At precisely the moment we need it— grace

Sometimes, at precisely the moment when we'd expect the project, the activity, the day, the week, the season, the year, or whatever it is to fall perfectly in place, it suddenly and spectacularly falls apart. 

It is in these moments of near devastation that we must remind ourselves of the promises and hope of the Gospel, the goodness, comfort and restorative power of Almighty GOD, the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, and the triumphant and unconditional love of Christ Jesus. 

 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with us to light our paths, guide through the valleys, and bring us into His great victories.

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Thanksgiving Day 2024

Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, but that does not mean we have to stop celebrating the goodness of God or cease being grateful and thankful for the many blessing we have received, continue to receive and will receive from the goodness of God. May we have a magnificent Monday filled with the glory, majesty and greatness of God and filled with thanks for the impact that God's grace and love continue to have on our lives. Love you—Cassius

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Redefine BRB

BRB— stands for be right back, but perhaps it's time to overhaul, override or overload the acronym. In light of our world's current struggles perhaps brb should mean— Bring respect back, or bring righteousness back, or bring reality back. We definitely need to bring real-truth back! 

 So, let's brb, and come back to our families, homes, communities, states, nation and world toting a new mindset set right with God and ready to bring His grace, mercy, justice, righteousness, peace, truth and love back to bear on the world. BRB.

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Not a knock but I’m not gonna be it’s biggest fan

Faith is not wishful thinking!  While wishful thinking is a positive  expectation, unfortunately it is one that is not based on reality, facts, or even the slightest amount of evidence to support the hoped for outcome. Faith is the expectation that what God has promised, and what we pray for in accordance to His will is already done and soon enough it will be seen!  

Faith is rooted in the reality of who God is— the surety of His character, the veracity of His promises, the goodness of His Name, the sovereignty of His reign, the power of His hands, and the tangible proof of His love through Christ! 

This is not a knock on wishful thinking, but I am just saying I'm not gonna be its biggest  fan. I will stick with prayer and the faithful expectation that God is able, that His promises are sure and that His answers will be more than enough.

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 "That's the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NLT)!"

Everything won’t go the way you want it every single time,

May we be tethered to Christ anchored in His love, and built up by His sure promises and everlasting love, so that we can be unapologetically joyful, hopeful and optimistic, and strong even when everything doesn't go the way we want it to! May we be fastened and secured by Christ and in Christ!

Speak His Holy Name

More than any other name that is named, may the name of our GOD—the name of the Sovereign LORD, Eternal Creator and Everlasting King— be the most spoken, only praised and the only exalted name declared from our lips, held with honor in our hearts and trusted with our souls. 

Speak His Name in praise, in prayer, in private and public, and in every season so that He is glorified and His love fills the earth! Happy Monday!

30 years of tears

It's been 30 years and it still feels kinda raw, like he was taken too soon.  It's been 30 years and I still feel sad, still cry, still wish he was here. 

Dear Granddaddy Felix,

I love you!  I miss you. And even after 30 years, I wish you were still here— preaching long sermons, bringing me along for the ride, sharing your love, lunch and life with me. 

Love you—Cassius 

Sometimes it hurts—

It's true that sometimes the arrows of grief and devastation will pierce through our hearts, and sometimes the whirlwinds of despair and disappointment will multiply our wounds and batter our souls. 

Yes, it is an unfortunate fact of life that sometimes we will experience the catastrophes of sudden loss and the agony of staggering injustices. Yes, there will also be times when we will not be able to escape the bitterness of betrayal or the throbbing sting of loneliness. 

But while these things will happen sometimes and for some amount of time, let's remember that it is an eternal fact, an everlasting truth, and an every moment of today, tomorrow and forever certainty that the all wise and powerful God cares and comforts us, and that Christ sees and knows and is with us, always! 

The triumphant God has set an end date for all our grief and pain, and His love has secured the promise that in the end, the joy we will feel and have with Him will outweigh all of our grief and sadness and pain. May His love and tenderness carry and keep us.

No where…

There is no where that the light of God cannot reach, or where His eyes cannot see the steps we take and the problems we face. There is no place to far or hole to deep where His ears cannot hear our prayers, or our desperate cries for the things we need. 

