I think it is interesting how the last two New Year’s blogs were prophetic in a sense of what God was doing in me within the new year. 2014’s New Year’s blog focused on me making some choices to be more deliberate on practicing the discipline of obeying God immediately when he shows me that a relationship is not for me. Also, discipline concerning various struggles that I had dealt with. It is amazing how during that year I was tested for the last time in those areas that I needed to apply discipline in and I passed those tests.

2015’s New Year’s blog focused on matters of the heart, and re-centering and refocusing my heart on the Lord for 2015. God did just that in 2015. He brought up various things that were in my heart that I did not even know were there. Some of it was just simply embarrassing. But God’s grace, mercy, and love got my heart where he wanted it to be.

2015 has been a year of positioning where God strategically placed me in position to receive the things that he has promised me for 2016. One of the main things that the Lord spoke over me in prayer at the beginning of 2015 was the word, “Stability”. God brought about stability to various things in my life such as perspectives, and fears that I had.

Last night, we had the Young Adult Encouragement Group at my house, and I shared with the attendees how each year I would go through something new that tested my faith and caused me to fear if I would be able to continue on. Especially at the beginning of 2015 there was one test, and trial after the next. I felt like my strength was on no go mode, but what the Lord showed me that he was doing was amazing.

He kept bringing the below scripture up in my spirit:

It is God who arms me with strength
and keeps my way secure.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he causes me to stand on the heights. Psalms 18:32-33

God was showing me that he was making my feet like dears feet. I would always read that in the Bible and ask myself what that meant. Well this year, God decided to show me what that meant. I happened to stumble upon a commentary as I was researching this scripture and it described how the feet of certain deers are designed specifically by God to be swift in escaping their enemies as well as escaping harm. What ministered to me most regarding the above scriptures is the pictures that I found that show deers on the heights of mountains that are just chillin unafraid of falling or any such thing.

They were not afraid because they had been specifically designed and trained by God to trust how he made them, and because it is the Lord who holds them up. What an amazing revelation to have as God takes us higher in this new year. That we do not have to fall from where God is taking us, and that God was thoughtful enough to take a whole year to prepare us through trial and tribulation to trust him more.

This was confirmed to me by one of the elders at my church who prophesied the same thing over me after God had dealt with me about this.

Finally, there is a scripture that keeps coming up in my personal prayer time for 2016 is the below scripture:

The blessing of the Lord makes rich and adds no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22

Therefore, I am continually declaring this over my life for this year. I have an expectation for this year that many of the prayers that I have prayed and things that I have been believing God for will come to pass and there will be no additional sorrow added with it. This has been the plan of the Lord for my life, and he is surely bringing it to pass. God’s got us. We just have to continue to trust and follow him. What is the Lord showing you for the New Year? Have you taken the time to get before him and seek his face?

                     Happy New Years 2016!

Right now, I am intoxicated with the author of a particular book. This book describes the ideal of intimacy so well. It is a book of discovery where the author consistently explains who he is, and he reminds the reader who she is letting her know how precious she is to him.

Some excerpts from the book:

But now, this is what the Lord says–
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1

For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
nations in exchange for your life. Isaiah 43:3-4

The above scriptures remind me of when I was first getting to know the Lord as a teenager. When people would come up to me and pray for me in church they would always say, “God is saying that you are mine.” “I got you.” It was during this season, that I was beginning to learn who God was and what I meant to him.

As a young person and still today, I have had to go through many trials and tribulations that has caused me to learn God in a greater way. It is through the storms and trials of life that we see who God is. That is when God reveals his strength to us and often his will for us. If we read Isaiah over and over again, God is telling his people “I am God and there is no other.” “I am God and without me you can do nothing.” “I am God and there is none besides me.” In other words, God was making it very clear to his people that if they look to idols or anything else they could find no one as good as him. God is it! God is the top notch! It doesn’t get any better than him!

It is interesting though that despite God revealing these things to us, our human nature leans to idols, sin, and things that appeal to our senses. We want something to touch, to make us feel the security that only the Lord can give, yet God is patient and reveals himself to us again and again.

It is through this type of intimacy with God that he reveals who he is, and who we are, and finally how much we mean to him.

Many people don’t realize that God is more than commandments and rules. They limit their view of God to popular opinion. God is more than do this and don’t do that. He is actually the God who created romance.

