Abundant Life

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose"-Romans 8:28

 

The seas give way to the force of the storm, felling towering oaks of water across the bow. The skies are darkened with a blanket of doom as the sadistic squall swallows hope and spits out despair. The soaring winds steer the vessel to the ravenous reef, drowning dreams and devouring delight. Many storms develop from circumstance, but we need not run away cowering. We run toward the strong embrace of the Lord of the storm who will lift us above the ravaging winds towards victory. The storms that erupt within the atmosphere of our souls pelt our hearts with fear, guilt, and shame, and there is no escape in hiding from the pain it inflicts. We (God's children) must run toward the Lord seeking his favor through repentance and faith, depending upon His grace to restore the wholeness of peace in our lives. In the face of terrifying tempest, hopeless hearts can give way to courage. When the ravaging rage of the storm pillages our strength, fear-filled souls are buoyed by faith. Even as despair's darkness shrouds our thoughts, the shimmering rays of peace pierce our anxiety-saturated spirit, for we are not alone. We follow the wave-walking, wind-taming, shadow-shattering, death-destroying, rock-rolling Rescuer and when he speaks, the raging storm is silenced, the tempest trembles, adn tumultuous seas are stilled. Abundant life is dependent neither upon calamities averted, nor upon the favorable winds of circumstance. Abundant life is found through the glorious work of God's grace invading our every moment. In the grip of his grace, we sing in the storm the song of His goodness with unfettered faith. In the grip of his grace, we live courageously in the confidence of His good pleasure being worked in us and His glory being revealed through us.

 

Lord, I pray you would deliver your peace to my mind (and others) that I may remain fixed upon your pleasure. May my heart sing of my absolute dependence upon You. Amen.

Never Settle For Mediocrity: Shai Uchiha

Men, mediocrity should never be our default setting

Some men are out to become successful just to get women, in my opinion that's even worse because they are doing it for all the wrong reasons. Any success gained holds less value and adds nothing to the overall person in the realm of development. The ambitious nature is only manifested in order to attract women for sex and not to better self and community as a whole. Not just Placing Black women above self because that's a biased statement.
I can agree that some men do those things for sex or a "look at me now" reason more than anything. As far as financial stability, that's a funny one seeing as how many men can talk their way into sex (doesn't matter the race) for free by "running game" and selling dreams to avoid the friendzone (tossed that in for the gripers) lol. And again if they can do that without actually having the money they have no motivation to actually live the life they portray, this holds true for any man not just one race. We gotta get out of this whole race thing, gets old.
Many men have a practice of "just getting by" and blaiming others when they cannot succeed. Truth is too many lack the drive to actually work hard to succeed in anything. Too many are comfortable with mediocrity. Then if any woman downs him because she sees the potential in him, they claim that she's emasculating him. Truth is son you emasculated yourself the minute you thought a woman would accept you in your current state. If you are comfortable just getting by no respectable woman will want you pulling her down as well. You can't expect her to submit if you barely have drive to become more. That's illogical. That's a whole other discussion in itself. As men we should strive to better ourselves in all aspects, not just financial stability. Personal development, spiritual strengthening, leadership skills and mental strength are all important as well to become a more complete being. Mediocrity should never be our default setting.



I Don't Have No Worries

During Miami Heat's championship celebration, Lebron James was interviewed on his thoughts of winning another NBA title. As the interview went on, he said how he was so blessed that he wasn't supposed to be where he's at. When asked about a 3-peat, Lebron said "I Ain't Got No Worries". When I heard that phrase, I almost shouted because that's the first time I heard someone put it in that context. When I hear the phrase "I Ain't Got No Worries", I think of a confident person. (S)he is secure no matter what. The roughest storms may strike, but they can't destroy them because of their unshakeable faith. I'm going to post a few scenarios, and then follow up with I Ain't Got No Worries. Here we go:

1. "I Ain't Got No Worries:-You're 18 & in 9th grade, negro you better have worries!

2. My (wo)man left me-I Ain't Got No Worries. (S)he did me a favor.

3. I'm about to lose my job-I Ain't Got No Worries. Something better is in store.

4. Miami Heat won't 3-peat this year-I Ain't Got No Worries. It's gonna happen.

 

No matter what you go through, are going through or will face in life, remember, You Have No Worries!

