Defeat is not an option!!!

EXODUS 14: 10-15 and 21-22

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians coming after them. Then the Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. 

11 They said to Moses: "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

12 "Isn't this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than die in the wilderness."

13 But Moses said to the people, "DON'T BE AFRAID! Stand firm and see the Lord's salvation He will provide for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again."

14 "The Lord will fight for you; you must be quiet."

15 The Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to break camp and march.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided,

22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.

Wow! If you haven't had a chance to read in the Bible the exodus of  Israel from the land of Egypt you should definitely take some time to check it out. Amazing stuff! But getting to the topic of the day. Reading this biblical story has reminded me once again that "DEFEAT IS NOT AN OPTION"!

Just like the Israelites, when we're in difficult times; when we're in situations that we don't know where to turn or where to go; when we feel like where stuck, sometimes all we do is complain and want to quit. The adversity we face feels virtually impossible to overcome. We feel like we're stuck in between a massive army and a sea of problems and have no way out. 

Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever wanted to quit because your problems look so bad that you think there is no way out? Well if you have ever felt like this your not alone!

Look at the Israelites in the story above. God had already showed the people of Israel His power and glory in Egypt when the Pharaoh did not want to let them go and fulfill their destiny. God brought upon Egypt 10 plagues and God took the Israelites out of slavery and servitude with an iron fist. Now, the Israelites find themselves in between the Pharaoh's army and the read sea and no where to go. What's the first thing they do, THEY START TO COMPLAIN!!! They are all like; "why this? why that? why us? we should of, would of, could of! It's your fault Moses! LOL sound familiar? I don't know about you but sounds like me back when I've been in tough situations. I started complaining and looked for someone to blame. 

Defeat to the Israelites is imminent; but what does Moses tell them?  "DON'T BE AFRAID! Stand firm and see the Lord's salvation He will provide for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.The Lord will fight for you; you must be quiet." In other words he says to them: Defeat is not an option! Be easy and stop complaining. Trust in God and the problems you are facing now the Lord will save you from  and they will cease to exist.God is telling you today defeat is not an option and to trust in Him. He will fight for you and help you through.

So your probably thinking, "yes Henry, I know I have to trust God, and yes I know I need to be positive and not complain, blah blah blah.... I've heard it all before!" I've done that. Why aren't things getting better? Well guys, it's the next step that makes things happen. Next, God tells Moses "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to break camp and march." 

Sometimes we past the time crying out to God saying "Lord please save me from this! Lord please take me out of this situation! Lord I can't take anymore... HELP!" When in reality we should be marching and taking action! Just like God told Moses "Why are you crying out to me? March!" God tells you today the same.

Defeat is not an option and it's time to stop complaining and it's time to take action. When you believe in God and take action, just as the red sea for the Israelites, your adversities will part to the side and you will walk through them over to the other side like if they weren't even there. God bless you all and remember to never give up because DEFEAT IS NOT AN OPTION!

Short prayer

Lord give me the strength to fight and not give up. God I trust in you and I know you will liberate me, save me and take me through the sea of problems I have me in life. Lord you will take me to the promises you have instilled for me. Thank you God for giving me the power and will to take action.

Prioritizing your true necessity first!

When it comes to life and prioritization, I can truly say I haven't been the best example! However, that's OK because I'm learning. I'm learning that in life, sometimes what we feel to be our true necessities really aren't. What we decide to put 1st or 2nd should really be put 3rd, or even 4th on our list of priorities and what we put 3rd or 4th should actually be 1st or 2nd. I don't know about you but I can truly testify that my list of priorities have been out of whack (very out of order). Jesus says in Matthew 6:33 - "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things will be provided for you."

If you read in Matthew chapter 6 from verses 25-34, Jesus speaks and says how the natural tendency of humans is worrying about what we will eat or drink; what we will wear; how we will live; basically we worry about our necessities and how we will provide them for us and our families. We don't do this sometimes or occasionally; If you notice, we do it on a daily basis. We're constantly worrying how we will pay those bills for our home, car, cell phone; is the refrigerator empty; how will we get better pay or money, trying to advance our careers; worrying about our education....etc. The list goes on and on! But ask yourselves.... While you prioritize: Where are you putting God? Do you put God 1st? 2nd? 3rd? Or do you completely even forget to acknowledge Him?

