Daily Devotional: God is All Around You

Psalm 139:7-10

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.

Doesn't matter where you go or which way you turn, no one can hide from the glory of God.  All around you are the signs: majestic trees that grow green and sturdy, a variety of beautiful animals, insects and sea life and of course what lies beyond this planet, in the void of space. Did you know that if the planet earth was moved in the slightest from its projected course around the sound, we could either freeze to death or burn up?

It's hard to fathom that there is a God that thinks of our well being and wants the best for us, but nothing in this world stands at mere chance.  As a matter of fact, scientists love to try and disprove the existence of God, but one thing can be said to quell most of this rambling: every action has an equal and opposite reaction.  Science is deeply rooted in cause and effect.  Without one, there could not be the other.  So, knowing that the universe had to have been created, the there must have been a creator.  Science indeed says that such is a FACT and not CONJECTURE.  Some want to call it the Big Bang, but there must have been something that did the banging, right?  

God is omniscient, forever present beyond our senses.  We cannot perceive him in our current state, except through prayer and meditation.  Even then, we can never "see" him as we see one another.  However, people, in their own arrogance, refuse to humble themselves before God an imply that we should. They say that God cannot exist, because why would he put us here?  It's such a terrible place! Unfortunately, the arrogant will always refuse to prostrate themselves before God, and true comprehension is lost.  God put us here to bring us closer to him   We inflict pain and trouble on one another at an alarming rate.  

I won't be a fool.  God is all around us.  In the clouds of the sky, in the plants of the fields and in the face of that person you hold so dear to your heart.

Be Blessed.  Amen.

Daily Devotional: Your Spiritual Appetite

John 6:27

27 “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

We are a nation of obese and lazy people. Even our military is overweight. It's a sad state of affairs when the people that should be able bodied are having a hard time with being disciplined.

We don't thirst and hunger for the food of the soul, that meat that nourishes our very being. God's word is there for us to study and meditate on, yet we find ourselves busy doing things of no consequence. I am guilty if this, for sure.

I pray that you all seek the manna of God, that he feed and water your very being. Be blessed with his word and find your appetite is renewed, your palate now ready for a more worthy meal. Look within and see that you could never be without.

May God grant you strength to endure this harsh world. Amen.

Daily Devotional: Suffering to Persevere

Romans 5:3-5

3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Lord knows that I have been through my own suffering, as we all have, relative to our situations. I continue towards a better day, hoping that I can make the right choices.

As human beings, our plight is to endure and be remade in the process. There is not one success story that I have read that doesn't specifically discuss the trials that came with it. It is like we are going through a refining process, readying ourselves for the future.

So, I say that one shouldn't shy away from hardship. It will come, in one form our another. Your character will result from the way you handle those very problems. We have choices to make during those times, and God willing, they will be the right ones.

Even, if things turn out bad, do not despair. For this is but a time, and it will pass. When it passes, you will be all the better for it.

Blessings.

May Jesus be the light to your darkened path, and a shelter during the storm.

Self: Realized

"Self-realization is an expression used in psychology, spirituality and Eastern religions. The basic premise of self-realization is that there exists an authentic self which has to be discovered by psychological or spiritual self-striving. Self-realization can be a gradual or instantaneous phenomena depending on the school of thought but in all cases it involves extensive preparation of mind and emotions to recognize self-realization when it occurs. 

Self-realization is a maturing of the ego or personality to accept its own evanescence and thus allow space for the true Self to reveal itself. The moon veiled by clouds is an apt metaphor for the Self's apparent absence in our everyday lives. The dissolution of the ego's obsessive, internal pre-occupations with its psycho-somatic complexes frees the psyche's energy to directly experience Reality of the world as it is, free of any assumptions." 

