Let’s finish up Hannah’s story!
V.13b-16 She didn’t have some long drawn out story that she made in order to try and convince her husband to believe her. Don’t go so far into trying to make someone believe you. If they can’t believe what you said in the beginning, how much more do you think you can do for them to believe you in the end. More than likely whatever type of mind-set they had after you told them what was going on is more than likely the same mind-set they will have after you give your full self to them. So if he or she can’t believe what you say, then for one you have no trust between you all and for two regardless of what you do or say they never will until you all build that trust.
V.19 Ask for a solution to the problem you’re having. Just because you give it over to God doesn’t mean that there is nothing left for you to do. It is you that He works through in order to actually solve your problem and get results.
V.19 She also understood that she had to do something in order to receive the blessing she was waiting and trusting God for. Understand that in order to get the blessing that God has for you, and that you asked for, you have to be willing to do what it takes in order to get it.
V.21-22 She kept the vow that she had made with the Lord and didn’t try to bail out of it, although she had a good enough reason to do so, but she said no because she knew the vow that she had made and understood that to stay in right standings with God, she had to keep her end of the bargain. In order to keep the blessing that God has given you, then you must keep your end of the bargain as Hannah did.
V. 17 & 23 You have to have people around you who are on the same page with you and are willing to support you in whatever decisions you make for your life. Whether it is family, friends, associates or others they should be willing to support you. They don’t have to fully agree with you or agree with you at all, but they should be willing to support you in what you do and not down you for whatever decisions you decide to make for your life.
1Sam. 2:1 She praised God and prayed to Him after all was said and done, because of what God had done for her. She praised and prayed to God, because she understood that He had turned her life around. God can and will turn your life around, if you will allow Him to do so. (2:20-21)
God isn’t stingy. He has the power available right now to turn around the distressing situations of His children.
Just because that thing in your life seems to be going all bad, if you turn it over to God and do the things that Hannah did, then that negative can become a positive. Be blessed!

“Prayer makes the negative positive!” 1Sam. 1&2

Last week we talked about the things that could happen in your life, if only you would have the faith of a mustard seed (Matt.17:20-21). Remember regardless of your past God can and will use you only if you will allow Him to.

This week we will be looking at the book of 1Samuel 1&2. We will be looking at some of the things that we can learn from Hannah and how she was able to overcome the problem she had.

The problem she had was not being able to have kids, because her womb had been closed up. Now you may not have a problem with having kids, but it may be something else. You may be struggling with where you are currently in life; you may have a problem with expression- you’ve got things you want to say and want to express, but don’t know how to do so; you may have a problem with trying to live life in the shadow of others- family, friends, siblings, the world or even the church; you may have the problem of always trying to make others happy and you are continuing to put yourself and even God on the back burner; or you may be struggling with abuse: sexual, physical, mental, emotional or even spiritual abuse. Regardless of what your struggle may be Hannah will help us to deal with it and ultimately we shall be blessed past our wildest imaginations!

· 1Sam. 1:10-11 Hannah had to admit that she had a problem. The first thing each of us must do is admit that we have a problem.

· V.8 Hannah had to come to an understanding that man couldn’t solve her problem regardless of who they were. Regardless of who he/she is understand that they can’t solve the problem that you are having. They don’t have the power to change your situation regardless of what title they may hold in your life or in this world. If it’s something that only God can take care of He is the only One with the power to change it, so He is whom you should be leaning and depending on.

· V.11-12 Hannah was willing to give her problem over to God. You have to be willing to give your problem over to God so that it may no longer be under your control, but under His control.

· V.11b Before Samuel was born, Hannah made a vow to God. She understood that God was owed the praise, honor and glory for whatever He would allow to happen. If God brings you out or gives you anything, it must go back to Him. It must be used for the purpose in which He has set for it, because you didn’t do it or get it without Him and it won’t make it very far if His hand isn’t attached to it or in it.

· V.12-13 Everyone doesn’t need to hear what you and the Lord are talking about in order for it to come to pass. You may not want everyone to hear it, because it could ultimately be the death of the very thing that God is going to allow to come to life for you.

Next week we will finish up Hannah’s story and how it can help us to overcome the struggles we are having in life. Leave us your comments and I hope you and a friend will come back next week. Until then continue to be blessed and I hope you have a great week!

FAITH- Finally Admitting I Trust Him (God)

Matt. 17: 20-21 And He(God) said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. 21 But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Lately I’ve been dealing with people who are only stuck in the past and what use to be. Well for those of us that have to deal with them and even for them, here is a word of encouragement on how to handle the past, the present and even your future.

Everything that God does is only done according to the FAITH that we have. He doesn’t do anything according to someone else’s faith alone, but you have to have enough faith to believe that whatever you’re believing God for can and will happen.

I don’t have the same faith that I once had, but I have a new found faith. I believe everything He (God) places in front of me to do can and will be done, if I do it decently and in order and if I believe strongly that it will be successful.

Don’t allow people, who’s so stuck in their past situations and are not willing to look ahead and see that there’s so much more ahead that God has for them, stop you from going ahead and receiving the blessings that God has for you. God has called you for a certain time and to a certain thing, so that you may impact the lives of those whom He has placed in front of you and around you! Trust and believe that you can do what He has placed in front of you to do regardless of what others may say.

Regardless of your past or present situations; regardless of past or present mistakes God can and will take all of those things and use it to work in your favor, if you have the faith and believe, not in what others say or think of you negatively, but what God can and will do with you positively.

Be blessed and have a great week!

