THIS MUCH

Sometimes in my quiet moment, in meditation,
I look within myself, amidst my many faults and imperfections,
And I wonder how much my heavenly father really loves me,
And I can feel in my spirit that He loves me this much,
And he loves you this much as well,

This much that He gave His only begotten to save you,
This much that when you feel you cannot make it,
He'll step in and help you through life, victoriously,
This much that He died on Calvary's Cross for your eternal redemption,
This much that amidst your many sins, faults, errors, failures and mistakes,
He'll forgive, cleanse and make you whole in Him,
He loves you this much,

This much to take every brokenness in your life and turn it into wholeness,
This much to heal every sickness and every pain which ails you right now,
This much to turn every pain into eternal gain,
This much to turn your mess into a message,
This much to turn your groaning into glories,
This much to turn every test into a testimony,
And every trial into a triumph,
This much to turn every beast in your life into His divine beauty,
Please stop running away from Him,
Just turn every helpless and hopeless situation into His hands,
And watch Him act out His love for you as He has always done.
For through it all, don't listen to the lies of the devil; for God loves you THIS MUCH!

CHRISTMAS IN A NUTSHELL

A destruction of the plan,
By the fall of man,
The intervention of the divine-a long prophesied process,
A gift of one not conceived by natural process,
A gift given by a loving God for reconciliation,
Thus was the night worthy of celebration,
When that long process was conceived in a special birth,
Signaling the end of eternal death,
A night heralded by angelic voices,
A night celebrated by heavenly choruses,
That all would some day return to the plan,
As we are reconciled eternally with the Father in Paradise-a new plan for man,
That is Christmas in a Nutshell!

So there abounds so much joy and gladness,
Not for the abundance of gifts, clothes and other items,
Not for shopping discounts, parties, drinks and other diadems,
But for the blessed hope initiated by this season,
A hope present in the only reason,
A seasonal joy only perpetuated by the presence of the reason,
In the life of mere mortals, the sole reason for the gift of the season,
Hence, Christmas in a Nutshell remains appreciated only by those who have been saved by the gift of Christmas.

RESTING ON HIS ARMS

In the midst of a turbulent world,
In the face of every struggle,
When my strengths and skills fail me,
When I've tried to run this race on my own power,
I realize I keep failing and falling by the hour,
The more I rely on my wisdom, the more I realize my foolishness,
And my frailties stare me in the face, my weaknesses punch me in the guts,
So I quit trying to make it on my own,
Now I'm constantly looking to His heavenly throne,
Daily resting on His everlasting arms,
'Cause in Him alone lies my true strength,
My anchor and hope is in Christ alone,
He is my mighty rock, my shield and comfort,
He will never leave me alone,
So I'm daily resting, leaning, relying, and just holding unto His everlasting arms.

BEYOND THE PAIN

Often times we are tied down by some of our past failures,
Sometimes the mistakes of our past prevent us from seeing a bright future,
We bottle up the past perplexing pains of our lives,
We live in the darkness of our sorrowful past, and fail to see the light,
We cry, sob, shed tears, stay depressed and dejected,
Wallow in despair, grope in despondency and feel unaccepted,
In the midst of it all, failing to see beyond the pain,
Failing to understand that within every pain is some gain,
Within every scar is a star waiting to shine very brightly,
And within every mess, a valuable and life-changing message can emerge,
If only we learn to look beyond the pains of our past, no matter how painful they may seem,

It may not look like it right now, but you have to believe me,
When I say there is still some good in your life, despite the many bad which screams at you,
The plan of the devil is to tie you down to your past, and deceive you into thinking nothing good can come from your ugly life,
He tells you you are worth nothing, and you believe it, continuing in your sins, thinking there is no other way to go,
Regardless of what your past has been, I want you to know that you are worth more than some of your past mistakes,
You are worth more than the troubles that you have been through,
There is forgiveness and redemption in Jesus Christ,
All you've got to do is, look beyond your pain, look to the future, come to Christ, just as you are and He'll make you whole.
NOTE: Your future is brighter than you think, so please move and don't be deceived by anyone or anything into thinking you are done. If God has not given up on you, you shouldn't give up on yourself. Peace.

