Devotions December 29, 2010 http://todaymybrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/

WoW….

 

There is so much I want to say it has been over a month since my last devotion. There are many things to write about, life, friends, happiness, love and LIVING…. Of which I am enjoying them all at this point in my life.

 

However I will write today about a “STOP” sign that was upside down.

 

The STOP sign is held to its post by 2 screws, one at the top and one at the bottom. The one at the top was removed or loose and fell out and the sign was “upside down”.

 

I was driving and I “stop” at the STOP sign even though it was UPSIDE DOWN! I also took a photo of this sign which is below…. What AMAZED me was that I stopped at a STOP sign that was INDEED UPSIDE DOWN…

 

Hmmmmmmm…. I thought!

 

I sat there for a few minutes looking at the sign. It INTRIGUED me that SIGN did not LOSE any of it’s POWER, PRESTIGE NOR AUTHORITY even ALL THE WHILE being out of sort, with what WE WOULD term NORMAL CONDITIONS!

 

I thought about THE SAINTS! People, who called themselves Christians, living the life of Christ’s power within themselves, so that the WORLD can see…. EVEN WHEN OUR WORLD IS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN!!!!

 

WoW…!!! The scriptures that comes to mind is…. 2 Corinthians 4: 7-10

 

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

2Co 4:9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

 

Do you exhibit the power of Christ through your “EVEN THOUGH’s”? Can your friends, neighbors, employers, employees, FAMILY… count on you when YOU are being ASSAILED on every hand? CAN YOU count on you?

 

CAN GOD COUNT ON YOU!!!!???

 

Do you still possess the POWER AND AUTHORITY  that the “STOP SIGN” exhibited,  even though it was Upside down…

 

STILL POTENT, POWERFUL, CHRIST-LIKE, Anointed, Appointed, Designed by GOD to show HIS AUTHORITY in YOUR life when you and LIFE are UPSIDE DOWN?

 

Sometime life will take us through some INTERESTING times….during those times we need to KNOW that we are still FILLED with the AUTHORITY OF GOD to make it THROUGH anything that may come our way.

 

SO…. BE WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST even through your UPSIDEDOWNESS!!!

 

What I came to realize in this devotion, is that even if the COLOR was washed from the sign, and it was UPSIDE DOWN and there were NO LETTERING on the sign…JUST THE SHAPE ALONE would have caused me to take notice of it’s message!

 

Are you being NOTICED…. Even though you might be or are going through a trying time right now, YOU FEEL “GRAYED OUT” but you are living…. Can the people around you still NOTICE the color of CHRIST, the POWER of the RISEN LORD still flowing through you?

 

Just something to think about…. HUH?

 

Elder JDH ©

 

 

 

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from OUR FAMILY TO YOURS 2010

 

Season’s Greetings 2010

Devotion November 15, 2010 "The CHALLENGE"

Wow…

 

It’s been a few weeks since my last blog. All is well, sometimes you just have to be quiet so that you can HEAR more clearly, SEE more clearly and then EXAMINE what you have been given to write about.

 

Most would call that MEDITATION or CONTEMPLATIVE WORSHIP. Whichever you prefer it is always a GREAT moment in time when you can just be quiet before the King of Kings. Sitting. Listening. Adoring Him. Allowing him to give you LIFE just by being close.

 

That has been my experience in the past few weeks of listening and being in the presence of our GOD. I have grown to see and know that I LOVE JESUS. I am not ashamed of that statement or destiny for my life. I LOVE JESUS CHRIST.

 

Our Pastor, Bishop Carlton T. Brown, of Bethel Gospel Assembly Church in Harlem, NY has given us a challenge. The challenge is for the month of November we are to carry our bibles EVERYWHERE. WOW. CARRY YOUR BIBLES EVERYWHERE.

 

At first that challenge seemed easier enough since I carry my Bible everywhere I go. It has been with me for over 14 years and counting….EVERYWHERE so I said to myself…. “SELF THIS IS GONNA BE EASY!” HOWEVER then as Bishop Brown continue with the obligation and “rule” of the challenge my thoughts to myself BEGAN to be CHALLENGED as well…

 

As Bishop was talking it appeared that I GOT THIS was my thought….then he said those words that caused this challenge to become MORE of a challenge than I HAD anticipated.

 

His words: “You must CARRY your Bible, NOT IN ELECTRONIC form or otherwise. NO Iphone, Blackberry, Ipad, Ipod or any other electronic device would suffice for this challenge… CARRY YOUR BIBLE through the streets, to your job to your school, to your lunch, to your gym workout place, EVERYwhere that you would go…take the Word of GOD with you!”

 

Hmmmmmmmm…. That was a Sunday. By that Tuesday I had failed. WOW. I was and am so used to carrying my Sword in a HIDDEN format that I was NOT used to carrying the SWORD in the open! I left my bible at home on Tuesday and felt like “trash” all day. I wanted to go and BUY a bible for the local B&N just so that I would not feel this embarrassment upon myself. I was stopped by the fact that I was a little “low” that day and I also felt the “pressure” of the Holyspirit not to use my credit card to purchase one.

