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I N S P I R A T I O N • • • As Black History Month comes to a close, I'll be transparent and admit that I should've done a better job learning more this month and sharing more about my heritage and history. However, I will not allow the month to end without me saying SOMETHING. I've always said that you don't have to ASPIRE to do something to be INSPIRED by what someone does or who they are. This is a crop of individuals, BLACK men might I add, who have inspired me in one way or another... Whether it be spiritually, musically, philanthropically, fashionably.. By their journey, by their words, by being who they are, I AM INSPIRED. Though this may not reach them all, to THESE men... thank you ALL for your inspiration to be FIRST, who God has called me to be and then subsequently pursue excellence and success in ALL that I do and the evidence to now unequivocally know that I CAN and believe that I WILL because I've seen it done by men who look like me. Thank you. ✊🏿#blackhistorymonth #mondayMOTIVATION #realjaredsmith #jaredsposts #INSPIRATION #inspired #aspire2inspire #FromaRapperToThePresidentofTheUnitedStates #ShoutOutMyDadandMyPastorToo #THANKYOU

#jaredsposts #inspiration #inspired #aspire2inspire #realjaredsmith #thankyou #blackhistorymonth #shoutoutmydadandmypastortoo #mondaymotivation #fromarappertothepresidentoftheunitedstates

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Don’t Forget To Live!

It’s 2017. Everyone has at least one social media account. Even those who aren’t posting statustes and snapping from their own accounts, they’re at least aware of its’ existence. It’s the way we all communicate these days. In fact, it’s been around long enough that now children will ask their parents in the coming years, "How’d y’all meet?” and many parents’ answers will involve a social media platform. That’s how embedded social media has become into the way we live our lives.

To give you actual factuals, according to socialmediatoday.com, “The amount of time people spend on social media is constantly increasing. Teens now spend up to nine hours a day on social platforms, while 30% of all time spent online is now allocated to social media interaction” and you know, numbers don’t lie. However, it’s important that we don’t allow social media to override the way we conduct our lives outside of it. Let me explain...

Social media has many benefits. It has been responsible for forming friendships and connections, that may not have been created, if not for it. It’s helped people reconnect with long lost family members and classmates. As previously stated, it’s even helped form marriages. It’s emphatically known for being able to provide humor to a down day or make a great day all the more enjoyable. However, It also has its’ cons. In some cases, the comfort of hiding behind a computer screen or a phone without the necessity of face to face interaction causes people to create a different persona and escape their real self. Therefore, though the platform of social media can sometimes bring comfort and not necessarily be a bad thing, too often it has been detrimental.

Despite the humor of the memes and the fun that social media may be, it’s important that we don’t lose sight of having a grasp of our real lives. Specifically, I hate this idea that if it didn’t happen on social media, it didn’t happen at all. The absence of something on social media doesn’t necessarily indicate its’ absence in real life. Equally, the presence of something on social media doesn’t necessarily equate to its’ presence, relevance, or existence in real life. Unfortunately, sometimes that reality is jaded because social media has become such a vital part of our everyday lives. Nonetheless, the truth remains that there is LIFE, REAL LIFE, might I add, outside of the confines of social media.

All that being said, my prayer is that I, and we all, may never be so driven by the likes, views, and hoopla of social media that we are drawn away from REALLY living. Some of the luxuries of life and finer things of LIFE have been watered down and diminished in value by the value we’ve placed in social media. The bliss of dating, friendship, family, and the overall stewardship of time have been tainted by our obsession with social media.

Let it be known, by no means am I bashing social media. At least, that’s not my intention. Granted, I’m using a social media platform right now to distribute this message. I just wanted to send an alert out there that though social media has become so embedded into our lives, it’s not our life, or at least it shouldn’t be. That’s the bottom line. Let’s live. Regardless of the things you post, like, or share, don’t forget to live.

#forget #memories #memory #life #time #reflection #blog #post #tumblr #relationships #dating #marriage #children #live #dontforget #read #write #journalism #english #writer #youngwriter #realjaredsmith

STOP KILLING US!!!

Embrace Your Youth

Embrace: Hold closely in one's arms; especially as a sign of affection Your: Belonging to YOU Youth: The state or quality of being young; associated with vigor, freshness...

YOUTH... Young... You're only young once... They say. True. BUT I believe there are certain aspects of YOUTH that we should embrace regardless of how YOUNG (or old) we are. This is how I see it...

