Mondays with Clifford

Today at 11 a.m, one of God's angels returned to Him after completing his assignment here on earth. His name was Clifford Oneal Spears. I met Clifford about a year and a half ago through a homeless ministry. This ministry feeds and clothes the homeless on the streets of downtown Tampa, but also is a spiritual life-link for many.

Clifford, we came to see, was not your average homeless person. Through a series of unfortunate events, of loosing his business and home, he was promised a new start in the Tampa area and after arriving here was thrown out on the streets by one he had considered to be a friend. Clifford was like that. Very trusting of others and one of the most selfless persons I've ever had the privilege of getting to now. He began coming to our church, joined as a member, became part of our praise and worship team and a faithful member of our congregation.

He was also an evangelist. There was not a person he met that he did not share with them the love of Jesus Christ and invited them to church. In fact a great percentage of our visitors came through Clifford.

He was a simple man with a simple childlike faith in his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and he unknowingly touched so many lives.

Besides seeing Cliff at church services, he became involved with the same ministry that was serving him. He became one of the Praise team members for Amazing Love Ministry on Monday nights. He loved worshiping the Lord.

As we walked this journey with him when he was told he had cancer, we became frustrated by the many atrocities committed against the homeless by the home-owning society. From the lack of proper medical care, the "red tape" of getting him proper treatment, medication and shelter was frustrating for us. But Cliff never complained, he never blamed God or others for his situation. I never once heard him say "Why me."

He taught me how to continue to give God glory by the life I live, even when walking through the darkest of valleys.

He taught me to me kinder to others and not to get too jaded by all of life's negativity.

He taught me that love is always the answers and the antidote to give away freely, even when those you're giving it to is so undeserving.

He taught me how to trust God more by having "simple faith".

Clifford was a part of our missions team ,to Jamaica this year, even though he could not make the journey at the last minute because his condition worsened.

Clifford who did not have much earthly possessions was extremely wealthy in godly character. He who had so little to give desired to give what he had to the Jamaican people.

Clifford never had much because he was always giving away what he had to those in need.

I am honored, privileged and changed by knowing him. I thank God for giving him to us and for teaching us through his life.

I thank God for Mondays with Clifford.

I left piece of my heart in Jamaica

I've just returned from our third missionary trip to Jamaica where we continued work on the construction of the medical clinic our church is building there. All I can say is "To God be All the glory for all the great things He's doing." We got so much work done as the missionaries and the locals worked side by side in wondrous unity, teaching and learning from each other.

My greatest joy, though are the lives that are slowly being transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit as He works through our relationships. It was difficult leaving the people I've grown to love like my own family and who have official adopted me as a fellow-Jamaican.

The needs there are so great and so profound that I wished I could have stayed longer to help more. The people here in Bunker's Hill, Clarendon is so appreciative of the help we're giving but we need more people to join us and help in different areas, especially amongst the young adults, some of whom are illiterate, without jobs and frustrated. Teenage pregnancy is extremely high in this and surrounding areas.

Another highlight for me was visiting at a boy's orphanage and presenting them with books, clothing, brand new sneakers, and different sporting balls for soccer, football, basketball etc. Watching our missionaries and local church members play a game of soccer with those boys was extremely enjoyable.

I'm praying that the Lord opens the doors to take a team of Youth pastors/leaders and motivational speakers there before the end of the year to stimulate the youths into God's purposeful plan for their lives.

I want to do so much to reach them for the glory of God.

Jamaica, you have won me over time and again.

Why does it take so long?

I'm sure you've asked this question of yourself and of others. Why does change take so long to be manifested in our lives? In our hearts, we desperately want to change those old rotten behaviours and habits, so we can be more like Christ. We all want to be more loving, more forgiving, more patient, more understanding. Right?
Well here's what I got from my devotional time with the Lord this morning.

At times changes take long because of the following;

1)We are slow learners.
How often have you failed at something and thought,"Not again! I thought I knew better." We humans tend to quickly forget the lessons God teaches us and revert to old attitudes and patterns of behaviour. Hebrews 2:1(NIV) says,"We must pay more careful attention, therefore to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away"

2)We have a lot to unlearn.
We go to a counselor with a problem that took years to develop and we say,"Fix me in one hour".
Our problems did not develop overnight and they will not disappear overnight. There's no pill, prayer or principle that will instantly undo the damage of many years. It requires the hard work of removal and repalcement. We have to take off the old patterns, practices and pedispositions of the old sinful nature and put on the new person of Christ.

3) Growth is painful.
Every change involves a loss of some kind. We must let go of our old ways to experience the new life that Christ has promised. And if we are truly honest, we fear these loses, even if our old ways are self-defeating. We fear them because like old worn out shoes, they are comfortable and familiar.

