It’s Me Oh Lord BY: KB 9.17.16

I have been deep into “word study” in the Bible the past few days. I’ve heard the term  “word study” while growing up, I heard it used primarily in Black Churches; when I use the term “word study”  I mean I reflect on things I’ve heard quoted  or cited in a particular reading from a passage.

Today’s reading Psalm 55:22  Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

“Sunlight glittered on the swimming pool in front of me. I overheard an instructor speaking to a student who had been in the water for quite a while. He said, “It looks like you’re getting tired. When you’re exhausted and in deep water, try the survival float.”

Certain situations in life require us to spend our mental, physical, or emotional energy in a way that we can’t sustain. David described a time when his enemies were threatening him and he felt the emotional weight of their anger. He needed to escape the distress he was experiencing.

As he processed his feelings, he found a way to rest in his troubled thoughts. He said, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you” (Ps. 55:22). He recognized that God supports us if we dare to release our problems to Him. We don’t have to take charge of every situation and try to craft the outcome—that’s exhausting! God is in control of every aspect of our life.

Instead of trying to do everything in our own effort, we can find rest in God. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking Him to handle our problems. Then we can pause, relax, and enjoy the knowledge that He is sustaining us.”   Our Daily Bread – 9.17.16

This has been an epic week for me…most of the week I was confused. I was trying to make sense of something that wasn’t mine to process but it impacted me. Yesterday, Friday I was frustrated by a series of events that seemed trivial but irritated me to no end 1) a torn hamstring, 2 poor customer service and 3) I went to a specialty store to get something that was allegedly in stock and it wasn’t . Sounds trivial right? What I figured out is that issues number 2 and 3 fed into the hurt and confusion caused by issue number 1 and I allowed it all to snowball before TRULY  ( I’ll tell you why it’s bold and underlined in a minute) giving it to God.

I underlined the word truly because I know to go to prayer but I sometimes approach prayer things like Jacob – wrestling with it until it blesses me. I determined that I cannot wrestle with what I don’t know, can’t see or feel…I had to cast it upon God. I could pray about my confusion and circumstances surrounding it.

To truly get the one verse we must read 55:16-23  doing so with the knowledge that we must call upon God with EVERY trial, and IN FAITH knowing that He will save us.  Our actions should be guided by the fact that He is our Father; He would listen to us, and not get frustrated by the frequency or the triviality of our issues. God rejoices in the frequency of our petitions.

David’s situation made him somewhat paranoid. He truly believed that everyone had turned against him; but during the struggle he began to see that he had support, more than he imagined; and he praised God that he was able to see it; David praised God because he knew that his support was from God.  This is why it’s important to call upon “prayer warriors” when you’re struggling

Stress and anxiety are very heavy burdens, especially when they are accompanied with the force of temptations and the direct aim of Satan; there are also the burdens of the desire to sin or you’re already engaged in the sin and the pervasiveness of corruption. The only way to get relief is to look to Christ, to understand that He bore it all. Like any father, God loves to see that His children have what they want and need, leave it to Him to give it in his own way (preparing you) and time.

Take Up Your Cross BY: KB 9.16.16

Some of you might be thinking….what is up with KB?, she’s gone all religious “mano” on us… Nope; if you know me you’d know that my faith is a very major part of who I am….you would know I was once very active in ministry being a youth minister. Not that I’m not active now, my ministry is in a different focus now, I am out here in these streets working with people who the mainstream has casted off. I’m working with “the homeless, the addict, the sex worker, the hustlers” – all society words to segregate and denigrate. What we should really being saying is “there but by the grace of God…”

When I get all worked up mentally…I go to my source of strength and comfort…God. He and I talk on the regular but I tend to visit more often when I’m stressed – does that remind you of going home?

So I was all off into the word today….some of y’all may remember that I recently said that I have a gripe with the Bible…I do, but it’s not for the reasons you may think. Allow me to explain before I get into my message so you all don’t feel like you’ve gotten a mixed message from me.