RELEVANCE

There's something about youth that often is related to RELEVANCE. If you look throughout history and even now in present day, you'll find that often a lot of fashion & music trends are cycled through what young people are wearing and listening to. In sports, often the best and fastest athletes are among the youngest. In Corporate America, often the older, experienced veteran is ousted for the younger, college-educated rookie. Seemingly with all of these benefits that come with being young, we just as seemingly fail to embrace that youth. Let me explain...

When you're young, you want to be grown. It's in our nature. We see all that seems to be "fun" and "cool" about being an adult, until you actually become an adult. When a young person sees the freedom of adulthood, they often neglect to acknowledge the RESPONSIBILITY of adulthood. One huge issue that children or young people have with being young is the necessity to listen and answer to parents, of course until they become parents or simply grow older and experience some things that cause them to realize that Mom and Dad were right all along. (Exodus 20:12)

IGNORANCE IS BLISS

Ignorance is bliss: An oft-used phrase to acknowledge that there is sometimes great joy in being in a state of not knowing or a state of oblivion.

One of those states of bliss in LIFE is YOUTH. It's the little things about childhood that we sometimes fail to cherish and take advantage of when we're in them. The joys of running for the ice cream truck, walks to the corner store, playing outside for hours, or not knowing the pain and disappointment that this life can and will bring. Those are all states of bliss that I don't believe we embrace enough. For my young people, instead of focusing on not having years and not having adulthood, focus on the joys of being young. You are only young once.

OBEDIENCE

Now... Am I saying, “Make your mistakes", or saying that you have license to wild out because you're young? Absolutely not. In fact, the Word of God instructs us to remember NOW our Creator in the days of our YOUTH. (Ecclesiastes 12:1) and one translation of that scripture goes on to follow that instruction by telling us that when we fail to do so, we will grow older and blame LIFE for being void of pleasure when it's YOUR fault for not being obedient in your YOUTH to his commandments. Some things are supposed to be BLISSFUL when we experience them but when we get too excited to experience those selective things and do them in our OWN time and according to our OWN will, in our YOUTH, instead of doing it GOD's way, when it comes time for God to allow you to experience them, there's no pleasure in it. It's not God's fault, it's YOURS for jumping the gun when God has not set it to be so. So in our youth, we must learn to be patient and trust God. We must learn to have a discipline before God and an obedience unto God from an early age so that we avoid straying from God's way. (Proverbs 22:6)

The older I get, the more I try NOT to regret things or fret over or ponder the past or things that I should've or could've done that I didn't because it's just that... The past. I can't go back and change it now. I have to stand in where I am and move forward. But one "regret" that I hold in life is not coming to relationship with The Lord at a younger age. I always had a God-conscious of understanding right vs. wrong but I sometimes failed to take heed of what was actually right because I didn't have that conviction of a relationship with God to lead me to where I was supposed to go. I often think of how many things and decisions I would've or wouldn't have done or made had I known God at those points, but what I've learned is that those experiences are now testimonies for me to encourage someone else to go with God from a YOUNG age and how much trouble you will avoid by simply living a life devoted to and obedient to The Lord.

ALL YOUNG PEOPLE...

Even if you aren't "young", you can take this... Cherish EVERY moment. Take a moment to look around and take it all in. Too often we our lives are too engraved in the MOMENT that we don't cherish the moments and memories that we have. If I've learned nothing else since I turned 21, it's that life is SHORT. Death has no age limit. Therefore, I conclude two things, I need to LIVE RIGHT and while I'm living, cherish every moment. And while I possess the relevance, strength, and bliss of it all, I must and WILL be obedient to God and EMBRACE MY YOUTH. And whether you're 7, 21, 75, or 100, CHERISH EVERY MOMENT and EMBRACE YOUR YOUTH.

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;” Ecclesiastes 12:1

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God send me people who care about me as much as i care about them…. Amen

Ajanee

#Bebrave

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If God gave you the SPACE to DREAM it, he'll give you the GRACE to DO it.

J. Smith

It’s Time

When we desire change to take place in our lives, it usually revolves around the determinant of two things happening… STARTING and STOPPING.. Both factors of time. We must start something and stop something else or vice versa, in order to see change. They work interchangeably. For example, if you want to lose weight, one thing you may want to do is START working out and subsequently STOP eating all of those donuts. Change will not happen on its’ own. You must DO SOMETHING. However, change will only come when we adjust what we value.

