Which Way Now

We are inundated with news through TV, radio, billboards, social media on our phones and devises, mail and email and even by word of mouth. We wake up with it and go to bed with it. The devastating events of our world have overtaken our minds, thinking, dashed our hopes, optimism and dampened our dreams. Every time we take steps forward, we’re knocked steps back past where we were due to the news we are hearing. NEWS is finding out, discovering. learning, hearing, about something we previously didn’t know. It can even be a clarification of something you knew, but didn’t have full information or the whole story. News does a lot of things to us physiologically, socially, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually. Depending on the news, your whole being can change in an instant. News of death, injury, sickness/disease, catastrophe, by nature, causes us to go limp, often leaving us speechless and helpless (the feeling of being thrown overboard with both our hands and feet bound). Bad news changes our whole disposition no matter how you try and keep your composure. Recovery time is varied. It depends on the news, the person and the support system a person has. There’s some other news that can have the same impact on our lives, in a positive way: That’s the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Good News of Jesus Christ is the birth, life, ministry, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and one day coming back of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This Good News can not only change your whole being in an instant, but it can also change your eternal destination. Romans 10:9 says, “If you shall say with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart, that God raised Jesus from the grave, you shall be saved (your eternal destination will be heaven). John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life”. 1 John 5:11- 13 says, “And this is the record that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son, He that has the Son, has life, he that has not the Son of God has not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God”. Accept this Good News today. Extra, Extra read all about it!!!! God loves you and has an awesome plan, purpose, design, for your life. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” If you have a pulse, you have a purpose. Each person is uniquely gifted by God. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “Just as each one of you has received a special gift (a spiritual talent, an ability graciously given by God), employ it in serving one another as (is appropriate for) good stewards of God’s multifaceted grace (faithfully using the diverse, varied gifts and abilities granted to Christians by God’s unmerited favor).” Let’s accept this gift of purpose. Let’s live out our unique design and be all that God desires for us to be. Don’t ask a child what they want to be when they grow up, let’s ask them what changes do they want to make in this world. God has uniquely designed us to make changes; to make a difference; to altar or modify the current state of mankind and the mess this world has become. God desires that all be saved, and none be lost. God has saved us and gifted us to reach this world for Him; to change the Bad News to Good News; The GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ. There’s a lot of NEWS in this world; good, bad and indifferent. You can’t change the NEWS but you can change how you respond, react, acknowledge, answer, reply to, come back, or counter to. Let’s herald the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ. “Go ye therefore into all the world, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world”. Matthew 28:18-20

We’ve been taught from youth up that a closed mouth doesn’t get fed. We must ask for what we want. Open our mouths and talk. That seemed to work for the most part, however even after we asked for some stuff, we still didn’t get it. We experienced all the disappointment, frustration, discontentment and irritation of not getting what we truly wanted. Especially as children; a favorite toy, a game, a shiny new bike, etc. But even as an adult; a new job, a new house, a new car, a new start, a little more money, etc., are the all-time favorite requests. It probably never really dawned on us, especially growing up as kids, about this concept of we don’t get what we ASK for, we get what we BELIEVE for. It’s through life experiences, a few ups and downs, trials and errors, that this and most stuff in life really comes into play. Throwing in the towel should never be an option. Ron Wilkerson, Jr. once said, “If you have a pulse, you have a purpose”. A famous quote of Napoleon Hill says, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” I want to impress on our hearts and minds as we start this new year that we don’t just get what we ask for, we get what we believe for. You must believe your purpose. You must believe your heart. You must believe your worth. You must believe your destiny. You must believe your calling. You must believe your vocation. You must believe your wants, desires and yearnings. You must believe yourself. You must believe your life. You must believe your happiness. Edgar Albert helps us out with his poem, Don’t Quit. When Things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and debts are high, And you want to Smile but have to sigh. When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit. Life is strange with its twists and turns, As everyone of us sometimes learns, And many a failure turns about, When he might have won if he’d stuck it out, Don’t give up though the pace seems slow, You might succeed with another blow. Often the struggler has given up, When he might have captured the victor’s cup. And he learned too late, when the night slipped down, How close he was to the golden crown, Success is failure turned inside out, The silver tint of clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems afar, So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit, It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit. CeCe Winans tells us to Believe For It. Let’s start this year having the faith that can reach the unreachable, fight the unbeatable, remove the unmovable, stand the invincible, see the invisible, expect the incredible, receive the impossible, Uproots my problems, know God can solve them, to vision your freedom, FAITH THAT CAN CONQUER ANYTHING!!!! DON’T JUST ASK FOR IT; BELIEVE FOR IT HAPPY NEW YEAR Let’s walk through the door in “2024”

