WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT

Over the years I've blogged a lot about fear.

"My old manager would tell me when I didn’t have the guts to give a girl a note, “Man, just give it to her.” In other words, put some action on your faith boy. Faith without works is dead. What my manager was teaching me was that in order for the note to do the purpose it was written to do, I had let go of all fear, gain confidence and put action on it and give the note away. Some of us lost all faith because of fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of what other people think. Also because of fear, we lose confidence. Deuteronomy 31:6b says in the CEV (Contemporary English Version), “The LORD your God will always be at your side, and he will never abandon you.” Now my manager was a big dude, and I imagine if anything would’ve happened to me while giving away the note, I’m sure he’d have my back. It doesn’t come any bigger than God. With God on your side, there’s no need to lose confidence. In Deuteronomy 31:8, again in the CEV, Moses told Joshua, “The LORD will lead you into the land. He will always be with you and help you, so don’t ever be afraid of your enemies.” ~ Who Got Your Back?

"“I’ve been running for Jesus a long time, and I’m not tired yet.” Y’all ever heard that song. It’s not a song that will be on my iPod at ever, but it’s a song that plays on the radio a lot. Probably one of those good cliches to say in church to get a reaction. Anyway, I got to thinking. While some of us are running for Jesus, a lot of us are running from Jesus. Running from what we are called to do in the Kingdom. Running from what we are chosen to do in the Kingdom. Why do people run? Fear. Fear of losing friends. Fear of family members not believing in you. Fear of how you’re going to even start walking in the calling that God has for you. Believe me, I understand…" ~ RUNNING FOR OR FROM? 

"I’m not asking all this to sound depressed. I was watching this dude do his thing at a church and I played drums behind this dude for about 6 months while he was on the organ. As I was watching him sing on stage, I had to fight back tears thinking back on how I messed things up during my six months up there. So to not cry I had to stop watching the video and get to this blog. As y’all know this is where I let my thoughts out because I don’t talk to anybody. I have numbers I can call on my phone but I don’t call them out of fear of the reaction. I’ve painted myself as a black sheep. Notice I said I’ve painted myself as a black sheep. So with that pressure I’ve put on myself, I think nobody cares. Even when I know for a fact that is false. Anyway, so missed opportunities. What did I do after I messed up the Midwest trip? Not a thing. I didn’t do a thing. Nothing to move life forward. I took the low road. I beat myself up. Which lead to situations that I never thought in my life I would be in." ~ 05/08/2013 early morning thinking

"We live in a generation of people that are scared to preach Jesus. That are scared to preach the gospel. And these are the same people that quote, "I'm not afraid of the darkness whom shall I fear if God before me. What shall we say to these things. I'm not afraid anymore." We talk about it, but now is the time to be about it. Faith without works is dead. That simple." ~ INSPITE OF ALL I'VE DONE

"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." ~ STOP LIMITING GOD

But where does fear come from? 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." A definition of fear says, "to expect or worry about (something bad or unpleasant)" Fear is a spirit. That same verse in the CEV says, "God's Spirit doesn't make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control." So, what is really going on? A spiritual battle is going on. Ephesians 6:12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Yet we get mad at each other and we get mad at the police, and, hate to sound like a church mother, but that's how the devil gets in. How? Cause we pass the blame on the flesh and blood while the spirit we should be mad at is laughing at us.

Luke 8:17, "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad." Ecclesiastes 1:9, "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." So just because it hasn't been seen doesn't mean it's new. What's going on to day has been going on it's just now there's a camera on it. 1989 NWA shared what was going on, but were ignored because of what they looked like and the vulgarity. Now with it all coming to light, people acting all baffled and shocked. Stop ignoring the warning when it comes. Racism never went away. Fear never went away. We just chose to ignore it because it wasn't talked about. Just because it's not talked about doesn't mean it's not happening. Racism is alive and well. Like bullying, it is not going away anytime soon.

Psalm 27:1, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. If there was ever a time for the light to shine--Stop letting fear enter in, and walk in faith. I'm talking to myself as well. I've let fear keep me down far too long. I let fear stop me from doing what I'm supposed to do. I let fear keep me from doing a lot of things. I got to learn to walk by faith and not by--and you too, walk by faith and not by sight.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

YOU'RE LIVING FOR A REASON

In my opinion, one of the best movies of 2015 was Straight Outta Compton. I was a fan of the movie even before it was filmed. I'm a huge fan of good biopics and documentaries. If you're into good biopics, I suggest Straight Outta Compton. It's not the cleanest movie in the world, but when the movie is about a group called N.W.A., Niggaz Wit Attitudes, you can't expect a G rated picture.

Anyway, I bring up this movie because at the end, Eazy E, spoilers, ends up in the hospital. I've watched this movie a lot and that scene has never got to me, but for some reason it got to me the last time I watched it. I started thinking about the two stints I spent in the hospital. Now, I'm not comparing my stint to Eazy's because he was dealing with HIV, and I was dealing with Congestive Heart Failure. But in the movie, Eazy had visitors coming in crying to see him in his condition. Immediately, I was taken back to my sister's face when I was in ER. She was crying. I felt myself getting emotional while at the same time thinking, "I've watched this movie all these times, and it's just now getting to me? Why now?" 

When the tears started to flow was when they showed Eazy in an AIDS-induced coma, again spoilers, and was only breathing because of a breathing machine. Again I was taking back to my stint in the hospital. I wasn't on a breathing machine, but I had an oxygen gimmick up my nose, and I got the best sleep I had gotten in months before that. That was it. I usually try to fight the tears before they fall, but I just let them fall. I usually don't cry at movies or TV Shows. I really don't. But for some reason, that darn Straight Outta Compton--

Both instances of the hospital could have been the end for me, and yet here I am typing this blog. Takes me back to when my Pastor's wife at the time passed away. When I went to the home going, I was not too long out the hospital, and sitting there messed me up because I realized that it easily could've been my home going as well. That was exact same emotion I felt watching that scene in Straight Outta Compton. It reminded me not to take this life for granted. Which I admit I have been. I take it for granted sometimes that I'm breathing. I take it for granted that I can now lay flat on my back at night without feeling like I'm drowning. I take it for granted that I actually get sleep at night now. 

God has been too good for you to just live and do anything you want. He gave you this life for a reason. You're breathing for a reason. You're living for a reason. This verse gets thrown around and gets used as a cliche now. But this verse took on a new meaning for me. Psalm 150:6, "Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD"

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson