...Plain Upon Tablets

  American biographer and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin*, through her extensive study of leadership, found that there were common traits and behavioral patterns that existed among distinctively different leaders, among those traits being "humility, empathy, resilience, courage; the ability to replenish energy, listen to diverse opinions, control negative impulses, connect with all manner of people, communicate through stories, and keep one's word." As I read through these traits, there is a word that resonates within me--and it's not found within this list but within each trait: LOVE. In Matthew 22:37-40, NASB, when Jesus is asked which commandment of the Law is the greatest, Jesus replied with two: "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole La...

In last week's post , I mentioned the booklet Holy Boldness that I received from Great Aunt Blanche. This week, I'm focusing on the short (1-1/3 pages) introduction. Despite its brevity, the reader learns quickly that there is no time to be wimpy in your boldness and that you will be doing BIG things with this boldness. Image by Steve Harvey at Unsplash Let me state that this text was created by the American Bible Society and published in 1995. It was prepared for The Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church. Because there is no expiration date on God or the Word, I'm diving into these words 25 years later still expecting to learn a thing or three. Now, let's jump in... Essentially, the introduction, written by the late Bishop Felton Edwin May, states that there are two prerequisites to Holy Boldness. "First, we need to know what we believe." We need to know and believe that Christ was both crucified and resurrected, and because we know ...

I was blessed to have a grandmother with six beautiful sisters--women who were bold, funny, kind, encouraging, and faithful among so many other wonderful things. Let's get BOLD! In picture: back row l-r: Aunt Caroline, Aunt Lee, Grandma Audrey; front row l-r: Aunt Margie, Aunt Blanche, and Aunt Ethel; missing from pic: Aunt Edna When my grandmother Audrey passed in 1998, one of these awesome women stepped up to encourage me along my journey: my aunt Blanche. My Grandma Audrey and me at my B.A. graduation My grandmother was a fervent believer of God. Never knew anyone who believed more or loved him more (though my mom is close behind her and Aunt Blanche is tied). She was the one who constantly kept me in the faith, and she was the one left heartbroken when I had my moment of disbelief in God. She wouldn't know that losing her and then my grandfather four months later would only deepen that disbelief. My great-aunt Blanche About a year after Grandma passed, Aunt Blanche began w...

So often, we struggle, we fight to live just above life's currents so that we are able to, at the very least, breathe as we make it from one day to the next. That is not the way life is supposed to be. We are called to be joyful and to find joy even in the most devastating of circumstances. Chronic Stress Disorder (CSD) often makes it hard for me to see joy and keep joy near. For me, CSD is like having my nerves constantly on fire while they are pricked by millions of the sharpest needles ever created. This is what it feels like when I'm stressing about things that my mind knows are perceived and not real. This feeling is amplified when dealing with stressors that are tangible, immediate. Despite these feelings and the other issues that cower under the CSD umbrella (anxiety, depression), I do realize that there must be consistent intentionality to the pursuit of joy. As with anything. If you want to lose weight, you have to be consistent, intentional of what you eat...

Years ago, I began writing myself daily love notes, which I ended up calling #loveaday notes. It started with me using 7-day pill holders and Post-its and has grown to me using notebooks, planners, and now digital journals to write my daily notes. I am of the firm belief that if you don't fill yourself with love, it will be difficult to have the energy and resources to fully and effectively provide needed love to others. These notes often give me great food for thought. Today's note really tapped into the heart of how I've been feeling lately, and I wanted to share what the note read and what that note made me think. In doing this, I hope you find something to glean from this sharing. This was today's note (to the right): "Get up one more time... ...and then keep getting up!" This note came from my experiences of the day, which I share with you below. ======= When I woke up this morning, one thought blared in my head: "Why do you ever w...

Sometimes, it sure doesn't feel like it, right? Bills stacked to the ceiling. Everywhere you turn, it seems a mishap, mistake, or missed opportunity presents itself. It's easy to fall into a space where you can't see the light, can't see that a miracle can even happen to us. Believe me, I know. I fight this, too. One song that makes me smile, keeps my heart and mind focused when negativity threatens to overtake them is Mama Shirley Caesar's "You're Next in Line for a Miracle." Take a listen...