He observes all our steps, sees all our needs, hears all of our cries for mercy and every desperate plea for help in time of need— even in the deepest, hardest seasons of darkness. 

Let us call to Him with hands lifted up, place ourselves and our needs before Him and cry out to Him with humble hearts and honest prayers, trusting that the gracious, just and Almighty God will do what is good and right and loving.

Grace and peace to you—Cassius <*}}}>< 

Don't reach for the matches!

I'd be lying if I didn't warn you that this world's darkness and mortifying injustice, coupled with our own deeply personal, long running seasons of disappointment and  difficulty can leave us weak, worn, and ready to just burn it all down.  But, don't reach for the matches! 

But when life feels like it is heading in the wrong direction, hitting below the belt, and not playing fair-- don't reach for the matches and don't start screaming and running for the exit, either. Don't reach for the matches, but instead surrender  to the grace and love, lavish kindness and plenteous mercy, mighty power and unfailing truth of God.  Put down the matches and pray that His love and grace, the truth of His sovereignty will reinforce and reinvigorate your souls. 

Praying that the Gospel message of hope and rescue, and the proof and promise of His presence will give us all we need to keep going in the battles and keep our eyes on the victory that awaits our faith.

You are different, but that was the plan.

“If you are different, then your results should be different."

What do you think about that quote? 

For me, It dawned on me that it stands to reason that because we are all uniquely created from the wisdom of God for His good plans and purposes, we should stop looking at other people expecting our path, progress and success to look identical to theirs. 

And since only the Creator God truly knows the plans and direction and purposes He created us for, maybe we should just look to Him and follow Him each day.

May we drop the comparisons and leave off the envy of anyone else’s path, progress and success, so that we can experience the fullness of what God has uniquely positioned, planned and prepared for us. 

Choose God’s best

God has a tremendous plan for us, but we must make a choice and decide. 

Will we willingly trust and surrender to His good character and perfect plans? Or will we be stubborn, hard hearted and determined to shape the course of our own lives alone? 

 May we be doggedly determined and undivided in our focus and our quest to submit to God so that we have God and all of God's best for our lives and those we love.

Two choices for the week

We have two choices this week. 

Choice 1: We can dwell in fear over the enormity of our situations, the sheer volume of our challenges, the large hoards and arsenals of those opposing us, and our own inadequacies.

Choice 2: We can look at the infinite possibilities of faith, the supernatural power of grace, the unceasing gifts of favor, the uncountable riches we have from heaven, and focus on the unmatched power and unlimited strength we have in Christ Jesus.

May we make the wise choice of standing in faith, hoping in Christ and believing that God can and will do the impossible so that this week will be indescribably, mind bogglingly beautiful! 

Love you—Cassius 

Don’t let time make you forget

The simple truth is that over time, a lot of us tend to forgot just how amazing God is, especially when we have achieved some level of success. We let polls, popular opinions, and godless other voices cause us to forget the grace, mercy and goodness of God. 

We fail to recall that it was God who turned our obstacles to dust, put our worries to the wind, defeated our enemies and lifted us up to heights of success. We forget how He healed our bodies, dried our tears, and performed signs and wonders that were too good for words. We let it slip our minds of all the times when God fed us when we were hungry, clothed us when we were naked, comforted us when we cried, saved us when we were desperate, forgave us when we sinned, and lifted us up when we fell. 

We need to remember who it was who actually opened the doors, broke the chains, defeated the giants, and gave us victories that we couldn't have earned on our own. 

May we never let our present or future prosperity cause us to forget that He is sovereign and the source of our every blessing, success and salvation! Minus Him even our best will fall short.

Blessings and breakthrough—What do they look like

Sometimes “blessings” look like closed doors, delayed dreams, disrupted plans, and answers to prayers that are “not” what we expected. Sometimes “breakthroughs” look less like magic and more like hard work, sweat stained clothes, dirty and calloused hands, and long nights of faithful waiting-in the valleys- for the victorious move of God!  

May we have eyes to see, ears to hear, minds to understand, faith to trust and a heart that is open to all the many possible shapes, forms and timing of our blessings and breakthroughs!  Trust and believe, God will do just as He has planned and promised!