The obvious answer to that question should be 1st! Jesus clearly tells us that God should be the 1st thing on our list of priorities because then all other things will be added on there after. God is our heavenly father and he says "Why do you worry about all these things?". "All you have to do is look for Me first and then all that other stuff will come!" You see, I myself am culprit in putting God on the back burner at times and I'm very sorry for this but the first thing needed for change is admitting it. Sometimes I would forget entirely to give Him anytime at all. How horrible is that when God gives us 24hrs everyday and we can't even give Him 2hrs, 1hr, 30 mins, 15 mins or 10 mins, not even 5 mins at times. I don't want anyone to get offended or feel bad because you feel like I'm stepping on your toes, but I mean to do so. Someone had to step on my toes to help me see the truth as well. I'm going to give you an example of a typical New Yorkers day because I have been there myself.

Alarm goes off at 6am because you have to be at work at 8am. So, an hour to get ready and an hour commute right? Wrong! You hit that snooze button because you wanted an extra 10 mins of sleep. Now it's 6:45am and you only have 15 mins to get ready and now your rushing. You hop in and out to take a quick 5min shower, throw on some clothes and your out the door. No time to eat breakfast of course! You make it to the train in the niche of time just as it's closing the doors and your squeezed in between two people who you really wish had time to take a shower this morning. Finally make it to work, and as soon as you get there your boss is telling you things that need to get done for the day and must be done immediately. The day has been hectic and now, FINALLY lunch break! You only have 30mins to eat lunch but in reality it's only 5mins because you have to wait in line for 25mins since you woke up late and never had time to make something to bring to work. Well, you scarf down your food and as your chewing on your last bite your back to work. The rest of the day goes by so fast your behind on your deadline and need to do some overtime to finish up. It's now 7pm and your finally done with everything and it's time to commute back home. After a long excruciating ride home, you walk in and now you have to make dinner, and do some choirs. Finally it's 11pm comes around  and your exhausted! You hit the bed like a pile of bricks. When you wake up the next day you do it all over again. Sound Familiar?


I hoped that story amused you but I saw myself doing this almost 5-6 times a week. But here's the interesting question to all this; WHERE DID I HAVE TIME FOR GOD? If your in this type of situation or something similar.... YOUR NOT ALONE! I have been there. Remember this... We are masters of our own destinies. My days went like that because I allowed them to. If I would wake up when I was supposed to I could have giving God 15 mins in the morning before I left in some prayer and meditation time. Maybe I wouldn't be in such a rush and would pack something for lunch and could have spent 5mins at work reading the bible during my break.

Many Christians are under the concept that they can't give God 2hrs everyday because they are just to busy. In reality God can be the 1st thing in our lives; the 1st in every aspect of our lives, in every situation, and every moment if we let Him be. For instance, prayer time is not just done on your knees! Prayer means talk with God. You can talk to God while your walking, or driving to work, right? You can talk with God while your doing choirs; while your cleaning or cooking, right? But it's not just talking to Him that puts Him first. It's acknowledging Him in every aspect. Thanking Him for everything! Praising Him with a song while you work. Keeping Him and His wonders at mind at all times. When we do this and put it in practice, you'll realize that we can give God a lot more than a couple of hours; we can give Him a lot more than even 24hrs worth! WE WILL GIVE HIM OUR LIVES!
God bless you all and always and I hope you come back to enjoy some more of my thoughts and blogs. Remember, you are not alone!

Short Prayer

Please forgive me Lord for not giving you the time you deserve. I acknowledge that in my list of priorities you should be #1 and I want you to be. Thank you for your mercy and love and I know your helping me put you first in my life above all things. Amen

He renews our strength.

Isaiah Chapter 40 verses 28 - 31 says: "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God,  the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint."

WOW!!! What an amazing message. What a tremendous promise we should all be holding on to. I love the way it starts... "DO YOU NOT KNOW? HAVE YOU NOT HEARD?" LOL...... That's awesome. God tells you today, if you do not know or haven't heard, he's telling you now.

Hey! It's a normal thing for us to grow weary, become tired, stressed, overwhelmed to the point that we want to give up. We're all human! I don't think there's a superman anywhere in existence that can't and won't ever feel the burdens of today's world.
I was speaking to my pastor the other day and he told me: "Henry, do you believe that I don't get overwhelmed or tempted? I'm flesh and blood just like you! When that happens I just implement the principles of the kingdom of heaven." When he said that to me it made me realize something. We are all human and even though we can become weary at times; for those who believe, they have an almighty God that can restore them and give them strength and help them keep going.

