Its my Birthday! All I can do at this moment is to give both honor and praise to our Father in Heaven. 50 of the years I have lived on this Earth, has been a blessing. Many of those years, I have witness some friends and yes, some very close relatives leave this Earth to be with our Father God. That's why to me, birthdays mean so much, although many of us take them for granted. Life itself is very short and very precious, it should always be lived to the fullest. Its a real blessing to be alive, while so many have faded away.To my friends and to some of my family members, who have wished me Happy Birthday, I say thank you!" For our lives are just, a like beautiful flowers who only bloom constantly, for a moment or season, then latter to fade away. May our years on Earth be as beautiful as a new born baby, a beautiful sweet blooming flower, a bird with wings or beautiful sunset over looking a sandy beach with white sand with blues seas. So that one day each of us shall reside in Heaven praising our Father, the all Mighty God at the top, his son Jesus on the his right side and his Angels singing well done!" May God bless each of you everyday and for as long as you shall live.
Charles
Mark 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. John 3:16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 4:36
Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together
There are two things in, life that no one can never truly prepare themselves for, death and divorce. In my own life and from observing from afar other people react to death, divorce , breakups or job loss in different ways. Not many of us are mentally or physically able to handle the emotion or physical toll, that these things take on us an individuals. There are a lot of people in the world that are either mentally or spiritually weak and without the presence of God in their lives many are tempted to do wrong or some very strange things. When you read or hear about husbands or wives committing crimes to get back at their former spouses, then you know that they are spiritually or mentally weak and are attacked by the devil. Also when you see people that are afraid to let go because their fear of the unknown or the future without their former spouses , then you know that they weren't prepared for failure. What surprises most of us is, the after effect of the break up or divorce. That is when most us observe that our former spouses loving ways or emotions change when the break up or divorce begins. Its a constant reminder, when my mother would say to me or my siblings, when she would say, always prepare yourself to fight evil inside your home and the outside world.
That is why I thank God everyday, for blessing me with two very strong loving parents. Because if it weren't for them not only preparing me for my success and my failures I wouldn't be the man I am today. The way my parents raised me helped me become mentally strong and it also helped me to be not afraid to fail. When I think back on how my parents prepared me for the outside world, I notice that they focused more on my failures than my success. My mother was always a very confident person, she would make statements to me that still stick with me today. She would say ,"When God created man he didn't make any mistakes or your father and I didn't make no junk. The she would say I didn't raise any dummies, so stop acting like a dummy". I remember one day coming home from school and I was scared to show my mother my report card because I had a bad grade on it. She would look at me after reading my report card and said," Do you think of yourself as a failure?" Then I would answer her by saying I didn't know or maybe I thought wasn't smart enough to pass. Then she would look at me under her glasses then say son, you are not a failure. Sometimes even the best of us fail, real men or women always pick themselves up and then try harder again. I want you to try harder, because there is nothing in this world you can not do, if you just believe in yourself and believe that through God all things are possible. Learn from your failures, because they can prepare you to be strong when you succeed or when you fail again. Life has many ups and downs, but if you are prepared both mentally and spiritually ,then you can over come any obstacle.
She would go on to say, Your father and I are not only preparing you to be a success, but also preparing you to fail. When she made this statement it kind of puzzled me. Then I asked this question, Mom, why would you prepare me to fail? Then she would answer because that is when most of us make our serious mistakes, because of our lack of ability to handle failure. She would say if one can handle failure, then one should appreciate success, then not fail again. She would go on to say sometimes God allows us to fail or to loose something, because he has something better in store. In some other instances he just wants to teach us a lesson. He want us to know that what we have or achieved was not accomplished alone or by ourselves. If it weren't for his grace or mercy there would be no way any of us would be successful. If you have a job and get fired or its not a place you are happy with, be strong enough to walk away from it. This last statement also applies to a relationship or marriage , if it doesn't work out, do not take it to heart and be prepared to walk away. Also be aware of the other persons feelings. Do your best during any break up or divorce to not hurt any ones feelings, because that is when the devil becomes more active or destructive. Be careful not to let your emotions cause you to say or do something that you are incapable of taking back. My mother used to tell me to always be careful, because you never know the state of mind of the individual that you are separating from. She would go on to say that you never know what they might be thinking or how they are really feeling. Because," If It Never Works Out", she would say, always be man enough to walk away.
Be blessed and stay safe weekend,
Charles Matthew
17:20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell
you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain,
'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for
you." Matthew
21:21 Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do
not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can
say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be
done.
