A CHALLENGE DURING THIS THANKSGIVING TIME

"I will bless the LORD at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 34:1, KJV

We quote the verse all the time. A lot of folks open up the worship service with that scripture. It's even a song. What does all mean though? What does the word all mean? It says "at all times" so what does all mean? Well I looked it up and one definition puts it, "the whole, entire, total amount, quantity, or extent of." That same verse in the Good News Bible says, "I will always thank the LORD; I will never stop praising him."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, KJV, "16 Rejoice evermore.

17 Pray without ceasing.

18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Same verses in the GNB, "Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus."

"In every thing give thanks..."

"I will bless the LORD at all times..."

"I will always thank the LORD..."

"...be thankful in all circumstances..."

During this Thanksgiving time, I dare everyone reading this to be thankful no matter what's going on. A song writer put it like this, "Praise now. It could be worse." Some of us are dealing with pain that feels like it's never going to go away. "Through it all, through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God. Through it all, though it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word." I know it's a process, but a process can't be a process unless it gets started. So if you're been slacking on your gratefulness, I dare you and I dare myself to be thankful in spite of everything that's going on. Let's all start the I'm thankful in spite of process. I'm sure when we do that, God, in His own way, will show his gratitude.

Another song writer penned, "I'm covered, I'm not worried. Rest. On His promise. I'm still singing. I'm still shouting. I'm still dancing. I'm still praising." I dare you to get your still back. As the old saints say, I dare you to make a devil out of a lie, and say, "I'm still singing. I'm still shouting. I'm still dancing. I'm still praising." Why? Because "I'm covered. I'm not worried."

Proverbs 18:21, KJV, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."

in the GNB, "What you say can preserve life or destroy it; so you must accept the consequences of your words."

My prayer is that all who read this and don't read this have a blessed Thanksgiving, and use this time to be thankful in all things. Despite of what is going on, be thankful. So much false hope is going on today, but my hope is built...

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

THE LORD IS REAL TO ME

Cue Amen by Kurt Carr. First time really hearing this track. Just put the ipod on shuffle and this song came on. It’s sad that I forget what’s on my ipod, ain’t it? Welp.

So originally this blog was going to be one of those depressing blogs. One of those blogs where I’m preaching to myself but I act like I’m in the spirit and talking to somebody that may be reading. Yeah. One of those blogs where I act like I’m deep and some of you actually buy it. Ok here’s what happened after a conversation on the phone which most of you know I hate to do. I hate talking on the phone with a passion. A PASSIONATE HATRED for talking on the phone. So after this conversation I was pissed off and down in the dumps. We talking land fill dumps. No lie, it was dangerous. We had to go to Bible Study and thank God my sister drove. Not saying I wouldn’t have done anything but who knows, right? So my little sister saw I was feeling a little down. She asked me if I was alright, and I told her the truth and said I wasn’t. So she drove to church. Which despite of how I was feeling, I ended up teaching Bible Study. Um, what? How? I was obedient and taught Bible study a lesson that I did not study, by the way. That’s the kind of stuff that blows my mind about God. I mean you hear and read in the Bible that he used a donkey and a rooster, but never really…you know? I mean after I acted like a jackass, there I am…again, what?

So after Bible Study, I started feeling a little better. I mean you hear it said that when you walk into the building your mood should change but never really believe—am I the only one? It had to be nothing but God. He’s real.

Why was I down, you ask? Why was I feeling depressed? I could go religious and say the devil was influencing my mind, but I don’t know for sure if that’s the case. I mean ok, God doesn’t bring depression, so I guess by default....but honestly, you don’t hear me saying the devil is influencing the thoughts that I have, because I don’t hear anybody telling me what to think or what to say. Ok, I look at it like this, the Bible says in Proverbs, that death and life lies in the power of the what? Tongue, right? So in essence I was speaking death on the situation I was in. Not going to say what was I thinking on this blog, but this is not the time or the place, but just know it wasn’t necessarily “power positive thinking” if you will. Like some folks, I don’t post everything I’m feeling on FaceBook. BOOM!  Anymore…moving on.

Of course our thoughts and prayers are with the folks affected by the Boston bombing. We are getting closer to the end. If you are saved, definitely stay saved. If you’re on the line of I want to be saved, but I don’t want to give up this or that…time to make your decision. Jesus is soon to come. The Bible says, that God would rather you be hot or cold. If you’re lukewarm, he’ll spit you out. This is not the time to be lukewarm. Get right church and let’s go home.

Stay saved,

Daniel Richerson
Facebook.com/bigdusty
Twitter: @Big_Dusty

God Loves You

I'm going old school with this blog. It has been a while since I've done a blog this way. I'm writing this blog using pencil and paper. Yes you read it right, pencil and paper. The reason I'm doing it this way is because I think better this way. I can just think and write this way without worrying about a key getting stuck or the lap-top freezing up. FYI, I'm using the lap-top to listen to music. I'm listening to songs we sing at church to keep the songs in my head and to help me stay focused by putting life in my ears. By the way it's 11:55 at night Jan. 17, 2009.

So earlier tonight I read Psalm 119, the whole chapter. What I usually try to do daily, better yet what I should try to do daily, is i go to Bible.com, look at the daily verse, and read that whole chapter. Today it happened to be a verse from Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible. I read the whole thing in the King James Version, and the Message Bible version. All in all it's a powerful chapter.

You know, I've made mistakes. Sometimes I forget to let go and let God. Time after time I take my eyes off the good and focus on the bad. I have a bad attitude that was inherited. I'm overweight. I've been called ugly. I've been depressed. I don't have many true friends, hardly any at all actually. Sometimes I feel like an outsider. And with all that said, God still loves me. In spite of, God still loves me. I may be judged by my appearance everywhere i go but God still loves me. I may be slow mentally sometimes, but God still loves me. What am I'm trying to say? God loves you. When you make a mistake, God loves you. When you've been hurt, God still loves you. John 3:16 says for God so loved the WORLD, which means he loves everybody. The song writer said, "It's not an ordinary love."

So Tuesday is approaching fast. This tuesday, if the Lord tarries, we will offically see the first Black President, or as I like to say, the first mixed President. Either way it's history. it's written in Proverbs 18, that the power of life and death lies on the tongue. I know some of you don't agree 100% with Obama's standards, but you can still speak life into the brother. If Obama makes any major mistakes, I'm going to do my best to speak life.

I hope you enjoyed this blog. I hope it blessed you in some way. This is probably the way I'm going to do blogs from now on. The last couple of blogs got no feedback at all. What's up with that? It's all good though. Y'all be good this week. Stay saved.

~Daniel