 

The embarrassment continue to grow to the point that by the time I got to the church I was NOT going to enter the church in the FRONT door but go into the back so NOT to be noticed. Then The HOLYGHOST began to speak to me… WALK! I turned the corner to go to 119th Street which would have placed me in the “back entrance of” BGA however I was pressured by the Holyghost to walk to 120^th to and through the FRONT entrance. MY heart began to pound and race because I knew that my bible was NOT ON ME.

 

On 120^th Street and 5^th Avenue, I met a brother who was walking down the street of Bethel Gospel Assembly, I hadn’t seen him in a few months, He was disturb about something and NOT having a good day. I stopped him and greeted him and he wanted to “BRUSH” me off BUT was convicted by my greeting that he stopped and began to share his plight.

 

He was in need and that need was MET by a setup of the Holyghost, through a man who had forgotten to pick up his Bible that day and carry it. GOD HAS A WAY of dealing with HIS people that NO one can explain.

 

It reminds me of the fact that GOD will use who He wants to use and HOW He wants to use them, whether that person or persons feel INADEQUATE or NOT GOOD ENOUGH or just NOT HOLY enough for His use.

 

Don’t allow yourself to-cause you-to miss out on any opportunity that GOD can use to bring HIMSELF glory.

 

Stop degrading HOW VALUABLE you are to the KINGDOM of GOD. God saved you for SUCH A TIME AS THIS.

 

YOUR testimony, your previous life, your old garments, your old ways, your old mindset, your old things HAS PASSED AWAY and BEHOLD all things have BECOME NEW…HOWEVER, you should be able to remember without being or becoming depressed about what GOD has brought you out of.

 

An OLD congregational song says: “He brought me out of the miry clay, He placed my feet upon a rock to stay he put a song in my soul today a SONG OF PRAISE ALLELUIA!”

 

The HE BOUGHT ME OUT is a line of REMEMBERING WHEN!

 

I have done better with the Carry Your Bible Challenge since that Tuesday. Thanking GOD for the victories, conversations, and smiles I get from people who watch me as I sit and read HIS WORD in PUBLIC.

 

I challenge you today to never be embarrassed ANYwhere about YOUR ALLEGIANCE and ALLIANCE to JESUS CHRIST!

 

 

Elder JDH ©

 

Devotion 10-25-2010 "Smug'em Back"

*Please remember to reply to this email if YOU WANT to be removed from this list, or change where you need the devotional to be received …. I have been cleaning the list… enjoy the read…* Elder JDH ***I hope I got the list right….***

 

 

Devotion

 

October 25, 2010

 

"Smug’em back"

 

Two weeks ago, I placed a Facebook status regarding a boy to whom I was fortunate to meet in Uruguay, South America.

 

Here is the story:

 

I was touring with a group of singers in South America, we had a travel day leaving Buenos Aires to travel to Uruguay. We traveled the coastline by a boat, more like a ship. It was awesome. My first time experiencing that. It was cool especially since this cruise ship, more like a ferry but more exotic than the one in Staten Island, NYC..... Smiles, this cruise ferry.... Had free Wi-Fi. So I was in heaven and I enjoyed every second of that departure from the "norm" of airport scrutiny, security and searches. It was a good trip to Uruguay.

 

When we arrived at our hotel some four hours later. We were tired, hungry and some were sleepy. I was hungry. When traveling with a large group of people and we all bombard the hotel lobby looking for our keys...... It could be a jam. It was.

 

So you know me, Internet man, I was searching out ways to have access to my online family. I found the hotel "business center" (it was more like 3 desks thrown together and 2 computers attached.... More about this hotel later in another devotion).

 

There were at the desk two young boys, 13 and 15, in age I am assuming. The 13 year old was a precocious little chap! He saw all of us come in, he looked around, I was looking at the computers checking out the system, then our eyes met for a brief second then he "SMUGGED ME"!

 

That little brat..... SMUGGED ME!

 

I was about to smile just to be friendly. He SMUGGED ME!

 

When you have traveled as much as I have, you recognize a few things that are totally universal in their scope of things.....

 

·        A Smile

·        A Coke Cola

·        the Word.... Alleluia!

 

I was about to give him a smile. He smugged me, he pursed his lips to give a fake smile and turned his head. Well, I wasn't hungry anymore, I was thinking for a few seconds of why he smugged me. He gave me a look like..... "if you think you getting this computer, you ain't, keep it moving" looking at me as if I was short!

 

I got smugged.

 

Then I REMEMBERED!!!!