My “beef” with the Bible is that it was given to African Americans as a tool of subjugation. There were certain people (Europeans) who got to dictate what scrolls were canonized and in doing so they erased all cultural influence and context of Africans….oh don’t be shocked Africans and people of color were very much a part of Greece and Rome but where are we in the Bible? Where are we mentioned in the majority of modern day teachings and depiction? We’re still teaching a subtle form of denial and racism…even in the African American communities. Cleopatra didn’t look like Elizabeth Taylor – wake up y’all!   I do believe that all scripture is God breathed and inspired so I know the lessons are pertinent to my life…I just wish that all the scrolls were translated and kept in historic context.  ‘nuff said!

Getting back to what I was saying, when I get all head up and stressed I go “home” and my prayer life kicks into hyper-drive” So, this morning I was just doing a free-flowing word study and I remembered 

Luke 9: 23 Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Just what does it mean to take up your cross? To me it means that life is going to follow its course and some unpleasant and uncomfortable things are going to show up….

Now most of us try to seek immediate relief and release from the discomfort: I AM NO DIFFERENT! Where I am different is that I have learned to quickly realize what I’m doing and I shift focus and start praying to and praising God. I do this because I am in deep connection with the suffering of Christ for my sake. Trials are not always punishment; people, trials are sometimes a motivator or a way to show us how to do something better. Struggles and discomfort can also be a stepping stone to the next level of a blessing ( think about it….what good is it to give someone something precious if they can’t or won’t appreciate it?)

 

My faith is unshakable and unbreakable....I may get emotional for a minute ...I'm human ...but I know it is never about me

Fragrance BY: KB 9.16.16

We are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:15

A perfumer who works in New York declares that she can recognize certain combinations of scents and guess the perfumer behind a fragrance. With just a sniff she can say, “This is Jenny’s work.”

When writing to the followers of Christ in the city of Corinth, Paul at one point used an example that would have reminded them of a victorious Roman army in a conquered city burning incense (2 Cor. 2:14). The general would come through first, followed by his troops and then the defeated army. For the Romans, the aroma of the incense meant victory; for the prisoners, it meant death.

Paul said we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ’s victory over sin. God has given us the fragrance of Christ Himself so we can become a sweet-smelling sacrifice of praise. But how can we live so we spread this pleasing fragrance to others? We can show generosity and love, and we can share the gospel with others so they can find the way to salvation. We can allow the Spirit to display through us His gifts of love, joy, and kindness (Gal. 5:22–23).

Do others observe us and say, “This is Jesus’s work”? Are we allowing Him to spread His fragrance through us and then telling others about Him? He is the Ultimate Perfumer—the most exquisite fragrance there will ever be.

This was my devotional reading this morning and it got me doing some serious thinking about what it means to be “in Christ”

Do you remember when you were a kid and you found the smell of your mother and father as something that soothed you? I remember one instance where I smelled my mother’s perfume and I told her that she “smelled pretty.”  Now, if you think about it this involves two different senses but it is something that we must ask ourselves “Do I smell pretty?”  "What’s my scent in Christ?"

Do I have the sulfur smell of the last lie I told? Do I have the stench of another man/woman? Am I reeking of addiction?  When people see me, do they see light or dark?

It seems so trivial to read and see but this is so critical because you and your life may be the only Bible or representation of Christ that people see…do you look and smell pretty?

A Bad Approach By: KB 9.11.16

It is no secret that I write a daily spiritual blog and email it out to friends to motivate them daily. I have two people who respond to the messages on a regular basis. They often tell me how the message was right on time applicable to something they’re going through.  I often prepare the posts a month in advance in order to make provision for my hectic and frantic writing routine; I have several blogs and outlets.

I’m writing all that to say, that I was preparing some posts today when I came across this thought from one of the devotionals that I use to prepare my messages.

Currently, Christianity is being compared with other religions as never before. Some so-called Christian leaders even advocate the working out of a system of morals, ethics, and religion that would bring together all the religions of the world. It cannot be done. Jesus Christ is unique. Why insist on the uniqueness of Christ? What did Christ bring into the world that had not appeared before? The Christian answer is that He is the supreme manifestation of God. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This is the eternal fact of our Christian faith.

This particular post began to gnaw at me. I felt very unsettled with it because it comes from a very narrow perspective. I had to stop and really think about how I wanted to use this message. I was reminded of a situation that I was privy to; I didn’t like it then and this particular writing has me disliking it now.  In this situation…a woman, claiming a title of religious leader in her particular denomination got into a conversation about religious beliefs with a Muslim brother. This woman talked down to this brother, belittled his beliefs and became very condescending in her presentation of Christ to this brother. He showed remarkable restraint and humility in his ability to listen. She, however, never let him finish his thought….