Value can be defined as the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. We all value things in this life. We all have passions and hobbies and interests that we value and give attention to. Some of us hold even money in a high regard and value it.. And to an extent, we should, short of loving it, for the love of money is the root of all evil, (1 Timothy 6:10), but it also answers those things down here on Earth, (Ecclessiastes 10:19), and we need it to survive comfortably, but even as important as money seems. It’s still not the most valuable thing we have in this life. Above all things that we have in this life, we should value TIME. It’s the one thing that you cannot tangibly get back. Once time is gone, it’s gone forever. So with this post, I want to encourage you to use your time wisely.

I came to the point of writing this because on countless occasions, within the past few months, I’ve specifically noticed people saying in conversation either with or around me, “Yeah. I’m just killing time.”… Or something to that effect and each time, like no other time that I’ve heard that phrase, I’ve cringed. You should never be “killing” something as valuable as time. Instead of killing time, we need to be USING it and doing so, wisely, especially considering the day and time we’re living in NOW.

As a Christian, I believe that the Bible is the infallible truth and Word of God. Pairing that belief with what’s been going on around us here in America and across the world, it’s my belief that we are in what the Bible refers to as the last days or the end times. The Bible speaks in detail, in the books of 2 Timothy and Matthew, of “perilous times”. These times are depicting of some of what we’re seeing in the world right now; wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes in divers places, (Matthew 24:6-7), among other activities and behaviors that are very accurate paintings of the world as we know it right now. That being said, it is CRUCIAL that we are not WASTING or KILLING time but that we are USING it and MAXIMIZING it to squeeze out every second of every minute of every hour of every day to be PRODUCTIVE..

It’s essential to our well being in THIS day that we are not to be sitting ducks just allowing time to PASS us by, but instead we are to be WORKING and MOVING actively to a place of being better and closer and closer to God. Bible aside, we do not know when we will leave this Earth. In fact, life is like a vapor, (James 4:14), there one moment and before you can catch the essence of it all, it’s gone. Therefore, it’s in our best interest to secure the state of our SOULS (first) and then use our time wisely to complete whatever else we have before us to complete. NOW is the time to reach for what you have planned. Tomorrow is not promised. Go about it all day by day with wisdom and discernment from God (James 1:5). As the old Saints would say, it’s time to get your house in order because as they also would say, Jesus is coming back REAL soon.

Time is no longer on your side (as if it ever was)… Use your time WISELY… Many of us want change in our lives for the better, many of us want success and many of us desire to experience all the Fullness that Life has to offer, and aside from any relationship (outside of seeking God) or any special plan or system or map or instructions, if you were wondering what the secret ingredient is that you should USE to get it, I’m glad to let you know… It’s Time.

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Ephesians 5:16-17 (KJV)

2016: The Intermission

2016: The Intermission Ahhh... Here we are... Half of the year down, one more half to go.. I can truly say that God has already done some amazing things in my life in 2016 alone. Daily, I see his hand on my life and I'm grateful. To know and see how many people (especially young black men) have died this year and to still be here with my life is a miracle within itself. I feel that we often rob ourselves of the mere blessing of understanding and recognizing the favor of God on our lives by failing to understand and recognize that the simple gift of LIFE, HEALTH, and STRENGTH are miracles within themselves. We shouldn't have to see a (seemingly) impossible situation be turned around into the (seemingly) possible in order to label something as a miracle. We are miracles. Living, breathing, walking, talking miracles. • • • Though I am grateful and aware of the great things that God has done for me in this year, I am not OK with the things that I've failed to do so far that I said I would accomplish and do. BUT I refuse to beat myself up over those things that are now in the past and can no longer be controlled but instead of being BITTER and I will be BETTER and DO BETTER. Life is and should be about progression and growth. One of the miracles I've seen this year is the growth of my nephew. To have been in the room when he was born to see him daily grow and hear his babbling develop slowly but surely into emotional phrasing and to see teeth grow in his mouth and hair grow on his head and see him grow in height and weight is such an amazing thing to watch every day. The same process of GROWTH and developing should be happening for us in our daily lives, even as teenagers, young adults, adults, etc. We should never stop growing, getting better, developing, and learning every day. Things won't happen overnight. One thing I mentioned was my nephew now having teeth, but for MONTHS he went through some teething that caused him to be in a lot of pain. In fact, he STILL experiences pain from teething from time to time because his teeth are still coming in. The point of this is that in order to see progress, we must endure PROCESS. I've heard many people say the phrase, "No Pain, No Gain" and THAT is the truth. Without pain, you cannot grow and you can't possibly appreciate the eventual product of it all. Additionally, even after we experience our blessing, sometimes God has even MORE in store for us even after we receive what we thought was the zenith of our process... God is ABLE to do EXCEEDING, ABUNDANTLY, ABOVE ALL that we could ASK or THINK (Ephesians 3:20). God does not operate in a realm of imagination. He operates in the UNTHINKABLE. But that scripture and promise of who The Lord is and what he can do goes on to say that he's able to do those things... ACCORDING to the POWER that works in us. We must activate our faith. We must keep up our end. We must actively be praying and seeking The Lord. Daily reading his word to better understand his ways and allow him to speak to us and doing what we've set out to do. Too often we shift the blame to others and things that are "beyond our control", but sometimes the root of it all is right in the mirror. We just neglect taking responsibility. We must FIRST take responsibility for OUR actions. Yes, some things will be out of your control but you must make sure that you're doing WHAT you can WHEN you can, WHILE you can. Get the best out of every day and daily get the best YOU out of yourself. • • • God has not given us the Spirit of Fear, but of POWER, LOVE, and of a SOUND MIND! Walk in the Power of His Love and His Spirit with the SOUND and RENEWED mind that he's given you. Too often, we allow the enemy to play mind tricks and cause us to believe his lies but you must USE THE WORD as our weapon and as our lamp and light to show us where we need to go. A trick of the enemy may be to cause you to dread on what you weren't able to accomplish but find solace in knowing that TODAY you have new mercies. TODAY you are alive and you have another chance. Keep going. Be encouraged that though you may not have accomplished all that you wanted to by this point in 2016, you still have time. You are a miracle. God is giving you GRACE for the RACE! A race isn't always easy. Sometimes we must ENDURE hard times and seek The Lord for the answers. Something about God is that he will sometimes break us down to build us up and cause us to recognize that it's all about him. It always has been, STILL is, and FOREVER will be about Him. Stay the course, fight the good fight of faith, stay in the race. IT'S NOT OVER! This is not the end, it's only the beginning. Let's go!

