Genesis 28:3-4

"And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham." That is truly the "blessing". Making you a people, and giving you the land. God promises this to His own precious posession and isn't it true. He sets us into His body the church and makes us family, one with another. He gives us of His bountiful hand and makes us heirs of "all things". This is no small blessing, but truly possessing Him is above all of those tangible things. I find it amazing that Jacob could see that as a thing to fight his brother over. And then show his children that it is a fight, but there is still enough to go around, if there is one child or a dozen of dozens of children. God is not stingy, but He desires to be sought after. The loss is ours, if we don't seek Him. More than the blessing is ours, if we do seek Him. He promises and hides many more promises in His word, than we will ever uncover. Every one of them is ours. We need only seek and knock and ask. Abraham blessed Jacob. Jacob blessed every single son of his. In the new covenant, women are not excluded from the blessing. "He came to seek and to save that which was lost..." lost sheep and lost coins and lost principles in the hardness of our hearts that happen. God doesn't miss those. Halleluia, what a Savior!

If I live one hundred years, I will never get over the sense of Spiritual warfare that I see at watchmeeting.

My sweet meditations of my Savior are always heightened in the bringing in of the new year. 2014 was no different. This time my thoughts were on the 10 virgins. Is it midnight? Are we carrying our oil? Is Watchmeeting the oil?

I was still chewing the cud from last year's watchmeeting "Back to the Future". My children played the part of the sleeping babies on "Cabin" they were completely in character. They are much too old to still be playing that part in the reality, but I am never surprised at that. There is something about the comfort that your soul is cared for by the King of Kings that makes some children sleep. I am never quite that comfortable on Watchmeeting.

I am the watchful one. Shocked that no matter how we expect God to meet with us, He always meets us more. It is a tradition. They have done this since the beginning of time, it seems. The very same story that happened in "Cabin" seems to replay, year after year after year. Only, this time it was very different in that the spiritual battle was more corporate than personal. Cabin is about how the devil is negotiating soul by soul to carry the unsuspecting sinner to his eternal torment. How the angels of God intercede through the loving prayers of the "Petunias" of the world to deliver some to the grace of God, in spite of themselves.

I am not one of the ones who doesn't know that Jesus is coming. I do know that, but this service, though it was filled with many unfamiliar faces, we were one and the reality of the eternal nature of what we were doing seemed all the more significant.

Worship. That is what we were there for. Like in the upper room, there was a sweet oneness of spirit. God had provided some real talented and spiritually expressive leaders for us to be guided into the presence of the Lord. The warfare was tangible.

Food, coming next and that is always a distraction from worship, as are the realities of the cares of this world. Succulent smells of delights to be tasted were pulling the mind from what we were doing. And yet that fed into the reality as well. Is not the anticipation of Heaven always the smell of what we are doing when we worship? Waffles and grits and eggs and sausage, not to mention sweet fellowship with delightful people were going to be enjoyed after we finish here. Can I remember what I am doing and still worship God, with such distractions?

Still, it is effort that carries the soul from caring about the things of this world to the reality of what we are doing. "No sleeping this year, guys, please?" I longed to sense that my children were as much in expectation of God to meet us in this wonderful tradition of spiritual warfare that our forbearers have bequeathed us as entering in. Oh do remember Lot's wife, mommy and don't let even the souls of the children in your care make you lose this "match". Getting your own soul to heaven.

Like a quarterback calling the play for the year, this minister and the group of ministers in the pulpit seemed to me. The God of the universe has special gifts of more of His presence to share with us and we must prepare ourselves. They bellowed the word of God, each in their different ways. God wants to use the reality of the unity of the Spirit that our forefathers have left to us to draw His Bride into communion with Himself. Woe to us if we despise what God has chosen to use in these last days to clean and provide for Himself a Church without spot or blemish. He will unify His Church with us or without us.

Make us one, O Lord. I caught the pass from the quarterback{the vision of expectation of God's unifying process in 2014} and I am sure that the Lord is doing His spiritual work on earth through the people of God, with all of our flaws and distractions and taking for granted the blessing of knowing Him.

Halleluia, What a Savior, Make us One, and Maranatha.

I Need Thee Every Hour.

Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. Luke 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? Luke 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Where is your treasure? Perhaps it is that leanness of quantity in this or that area can drive us to God or away? It is not automatic that the soul attributes leanness to the good providence of a loving father. It is instructed in the mind, it is expected of the believer, truly…”Thou hast taught me to say… It is well with my soul” but is it? Wellness of soul in leanness of circumstance is not a verbal ascent. It is a confirmation of the Holy Spirit to give that blessed assurance and it is prayed and sought for, not talked about and demanded as a resource. Let us not follow the masses who claim assurances that have never been tarried for or asked of the Father. Let us not lie to oneanother and say we are well when we need prayer and help and grace to help in the time of need. The battle is not a lone fight but a corporate one. It is me, o Lord, standing in the need this morning. Blessed Assurance, notwithstanding. Halleluia and a sacrifice of praise, but in need nonetheless. I trust my Jesus to fulfill His every promise. In Jesus Name, Amen

Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.

