Sharing the Journey

I don’t know how, and I don’t know when. But this I do know. God made me a promise, and it WILL happen. The how and the when are of no concern to me, because I have full confidence in the WHO. Numbers 23 (NKJV) says plainly, “ God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? ” Praise God! He is a promise keeper. There is no shadow of turning with Him. (James 1:17) Or real-speak, He doesn’t change! God has made me a promise and He will perform it. Like Abram, I tried to help God. I tried to go out and work and bring to pass what He clearly told me He Himself would do. I have since repented and now walk by faith. Now like, Abraham , I believe God. I recognize and acknowledge what is impossible with man is just right for God. He WILL do all He has promised. I also acknowledge that He will not do it because of my goodness or my righteousness or even because I possess great fa

            Some years ago during my Bible reading/study, I came across James 4:17. It’s one of the few verses I can remember the address to. Maybe because something that hurts you stays with you, and this verse certainly hurt. This verse in the NIV Bible says, “ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. ” Even more convicting for me is the NLT rendering which reads, “ Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”  Why is it no one preaches this verse or adds it to recommended memory verses?             When we think of sin, we generally think of horrible things such as murder or rape or even theft. We think of breaking one of the “big 10.” And those things are sin. But so is telling a “white lie” or a half-truth. Going to work and not actually working is theft and therefore is sin. Calling out sick so that you can sleep in or shop online unhindered is a sin. Homosexuality is a sin. So is fornication and adulter

This morning during my devotional reading, a scripture jumped out at me. I mean it really grabbed my attention. So much so that I paused my reading to look at it and ponder it some more. The scripture was 1 Corinthians 2:16, “for ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” It was that last phrase that arrested my heart, “ But we have the mind of Christ.”           I don’t know if any of you have ever had an attack in your mind – depression, fear, anxiety, confusion – but it’s not pleasant. It plays on your emotions and if allowed to continue will wreak havoc on your physical body and every other aspect of your life.  Sometimes you don’t even recognize it as an attack, but your mind is all over the place (so to speak.) You’re plagued by “what ifs” or “if only's”. The mind is a battlefield and if we don’t recognize that, we stand a good chance of losing the fight before we even get started.           The Word of God is our weapon;

I’m currently sitting in my hotel room at the 151 st setting of the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Inc. with the setting sun shining through my window overlooking an empty pool. My roommates have gone out to get dinner and I’m supposed to be finishing up a program for my sister in Christ. But it’s really quiet so I turned to YouTube for background noise. That’s where I got caught up. I’m listening to Tauren Wells sing Known.  I listened to it this morning before going down to the worship service and lyrics touched a chord deep inside my spirit. I shared just a few days ago how I’d lost a bit of the intimacy I’d once shared with my Jesus. (We’re good again now though.) Well, this song articulates one of the things that drew me close to Jesus in the first place – the fact that I’m fully known and loved by Him. As Tauren says, “It’s not one or the other. It’s hard truth and ridiculous grace to be known – fully known and loved by you.” Think about that for

Well, it appears I’m back from my self-imposed hiatus. I once loved to write; couldn’t help but write. Then I published a book . It was not at all what I thought it would be – though honestly, I don’t know what I thought it would be. I was just trying to be obedient to the call of God. Like Peter, I clearly heard Him say, “Come.” And I did. I came out of hiding and writing only for my enjoyment and the small group that would hear me do an occasional poem at church. But, again like Peter, I took my eyes off Jesus and began to sink. Unfortunately, unlike Peter, I didn’t immediately cry out, “Lord, save me.” I floundered around trying to save myself, growing weaker with each dip beneath the surface of the water, listening to folks standing safely on the shore screaming, “Girl, you can do this. You are good. You don’t need them telling you what to do. You got this.” I believed the hype. All the while, Jesus is standing by patiently waiting for me to cry out to Him and ask Him for help

Precious Father, Abba, I come to you Dear Lord knowing that you hear me. Not because of any righteousness of my own or any goodness of mine. I know you hear me because you said when I called you, You would hear me, and You would answer me. Lord, I have so many cares, so many concerns. And as I sit and ponder what to do about them, I am reminded of something I saw just this morning that told me, “ Worry  implies that we don’t quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what’s happening in our lives.” I confess now Father, I’m guilty. I know that you are big enough. I know that you have all power. I even know that you love me. But even knowing this, I do wonder if you’ll do it for me. You can do it. But will you? More specifically, will you do it for me?  And it bothers me that I feel this way. It’s no fault of yours Dear Lord. You’ve gone above and beyond to demonstrate your love for me. I don’t know that you love me simply because the Bible te

You can’t build up until you’ve first dug down deep. In fact, I’ve been told the higher you want to build the deeper you must go. Otherwise, at the first sign of trouble, the first bit of instability, the whole structure will come crashing down. As it is within the world of engineering, so it is in the things of God.  We often say we want to go to higher heights in Christ, but no one wants to take the time to dig that deep foundation. Myself included. I KNOW there is a great call on my life. Honestly, I can’t even begin to fathom all that God plans to do through me or even for me. But this I have finally come to grips with – if I don’t go deep in Him; if my foundation, my roots are not deep; if I’m not firmly planted in Him and His Word, I will come crashing down at the first sign of trouble – with the first winds of distraction. Even the weight of success will cause me to crumble UNLESS I’m firmly rooted and planted in God. When God called me out of my secure position as a civi

What happened to you the girl with all the plans the girl ready to conquer the world What happened to you the girl with the dreams The one whose future was a rare cultured pearl What happened to you and all your dreams your future seamed so bright What caused you to stop to give up the race to throw in the towel to stop the fight What happened to you beloved child of God What happened to all you’d hoped to be What happened to you and the faith you once had Did you forget you must believe before you see Stop trying to figure it out Trust God Let Him lead the way Rediscover the girl you used to be She reemerges each time you pray Poem & Photography by Dutchess Horton All rights reserved Copyright © 2018