jaredtrevsmith

Long Live, Gospel Music: The Greatest Agent of Change

I’m a lover of music. Whether it’s listening to it, singing it, writing it, music is literally part of my life every day in some capacity. I’ve been singing since about 4, writing music since about 14, so music and I have been well acquainted for a while now. You could say we’re homies. At different points of my life, I ventured into discovering different genres of music. Growing up in church, obviously gospel was my initial exposure to music but the older I got, the more I listened to other genres. There was a period where I did my discovery on Pop/Rock becoming a fan of Hall&Oates, Maroon 5, Green Day, among others. Then, I discovered and became a fan of Hip-Hop. Then, R&B and Jazz and Classical, you catch my drift. But after all of the listening to all of these various genres of music and weighing everything out, there is simply NOTHING like gospel music. From the squalling of choirs against the cranking of the Hammond B3 organ to the purity of what we refer to as “Praise & Worship” music accompanied by stringed instruments, to me, there is absolutely NOTHING like gospel music. Music, regardless of the genre, has the power to change, inspire, uplift, excite. It can ignite countless different emotions from a person. But in most genres, the music can only do but so much. When the music goes off, what now? Whereas I believe that gospel music can do all those things and more and because of the SUBJECT of gospel music, it can literally change a life. It can cause you to not only be uplifted while the song is playing but point you to the source that can give you what you need after the song is over. I’ve heard countless church people recall a song as the “song they got saved to”. In other words, the song that convicted them that their life needed a change and further sparked their answering to the call for change. • • • “Life Music” by Jonathan McReynolds is the album that changed my life. I’ve heard countless albums before but this is the one that woke me up and showed me that I had to choose a side. God or me… The anointing of the lyrics and the singing was something that I had never experienced before in such a real way even after being in church all my life and hearing countless sermonic selections and singing in the choir. Every song spoke to where I was in life. The song “No Gray” says “it’d be cool if we could love The Lord and still go do our thing but see it doesn’t work like that, you gotta be white or black”. That’s where I was. I thought I could get away with doing both, but this album stopped me in my tracks and caused me to literally make a change in my life. And it wasn’t about how great of a singer Jonathan is or how well the production was, but because of the SUBJECT and the anointing that the album carried that sparked a change. • • • You’ve probably noticed by now I keep saying this C word… CHANGE. Hmm. I believe God can bring the ultimate change of life with the salvation he’s offered all of us but as we’re often reminded, God isn’t walking around down here, so He has vessels or agents of CHANGE that can serve as earthly mouthpieces to bring us all to change. Well, I believe because of the universal language of music, (but specifically because of its’ subject)… GOSPEL music is the greatest agent of change. It can speak to people like some sermons can’t. I believe music can reach people in places that other tactics simply cannot. If I accomplish nothing in this life, I want to ignite change. If it’s to 1 person, 10 people, 10 million people, the number doesn’t matter, the influence does. I absolutely love gospel music and musically, the way I see it, no other genre can invoke, promote, ignite, and bring forth change like gospel music. My heart truly isn’t in any other genre. I enjoy listening to other genres, but TRULY there is nothing like gospel music. I will forever sing, write, and promote it. Long live, Gospel music, the greatest agent of change.

