Whenever we are afflicted with an ailment, I believe we should seek comfort from the blessings of God which include over the counter medicines and those prescribed by doctors. But I would have more faith in my abilities to overcome my illness if my doctor was a praying, faith-filled, and active Bible reading doctor. I would imagine that a doctor who is not only covered through salvation, but actively expects the miracles and promises of God could be used as a vessel for God to show proof that He is still God. And miracles still do happen.

Well, we find such a doctor in Chauncey Crandall IV. M.D. He has witnessed miracle after miracle. His ferverent prayer brought a man back to life after he had been dead for 40 minutes! Praise God for the miracles He continues to provide!

After all the Bible says in

Mark 16:17-18

17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.[a] 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.

Psalm 41:3

The Lord will sustain, refresh, and strengthen him on his bed of languishing; all his bed You [O Lord] will turn, change, and transform in his illness.

Jeremiah 33:6

 Behold, I will bring you health and cure, and I will cure you, and will reveal unto you the abundance of peace and truth.
Isaiah 58:8

Thy light shall break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee: the glory of the Lord shall be thy rear guard.

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After watching the History Channel’s program “Decoding The Past - Doomsday 2012″, of course I did some thinking and also some searching on the web. There are so many websites and blogs on Bible prophecies, Mayan prophecies, and prophecies in general.

These websites/blogs result in interesting, entertaining, and sometimes very heated feedback from people. But the truth is we do not know when Jesus is coming back or when the end of the world as we know it will occur. Jesus even says in

Matthew 24:36-40

36“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[c] but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.

So the truth about endtime prophecies and the return of Jesus is we just don’t know when they will happen. So rather than only preparing for a certain date in time that has been predicted as the end of life as we currently know it, why not prepare to live life today to its fullest. In this way, when it is our time to go, we go knowing we will live eternally spiritually while our physical bodies perish. Why not live where you wake up every day and thank God for the blessings of living another day and having most if not all of your senses. Why not live where you know that you have not intentionally hurt anyone or done anything with a selfish agenda. There is peace in knowing you have treated others the way you wanted to be treated. And when you fall short of God’s glory and His commandments, apologize to God, ask for forgiveness. And take it one step further and apologize to anyone you  know may feel you have hurt them (even if you know in the flesh you may have been justified in doing so).

In releasing baggage, you open yourself to the possibility of walking in love. No I do not mean being in love as in the sense of being married or the romantic form of love. I’m talking about the incredible peace in knowing you can freely give to a stranger, smile at someone who is providing horrible customer service to you, and even pray for your enemies. I’m talking the kind of freedom that allows you to perform random acts of kindness for people who may not deserve it. In this way, you can live a fulfilling life. In this way, you will see incredible doors open for you when you least expect it. In this way, you can even spend many nights alone and yet not be lonely. There is peace in walking in love so that you are prepared for death regardless if it is accurately predicted for a certain time like 2012 or not. For we know our physical death will happen, we just do not know when.

But let me remind you, that no matter how kind you are on earth, you will not live forever in Heaven spiritually if you are not saved. To have access to Heaven once you perish here on Earth, you must believe and confess (if possible  out loud, for Jesus Christ to come into your heart, that you believed He walked this earth as God in the flesh and that He took on the burden of sin, He actually became sin for all of us on the cross, that He died and was resurrected and now sits in Heaven on the throne at the right hand of God the Father.

 Romans 10:9-13

9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
 12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

If you are not saved, you must confess this because without accepting Jesus, you do not have access to God. Jesus says in

John 14:6

 6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

So perhaps we should not worry when our end on Earth comes because we know it will happen. Instead, we should focus on at least being prepared spiritually for that day to happen. And until it does, walk in love, so that you can enjoy life to its fullest today!

God Bless You

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Lately, I have received a series of blessings that I did not ask for. And because I was unemployed, they are right on time and especially appreciated.

Just to name a FEW of my recent blessings, my stylist relaxed my hair for free, my girlfriend and her husband offered to pay for 3 sets of school uniforms for both of my children, and my favorite nail shop did my nails for free ( I was getting them done for an upcoming interview). I did not ask any of these “angels” to bless me. They found it in their hearts to bless me without being prompted.

I shared these blessings with one of my close friends (which are just a few that I have recently experienced). She quickly reminded me that I deserved these blessings because I have a kind heart, am a good person, and have helped many people in the past. She said when you are nice to people it comes back. And I agree. There have been many times in the past where I have given with no agenda attached. I do this because it makes me feel good. It gives me an inner peace. And there is a level of liberty achieved when you give with a pure, genuine heart. This is called sowing seed.

The bible says if you sow seed you will reap a harvest. If you sow with malicious intent, you will reap a harvest that will not make you happy.

Proverbs 11:18

18The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.

Many times people get defensive when they hear Christians or church leaders mentioning sowing a seed. For one, they think it has to do strictly with money. But this is not the case. You can sow your time. You may have a gift that can bless someone. For example, if you have the skill of sewing, you could volunteer your time to help sew blankets for the upcoming cold season to assist those who are in need like the homeless. You may volunteer your time to mentor a child. You may make an effort to listen to someone who just needs an ear. Or you may smile at a stranger or take it one step further and make them laugh. These are all examples of sowing seed.

God sees everything we do. He sees when you go that extra mile to bless someone. Rather than being stingy with tipping your waiter/waitress who may be a college student, why not bless them with an unusual tip. Trust me it does come back to you in time. Now of course we can pay tithes to the church and we can make offerings. These too come back as blessings to you. I have contributed financially to my church throughout the years and I know the money I sowed to my church has been used to be a blessing to others. Well, during this financial storm in my life, I was blessed to be a recipient of financial help from my church. It all comes back to you.

Not only that, because of the network of friends I have been blessed to obtain, there are quite a few folks praying on my behalf. And the prayers are working indeed. I have received a verbal job offer and am waiting on everything to become official! God is good and always right on time!

 So whether you are in a storm or not, remember to sow seed. God sees your actions and knows your heart. He will provide your every need. He may use people that you bless to in turn bless you.

Psalm 126:5

5They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Genesis 26:12

12Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.

 Psalm 107:37

37And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

 God Bless You

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As I watch the path of tropical storm Edouard (since I am in Texas), I think about all the preparation that families and city officials took to brace for any events associated with the storm.

As I reflect, not all things associated with a storm are negative. For me, it helps to slow me down from the rigorous and sometimes mundane day-to-day tasks and schedules that we struggle to maintain. Storms like this help us all to think about what really matters in life. Storms help us to reposition, readjust our priorities.

At times like this, we get closer to family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. We should take time to remember the storms of life that we have been through and how through it all we are blessed.

And so I thank God for the storms of life, the tribulations that none of us are immune to. Because during the storms we find our strengths and more about ourselves. And for some of us we find God for the first time.

So remember there is a reason for the storms of life. And remember to learn during storms, to pray during storms, to talk to God during the storms of life, for God truly is our refuge. This brings to mind Isaiah 25, but specifically Isaiah 25:4 which states

4For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

I suggest reading the entire 25th chapter of Isaiah. So here it is:

Isaiah 25

1O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

 2For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

 3Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

 4For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

 5Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

 6And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

 7And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

 8He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

 9And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

 10For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.

 11And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.

 12And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

God Bless

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