If we return to the scriptures up above, verse 30 says "Youth may faint and grow weary and young men stumble and fall".  That telling us that IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN! It's a certainty! You will grow weary and you will stumble and fall. Now, it's what you do afterwards that counts. When the world looks like it's over and you can't go on any longer; what are you going to do? Look at the scriptures and what it says right after that; it says "young men stumble and fall, but".... what does it say? It's says "BUT, those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles".

Now I don't want to get all English teacher like on you, however let's just take a look at the use of the word "BUT" in that sentence. As you all may know, "but" is a conjunction (a word used to join two parts of a sentence) that is used strictly to suggest a contrast or contradiction, express an affirmation after a negative sentence, or express an exception to the first part of the sentence. In this case the word "but" is being used to express an "EXCEPTION" to the first part of the sentence.

So in other words, yes it might be inevitable that you will become overwhelmed, get weary and feel down and out but there is an "EXCEPTION" to the rule. What's the exception? Simple.... "BUT those who TRUST in the Lord will renew their strengths!" You just gotta trust in God and that He's there. He will give us strength where there wasn't any to spare. There's no limit to God's understanding! He understands our situation and helps us if only we trust in Him. The great news is that God never ever becomes weary and faint. All we gotta do is believe and keep going and giving it our all. He will make us fly like the eagles we all are!

However saying to "trust God" is basically saying have "faith in God". Having faith is the certainty of what is hope for, the conviction of what is not seen. So yes, to trust God you have to have faith that all those burdens and problems, even though you haven't seen it happen yet, they will be conquered and you will be victorious.

So if your having financial issues; issues with your spouse or significant other, physical or health issues, emotional issues, spiritual issues, family issues or you feel like the whole world is on your shoulders and you can't take anymore and  you just want to give up: I tell you, your not alone! Look towards the Almighty and trust Him. He will give you the strength to fight and keep moving on. God bless you all and until next time.

Short Prayer:

Thank you God because I know your with me and your helping me through all my adversities. Renew me like the eagle and I'll spread my wings and will fly high above all the issues and burdens in my life. Thank you Lord for renewing my strength and will to fight. Amen

His Mercy is Great!

Just recently I had a tremendous encounter with the Lord. I understand now that His mercy is so immense that there's no way you can rationalize or understand it, you just have to accept it. Mercy goes hand and hand with His ever loving grace. It's a gift to us. If we look at the definition of  the word"gift" it is defined as: something given freely for no recompense. God offers us His mercy for nothing in return and we can choose whether or not to accept it and appreciate it.  He endows us with His mercy even though we don't deserve it. It's astonishing, really! Let's read in Mathew Chapter 18 verses 11 - 14 so we can take a closer look at the Lord's mercy towards His children.
It says: "For the son of Man comes to save the lost. What do you think? If a man has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, won't he leave 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray? And if he finds it, I assure you: He rejoices over that sheep more than over the 99 that did not go astray. In that same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish."

Amazing!!! That's exactly what I have experience these last few days. Glory be to God, when he saw me  straying away He came to recovery me. He showed me His mercy and I returned to Him - Key phrase here though is not that he came to get me but it's "I returned to Him". It took me hearing His voice and deciding to go towards Him as he was calling for me. Just as a sheep when it hears the voice of her shepherd, she has to listen and return to Him. I chose to listen to His voice when he called me and I returned. How many times have we heard God's voice and refuse to return to Him?

I highly exhort to those that have heard the voice of God someway, somehow; He's calling to you, LISTEN! He just wants the best for us and wants to bless you greatly. I assure you that you will be happy and rejoice when you decide to come back to the good shepherd because it's exactly where we all need to be. I have realized that without God; without my Lord and savior Jesus, I am truly lost in the wilderness. Hope my testimony will help you on you path back to the Lord. God bless you all. Amen!

Learn how to fight back by defending yourself!

We have all heard the saying, "Defense is the best offense!". When it comes to our walk in Christ, there couldn't be a better expression to teach us how we can achieve victory in Jesus' name. Ephesians 6;11 says "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil", and verse 13 goes on saying "Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

So what does this all mean? Both verses express the need to, now here's the key word, WITHSTAND the devil and his evil tactics. In other words, we have to hold our ground, stand tall and defend ourselves. Lets face it, the devil is not going to stop attacking and he's going to try everything and anything to take us out. He's going to throw everything he's got (even the kitchen sink!) to take us off balance so that we lose our footing and fall flat on our faces. He wants us to stop fulfilling God's will. That's how he operates!