I was so struck by the remaining sin of NY pride {not to mention Black pride} that remains in my experience{to my shame, I confess}, even though years of attempting to mortify the sin is behind me.

I move to a little city and my remembrance and love of the "greatest city in the world" hangs onto my soul like a sore. I am missing home, for sure. I am proud of my roots, maybe. God has a way of turning even this canker to His own glory.

I heard it in the Tabernacle this morning. The testimony that where sin abounds grace also much more abounds. Like the towering testimony of mans ingenuity and the beautiful weaving of symphonies to delight the ear, God has not left us New Yorkers without a testimony of grace abounding. He seems to say, if you must boast, which seems inevitable, coming from the greatest city; boast of the light of the city of your heart, Jesus.

Boast with as much vigor that Christ has delivered and is continuing to deliver you from sin and shame and maybe the pride of place and circumstance may be sloughed off in the delighting in the true "Light of the World" having come to you. It is truly a spiritual precarious position to be in, but our Lord has grace abounding. Halleluia, what a Savior.

Help my tongue today, dear Lord.

2Peter 2; For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. .../But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

The power of words to exalt the pride is clearly evident, in experience and in this passage. I see Peter taking this dangerous dog to task in his observations, by the power of the spirit, giving us, who deal in words ammunition to slay the dragon of beastiality that words enflame in our hearts. Beware, he bellows. The greater the words that you engage in using the more puffed the heart usually becomes. Look at the angels who sinned. Look at the puffed up judged people groups.

Peter, we are tempted to say. Are you not jealous of the giftedness of the wordologists that have fluidity to put into words their observations. I think Peter was talking to himself. Christ gave him all of the education that he received and yet his power of speech that kept increasing kept him aware of his remaining depravity. I think that is often why the prophets were talking about the corruptness of their tongues first and foremost. My tongue blesses God and curses circumstances and situations far too swiftly for my comfort. Oh that my tongue could be tamed before the beastiality of my heart could be observed by others…

If it is not cleansed by Jesus, and on constant watch on both ends the puffing up and the deplorable degradation, judgment is ensuing. Help Lord with my tongue today, in Jesus Name, Amen.

"The Happiest Day of my life" rings the words from the mouth of the twins in Life with Father...

It was the day of their baptism. Infant baptism, no doubt and the commitment to raise a godly seed, in the fear of the Lord. Verbalized and exemplified in their baptism. When I pass the little church around the corner, I see Mr. Day, as big as life and hear the words of that mother. I do hope his soul became as clean as his steps were. I do hope that those words penned by his children were not an endictment against his lost estate. As though a man could live so close to the things of God and miss them entirely. When can I get baptised mother? I hear from my sweet and littlest soul. I do not want to quench the flickering young flame of faith that is calling out to allign itself with the only tool on earth with the right directional signals, the Church of Christ. My children love me and are showing me {the elder ones} that their faith is their own business. Perhaps my judgment for making them wait and wait, until we see signs that they are mature enough to know what that commitment means. I know that the root of the matter is most important and the fruit of allegiance to Christ is the utmost importance. But, as a mother, the "happiest day of my life" is the day that I know that their hand is firmly in Christ's hand. Baptism {infant or believer} notwithstanding, I pray that the steps that they clean first will be the steps of faith and truth and that their souls would be firmly emplanted in Christ as new creatures. If I live to see them baptised, all or not. Christ hold them firmly. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Only Jesus paid it all for the sins of those who come to God, through Him.

Jeremiah 48: 29, 30 We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud ) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it. Thus far is the Judgment of Moab. Jeremiah was the spiritual accountant, as it were. The cultural sins and manefest and calculated to cost this much. He lays it out deliberately and clearly. No one is exempt. We can see that our paganism costs. The image of God is in the nations as well as the individuals that God has made. I always imagine Daniel reading this passage and wondering why are the people of God enduring the judgment that is meant for Moab? His prayers never seemed to reflect a comparison of the endurance that God’s people were enduring through that period of history. I find it amazing that Daniel didn’t say, Lord, these people are not even considering Your law and You are afflicting Your people? Their judgment was eternal and Daniel was very aware of that. God’s presence in the suffering was enough for Him. The ultimate judgment for the sins of Moab was coming in Christ. He who knew no sin, became sin on our behalf. The judgment of Moab is purchased in Christ. His blood has satisfied our corporate sin and our personal sins. We don’t have that which to pay for the image of God that was marred in us and our cultures. We have only to search for the robe of righteousness from our Savior and the image of God in the intentions of the cultures as He saves them. God has a greater intention for us individually than we can know. God in Ruth’s redemption showed us that He is not so repudiated with the nations that, if we reach out for Him, we cannot be redeemed. He saves to the utmost. But, we must know that we deserved to drink that cup of wrath of Moab and all of the nations’ cups in our melting pot. We deserved every dreg of wrath that was purchased by our Savior. He has redeemed us from that wrath. Daniel knew every word of Jeremiah, would be seen true, even if it seemed reversed, in his day. The heathen were empowered and standing above God’s people. God is greater. Christ is the fulfillment of God’s mercy to us and the completion of our redemption, that we should live in gratitude and solace that we deserved that wrath and we, in Christ are a new creation. Halleluia, what a Savior!