 

I remembered who the heck I was! I am Darren Hicks, married to Diannette for almost 30 years, I am a grown man, I am a saved man, I am a child of the King of Kings, and I ALSO REMEMBERED THAT I HAD A BRAND NEW IPAD IN MY BAG, THAT MY DIANNETTE BOUGHT FOR ME.....WITH MY 4 CHILDREN..... THAT I CARRIED WITH ME AND I DID NOT NEED THAT COMPUTER THAT HE SMUGGED ME FOR.....

 

IT TOOK A SECOND to recollect my thoughts.....cause you know me I wanted to not just smug him back but smush his face as well, but since I was in a foreign country, I figured to keep my hands to myself. With those hands, I reached into my bag and pulled out my brand new iPad and turned it on, waited till he was able to get a clear view..... Flashed the screen at him and SMUGGED HIM BACK!!!

 

Saints, don't let the enemy of your soul, your friends, your neighbors, your classmates, your family or associates SMUG YOU FOR WHAT THEY DON’T THINK YOU HAVE!

 

Don't allow yourselves to “think you” into a depression coma because you might not have what you think you should have.

 

Don't allow your spirit to be controlled by what others are assuming of you. I remember the adage "Trying to keep up with the Joneses"..... Well, some of have realized that the Joneses are in debt and their possessions are up for foreclosure.

 

Be occupied with the thoughts of pleasing God and Yourself. Be happy with you!

 

Remember who you are, pull out of your bag of life the blessings that you currently have, the blessings that you presently have in your possession, the blessings that you have forgotten ALREADY BELONG TO YOU!!!!

 

God has not forgotten you, stop PLAYING OR DOWN PLAYING yourself. You are a child of God and the blessings that you have are yours. Nothing nor no one can take them from you.

 

SMUG HIM, SMUG THEM BACK!

 

Be blessed. You are highly favored in God. Remember that.

 

Elder JDH ©

 

Sent from my iPad

 

Devotion October 19, 2010 "Without The Logo"

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Devotion

 

Monday, October 18, 2010

 

"Without The Logo"

 

Watching CNN a few days ago I was blessed to hear and see our President Obama give a speech at the Fashion Week Gala. During the speech, the Presidential Seal, fell off of the podium with a loud noise. True to the form of a great leader, where "stuff" or the small stuff at least should not bother him, he was quick in his response to this to say....

 

"What? You all know who I am anyways...." that was a moment for me.

 

My thoughts were drawn to the fact of the matter... Regardless of the seal, the logo, flags or the bumper stickers on his car, or where he is standing... We all know him. He was telling the truth.

 

Now, what about us in our everyday lives where we work, play, teach, live, walk, talk, breathe, dance, shout, be us, what about the people who see us.... Can they say "I know that man, I know that woman".

 

Can our neighbors say that out of that apartment, out of that house flows the true love of God. Out of that dwelling, live some very powerful influential people who can get help to you in the time of need, 'them thar people is truth living folk over thar'.

 

Without the tee-shirt, without the hat, without the 23 bumper stickers on your car, can your people truly say that you are a Jesus person? Can the world that watches you live truly say that you are who you say you are on any given Sunday morning?

 

When "something goes down" does your name gets 'scratched' off the list right away or is your name the first to be considered for the cause of the mess!

 

Things that make you go hmmmmmmm......

 

My Pastor, Bishop Carlton Brown preached a message on this past Sunday entitled "Dont Curse Them, Join Them". A powerful message about being Heavenly Minded and Earthly Good. Having a balance. However, never being afraid to stand up and stand out for the causes of Christ.

 

So, without your "label that can be seen, without the logo, without the dress code" does the world know that you are a Christ minded walking, living, breathing full of life, normal..... person?

 

President Obama does not need a label. We know him! Can we know you as easily!

 

The Apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 1-4 that we are "epistles or books" written not with ink but with the spirit of God and READ among all men.

 

This week lets be a "good read" for someone looking for the truth and proof of The Living Christ Jesus!

 

Have a blessed day!

Elder JDH (c)

 

Devotion October 4, 2010

By the way…if you do not want to receive this blog please reply to this email and I will remove your name from this listing…thanks. Elder JDH

 

 

“A POWERFUL MOMENT”

 

Well, by now most of you have heard that we laid to rest my Brother in law, MY BROTHER, Tyrone Carter. The Home Going services were held at Salvation & Deliverance Church on 116^th Street in Harlem, NYC the service was AWESOME. It was uplifting, encouraging and OH MY LORD those people at that church can sing and “shout” (dance in the Holyspirit). I HAD a great time. My sister, Danna, was blessed and all went well. She has been so strong through this.

 

We took my brother to Butler, NJ to the Mt. Holiness Cemetery where he was laid to rest. Danna really did this well. She placed her husband in a crypt, there was a service there and it was a nice final goodbye.

 

This “powerful” moment in came when my son, Warren, went to the office to find some of our other relatives that have been laid to rest there. Primarily, my Mother in Law, Joyce Hickson, aka Darlbabe. (She will smack me one good time when I get to heaven for calling her by her first name…. LOLOLOL gladly accept it….did you hear me say “heaven”.) Warren goes to the office and he locates his Grandma, he leaves the family and as I was looking around for him, I noticed him afar off, bending over a spot where his Grandma, and two of his uncles are laid.

