Power Outage

Posted on by Shawn

no-battery-512“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 NLT

We used to recite that scripture at the end of choir rehearsal in college. I never really thought too much into what we were saying, until recently. I have been praying for guidance to make better decisions in my life and God has given me a deeper understanding of what that scripture means. Whether we knew it or not, our involvement in the choir made us ambassadors for Christ. There would be some people on campus who would never attend our concerts, but our lives should have remained a good representation of Christ everywhere where we went. I’m learning quickly that prayer alone isn’t enough, but I have to take responsibility for my actions. I understand now that my actions don’t always back up what I believe. My attitude doesn’t always complement what I write about. The words I speak don’t always demonstrate my faith or even my reverence for God. In many cases, I have failed to represent Christ the way I should. For the first time in my life, I am discovering that it is possible to be saved and not feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. The end result of this kind of lukewarm behavior is a Christian with no power..

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Good for You

Posted on by Shawn

“I AM the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.” John 15:1-2 AMP

Fruit TreeSometimes, we find ourselves in a difficult situation and we tend to think it’s because we are being punished for something. One reason for this rationale is that we are human, and with our human, worldly minds, we believe that only good things will happen to us if we always do what’s right. God called us to do what is right because it is good for us in the long run but that does not guarantee a lifetime free of hardship. Read More

Worth It

Posted on by Shawn

You thought I was worth saving, so You came and changed my life

You thought I was worth keeping, so You cleaned me up inside

You thought I was to die for, so You sacrificed Your life

So I can be free, so I can be whole, so I tell everyone I know…

This week, gospel recording group, Anthony Brown and Group Therapy, released a single called “Worth.” The song presents a beautiful, yet powerful message that in spite of all the mess we have done or are currently involved in, Jesus still thinks we were worth dying for. While this song, in all its beauty, is full of truth, I need to point out something not so apparent from the lyrics. Jesus thought we were worth dying for before we committed our first sin…before we got saved and accepted Him as Lord…before we “got our act together.” Our redemption was a part of the plan from the beginning of time, from the moment God decided to create us and give us free will. To make the point even clearer, I was led one day to read the story of Hosea in the Old Testament. Hosea isn’t one of the more “popular” books of the bible, but for me, it paints the clearest picture of what God really did than any other book in the Bible. Read More

The Truth About Spiritual Gifts

Posted on by Shawn

spiritual-gifts

Keep your attention on God’s call to an assignment rather than on your spiritual gifts, personal desires, skills, abilities, or resources. Once you understand God’s call to an assignment, obey Him, and He will work through you to accomplish His divine, eternal purposes. (excerpt from Experiencing God by Henry & Richard Blackaby)

Recently, I read a chapter in “Experiencing God” that changed the way I think about God’s will and my spiritual gifts. All these years, I thought that all I needed to do was find out what my spiritual gift is and then join a ministry that suits my natural inclinations. But, I learned that there is more to this thing. All throughout the Bible, there are examples where God had first called people and then qualified them to perform a certain task. By right, people like Moses, David, the prophets and the twelve disciples were all unqualified to participate in God’s plan; however, He empowered each of them with the Holy Spirit and gave them the ability to carry out every task. These people didn’t take a spiritual gifts test or anything. They simply made themselves available to the Lord and relied on Him to not only reveal His plan, but to instruct them every step of the way as they helped carry out that plan. Read More

Sandcastles

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Sandcastle

We spend much of our time on artificial pleasures in order to fill a void, but it’s never long before God reminds us that He is the only source of long-lasting fulfillment.

Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will cause you to rest. (Matthew 11:28 AMP)

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me…For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:29-30 NKJV)

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. (Psalm 32 AMP)

Because the summertime is swiftly approaching, I’ve been thinking a lot about the many days I will spend at the beach enjoying the long-awaited warm weather. As I googled some tropical destinations I would like to visit, I started thinking about the beach trips I took when I was younger. I used to be fascinated by the array of the beautiful sandcastles that were scattered all over the beach. I wasn’t much of an architect myself, but I remember sitting and marveling over the creativity and the detail some of these structures had. But as the day went on, at some point, a huge wave would come and suddenly those beautiful, intricate structures were leveled into a puddle of sandy mud in a matter of seconds. It didn’t matter how far from the shore those structures were built, eventually the tide would rise high enough to reach every last one. That part always made me sad because I knew how much time went into their creation and now there was nothing to show for it. Read More

I Won’t Let Go…

Posted on by Shawn

HoldOnGodKnowsWhatsHesDoingRecently, I revisited a story in John Chapter 6 where Jesus begins to teach a large crowd of followers what it would really take to be true children of God. This took place right after Jesus performed two miracles by walking on water and feeding the 5,000. Naturally, He was a hot commodity for what He had done, but Jesus wanted the people to understand who He was. For some, He was merely their next meal ticket. For others, He was their hope for a change in their circumstances. But only a handful actually saw Him as the true Son of the Living God.

