Pharrell, a popular music producer, and in my opinion one of the best producers working today and maybe of all the times, was recently on Live with Kelly and Michael discussing what was his hardest decision he's ever had to make during his time on The Voice. He stated that the hardest decision he had to make was during the battle rounds this season when it was Mark Hood battling Celeste Betton. During the round, both were phenomenal. Pharrell could only pick one. I'm paraphrasing, but he basically said, he chose Mark as the winner to help him stop running from his calling. He stated that Celeste seemed to know the road she was going on, but Mark was running from Gospel and trying to do more R&B.
What stuck with me was the "running" part. How many of us are running from what God is calling us from? I know I've been guilty of it. I understand the "fear of the unknown" if you will. There was a line I heard in a movie one time, House Arrest, and it said something like, "Feel the fear and go for it." I got asked once, how do you sing in front of people. I just do it. I'm still nervous. I'm still fearful, but once I knew there was no backing out and me "going to the bathroom" or crying to get out of it was not going to work any longer, I just had to suck it up and do it.
Now people are going to look at the fact that I mentioned Pharrell in the first part and immediately turn a deaf ear to what he said because it's Pharrell, and he produced Drop It Like It's Hot for Snoop Dogg and other songs, so what could he possibly have to say that could benefit anyone? So besides just getting the message, besides eating the meat and spitting out the bones, we turn a deaf ear because of his past. I'm no bible scholar, that's my mom and dad, but I have studied the bible more and more lately, and I remember hearing that God once used a Donkey and a rooster to get a message across. God even made the donkey talk.
Don't put a limit on what God can do. A popular phrase now a days is, "There's nothing my God can not do." So, if there's nothing that God can not do, if God can do anything but fail, then why do we put exceptions to that? What do we put a limit to what God can do? It is written, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." We need to stop with this half way believing mentality. This halfway trusting that God know what's He's doing mentality. Either God knows what he's doing or he doesn't. I choose to believe that God knows what he's doing. I choose to believe the Bible when it says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
Don't miss the message for the messenger. What if Balaam missed the message because it came from a donkey? What if people that knew Paul as Saul and remembered him killing Christians, and now he's preaching for Christians, and they decided to miss the message? What if people knew your past and when you tried to speak some truth--? God can do anything and He can and has used anybody he wanted to. Even you.
Stay Saved,
Daniel Richerson
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
SCABS CAN'T HEAL IF YOU KEEP SCRATCHING
At first I planned this blog to be a review of Kirk Franklin's latest masterpiece, Losing My Religion, because I haven't done a review in a while. Or this blog was going to be on a new theory I have concerning hip hop and the church. Maybe the church sees to much of itself in hip hop to see what benefit hip hop can have, but I'm not going there this blog. Yesterday, as I'm typing this, I looked at a scar on my finger that is just about completely healed, and I told my little sister, "It's amazing how much a wound can heal, when you don't mess with it." She looked at me and said, "That'll preach." I thought about it, and I realized how deep that statement I said was.
Isaiah 53:5, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
That verse is more than just another verse. It's a reminder that all your hurt and all your pain that you've experienced is already healed. Because of what Jesus did on the cross. The hurt is just part of the healing process. The scar on my finger stung a little when I would touch it and mess with it, but when I stopped messing with it and just the healing process go without a hitch, that's when the scar went away. One of my favorite Kirk Franklin songs says, "He'll take the pain away, I know, He'll take the pain away." Some scars don't go away, unfortunately, but with Jesus, the pain of the scar can be taken away. Whatever that scar is. It could be church hurt. It could be a hurt from your past. Jesus can take the pain away. If you don't believe me, all I can say is try Jesus. An old song says, "Have you tried Jesus, he's alright."
When you get a cut on your body, you put some kind medical liquid or cream on it, and then maybe a bandage. After you put the bandage, you let the bandage do the work. You keep removing the bandage to mess with the scar, it can't heal like it's supposed to. When you give your problems to Jesus, and you keep going back to the problem, it can't heal like it's supposed to. Give it to Jesus and let him do the work. Jesus can work if you let him. That bandage can work if you let it. Those medicines can work if you let them. There's a song out that says, "Let the Word do the work." The "Word" being the Bible. The Bible works, just let it work. We call it the living Word, right? Let it live.
What ever the wound is, stop messing with it. Stop scratching the scab off so it can bleed again. That was my problem growing up. I would get scabs, and besides just letting it heal, I would scratch the scab off and open the wound. That probably carried on to other problems in my life. Without letting the problem heal, I would scratch scabs off and open up unnecessary issues that should have died a long time ago. So of your issues could have been over and done but because you keep scratching off the scab...leave the scabs in your life alone. I know scabs can be irritating, but let them heal.
Stay Saved,
Daniel Richerson
Isaiah 53:5, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
That verse is more than just another verse. It's a reminder that all your hurt and all your pain that you've experienced is already healed. Because of what Jesus did on the cross. The hurt is just part of the healing process. The scar on my finger stung a little when I would touch it and mess with it, but when I stopped messing with it and just the healing process go without a hitch, that's when the scar went away. One of my favorite Kirk Franklin songs says, "He'll take the pain away, I know, He'll take the pain away." Some scars don't go away, unfortunately, but with Jesus, the pain of the scar can be taken away. Whatever that scar is. It could be church hurt. It could be a hurt from your past. Jesus can take the pain away. If you don't believe me, all I can say is try Jesus. An old song says, "Have you tried Jesus, he's alright."
