http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2011/06/08/the-best-way-to-take-control-of-your-job-hunt
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Thursday, June 9, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Devotion May 23, 2011 / Even So Come Lord Jesus... However"
“Even So, Come Lord Jesus… However…”
I am overwhelmed right now.
I am alive. I am blessed. I am living wonderfully. NO…MY BROTHER has not hit the LOTTO yet…but I am praying for that…#IJUSTSAYING!!! If he playing, I’m Praying…being honest.
It is very early in the morning and I could not sleep for the fact that God is reminding me of WHO HE IS and to WHOM I am! I am BLESSED and OVERWHELMED with Life right now.
Let me explain…
Last week, May 14, 2011, MY DIANNETTE and I sat proudly in Bethel Gospel Assembly Church in Harlem, NYC and watched GOD performed a miracle, Warren the baby boy took him a wife, blessing us with an answer to a 26 year old prayer.
2 Years ago, April 25, 2009, MY DIANNETTE and I sat proudly in the same seats and watched my eldest son, James, married his bride. ANOTHER answered prayer.
I am overwhelmed. It is 1:31am on May 23, 2011, a day that was supposed to be NON-existent to many who believe the LIE of a judgment day foretold by false prophets, I am so glad that NO MAN KNOWS the hour or day as spoken by a TRUE PROPHET…THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
I am remembering my sons, both of them and their births. The passage of life that God gave to us and the experiences of watching them grow up, the JOYS, THE PAINS, THE DRAMAS, THE GLADNESS, THE SADNESS, THE TROUBLES, THE TRIUMPHANT, THE VICTORIES, THE DEFEATS, THE GLOOM & THE GLORIES!
I am remembering the points when it was a THOUGHT to “throw the baby out with the bath water” then I am remembering the POWER OF MY LORD to DELIVER us out of ALL OF OUR TEMPTATIONS. I am OVERWHELMED.
This feeling is NOT one of contempt for life but one of approbation that MY DIANNETTE and I have been securely BLESSED to live thus far.
Sometimes in our life, this scripture WILL play a powerful part of our living: “Psa 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
I FEEL, LIVE AND HAVE BE BLESSED WITH FAVOR! I am overwhelmed!
This devotion is NOT bragging…well only in the fact that MY JESUS is an AWESOME LORD AND MASTER, but a DEVOTION of praise and thanksgiving to the blessings of my life.
I want to encourage you all. JOY COMETH! JOY WILL ARRIVE! JOY WILL DELIVER but you must hold on and watch your life unfold.
Watch yourself LET GO and GIVE Jesus the RIGHTS to change, flip the script, handle, direct, oversee, guide, “QUARTERBACK”, guide and PRESIDE OVER your life and ALL that DETAILS YOU! He KNOWS what HE is doing and HE UNDERSTANDS the PLANS that HE has for you and YOURS!
April 25, 2009 & May 14, 2011 took over 25 years of Blessed times and hard times combined with the desire and strength of God, Family and FRIENDS… IT TOOK A VILLAGE INDEED TO HELP MY DIANNETTE AND I RAISE THESE TWO BOYS INTO THESE AWESOME MEN.
It is never to early to start praying… My Baby girls, Anastashia and Adrienne, James’ wife and Warren’s wife were the second prayer I prayed over my sons, in the delivery room…right after they were born… it went like this: “Lord Jesus thank you for allowing my son to enter in this life, thank you for a safe delivery, NOW LORD…I PRAY for the woman that you are preparing for him to be his wife in the name of Jesus! I don’t know where she is or even if she is born… I pray for her and her family right now in Jesus name!”
That’s when my love for these two wonderful daughters was formed.
It is never too early to pray for your DESTINY! I am overwhelmed!
MY DIANNETTE and I have said it over and over again in the past few weeks… “We could NOT HAVE SET this up ONLY GOD COULD HAVE DONE THIS!”
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
I am surely, as I am living, in Faith believing without a DOUBT that THE LORD JESUS CHRIST will RETURN…. HOWEVER…
I am so enjoying LIFE right now that I am happy HE HAS DELAYED his return. UNDERSTAND ME…I know to be absent from the body is to be present with THE LORD…BUT RIGHT NOW… I want to see WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!