STILL LOVED

Probably sitting there,
Wondering if He still cares,
Thinking about your past mistakes,
And pondering over whether He will take,
You just as you are with your imperfections,
Some have told you to just forget about redemption,
They have said there is no future for you in God,
That your type cannot be forgiven by God,
Not for the many sins you have committed against man and God,
But regardless of what your past mistakes have been,
Regardless of what the devil wants you to believe,
I want you to know that the devil is a liar and the father of all lies,
The master of deception who wants you to remain depressed and dejected,
Who wants you to feel unaccepted and rejected,
But I've come to announce to you,
That all of your sins were nailed to the cross a long time ago, even before you were born,
The blood of Jesus Christ was shed for you,
And in spite of your past mistakes and failures,
Just know that you are STILL LOVED by the one who first loved you and gave up His life for you.
So go back to Him in prayers, confess and forsake your sins and let Him come into your life.
JESUS LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE. PEACE.

MY IDENTITY

That I rock Gucci,
Wear Prada, and show up in Loui Vuitton,
That I rock Ralph Lauren,
Wear Versace, and show up in Steve Madden,
That I roll in Bentleys, cruise in Porsches,
And pull up in Rose Royces and push Lamborghinis,
That I eat specially made foods, dine and wine with A-listers,
The ballers, the pros, the big boys, those that matter from the world's perspective,
Does not mean I'm the clothes I wear, the cars I drive, the food I eat, the wine I drink,
Neither am I defined by the cash in my flash, or by those I roll with,
So who am I and what's my identity? 

My identity cannot be found in vanity,
My sense of who and what I'm worth cannot be seen in artificiality,
But who I am, if I'm anything, what I am, if I'm anything is found in Jesus Christ,
For I am nothing but a wretched, hopeless sinner who was saved by divine mercy and grace,
Scooped out of the dust by He who gave up His life and took my place,
So I live to glorify He who saved me by by His blood, I live to seek His face,
I don't let the standard of this world; the figures, the stats, and the charts,
Define my sense of who I'm worth, my only true worth and identity is found in Christ alone,
For if my satisfaction and identity comes from Gucci, Prada, Lui Vuitton and the designers series,
Then I am lost,
If my joy is based on that which is earthly and material,
Then I have missed my true purpose,
So though I like to look good, I realize that my image and beauty can only come from Jesus Christ.
He is my identity.

BEYOND DESCRIPTION

If I have to search through all the dictionaries of this world for the right words,
If I have to look through every library on our planet for the right lexicon,
To adequately describe you,
To exhaustively explain you,
It would be an exercise in futility,
It would be a wasted effort, in its entirety,
For you are beyond mental perception,
You are beyond human description,
Your beauty is beyond artificiality,
Your nature is beyond perceptibility,
You are God!

How can I ever describe you,
Who spoke the universe into existence,
How can I ever possibly explain you,
Who commanded our cosmos into a perceptible essence, 
Lord, I long for words to totally illustrate,
I long for words to really explicate,
You who ride upon the heavens with your name JAH!
You who live beyond our galaxy with your name ALPHA!
You who are seated on your throne, elevated in glory, with your name OMEGA!
You who are seated on your throne, elevated in majesty, with your name JEHOVAH!
When I think of you, and all you made, your awesomeness, your might and your power,
I'm speechless, dumb-founded, awe-struck, flabber-whelmed and over-ghasted,
For the mind of mere gullible and fallible mortals like us, cannot fully comprehend you,
'Cause you are God!

Lord, what more can I say?
If I say I'm amazed at you,
That will be an understatement,
If I say I'm in awe of you,
It will still not do you justice,
'Cause truth is, lord you are beyond description,
Beyond comprehension,
Far beyond perception,
And greater than human explication,
So I bow in adoration and total submission,
'Cause you alone are God!

SOME DAY, SOME WHERE

As I drove home from work today,
Listening to a song on my way,
The reality of this life saturated my mind,
As I reflected on the life we live,
As I thought about working nine to five,
Daily living, daily hustling, daily striving,
To make ends meet, to make a living,
And then a question came to my heart,
Is it possible for there to be complete rest?
And the answer came right back to me,
Yes, it is possible, but not in this world,
Then the words of this poem were vaguely formed in my heart,
And today, as I write, I pray they shall be clearly formed in your mind,

For someday, somewhere,
In a place beyond the sky,
A place void of all the sufferings,
A place void of all the "toilings",
We shall all be at home with out maker,
Someday, somewhere,
When the stars shall cease to shine,
When the sun shall no longer give its light,
When life as we know it shall be changed forever,
We shall be at home with our savior,
Someday, somewhere,
In a place where there is no night, but only day,
In a city beyond the sky, no yet known to man,
In a country whose builder and maker is Jehovah,
In a universe where the streets are covered in gold,
A place, a city, a country, a universe, and a world called beautiful,
We shall be at rest, at home, in heaven with our father,
So don't be discouraged, for our lord Jesus Christ,
Is coming back for us like He promised,
And yes, in His father's house, our father's house-heaven,
Are many mansions which He has prepared for us,
So hold on, for your home, you true and final home, is beyond the sky.

