From the Abundance

Every now and then, an artist needs a blank canvas.  Sometimes that blank canvas comes out of a fresh package, other times it's made by hand, and even still there are times when a blank canvas is created by sanding and painting over an old canvas with Gesso.  Well... this is where I am right now.. God is sanding me and has begun painting over the old painting to create something new. There are times in life when everything around us seems to come crashing down around us and everything we knew to be true is ashes.  The good thing about that is God already said He would give us beauty for our ashes (Isaiah 61:3) . The process of reworking a canvas amazes me but also expresses exactly where I am right now.  Imagine this... you're a canvas that's had a picture drawn on it and as you've walked through life that drawing has been filled with color and texture... brush strokes, flicks of the artists brush, scrapes of a painter's knife, and even some thinn...

                    Lately I've been having dreams about prison and jail but I know for sure that they have nothing to do with a natural jail or prison.  The thing about spiritual bondage is the fact that it can have so many faces, facets and sources.  Think of those pretty winding topiary bushes that form animals, zig zag shapes, words, or even people.  On the surface they look like one big bush or tree, but in reality they can have several sets of roots that end up growing together to create the fullness of the bush.  The same thing happens with spiritual bondage.  I can't say that all bondage is of the devil and all imprisonment is ungodly because Paul declared himself a bond-servant of Christ. First let's look at what bondage means: 1.  slavery   or   involuntary   servitude;   serfdom. 2. the   state   of   being   bound   by   or   subj...

So here we are in week two of spring and it still feels like the winter..well Don't panic!!  We're just getting started.  Every end marks a new beginning and with every new beginning there is a transition phase...   Well now the seasons all kind of run together but there's still a transition.  We don't go to bed in winter and wake up in summer... Let's look at this a little bit... In winter everything is dead, lying dormant, or hibernating.  The trees are bare, the animals are mostly in hiding, the grass is frozen, crunchy and covered with snow, and there aren't many birds singing songs of praise... but underneath allll that, there's life! What appears to be dead is really just going through a transition... the bare trees are producing buds, the hibernating animals are sleeping and burning off added layers of fat, the birds are down south for the winter, the ants are eating stored up food and digging tunnels underground, and the flowers are tak...

I don't about anybody else, so I'll speak for myself, but I am a HUGE fan of cartoons. And as odd as it may seem, I loved the "boy" cartoons as much as the girlie ones... That really doesn't have much to do with what's on my mind other than the Transformers tag line... More than meets the eye! I was thinking about this in reference to Samson (His story can be found in Judges ch 13-16).  You're probably wondering why I thought of Samson and Transformers in the same setting.  Well... let me tell you. Most people tend to believe that Samson was a big muscular man but the scriptures say people question where his strength came from.  That lets me know that maybe he didn't appear to be big and strong, maybe he looked like a regular guy... Looking at Sampson the people had no idea where his strength came from, they knew he was strong because of demonstration.  Not many knew the true source of his power.  Such are most of us... looking at you ...peo...

The best thing I learned this year is what love REALLY IS... all of my ideals, thoughts, assumptions, and expectations of love were demolished and replaced with truth....   Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.   It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.   Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.   It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.    Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8NIV The best way to determine if you love someone or if someone loves you is check their actions based on this scripture.. Love is an action word!  It requires a choice, action, and thought.   I could go on and on about the things I've learned about love this year bu...

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Psalm 126:5 As the old saying goes... after all that I've been through I still got joy!!  That is definitely my testimony for this year.  Life in general really, but I thank God for continually bringing me through.  I am an overcomer!!  I love this scripture because the word for sow, zara`, is not only in the context of planting seed, but it also means to become pregnant.  Many of the things that have caused me to shed tears are the things that God has impregnated me with, or sown into the fiber of my being .  Even thous some of those things have cause me tears... I know when it's harvest time, it's all joy... Proverbs 10 :22 s ays The blessing of the Lord , it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.... so even when I creid a few tears, it wasn't because of God.  Sometimes it was the burdens of those connected to me, other times it was the con dition of the wor ld, and at times it was just...

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives , and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Tim. 5:8NKJV  2012 has certainly been a year all about family for me... I've always been a firm believer that family is not just made up of those you're stuck with (bloo d relatives & those who got "I do 'd" in) but also those you adopt in your heart and those who Gods send you on purpose. My natural family is huge!! I've been finding and have been found by many relatives (thanks Facebook!) this year.  I hope I get to meet them all face to face very soon.  It's so important to know your heritage and who your people are fo r so many reasons... Beyond getti ng to know new family members, I've had a lot of time to spend with the not so new ones this year and boy did I learn a lot!  Yep !  I got to spend a good part of the summer with my nieces and nephew , which was great!  I'd m...