Who Do People ink I Am? Who Do You ink I Am?

In Luke 9:18–26 he writes that on a day when Jesus and His helpers were praying, Jesus asked them, "Who do people think I am?" He was told by His disciples that some thought He was John the Baptist who had come back to life after he had been decapitated, and some thought He was Elijah or a prophet who spoke directly to God. Then Jesus asked them, "Who do you think I am?" Peter boldly stated that Jesus was the Christ from God. Jesus praised Peter for his response and gave Peter the name "Rock." How many of us know Jesus as the Son of God? Jesus has all the attributes of His Father, and we sometimes forget this. We seem to contract Alzheimer's when it comes to who He is through words and actions. All the things that God is His Son is. God said, He is the "I am that I am, I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the Creator of all things in heaven and earth. I am the Lord who heals you, and I am love."

God further revealed Himself through His Son, Jesus, who had a physical presence on earth. No one has seen God, so He sent His Son for a reality check to finalize the question of who He is. His Son is the new covenant He made with all people of the world. So who do we think Jesus is? If he has the characteristics of His Father, His physical presence replicates everything God is.

We have been told so many times and in so many ways within the Scriptures, yet we all doubt who Jesus is in times of trouble. Jesus said, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." Though we were not present at the time of Jesus, the Scriptures have given a positive image of who He was as he followed His Father's mission on earth. Jesus represented the character of His Father on earth just as we say to children that they are just like their parents. Therefore, Jesus spoke for His Father through various descriptions. In the gospel of John He describes Himself as:

1. the bread of life

2. the light of the world

3. the I am

4. the door

5. the good shepherd

6. the resurrection and the life

7. the way, the truth, and the life

8. the real vine

As you read through other books of the Bible there are even more descriptions. As a faith family let us know the power and glory of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and let us through words and deeds acknowledge who they are so we can renew our relationship with them. The Holy Spirit helps us to remember who they are since we are made in the image of God. Stand up as boldly as Peter who acknowledged Him as the Christ from God. When we come to Jesus, the Holy Spirit will destroy our spiritual Alzheimer.

In the name of the Father who loves me, the Son who lives within me, and the Holy Spirit who empowers me. Amen, Amen, Amen.

It's a Matter of Faith

Our belief in the Trinity is a matter of faith. We believe that God created the world and everything in it. We believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. We believe that the Holy Spirit guides us through every day of our lives, but do we believe that the Trinity is a total part of our lives? Some of you have noticed when I end my writings I write, "In the name of the Father who loves me, the Son who lives within me, and the Holy Spirit who empowers me." When I end with the words "empowers me," I clinch my fist because I truly believe I am empowered every time I make the Sign of the Cross. It's a matter of faith. I believe God loves me, the Son resides within me, and that the Holy Spirit takes me to another level of obedience through words from God.

We celebrate the birth of Christ, and we are familiar with the story of His birth, but do we really have a personal understanding of the personal challenges of this story? The pain of childbirth is something most women know. In modern times we are accompanied by a doctor who assists us, yet the pain is unlike anything we could imagine. Mary and Joseph had no doctor. There were no drugs to relieve some of the agony. There was no place sanitized for such an event. Yet she suffered the pain because she and Joseph knew they were participating in a sacred event deemed by God who loved them. This new child was not only their son but also the Son of God. This was a matter of faith.

With guidance from God they raised a son who would change the world. We raise our children sometimes not realizing that we are raising a child of God and He has high expectations for this child. We do not know if the child we birth will change the world. Every person born has a purpose for living in God's world. We have a child who may become a teacher who shapes the intellect, a doctor who heals the body, an auto mechanic who keeps us traveling from one place to another, a computer analyst who helps us communicate and increase business enterprises, or a priest or nun who provides services to nurture our faith. Do we look at our children as though God has a purpose for their lives? This is a matter of faith.

The Holy Spirit is our immediate source to God the Father who loves us and His Son Jesus who lives within us. It is the voice we hear within that guides us away from sin and evil. It is the anchor that props us up when we fall or fail. It is our inner energy that inspires our understanding of repentance and forgiveness. Though we cannot see the members of the Trinity, be assured we feel and hear their presence. This is a matter of faith. Believe with your whole self. Let us one day meet to see the members of the Trinity. This is again a matter of faith.