What do you really know about yourself?  To be perfectly honest, most of us live sedentary lives that don't allow for much physical or mental strain.  Life is actually easy when you think about it.  We aren't threatened with physical harm, most of us aren't starving (especially U.S. citizens, where most of us are overweight) and there isn't much desire to push beyond what we experience on a daily basis.  We are content with our homes and families, poor health and improper diets.  We are at ease with sub-par education, lackluster dreams, ironic reality shows, conceited, self-gratifying social icons and money hoarding corporations to the point that we can't see how negatively they affect us.  On and on, we plod through life, sadly apathetic to what is surrounding us.  We are accepting misery.

There was a time when people were aware of what was at stake.  We took a stand for family, friends and God.  All people, not just the so-called Black people (a misnomer still, that I will always shun).  Our neighborhoods were solid, and we looked out for one another.  Now, we seem to mistrust ourselves and live is fear of each other.  We prey on each other, robbing, hurting, even killing those that are in the same predicament.  Then, we say we want better, but only show our worst sides.  Truly, it is like we don't want to be more, it is like we accept that we can only be less.  The government herds us into "projects" as to keep us from those parts of the city that are reserved for the more educated, privileged individuals.  How can one ignore this?  Is it just in the mind of an individual to resign to defeat, simply because of his situation?

I am saddened.  Today I see myself returning to the best of who I am, reclaiming my mind and body from the  edge of insanity.  To do this, my spirit speaks to my soul and they cooperate, unified, to work towards this goal.  It has been a long time since I've been so clear in my thoughts, but being self-realized grants this attribute.  I cannot go back; will not go back.  In 2001, I achieved this state prematurely, only to lose it in my immaturity and confusion.  This time, I will follow this path to the end.  I will speak up for those who have no voice.  I will show that injustice exists.  I will maintain healthy balance.  I will show others how to come into themselves and overcome.

Have you done your best?  Tried your best?  Even if it is not your best, have you tried at all?  What do you think you are? Who do you think you are?  These questions need to be answered.  I encourage you to find out.

God sings, and I hear Him.  I hear Him.  There is nothing like this feeling.

Compromise

Should never be willing to compromise your dreams for anyone, especially if that person is not willing to give anything of themselves to constitute a true compromise. I am still traveling, doing, working, watching and just being...so I have much to learn. However, it doesn't take being 70 years-old to see what mistakes you've made, what things to avoid and how to progress towards your goal. With age comes wisdom, but one should be able to refer to the wisdom of others to gain guidance. The Bible is a great, living tool that people overlook these days because they think that this society has outgrown its words. But, even as our society changes, the principles outlined in the Bible will always respond to the human condition. There is nothing new under the sun, and the same things we faced back then, man is still facing today. In walking towards your dreams, don't forget to lean on that ancient wisdom for support. All of us need help, but don't be so stubborn that you think you know everything. Blessings be upon you.

Paralysis

There are things that eat at you. Things that strip away your soul, bit by terrified bit, swallowing it piece by delightful piece. These issues wait for times of weakness, where we feel lost and uncentered. This is when they do the most damage. It's not like we can do anything. We've already primed our lives for the killing stroke: we can only but await the agony that comes with it.

I allow myself to lose a battle that should already have been won. I follow the weak routes of life and gather the softness that cripples me little by little, smoothing the rough edges of my soul that were never meant to be tempered. I am killing my desires, crushing my soul. Bleeding it dry, as the greatest enemy I have ever known. I am living on my knees.

I see men that have taken life and made it but a toy. They revel in it and make it obey them, or so it seems. So it looks. I can't understand the madness as it is, yet they have somehow done much more than I can. They have conquered something and claimed ownership. I find myself becoming a coward.

I am beckoned to a place of majesty, a kingship, that cannot be granted to anyone. It must be snatched or taken. I must prove that I am the one that deserves such glory. I must make this life mine and shape it so that it defines my dreams.

May God see me through. I need His strength to conquer this personalized paralysis. It's a blight, a sickening darkness that clouds my mind and casts a shade over the light in my soul.

