Devotion 3-17-2011 http://todaymybrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/

“Turn The Tape Over Daddy”

 

WOW. 26 Years.

 

Warren Sequoyah Lee Hicks, was born on this day 26 years ago to MY DIANNETTE and ME. It was an adventure from the time of his conception till then time of his crowning.

 

6:25am! WOW. On Saint Patrick’s Day 1985

 

I was worried. Diannette was having a difficult labor. Warren was a big child. There was talk of a C-section and surgery and a whole myriad of terms that for, me, as a nervous Father DID NOT HAVE GOOGLE on my IPHONE, at the time….ahem….to research ON THE SPOT!

 

However, I had PRAYER and a sure word from The Lord, through Peter, concerning my son and his mother, I WAS GOOD! (*Peter, a brother that has appeared in my life thru my most difficult times….a devotion is being written Peter….coming soon!)

 

6:00am The Child and His Mother was in distress…

6:01am Saints were called in prayer!

 

24 Minutes later, Warren S.L. Hicks was born. The OBGYN who delivered my son, Dr. Richard Ignatius, said to me that out of over 10,000 births that he had delivered…. WARREN was the first one where he had to GET ON HIS KNEES to deliver a child!

 

And I thought….. WOW… GOD, THANK YOU….!

 

Warren was indeed a quiet son. “WAS” is the OPERATIVE and IMPERATIVE word there. His small complaints in life were a dirty pamper and a empty bottle, his first words were “DON’T DO THAT”! His big brother James Hicks III, was doing something in the house and MY DIANNETTE was saying to him.…. “DON’T DO THAT” and WARREN repeated it!

 

Coming from a musical family, James and Warren, can’t help but have some of “that” within them BURSTING!

 

James is a Poet. Writing songs to Lyrical Beats.

 

Warren is a singer, with a power in direction….. HMMMMMM which brings me to my title: “Turn the Tape Over Daddy”

 

Warren LOVES MUSIC…. Especially GOSPEL music…. WOW! When he was a child he would try to emulate and copy off of the choir directors that he would see at any of our many church services or concerts that he attended with me.

 

“Where is MY DEODORANT?” would be the cry in my house many of  mornings as we FRANTICALLY look through the house for what WE KNEW was there, cause we had just bought it or just used it a day before….!!!! Looking and searching, searching and looking UNTIL we find a “CHOIR and CONGREGATION” of our toiletries amongst other items that we so desperately needed…. ALL LINE UP and in CHOIR FORMATION.

 

IT WAS WARREN.

 

Warren was in the habit of having CHOIR REHEARSALS AND CONCERTS with our Toiletries. WOW…

 

For hours Warren would set the toiletries up in “sized” order and MAKE THEM SING! He would pretend for hours on end as He listens to: Walter Hawkins, James Cleveland, and many other great musicians of that time.

 

Small items= Sopranos

Med Size= Altos

Larger Items= Tenors

 

“Turn The Tape Over Daddy”!

 

Back then his Favorite TAPE CASSETTE was Walter Hawkins Love Alive 1 & 2. For Hours we would be hearing him directing his choir. I KNEW WE WERE IN TROUBLE when he actually EXCUSED one of the SOPRANOS for singing the wrong note and gave her a TIME OUT from rehearsal, telling her she could not sing in the Upcoming Concert!!!!!! WOW and I PONDERED these events in my heart. We, as his parents thought that these “cute” episodes BUT GOD HAD ANOTHER PLAN!

 

Warren is an amazing singer at 26. An ANOINTED Worship leader. A DEVELOPING AWESOME CHOIR DIRECTOR! Soon to be a WONDERFUL Husband to a BEAUTIFUL young lady WHO has become my second DAUGHTER!

 

Yes I am Proud of Him. We are PROUD of Him.

 

Recent experience: 3 Sundays ago, The Youth Worship Team of Bethel Gospel Assembly was in Charge of leading the People of GOD into Worship. Warren was singing a song at this time…

 

I broke down and started crying….

 

Cause all I could see was a Little Boy saying: “Turn the Tape over Daddy”

 

Happy Birthday Warren.

 

Mommy and Daddy Love You More than YOU WILL EVER KNOW!

 

 

 

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Devotion February 7, 2011 ""YUCKY.. YES LORD YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT???"