4)Habits take time to develop
Our character is the sum total of our habits.Our habits are the sum total of our thinking. Romans 12;2 Promises us that God will transform us by the renewing of our minds.
So change your thinking, you change your habits. Change your habits, you change your behaviour. Change your behaviour, you change your character. Change your character, you change your destiny. But this all takes time to develop. And there is only one way to develop Christlike character; you must practice it over and over and over again. There are no instant habits.
1Timothy 4:15(GWT) Paul tells Timothy to "Practice these things. Devote your life to them."

Change takes time, but change will come. Keep on doing the right thing, the Godly thing over and over. Devote your life to it, not just a day, a week or a month and change will come.

( Some Excerpts taken from,'The Word for you Today" daily Devotional)

Before you die - Live!

Every morning upon arising I take time to spend with my heavenly Father reading His Word. My devotional time has been so good that I wanted to share this one with you.

Proverbs 27:1(NIV)
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

In The Finishing Touch Chuck Swindoll writes about a routine flight to New York that turned out to be anything but routine. The passengers soon discovered that the landing gear of the airplane was not engaging. As the plane circled the landing fields, emergency crews coated the runway with foam, firetrucks and emergency vehicles moved into place.
Passengers were told to place their heads between their knees and grab their ankles just before impact. There were tears, panic and cries of despair. Minutes away from landing, the pilot came over the intercom and stated,"We are beginning our final descent. At this moment, in accordance with international aviation code established in Geneva, it is my obligation to inform you that if you believe in God you should commence prayer."

What's the message?

Live each day in the light of eternity. Seize the moment and wring every drop out of it. Love and enjoy the people who matter. Take another step towards your goals and the fulfillment of God's plan for your life.
In other words, before you die- live!

(Taken from The Word for you Today devotional)

The Reality of Love

Jesus says in John 12:25 that the person who loves his life, seeking to retain it, really destroys it.

Self-interest and self-preservation are ultimately self-defeating. The harder one tries to live for self, the less of life one really has, until at the end there is nothing left of it at all, and one has nothing to show for it. As C. S. Lewis well stated:

"There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."

John 12:24 Jesus tells us that unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

If you want love then you have to give love away, freely, unconditionally and abundantly. Withhold it and all you do is suffocate, bury and never truly experience it.

If you want life, then give yours away, to Christ, who is the only One who can give it back to you again, abundantly and for eternity.

Love truly begins a metamorphosis in you, when you can freely give it away and life truly begins to be lived when you've given it away and find that Christ holds all the keys for abundant living.

So live by dying(to self) and love by giving love away. The people who are the most difficult to love, are the ones who need it the most.

We just love a great Tea Party with lots of friends!!!

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Sharing Life with Sisters of Faith/GRMI Ladies Ministry Annual Tea Party 2007

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

When Life gives you Lemons

Have you ever heard the phrase "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"? This is such simple wisdom. What do you do with the difficult situations of life?
I've had many. If I were to start detailing them, it would sound like a soap opera. We all face difficult situations, some may even seem to be insurmountable or impossible to survive at times.
In the midst of the pain, I allow myself to feel the intensity of the emotions, most of the time. I allow myself to feel so I can cry, be angry, frustrated and disappointed, whatever.
The alternative is to stuff the emotions deep within and there they are preserved and become toxic.
Toxic to my inner being, toxic to my health, emotions, my prayer life and most of all toxic to those around me.
After this phase, I ask the Lord to help me to discern, learn and grow from that particular life event. Sometimes I think I'm a slow learner :-), at times I "get it" and move on, allowing the experience to enrich and not embitter me.
Needless to say I've drank a lot of lemonade in my lifetime, but hey nothing beats a tall,cool glass of iced lemonade on a hot summer's day!

Life

This is just one of the many beauties of God's creation that reminds and entices me to live life with passion and veracity.

I've not always loved life, but now I'm what you will call an eternal optimist. Not naive ( well selectively at times) but optimistic.

Hey, it works for me.

At times life can be and is hard, but God has always been good.

This gives me reason to be perpetually optimistic about life. I have good days and bad days, like everyone else, but I must admit, I love the days when God just divinely reminds me to live and give each day 100% of me.

I adore when I can walk outside my door and enjoy the myriad of colors of my budding flower bed.

Or when I plant a fruit tree and see productivity. I'm amazed the thing actually did not die this time.

Or when I visit another country and get some "down" time to marvel at exotic tropical scenery, I'd once only imagine.

Or to relish the taste of fruits from my childhood that I get to enjoy once in a while. I taste more the memories than the fruit.

I am thankful for today. Yesterday is in the tomb and tomorrow is still in the womb. I have today and I choose to enjoy what life has given me, today!