I LOOK TO THE CROSS

Sometimes in this misleading, deceptive, vain and turbulent world,
I'm caught in between pleasing you and the world,
Sometimes lord, I let my lack of change lead me to a change,
A change in my faith, a change in my attitude to your word,
So I complain, worry and forget the assurance of your word,

In the midst of a fast-paced society,
A world filled with so many practices, in its entirety,
A world where it is easy to get caught up in the mix and chase vanity,
A world where it is easy to think my life is all about me, me, me, only,
Sometimes even the challenges of my life push me to the ground,
Sometimes I fall, in a moment I let go off my faith, and follow the crowd,
But then when I find myself caught in between you and the world,
Where to turn to, my world or your word,
When confusion, frustration, and discouragement sets in,
I look to the cross,
For then I am reminded of why I'm here,
And the price that was paid for me to be standing right here,
Saved, delivered, forgiven, restored and changed,
I'm reminded of the blood that was shed for me,
I'm reminded of the fact that my strength can only come from Christ,
I'm reminded that my home and place of final abode, is beyond the sky-in heaven,
So I look to the cross, and then I take up my own cross and follow hard after my savior.
For if the cross doesn't move me, then I'm better dead than alive,
Lord please help me.

WHERE DO YOU STAND?

In his 2009 album, the Blueprint 3, American rapper Jay Z on the song Forever Young ft Mr. Hudson, was quoted as saying, "Slamming Bentley doors, hopping out of Porsches, popping out on Forbes' list..." Also, in the song Can't Shut Us Down by Cross Movement's Christian rapper, Sho Baraka featuring Lecrae, Lecrae was heard saying, "I'll do this till the day I take my last breath..." In case you are wondering and asking, why this comparison? Well, today as I reflected on a couple of things, prompted by what I had seen online about a very popular pop artist's open declaration of her beliefs, the question that came to my heart was, WHERE DO YOU STAND? Folks, we live in a world with a variety of belief systems, we are constantly bombarded by different notions and people's perspectives and views on life. And truth is, in the midst of all these, it is easy to lose grip on what your beliefs are, and on where you stand and why. This is one of the problems with our generation: most of us no longer have a mind of our own, we are becoming more like clones, accepting and believing whatever we hear on the radio or CD or see on the T.V.

Furthermore, back to my references earlier. Now I know that Jay Z has been criticized by many for so many reasons. Lecrae himself regardless of the fact that he is a Christian artist, has been recently criticized by some for some reasons. But one thing that I see in both artists, at least from their public declarations, is that they are sure of what they believe, whether you agree with them or not. In this world, some are clear on what they believe, what they want, and where they stand. For them it's all about fame, fast money, fast cars, fast life, girls, glamor, flash and cash. For many others it is God, Christ, righteousness, holiness, salvation and making it to heaven while taking others with them. One group lives for themselves but the other group lives for God. But what bothers me is the others who don't even know where they stand. They are neither hot nor cold, they are just in between; accepting, believing and rolling with everything that comes their way. That's what bothers me the most. Because at the end of this life, when we all stand before God, it's not going be a question of what your favorite artist believed, or even what your pastor, mother, father or anyone else you love believed, but what you believed. So I end with this question, WHERE DO YOU STAND?
Remember these quotes, "we shall all give account of our lives" and "the world only follows a man who knows where he is going."
I'd like to hear from you. Share with me some of your very core beliefs in life and why you have these beliefs. 

TRY JESUS

Dejected, depressed, deserted and broken, is your situation,
Unhappy, discouraged, despondent and shaken, is your position,
Or perhaps, rich, famous and affluent, yet miserable is your description,
Or may be high, mighty, connected and well known, yet empty is your condition,
No matter your case, whatever your story, regardless of your pain,
I'd like you to ignore the skeptics and critics,
Look past the senseless and baseless debates,
And please try Jesus,
For He gave up the priceless prize of His life for your redemption,
So just try Jesus, 'cause I'm sure He would not fail you,
Why suffer unnecessarily when someone has already suffered for you?