In the name of the Father who loves me, the Son who lives within me, and the Holy Spirit who empowers me. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Are You Ready for Battle?

I have been reminded by the words of another person that there is a need to be prepared for battle with the devil who works daily to gain souls for his realm.

I thought about this and decided to read the Scriptures to determine how to get ready for the daily struggles I encounter. Sometimes I get weak during the day and almost want to give up. I say to myself, "Why me?" and the inner voice says with firmness, "Why not you?" t I God always keeping His promises, but let's look at the Scripture that totally defines getting ready for our daily battles.

In Ephesians 6:10:20 there is a strong message on how to fight evil. It begins with drawing your strength from the Lord and then getting dressed in the armor of God. The first is to wrap ourselves in truth from head to toe. Know that the words of Scripture are God's truths, and admit the truth to God about ourselves. Wear truth like we wear our clothing close to our bodies. This is the first layer of armor that is necessary for protection.

Second, we must wear righteousness as our breastplate. This breastplate protects our hearts and our moral goodness from being corrupted by evil. It is the layer similar to our outer layer of clothing. We want it to look good, feel good, and smell good because this is the layer that others notice and want to replicate.

Third, we walk in peace, wearing shoes that fit well and shine as radiantly as the sun. Peace is within us, and we transfer this peace to others in deeds and in words. God wants us to have inner peace to signal to others that our love of God gives us peace. All of us are children of God who can find the peacefulness in ourselves and with others whom we love and even offended.

Fourth, hold on to the faith we have that God is our Lord and that we have been redeemed by the blood of His son, Jesus. Faith is the third layer of protection that reminds us of a cloak or coat that protects us from the cold when the wind howls or when a storm darkens the sky and we fear what might happen in such weather. If the wind is too strong we head for shelter, and the shelter is in the Lord. He puts His arms around us to renew our faith. So we hold on to our cloaks of faith and shelter others as He shelters us.

Fifth, put on the helmet of salvation that protects the mind from thoughts that hinder our route to heaven. Soldiers wear helmets in battle to prevent injuries to the head. We are reminded that salvation is ours because we were rescued from sin and damnation. By His death we have eternal life. Baptism assures us that we have been given a reprieve from evil if we obey His commands.

Sixth, pick up the sword that is the word of God. In other words, pick up our Bibles that are the weapons against evil. An armed soldier has to have a weapon, and the Bible is ours. The more we read, understand, and practice the words from this book we travel toward victory. God is with us in battle only if we are willing to use His weapon. Then the battle is not ours alone but the Lord's.

Let's get dressed for war! To the battlefield with our weapon! Lock and load! Pow! Pow! Pow!

In the name of the Father who loves me, the Son who lives within me, and the Holy Spirit who empowers me. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Book of Judges

Every Sunday morning at the end of mass there is an announcement about the Tuesday night Bible class. I wish you could participate and share in the knowledge and understanding I have gained. I can't really remember how long I have been participating in the class, but I don't want to miss it because each week my Bible Buddies and I strengthen our faith and give testimony of how God has worked in our lives.

Every book of the Bible is a challenge to my faith. Questions arise among us, such as how, when, and why, and questions keep us wondering if we could have lived through those times. Not being able to remember the length of my participation in the class only lets me know that "the old age memory slow-down syndrome" is in the attack mode. Again, I want to remind you that I am not the perfect Christian, but I'm getting help to travel the road to heaven, and Bible study puts me in the attack mode to fight the "evil one."

We are about to complete the reading of the Book of Judges. Wow! Prior to reading this book I thought the judges were only men making decisions about someone's life. I thought the entire book would be b-o-o-ring, but I was wrong. To tell the truth I never read Judges because of the above ideas. Well, I just want you to take time to read this book, and you would be shocked at the men and women who were warriors on earth for God and His people. Samson is a judge, and we all know about Samson, but did you know he was married before he met Delilah? He let a woman talk him out of his hair! I know how some of you men feel about a woman questioning you too much. Well, his hair was lost to love of a woman rather than God.