Getting back to my blog…I ended this particular post by posing the question…Am I so narrow in my faith constructs that I cannot allow for others? If you’re approaching someone with a my God is better than your God you’re dead (literally) wrong!

Just The Facts BY: KB 8.28.16

Just The Facts     BY: KB  8.28.16

I’m sitting here watching Amistad for the umpteenth time and like all the other times I’m moved to both anger and tears of the history of  brutality of this country and how well ALL seem to forget or turn a blind eye and calloused heart to it as long as we have a few material comforts. European slave traders found the first African commodity to exploit; Spain, France, Portugal and The Netherlands were heavy in the market. France had up to 26 million Africans – let that sink in 26 million, for one country. Mind you The Holocaust accounts for approximately 6 million Jews… why isn’t the importing, brutality, trading and enslavement of Blacks considered a Holocaust? We remember the Jews yet we continue to see Blacks in this country as an inconsequential entity unless the Black impacts the life of someone White.

We then we have the people who want to discuss the facts of Black on Black crime, like they give a damn, but let’s get real and talk about it….Black on Black crime is a byproduct of the horrific conditions and treatment that this country continues to promulgate. We hear the word “ghetto” used as a synonym for Black…on some levels it’s true because Blacks continue to be relegated to certain areas that “keep them contained” by lack of resources…a new economic racism…but we don’t see that because this is America!!!

Now let’s just really take the gloves off and get down with some bare knuckles…I am 2 generations removed from share-croppers and 3 from slaves. When the freedom was fought for…save the bullshit history lesson it wasn’t granted. The Emancipation Proclamation was written in and signed in blood…BLOOD FROM PEOPLE OF ALL COLORS!

People migrated from the land of their oppressors…only to find more oppression. The people, barely literate because their “owners” saw no need to educate or prepare them for anything other than servitude to their needs; a trend perpetuated in the perceived utopia of the North with the creation of vocational schools – created in the perception that Blacks would not attend college.

Blacks seemed to have made strides in employment as the country industrialized..the majority of my family became property owners as a result of the steel industry and auto manufacturing plants  but it’s also the same industry that killed them with various health issues because the industries weren’t regulated. Once the industries discovered they could produce a cheaper product and pollute to their hearts content they abandoned a group of people (once again, Black were utilized as a cheap and dispensable labor source)

While many of us were flag waving and celebrating in the Rio Olympics ….you have to know that Brazil had 4.9 million slaves long before the Portuguese ever set foot on their soil and the Blacks of Brazil are truly in slum conditions..

These are just a few of the reasons why we should know our history and keep shouting about BLACK LIVES

Come Out and Live BY: KB 8.19.16

Who are the relationship role models for same gender loving people of color; more specific lesbians of color?

We know of individuals; people such as Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Barbara Jordan, Bessie Smith, Lorraine Hansberry.  We hold them up and extol them for their historical purpose and cultural content but what about their lives? What about the lives of their partners? How did they interact in the day to day? Were their partners people of color?

We never get the full content as we search to develop our own relationships. The majority of our couplings are based in hetero examples and we are forced to add our own personal twists to fit the need. Who or what can we emulate? I ask this question because the only couple that we regularly see is Ellen DeGeneres and Portia. We know that there are other same gender loving folks out and about but Ellen seems to be the only person who has the forum and the “stones” to be out there with her relationship. Gay men have Jussie Smollett..who really didn’t have a formal coming out statement he just merely stated that he never hid who he was…which in other words like many, many, many  gay and lesbian African Americans , he chose to let people speculate.

I’m posing these questions as a way to encourage African American to stop hiding…be out and be proud! There is no shame in embracing your authentic self! Disregard the people who attempt to heap shame upon you…there’s a level of unhappiness in anyone who attempts to make someone else unhappy about being genuine.

It took me some years to embrace who I am because of church constructs and constrictions…I have since come to realize that love is love is love is love and no one has the power or the ability to stifle a gift from God.