Sacrifice: A Mother's Love

A mother's love is like no other. Love itself is a complex yet simple concept and feeling. It's hard to describe, yet easy to dispense. Yet the role of a mother proves to somehow make it all better. From somehow a kiss healing a bruise to that special touch to a meal to make it not only fill your stomach, but also fill your soul, there's something that is the makeup of the mother that can cause pain to seem so small. Well what is that thing? That thing that moms just seemingly HAVE... No explanation for how it got there, it just IS. Well, I am not a mother but I have one and I've lived enough of this life of my own to know that I don't have all of the answers and cannot tell you about the totality of what that extra MOM gene is but I know it HAS to involve sacrifice.

. . .

SACRIFICE: The act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy.

. . .

I do not know every mother in this world but because of what MY mother and the mothers I know do and have done, I'd venture to say that every mother in this world makes some level of sacrifice DAILY. (And fathers too, but we'll get to them in a few more weeks).... We all sacrifice in our daily lives but the sacrifice of a mother and her love is unlike any other sacrifice. From often coming home from a long day of work to prepare a meal that the entire family can enjoy and be full and satisfied from to putting plans and dreams for SELF on pause and sometimes indefinitely on the proverbial shelf... The sacrifice of a mother is like no other. It's the type of sacrifice that will cause her to do without in order for her children to do. The type of sacrifice that will cause her to endure months of carrying and in most cases, hours of labor in order to bring life into this world and once in this world will nurture, protect, love, and continually sacrifice like only she can. Like only a mother can. So today, this Mother's Day, I'd like to applaud, appreciate, recognize, salute, and thank God for the SACRIFICE of a mother's love. A love like no other.

. . .

Special Love to MY mother, MY grandmothers, MY aunts, MY sister, and the many mothers that have touched my life and who have influenced me. Thank you for your love and thank you for sacrifice.

Happy Mother's Day To All! You are loved and appreciated. Thank you for your SACRIFICE.

Dedicated to my GRAM... Susie Ella Harris, who I love and miss so much. Thank you for your sacrifice that you both directly and indirectly made for me. I pray that I am making you proud. - Lil' Joe.

“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.”

Proverbs 31:10 (KJV)

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Let my private life match the public one I live .. Amen

Ajanee #BeBrave (via be-brave-blog)

TGIA

“This is the Day The Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (KJV)

As a society, Americans have coined the phrase TGIF. Otherwise known as Thank God (or Goodness) it's Friday. To my understanding, it was coined as a phrase to describe a block of popular TV shows that aired on ABC on Friday nights and we now even have a new variation of it in the form of "TGIT" for Thursdays on ABC (AKA the best night on TV but that's another discussion for another day), but from my personal experience, I've heard it used and even used it myself in the aforementioned form of praise to God for allowing us to see another Friday. I heard it the other day and it got me to thinking... Hmm.. Why is it that we only hear people Thank God for allowing them to see and experience Friday. What's so special about Friday that causes people to leap with joy and exclaim this phrase? Oh. I know.. It's because Friday means the weekend is coming and I get that and respect that but the weekend was coming on Tuesday and Wednesday too, it's just that Friday is a lot closer. I may be nitpicking here but it got me to thinking about how we overlook the little things and the blessings that we don't really count or the blessings we fail to recognize as blessings because they seem so far off from what YOU believe to be God's promise concerning you, when you're failing to realize that every day won't be Friday and some days will be a stepping stone to your Friday or "payday" that don't seem like blessings on the surface but are blessings in disguise preparing us for the promise.

* * *

Think of it this way.... Think of Friday as a house or a car or a new, better paying job. Those are all things we specifically hope and pray for and that we unequivocally identify as blessings from The Lord. When someone gets one or all of the aforementioned things, expect them to give God a praise on that Sunday like you've never seen before. But what about when we have to take a pay cut or get laid off or someone hits the car while it was parked minding its' business and now you have to pay a ridiculous amount of money to get it fixed... We're moping around, singing woe is me and nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. STOP. That should never be your posture. Certainly, it's natural as humans to be discouraged when hard times arise but we're clearly instructed to rather GLORY in tribulation. (Romans 5:3) It sounds stupid in times of trouble but we must Bless The Lord and give him our trust at ALL times. (Psalm 34:1, Proverbs 3:5-7)...