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full....At that day ye shall ask in my name. - John 16:24, 26 Day 9 of Murray's book, The Secret of Intercession , focuses on the importance of our connection to Jesus Christ and the power that resides in that connection. Murray asserts that many Christians do not see the full understanding of what Christ says in the passage above: ... there is such a lack of knowledge of their oneness with Christ Jesus, and of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of prayer, that they do not even attempt to claim the wonderful promises Christ gives here. (36-37) But what brings that understanding is FAITH, "faith in the power of Jesus' name and in our right to use it that will give us the courage to follow on when God invites us to the holy office of intercessor" (37). In this short chapter, Murray concludes by saying that when Christians have this faith and understanding, when they know...

I received some news today. The stage was set for it three weeks ago, and today confirmed it. I have diabetes. Out of all illnesses you can get, diabetes has been #1 on my Please, Dear God, not that  list my whole life. I've had great aunts and uncles that had it and saw some of the more extreme effects of it, and wanted nothing to do with it, ever. Three weeks ago, blood work results came back. Sugar was pretty high. My doctor decided to schedule more blood work within a two to three-week span of time. I had that done this past Friday. Today, after smiling and talking with my bestie about my good talk with my dissertation chair, after declaring the completion of my dissertation, after excitedly telling bestie of new writing project; the call came. About the norm in a roller coaster life in which at 1:59 you can be on Cloudy Infinity and at 1:59:10, you can hear the thud and the crack of bones as you fall back to earth. Doctor told me the number was lower, but that...

In Day 8 of Murray's book, The Secret of Intercession , he seems ready to take us to school on what we need to give if we are to be the partners of Christ on earth in intercession. What are we to give? He shows us what Jesus gave up by quoting Isaiah 53:10-12: "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed....He shall see of the travail of his soul....Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great...because he hath poured out his soul unto death." In this passage, we see soul  mentioned three times. This is important to note because for Murray, "the pouring out of the soul -- that is the divine meaning of intercession" (33), and because Jesus gave "Himself over to live and die that He might save the perishing was a revelation of the spirit that has power to prevail with God" (34). Because Jesus is the  example for us, and he poured out his soul, gave of himself for others, as intercessors, this is what we are to ...

In Day 7 of Murray's book, The Secret of Intercession , he compares watchmen to intercessors. The watchmen warn men of impending danger... and call to God when they need his help with a threatening enemy. In tying the watchmen to the intercessor, he says, "The great mark of the intercessors is that they are not to hold their peace day or night, are to take no rest, and are to give God no rest, until the deliverance comes" (29). "Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him" (Luke 18:7). After a short commentary about the need for more intercessors, the need to have a united, fervent community of intercessors to ignite the power of the Holy Spirit, Murray asks, "Will you not, dear reader, offer yourself to God for this blessed work of intercession and learn to count it as the highest privilege of your life to be a channel through whose prayers God's blessing can be brought down to earth?" (30) With every "day,...

Lord God, I will remember that the battle is not mine; it belongs to you. I will have faith in all your ways and what you will do in my life, and as troubles arise, I will look to you for guidance, give you the troubles, and continue to move forward in the path you set before me.

Lord God, I will not put you in a box. I trust your ways and know that they are not my ways. From Joel Osteen's "Finished with Fear" Collection: If the only way you're going to be happy is if it happens your way, you're setting yourself up for disappointment .

I know what it's like to be in the fire, to be in those harrowing situations where you just know that nothing will ever be right again, and for a long time, I continued to believe that nothing would ever be right. But the Lord meets us in the fire. He's always with us, so why wouldn't he be in the fire, too? Nothing's too hot for him. Some of our most fiery moments come when we hold fast to our faith and our beliefs and find ourselves condemned for it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego are great examples of how the Lord not only comforts but also rewards those who stay steadfast to their faith. When they refused to worship a gold image that Nebuchadnezzar created, they were put in a fire seven times hotter than any fires created to burn those who refused to worship. But they did not burn. No. "Look!" he [Nebuchadnezzar] answered, "I see four men, too, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the fourth is like the Son of God...

When a group of lepers came upon Jesus, they asked him to have mercy on them. Instead of fixing them right on the spot, he wanted them to do something to show their faith. He told them to go to a priest and they would be healed. As they turned and began their trek to a priest, the healing process began. By the time they reached a priest, they were completely healed.