One definition of romance is a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love. Why not have a life-long relationship with the Lord that is full of the excitement of God revealing himself to us? We don’t have to wait until we are in love with a person to experience intimacy or closeness to someone, to experience the unraveling of getting to know someone special in a class of his own. We can experience that in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He provides everything that we could ever want in a relationship:

1. Security – The idea that we are completely covered and taken care of.
   
2. Trust – Trustworthiness, no worries with God.
   
3. Knowledge of ourselves – In Christ we learn who we are. God confirms to us who we are.
   
4. Commitment/Covenant – We are in covenant with Christ
   
5. Intimacy – A closeness unique to those involved.
   

The idea is not to discredit relationships, but to encourage intimacy with God over a desire for a relationship. It is this basis that will ground us as single believers for the appropriate relationship because Christ will have shown us through our relationship with him how we are to be treated.

We are the bride of Christ collectively as a whole. That includes both men and women. We have been pursued, sought after, and thoughtfully made to feel secure in Christ. In this God boasts and has the right to do so because the idols that we chase are not enough. Only Christ is.

The world requires a man to woo a woman with flowers and candy, but Christ requires a man to woo his wife with such love that he is willing to give his life for her as Christ, our example gave his life for us.

Let’s not get caught up in romanticizing about romance that doesn’t even meet God’s standard and get caught up in God himself the creator of true romance. Let’s allow God to address all of our insecurities as singles with his great love for us as he reminds us that we have been chosen by him specifically by name and we are loved.

God has a history of going to great lengths to make clear to man just how much he loves us. Lately, I’ve been meditating on the love of God as I’ve been feeling his love on me literally. I woke up the other morning and felt engulfed in the love of God and began to just read up on some scriptures that contain the word love. Here are a few things that I noted about the love of God.

God’s love is not contingent upon how good we are. The love of God is unconditional. He stays committed to us even despite our imperfections.

God first laid out his commitment to man by demonstrating his love for us in the fact that he gave up his life for us. Similar to marriage, those who know the word of God know that marriage is a direct depiction and demonstration of God’s love for man with God being so committed to us that he has tied himself to us for life through the covenant that we have with him because of the death and resurrection of his son. Unbreakable is the bond of love that God has for us. It will never allow him to give up on us.

He further demonstrates his commitment by asking one of his servants who was a prophet Hosea to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him. This woman was a whore. God’s purpose in asking Hosea this was to demonstrate his love for us, man-kind, by this example which shows that even though the whorish woman was imperfect she was still worthy enough to become Hosea’s wife simply because of a decision that was made. God made a simple decision a long time ago to love us his people and that will never change.

Hosea 3:1 – Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons.KJV

Love endures all. It does not leave nor quit. That’s God’s love. He is love. He does not run when things get hard, but shows himself to be of the utmost present. His word says that he is a very present help in the time of trouble (Psalms 46:1).

God’s love is relentless toward us:

Man’s heart has a tendency to stray from the Lord in the pride of doing our own thing and leaning to our own understanding. If we read Psalms 107, it repeatedly talks about God’s unfailing love toward us in that when we turn away from him and get lifted up in pride how God allows us to go through changes to the point of us getting to our lowest wits end. At that point, the scripture says that we cry to the Lord and he hears us and delivers us out of all of our troubles. It of course is speaking about the children of Israel when they were in the wilderness, but that was an example for us and our experience with God on this earth.Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron (Psalms 107:15).

.God’s love moves him to respond to our needs:

Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. John 11:5 Later, in verse 35 it says that Jesus wept. Jesus had to allow the process of his beloved friend Lazarus to die and his family to grieve for a number of days in order for God to be glorified and for man to know that Jesus could raise from the dead, but this process hurt Jesus to the point where he wept for his beloved friends because he had to watch the pain of them going through even though it was for their good. That’s what a good father or mother does. They allow their children to go through various circumstances for their learning and their good. If Lazarus had not of died, how would we know that Jesus is the resurrection.

And God so loved the world that he was moved to give up his son on behalf of those in the world. That would be us.

God’s love corrects and confirms us as his own:

Raise your hand if you ever got a whipping and afterward your parent said come here and give me a hug you know I only whipped you because I love you. Yep, that’s how God is. He corrects and chastises those whom he loves. Those who he has made an investment in through the death and resurrection of his son. God’s correction in our lives is a sign that we belong to him. If God whips you just say to yourself I am his. Somebody loves you baby! 🙂

My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights. Proverbs 3:11-12

Have you been convinced yet that God loves you, and that God’s love is enough for you no matter where you are at in life. He will go through great lengths to reach you, to keep you, deliver you, and to confirm you again and again as his own because he loves you.