“YUCKY…. YES LORD YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT???”

 

This devotion has been 3 weeks in the writing….I tell you… it is not one that I wanted to LIVE through in order to GET it on paper…all I can say is BUT GOD!

 

LIFE!

 

Sometimes life can be so excruciatingly painful to live, dealing with inward battles, outward battles, economic battles, relational battles, family battles, just dealing with STUFF…

 

LIFE!

 

Some of us are smiling through so much pain and debris that we look up and realize that…wait a min…is this supposed to be my life right now? GOD ARE YOU THERE?

 

IF YOU are here then WHERE ARE YOU?

 

LIFE!

 

Such was life about three weeks ago when I finally started feeling SOME KIND OF WAY about mine. I am happy in many parts of my life and then on the flipside very, like, NOT HAPPY with other parts. It started to affect how I was moving through my days and REACTING to my loved ones. THE MAN CAVE was starting to look more and more like a place of refuge for me.

 

WOMEN: **Man Cave … is a place where men retreat when things are topsy and turvy and we need a “space” where there is NO ONE but ourselves** NO WOMEN ALLOWED unless invited! Smiles…

 

MEN: MAN CAVES are not excuses for you to leave your home to greener, so you think pastures, or get drunk beyond sanity, or escape from YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES to you FAMILY! It is a temporary refuge to collect your thoughts on how you should proceed.

 

SOOOOOOOOOO….. as I was saying, I was having a few weeks worth of these moments and they all came crashing down when I spotted two “MICE IN A BUCKET”

 

I, walked by a garbage can and I heard a rustling, looked inside and there were two mice STUCK in a garbage can, with NO WAY OUT…and in the way I was feeling I looked into the can and said to the mice… “TODAY YOU DIE” as I proclaimed my superiority over their measly micely existence, pronouncing their doom in the situation that they were in… “STUCK IN A BUCKET”

 

I walked away with my feelings of… “I WILL KILL THESE Creatures and allow them to feel the wrath of my INWARD pain”….like it was their fault I was feeling this way…

 

Then GOD spoke to me…against all I was feeling and against the reasons of… “MY DIANNETTE would be scared to death…her and every woman I know of these two little cute creatures….so I have to kill them to be the HERO! YAY!

 

THE LORD SAID… “YOU WILL NOT KILL THEM!” I immediately responded with an OUT LOUD “WHAT GOD…I mean YES GOD?”

 

Then the LORD GOD OF ALL CREATION began to talk to me…

 

The LORD GOD began to speak to me and I was like….let me make sure this is you…. He spoke again and “THIS IS ME”!

 

He gave me some instructions, he gave me a clear define lesson, a MUST to do and all that he was saying to me was going against what I was feeling or what I thought my MANLY intervention should have been.

 

Then HE SPOKE “go over to the bucket and look at My creatures” and watch them for Me!”

 

“WHAT GOD…I MEAN YES GOD DO WHAT?” HE responded… You heard ME!

 

In protest… I went! To the bucket and began looking at these mice stuck in a bucket. I was there for 10-15 mins before GOD began speaking again. Then He spoke:

 

“You see them, they are mine. They are stuck. They don’t know why they are stuck but they are, they have no idea how they got into that “stuck place” but they are there NONE THE LESS. YET THEY ARE STILL MINE!”

 

Selah!

 

HE MADE ME WATCH THEM. I looked for another 5 mins then GOD SPOKE AGAIN:

 

“I want you to act like me for a second, SEE YOURSELF AS ME… then he blew me away… YOU ARE CREATED IN MY IMAGE SO ACT LIKE ME for a second…”

 

“He continues: YOU ARE IN A STUCK PLACE…YOURSELF, RIGHT NOW, THEN HE STATES…. I SEE YOU!!!”

 

“I’M WATCHING YOU, NOT JUST WATCHING, I AM WATCHING OVER YOU IN THIS STUCK PLACE!!!

 

I felt like singing “BEN” the MJ song and shedding a tear….

 

 

That moment passed and I said to my Master… “now what”?

God spoke again…. “SET THEM FREE….”

 

I said “WHAT GOD…I MEAN YES GOD… WHAT!!!?”

 

“He responded…. YOU HEARD ME!