 

These WONDERFUL people Warren has never met.

 

*** side note*** (James, our oldest, met his Grandma during the first 6 months of his life and My Diannette and I being new parents were having a tough time getting him to “shut up”. He was crying. He was full. He was dry. He was JUST CRYING just because he had lungs. So we were going to Grandma’s house for a visit. James cried all the way there on the train and buses, it was INDEED embarrassing to say the least. We get to Grandma’s house and she said… “HE SPOILED…. Lay his butt on my bed”…she goes over to him and places her hand on his back….pats his back ever so gently 3 times….and he falls into a deep sleep…. I WANTED TO BEAT HIS BUTT… she was INDEED a TRUE MOTHER and a GREAT person…I love her and miss her dearly…)***

 

Back to my “moment”: Warren was bent over the gravesite of his Grandma and Uncles and he was cleaning the dirt, leaves and grass that had grown over the name plate. I was fine till I saw that. I was OK concerning the weeks’ event until I saw my son moved to compassion about people to whom he never met and to clean off the ONLY spot of remembrance that HE has of them. Unbeknownst to him, his older brother did the same thing a few years earlier when we went to bury another relative.

 

THOSE WERE “POWERFUL MOMENTS” for me. I never forgot that my eldest did that and I will never forget that my youngest followed that lead.

 

Sometimes in LIFE we keep looking for the BIG MOMENTS to occur where the earth is moved and the mountains “skip” into the seas, BUT LIFE IS MADE UP OF BILLIONS OF LITTLE MOMENTS that make our seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years.

 

Take time for the rest of your life and admire the “moments” that GOD has given you. LIVE. LAUGH. LOVE and TAKE PLENTY OF PHOTOS. LIFE IS FOR living and these moments are ours to treasure forever and a day.

 

 

Remember to LIVE and LOVE.

 

Elder JDH ©

Devotions October 2, 2010: http://todaymybrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/

Good Morning,

 

Devotion October 2, 2010

 

“Sneezing”

 

Hmmmmmmmm, an interesting thing happened while I was devouring sage sausage, eggs and some other little left-over in the fridge. A couple of days ago… You all know me somewhat, I was “multi-tasking “and I figure why not talk to my sister on the phone while eating breakfast.

 

BAD MOVE on 2 counts!

 

·        I hate talking on the phone, PERIOD.

·        CARDINAL RULE OF EATING: never talk with your mouth filled, never talk and eat at the same time.

 

I was breaking all of the rules together while working on a small project on the computer system. So it goes… I was talking and breathing and swallowing when I breathed inward when I was supposed to be swallowing. YIKES!!!

 

This was a GOD moment indeed. However, it was brought on by my sheer disobedience of rules that I learned as a child.

 

So, while small particles of eggs were being ‘transplanted’ into my nasal passages, my body violently rejected them by making my eyes tear, my lungs to take in small blasts of air and then VIOLENTLY making my body PUSH air through my nasal passages and mouth to PROJECT these foreign objects. MAN OH MAN…. What an experience.

 

I dismissed the phone call, grabbed a towel and went to sneezing violently thru my mouth then allowing my body to direct the air into my nasal passages to clear them as well. TOOK a few mins and when all was said and done, I learned a valuable lesson.

 

The eggs that I was indeed eating and enjoying were good for me. They were my strength for that morning, they were breakfast, my body was receiving food that I have eaten all of my life, HOWEVER they eggs are NEVER to be introduced in certain parts of your BODY or they will and can KILL you.

 

Understanding that passage of scripture:

 

Psa 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

 

Your BODY reacts when there is something in the wrong spot…even though it has been in the body before.

 

GOD IS SNEEZING! Make sure you are in your place; make sure you have not migrated to another location in the body and making havoc by being out of place. GOD IS SNEEZING! Are you where you are supposed to be in the place where GOD has placed you? NOT where you think you should be because you have the title, the job or the money to make a spot for yourself? GOD IS SNEEZING!

 

Don’t get caught up in HIS violent exhaling of the UN-necessaries in HIS BODY!

 

When I was sneezing and violently reacting to the particles of food “being in the wrong” place, I did not care where the food landed. ALL I CARED about was expelling the particles from my body. Hmmmmmmmm enough said on that….

 

Get in your place. Stay in your place. Be in your lane. Stop shifting and causing the body to go through a sneezing fits to get rid of your foolishness and drama.

 

Don’t you know that sneezing is one of the primary ways that “germs” infect the air around us? I wonder when GOD sneezes through his body how we are INFECTING those around us.

 

Get it together saints…. Let’s stop making God sneeze!

 

Elder JDH ©

 

 

 

Devotion 9-28-2010 "This May Be My Last Time" http://todaymybrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/

Good Morning...