I want to see the next LINE of Blessings; I want to live the next line of LIFE I want to see MY SONS AND THEIR NEW FAMILIES BLOSSOM in THE DESTINY AND MINISTRIES that awaits them… I want to be PROUD a little while longer…
It might sound a little selfish…BUT I AM SO OVERWHELMED with the JOYS of LIFE that I want to LIVE to experience more.
So, in my Joy on this wonderful Monday morning, Share my Joy and be encouraged to know that even YOUR REDEMPTION draws nigh to see the FRUITION of all that you have been praying and waiting on GOD for.
Be encouraged today!
Elder JDH ©
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Sunday, May 15, 2011
The Wedding Video... Mr. & Mrs. Warren Hicks
Warren & Adrienne's Wedding May 14, 2011
This is the video of the Wonderful Wedding my Son and his new bride had on May 14, 2011. (*Video sent with permission of couple)
Enjoy…!
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Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Fwd: Prayer Request.....
Subject: Prayer Request.....
Good Morning Folks!
During our staff meeting yesterday, the president of my company aka my boss
had a stroke. We had to call 911 immediately and she has was admitted to
Westchester Medical Center. PLEASE PRAY that God will heal her. She is 36
years old and has young children. Thanks in advance.
Jason Rodman | Sent from Home Office
Phone: (845) 821-3985
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Friday, May 6, 2011
Happy Mother's Day 2011 from THE HICKS ESTATE to YOU!
*(if you are NOT a Mom...please share it with one that you know from Our
hearts to theirs)
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IMG_1296.jpg
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<http://todaymybrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/> Today My Brothers and
Sisters Blog
<http://theprayerwarriorsnetwork.blogspot.com/> The Prayer Warriors Network
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Friday, April 29, 2011
Devotion Today: 4-29-2011 http://todaymybrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/
Please visit the link: http://todaymybrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/ and leave a comment if this blesses you…
HAVE AN AWESOME DAY/WEEKEND
Tulips: Follow Me As I Follow The SUN/SON
Friday April 29, 2011
Well this is the Last Friday of April 2011. A Day that will be in History as The Day of "The Royal Wedding" in England... Blessings to that Family, that NEW FAMILY, in Jesus name.
Today I am talking about "FOLLOWING THE SUN/SON"
This first Picture:
Show the tulips in the MORNING WAIT!
Waiting for the Sun to appear...they are standing straight on the stems, astute, tall, waiting with their petals closed to avoid any type of disturbances and also to keep in the "blessings" they have received from the day before. THEY ARE NOT SLEEP.... they are WAITING!!!
The Second Photo above shows the TULIPS in the RECEIVING MODE.
The Sun is blasting and they, the flowers, are open to receive the blessings of being in the Sun's Presence. They have waited in the morning, THROUGH THE DARK NIGHT, waiting for HIS ARRIVAL and the rewards of the wait is to BATHE in the PRESENCE of HIS WARMTH and POWERFUL LIFE GIVING SONSHINE....I mean SUNSHINE...
(*Just a thought.... Have you waited, through the dark, have you waited through the cold, have you waited through the pain, have you waited through the rain, have you waited.... HAVE YOU WAITED FOR THE SON!!?)
This next photo depicts
THE FOLLOWING...
As the sun makes His way across the sky, the TULIPS FOLLOW his trail..... *(Where HE LEADS...I WILL FOLLOW....) I remember that song...
The flowers WAIT for him, Then OPEN to receive what He has to OFFER, Then they FOLLOW him across the Sky until he goes and leaves the MOON to takes his place.
You already know where I am going with this....
Will you WAIT...in PRAYER for THE SON.... When HE ARRIVE WILL YOU ACCEPT THE BLESSING OF HIS LOVE, AS HE LEADS...will YOU FOLLOW till THE END....?