So many out there run from God’s love and run to and fro looking for love among things, people, and relationships when God wants us to yes, enjoy godly relationships and connections, but he doesn’t want us to forget about the most important love, and that love is his love.

I am so very thankful for how God has been overshadowing me in his love and presence for this season of my life. I kind of feel like it is an answer to my prayers. I believe that God is preparing my husband for me soon, and before he comes, God wants me to know that his love was enough for me. He wants me to remember how he kept me as a single, and spoke words of affirmation over me. He wants me to remember how I felt safe in his embrace so that when my blessing from the Lord comes I will not idolize him.

God will blow our minds if we let him. If  we come to him and run to him instead of the world and the world’s way of doing things, we will see the miraculous and experience God’s love in undeniable ways. I pray that readers will began to notice things that the Lord does to show his love for us and the fact that he thinks about us. God has had man-kind on his mind way before he even created us, and that is why his son was slain before the foundation of the world. God’s love is real, consistent, and true, and we can rest in it. Amen.

The Confident woman!

A woman should have some healthy pride about herself. A healthy pride is a

godly confidence that comes from a woman knowing who she is in Christ. She

knows that she is loved, covered, valuable, and has purpose. All of these

things the godly woman learns and grows into despite the difficulties of her

background. The confident woman finds a place of rest, and peace under the

shadow of the Almighty God. She is covered. She knows that God’s very

shadow is enough. Enough to ward off any person with wrong intentions

covering and protecting her with strong and careful discernment. Her beauty is

carefully crafted by the best, coupled with her spirit of gracefulness just

glorious. Her beauty is used for God’s glory as God brags that’s my daughter.

Yep, I made her. Isn’t she beautiful both inside and out, and her graceful and

kind spirit points others back to me. I’m proud of my creation and in her I am

well pleased. That’s why I got her covered on every side because she is

committed to me. It’s easy for me to show myself strong in her life and,

although certain times in her life gets shaky, she still keeps her trust in me

. She knows it is impossible for me to disappoint her, and so she rests in who

I am, my protection, acceptance, and confirmation. She rests in confidence

because she knows I’ve got her. The secret chamber of her love is reserved for

someone strong who mirrors her God’s love. She isn’t taking just any man’s

hand, but only the man, God her heavenly  father has approved. She has a

healthy pride

and godly confidence. If you are a woman with a healthy pride and godly

confidence, purchase a t-shirt . Click the picture to visit the

t-shirt website.

As single women of God, we go through a lot. We are consistently faced with the feelings of being alone and rejection in lieu of our desires to love and to be loved. If we are not careful, we can allow our feelings to rob us out of our inheritance in Christ through devaluing ourselves.

Many women devalue themselves because of being tired of this struggle and give in to the pressure of settling for whatever comes her way. She loses those qualities that make her stand out to the spouse that God has for her taking on the identity of someone else instead. This isn’t God’s will for his daughters, but he gives us the unique strength to maintain who we are while realizing our value and worth along the way.

One of our most virtuous and sought after qualities that we carry as women being made into godly wives is our trustworthiness. I love how the King James version puts it below:

The heart of her husband does safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. Proverbs 31:11

In other words, a man with a virtuously trust worthy wife knows that he can go to work, out of town or wherever he has to go and have the peace to know that his wife will be faithful to him. Men of God hold that at high value and high prize. Some men have been so worried about this that they try to control their wives. Even worse, in some cultures of Africa women’s private area would be sewn up when the husband went to work, and un-sewn when he came home.

The fear of mistrust toward a bride is completely non-existent for the wise man who has been graced to get a virtuous woman of God. He finds a place of safety and rest in a trustworthy wife. He doesn’t have to wonder whether he has chosen the right one who will be faithful to him. He already knows that because a virtuous woman remains faithful to God during her season of singleness allowing herself to be made by the hand of God into the virtuous woman that the Bible speaks about.

Being single in a lot of ways is a process of being made to handle the maturity that comes with the marriage relationship. Romans puts hardship in this way:

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4

There is a purpose in our suffering, that produces perseverance which is the ability to stick things out through the hard times even when the situation doesn’t change. Perseverance becomes a natural part of our character, and thus we walk straight into what it is that we were hoping for all along. God has to get us ready for the things that he has promised us. If only all singles male and female could get that revelation.