Now that may seem like the problem but that's not the problem! Here's the problem; Many of us, and when I say many of us I include myself because I'm of no exception, we're losing our battles because we're trying so hard to fight back. Our focus is so much on the offense, and meanwhile, we don't even realize that we're getting hammered by the devil's attacks. If we aren't paying any mind to the defense, that's a big mistake. Brothers and sisters, our focus needs to be on the defense as well as the offense.We need to be prepared and alert because an attack can come at any given time, from any person,and  in any place. You have to understand that the devil is so cunning, he knows when your defense is down; he knows when your most vulnerable.

One of the key points of raising our defense, or better said the main key point to maintain our guard up is prayer. We need a healthy prayer life in order to "withstand" those attacks, as the scripture says in the book of Ephesians. You see prayer is more defense than anything else. Many make a big mistake and use prayer as an offense attack against the devil, when in reality, it's meant to keep us strong in defense. You see, God gave us specific tools, or weapons that are meant for specific situations. We can't use a tool for a purpose it's not meant to be used for; or we can't use an improper weapon during a battle, or can we? The job won't get properly done, or we'll lose the battle! It's like using a screwdriver to hammer a nail, or a hammer to screw in a screw; or better yet, it's just like bringing a knife to a gun fight. In any of these cases, we will lose. We have got to understand and learn how to use the weapons and tools the Lord has given us. In Ephesians 6;11-18, Paul gives a list of things we need to put on as armor and their specific purposes. You can see for yourself, our offense is the WORD OF GOD, not prayer! Ephesians 6-17 says, "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God". That's our weapon of offense against Satan. When Jesus was tempted by Satan himself, Jesus used specific scriptures from the book of Deuteronomy to rebuke Satan, not prayer.

Now, with said, many Christians only use prayer at the moment of struggle, or when the battle shows it's ugly face. Once again, a big no no! Jesus said in Mathew 26;41 "stay awake and pray, so that you won't enter in temptation". He didn't say after temptation comes to go pray! He said to be on your guard, defense up, always vigilant and praying so you won't enter into temptation. Basically, what our beloved teacher, master and Lord is saying, is to stay alert, aware and attentive with prayer so that you can defend yourself from temptation and won't fall into it.

My beloved, I leave you with this and remember this always: Our victories begin way before the battle, on our knees! May God continue blessing you all in a great way. Amen!

Why read and study the bible?

Mathew 4:4 - "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

When Jesus quoted this verse from the Old Testament, he made it very clear on the necessity of the word of God in our lives. Learning and living the Bible is God's will in our lives. Some of us, if not most of us try rationalizing our lack of Bible study by saying "I'm too busy or studying the Bible is to hard". My brothers and sisters, don't let excuses stop you from studying the Bible! If these excuses sound familiar, it's time to push excuses aside and begin to realize the purpose of the Bible in our lives. I met a girl a couple of years ago who asked me if I knew what the word Bible meant and of course I said, "SURE I DO!". Then she said, no, it actually stands for something; do you know what it stands for? Then I said, well then no I don't know, what does it stand for? What she said was the most astonishing, and most truthful thing I had every heard come from someone's mouth. She said, "The word Bible or B.I.B.L.E stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth". Now, isn't that amazing? I'm not sure who came up with that acronym, or where she heard it from but it's the absolute truth!

Everyday Bible study allows us to learn those basic instructions God has given us so that we may live healthy, happy, peaceful lives full of hope, faith, and love. I'm currently reading a book called "How to study the Bible" by: Robert M. West and in this book the author gives 10 top reasons why we need personal Bible study. Here they are:

1. To settle the issue of our own salvation: This is our primary issue, and it needs to be settled in everyone's life. (2 Timothy 3:15) says: " From childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. God uses His word as a means to save sinners. As we think about our conversion, we may identify with Bible verses God used in our lives to save us. However, many Christians could experience doubt about their conversion, and through the learning of those portions of scripture, we can be reassured about our own salvation. The more knowledge we have of the Scriptures the more confident we'll be in our walk in Christ.

2. To grow spiritually: We should desire God's words like a baby desires nourishment for growth (1 Peter 2:2) . Peter also instructed the early church to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). The Bible refers to itself as food for the soul, so we need to have a deep down desire, an intense hunger for God's word so we can grow in understanding and spiritual strength. Like our bodies which need food for survival, as well does our soul which needs spiritual food from the Bible. In Ephesians 4:14, Paul also expressed his concerns as Peter did for the growth of believers. He said that if we grew into mature men with a stature measured by Christ's fullness, that then we would no longer be like little children, being tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of doctrine or teachings done by cunning and deceitful people. If we don't study the Word of God and neglect to develop our understanding of truth, we can be easily influenced by false and erroneous teachings. Studying the Bible will help us grow spiritually and protect us from bad spiritual influence.