This week... it rained...HARD, the temps dropped radically, the outside atmospheric conditions were not conducive for "growth"..... BUT GOD who is RICH in MERCY saw fit to keep those gentle FLOWERS intact....to live another day...
That SAME POWER is AVAILABLE for you this day... IF HE SO CARES ABOUT THE FLOWERS THAT HE CAUSES TO GROW.... HE SO VERY MUCH CARES about YOU!
Wait. Accept. Follow. Grow. Glorious!
Elder JDH (C)
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Monday, April 25, 2011
"Keep Singing and..." http://todaymybrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/
Good Evening…
Hope that you are well on this wonderful Monday evening, Yes, I said wonderful… April 25, 2011.
It is a Good day!
This short devotion to close this day is entitled “Keep Singing and…” I will get to the “and” part in a few seconds.
This morning I awoke to a very “rushed mindset” I forgot to take out the trash and the Sanitation schedule was off because of the Good Friday observance this past week. So naturally I was asleep when I heard AIRBRAKES in my neighborhood and said…. “why are the trucks here today?” then I remembered that the pickup was for this morning… SO OF COURSE I AM DOING THE bird bath thingy to “freshen” so that I can get ready to take all of my trash out for disposal… WHEW…I made…
While getting up on a MONDAY MORNING EARLY!!!.... (off day) I was like hearing a deluge being pour upon us in the meanwhile outside…. YOU KNOW….like many of us reading this I dislike rain…even though it is a necessary part of GOD’S PLAN for the EARTHS LIFE…. My thought was…..UGHHHHHHHH!!!
Garbage duty completed. I finished getting myself ready for this day. My DIANNETTE who is home today, was in the room and she called my name and said Darren come….let me show you something…
Outside. On our Pear tree there was a beautiful bird…NOT SURE what type or kind of bird it was… it was small, beautiful sitting on a Pear Tree in my yard outside of my bedroom window….. SINGING….. She was SINGING…. IN THE RAIN… This beautiful GOD CREATED creature was sitting in the RAIN and GIVING GOD THE PRAISE…. It was pouring and SHE JUST DIDN’T CARE…. SHE KEPT SINGING! My Diannette and I watched her for about 3 mins….quietly from the Window as she serenaded her God song! It was beautiful… she was beautiful…
This is where the “and” part come in…. this bird had a beautiful 4-6 different colors on her head, she turned as she sung her song, you could see all of her colors just illuminate in the rain…
SHE KEPT SINGING IN THE RAIN AND LOOK GOOD DOING IT!
It made me think of something to say to encourage us today, this evening… NO MATTER what our “rain” is…
“KEEP SINGING AND LOOK GOOD DOING IT”!
“KEEP WORSHIPING AND LOOK GOOD DOING IT”!
“KEEP SMILING AND LOOK GOOD DOING IT”!
It rain for only a small portion of the day.
However the SUN did shine and brighten the whole of the town and it turned out to be a very pretty day indeed…. And that bird…she flew away to another tree…. That was at 8:40am…it is now 6:20pm and I can still hear that bird….. Singing….
Elder JDH ©
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Monday, April 11, 2011
Powerful Video... GRAPHIC WARNING.... POWERFUL MESSAGE!
This video is not for the faint of heart but it is a must see. Tuskegee was not the only experiment. I REPEAT….NOT FOR FAINT HEARTED….images are….graphic! Dr. Wilbert Smith is doing the film and the book. He would like for this link to be sent to as many people as possible. He needs the hits. He is also trying to get on Oprah Winfrey's show as well. http://www.youtube.com/smithleonardprod When you forward, as a courtesy, please use BCC so everyone's addresses are not exposed. |
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Thursday, March 17, 2011
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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Monday, February 7, 2011
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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Tuesday, January 25, 2011
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
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Devotion January 18, 2011 http://todaymybrothersandsisters.blogspot.com/
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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Friday, January 7, 2011
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.
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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)
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
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 ©
Friday, December 24, 2010
Monday, November 15, 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 120th to and through the FRONT entrance. MY heart began to pound and race because I knew that my bible was NOT ON ME.
On 120th Street and 5th 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 ©
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