* * *

I say all of this to say... Starting TODAY, try thanking God it's Monday (and any of the other 6 days of the week that God blesses you to see including Friday). I'm sure that proposition sounds insane to some people considering Monday is the day many of us have to drag ourselves back to the jobs we so dislike, but I DARE you to challenge yourself to find the BLESSING in everything in your life and realize you have a reason to be grateful on Mondays... Because you have a job to go to. You have a reason to say "Thank You Lord" when the car won't start on Tuesday morning because you have a car to even attempt to start or even if you're on the bus on Wednesday, Lord I thank you that I have legs to walk to the bus stop and legs to get on the bus and the means to have fare to get to where I'm going. Lord I thank you that I have somewhere to go. Even if I get stuck in traffic on Thursday, Lord I thank you that I have a mind to be focused and determined to have a destination and go somewhere and be productive. Friday, Thank GOD it's Friday. And if by Saturday and Sunday you start to run out of reasons to give thanks because you're so focused on the blessing of the weekend, bask in that blessing and if you run out of reasons at any point during the week, do something real quick for me, blink a few times

* * *

OK... Continue reading....

You have eyes to blink. If you're reading this, you have eyes to read this and the mind to compute everything I've said. And above all else, if you're reading this, you're alive. God has blessed you with another chance at life and another chance to get it right as the old saints would say. And that in itself, life, is enough reason to thank God. Sure, it's all fine and dandy to thank God it's Friday, but it's more important that you thank God EVERY day that you're alive. I don't know about you... But TODAY and every day The Lord allows me to see, I THANK GOD I'M ALIVE. TGIA...

“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV)

Don’t Forget The Lyrics!

Call it a joke… Call it “blasphemy”… But the lyrics of the Lee Ann Womack song, “I Hope You Dance” just spiritually SPOKE to me. Songs like this are the reason why I’m so passionate about songwriting. This song was a huge POP/COUNTRY success but these LYRICS…. The lyrics of this song are truly words of LIFE… Seriously, words to live by. I urge any and every songwriter or producer of music to pay close attention to the words you use and I implore you to ask yourself before finalizing… “Is this speaking LIFE or DEATH? Are these words of LIFE or words of LIFE?”…

• • •

The Bible declares that LIFE and DEATH are in the POWER of the TONGUE. (Proverbs 18:21)… What you SAY, is what you will become. Your WORDS create your WORLD. “NEVER SETTLE for the path of LESS resistance”…. “You get your FILL to EAT, but ALWAYS keep that hunger…” Whooooo. I could stay on that one all day. Those are both lyrics from “I Hope You Dance”, that are words to literally use to build a foundation for your LIFE. Often we sell ourselves short of the true rewards and blessings that God has in store for our lives because we neglect to take the road less travelled. We push away resistance, which is natural, but we should rather GLORY in tribulation (Romans 5:3) which sounds silly to our HUMAN minds but we must remind ourselves that OUR WAYS aren’t HIS, neither HIS thoughts, our THOUGHTS (Isaiah 55:8)… Often the plan of God for our lives includes some bumps and detours, but we MUST trust in him 100% to reap what he has in store 4 us. (Galatians 6:9)… Furthermore, NEVER settle for SCRAPS, when it’s God’s intent for you to have the whole MEAL. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be FILLED. (Matthew 5:6) You will only find fulfillment from life when you are filled with truth and righteousness from God. Seek the BLESSER, find the BLESSING… (Matthew 6:33)

• • •

The point of all that I’m saying is watch what u say. Speak LIFE. In every aspect of your life. But you can only do so if you first watch what you’re consuming. The Bible also says that out of the abundance of the HEART, the MOUTH speaks. (Matthew 12:34) So what you PUT IN, is what will come out. It’s inevitable. By no means with this post am I bashing all secular music but some of it is doing nothing but pronouncing DEATH. Not death in the literal sense of dying or no longer breathing but songs that glorify SIN (for the wages of sin is DEATH)…. will only seep into your heart and eventually create words that will bring your world down. (Psalm 119:11) says THY word (the Word of God) have I hid in my heart that I might NOT sin against thee. The Word of God, music that speaks and exudes life, conversations, books, tv programs and movies that enrich your spirtuality and promote life and peace (Romans 8:6)… Those are the things we should be reflecting on. So the next time you listen to a song, no matter how crazy the melody is, no matter how hard the beat knocks, no matter how catchy the hook is, don’t forget the lyrics. And ask yourself is this speaking LIFE or DEATH?