3.To receive personal blessings and encouragement: Paul wrote, "For whatever was written in earlier times were written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4 ASV). As believers, we sometimes go through times of discouragement. When we study the bible we come across hundreds of promises God has given us in order to give us hope in midst of our struggles. Our God is a God of patience and comfort and he wants to encourage us. The bible was written for our education, so the more we learn, the more we can be encouraged.

4. To receive personal guidance: We all come to a point in our walk in Christ where we ask this question, "So, what should I do now?" Psalms 119:105 says, "Your word is lamp to my feet and a light to my path". The psalmist knew that with the learning of God's word he would have a clear direction in life because its effect was like having a lamp for life that lit the way before him so he could see where he was going. As we seek God's guidance, he leads us with His Spirit (Romans 8:14), which always agrees with God's word. His Spirit's leading never contradicts what God has written and if our personal decisions contradict what was written in the Bible, then we can be 100% positive that we aren't being led by God.

5. To defend ourselves against the devil: Even if  you have been a Christian for a short while, you know that the Christian life involves spiritual warfare. That's why Paul instructs us to "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the tactics of the Devil" (Ephesians 6:11). My brothers and sisters, we are in constant battle against Satan and he uses many different methods to keep us from doing God's will. His evil strategies are so conniving that we don't even know when it's him attacking us. Our only defense against his assaults is putting on the full spiritual armor of God: Christian character and lifestyle empowered by God's Holy Spirit. A vital part of His armor is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (verse 17). When the Devil stood before Jesus to temp Him (Mathew 4:1-10), Jesus quoted straight from the book of Deuteronomy to take down everything the Devil had to throw. Three times Satan tried to tempt Jesus and every time Jesus answered with "It is written" and then quoted from the Scriptures. Bible study will allow us to remember those specific verses we need to apply to our daily lives so we can overcome the Devil's evil schemes.

6. To effectively teach God's truth to the next generation: (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) gives instruction about loving God, His Word and loving our children by teaching them God's word. "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up" (verses 6-7). As you see, God's will for us is to have a happy, loving and peaceful Christian home, not by simply teaching but by teaching our children diligently about God's Word. Parents are the primary teachers of their children, and they can only do this effectively if they first learn God's Word themselves.

 7. To be able to counsel others:  God wants to use us to provide knowledge about His Word to others. "Let The Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another" (Colossians 3:16). In time, God wants to use you to help others who may be newer to the faith. As you can see, the scripture intsructs to "Let the word.... dwell in you", or literally be at home in you. It should take up residence in us and influence every part of our lives. Not only that, but it continues on in saying that the word should "dwell in you richly in all wisdom", pointing out that we're to have a full understanding of the Bible. Then we can be a good friend and provide wise counsel.

8. To be ready to speak to unbelievers about Christ: "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you for a reason for hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15). Our concerns as Christians shouldn't be winning arguments but winning people. We should be able to answer questions when we're asked and give an explanation about our faith. Some people who won't listen to a sermon may want to find out about Christ in a more private conversation, we we need to be ready.

9. To verify that the teaching of others is the truth of God: One group of early Christians, the Bereans, stood out from the rest. "They received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). My brothers and sisters, just as the Bereans, who were so devoted and committed to studying the scriptures to make sure that what was being taught to them was indeed completely true, we also need to do. It's a huge mistake for us to accept the message of Christian teachers just because they're humorous, dynamic, on television or radio, or have written books. We need to validate through our own study, that what they're teaching is according to what God teaches us through His holy Scriptures.

And last but not least!!!!

10. To present ourselves approved to God: (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB) says "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth". Learning God's truth involves the work of studying. We should be like divers who work to locate pearls in the bottom of the ocean, or miners who labor to find gold in the deep bowls of the earth. Christians are workers who study the Bible to Discover God's truth.We live our lives before God as servants. We regularly present ourselves to Him in order to be examined, and we hope to have a sense of His approval and eventually hear from Him "Well done, good and faithful servant. 

Being said this, we should know that divine approval will come from diligently studying God's Word so that not only can we accurately share it with others, but so that  we can also grow as strong, faithful, and devoted children of the faith, whom have a clear direction in life, and are able to defend ourselves with the divine words of truth; proclaiming salvation and encouraging others with all love and humility in Jesus' name. Amen!