As Jesus began to pour into them and reveal their end of the bargain as a follower of Christ, the people became disgruntled and bewildered. If I can use my imagination, I believe some said, “Surely it doesn’t take all that to follow Christ. And if it does, is it even worth it?” The bible says that many of the people were simply confused and couldn’t digest what the Lord was saying. At the end of His speech, Jesus had turned off most of the followers who were already loading into their boats to go home. But then Jesus turned to His disciples and asked if they would leave too. But Peter said something that changed everything for me. He said, “Lord, to whom would we go? We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68). Read More

Focus

Posted on by Shawn

Focus

“All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41 AMP

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

A few months ago, I fell asleep behind the wheel while driving home from a day trip to visit my grandparents several hours away. I remember that evening very clearly. I got in the car at around 2 AM with my sisters, who were tagging along with me to DC in order to catch the bus the rest of the way to NYC. In the beginning, we had the music blaring, and we were talking and having a good ‘ole time for about three out of the four hours on the road. In the last hour, my eyes got really heavy, so I did everything to keep myself alert. I literally slapped myself, drank more caffeine, and played something more lively on the radio. It started to work and then I finally got to the bus station where I had to drop my sisters off. Now alone in the car, it was up to me to stay focused on my short trip home. “I can do this,” I thought to myself, as I only had about 20 minutes left. Tired of listening to music, I even turned off my radio and decided to ride in silence. A mere 5 minutes from home, my eyes popped open just as I was about to collide with a cement divider on the highway at about 60 mph. I veered back into my lane with only inches to spare. Needless to say, the adrenaline rush kept me up long after I got home. That had never happened to me before–ever. I didn’t understand how it happened this time. When I repeated this story to friends later, many of them pointed out something that I hadn’t considered before. Most accidents happen like this less than 10 minutes from the destination because the driver gets too relaxed, knowing that their ride is almost over. That struck an interesting cord with me, because that theory is applicable in so many areas of my life that it is kind of scary. Read More

“The Fabulous Life Of…”

Posted on by Shawn

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” Revelation 21:4 NLT

overflowing-water

A life of overflow is possible for anyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

A few months ago, my sisters and I were bored and began flipping through channels to find something entertaining to watch. We ended up watching this show called, “The Fabulous Life Of…” I think that night was about Beyoncé’s amazingly lavish lifestyle of multi-million dollar private jet rides, mansions, and leisure activities. If I remember correctly, she even rents a posh New York City penthouse just to house all of her memorabilia and awards. I can’t lie, for a moment, I felt a little jealous. “I would love to know what it’s like to have that life for just one day,” I thought to myself. I probably even said it out loud, but the more I think about it, the more I realized that one day, I will. However, unlike the Beyoncé’s of the world, I won’t have to worry about keeping up an image, or staying on top of my game to maintain it. I won’t have to worry about paying taxes on all that stuff, being exploited in the tabloids or even worrying about opportunists who only want to get close to me to get ahead. Everything I will have will be long-lasting and secure…and the best part is it will be paid for in FULL.  Read More

It’s Deeper Than That…

Posted on by Shawn

Matthew 9:2-8 (NKJV)

Tip of the Iceberg

Many times, we ask God to fix our surface-level issues, but God knows that those issues are just the tip of the iceberg…

2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” 3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 7 And he arose and departed to his house. 8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled[a] and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

This story is interesting to me because many times, we bring our petitions to God looking for Him to heal something very specific. This misguided expectation is exactly what leads to our disappointment and frustration with God. Many times, we become confused and are convinced that God isn’t listening to us. We even begin to doubt His mere existence because we set our sights on the wrong part of the issue. What I love about the Lord is that He always sees the big picture. He always sees what we cannot see. The onlookers of the miracle in this story missed it when Jesus said to the man, “your sins are forgiven.” Instead of rejoicing, the people challenged Him because they expected Him to address the man’s physical illness, which caused him to be unable to walk. But the Lord chose to address the man’s sin, which led to his paralysis in the first place. Read More

Do Yourself A Favor…

Posted on by Shawn

ForgiveThis October, I attended a women’s conference at my church and one of the sessions dealt with forgiveness and God’s grace. During that session, we talked about how God desires to forgive us and give us a fresh start once we confess. The discussion then moved on to how we should extend that same grace to others. Then, the leader walked over to a folding chair and sat it down in front of the podium. “Think about the person or persons who have offended you and place them in this chair,” she said. “After you have thought about it for a moment, I want you to forgive them. Say it and forgive them with your whole heart.”

As I sat in my seat processing the task given to me, I suddenly had a problem. Images of all the possible candidates for that seat flashed through my mind one by one. Former schoolmates from the days when I was bullied, previous employers, family members, past love interests…but no one seemed to click for me. “I’ve already forgiven them,” I thought. Suddenly, it became very clear who really needed to take that seat.That person was ME.  Read More