Devotion for September 28, 2010

"This May Be MY Last Time"

Wow, I haven't heard this song in many many years. The saints of old that I
went to church with used to sing it and the words came striking home this
week.

The words of the song:

"This may be my last time

This may be last time children

This may be my last time

May be my last time I don't know"

Life is indeed too short.

Many of us are still trifling around with things that are so temporal and
NON-important, NON-consequential, NON-earth shattering, NON-significant,
NON-major. This things take up too much of our "PRECIOUS time". Life is
INDEED too short.

This weekend I celebrated my 50th. I am and I have started realizing that
within 40-50 years I will be going home to be with the Lord. I am realizing
that the TRIVIAL has NO place in my world. DRAMA, NONsense and things that
can be pushed aside should not have any bearing on how I am living the rest
my "borrowed" time.

This Sunday my wife and I felt "the pressure" to visit my Brother *(brother
in law....but I don't believe in in-laws.) It was a awesome visit. I was not
ready for the demeanor of his health. I was used to seeing him more robust,
more active, more alive and just more into life... This day was a day of
calm and worry. We were the only men in the house and the house was filled
with women who commandeered the TV's remote, however when I came in the door
I switched channels to something more "manly" so we watched "Pearl Harbor".

One of his favorite films. He motioned for me to come closer and I began
talking to him, we went to the terrace area and he began to share his heart.
His voice was soft. I asked him "What's up Man...?" His response was "Danna"
Danna is his wife. *My sister. (My Diannette's blood sister)

He said "I Love Danna, I am concerned about Danna, I don't want to miss her,
What about Danna and my family."

I held his hand. I looked him in his eyes and I said to him. "Man, we got
you, We got Danna, We Got the Kids, I am here and will always be here. God
got us..." I shared with him that I knew he was ready to go. He shook his
head with a "YES!" He WAS INDEED in salvation and soul sense READY to go. He
held my hand, looked me in my eyes, took a deep breath and then we watched
the cars travel on the FDR for about 5 mins without saying a word. He shook
my hand, then said... "let's watch my movie".

Well, we were both exhausted, he from his life journey, me from my day's
journey. We both fell asleep on the couch while the movie watched us.

4 hours later, Tyrone NO longer needed a walker, wheelchair, nor was there
any more pain, nor was there any more cancer taking it's residence within
him. Tyrone went home to be with Jesus. It was Glorious.

What matters at the end of your LIFE journey is YOUR eternal destination.
Tyrone knew that his was intact because of his faith in Jesus. HIS heart was
concerned for his Woman and family.

Let go of the Temporal. Grab hold of the Eternal. The Eternal always has
that element of LOVE within it. Grab hold of it, let go of the other
stuff... Begin to LOVE again.

"This may be your last time.... WE DON'T KNOW"!

Elder JDH (c)

--
Posted By James Darren Hicks to "Today My Brothers and Sisters..." at 9/28/2010 09:17:00 AM

BlackBerry Devotion / Sat, Aug 28, 2010

BlackBerry Devotion

Sat, Aug 28, 2010

Good Morning...

"Display/Sell/Let Go"


Yard sales.
Garage sales.
Attic sales.

House moving sales, are very common where I live. Starting around April till the end of September.

All of these "sales events", are 
people getting rid of items they no longer need.

Things that were pieces of their lives and NOW they no longer have any use for them, or they have outgrown the need or desire for it, could be simply they have run out of room and need to make space, another thought could be the value of the item is diminished in their own estimate.

Whatever the 'disposal requisite' the item is now for sale. For good!

Now what I've noticed about some 'sale items' are they have barely been used, still in boxes, or was used wisely and taken care of. You have to be a wise shopper when buying someone else's junk or 'treasure'.

I am addicted to these sales. Sometimes I have found that someone's 'disposed of' is actually what I need to make that 'certain bare spot' in my home.... Brilliant!

Things you may want to get rid of should be packaged in a way that someone else can gather 'goodness' from it.

Yes. Pain. Suffering. Hurts. Dismay. Good and Bad experiences alike... Should be packaged so that you shine in the process of it's display!

Clean out your attics! Clean out your Spirit! Clean out your soul! Let it go so you can grow.

Examine the time. Thank God for getting you through that, prepare yourself and your experience to be displayed, sold and used to help someone else.

God can make good out of "all" bad!

What you getting rid of today?

Elder JDH
Elder James Darren Hicks
Overseer: Worship, Music, Arts & Production Depts.

Director of Audio, Video & Broadcast Ministries

Bethel Gospel Assembly
2-26 East 120th Street
New York, NY 10035

ofc: 212-860-6768
mobile: 646-372-2252

DarrenHicks@BethelGA.org
JamesDarrenHicks@att.blackberry.net

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
PIN: 210A2399

BlackBerry Devotion / Thu, Aug 26, 2010

BlackBerry Devotion

Thu, Aug 26, 2010

Good Morning...