No Reason To Live A Lie

Someone out there has to be tired of living a lie. Tired of feeling empty, following hollow dreams that lead to other types of futility. You have to be fed up with the world and the way it mocks you and scoffs at you. The lies are right in front of our faces, and we just accept them like we're puppets, dancing and shuffling about with a hand up our back. You don't even know who's hand it is, but someone's prodding you along...

Each time you react in anger or cower in fear, that hand is grabbing hold and tossing you about. Everytime you have an argument and hide behind your pride, there's the puppetmaster, moving his fingers and making you do that dance. And you can't even see it, because you think the puppetmaster is you. You think that you're the one with the anger and the fear, yelling and screaming at anything that opposes you. And most of you will defend to the death your right to shout and curse and deliver your opinion upon others in such a way that causes division and separation. You want to be right. You're right and they're wrong.

I'm here to say that it isn't you, but it is that thief of life- your ego- that causes you to become lost to the Truth God has given us. God is the giver of love and not confusion, so these arguments are foolish to him. Your anger and pride is unwarranted. These things are false projections of the ego in an attempt to protect itself. It wants to preserve the illusion. Maybe you can refer to it as the devil or a demon. Either way, it destroys your life from the inside, controlling how you think, what you do and what you say.

There is still time to shift our present state of awareness from one that is fearful, to one that is of love. Jesus asked us to forgive as many times as it takes, no matter the circumstances. We must surrender our foolish thoughts and tendencies in order to enter the truth of love and understanding. We must leave behind the idea that all truth is relative as well, because that is nothing but a precursor to chaos. I tell you there is but one Truth, and it is the beauty of God through love and forgiveness. Surrender your heart to Him, so that He may heal you and so you may heal others.

May God bless you in your journey towards the Truth.

The Beautiful Walk

The beauty of life is yours to behold.

On my daily walks I take time to notice everything around me, with reverance and love. With each step I take, there is peace and serenity. I have no problems in these moments. There is no fear. There is only love and the feeling of God all around and within me.

I have taken to the habit of using prayer beads as I walk, holding them in my hands and running my fingers across them, one by one. Slowly I turn them and feel the texture, and I am filled again with peace. It is not even happiness, or joy. Just something greater that I can only truly decribe as serenity. The beads are as a key is to a door: they help to open my heart to God so that I can receive his Word.

My pastor would call this "quiet time". I find the more time I take, the more I desire to be with Him. It seems that time is still in these moments, and I can only give thanks and atone for my sins. These moments are of love and truth, which is the only reality that exists for us. All other things are just lies and fantasies that mar God's instructions for our lives.

Take care to feel His presence daily.

Through Devotion and Art

Holding on to nothing, I will be able to gain everything...

There are great worlds to visit, through devotion and art. There is God and love, granting light to this dark world. Even so, you cannot escape yourself.

Dealing with the inner man is the only thing that can save you from destruction. It is the only thing that will allow you to embrace God. Releasing your mind from the prison that the world has surrounded you with, will grant change and transformation.

Great worlds to visit. God is waiting on each path, to each world. Through art and devotion I find my way home, creating the steps toward resolution. But you must let go of your pain, release your reliance on worldly things. Discover the impermanence in all, so that you can be free.

Meditation (Selah)

“Thus meditating you will no longer strive to build yourself up in your prejudices, but, forgetting self, you will remember only that you are seeking the Truth.” - James Allen

I don't know about you, but meditation has become a daily practice. It is part of my daily discipline now because it allows me to focus inward instead of outward, so that I can leave the worries of the day and give myself sometime with God. Truly sitting down and having "quiet time" as my pastor says, is a form of meditation, but I take it a step further. I meditate like a Buddhist would...

I will tell you why. Even though I am a Christian, I find that there are things that can be utilized from all sorts of cultures that are effective tools to foster spiritual growth and development. Meditation is no different. If you recall, Jesus went into the wilderness and was tempted by the devil. What do you think he was doing when the devil came upon him? He was meditating on the Word of God.

