Author: marquitabp

To know me is to accept me, and to love me is to help me.
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Daily Devotion

Get Rid of the "Lent" in Your Pocket

"So you must live as God's obedient children. Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know any better then."  1 Peter 1:14 NLT

Good evening…rather good early morning!  The season of Lent officially began for us Western Christians on Wednesday, with the celebration of Ash Wednesday.  Lent is symbolic of the 40 days that Christ fasted in the wilderness and was tempted by the devil.  Ashes represent mourning and a repentant spirit.  Traditionally, the season of Lent is marked by fasting and has evolved that people often give up something, namely meat.  I decided that I would give up anything that I feel is coming between me and spending more time with God…and so I would also let go of those things and make a serious effort to give that time to God. 

So this Tuesday and earlier today, I got my new bedroom set.  When I finally broke down my bed on Monday, I began to clean away things that had been collecting around the room, like lint and dust.  Have you ever noticed how annoying dust and lint is?  It seems to collect in the most arbitrary of places, like on your clothes, in pockets, corners, anywhere!  That made me think…sin is much like that, weaseling its way into our lives and setting up shop there unless we take action.  Some things are harder to eliminate than others, i.e. dust bunnies in the corner and that straggling lint that collects on the dryer after you have cleaned the lint filter.  But these things must be cleaned away, and the only way to get rid of sin is to repent and ask God to deliver us from it.  Likewise, the only way to get rid of lint is to see it and throw it away.  But within our own power, we can never truly get rid of all of it, we always have to use a lint remover like tape or something.  And I know you know that we cannot eliminate our own sin…but must pray continually to God for deliverance.

The difference is being delivered from something forever and just a temporary fix is in how we live.  If we seek to live for God, and do His will, and allow Him to order our steps…then eliminating sin is no big deal–for God that is.  It is when we try to keep living like we used to live and do the same things we used to do…then we very soon revert back to our old mind state and behaviors.  Romans 12:2 tells us "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will."  The only way we can eliminate sin is to give it up completely to God, and renew our minds continually.  Why the mind part–because we are creatures of habit.  Until you break a habit, you will keep doing it without a conscious thought. 

So  take that step, or at least recognize that you need God's help because the only way that you can get past where you are is to put one foot in front of the other in hopes of moving on.  You will never change for the better while you are still clutching the past for dear life.

"Don't lie to each other. You've gotten rid of the person you used to be and the life you used to live, and you've become a new person. This new person is continually renewed in knowledge to be like its Creator."  Colossians 3:9-10 GWT

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"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:17
http://lifeinspiredbygod.blogspot.com

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Daily Devotion

Experiencing True Comfort and Peace
 
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ."
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NASB
 
Happy Tuesday–or Joyeux Mardi Gras I should say!  I'm kinda sad I didn't have enough leave stored up to go this year…but I'll be going next year for sure and to Essence this year. 
 
Anyway, I'm glad I wrote yesterday…because God came thru again with confirmation for me.  I think yesterday was one of the saddest days I have had in a while.  I was trying to save my brother's new cell phone number yesterday and accidentally selected my daddy's name in my phone.  I added the number and deleted the old one…then I saw that it was my daddy's number.  I broke down and cried all day mostly.  You see, this month marks the year anniversary of his passing, and I have been sort of silently suffering.  I'll put a Facebook status up here and there, but I never really cry in front of anybody, and try to grieve alone as not to upset anyone.  But when I deleted his number, I was heartbroken all over again…I thought about the things I won't get to have, but I mainly thought about how much I have had to change and grow since he died.  Maybe you think I could have simply put the number back in my phone…but I didn't know it by heart like I do my moms number.  Cell phones have made me quite lazy at remembering things and then I would always call the house to talk to him.  I also think I may be blocking out things too to avoid the hurt…but anyway I had finally gotten to a place where I stopped crying about it and focused on moving my old furniture out of my room for the delivery of my new bedroom set today. 
 
Then I remembered that I had to call one of my best friends back.  Now I know its no secret that I have the gift of gab and have always made friends easily.  The people that are my closest friends now have been there for me at different points in my life. This friend and I have been friends since 2002, nearly ten years now.  Our birthdays are a day apart, me being older :D.  I was supposed to be going up to see her this weekend.  We talked, and do you know God does what He always has a way of doing, comforted me.  You see, I sent a text out to my close friends last week, just letting them know I love them very much and how I had gotten confirmation about some things.  And my act of obedience to the Spirit's leading resulted in many of them texting me back that they needed it at that time, and that they love me too.  But my friend, my sister, and now my soror (smile love :p), blessed me in the biggest way yesterday.  See her mom had a stroke that same day I sent the message as she was on the plane out of the country.  I had just gotten a message from her to send my itineraries to her.  I read my devotions, and of course, they confirmed things for me; then I felt the urge to send a message to my friends.  So she didn't get that message till she landed, along with the knowledge about her mom.  But God!  God allowed the Spirit to give my friend comfort and peace through those words, in the midst of a tumultuous situation.  When she could have been worrying, God instead reminded her about the things I had gone through and how I stood on my faith.  As she told me this, I began to cry again, one because of more confirmation, and two–more importantly, that God used my hurt to encourage my friend.  He used my dad and cousin's deaths to make me a better person, a better friend, and to weed out characteristics unlike Him.  He used my hurt to comfort her, and her hurt to in turn comfort me.
 
As I sit here typing, I am crying again.  God is amazing…and even now as I write, I am listening to a song by Kurt Carr…God is A Healer.  Peace awaits us when we go to God with our problems.  Comfort waits on us and is ready to ease our pain in the midst of any situation if we are willing to give it to God.  And when He comforts us, in the midst of any trouble, it is our responsibility to respond to His call when we must reciprocate that comfort for our family, friends, and loved ones.  Sometimes I get bogged down with the worries of the world, simply because I feel the hurt of others.  As I now have two close friends with parents in the hospital, it gives me peace that I can say a word of prayer for them or listen to them in their time of need.  I simply do for them what I would have liked for people to do for me when I experienced my dad's hospitalization and passing.  But because of the nature of who God is, it is His very personality to ease our hurt–now I stand clear to say He will not necessarily take it away all together.  We may not know how it will come, but welcome it.  I cannot change my losses a year later, but I can thank God for getting me through them and making me into a better person because of them.  He allows me to use those experiences and things I face everyday as encouragement to all of you. 
 
The scriptures above…I usually only look at verse 4.  But today, I decided to look at the context of the scripture.  We will have suffering…that's a no-brainer…but the Word also says we will have comfort.  So rest in that…regardless of whatever you may be going through.  As always, I'm here for you and accessible if you need prayer.  Many blessings today!
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"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:17
http://lifeinspiredbygod.blogspot.com