 

From the MANLY standpoint all I can see was all of my points for my bravely act of killing these creatures, of a sure-nuf heart-attack for 98% of the women and some men I know….I saw all of my MANLY points go out the window….HAH!

 

So I go into a dialogue with the KING OF kings and the LORD of lords.

 

“NOW JESUS…. These are indeed your creatures and they have to be put to death because…..they are in a place they should not be in and they………………”

 

He SPOKE: as HE began to show me some of my history with Him…

 

“Remember your STUCK PLACES? DID I KILL YOU OFF even when IT WAS YOUR FAULT for being in that STUCK PLACE… ALL I EVER DID WAS WATCH YOU…watched OVER YOU in that STUCK PLACE so that NO HARM would come to you!”

 

I was starting to feel like Moses… I had a “comeback”…. I was trying to use biblically wording “SURELY…you don’t expect me to set them free here where I found them”….

 

Then the KING OF KINGS and THE LORD OF LORDS spoke again:

 

“NO! I expect YOU to ACT AS I have done you…take them to a NEW PLACE..like I have done you…FAR AWAY from the STUCK PLACE and SET THEM FREE JUST LIKE I have done you!”

 

WOW…. SELAH again!

 

A NEW PLACE, AWAY FROM THE “STUCK PLACE” & SET THEM FREE!

 

WOW! All I could do was to take these creatures, HIS CREATURES, FAR from where they GOT stuck and set them free.

 

Then after this was done… he spoke again and simply said to me: “I here, I’m watching you even in this you’re STUCK PLACE! When I set you free, you will see and BE IN a NEW PLACE, Unstuck!”

 

“GOD GOT US”!

 

 

All I can end with is WOW…. I think you get the FULL PICTURE!

 

Elder JDH ©

 

 

 

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Prayer Request from Sister Jo

I got a call about a young girl about 12 years old, who due to complications of a sinus infection developed a brain infection. She is not conscious and in need of surgery. She lives with her mother, who is raising her alone - Miss Hollingsworth. Please pray for the child, her mother, and the medical personnel that will oversee her recovery. They live in Texas.
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Thank you

Devotion January 18, 2011 http://todaymybrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/

“For Granted”

 

Talk about taking IT ALL for Granted.

 

Pro 6:2  Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

 

On Sunday past, January 16, 2011, I saw something on TV, at my youngest brother’s house, that I would have not seen if I were NOT there. I saw a sporting event. It was a football game. NOW to the brothers and sisters reading this you might find it difficult to understand….

 

I DISLIKE SPORTS! I don’t watch them, never cared and you won’t catch me watching any games unless I AM FORCED to and being held captive at home because of some BIG GAME that’s on! I JUST DON’T LIKE SPORTS.

 

Well my brother, Derrizet Lamar, was watching this game on TV…it was his beloved JETS playing another team. I WAS FORCED TO WATCH THE LAST 45 SECONDS…however it was in that last 45 seconds that the Lord shared this thought with me…

 

I watched as the Jets were leading in the game and the time went from 45 seconds to I think 35 seconds and you could tell that the Jets were sort of LACKING IN DEFENSE and I ASSUMED taking for granted the WIN!!!

 

Almost like they were CELEBRATING BEFORE THE GAME WAS OVER!

 

An amazing thing happened just as they “thought they” had won…the opposing team got a touchdown and a field goal… JUST THEN THE LORD SAID…. “DON’T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED…”

 

I updated my social networks with this message at *7:53pm Sunday* “So I was watching the Jets. "Celebrating" too early and gave up a touchdown! Hmmmmmmmm. That will preach!”

Little did I know that I would experience this message before posting it to the Blog!!!.

Here is my “granted story”

I have taken a strong LIKING to a game that I play on my iPhone called “Words With Friends™” for the sake of explanation it is similar to many ways to SCRABBLE™.

This game not only is expanding my vocabulary but it engages my mind in something relaxing that does not involve work… ***that’s important find something to do that helps you relax during your down time, SOMETHING YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE FORGIVEN FOR…. HELLO?***

I AM PLAYING a champion IN THIS GAME. Rarely beaten, I have played this person maybe 15 games and only won once. I am proud of my once. HAH!