Done drugs, sex, alcohol, done it all,
Tried rehab, psychology, philosophy, meditation, new age, tried it all,
Yet your life is far from happy,
You turn to certain T.V and radio shows, in a bid to find the right way to go,
Yet you still stumble and fall,
"Well, every way is the right way", you say,
But you know that all the ways you have tried so far haven't really given you joy,
You join the unbelievers and say, "What about other religions?"
And I say, show me one in which blood was shed, resurrection recorded and miracles followed,
Now that's the authenticity of Jesus-He didn't just come to lead a religion, but to give up His life for you,
We all should have died for our sins, but He took our place,
So quit doubting and try this Jesus,
Quit worrying and just try Jesus,
You may not understand everything yet, but start by trying Jesus,
Ignore the skeptics, critics, agnostics and atheists and just give the author of salvation a chance,
Try Jesus and I assure you, not by stories others told me, but by my own experiences, that He would not fail you.
How? You ask, just pray and say: Lord Jesus I believe you died to save me. I accept you today as my lord and personal savior.  Come into my life and make me fully whole. Amen.
If you said that prayer, you are saved by faith. Join a bible believing church and grow in your faith. For further assistance in your new walk and for prayers, you can visit: http://jesushousedc.org/
Peace. Have a nice day, and remember: Life is what you make it, so try and make it right.

UNTIL I MET HIM

Used to think I was the biggest boss,
Captain of my ship, so fly, so sharp,
Used to think I rule the world, king of my castle,
Used to think the world revolves around me, the throne to be watched, 
Until I met Him who created the universe at the command of His voice,

Everything was at my beck and call, I was too big to fail, to high to fall,
I was afraid no one, regarded no one, living in a world of my own,
Thought I was a legend, someone larger than life, seated on my throne,
Millions adored me, thousands respected me, and hundreds more looked up to me, 
I was at the forefront, the point one man, the world's greatest,
Then I met the I am that I am, the one who made something out of nothing, the miracle worker,

Used to think I was so connected like a spine to a bone,
When I throw a party, anybody who was somebody must be there,
Everything I did, I did it big, didn't think I was accountable to anyone,
Until that fateful day, when my fallibility and gullibility was revealed to me,
Then I realized that my financial and material security was nothing without eternal security,
I realized that I was nothing but dust living on borrowed breath, the breath of the almighty,
When I met Him who was, and is and is to come,
The one who destroyed a whole nation by the blink of His eyes,
He who sits on His throne, and yet the whole world is before Him-omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient,
When I met Him, I had no choice than to bow and submit to His supremacy,
And ever since my life has been filled with so much meaning and promise-the promise of a better place beyond this worthless world.

UNSTOPPABLE

Separate the church and the state,
Was the misinterpretation,
Create a secular state,
Was the intention,
Shut the church folks up, eliminate Christianity, 
Was the resolve,
But through it all,
We still remain unstoppable,

Don't mention Jesus Christ, don't talk about the Cross,
"I feel discriminated against when they say Jesus is the savior of the world, 'cause my religion is different,"
What a shame! Some still think it's all about religion,
Well, I'm not sorry to say that Jesus is the savior of the world, the one true and only way,
How can I stifle such grace and love that scooped me out of the dust of sin and vanity,
How can I hold back the move of the Holy Spirit who empowers me daily on this journey,
When something great as salvation happens, we don't whisper it, we scream it,
So pass this message on to the world, begin with the United States,
It doesn't matter what they try to do, or what laws they try to pass,
They still can't shut us down or shut us up,
For this gospel shall always be unstoppable,

The gospel that we preach is far bigger than us,
So we spread it around,
The power we carry is far greater than us,
So we let it out,
It's not about us, but about Him,
"For upon this rock shall I build my church,
And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,"
So this is not about some puny minded believers who are stupidly radical,
It's about the great I am than I am,
The one who shut up the lions mouth, 
So powerful,
The one who turned a king into a beast,
So incredible,
The one who divided the red sea,
So unbelievable,
The one who created man out of the dust,
So unfathomable,
If the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church,
No institution, no government, no musician, nobody dead or alive, spirit, or whatever, can,
Because the God force is so unstoppable!
Kill us, crucify us, ostracize us, punish us, shut us up,
The gospel will still continue to spread-SO UNSTOPPABLE!