"Touching Can Change Your Designation"
 
Briefly let me say in a few words that THE WOMAN who touched Jesus' hem became his Daughter with a touch.
 
Touch. The sensory element of touching is found all over our body. Many areas are sensitive to touching. Many areas are sensitive to pain when touched…like "biting your tongue" when your teeth "touches" your tongue the wrong way it is a killer pain…almost enough pain to make you ram your head into a wall to re-direct that pain.
 
In the Bible there is a story of "a woman", who had an issue with blood. (Her monthly flow would not cease). In Matthew it is stated that she was bleeding for 12 years. She was an outcast according to the law and culture of that day.
 
Read the story here: Matthew Chapter 9
 
(Mat 9:20)  And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
 
(Mat 9:21)  For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
 
(Mat 9:22)  But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
 
 
She said within herself…. "IF I……. I SHALL…." And she DID.
 
Imagine. Knowing who you are after being LABELED by society of what you should be because of a LAW. She was labeled UNCLEAN, labeled OUTCAST, labeled just a WOMAN.
 
Who LABELED YOU!?
 
This woman was pushed aside by family, MD's, the town she lived in, her neighbors, if she was married SHE WAS OSTRACIZED by her husband because of this "issue". But she HEARD about JESUS coming to a city near her and she made her way.
 
Have you MADE your way IN SPITE OF THE PEOPLE? Have you made your way to JESUS in spite of the PRESS AGAINST YOU? This woman had to touch his "hem" which means she was on her hands and knees reaching for her goal of a touch.
 
Today are you willing to "crawl" to the Master's hem to get that which you need to make a change? IN SPITE OF LAWS, PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS, YOURSELF?!
 
The bible writer calls her "a woman". After she touches the hem…Jesus changes her designation and makes her DAUGHTER! IN FRONT of those condemning her HE CHANGED HER DESTINY with ONE WORD!
 
Can we handle that today? Allowing someone to be touched by us in a way that it produces a LIFE FLOW CHANGE, a CREATED NEWNESS OF LIFE for them, a BREATHE OF FRESH AIR, A RE-DIRECTION…causing them to realize that they are in not a lost soul in the valley of despair but by touching a FACT of LIFE. PURPOSED.
 
You have the WORD in you to change the course of someone's life.
 
Today someone is a HUG away from suicide, a WORD away from a drunken night, A TOUCH away from getting pregnant by someone NOT her husband, a KINDNESS away from being an inmate, a SMILE away from killing someone, a TOUCH away from a horrid LABEL to a NEW DESTINY.
 
This woman THOUGHT it…. SHE DECLARED IT… SHE WENT FOR IT… SHE GOT WHAT SHE NEEDED and MORE…
 
What hinders you from doing the same…. A trial, Circumstances, a LABEL, a ill advised designation? A "He/She won't ever amount to nothing" prophecy over your life…
 
Break it. Lose the label. Grab the Faith. Make the Move towards Jesus. Claim your RIGHTFUL DESTINY!
 
Elder JDH
 
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Prayer Request / Thu, Aug 12, 2010 / 10:39:43 PM Let's Pray...

‎​

My brother my intercessor. I need you right now. My dads mother is in critical condition in washington hospital center. They medi-vac her from the convention.


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Prayer Request / Tue, Aug 3, 2010 / 1:36:43 PM Let's Pray...

Hey papa! I have a prayer request: I am GOING to school next thursday and I don't have my money yet. I found out the loan company made an error 2yrs ago that's affecting me now. I can't get my money as of yet. I'm not putting "supposed to" in the sentence.....I am GOING to school. Will u pray for me?
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Prayer Request / Thu, Jul 15, 2010 / 7:44:24 PM Let's Pray...

Please pray for: Jamal K Thomas in Mount Sinai Hospital. Also pray for His Cousin Lenny Liebert.

From Sister Latia H.
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BlackBerry Devotion. Fri, Jul 2, 2010

BlackBerry Devotion

Fri, Jul 2, 2010

Good Morning...

Short devotion today....

Currently in Hicks House (actually as I type this...)

Our new furniture is arriving. Boxes. All over the place. This stuff comes in 'pieces'.

Well, in order for the NEW to take their 'new' places... The OLD must be discarded! Hmmmmmm....

The delivery men are painstakingly putting together the furniture all under the "watchful" eye of MY DIANNETTE... Cause we don't want no scratches, dings, nicks, cuts, bruises.... On the new!

The OLD MUST GO... Old things are past away...behold... All things have become new...

Thoughts
Habits
Faults
Ways
Pressure
Feelings
Memories....

Move those out so that the new can move in...

Victorious living
Powerful thinking
Freedom in soul
Release from Past Prisons
Newness of Life (Abundantly)

Hmmmmmm got to run.... The delivery men just delivered the wrong dining table base...

What Would Jesus Do!?

Good Morning... Again...

Have a great Weekend....