What’s my purpose? It appears as if the pandemic is turning a corner for the better, but we are not out of the woods. New variances are looming. Triple threat of Covid, Flu and RSV. Over 500K dead, many are sick, (with other diseases, non-Covid related), and here we sit with a reasonable portion of our health and strength. And it behooves us to ask the question, “What’s my purpose?” With so much uncertainty, ambivalence, wavering and indecisiveness; it’s only right; it makes sense to ask ourselves what’s my purpose? I’m alive, I’m breathing, I’m moving, I’m thinking, my heart is beating, whatever I been through didn’t kill me, I’ve been given another chance so I have to address, give attention to, answer the question, what’s my purpose? And it’s not just the pandemic we’ve survived, and are surviving, we all have our own story line, our life’s story; and each line is laced; ridden with pain and glory. Personally, I’ve had 7 family members to recently pass away back-to-back to back-to-back to back with un-covid related diseases. And 4 were first cousins in my age range. As we were arriving home from the graveyard from burying my aunt, my mom’s sister, we got the call and received the news that my first cousin had just passed away in L.A. And a few weeks later, received the news that another first cousin died in Bakersfield. I/We can’t just survive this pandemic, I/We can’t just survive this evil and cruel world, I/We can’t just survive our circumstances, I/We can’t be mediocre about it, I/We have to “Thrivive”. I/We have to be “Thrivivors”. We can’t be average, fairly middling, nothing to write home about attitude, run of the mill, common place, middle of the road, indifferent, lack luster, God has just performed a miracle in my life; over 500K dead, and I’m still alive, and I want to know what’s my purpose. What on earth am I here for, and why did God leave me alive? I don’t want to wait on the next pandemic, crises, outbreak, widespread disease, I want to know now. Viola Davis says there’s a difference between having a goal and having a purpose; she said the 2 most important days in a person’s life is the day you were born and the day you discovered why you were born. A lot of us are discounting ourselves and taking ourselves out of the equation and not giving ourselves a fair chance at success because of all the bad that has taken place in our lives. Who said that all of who you are had to be good? All of who you are is who you are! Own it Own all of it. Good and bad Own every heroic deed and experience Even if traumatic; own it Seize the sword No one and nothing can be great unless it costs you something. To live a life of something greater than a hero’s journey, you have only to follow the thread of the hero’s path. Your existence is an amalgamation (combine, merge) of every triumph, every hard fought and won battle and yet here you are privileged and blessed. How do you go from: Broken to Healed Dead to alive Sick/afflicted to well Confused to Sane Locked up to free Angry to At peace Broke to Means/resourceful What are you going to do with the rest of your life? You can continue to live silent or you can choose to live out loud. I’m here today to advocate for you to live out loud. Find your voice, your vision, your victory, your vocation, your volume. Nelson Mandela said, “Life is not worthwhile unless you take risks; take chances; don’t be afraid to fail; Think outside. The box.” Dream Dream Big A life without a dream; is a wasted life. Dreams without goals is just dreams Langston Hughes says What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun Or fester like a sore, and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over, like a savory sweet Maybe it just sags Like a heavy load, or does it explode? Reggie Jackson struck out 2,600 times… But that’s not what he was known for, he was known for his home runs. Thomas Edison had 1,000 failed experments ; 1,001 was the lightbulb Every failed experiment is one step closer to success Got to take risks Don’t fall back, don’t quit If you are going to fall back, fall back on your faith Pray, pray and keep praying P.U.S.H. Pray until something happens You may have the training and talent to succeed but do you have the guts to fail? If you don’t fail, you are not even trying Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship. Are you making movement, or are you making progress? Are you counting your days or making your days count? I’m sure you’ve heard to get something you’ve never had, you have got to do something you have never done!!! To truly find your purpose, you. Have to survive and thrive; you have to THRIVIVE!!! You have to announce to yourself and to the world, “I am a “THRIVIVOR