FRIDAY May 8, 2009



I remember my first checking account. I was in High School and was so proud! Now for me the hardest thing was to keep up with what checks I wrote as well as the times that I went to the ATM. As a matter of fact, it was the register that got me in trouble. You see, I would always forget to write down my transactions. As you can see, I was a bad record keeper. Eventually I learned how to keep up with my spending. I have learned to be a pretty good record keeper. But no matter how good or bad my record keeping is, I can’t hold a candle to God. A lady once told me that “God is the master record keeper.” She was referring to Philippians 1:6 that says “…the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.” (Message Translation)
What that means to us is that whatever God has given us….the gifts, talents, AND promises…he will not go back on His word. He will bring it to pass. He is the master record keeper. He knows how much is in your spiritual account. He knows what He has invested in you. He knows WHO will need to benefit from what’s in you AND He knows how much you have left. Ok, let’s take that a step further. God not only knows what He has put in you, but He knows how much you can take. He will “never let you be pushed past your limit.” (I Corinthians 10:13-Message Translation).
So as you continue to fight to do the right things and say the right words, and hang around the right people….God has already deposited favor, blessings, and endurance in your account. He knows what you have to give. Just let Him balance your account. Don’t respond to your difficult situation (or payout) in faithless flesh talk; let God write your check and balance your trouble with peace. You have more in your account than you realize. The bible reminds us that “…greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (KJV) That’s because God is the master record keeper. Make this Friday a “F.R.E.S.H.” Friday!

FRIDAY May 1, 2009

If you are like me, I don’t like starting all over again…well, sometimes. While playing video games where I am losing I can’t wait to start over. That gives me a better chance of winning the next time. Maybe you are at a place in your life where you want to start over but don’t really know how to do it. You have a relationship that’s gone bad and you want to start over either with that one or just break-up altogether. You have a class schedule that is wearing you down and you cant wait until finals are over to start over next semester. Maybe you have just gotten into some legal trouble and you don’t know how to start over. Well starting over in the natural begins with starting over spiritually. The Bible tells us in I John 1:8-9 that “If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.” (Mssg Bible) What that means is that if we give our mistakes to God, and be honest about them, He’ll give us a brand new start. We really do get to start over.
Now once we start over with God, He opens our eyes and our lives to things that we never imagined before. We also get stuff that we never dreamed we would get. God has a way of giving us what we need when we need it.
So today as we mark the beginning of a brand new month, let’s make a brand new start being committed to Jesus and His way of doing things. As a matter of fact, Jesus promised that if we “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, [God will] give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33-NLT). Go ahead and hit the reset button and start all over today ad make things better. Make this Friday a “re-F.R.E.S.H.” Friday!

FRIDAY April 17, 2009

This is going to sound like a crazy statement but I have to say this….hard times help us. I know..don’t stop reading….There is a scripture in the bible that says “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” (James 1:2-4, Message Bible). Basically what this cat James is saying is that don’t trip when you start catching hell. Now if you are like me, this really does not make sense…on any level. But if I re-read the statements, it is saying that when you are getting bombarded with a lot of stuff at once (money is a trip, friends are “sometimey”, school is getting to be too much, child support is due, or he’s not paying it…the list could go on and on…) that is the time that the REAL YOU comes out. That’s when you know what you are made of. Our responsibility (if we say that we are Christians) is to let the pressure push out the best in us. In order to get to the BEST, you have to go through some MESS! Just laugh at your MESS and say “you my have me down right now, but when I get back up, I’m gonna be better than I’ve ever been”. I was reading something one day and the article was talking about Cholesterol. It said that not all Cholesterol is bad. The bad hides in with the good sometimes and that’s when we panic. But if we look at Cholesterol a little differently; we will learn that even if it starts out bad, the challenges develop us into something good. Wow! I encourage you as I encourage myself. Make this Friday a F.R.E.S.H. Friday!

FRIDAY April 10, 2009


Today, Friday April 10, 2009, is the first edition of F.R.E.S.H. Friday Devotions. We pray that the things that you will learn and discuss here will be a blessing to you and your growth in Christ for years to come. Please feel free to comment and even ask questions about each devotion. Again, that’s how we grow…..

Today is the day that we as a Christian Community recognize the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross over 2000 years ago. The sacrifice Jesus made physically by the innumerable beatings and the pain he experienced emotionally by being betrayed by those closest to him was a very high price to pay. As a matter of fact, it was the ONLY price God would accept for the debt of sin. When we sinned against God, (did something that was against his way of doing things) there had to be a payment that would get us back in good standing with God. The death of the sinless Jesus was the only thing that was valuable enough to pay the price that God would accept for the debt of sin.
One thing that I am learning about life is that the pathway to purpose is paved with pain. Since the purpose of Jesus was to die for the sins of the whole world, He had to experience some pain.
About a year ago, I tore a ligament in my knee and had to go through a period of rehabilitation. The doctor explained to me that in order to get back my full range of motion I would experience some pain. The way to my recovery was through the pain of rehab. In order to get to the place of freedom, I had to go through some pain. The same is true with our freedom from the penalty of sin. The bible says “without shedding of blood is no remission [of sin].” (Hebrews 9:22b) There is no blood without pain.
It’s not that we celebrate the pain, but we are thankful for the pain. So over the next week, let’s reflect on the pain that Jesus suffered for us….so that we can be free. We may not be free from pain, but we are free from the penalty. Every time you go through something that you don’t want to deal with or something that hurts, just remember “The sufferings [PAIN] we have now are nothing compared to the great glory [PURPOSE] that will be shown to us.” (Romans 8:18-NCV)
….make it a F.R.E.S.H. Friday!