Elder JDH
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Blackberry Devotion. Thu, Jul 1, 2010

BlackBerry Devotion

Thu, Jul 1, 2010

Good Morning...

"Alignment"

Previously on the Hicks Estate!

As we continue,

Yesterday, I was on my knees in front of my car looking at tires that had been used, worn, exposing metal (steel belt) because of an 'alignment' issue.

I was troubled. Perplexed because my thoughts of my family's safety was at stake! I thought about 'how long' were these tires being effected by the bad alignment and how many miles of road had we traveled 'unknowingly" in danger.

The Process of Aligning a Car is engineered by a machine with 'in fra red scopes' on them, with a gadget that connects to all 4 tires. This units works collectively to use a 'line of site' adjustment. The mechanic then adjusts the 'sway bar' and a few other connection points under the car! To correct the alignment issue.

I purchased 2 tires immediately. Ordered a wheel alignment. Now the car feels new again and the 'rough ride' is eliminated...

Yes! I thought about my life, my walk with God!

When I'm experiencing 'a bumpy ride', when I being 'pulled to the left', 'pulled to the right', when I am not 'feeling GOD today' I have to check my alignment.

I have to check whether or not I am still being directed by His Spirit.

*On our knees is where we 'follow'. On our knees is where we get our alignment corrected. In the presence of the God who love us... We can receive the 'aligning' we should have to live at peace with all men. In the process of aligning through prayer we have the 'MASTER Mechanic' checking our Alignment to make sure we are not 'swaying' from HIS course for our lives.

Mis-aligned tires can 'blow out' causing accidents, injury or death..."Check Yourself before you wreck Yourself".

Are you in Aligned? Are you in tuned!? Are you in the lane where God wants you? Are you allowing God the rights to make 'adjustments'?

Get Aligned.
Stay Aligned.
Ride the wave of God, safely!

Elder JDH

*(Now... I'm using 'on your knees' as a symbolic reference to prayer. Not a prescription on how you get prayer done..... Just do it!)
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BlackBerry Devotion Wed, Jun 30, 2010

BlackBerry Devotion

Wed, Jun 30, 2010

Good Morning...

"Alignment"

Previously in the Hicks Estate...

The past two months of driving has been a challenge. My tires were 'going' bad. I had no idea. The alignment was a mess, I had no idea. The car would shake 'violently' after 65 mph (in my area that's the limit...hmmm) ANYHOW...

I WAS wondering if there was something loose under the car. I slightly bent over, just using my back to 'see what I could see'.... I saw nothing. Then the Lord spoke to me.... Get on your knees...

What I noticed when I got on my knees, what I was 'made aware of... 'On my knees', what I was shown while 'on my knees'

Caused my heart, spirit to be perplexed and shaken. The tires, front tires, were so badly out of alignment that they were riding on the 'belt radials' of the tire.

(These 'belts' surround the inside of the tire with steel for protection and stability)

While on my knees with my new knowledge... I became shaken.... I became slightly disoriented...because the thoughts that flooded my mind of what I just saw was to me... Almost Earth Shattering!

What I realized was it was good for me to be in the 'posture' of prayer while experiencing these troubling thoughts.....

To be continued tomorrow....

"Alignment"
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BlackBerry Devotion Mon, Jun 28, 2010 Good Morning...

Blackberry Devotions Monday June 28, 2010  Yesterday. Sunday. Around 12:35pm. The Words Of life Choir got up to sing. They were singing "Rest on me…Or Rain on Me". The song was NOT going right. There was something wrong with the song and The Choir just could not get it right. NOW in rehearsal just 1.5 hours before the service they went over this song and the "children" SANG IT. You would have thought…YES!!! GOD would be pleased with this song and the preparation. GOD had OTHER PLANS. "SOMETIMES" Sometimes in Life you have done all you can do and the issue won't go away, sometimes you prepare and succeed and still seem like you CAN'T get it right. Back to the service….    Our children were "struggling" with this song. Their leader, Elder Ruth Ann, looked at them and said…STOP…they started the song over and it was "another train wreck"…. GOD "HAS" OTHER PLANS…. "SOMETIMES" As I was in the wings praying for our children I noticed a young man in the choir who was OBLIVIOUS to what was going on and he was only concerned about singing this song. HE NEVER STOPPED PUSHING FORWARD. God said to me as I watch this go on…NOW WATCH ME MOVE…..all of a sudden in the MIDDLE of the song a SHIFTED occurred… and I watched these children SING "PUSH" unto GOD HEARD them and answered their inward prayers for 'deliverance from that song' GOD HAD ANOTHER PLAN… God showed those children NOT to give up because LIFE was going wrong for those 6-8 mins…. THEN BECAUSE OF THEIR Obedience GOD was allowed to moved and tell the CHURCH. PUSH IT OUT…. Like a WOMAN IN LABOR…PUSH… I say to you today…. PUSH UNTIL GOD ANSWERS YOU…. Like JACOB…. TELL GOD NO…!!! I will NOT LET YOU GO UNTIL YOU BLESS ME. Sometimes….it just doesn't go right….. PUSH UNTIL GOD ANSWERS…. As far as the service…. YOU HAD TO BE THERE TO EVEN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND HOW GOD MOVED…. Elder JDH
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Prayer request: Liz Snowden, 6 months pregnant her and baby at risk due to preeclampsia. They are attempting to stabilize her for delivery possibly today. She's in Houston-no family with her. I work with her sister who is also a very good friend of mine. From Leah L.
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BlackBerry Devotion. Fri, Jun 25, 2010

BlackBerry Devotion

Fri, Jun 25, 2010

Good Morning...