Many people may think this is mysticism but I see it as nothing more than a process that invites me to a special relationship with Jesus. To commune with the One True God and feel his presence all around is a fantastic experience!

Check out the book called, Spiritual Liberation by Michael Bernard Beckwith. He gives some pretty good instruction on how to utilize your true being and find peace within God's presence. I can't say I agree with all his points, but I do find much of what he says very useful in growing and maturing spiritually.

If you read Psalms, you will see the word "selah" throughout (71 times to be exact). It likely means, "pause and calmly think on this" or "meditate on this" (it is defined as other things, because it is not a very proper translation in Hebrew). The power of meditation is known in the Bible and throughout the world. Don't be afraid to sit and be quiet for a little bit each day and just give God thanks. I mean, doesn't He deserve that time and appreciation? Don't you deserve to be closer to Him?

Psalms 62:8
"Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah."

Can't Force It

All the love I wish to know, I have known long enough to know
That deserved love is not earned love and sometimes it won’t show
What you can’t get or don’t want or wish from the other
You can attempt to borrow from the affections of another
You can fuss and cuss, stomp and fight or throw fits
Still won’t be able to get back all that was missed
The love goes on, with or without lips to kiss or hands to hold
Love will sometimes burn itself into your very soul
A sacred scar that you will carry for the length of your years
To be tormented or uplifted, you will not escape the tears
So listen to the words I give, I hope you understand too
Even though you love someone you can’t make them love you.

The Standing

Something darker than this I've seen
warped bits of a dream

a black man now shamed
once thought of as kings
these days glorified thugs and thieves
like we trying to steal
what was stolen 400 years past

Darker dreams that still persist
where a black family can't be just that
Love and care; all that were wished
Inflated thoughts that have fallen flat

Being a man I am black, so I feel so beside myself
I can't turn back pages lost,
pages burned,
can't read the words to tell you
what I've learned.

Something darker than this I've seen

Oh, now he's a man. "what do you mean?"
I don't know if I do enough, still in between
a woman I love, a promise, a ring
Still can't give you everything.

I fight for a day to be understood
that though I'm black, I certainly ain't hood
I want a love, a life afforded all that I should
but if I didn't fall down how would I know that I stood?

Don't Swear!

James 5:12
Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or
by anything else. All you need to say is a simple "Yes" or "No."
Otherwise you will be condemned. (NIV)

Now this is something interesting! The Bible says that we shouldn't swear at all, or we should be condemned! That means that what the courts do by making people swear to "tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" is a mockery and a condemnation for Christians.

We should make our word our bond, so that we do not fall into the trap that is laid for us by the Self, the World and the Devil. I know that I try to keep my word as much as possible, so that I won't have to swear, that I will be believed. See, if you are in the habit of keeping your word, people will believe you and you are your word. We should not be victims of this "swearing" because in the end only the person and God knows what the truth is.

One should be able to walk upright and speak good things so that he doesn't fall into judgment. I am fallible, but a weak man in God's eyes, but he still loves me and expects for me to do his will upon the Earth. Though I have his forgiveness, I should always do what I say so that I am known as a man of my word. Therefore, as they say, my "reputation precedes me".

God bless.

The Coffin's Full

Followed the road
Winding down dusty days
A trail of your memories met me there
Settling on my head
You called my name within
And I felt ashamed to answer
There’s too much I shouldn’t have said

You buried me away
A coffin full of regretful notes
Crumbled ideas and saddened words
That will never be unearthed
A revelation of unforgiving
Murdering the stark sanity of progress
That gives a man’s life worth.

I’m digging into a mystery
Sharing my skies with another
Thanking God that I have arrived
Where I can gather appreciation
Eyes like flashlight bulbs
Wide and brightened light
Escaping from midnight to illumination.

