The Lord that Taketh Away

Job 1:21 states that "the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord". I want to expound on the ending where the Lord takes away. Sometimes in life we are tremendously blessed by God; but we often squander, mismanage, and mistreat our blessings. We may have been blessed with a mate after lamenting for years over the lack of one. We may have been blessed with that groundbreaking job,a profitable business, or even a role in ministry. However, sometimes once we receive the blessing we may slack off, or even squander it. All of a sudden blessing then slips through our fingers because we were not good stewards of it. Be careful not to mistreat the blessings of God. Handle them with care.

Prepared for the classroom, but not prepared for life

Life can be very challenging and oftentimes teenagers are well prepared for the classroom, but ill prepared for life. We are told to make straight A's in our studies, but often we have failing grades in various areas of life. This has nothing to do with the teacher. The teacher behind the desk is not the primary teacher. The primary teacher will always be the parents.

I have noticed that many parents are not preparing their children for life. They make sure they complete their homework, but what about their lifework? What happened to developing our children? The Word states "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" Proverbs 22:6. This doesn't mean quote a few Bible scriptures to Johnny and call it a day. Training up takes QUALITY TIME and nourishment. Children are like flowers, they bloom when in the right environment but wither when the environment lacks vital nutrients. Your child must be well prepared to make a smooth transition into adulthood. They should be so developed and sure of who they are when they leave your home that they shouldn't be clueless to their gifts, talents, and purpose at the age of 30.

Sometimes parents are so busy working to make what they believe is a good living that they replace giving of themselves to their children with giving their children things. Children would rather have YOU instead of the latest Ipod. Stop filling your children's appetite for YOU with empty things that waste away and go out of style in months (Matt: 6: 19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also).

I will end on this note...

Jeremiah 6:16

16 This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'

Some things should be kept between you and God

I am learning that some things should be kept between you and God. Even in prayer situations where there is a group of people, some things shouldn't be divulged especially if it will turn the listener's heart against another saint. If you don't have the appropriate person (like a Pastor/Minister) to advise you on certain situations, maybe you shouldn't share them so freely.

Why do all the "bad girls" get the attention?

Young guys fascination with bad girls is something that boggled my mind in college since it was so prevalent, but now I see it more often with social networking sites. I was looking at a popular artist's twitter page, and couldn't help but noticed that about 15% of the people he was following were half naked video models. I also noticed that most of the people he replied to were the "groupie type".

I first noticed young males being fascinated with fast women when I was in college. I recall one guy having a different girl on his arm every time I saw him. Often times to compete you may switch your style of dress just to attract attention. I did that also but didn't feel comfortable about it.

However, young women, this will pass with guys for the most part. They are drawn to those women because they are easy sex, but in the long run they don't wife those women. Are you going to be the "good girl" who doesn't give it up, or the jumpoff who is being passed around like a bag of Doritos.

What can we do to encourage our Black Men to complete school and establish successful career paths?

As I drive up and down the street on any given day at any given hour I see many black men my age and older roaming up and down the streets without direction. The same faces in the same places. This could be on my way to church, work, or the store. Why aren't these brothers working? Why aren't they in school? Why are they hanging on the corner?

Then I see a new breed of sistas, independent sistas by default. Women who's forced to be the mother, father, pastor, deacon, doctor, nurse, accountant, teacher and basically "every woman and man". I see many women playing the man's role and men stuck in a perpetual state of adolescence. There are even cases where women have already obtained a house, career, and began building wealth and the man moves in with her. What ever happened to the man establishing himself as a man first so he can be suited to provide for a family? Why is it backwards? Doesn't the Bible state that the man should leave his mother and father (and establish himself) and be joined to his wife Gen 2:24? Why is the woman leaving her mother and father (establishing herself) and the man is joining unto her? That's backward.

So what can we do to help our brothers become more established in society instead of under the radar, or on the other side of the law?

Has Today's Woman become Selfish and Misguided?

Recently I listened to a radio program about relationships. A caller wrote an email to the station asking if it was ok to cheat on her significant other while he was being imprisoned for 5 years. Three of the four women present said yes because he shouldn't have gotten in trouble. Two of them even went further to say that you should abandon the man while he is in prison. The only male present exclaimed "You can't keep your legs close 5 years!!!" and the women said NO.

My heart was sadden by the state of women in general. We have lost our morals and what it means to be a lady. Even though the woman's movement did much to help advance our causes, it has also been taken to the extreme and started a new breed of "independent, don't need a man for nothing, Sex in the City, Living Single" type women. We have become very promiscuous and very bullheaded. We have put careers over family; and wonder why our children are running around shooting the school up, the block up, and everything in the middle up.

We must return to those seasoned ladies of old, the Proverbs 31 woman. A woman with a meek spirit, industrious hands, and gentle words.

We need to really pray for employment opportunities

I was reading an article about a set of twins in New York who graduated from Rutgers University 17 months ago with a degree in Journalism. Since their graduation, they have put in over 150 applications with no results. One of the twins did luck up and found a bartending job making a good amount of money, however they are still not living their dream.

We must pray because putting in 150 applications and not even getting a single phone call is very discouraging. I know how brutal the job search is after college, and I know a few people who went years without any employment opportunities.

Lord I lift up the employment situation to you in the US. There are many people out there looking for jobs and have had no luck. They aren't sitting at home doing nothing, they are actively searching but just can't get their foot in the door. I pray for employment opportunities. I also pray for opportunities for self-employment, as well as entrepreneurship. There are people who want to start businesses, but have very little financial resources. I am asking for miracles today. I thank you that there will be an abundance of employment opportunities as well as entreprenership opportunities in the very near future. Help us to hold on to our faith in You and not let go. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen

Click link to read article