Someone told me the Lord is my shepherd

The words found in Psalms 23:1 which read "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want", has given comfort to so many of us believers throughout the years that we owe a debt of gratitude to King David for allowing the Spirit of God to stir him in such a way that he concluded and documented for us to know through the ages that -the LORD is our shepherd. Hallelujah!!! Thank you Jesus!

When I think about the goodness of God (which often comes when He gives me a mental reprieve), I can't help but to feel safe in His arms. I feel, if not but for just a moment in time, that I am truly loved in ways that I cannot understand but feel deep in my heart. I begin to see the "bigness of life" and get overwhelmed with thoughts of gratitude that God has allowed me to play a small role in His plan and am eternally grateful to experience the love of my wife and children.



This song has kept me and keeps me regardless of whether I feel down or am feeling good; this song reminds me of the goodness of God and how much I mean to Him. I hope you feel the same after listening.

Another song that very dear to me and nearly makes me cry each time I listen to it is "What Shall I Do" by Rev. James Cleveland. This song again reminds us that we can count on God to make a way somehow. It reminds us that things do not always go our way; it reminds us that life gets hard at times but that our God is able.



Jesus told us to be of good cheer; He said that He would never leave us or forsake us. My friend in the Lord, King David, witnessed and wrote in Psalms 37:25 that reads:

"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." Again, Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus!

There is hope, but it is in our Lord and Savior and not in the things of this world.

"And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." I John 2:17

God, help us to trust in you and believe that you are who you say are and can do what you say you can do. Hallelujah!

Declaring Victory of Your Mind

More than a positive attitude, more than the "name it and claim it" mindset ushered in during the decade or so of prosperity preaching, is the idea that God wants us to actually believe in Him.

God wants you and I to believe in him and be convinced that He is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do. Again, God doesn't just want an intellectual nod but a sincere, core belief that He is able.

Yes, God does want us to think positive and believe for a brighter future but I have learned that you can't get there with out being truly convinced that Jesus loves you and in obedience to the Father came down from heaven to live an earthly life and ultimately die a horrific death for our sins while being blameless and having no sin.

When I think of what Jesus did for me and how much God the Father loved us that He gave us His only begotten son so that we would not spend our lives languishing in sin, doomed to an eternity in hell but Jesus came in the world to give us life and freedom from sin.

So what am I saying? I am saying that we must not only think positive or have a good attitude but believe and be convinced that God is on our side and is able to do anything but fail. We don't always understand His ways but He asks us to trust Him and believe.

Your mind is the battleground. Chose now what you will believe. Different thoughts may come into your mind but what do you believe and/or who do you believe? We must begin to believe we can. We must begin to believe that through the grace and mercy of God we are able. We must believe that God will make all grace abound towards us and give us the ultimate victory. One day, we will meet him in the air and hear those precious words "Well done, thou good and faithful servant". In one moment, everything we lost and everything we gained will be dissolved into a eternity of being with the Lord.

So let us begin to move beyond thinking to believe that our God is able; He is a deliverer, He is our provider and he will come through. We must now believe this and not just think it.

I Remember

I recently gave a talk about the future but spoke primarily of the past. I asked the audience to remember what God has done for them and others. Remember how the God of heaven, our Creator made a way for us and others throughout history. I asked them to remember how God has been merciful and demonstrated grace when we least warranted it (as if we can ever deserve grace) and how his mercy saw us through our darkest of hours.

I could quote common bible scriptures that speak to the goodness of the Lord but I am equally learning that it is something that we must imprint upon our hearts, minds, and souls. I must come to know that the Lord God, Jehovah, Yahweh, Elohim can provide for my needs and yours as well.

I don't know what tomorrow brings as I am not a prophet. However, I know that God is able. He has promised to always be there for me even when I don't feel or have the audacity to believe he's not there or doesn't care. I hope, have faith, and trust that my God will deliver me into a bright future.

Pain is a purifier and we must all be tried by it. Fiery trials are what remove the dross or impurities from silver and gold. No one takes pleasure in being tried but we can have confidence is knowing that God will deliver us and give us an expected end.

So I encourage you (and me) as you're going through your trial, time of testing, pressure cooker, or stressful situation to find one thing to be thankful for and say Hallelujah, Lord I love you! Thank you Jesus for giving your life so that I could have one. Thank you Holy Spirit for being my guide and comforter as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Thank you God for making it possible for me to spend an eternity with Him where there will be no more dying, or crying, or trials, or evil things. God will make us new in Him and we will put off mortality for immortality and be forever with Him.

Again, as much as I or you could complain or could feel down trodden or depressed, let us lift up our hands and eyes and look to Jesus for our help. He will make a way some how.

Before bankruptcy, God provided relief to His people

During the time of the Old Testament, there was no such thing as bankruptcy. Sure, there have always been people who for some reason or another could not repay their debt but there was no legal method in place which allowed them to avoid repaying their debt in full.