A Glorious Path

The road to glory
Steps bemused with the network of movement captured
In the earth like travelers’ patchwork, connecting individual intricacies
Where they are left to sift through the changes marked in history
Like a hand pushing through sand hoping to find a unique enough grain
To call your own
But that’s a road too long and a way cut short on a glorious road
Encumbered pedestrian leaving home
Ragged personage propelled and stripped
Of loving arms and cherished ideals threaded throughout your austere
Bewilderment
Hopes caged, for misinterpretation’s sake
Knowing that skies cry blue and the sun is granting light
To you, on the road to glory.

Reason Enough

A market for the many
A wicker basket and five tomatoes unripe
picking for the plenty
and the poor eat good tonight
you whistling appartion, ghost take flight
bury my mind in my woes and bind my sight.

A life devoid of any
A ticker tape parade dragging the dust
Welcome and free entry
to indulge in your lust
you sorrowful dream, leave as you must
I sulk in my cage and I watch it rust.

A posted, watchful sentry
A somber cascade of meaningful hopes
the commoner's wishful gentry
marked with playful notes
remembering well those loving quotes
so he knows the reason why he wrote.

The Never Man: Burn

(They paused, jests were made, his head swayed, tilting toward hers like he wanted a way in. Just let him come in and show you how it could/would/should be, possibly thinking…well he’s unworthy to even grace her presence, but his dreams show their souls touching like lovers on the silver screen. Draped casually on her couch, he was still confined to the dismal misfortune of being the one that follows the one before, so his possessive instinct bloomed and wilted simultaneously.)

Strange colors danced before his eyes like flames, and he was hypnotized by the moment, his admiration unrestrained. She was one with the fire, an image of heat and light and fantastic form warping itself through all four dimensions.

He lost himself, tangled in a web of time, gaining his love, losing his mind. He loved her or hated her or both or none. The flame was a ballerina and her dance was not done; his eyes were transfixed and he began to succumb.

He thought she said, “The Never-Man, never did, never can, he will wish to hold that which escapes his hand.”

He laughed like it was the finest joke, she must be playing with the words she spoke. The fire had a smile on her face; a look of satisfaction that doubled for shame and disgrace. But was it aimed at him, or something she fought inside? Surely it was something she was trying to hide.

He might have asked, “Why do you taunt me with this passionate flame? Why me? Why do you play this game?”

She who danced and burned with light, her colors so vibrant that they pulsed and throbbed with life, looked as if she formed the words: “You ask why I taunt, why I play this game, but you sit and watch and feed my flame? The Never-Man, never did, never can, thinks that dirt will not settle when he crosses the sands…”
At that he thought twice. “How could it be? To sit here and love her is all on me? A man with full vision but too blind to see, how I perceive and react is all on me.”

The Never-Man, who never cried, never ran, rose from the couch attempting to stand. The fire seemed brighter and her dance was insane, he could feel her heat growing but her rhythm had changed. He stood there for a moment, and she began to slow down, easing her tempo, quelling the sound. It was magic he dreamt or a vision he touched, either or both, it was too much. When she stopped his eyes met the flames in her own and they reached out to one another because they were both so alone. The Never-Man, never could understand as he put his hands in hers there was no burn to withstand. But the flames, the flames were like the sun as they embraced. They both burned bright as they danced with desire in that place. They burned through their lives in a fiery embrace.

That Dreams Again

Think of how overly sad it seems to be tragically caught up in a memory
That takes it time draining you of yours, lingering and loving as it so pleases
touching your face and holding your hand, never really being there but there nonetheless,
making the days nervous so that the nights tremble, and you can’t shake the longing
A broken smile so crystalline, shining thin and ghostly and gone
Is a dream that dreams again, laughing that seems like a song

A memory made, a thought trickling to a cascade of wondering about
Sorrowful intimate notes that were once known to inspire adoration
Living the truth is living a lie is loving somehow watching a cloud filled sky
Casting a somber canopy that is a mirror to my mood, so I’m wishing I could fly
A careful kiss that is warm, is soft, something I carry with me as I walk
Is a dream that dreams again, and the tears pour from my heart.

