In the world we live in there are many temptations, these things are what I would like to call are chances or choices. If you have watched the news or have read your paper latley, then you will find that many people have fell into the devils trap and have made some very bad choices. Some have sold drugs, while others have committed crimes on their children, family and even their own spouse.When you think about what I just wrote one question should come to mind, Are we indeed living in the last days and how can one stay faithful to God with all the evil people living in the world today? How can I trust God with his word when the whole world is agaisnt him? My answer is simple read your bible stay prayed up and to always remain faithful.
As simple as this sounds, the hardest choice of them all is to remain faithful and to allow God to handle all of your burdens. In order to do this one must stick, to ones belief, convictions, love their family or spouse without fail and never to forsake our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. These things we do have control of and if we are to overcome them all ,one must stay prayed up, then practice our faith. The questions I have for you today is, can you overcome your flesh , the pressures or the temptations of the world and remain faithful? Can you stand in the face of evil and say that I love God with all my heart and I will not be tempted by the world or the evil in it? Or will you allow all the bad news, people evil ways or the daily drama keep you down? Can you say with a straight face that I will not let worldly ways influence my ways or decisions? As you think about the answer to these questions, I offer a verses from the Bible that may assist you during your day or your week. (Matthew 5:37 Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.) Which means pray, then seek God for guidance to those things, that you may say Yes to and pray then ask God for strength to say, No too the things that shall tempt your flesh into temptation or evil.
Have a blessed day,
Charles
1 Peter 5:10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Its always refreshing to me when I get a letter from a reader or when someone
gives me a complement on my writing. It keeps me motivated to continue doing
Gods work. At least I know somewhere in the world someone is getting touched by
the word of God. We all could use some encouragement and everyone of us could
use a little motivation to get us through our days. Today's question comes from
a woman who is thinking about getting married. What I like about her question
that you are about to read, is that she balances her past with her present,
while looking ahead towards the future. Even though I never recommend looking
back, I often think of our past as a future road map or as guide and if we
follow it correctly then it will keep most of us from repeating the mistakes of
our past or of yesterday. I always believed that God allows each of us to suffer and to go
through things so that we can learn from them.( 1 Peter 4:1 Since therefore Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise
with the same mind: for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin; ) If we are both smart and wise
then we learn from every life changing experience, the good or the bad. Then
praise God for each of them, because without them none of us would be the man or
woman we are today. Now to the question of the week...
Before salvation, some of us had certain preferences in area of
intimacy, but when we receive salvation our old man was suppose to die and was
created anew, old things past away. Question: Should your past sexual
preferences be expected in your relationship with your spouse? Soul ties were
created due to ungodly activities and relationship. Would past sexual
preferences be considered "baggage" from a past relationship? Shouldn't a new
relationship created by God start off afresh with no comparison or expectations
from past relationships and let things be formed as the relationship flows?
Also, when should sex be discussed before marriage? and Should you still
consider marrying someone if your preferences are different or even
uncomfortable?
Angela
First of all I would like to thank Ms Angela for her question. Before marriage I
feel every question should be asked and then answered, that way both will know what
they are getting themselves into.The reason I feel this way is because marriage is a very serious thing. Its a contract between man, woman and God. These days not many people take wedding vows or commitment to each other very serious. Also none take very much time learning or understanding that when two people do get married it is for a lifetime. As far as past intimacy or relationships,
those things should be left in the past. When one begins a new relationship or
marriage, they are in a sense starting over. Marriage is almost like being or becoming
saved. The person or persons you were in the past is no more and a new you or a
new way of living begins. My advice to you Angela and to anyone that reads
this, never bring your past into your future, because it will only cloud your judgement or ruin
your relationship and your marriage in the future. Go into it expecting a new and wonderful experience
starting over or starting new. Begin your new life without false expectations of your past and start afresh under Gods rule.
May God bless you my sister in Christ,
Charles
Isaiah 43:18
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past
Ezekiel 36:26 I
will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you
your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
John 3:3 In reply
Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless
he is born again."