In 2 Kings 4:1-7, a woman with no means to repay her debt and who is also a widow, asks the prophet Elisha, what can she do? Elisha told her to gather as many empty oil vessels as possible from her neighbors. Next, he told her and her sons to go inside and begin to pour their existing, near empty oil vessel into the others. The woman and her sons filled up all the vessels from the one near empty vessel and the oil then stayed. Elisha then told the woman to sell the oil and repay her debt.

Bankruptcy is not, was not, still is not God's way. Our LORD provided for this woman. We don't know nor can we judge where, when and how she got into debt. We can, however, see that God made a way out of no apparent way. Without God, this woman and her sons would have become debt-slaves which was customary at the time when a person could not repair their debts. However, God made a way for her and her children and they survived.

May God bless us all in such a way. LORD, in the name of Jesus, help us to pay our debts in full and never return to them. Give us peace and contentment in your ways and in your word that we may be full of your grace, mercy and provision. We ask that you take charge of our finances, deliver us from the evils of debt and help us to be fiscally responsible and prosperous that we may lend and give to those around us. As a result, showing the love, mercy and grace God has promised to all that will believe in Him.

Oh! what a tangled web we weave...

Yes indeed, "we" have woven ourselves a tangled web of debt. Through greed, lack of self-education, errant Christian leaders, commercial media, financial industry leaders, 'instant gratificationism', and plain ignorance many of us have become financial slaves to our creditors and lenders.

Most of you thought that your home was an asset. Why? That's what you were told. In fact, the real estate bubble was predicated on that lie and the complicity of banks, mortgage brokers, Realtors, and appraisers. Had you ever considered the definition of an asset? At best, your home or any real-estate is considered a long-term asset. A long-term asset implies that it cannot be quickly converted into cash. However, you home was functioning as a quasi liquid-asset during the real-estate bubble and gave you access to easy money that tempted many to go out and live well beyond their means.

The reason I said "quasi liquid-asset" is because a true liquid-asset can be converted completely into cash; You simply sell the asset relatively fast and receive a sum of money for it with no debt obligation. A home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC) should have been viewed as a means to raise capital. That capital should have been put towards some venture that generated revenue and profit in order to justify the use of it. On the other hand, the capital could have been used to truly consolidate or 'restructure' debt payments and save money on interest and/or other fees and penalties associated with the previous debt(s).

The key to securing a capital loan against an "asset" is to understand the past, present, and future valuation -worth- of that asset. The banks and other lending institutions speculated the future worth of your home and lent you money based on their assumptions about its future value. You spent the money based on the same set of assumptions. However, the bank can afford to speculate as they ultimately retain ownership of "YOUR" home/asset. They can sell their failing lending business, receive government assistance (i.e. corporate bailouts), and/or write down their losses on their corporate income tax.

Most people don't understand how banks work or how their mortgage works. For example, what's the difference between APR and APY? How is the interest applied to the loan? These two basic question are essential to understanding the most fundamental financial instrument that many middle class people have -a mortgage. For example, would it surprise you to know that the interest payment on your mortgage is calculate daily? 7 days a week, 365/yr

I would encourage you guys to begin reading about bi-weekly mortgages and other mortgage accelerators that will help you pay less in interest over time and build or re-build equity in your home. Furthermore, many now have mortgages and are experiencing negative amortization. What is negative amortization? It is when the value of your home or "asset" is less than the outstanding mortgage balance on the home. So, if you house is worth $200K and your mortgage on the home is currently $230K -you are in negative amortization which means your paying more for your house than what it's worth! You possibly can't afford to sell it and you can't refinance it. What a tangled web we weave.

So what are our options? First, pray to God for a solution out of your present financial trouble. Make a solemn vow to never re-enter a "negative" debt obligation but trust in him for provision if you have a need that can't be met without going into debt. To digress a bit, "negative debt" is credit card debt, car loans, payday loans/title loans, and etc. Good debt is real-estate investments, margin loans secured by stocks or other securities, or any form of debt used to produce consistent income/profit, well managed, reduced over time, can easily be converted into cash, offers nice tax advantages/savings.

An example of good debt is purchasing a rental property. In short, the tenant's rent should pay the mortgage note at a minimum. Additionally, there may be a small profit that can be used to help manage the property. Moreover, rental property affords tax advantages such as depreciation, property maintenance expenses, etc. Over time, you can refinance your investment property to get cash to roll-over negative debt balances into now making that negative debt tax deductible and improving your monthly cash flow.

To begin untangling this 'web of debt', we must begin with God and understanding that He does not want us to be in debt but be lenders. We must also understand that debt repayment is required by God unless the creditor forgives some or all of your debt. Finally, we must begin sowing seeds through our monetary giving to the local church and others around us that are in need.

God does STILL have a plan for us and it's not too late for Him to execute that plan in our lives. God is able to do the impossible -including getting us out of debt. Be encouraged and pray today for a plan and act on it.