The Unique View

1 Corinthians 9:24-26 in the NLT Paul tells us, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing”. I am reminded with every breath, the race I am running. I know that God has given me the vision and because He alone is omnipotent, having unlimited power, I have won, I just have to run. I may stumble and fall, I may get scratched up and bruised, but run I must.   An athlete does not go into a race with doubt and fear. They are not concerned with who is cheering them on. A runner cannot focus on the runner next to them thought they are aware that they are there. A runner is focused on the run, the finish line, and the score board that tells them if they have beaten a previous record for the win.   Being a runner on the track is the...

    In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest for truth. –Mahatma Gandhi Silence to the mind is just as important as sleep is to the body. There are at least 3 stages of sleep. Stage 1, is that state of drowsiness. Stage 2, is where you are close to a state of relaxation, and stage 3, is where your body has totally relaxed and is now in rejuvenation mode. Silence can affect our bodies in the same fashion. Being in silence opens up the way for clarity and peace. My internal clock dings way before the crack of dawn and I love the early morning hours. This is where I find my clarity. I appreciate the world outside stopping, the chatter ceasing, and most of all, I appreciate being able to hear clearly what my soul has to say, and to hear clearly what my heavenly Father has to say. It is in the silence that I reign in my thoughts...

The past 6 months have been absolutely aggravating. I suffer from Cervical Spinal Stenosis and let me tell you, when things flare up in the physically body, it is like the 4 th of July in the sky. Though I have been walking with this for a few years, the last few months have been different with new symptoms and increased pain. Not good. This past Monday and Tuesday it felt like every bone in my body, eye balls and fingernails hurt and I wanted to crawl under any rock that could cover me completely. Instead I got my Bible and daily devotional and started in with prayer and praise.   Just know, God will use any situation to get your attention and my attention He did receive.      I have two mandates on my life and I am very clear on what they are. My mistake has been desiring support from those who have no capacity. I have reached out to many with no reply and if I did receive a reply, it was a negative one.   I encounter more negative people than I do...

    I make a conscious effort in finding and keeping peace within my spirit and around me. I can feel negative spirits fast and let me tell you, I try to avoid it at all cost. With everything that can and will take place in a day, it is easy to get angry, frustrated, speak ill will, and even want to physically harm someone. Go ahead and be honest. I know I am guilty. I can go back to childhood and fast forward to today, and see many areas where there was no peace. In doing so, I am reminded of all of the many, many blessings that God has placed in my life, and for those blessings, I am forever grateful. In John 14:27 NLT, Jesus says this, I am leaving you a gift, peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. I spent many years self-medicating with alcohol and other substances. I had come to many close calls of my life being a vapor, either by my own choice or by getting to close to someone who meant me no good. I tried to f...

Today, the world is experiencing another tragedy. Paris, France was shaken by multiple bombings with the killing of over 100 people. This latest event marks the worst this country has experienced in decades. Is it the last? No. Can Paris recover? Yes, and recover they will. Nowhere in God’s word does it tell us that we won’t face persecution, but to the contrary, it tells us that we will. The persecution that has taken place not only in Paris, but in the United States, Africa, in Europe just to name a few, should not be looked at as some fly by night event. No, we should be reminded that evil is everywhere and death follows evil. We must remember that our will and resolve will continuously be tested, and in that testing, our faith will be shaken. A test of wills, a test of the fight to stand naked amongst those whose soul desire is to annihilate and destroy the peace and freedom that so many of us have taken for granted. For those of us who read and study God’s word, this sad e...

The wind is a mysterious force, a stirring of the air by nature. When the winds blow nothing can remain still. Today I am reminded that the dreams and visions God gives to us are of no surprise. Every goal, every step towards that goal was spoken into existence long before we were birthed.   Our goals have life because God has blown the wind of creativity from His heart into ours for such a time as right now.    For the past month, I have been in a major slump, physically and emotionally. I have not been able to focus on anything that God has set in place for me to do. The Holy Spirit speaks to me, ushering me to move, to take action, but I feel blocked by the sudden winds of life. Blocked due to brokenness and dread. Blocked due to fear and uncertainty. Blocked by my own thoughts and even the lack of thought. What I do know is that God did not give me a spirit of fear and for that reason alone, I must get up and show up.   As hard as it has been, I dredge al...