Comatose

Slipping into an emotional coma. Seemed to be drained of what little remained in the first place. I try to explain to myself that there is an underlying message for it all and it probably is. I would like to think that giving it my best is what I have done. Don’t know how to manage loving when loving seems to be returned to the sender like mail that went to the wrong house. Nothing changes, nothing stays the same. It’s a cycle that I seem to be drawn into, undoing what has been done, walking around a path that ends up at the same wall I just climbed over. Sadness pours like a fountain.

Don’t cry for me, I am awaiting closure. Not so much more I can take. God asks me to have patience, and to ignore my pride, which I do. Pride is the offspring of the Ego, and they are both monsters, so much that I don’t know which is worse. Sadness.
My eyes dream of something I remembered and possibly lost again. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s much more than a man such as myself can even hope to accomplish.

God grants you what you need in order to get over. It may need to end in order to get over. And if that’s His plan, I’m good. I’m fine with it.

I Am In Your Debt Lord

Thinking back on my childhood, I don’t believe I dreamed about the future very much. My imagination wandered to less important things, like cartoons and music videos; He-Man and Rap City on repeat. There was no speculation, really, because I wasn’t forced to contemplate any eventualities. Or rather, those eventualities extended to only two outcomes: not going to prison and getting into college. Maybe I thought of it in comparison to other male figures such as my uncles or even my father. Many of my uncles on my mother’s side of the family had been to prison. Some were drug abusers as well. My father’s brothers didn’t seem to be much to look up to, either. Some just ran the streets, Olympian hoodlums, with several children, all born out of wedlock.

Remarkably, as I sit here, I am convinced that each and every person in my life has helped guide my life in a direction that lead me towards Christ Jesus. Though I have been an atheist and a Muslim, I am certain that they were but stepping stones to what I am today. The cause leads to an effect, see? To see the world as my enemy was probably something engrained in my psyche, so much that I rebelled against anything that was thrown at me, causing my beliefs to evolve. I grew up as a Baptist, in a Pentecostal Church, my grandmother singing in the choir and my great granny smacking me in the head so I could wake up and listen to the sermon.
I found most of the congregation to be hypocrites and lip professors that praised the Lord by day and slithered like snakes through the night. Bad juju. It was there that my faith was altered. Still, I inquired of my baptism to which my mother responded that she had not done. I took it upon myself one day to be baptized, at the age of 12, at a church that I knew little of. Their earnestness intrigued me, and I couldn’t refuse salvation, could I? That baptism was a blessing and I thank God for putting those people on my path.

I am almost 33, the supposed age of Jesus when he was crucified and I believe this will be a year of “resurrection” for me. Changes have destroyed me, built me up and rearranged everything I thought to be right and exact. But change, change is the only thing other than God that is constant in this world. I don’t expect my God to change because he is already perfect, but I know he expects me to change. This is why I don’t get that people go through life thinking that “this is how I am and I will not change, so don’t expect anything to be different”. Honestly, God requires a transformation of us, for it shows that we are new creatures in Him, right? Our hearts and minds are renewed by the coming of His Spirit.

Why would you want to remain as you are for the rest of your life? Why would you want to be stagnant and not grow up in the Faith? These years since I have left my undergrad I gained a great amount of wisdom through my experiences. My life is changed because of what I have gone through. I am stronger because of what God has allowed me to experience. It’s hard to regret anything because I love who I am. And with all my faults, I find that it compels me to try harder to be a good man. A good brother. A good son. A good lover.

I am on my way, Lord. Thanks for giving me another chance. Thank you for your Grace and Mercy. Thank you for your Love. I am in your debt.