L.O.V.E.

Do people still believe in love at first sight? I know that love at first sight exists because the moment I saw Jessica Ashley Davis ( no relation) I was hooked like a bass. That one chance meeting jump started a string of events that would not have been possible if not for God. Proverbs 31 tells us of a woman that we should all aspire to have. The Lord wants us to come together with our mate and be happy. He wants us to confide in our spouse, treat them with respect, and share a connection on a spiritual level. God says, " An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels." I take this passage seriously. We can put weight in worldly possessions or we can claim a bigger gift the Lord has for us which is the love of a spouse. Proverbs 31, 13-31 explains all the great things that come with the right woman. I will spare quoting the whole chapter but I do urge you to take the time to read it. No matter if you are a man in search of the love of the right woman, or a woman in love and you just want to see a few things that God says make a great woman. This chapter is so powerful, and the amazing part that speaks to me is that my wife aligns to all these points made. I am a blessed man. For some of the mistakes I made, the women that I took advantage of I don't deserve my wife. The wonderful grace that God has promised us is evident to me every morning when I can wake up to my wife. Grace is receiving something we don't deserve, a virtue from God. That is what my marriage is and that is how I treat my marriage. Stay thirsty my friends... 

SEX AS A WEAPON

Couples find themselves in this position all the time. Boy meets girl. Boy pursues girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy starts relationship with girl. Boy and girl argue. Girl withholds sex from boy. The ultimate way for a woman in the relationship to get back at her beau is to stop the sex pipeline. This may be hard to believe, but God wants us to enjoy the bodies of our wives/husbands. Sex is something that is beautiful between husband and wife and it should not be held captive by either. Share your body with your spouse. If you start to hold back on sex it opens the door for infidelity. It does not justify it, but it opens a crack in the armor. Monogamy is hard enough without putting our own obstacles in the midst like not having sex with our spouses to prove a point. 1 Corinthians 7: 5 says, "The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.Do not deprive one another, expect perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again,so that Satan may not tempt you because of you lack of self control." Take heed to these words next time one of you wants to prove a point in the relationship. Sex is an important part of a healthy relationship not be taken lightly of ransomed off. We belong to one another, our bodies are given to our spouse the moment you give them your heart. Cherish your spouses body/feelings as you do your own. Stay thirsty my friends....

2ND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION

I almost did not write my blog today. I felt in my personal battle vs my flesh I let the Lord down today and the effect of that was me feeling like I had no right to blog about the Lord. Then I thought to get on my knees and repent. Humble myself, repent with all my heart. We often do things that when we look back in hindsight we just feel awful and disgusted with ourselves. We know we are better than the person that lost his way for however brief the transgression was. I often feel that I let God down. I try to overcome my flesh but at times I too succumb to it. Does God give up on me? Technically I gave up on myself by my actions that were not of the Lord, but what am I to do next. We must repent, that is the only way to truly ask forgiveness from our father. We must mean it in our hearts for God to forgive us and give us a clean slate. Luke 5:32 says, " I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." God wants us to come back into his arms and his loves. The Lord does not want us to stay in the dark no matter the sin we committed. Sin is sin, no sin is greater than the next so we always can go to God for forgiveness. " therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:6) We do not have to beat ourselves up over our missteps ashamed to talk to the Lord. The shame is to not ask for his grace and go through your life with this sin inside of you ripping your soul apart. The burden is not for us to bear alone, our shoulders are not broad enough to hold it up. Ask God to intervene, repent and truly mean it in your heart so you can move on with your life in a positive direction. The grace God gives us is our trump card to deal with the sins we endure. When we repent and truly mean it God is happy with us, in turn our lives are filled with joy because we are not weighed down by sin. "Just so, tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:10) That is powerful, just one of us sinners repent the heavens rejoice. It is right here for us believers. We do not have to live our lives carrying around our sins like baggage. Stay thirsty my friends....

PREACHER ASKED FOR TITHES, AND I CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY

One of the things that a lot of people on the fence about God says that keep them away from church is the money involved in the tithes and offering process. I too fell under this myself for many years until I read more of the word and used it as my justification that I was doing the right thing by giving tithe and offering.  We can not allow these false prophets that parade around in Gucci and gold playing pastor scare us away from our duty as Christians. God has given us so much and the fact that 10% of our riches is all he asks for is another testament of his love for us. For all that he has done, God could very well ask for 25 or 50% and be justified. We pray for wealth and success in all things monetary, yet when the gravy train comes in we forget the very things we asked of God. We become greedy and want to keep our new earned little fortune. The next thing we complain about taxes, well Jesus will ask us who is on our money? In those days it was Caesar, so we pay Cesar then pay of offering. Now its presidents so we pay the government. We pay taxes then pay the Lord. There is no way getting around our obligation to God. We owe him everything. Others argue, well I don't see the gross just the net so I tithe the net. Fine, but when you want a blessing does God deliver a half blessing, or does he give you his all. We want the all from him, so why not give God our all. As a football player we get paid 17 weeks, so for 17 weeks a gave 10% of my gross income. Tithes and offerings are really a tug of the heart, God wants to see if we are obedient enough to give. The floors of heaven are gold, he doesn't need your money. God wants us to be obedient in all things, even the things we hold near and dear to our heart. Money included. Let us let go of these earthly possessions and give Glory to God through offerings. Stay thirsty my friends....