Roll Out

 

A man calls into a Christian counseling radio show bawling his eyes out; this guy is crying hysterically. It's bad enough he's crying, because I believe a man should only cry if his mother dies. This man is shedding tears because his wife manipulated him. This woman was a drinker, brawler and cusser when he met her. Drinked and smoked too. She was I call a party girl. Then she looked good to him, most likely blew his mind in the bedroom, and was sold. He told her he couldn't marry a woman that does all of that, she said she could stop. He wanted to believe her and said ok. Now that she got his money, this fool on the radio crying like he shocked. She curses him out, now he's crying because she didn't love him as much as he thought. Really? That fool didn't see that coming. No, he saw it coming, he chose to ignore the signs (as most men do). When someone shows you who they are, believe them. If you try to tame a wild animal and that animal mauls you, don't get upset because that animal is acting like his nature. Women want strong men; men who can hold it down even if the odds are not in his favor. It's hard for me to feel sorry for this man because from Day 1, he should've known her nature. Maybe I'm not the marrying kind because that kind of disrespect I wouldn't tolerate at all. If a woman did all that to me, she would be gone. That's the problem with some of these men, they give their woman too many passes to keep fouling up because he's too soft to lay down the law. If your mate is being disrespectful towards others, (s)he is being disrespectful to you. I understand you have to work through situations in marriage, but some topics require zero tolerance: Abuse & Infidelity being the majors. Even if she didn't physically hit him, she verbally abused him and that qualifies as abuse. Man Law #245-Never cry your eyes out on nationally syndicated radio. I guess she wears the pants, and he wears the panties in the relationship. Here's how I feel: It's only acceptable for a man to shed tears over the death of his mother; but for a man to cry over a woman, a domineering one at that, I can't see it. It's one thing to love your wife, but if she's a witch, you check & charge her. If she can't act right, she has to take flight.

How Hard Is That?

A high-end department store Barney's is requiring proof of income for black shoppers. This stemmed from an incident where a youth in New York spent $350 for a belt. It's ridiculous enough that the young person spend $350 for a belt. That's a monthly car payment, mortgage, 2 months worth of groceries for some people. This youth raises sand about being profiled. I don't know why people are catching feelings over this protest, to me it's not that serious. If you don't like an establishment's protocol, don't shop there. I don't like what a lot of businesses stand for, so do you think I'm going to support? No. Why support what you dislike? Sounds silly. Yes, requiring proof of income to shop at a store is stupid; who does that? Considering the person was probably a black, inner-city youth, I could see what skepticism would be raised. Many inner-city communities don't have jobs, and if they do, they are low-wage positions. So how can an inner-city youth afford a $350 belt outside of hustling? The beauty of life is variety. There's a variety of business to suit each person's taste. What you may not like, someone else does. My mother doesn't like Burger King, but I do (I seldom eat BK). She has her likes & dislikes, and I have mine. You won't worry about me shopping at Barney's because I have no desire to shop at high-end fashion stores. I'm fiscally conservative so I can't see myself throwing away money to buy expensive clothing, to impress people I probably don't like. People need to find better stuff to complain about, because this isn't one of them.

How Do You Know?

How do you know how to treat someone if you've never had a committed relationship? That question comes up whenever a single person with no relationship history decides to court someone. The answer to that question: Observe how they treat their loved ones; friends & family. If they treat their loved ones in high regard, they will almost always treat you (man or woman) the same way. You have a select few who mistreat their mates, but are ready to battle if someone does their sister or aunt wrong. See the irony? That person you're mistreating is someone's aunt, sister, daughter, uncle, etc. I had a great conversation with a good friend and she asked me that question, and I responded with "By treating my woman the same way I treat the most important people in my life, with love & respect." For me, I go hard for those I love and they usually reciprocate, because if there's no reciprocation in the love department, I'm gone. No sense in staying in a lopsided relationship. Think about it, I'm giving my all to a woman, and she can't do the same for me? Where they do that at? Not over here. I understand what people mean by when they say "How a man treats his mother is how he will treat his woman" 9 times out of 10, it's true. If he mistreats his mother, he will mistreat his lady. Flipping the script, if he respects his mother, he will respect her because his mom wouldn't go for that. Mothers know a good woman when they see one, and a good mother will motivate her son to put his woman first. You see, just because someone has never had a committed relationship doesn't mean they wouldn't know what to do if the right person came along. Pay attention to how they treat their loved ones, for that usually speaks volumes as to how they will treat you.

Go Pastor!

One of the gripes many men have with women who attend church is church women don't know how to think for themselves. They're quick to utter what the pastor said instead of thinking for themselves. Here's an example: Yesterday's broadcast by Tony Evans (an evangelist) was admonishing men. He says: Today's men are feminized. They react to situations just like a woman, and that should not be. Mention men's issues, you get Amens & Hallelujah's; mention women's issues, you get deflection & combativeness. I've noticed a trend: When pastors admonish men for lack of responsibility, women shout him down; that pastor gets on the ladies, crickets chirping. Some women are all for pastors getting on wayward men, but when the script is flipped, there's a problem. Maybe that's why men want nothing to do with church, because men are hip to games. They know that pastors tailor their messages to gain women's approval. Because women make up the majority of the church's congregation, it makes sense to speak in favor of the majority. The issue is over time, you feel convicted for telling people what they want to hear, instead of what they need to hear. The minute a pastor REALLY starts telling the truth, that's when church membership declines. If pastors started getting on wayward women like they do the men, watch church membership drop by over half. That's not going to happen because some pastors are shook by women. Women will listen to preachers talk about what men aren't doing, but they won't listen to a woman televangelist who admonishes them. Ironic.