One of the most wonderful things about writing for God, is that you get to meet some very interesting people along the way and many of them happen to be from different countries. Its amazing that the world wide web could connect you to people that you would never meet under normal circumstances.It just shows you the power that our Father, God has by giving man his greatest creations, the ideals to create.After all we are all creators in our own special way and when a thought comes to mind God then gives us the ability to do what ever we put our minds too.Which brings me to the topic of today,"In your own special way."Just a few weeks ago I met a very interesting young lady, who has great love for her deaf friends, the deaf community and communicating through sign language.Its my strong opinion that anyone who cares for the elderly, deaf, those with communication barriers or those who happen to be wounded because of war, are very special people and are real Angels of God. It takes a very special individual or person to deal with Gods wounded or impaired children.These are true soldiers or Angels of God and God is always please when someone helps the ones that are less fortunate than themselves. After meeting this very special person, I was encouraged to know that God still works in mysterious ways. He always put very special people in places where they are needed and all for the glory of God.
Some readers have asked me this very special question, "How does one who may happen to be deaf or one that has communication barriers give God praise? My answer to you or to anyone who may read this, if you are interested in praising God you should always do it , in your own special or unique way. The reason for my answer is because the word says,( Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing,
whether it be good, or whether it be evil.) Which means what ever that is in your heart or mind, God will judge it rather its good or bad. One doesn't have to get on their knees or even speak, if they are incapable of doing so.God has the power to read our thoughts or minds and its our actions that God truly judges. If one wants to praise God, always do it pure of heart and in their own special way.(Ecclesiastes
11:9 You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your
heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and
whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you
into judgment.)
May God bless you always,
Charles
Isaiah 45:18 For thus said the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the
earth and made it; he has established it, he created it not in vain, he formed
it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. 1 Corinthians
4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until
the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will
expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise
from God.
I don't know if you ever experienced when the spirit hits you, but when it does an unexplainable feeling over comes you. At that moment, you find yourself wanting to shout or scream for joy, because the Holy Spirit has taken over you. I know for those who haven't yet, been blessed with this feeling, are wondering how this feels. No it not like having your first child, not like getting a raise, not like falling in love and its not like winning a large sum of money.This particular feeling is unlike any feeling in the world and unless the spirit of the Lord takes over you then you wouldn't understand this feeling. When you observe some people in Church running or shouting glory from the top of their lungs, then you know that the Holy Spirit has taken over them. I have experienced this feeling for the very first time years ago, while listening to a gospel song. The music was wonderful and the message in the song at that moment touched my soul.
After I experienced that feeling I have found that the Lord our God communicates with each of us in his own way. Sometimes he does it through music, while other times through a sermon or message delivered by a Pastor, Priest or Minister.Then there are those other times when he uses other people such as our parents, friends, co-workers or a complete stranger to get his message across. God our Father in Heaven is like that and has always walked in ways we will never understand, but his way will always be effective. Today the spirit revisited me with a message from God encouraging you and I, to Reach Higher! I feel the reason this message was given to me is because for as I can remember, I always had a love for money and success. If I didn't make enough money or if I didn't meet my own standards I was always unhappy. During those times I found myself praying to God for money, material things and even for more success. Just like everyone else I desired a nice car or house and plenty of money . I really hated to struggle, so I was always on a mission to acquire more wealth or material things.
Until one day the spirit hit me and asked me this powerful question, "Do you think that Jesus Christ, Gods only son was concern with money,the finer things or luxury?" My immediate answer to this question was, no because what he has in Heaven was better than what was on Earth. Then the spirit said told me to Reach Higher. After the spirit left me I kind of felt ashamed. Why you may ask?Well because I set my goals to low. Instead of trying to go too Heaven, I was instead trying to acquire things here on Earth. Not realizing that I couldn't take those things with me to the after life and also that none of my money, savings or material things could get me into Heaven. My goals should have been higher and I limited myself by thinking worldly. I know for a fact we all do this by only thinking of our own success, while trying to acquire wealth or material things. In a sense there is nothing wrong with with that, but ask yourself this question shouldn't we all be seeking more, like joining Jesus in Heaven? He came to the Earth with nothing , then left it with power and glory. Isn't that a price worth paying for? And why can't we all be more like Jesus Gods, only son? Why can't we give to those less fortunate than ourselves when we have so much? Why acquire bigger homes, make more money than we need, while others suffer? Shouldn't our goals be higher? Shouldn't we all want to reach the higher goal of being with God? As you think about this message, I want you to continue to go after your dreams or desires and to go after those goals. But never forget that there is something more important than the goals you set for yourself everyday and can't be achieved with money or material things. Starting today reach higher, into Heaven as a child of God.
Have a blessed day,
Charles
Proverbs 28:20A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 28:19Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.