I MAY HAVE GOT A LITTLE H#%D BUT I WASN'T REALLY CHEATING

Every morning growing up as a child I saw my mother and father together. The family structure in my home was strong, a blessing. A blessing because many of my friends didn't live in homes with both parents nor did they understand the significance of a promiscuous relationship between man and woman. I did not know it any other way. The bible says that when a man finds his wife he finds a good thing. Where did this go? So many men and women now feel it is alright to cheat on their spouses. The family structure of a Family Matters or Cosby Show has given way to dating shows like Flavor of Love where on odd little man can date tons of women and make out with them all! This was not Gods plan for us. God made Adam and Eve, not Adam, Eve, Yevette, and Evon. We must have accountability with the gift of marriage the Lord has blessed us with. As the heads of our households, us men have to be the example for our wives and children. We must learn that our flesh wants us to chase women and succumb to lust. Let us not allow our flesh to become powerful enough to make us choose a path to emotionally and physical destruction. When our flesh becomes too much to bare alone share with God, ask for will power and the courage needed to get through it. The bible says even if we look at a woman in a lustful matter we have already sinned. True. he did not however say by that sin alone we have lost the battle. In this sex driven society it is hard to avoid, it is in our face at every corner. You would have to be in a cave with Bin Laden to avoid seeing these things. Don't get down, yes you may have stared too long but repent and try to get better the next time. That is all we really can do, try to get better and remain solid in monogamy. Stay thirsty my friends...

IN HIS TIME FRAME

We often want things we pray for to come to us when we are ready. When they don't come fast our patience runs low and we get down in the dumps. God will give us all we ask for in prayer yet he does not say that we will get it as soon as we want. I am a victim of this. I pray for things and when they don't come fast I allow the devil in and let my faith run low. My whole life I wanted to play in the NFL and through the grace of my Lord and Savior I was afforded the opportunity. God kept me in his arms even when I turned my back on him. After college and after going undrafted the Philadelphia Eagles gave me a shot. I was in the NFL.  My rookie year I tore my ACL in my right knee and had to sit out the whole year. Then that was followed up by two seasons of practice squad service. Now, by being in the NFL  my dream is somewhat fulfilled, but I did not garner the success's I prayed for. Did the Lord forsake me? In my ignorance he did but in reality I have yet to reach the full blessing. At 26 years old there is still time for the Lord to grant me what I pray for every night. I have to remain in faith and remain patient. I have to do all the things in my power not to block my blessing. I have to be humble, humble enough to accept a chance to play in the upstart UFL football league. This is a second chance the Lord has given me to work my way back up to achieving my NFL dreams. Forsaken..... never, challenged... yes. The Lord has put a challenge in front of me and through his strength I will prevail. Stay thirsty my friends...

PSALM CHAPTER 17

Do you ever wake up and feel like you cannot get out of bed?

Do you ever go through your day feeling as if each foot weighs 180 pounds and gets heavier with every single step you take?

Do you ever ask yourself, "is this really my life?" or "what did I get myself into?"

Life is tough sometimes and quite frankly life is just not fair.  Every day will not be perfect.  It's ok to have a bad day.  When you approach that day that you wish you could just roll back over, go back to sleep and forget all of your responsibilities cry out to God.  That's what he is there for. 

Psalm Chapter 17 shows us a perfect example of crying out to God for help.  Why try and live this life all by yourself with no help? What do you have to prove?  We all have been tested, scrutinized, lied to, hurt, angry, disappointed, fearful, upset... devestated.  But you don't have to go through life by yourself.  Your Lord your God is there, waiting for you to just ask him to fight your battle for you. 

⁶ I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God.
      Bend down and listen as I pray.
 ⁷ Show me your unfailing love in wonderful ways.
      By your mighty power you rescue
      those who seek refuge from their enemies.
 ⁸ Guard me as you would guard your own eyes.^[a]
      Hide me in the shadow of your wings.
 ⁹ Protect me from wicked people who attack me,
      from murderous enemies who surround me.

Submit your problems to the Lord, tell him you need help... you have nothing to loose!