"Hidden" Part 5 the Conclusion of these matters.

God has shown me thru the stripping of the floor that this 'process' is:

Intrusive
Noisy
Dusty
Uncomfortable
Painful
However..... Somebody say... "But God!!!"

The process is also
Revealing the Former Beauty of its original design.

It's freeing

Allows you to "breathe again".

It allows the power of "realization" to take hold in your mind. Body. Spirit, that you are not a "prisoner" to your past!

In the Hicks Estate, MY DIANNETTE and I choose the plan of 3 coats, of shellac, to protect our 'investment'. The 3 coats have different applications.

1st coat: to seal the presence of the 'stripped' wood's beauty. (Covering)
2nd coat: "pressure coating" it protects the wood and the first layer from the pressure of being trampled and walked on.
3rd coat: thicker coat... Protects all three bringing a mirror like shine to the floor.

Hmmmm reminds me of the closing words of a old hymn.... "Blessed Trinity"

Think about the Father. The Son. The Holyghost all being active in your 'stripping process' to insure your Complete Wholeness! Bringing out of you a 'shine' previously unknown.

Freedom. Joy. Purpose.

Allow God the Permission to strip it away. All of it! So that He can reveal to the world the Power of Your Purpose. The Glory of your Revealing. The Splendor for HIS creating of YOU!

Strip. Reveal. Release. Shine.

John 8:32 "Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will
free you" MSG

Be blessed.

Elder JDH
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BlackBerry Devotion Thu, Jun 24, 2010

BlackBerry Devotion

Good Morning...

Thu, Jun 24, 2010

"Hidden" Part Four

Yesterday we left off with the natural attribute of wood being 'porous', having the ability to soak in 'stuff'!

My hardwood floor had soaked in the fragrance of curry, then it was shellac'd over which was for the protective "coating" of the wood...

HOWEVER!!!! YOU SEE...

The floor was 'looking good' to the previous owner before shellacing and never was 'stripped' before the protective coating was applied.... So... The fragrance of curry... Invisible!.....

Was being 'sustained' in the wood by a protective coating 'applied' by the owners to protect the floor!

Oh my Goodness! There are things you are "protecting", items you have shellac'd over, 'stuff invisible' to humans eyes, but yet hiding in plain sight!

God! Is the designer of our purposes and lives. He knows our past... HE IS STILL THERE... IN THE PAST! In YOUR past, in OUR past...

Waiting for you to give him permission to strip away YOUR protective coating so that HE can give you a fresh perspective, a fresh outlook, a newness of life... A "BEHOLD ALL THINGS HAVE BECOME NEW" lease on your life!... (I remember reading this... "Oh Death where is thy sting, oh grave where is thy victory)

This 'stripping' process ain't easy. It's painful. Dusty. Noisy. Intrusive. Deliberate. Freeing. Necessary. Uncomfortable.

Allowing God to take away, strip away everything you have "walked on", shellac'd over and forgotten about!

Ready. Set. Go God. Do me!

Part Five the Conclusion tomorrow.

Elder JDH
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Devotion Tue, Jun 22, 2010

"Hidden" Part Two



Good Morning... BlackBerry World!

So yesterday we left off with... Finding a hardwood floor in our home that the real estate broker forgot to 'check into'.

"Hidden Blessing"

In many houses, hard wood flooring can be the 'selling point' for many people. (It would have been a deciding factor for me and The Brown Eyed Diva)... However it also was a hidden blessing, it saved us anywhere from $8,000-15,000 dollars off the selling price. HIDDEN BLESSING!

The Lord spoke to me... AS SOON AS I DROVE IN THE DRIVEWAY that this was mine!

I wrote a check for 'holding' in the driveway before I saw the property. God said... "This is the house"... I accepted. Through my obeying HIS direction... We found 'Hidden Blessings'

All the while MY DIANNETTE was in the car saying... I want to see 10 more places... I was sold because I heard the Lord speak. After the property was shown... She agreed! This is ours!

Now.... What has God asked you to do? What has he told you to 'accept' so that He can begin the process of 'uncovering' to show you your "Hidden Blessings"



Part Three Tomorrow...

Elder JDH
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Test

Check in time: Sat, Jun 19, 2010 @ 2:23:35 PM
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