If you are reading this, ask yourself this question, don't you just sometimes get tired? I mean tired of all the bad news ,tired of hearing about all the crime, the killing, the constant arguing or fighting, with your children, family members or friends. And for those who happen to be married or in a relationship, aren't you just tired of the drama, jealousy or pain? I don't know about you, but there has to be more to life, than this! It seem that no matter how good you are or how good you may want your day to go, something bad or negative always comes your way. Even if God blesses you with a stress free day at home or at work, all you have to do is pick up the paper or turn on the local or national news, then your whole day is ruined all over again. You may say to yourself (just as I do) Lord will there ever be peace or when will people just learn how to accept each other and get alone? It seems, that even our elected leaders or politicians argue, then bicker like children and can't get alone. If you think there will be peace in church, the house of the living God, where most of us worship, well think again !!! Because, even there in the House of God, there are people that don't act like they are suppose to. Some start their day of worship off, by watching to see what type of clothing you are wearing or what type of car you are driving. Then some have the nerve to have conversations in church ,while others are talking or texting on their cell phones. It makes me want to ask them these questions, don't you know or realize that this is the house of God? Where is your respect or manners? Why aren't you paying attention to the Pastor or Priest that is preaching on this Sunday? Then you may want to say, That message or sermon my friend, brother or sister, may be written or spoken with just you in mind so please pay attention.
With these thoughts racing through your mind, it may have you asking our Father God a couple of questions while in prayer. Lord when will these people stop killing, stealing, raping our children or our young women and ruining peoples lives?When will all of this misery end? Or where can I find peace, a perfect peace or state of mind? To answer this questions, all one has to do is go to the Bible and read this verse.( 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.) Which means if one seeks out the Lord and surrenders all of their burdens to him, then God will bring them peace. He will clear the way and remove anything that gets in your way. To further illustrate Gods love, please read this verse, ( Thessalonians 3:11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.) In other words if one truly seeks peace, a world without, stress,worry or pain, then all that one needs to do is seek God.( John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.) In Gods hands one shall find peace, a perfect Peace Of Mind.
Have a blessed day,
Charles
Ephesians 6:23 Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I know to some of my readers when they would first read this title( Power) they would think that I am writing about the power of God. In a way I am writing about Gods awesome power, but I am also writing about the power we all allow other people, spirits or beings to have over us or our lives. Before I get into this subject, I have long discovered that men and women are truly different. Most women wear their hearts on their sleeves and carry their emotions with them. In other words when a woman gets hurt, used or abused it usually takes them longer than men to get over it.Some hold onto their hurt or what ever that has happen to them in their past for many months or years. Its a known fact that some women have been known to carry their hurt or pain through out their entire lives. Men on the most part hurt to, but get over their feelings or emotions quicker.Most men accept what is and move on. When God first made man he put that particular strength into the male D.N.A or genes. Men were created to be strong and women were created to be their helpmates.The thing that both share or have in common is that the devil doesn't care who is strong or weak and he will seek to destroy whoever crosses his path. He will exercise his power and use who ever he chooses just to get the job done. That is where the power of God our Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ comes into play. If we trust only in him through prayer no man, woman, demon or devil can ever have power over us again.
For some who may think that the devil, his demons or other people don't have power over them, please answer these questions honestly. Is your life perfect, without stress, drama or pain? Does your family members, friends, ex-spouse or co-worker tell you, sometime tell how you should live your life?Do you sometimes allow them to make decisions for you, even though you don't agree with their choices? Are you even close to your own family or friends? If you ever been divorced or in a relationship, ask yourself this question, Are you over the pain, the suffering or do you still carry some of the emotional baggage that brought you so much pain? Before you answer this last question, one thought should come to mind, if I am really over him, her or my past why am I still talking it or thinking about my past relationships? Why am I still discussing what happen to me with a family member, friends and even the person that I am interested in? The reason why I ask these questions is because many of us fool ourselves by thinking that we are ready for something new and not realizing that some of us aren't really emotionally healed.