Ladies, we have to start knowing who we are and knowing our worth, so that when the enemy comes to us with lies saying that we will always be alone or rejected because we don’t put out and aren’t willing to compromise, we can respond with who we know we are encouraging ourselves in the Lord saying I am beautiful and I am trustworthy, and these qualities make me unique to the man that God has set aside for me. Not only that, but it’s through maintaining our identity in Christ that we can truly be ourselves, and maintain our God-given dignity.

Contentment is the key to overcoming covetousness. Jealousy and covetousness go hand in hand. Jealousy causes a person to be discontent with what she has and covetousness causes her to want what her sister has.

I was reading the below scripture and it just stood out to me that contentment is the key to overcoming covetousness:

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have; for he hath said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:25

If we can become content where we are, we can overcome covetousness, which is a very strong desire for something that God has not said belongs to us. Usually, we began becoming covetous through comparing ourselves with what someone else has, but we have to be content with the path that God has given us to walk. Covetousness can lead to being possessive and controlling over something that the Lord has not given us. James says it best.

You lust and desire to have. You kill and covet yet you do not have because you ask not and when you do ask it is only to consume your lusts. You adulterous or idolatrous people (James 4:1-3).

We cannot make idols out of our desires seeking only to gratify them. We have to seek God sincerely even when it means denying ourselves and saying no to the things that we want. Let’s allow our focus to be on being content where we are. Where we know God has called us instead of acquiring what we think we want

To sum up what we have learned and gone over in this series on sisterhood, the key points have been:

• The importance of sisterhood
• Understanding rejection as a root to jealousy, competition, and spite that often separates women
• Self-love as a foundation to prevent such things starting with learning our worth and acceptance from God first
• Applying that love and worth toward ourselves and projecting that love onto others including our sisters
• Recognizing jealousy, and an inappropriate response to the emotion of jealousy versus humility that requires work.
• Loving our sisters through hard times such as when liking the same guy
• Contentment with ourselves appreciating the unique things about us that make us who we are

 All of these things applied will help us to stand together as women of strength, love and dignity representing our God and maximizing our fullest potential as women. I hope everyone enjoyed this Series on Sisterhood as much as I did.Enjoy the finale video below:

Everybody is talking about the Supreme Court decision to make marriage legal between those of the same sex in all states within the United States of America trying to get a reaction from people and see if it will garner more support or resistance. Simply put, there are just some things that are right and some things that are wrong no matter who signs off on it saying that it is okay. A common parallel in this country is the dishonoring of marriage in general.

Quick foundation for the biblical purpose for marriage: The Biblical purpose for marriage is found in Ephesians 5 where marriage is called a mystery that is to reflect the relationship between Jesus Christ and the church (Those of us who follow Christ).

The scriptures plainly say that a man is to love his wife as Christ loves the church and gave himself for it, and the woman is to respect and submit to her husband as the church is to submit to Christ. Ephesians 5:25-32

Non-Christians who are straight will not have this understanding nor seek to reflect this in their pursuit of marriage. Just like gay people will not understand nor seek to reflect this either with man and man and woman and woman.

Simply put man and woman together were made in God’s image. Genesis 5:1-2

Therefore, there is no need for debate, convincing, questioning or any such thing. It is plainly laid out in scripture and in nature. Homosexuality goes a bit further because it goes against the very course of nature. A person doesn’t have to be a theologian to know that there is something wrong with homosexual relationships.

Straight people or Christians dishonor marriage when we walk in our selfish lusts practicing fornication or seeking marriage only to satisfy our selfish lusts and not seeking to honor God with our covenant. Also, when we get married and trade in our spouses for the next hot thing because our wives or husbands just don’t do it for us anymore. Or the man who is married to a woman, but beats the daylights out of her or the woman married to a man, but emasculates her husband.

All of these things dishonor marriage which represents covenant and love. God represents covenant and love. The Bible says that God is love and greater love has no man than this than that a man would lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

Although, we separate ourselves from God with sin, God calls us his friends. The story is told in the Bible of the woman who was caught in the very act of her sin. She was dishonoring marriage through adultery. The scribes and pharisees bought the woman to Jesus to accuse her, and Jesus’ response goes like this:

He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone. The scripture says that everyone left one by one putting down their stones. It was only Jesus and the woman left together and Jesus asked the woman where are your accusers. She said they are all gone. He said neither do I accuse you either, go and sin no more.