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Phillipians 4:8 (KJV)

NOT ANOTHER MICHELLE MEME

This isn't even funny to me.... I hate to be the NO FUN POLICE but I'm tired of everything being a joke to people. Tired of people's feelings being tampered with like toys. Yes, I saw Michelle repost and laugh it off but still... This is deeper than just another "Michelle" meme that pokes fun at Michelle Williams' position in Destiny's Child... There is a deeper problem. WE (as a generation, and as a people) WE must do better yo. Everything's not a joke. Everything ain't funny. (Yes I said AIN'T)... When did it become cool to make fun of people over and over again? Oh I guess we just don't stop until they've committed suicide and decided they'd rather not live than deal with all of the cruel people in this world? Usually I wouldn't even entertain this foolishness but I'm fed up with cruel people and their antics. Fed up with people thinking everything (particularly toying with people's emotions and feelings) is a joke. Y'all should've left tampering with people in 2015. As beneficial it has been for many, social media has been just as if not more detrimental to us. Smh. It has actually seemingly increased the amount of bullying I've seen. If I never knew before, I know now how real BULLYING is. Even into adulthood. Some of y'all are professional bullies and need deliverance. I'm praying. Smh. And probably the biggest disappointment in all of this isn't even the person who created it, but the fact that MTV (yes, THAT MTV) had the audacity to repost this... Which as a brand and a network has become a complete abomination as far as I'm concerned. MTV is SUPPOSED to stand for MUSIC TELEVISION but based on everything I've seen from them over the last 6-10 years has given good reason for them to change the name to MUCK TELEVISION. I remember during my childhood (late 90s, early 2000s) how monumental the platform of MTV was and how important it was to the culture for young people but I must admit with the reality shows and degrading programming that they've released to the world as of late (that by the way has NOTHING to do with MUSIC) has just thrown their reputation in my eyes right into the ground. I'm DISGUSTED that they thought it was cool to repost this. Just a further presentation of their decline over the years. But more importantly a bold and glaring image of this society. Bullies. BUT I'm not just gonna sit here and type this post about it but I'm gonna pray. Pray that The Lord will change the hearts and minds of those who BULLY and help to strengthen the hearts and minds of those who've been BULLIED. I've learned it's not a game. And it's deeper than what the eye can see. Many people will read this and think I'm taking it too far or reading too deep into it but not to be all deep or spooky but when I saw this, I felt the Spirit leading me to say something about it. So I don't care what you think. Bullying is a major issue and it needs to be addressed. I'm not waiting for it to hit "my backyard" until I care about it. Nope. This isn't just another Michelle meme, it's an epidemic. It’s not time to poke fun. It’s not time to make jokes. It’s time to take a stand. It’s time to make a change.

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy NEIGHBOR as THYSELF.

Matthew 22:36-40 (KJV)

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2016: The Overture

Growing up in church my entire life, I've heard countless sermons. I've heard sermons that totally lost me and did not connect. I've heard sermons that are good, really good at that, but then there are what I call life changing words that I believe were sent straight from the Lord to me. I heard one of those sermons this past Sunday, the first Sunday of 2016. It was entitled "Be in Season" with reference to Ecclesiastes 3 (verses 1-8) and Psalm 1 (verses 1-3).. The word I received from it was that the reality is that 2016 may not be "OUR" year to reap such great blessings from The Lord financially or any other grand blessings we may stand in expectation of. The reality is that 2016 MAY BE that year for us and it will be for some people but it will not be for everyone. For some people, 2016 will be a learning year. A year of rain that forces us to dance in the rain and learn from it. One of the points made in the message was that without the rain, growth cannot take place. In the natural, without rain or some type of contact with water, it will be extremely hard for plants and trees to grow the way that they should. The same thing happens in the spiritual, unless you go THROUGH situations that bring you TO better knowledge of who God is, we will never grow in him, neither we will we ever get to a higher knowledge of who he is and won't be able to firmly tell others about him because of a lack of an encounter with God for ourselves. The bottom line of the message was that whatever 2016 brings our way, we need to find God in it. If we're in the will of God and in right relationship with him, we're in the safest place on Earth and that wherever he's placed us, it's for a purpose.

. . .