On Monday evening, I was in a “tournament” with this person and I was winning by 100 points…. In my mind I was like…I think I got this game…WOW…He had seven letters left…and I had the last move…IN MY MIND I WAS JUMPING FOR JOY AND LEAPING but I refrain my BODY to show those inward expressions…. THEN…. HE….PLAYED…HIS…TILES (letters)….

His word was “toadies” it was on a double word score also as a bonus he gets 35 points for using all of his letter…HOWEVER if you are the last person to play YOU ALSO get the total number of points added to your score from the remaining tiles (letters) of your opponent. I had a “j” and a “z” which are worth 10 points EACH!!!

Needless to say…. I LOST THE GAME! I was hurt…disappointed, AMUSED and almost FLABBERGASTED that I lost. Wait a min…I feel a *tear*…give me a moment…

Even to the dismay of my opponent, who also thought that this would have been MY SECOND win and it just WASN’T.

I took it for GRANTED! That the victory was IN THE BAG!

Hmmmmmmmm….. What are you taking for granted in your life that can be SNATCHED away from you in a moment’s notice?

·        Life

·        Salvation

·        Family

·        Friends

·        Your Job

·        Home

·        Freedom

IN A MOMENTS NOTICE things that we can hold so dear, pleasures and freedoms that we take for granted can be gone from us…

How many times have we taken SALVATION for granted….by saying “I’m SAVED or SAFE so I can do such and such….it WONT HINDER MY LIFE IN CHRIST”

The BIBLE states: (Psa 2:11)  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

 

Stop taking your “life” for granted and begin LIVING your present with clarity of thought instead of visions of grandeur and splendor that arrives in your future.

 

Take time for your NOW. As the OLD adage goes… “tomorrow is NOT promised”.

 

Life. Blessings. MY NOW…Taken for granted….NO MORE!

 

Elder JDH ©

 

 

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Devotion January 7, 2011 "Can You?" http://todaymybrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/

Devotion Friday 01/07/2011

 

"Can You?"

Had a dream of a handsome, guess who, *ahem as I clear my throat* man walking into a room meeting people who could not see nor hear. 

However, the presence of that person was enough to get many smiles from this group of people. 

 

Communication so "deep" that it passes the floodgate of all HANDICAPS. I remember once, Bishop Carlton T. Brown, saying to me that I could make friends with “rock” and be best pals within minutes. I laughed at the statement, but then I thanked GOD for the gift of communication.

Can you? 

There is a child that I love. I love all children. This baby is 8 months old. Her presence makes my world spin INTO CONTROL. This little girl...her name is Heaven spelled backwards... *Nevaeh. She is indeed a small slice of heaven in my earthly world. She is also like an "office mascot". When her parents being her to the office, because it is winter, she is bundled up and all "tucked away" warmly in her stroller...then when the carriage is opened and she can see.... SHE STARTS SMILING...like sunshine on a cloudy day she BRIGHTENS the room. (*thanks to Luther and Ashley)

2 Corinthians 9:10

 

And God who continually supplies seed for the sower and bread

for eating, will supply you with seed and multiply it, and will

cause your almsgiving to yield a plentiful harvest.

 

Weymouth, 3rd

 

The Scripture above, came to my cell phone and as I begin to mediate on its meaning and application for my life, I thought about the dream. GOD continues to supply ME with what I need so that I MIGHT SHARE HIS BLESSINGS abroad. 

 

I hope that I can communicate with people who can't see, hear or are so beating up by trial, error, issues and circumstances that THEY have become "handicap" to the blessing that as long as there is LIFE there is hope.

 

CAN YOU? amidst all that you are currently dealing with bring HOPE to a world that so desperately needs your smile, your love, your peace.... a PEACE, WITH NO DOUBT, PASSES all understanding? 

 

WHAT IS IT? ...about this peace... Peace that passes understanding.... there is NO REASON, looking at the struggles you are in...that you should be smiling.... however because "THIS JOY THAT I HAVE.... the WORLD didn't give it to me..." this peace, joy and the attributes of a CHRIST LIKE spirit comes from a source that is NOT affected or IN-fected by the external vicissitudes of life! so I ask... "CAN YOU?"

 

Are you the catalyst for disaster or the messenger of tranquility?

 

Can you assume the STAND even though your own knees feel like buckling under the pressure and weight of your own life?

 

Can You?

 

Elder JDH (c) 

 

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"

*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

 

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 ©