Jesus’ response declared all men under sin and in need of forgiveness. No one had the power to accuse the other. We are all alike at the very mercy of God. The whole point of this blog post is that we all fall short. We all do things that are not right even if it’s just an inappropriate thought. Jesus revealed himself not to accuse the world, but for those that would believe in him and come to him, they would have life and that more abundantly.

There is nothing too hard, or too big for God not to be able to handle. I am currently reading in the book of Isaiah and the below scriptures stand out to me:

Come now, let us settle the matter, says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Isaiah 1:18-20

In this particular chapter of Isaiah, God was upset because his people kept offering him sacrifices. Similar to what we do in America by praising God with the Hallelujahs, Thank you Jesus’, and glory to Gods. God was saying he doesn’t want that. He has more than enough of that. What he wants is to settle the matters in our lives that we are looking past as if they are okay. God doesn’t want to hear a thank you Jesus and we are in bed with the same sex, or a married man slapping his wife around and praising the Lord as if it is okay. God is saying no bump all that. Let’s settle this not with the Supreme court, not with the preacher or the Christian brother or sister that we look to in order to justify our sins, but with God himself the one who made us.

He is the one who has the power to forgive sins and to cause us to sin no more when we come to him in a manner of being willing to be obedient. He makes up for the rest of what we lack. That’s what grace is and that’s what real love is. It’s Jesus Christ and we all need him. Amen!

Hi, all my first video blog is at the link attached. I discuss briefly how we do not have to defend ourselves when God defends us and justifies us. Check it out and be sure to share!

There are a few people that God has bought into my life that I wish to tell them the title of this blog that they are royal, rare, and highly valuable. I want to start with a few of my brothers out there. I’ve been seeing more young men of God holding it down living holy, and righteously and set apart for God’s glory. I see some bros who love God so much that they are afraid to approach a woman just any old type of way. Some of my bros are really fasting and praying and seeking God taking a woman’s heart seriously to guard and protect it like the delicate flower that it is.

These men are careful in their approach to women and dealings with women not leading us on, but pointing us to depend upon the Lord for any void that we may have. These bros are rare! It must be difficult for a man to know that he wants something or someone, but if the Lord says wait or don’t touch that man submits to God’s will denying himself. This is honorable. I just want to say that I appreciate that as a woman of God. To my bros out there being real for the Lord, Don’t ever feel ashamed or less than for being a man who goes against the culture of what a man is taught to be. I want to say that you will be rewarded in due time with all the desires of your heart. Watch and see how God rewards those who diligently seek after him. It’s in his word, he watches his word to perform it. Our God is faithful and you know this. Be encouraged! Don’t let anything discourage you.

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. Proverbs 12:4

For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 2 Corinthians 11:5

Our job as a women is to crown our husbands when they come. That means to bring honor to them. When people see us in the streets, business world, or wherever we are, We make our husbands look good. They say to themselves that’s so in so’s girl she bad!. Yep, that’s how it goes. Right now as singles, We get plenty of practice in honoring and glorifying our husbands through honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ, submitting to him while dying to our own will. We are rare women of God, who practice are lives in a way that honors and pleases God. Everyone will not understand this nor value this but we learn to value and understand ourselves. God has made us in a special way for a specific day and time. Like Esther we are women created for such a time as this to be delivers, intercessors, encouragers, teachers and mothers in our generation to many.

Even though the woman was created to be the glory of the man, yet we are not without one another. In other words, both men and women need each other (Corinthians 11:11i). I hold him down and have his back keeping him uplifted in my prayers and for me he does the same. Until one day we will be placed together by the one who holds the highest form of rarity, royalty, and honor our God, who has made us for his glory in his image and likeness to become one form of royalty, rarity, and honor unto God.

Both ladies and men who understand their purpose to glorify God and live according to that purpose are royal, rare, and highly valuable. Together we are a picture of God’s goodness, love, and grace.

The enemy wants the men and women of God to get discouraged and to get in our flesh forgetting who we are. He wants us to forget our value and worth, but we need to know that we are not an accident, but that God specifically crafted us to be the way that we are set apart and holy for his glory. Not fitting in to the world system nor with those in the church who have chosen to be worldly. We take on the identity of Christ being transformed into a reflection of God’s son through our obedience and growth by God’s grace.

Swag on ten as long as it is rooted in the confidence that comes from God. God’s word says:

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; 1 Peter2:9

i Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 1 Corinthians 11:11

Despite recent events taken place in Baltimore having been disheartening, We cannot lose hope. Anytime, a group of people are dealing with authority that is perceived to be unjust or unfair there is the temptation to lose hope, become disparaging and take matters into one’s own hands.

Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they will not become disheartened. Colossians 3:21 (NET)

Fathers represent authority. Normally, in a household once you go to your father after you have already talked to your mom the final decision rested with your father for whatever was up for question. After his word; there was no more word or anything else to be said about the subject. What the father said went and it was the end of the story. If the father was unfair, the children would be provoked to anger and become disheartened.

To become disheartened means to lose heart or to lose hope. Unfortunately, what is going on is a lot of young African American men and women are losing hope in the possibility of justice in this Country. When the authority figures who naturally we expect to be able to trust betray that trust over and over again and get off as if nothing ever happened it causes people to become disheartened to lose that hope and ask themselves what then can be done for justice.

The natural reaction is to express one’s own anger and discontent through lashing out. While I understand the emotions and concern, I do not condone it because it is unproductive in bringing justice and it can actually incur harm on persons involved making matters worse rather than better.

There are a few examples in the Bible of authority that had ill intention toward it’s citizens, but I will only write about one example here. The example is Herod who had authority as King over the jurisdiction of where Jesus’ parents resided. The Bible is clear in communicating that King Herod sought after the child Jesus to kill him (Matthew 2:13-15). However, Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father was warned in a dream to go into Egypt until the Herod died that sought the child’s life.

In the above case, we see that even though the authority of that time was corrupt, God still intervened in the situation leading and guiding Jesus’ parents to care for the child. We learn from this story to trust the providence of God realizing that even though various authorities may be corrupt and provoke some to become disheartened, we are never without hope because there is always higher authority available who judges righteously and fairly.

Second, we see that the child’s life was sought because he was special and unique. He was the Son of God sent with a purpose to save all man-kind. We have to realize our worth as African-American men and women. There is something in African-American men that people who aren’t familiar with become afraid and intimidated by and thus target African-American men unfairly in many cases.

However, African-Americans have many gifts that make us a special and unique people. All you have to do is pay attention to the major trends in media and you will see that African-Americans are emulated in almost everything that we do from hip-hop, to dance, to fashion, to poetry, rap, and various other things. These are the things that kept us happy and full of joy during slavery when we were owned and priced at a value by someone else, but not only our gifts to entertain and uplift one another through the various arts, but the core thing that kept us strong was our relationship with God.

The old negro spirituals gave us hope and kept the thought of a higher authority out there looking after us, who would deliver us when the time came. African-Americans also have direct connections to the blood-line of David and thus the lineage of Jesus Christ through King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Black was so beautiful in the 1970s that White folks got perms to fit in. One of the most unique parts about us is the fact that we are still here in America despite our many years of struggle. We have been able to endure in this country due to our endurance and our relationship with God which brought us through slavery, Jim Crow, and many other disparities. Knowing our own worth and value outside of what others perceive is crucial to not losing hope.

When a person doesn’t know their worth and they lose hope; they are liable to do anything placing their own selves in harm’s way. What if Joseph and Mary had not of followed the providence of God and said instead they were going to go and tear up King Herod’s kingdom? What do you think would have happened? They would have made themselves targets for know reason and been destroyed, but they followed and trusted in the providence of God and their lives were spared as well as Jesus’ life when Herod had all of the children 2 years and younger who were male killed.

Lastly, we have to understand that just because we may not see immediate retribution, it doesn’t mean that retribution is not coming.

Because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:20

Sometimes when things happen that are so gut-wrenching as with the Freddie Gray situation; there is a natural reaction to want immediate revenge by any means necessary, but this is not the best way to go about things. Rioting, attacking police officers, and unruly behavior only lead to more confusion and pain. The problem that originally occurred is not fixed, and only more grief is realized. Surely, the victims in each case of injustice lives are worth more than a fit of anger. This is not God’s will at all.

What we may think is justice is not nearly as much as the justice that God desires to give. God’s justice will get to the root of the problem and God’s justice also deals with the hearts of men. The whole premise of non-violence is rooted in dealing with the heart of men, but this is another subject.

What if the justice that God has in mind is similar to that of what occurred before with laws changing, people being convicted, regulated, and held accountable which would in turn prevent future episodes and others will be able to live in peace? Let’s think long-term and not short-term.

Lashing out only brings short-term gratification while fighting for justice in an appropriate manner brings long lasting gratification. We have examples throughout our history of what worked before. We need to follow those examples when responding to the gut-wrenching events that take place in society that have occurred with some police officers and Black men and women. Whatever you do don’t lose hope.