1 Corinthians 13: 13   And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Embrace who you are…..all of who you are!

Happiness vs. Joy BY :KB

I wrote this piece a while back...2005 to be exact and I have been mentally writing and re-writing this piece ever since. There are two reoccurring themes in how I develop my faith and how I live my life. The first is the core to it all...love! I try to dissect and analyze just what it means to love  both on a spiritual and a physical level. I spend so much time studying the word because I believe that we have gotten so far away from what it means to LOVE that we no longer have a point of reference and we make it up as we go along. We live in a time where it's easy to lay with a person than it is to pray with and for that person...think about that for a minute. I pray for my loved ones daily. I lift my special someone before God....

before I post the piece I want to briefly discuss the second thing I really concentrate on and that is what drives us  as human beings...what do we seek and stress over?

READ AND THINK:

“When we worry about the things we don’t have we miss out on the blessings of the things that we do have.”

A variation of this anonymous quote:
Happiness is not having what you want - It is wanting what you have.

‘To the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the world.”

These are quotes from my clients, I work as a Substance Abuse Counselor. I hear them repeat these words like a mantra….AA and NA member often say “fake it until you make it.” and I am a firm believer in the “act as if _______.” But what does it mean to be happy? If people were truly happy would therapist have a job? Would the drug companies be filling Pez dispensers with Welbutrin, Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft and the likes?…don’t get me wrong I am not doing a “Cruise” and knocking the use of these drugs. I believe the drugs are useful and necessary but what I question is their over use or free flowing scripts because it’s easier to medicate than to ferret out the source and do some “self” work.

What does it mean to be happy? I did some internet surfing and I found these quotes:

Democritus, (460?-370? BC)
Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold, the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul.

Aristotle
To live happily is an inward power of the soul.

Sharon Salzberg
It doesn't matter how long we may have been stuck in a sense of our limitations. If we go into a darkened room and turn on the light, it doesn't matter if the room has been dark for a day, a week, or ten thousand years - we turn on the light and it is illuminated. Once we control our capacity for love and happiness, the light has been turned on.

John Templeton
Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth... Happiness comes from giving, not getting. If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it.

Ursula K. LeGuin
I certainly wasn't happy. Happiness has to do with reason, and only reason earns it. What I was given was the thing you can't earn, and can't keep, and often don't even recognize at the time; I mean joy.

Mary Baker Eddy
Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.

joy   (joi)
n.

1.  
1. Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness.
2. The expression or manifestation of such feeling.
2. A source or an object of pleasure or satisfaction: their only child, their pride and joy.

v. joyed, joy·ing, joys
v. intr.

To take great pleasure; rejoice.

v. tr. Archaic

1. To fill with ecstatic happiness, pleasure, or satisfaction.
2. To enjoy.

  (joi)
n.

1.  
1. Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness.
2. The expression or manifestation of such feeling.
2. A source or an object of pleasure or satisfaction: their only child, their pride and joy.

v. joyed, joy·ing, joys
v. intr.

To take great pleasure; rejoice.

v. tr. Archaic

1. To fill with ecstatic happiness, pleasure, or satisfaction.
2. To enjoy.

Joy comes from within and is not dependent upon circumstances. Joy is present when you have an unshakable faith and when your relationship (not religion) with your Higher Power is in tact. An individual can know joy and be in prison. (Acts 16) – Living example Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Holocaust survivors …these people knew that there was a power greater than themselves....trusting and knowing that God is a God of supply

 Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

hap·py    (hp)
adj. hap·pi·er, hap·pi·est

1. Characterized by good luck; fortunate.
2. Enjoying, showing, or marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy.
3. Being especially well-adapted; felicitous: a happy turn of phrase.
4. Cheerful; willing: happy to help.
5.  
1. Characterized by a spontaneous or obsessive inclination to use something. Often used in combination: trigger-happy.
2. Enthusiastic about or involved with to a disproportionate degree. Often used in combination: money-happy; clothes-happy.

Happiness is temporal. Happiness is rooted in the frailties of man – people, places and things….Daniel chapter 2 teaches that kings and kingdoms set up by man will crumble. Scripture goes on the further state that unless the Lord builds a house its builder labors in vain….. Who is the architect of your home? Are you seeking joy or happiness?