When you get a cut on your body, you put some kind medical liquid or cream on it, and then maybe a bandage. After you put the bandage, you let the bandage do the work. You keep removing the bandage to mess with the scar, it can't heal like it's supposed to. When you give your problems to Jesus, and you keep going back to the problem, it can't heal like it's supposed to. Give it to Jesus and let him do the work. Jesus can work if you let him. That bandage can work if you let it. Those medicines can work if you let them. There's a song out that says, "Let the Word do the work." The "Word" being the Bible. The Bible works, just let it work. We call it the living Word, right? Let it live.
What ever the wound is, stop messing with it. Stop scratching the scab off so it can bleed again. That was my problem growing up. I would get scabs, and besides just letting it heal, I would scratch the scab off and open the wound. That probably carried on to other problems in my life. Without letting the problem heal, I would scratch scabs off and open up unnecessary issues that should have died a long time ago. So of your issues could have been over and done but because you keep scratching off the scab...leave the scabs in your life alone. I know scabs can be irritating, but let them heal.
Stay Saved,
Daniel Richerson
Wednesday, November 04, 2015
GOD MADE ME WHO I AM
I've gone through like five different intros to this post. I know where I want the body of the post to go, but how to get the ball rolling has my mind going back and forth. But here it is:
Remember the movie 8 Mile, and the final battle rap scene. The character, B-Rabbit, started the final battle by going down all his flaws so his opponent couldn't say anything about him. Something happened me recently to help me embrace who I am. I won't go into it, but I will say this, if you grow up being made fun of because of how you smell and how you walk or as they say now, bullied, you learn to get over it, but a piece of that never leaves you. You try to contain it as much as you can, but there's still a piece of that victim still in you. At least in my case. I can't speak for everybody else. So yes even at 28 years old, I still deal with low self-esteem regarding my flaws, looks, etc. But again something happened and it helped me really realize that not everybody is going to accept me. Not everybody is going to like the face that my head is bigger than average. Not everybody is going to like that I'm overweight. Not everybody going to like that my feet are not straight when I walk. But I realized after this incident, that God made me who I am, and in spite of my imperfections, God still loves me.
I know there's a lot of stuff out now for women to embrace their flaws, but not really much for straight men who also deal with image issues. I guess it's a pride thing men have that make them act like they're not insecure. Well it's not an act for me. I am insecure, or should I say still a little insecure.
Growing up there were those that took pleasure at laughing at my flaws, but at the same time there were those that looked passed my flaws, and got to know this mixed boy with image issues. So when ever there was times in my live to have my head down, there was at the same time reason to keep my head up. It was as if God was saying, "I got you, Daniel."
Like just some time ago, I was thinking nobody cares. Then my pastor asked me something I never really got asked before. He asked me how I'm doing mentally and spiritually. Never got asked that by anybody. Again, God was letting me know, "I have not forgot about you."
I've heard all my life, "What the devil, meant for bad God turned it around for my good." This incident was meant for me to go to another state of depression, but it turned out to teach me how to forgive and sleep peacefully. It taught me how to accept the flaws I got and go on living.
My dad preached a message one time that was talking about how Jesus was asleep in the midst of the storm before Jesus said, "Peace be still." Dad kept repeating, "Grab a pillow and go to sleep." That's just what I did. I forgave and got the one of the best nights of sleep I've got in weeks.
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Isaiah 54:17
Stay Saved,
Daniel Richerson
Remember the movie 8 Mile, and the final battle rap scene. The character, B-Rabbit, started the final battle by going down all his flaws so his opponent couldn't say anything about him. Something happened me recently to help me embrace who I am. I won't go into it, but I will say this, if you grow up being made fun of because of how you smell and how you walk or as they say now, bullied, you learn to get over it, but a piece of that never leaves you. You try to contain it as much as you can, but there's still a piece of that victim still in you. At least in my case. I can't speak for everybody else. So yes even at 28 years old, I still deal with low self-esteem regarding my flaws, looks, etc. But again something happened and it helped me really realize that not everybody is going to accept me. Not everybody is going to like the face that my head is bigger than average. Not everybody is going to like that I'm overweight. Not everybody going to like that my feet are not straight when I walk. But I realized after this incident, that God made me who I am, and in spite of my imperfections, God still loves me.
I know there's a lot of stuff out now for women to embrace their flaws, but not really much for straight men who also deal with image issues. I guess it's a pride thing men have that make them act like they're not insecure. Well it's not an act for me. I am insecure, or should I say still a little insecure.
Growing up there were those that took pleasure at laughing at my flaws, but at the same time there were those that looked passed my flaws, and got to know this mixed boy with image issues. So when ever there was times in my live to have my head down, there was at the same time reason to keep my head up. It was as if God was saying, "I got you, Daniel."
Like just some time ago, I was thinking nobody cares. Then my pastor asked me something I never really got asked before. He asked me how I'm doing mentally and spiritually. Never got asked that by anybody. Again, God was letting me know, "I have not forgot about you."
I've heard all my life, "What the devil, meant for bad God turned it around for my good." This incident was meant for me to go to another state of depression, but it turned out to teach me how to forgive and sleep peacefully. It taught me how to accept the flaws I got and go on living.
My dad preached a message one time that was talking about how Jesus was asleep in the midst of the storm before Jesus said, "Peace be still." Dad kept repeating, "Grab a pillow and go to sleep." That's just what I did. I forgave and got the one of the best nights of sleep I've got in weeks.
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Isaiah 54:17
Stay Saved,
Daniel Richerson
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