I've been rolling with the idea of being and doing BETTER in my life this year. What I failed to realize is that I may only ever get to BETTER by first experiencing BITTER. Certainly 2015 brought me some bitter times which put me in position to expect BETTER in 2016 but I wasn't the one who created the Earth, God was. So even though it may appear that the sun is about to come out, it's very possible that the storm isn't quite over. I don't say this to be pessimistic about what this year has in store but I've learned to place my plans in the hands of The Lord because HE, NOT ME, has the final say anyway. (Proverbs 19:21, Jeremiah 29:11) And if those plans include hard times that I may not necessarily WANT, I know that I want MORE of God and a closer relationship with him and realize that hard times may come with that desire and I'm ok with that. My dance won't stop. My praise won't stop. My worship won't stop. My faithfulness won't stop. Nothing that I’ve been doing for The Lord in 2015 won’t stop in 2016 if things start going left when I think they should be going right. HIS ways are not MY ways, neither HIS thoughts MY thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8) so if troubling times do in fact come, I won’t POUT in tribulation, but rather GLORY in it knowing that it’s building my patience (Romans 5:3) and trusting that in the end, ALL things are working FOR my good. It may not look good, it may not sound good, it may not feel good, but it’s working FOR my good. (Romans 8:28)

. . .

In 2015, I came to a place of choosing God's will for my life, not mine and wherever he leads, I will follow. So no matter what, I won't back down and I won't quit, I'm going on until the end. As the old saints would say, I'm gon run on and see what the end gon be. Haha. THY Kingdom Come, THY will be done. God will get the glory out of my life in 2016 and I'm determined that no matter what comes my way, I WILL find GOD and glorify him in whatever season 2016 has me in because I'm IN SEASON with HIM. I'm going to BETTER in 2016 by any means, are you?

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X XMAS "Christmas. X-Mas. Same thing, same day, who cares?" I do. To my understanding the usage of "Xmas" dates back to the 16th century and was used as an abbreviation with the same pronunciation. In fact, according to dictionary language, the X is an abbreviation of the Greek translation of "Christ". Subsequently, researchers and historians alike say that it's a misconception to believe that "Xmas" is an exile or a sly trick to eliminate of the use of "Christ" in "Christmas". While all of this may be true, I believe that the commercialization of the Christmas holiday in America has distracted us from the real meaning of Christmas, with "Xmas" being part of that process. Many people focus on giving gifts and recognize that as the reason for the season but it's because of the GREATEST gift ever given that the concept even exists. It's my belief that some have become so caught up in the commercial aspect of the Holiday that "Xmas" is their initial, verbal identification of the holiday. It's more about running your bank account into the "X" than running to the "Christ" to receive the greatest gift of all, LIFE, LOVE, and SALVATION thru Jesus Christ. Now, by NO means am I "bashing" those who use Christmas as a time to give gifts to their loved ones because that'd be hypocritical of me. This year's Christmas will be my 20th experiencing in life and all of the previous 19 have been good to me as far as gifts were concerned because of the way my family has always celebrated Christmas but it's also ALWAYS been emphasized in my family that the REAL meaning of Christmas is all about the first part of that word, CHRIST. I'll give a very very brief synopsis of the REAL "reason for the season". I take it just about everyone is familiar with the biblical story of "The Fall" of Adam and Eve. (Read Genesis 3 for more). Long story short, their fall of eating from the tree that God specifically told them NOT to eat of, thus creating the first sin (act of disobedience against God), took us (MANKIND) out of fellowship and connection with God. At this moment, God had already ordained for the ULTIMATE sacrifice to be made to create a way to bring us back into fellowship with him and did so with the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ but more importantly it's all about the REASON for why he was born, which was to die for our sins that we may obtain both fellowship with God and everlasting, abundant life. So, oddly enough, though some people may not mean any harm by it, I take offense when I see/hear the reason for not only this holiday, but every holiday and every day and every breath we breathe being replaced with an "X". To me, it's symbolic of how this generation of our society has seemingly turned their backs and shut the door in the face of God without remorse. Symbolic of the disrespect and dishonor for God that I've seen. I've heard one person say that Jesus doesn't even headline his own birthday anymore. It's all about Santa and his toys. I won't drown y'all and get too deep and I'm no conspiracy theorist, just an observer of life, but scramble around "Santa" a couple times and let me know what you come up with... The point of it all is that it's bad enough we have used television, social media, music, and so many other things to draw our attentions away from the Creator and Savior of the world. Above all, it's my prayer that we can all return to our first love, the one who first loved us... Dump our love of the world and fall in love with the one who made it and who made us. Never ever forget the real reason for the season and the holiday recognized as CHRISTMAS, CHRIST.

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