One of my favorite lines from the bible comes from James 2:14-26, NKJV : "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." We need to have faith, the belief, the trust, the confidence, that God has us and is and will provide for us, but we also need to demonstrate that faith. It's wonderful to pray, but God wants to SEE us in action, too. If you've been struggling to lose weight and have been praying to God for the strength to do so, what are you doing to show your faith in the issue? You might cut your portions for one meal a day for starters, eventually cutting portions in all meals. You might start exercising ten minutes, three times a week for a week or two; then move to 15 minutes, three times a week; eventually moving up to 30 minutes for more than three times a week. The point is by doing so, you are saying, I have faith in you and because I do, I am doing my part in this agreement between us. In Mark 2:5, a paralyzed ma...

(even if my brain needs to get on board): release fear. release worry. release every negative thing (physical and mental) that threatens to drown you, and rest, rest fully, rest completely on the father because he never fails, and he will fight the battles as long as you keep moving forward and keep doing what HE tells you, not the world, not your mind, not your emotions, not your circumstances.

Are you ready to be an intercessor? Are you ready to up your game as an intercessor? In Isaiah 59:16, it is written: And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor . In this chapter of The Secret of Intercession , Murray talks of God's desire to have intercessors to have those that love "the people enough or who had sufficient faith in His power to deliver, to intercede on their behalf" (21). God is looking for those people, those who love others enough and believe in him enough to prayer for others. It's not an easy position. It was the  position of Christ before he took his place on the throne. When Christ took the throne, man was given the obligation to extend God's kingdom. As Murray writes, "He [Jesus] ever lives to pray. Prayer is the highest exercise of His royal prerogative as Priest-King upon the throne. All that Christ was to do in heaven was to be in fellowship with His people on earth" (22). He also ...

No, sorry, it's not THAT kind of party. I just knew the title would get you here. The post IS about stripping, however, so sit back, have a read, and learn a bit more about me. I do believe things happen for a reason, so I should have known that reading a post about "dying to self" from fellow author and Tag Team Sister in Christ Tracey Michae'l Lewis-Giggetts would propel me into my own dying episode. Yesterday was a bad day for me. A lot of things in my life are coming to head. Recently, I compared it to an abscess, this growing pocket of pus that's so ready to be popped so that the poison can drain away, the pain can subside, and things can be made well. I went to sleep with a heavy heart and woke up tired, battered, and a little bruised. I went to Facebook on my phone and saw I had a response on a quote I posted the day before by poet Gwendolyn Brooks: "I am a writer perhaps because I am not a talker." A friend of mine, jokingly (kind of...

The very last paragraph of Day 4 in Andrew Murray's The Secret of Intercession  moves me: Christian warriors are pleading with God for the power of heaven to be sent down into the hearts of men. Oh, that God might burn into our hearts this one thought: intercession in its power is according to His will and is most certainly effectual!  (19) As Murray states in this chapter, God sees intercession as the  strongest power of man. It is "the highest expression of His people's readiness to receive and to yield themselves wholly to the working of His almighty power" (18). This chapter provides a general narrative of our receiving of this power. We all know of Adam and his role in God's narrative to do as all that was with and through God. We know of the sin, and we know of the world falling under this sin. But God gave us Jesus, and through Jesus, who interceded for man as man, that we are giving this wonderful, empowering, life-changing power to intercede, to ha...

Andrew Murray, in The Secret of Intercession , starts day two by talking about Elisha's prayers -- first for the God to protect his young servant (and in doing so, allowing him to see chariots of fire and horsemen upon a mountain) and second for the Syrian army, that had been struck with blindness and led into Samaria, to have their eyes open. Murray goes on to talk about the importance of OPENING OUR EYES, "to ask that our eyes may see the wonderful provision that God has made for His church in the baptism with the Holy Spirit" (8) and to ask "that God may open the eyes of those of His children who do not as yet see the power that the world and sin have upon His people" (9). This opening of our eyes is not just about us seeing what's in the real world, what's going on right before our faces, though this is vital, too. It's also about asking our father to allow us to see in the spiritual sphere as well. At the end of the day two section, a quest...