This book was written about between 1047 BC and 1004 BC. I had no idea it represented God's assurance that He would be with us even when we turn our backs on Him. This book assured us that God is a forgiving God. Can you believe that this book was written over one thousand years before the birth of Jesus? Can you believe that even before 1047 BC God assured us He would be with us even when our offenses should have been unforgiving? But not our God. He remains with us and will provide an escape when we're in a pit we dug for ourselves or when others thought they had dug one for us.

If you just attend you'll meet Bible Buddies who are not afraid to ask the hard questions. We have two people who come from the west side of Chicago to participate. If you want two hours of pleasure and you find it's not your cup of tea, we won't be mad wit' ya. So you went to mass on Sunday. Maybe you didn't, but there are 168 hours in a week. You spent one and a half hours in church on Sunday. Two hours of Bible study leaves you with 164 1/2 hours. Then your body is dragging because you worked eight hours a day and add two hours of travel time trying to pay off bills you may never pay off. Now you have about 114 hours left. You know and I know that you're not getting eight hours a night of sleep because you have something on your mind that wakes you. Even with eight hours of sleep you have fifty-eight hours left. The rest of the time is eating and relaxing. Did God spend His 168 hours for Himself or for you? If you don't want to attend a class, read at home and ask yourself the hard questions.

In the name of the Father who loves me, the Son who lives within me, and the Holy Spirit who empowers me. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Captive or Captor

As an African American my history is important to me, and I have attempted to pass the lamp of our history to others and especially our children. In this writing I want you to know our history is similar to the Israelites, and we were delivered from bondage the same as they. Four hundred years of slavery was the period when our ancestors were physical captives in a society that viewed all Africans as animals. We were worked as animals, lived as animals, and were fed like animals. Though our ancestors had a religion that believed in one God, we were still viewed as animals because our skin tone and physical features were different from the captors. Our ancestors were a spiritual people, always believing that they would be delivered from their captors while the captors attempted to control the spirit within us through physical control.

Just as the Israelites were removed physically from their captors' grasp, so were we removed from our captors' grasp. White America did not want us to read, but they read the words from their book called the Bible and soon we wanted to know more about this God who was worshipped in our homeland. When we were told of Jesus and His sacrifice that led to heavenly salvation we wanted to hear more. We took the white man's religion and made it our own. We prayed and sang praises to God and repented for our sins that led us to understand the true meaning of freedom. God gives power to all people who are in bondage but freed through the Lord Jesus Christ, who ensured us salvation.

In the name of the Father who loves me, the Son who lives within me, and the Holy Spirit who empowers me. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Cruising with the Holy Spirit

In 2007, I had a job that I didn't like. Each day was always an unnecessary challenge for me. People and situations arose that had jealousy and injustice standing like a brick wall before me. Yet I kept saying thank you Lord for another day that I breathe and another day for the chance to change what I can change with your help. I always believe that God puts us in a certain place at a specific time for a specific reason, and as I wrote this I understood God had lessons for me to learn. This job was given to me by God to help others and I was doing that, but as an "old war horse" I found myself tired of giving, and I had sometimes ignored my own needs. Everybody seemed to want something from me, and I often felt drained. I wanted to come into my house and close the door and not talk to a single soul. I wanted to lie on my bed and read three books a week. I wanted to have time to write the book I've been trying to write for the last five years with chapters written and rewritten. I seem to be tired all the time. I feel like Greta Garbo who had a famous statement: "I want to be alone." Maybe even in my efforts to help others I was doing too much, but there were so many in need. But for one week I began to let the Holy Spirit guide me while I was taking a back seat and allowing Him to drive in the direction that would benefit me.

I received a Christmas gift from my Bible Buddy Anita Herron and it took me a week or two after receiving it before I started reading it. It was written by Tony Evans and is entitled The Transforming Word. Evans writes that the words of the Bible should cause a transformation within the individual who takes the time to read it. Well, I attend Bible study, but recently I have prevented the Word from transforming me. This job became lemonade instead of a sour lemon as I rode with the Holy Spirit. I had to release my negative emotions and put on my battle clothes with the Bible being my sword. Through the gift of a book I was getting revitalized for battle because this book reminded me to go to the Bible for my sustenance. I continued to help those who needed me. I was sure the prophets and the apostle sometimes felt the same way I was feeling, but sustenance is with the Word.