The reason why is because some of our issues are not only with our past relationships or marriages, but also with our own family. Many of us still hold grudges, won't speak or even want to be around our own family members and as much as many of us would like to think ,our minds are not at peace because of it. No one can be truly healed, have peace with themselves or with God until they get over these issues. Why because we allow the enemy or others to have power over us.We don't deal with our problems or issues right away, instead carry our burdens with us without releasing them and leaving them in the capable hands of God. This is how the devil or others gain power, because we allow them to have that over us. We don't forgive those that have hurt us and some of us still allow our ex, husbands, wives, girlfriends or boyfriends to have access to our lives. That is why I am encouraging anyone who is blessed enough to read this, to release their burdens and allow the Power of God to flow through their lives.Imagine this strong God fearing families and married people that love God working together as one, using the power of God to ward off their enemies. If they did then no man, woman, child or devil will ever have Power over them or their families again.
May God continue to bless you always,
Charles
Romans 1:4 and who
through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by
his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:4 We were
therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live
a new life.
If your family has never been touched by death, all I can say is, if you haven't felt it, then you wouldn't understand the pain that most of us go through. Why? Because death itself is so unpredictable and no one knows when someone will live or die. Loosing a mother, father, grandfather or grandmother is hard enough, but loosing a child is extremely hard to bare. The reason why it is, because a child's life was laid out in front of them and they haven't yet had the chance to experience or appreciate life. They wasn't blessed with enough time to make mistakes, to grow old, to have children of their own or to achieve their dreams. Some never have a chance to graduate elementary, middle , high school or even college. It gets harder for some parents who have raised their children to adult hood only to loose them at the ripe age of 18, 20, 21 and so on. To hear a mother or father scream why God, why did my baby have to go? Its very hard to take, what's harder to take is how some people can just kill or murder just for the hell of it. Having no respect for life or the people they hurt after committing these heinous crimes. The sad thing is, there are no words one can use to comfort the victim or victim's. How can one bring themselves to say(to the victim) after loosing a child or love one that its going to be okay? Death is so final, after they are gone, there is no turning back and their spirits are now in the hands of God.
That is why is so difficult learning that each day that passes by and millions of innocents lives are taken away. No one knows or can even understand why God allows our children to be killed, murdered or taken away. No one knows why he allows these criminals or murderers to destroy or wreak peoples lives. Only he with his perfect grand plan can understand his reasons or why he allows this to happen. That is why am encouraging each brother ,sister , mother , father, Pastor or Priest, today to embrace your love ones, hug your children, love each other and put your bitterness or hate behind you. I am also advising each of us to stop arguing, fussing or fighting with their children, family members or spouses, because its wasted energy. No one wants to live life with regrets, wishing that they had used that time or opportunity just to say that you love or forgive them.
This reminds me of something my mother used to always preach to me when she would say, Family is all we got! When the world is against you family, is all you can count on and we should always be together. My mother wanted us all to remain close, no matter what was happening in our own world or the world around us. After getting a text message early one morning from a friend of mine telling me, about hers sons death, my heart went out to her, because of her grief and I now can understand why. He was only 26, with 3 children (2 boys &1 girl) and his life was laid out before him. He was just learning how to be a responsible father and was ready to change his life for the better. He had great plans for his children, family and his mother. But just like so many, he was murdered, killed and then taken away too soon. Our babies, children and young adults, are being killed at an alarming rate and none of us no matter where we come from can afford to take this fact for granted. When our love ones dies, are killed or taken away from us, none of us can get them back. But what we all could do, while we mourn them, to is live and honor their memories, by becoming better people then become more active in our communities. We should all be mindful that the people we love today could be here today, then gone tomorrow and Gone To Soon.
Charles Psalm 49:15 But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself. Selah Isaiah 25:8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. Isaiah 26:19 But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.
This blog is dedicated to my friend, Sylvia Alexander and the millions of mothers or fathers worldwide. I can't begin to understand your pain and I will pray for you. I can only say that God, our Father In Heaven loves you and for what ever reason he allowed this to happen, know this, it was in his plan. Now you as a mother, grandmother and friend can seek him out for understanding. Love the people around you especially those, beautiful grandchildren and know that one day you all with be a blessing, for the glory of God.
If you are reading this at this particular moment, there is are a couple of things that you should be doing. First you should be shouting, then you should be praising and after that you should celebrate! Why? Because God our Father in Heaven has blessed you with an opportunity to go into another New Year. Think about this for a moment, the dead can't move on, they can't feel sorry for themselves, they can't change their lives for the better and they don't have the opportunity to leave their past behind. But you, that's right you the person that's reading this does have that opportunity. You can move on, you can be better a person,friend, father, mother, parent, husband or wife and you can change or improve your life for the better. All of your past troubles, issues or problems are now behind you and you now have that opportunity to start fresh, over or anew. Don't wait until tomorrow to change or to improve your life, start doing it right now! Get rid of the old things, stay away from hateful or negative people and begin it with something new. Right now you should have a new attitude, a new perspective, a new way of thinking and you now have the opportunity to change your life. Begin this New Year ,by praying and then latter celebrate! This up coming year, take this advice, as you advance into a New Year, by leaving your past behind you and beginning it with something new. Celebrate 2013, then rejoice, praise God for giving you this tremendous opportunity and please take advantage of it because its here. May God continue to bless you and your family. May you all have a very blessed New Year!!
Happy New Year!!
Charles
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness. Isaiah 66:22 "As
the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares
the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure.
Have you every been in a bad relationship or marriage? Did your ex-husband , ex-wife ,ex -boy friend or girl friend hurt you so bad that you are afraid of getting into another relationship or marriage? Are you scared of giving your heart to someone because of your past experiences? Have you every been treated so bad that you feel worthless or even unworthy of love or affection? Did you ex-husband, ex-wife leave you for another man or woman? Do you feel unwanted, unloved or sometimes feel like trash? Have you heard these very words from someone who you used to care and love you. ("I don't love anymore and you are not worth my time or effort"). Have you ever been judged, just because you happen to be to short, to tall, black or white, over weight, skinny or tall?Or have you been accused of being to smart or even too good to be true? If you have said yes to any of these questions, I just want you to know that you are not alone and that God loves you . I also want you to remember something that my mother told me as a child. She would always talk to me about why it was so important to have confidence in myself , to always remember that everything God created was beautiful and God made me that way I am.
As I think back on my childhood I thank God for blessing me with a mother who loved me and a mother that was understanding enough to prepare me for the outside world. She would say to me that people in the outside world would not always view me the way she does. She would say Charles I love you and in my eyes you will always be a very handsome man. But one day you will meet a woman and fall in love. She first will love you and view you like I do, she will think that you are very handsome, smart and kind. But because of her unrealistic expectations of you, she will discover your flaws and find out that you are not perfect. Then her attitude will begin to change and that woman you fell in love with will not view you the same. Now in her eyes you are unworthy to be loved and now trash. You are unwanted and what ever good you have done is now unappreciated.
After my mother finished with her sermon, I said," wow"!! Mom is this what I can expect when I start dating or even when I get married? Then I went on to say why put myself through all of this when I will only get my heart broken or better yet get used or abused?Then she smiled and said, because honey everyone needs to be loved and sometimes you have to go through the bad to get to the good. She went on to say suffering, heartache's, ups and downs are just a part of life, but you shouldn't get discouraged. Because one day you will meet someone who sees you just like I do and you will also meet someone who has the love of God in their hearts. She went on to explain God loves us all despite our flaws or even our short comings. He knows that we are all sinners and he loves us no matter what. In other peoples eyes you may be trash, but in Gods eyes you will always be a treasure.One day you will appreciate and thank God for going through all those bad and ungrateful women. Because having those bad experiences will make you a better man and it will also make you appreciate that good thing that God our Father says all men should find( A wife). In her eyes you will not be trash, you will be a treasure that she will praise God for as long as she lives. My mother was very wise and that is why I wanted to share this with the rest of the world. If you are hurting or feel unloved, do not be discouraged and do not give up on love. Because, God has that perfect man or woman out there for you and in their eyes you will never be trash and always a treasure. Always remember this someones trash is always someones else's blessing and treasure waiting to be found.
Have a blessed night,
Charles 1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
