It’s almost over! I know you’re wondering what I’m talking about so I’m going to explain (smile).

The first thing that’s almost over is the month of August.  Just in case you didn’t know, my birthday is in August & I celebrate the entire month!  So I’m a little sad that the party is almost over & I don’t want the party to end.  I love celebrating birthday’s with people & I love celebrating my birthday most of all. Check out some pictures from my 80’s themed birthday party!

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The second thing that’s almost over is the summer!  I love warm weather & not having to wear layers of clothes!  I love being outdoors & doing outdoor stuff, like going to the beach with my boogie board & riding waves, getting a tan – yes black people like tanning too.  I love outdoor concerts, water ice & BBQ’s!  I love just being outside near water just sitting & listening to God talk to me.  In the summer you can simply sit outside & enjoy the people you love & enjoy each other’s company. I hate for the summer to end but it’s almost over!

The third thing that’s almost over is this year.  September marks the end of the third quarter of the year.  Kids are going back to school & the holiday season is fast approaching.  At least in September football starts, Go Eagles!  September should also signal for you that its “year in review” time.  This should be the time that you start to take another look at your goal sheets that you completed at the beginning of the year.  This is the time when you sit down with God with your goal to discuss & measure how things went for you this year.

How many of your goals were completed & manifested?  How many were not? Are you still on track with your goals or have you allowed yourself to be distracted?

September is the month that you take the time to do an honest inventory on your life because you still have plenty of time to make whatever adjustments are needed to get back on track so you finish this year strong!

You’ve learned a lot about how God operates this year & prayerfully you have been working what you’ve learned.  But have you been giving it your best?  Have you been giving God 100%.  If not, if you start now, you still have time to raise your application of the word up a few percentage points.

I’m still a little sad that the summer is almost over, but I also love this time of year because it gives me the chance to refocus & work 1 Corinthians 9:24 (amp);  Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.  I don’t know about you, but in the race of this life,  I’ve decided that I am going to win every race that I ‘m in.  How about you?

Through Christ you are a winner if you want to be, but you can’t be punks in this thing.  You have to have the guts to do the work.  Yes, you will make mistakes, yes you will want to quit & give up, yes there will be times that you want to give into whatever demon you are dancing with, but you don’t have to stay in that place!  Every day God’s mercy & grace is brand new.  Every day you get to make a new choice but you have to press past fear, be focused & determined to not only stay in the game, but win!

Just in case you didn’t know this, I’ll give you this piece of information for free.  God will allow Satan to attack & tempt you; just like He allowed Satan to temp Jesus & Job.  And just like Jesus & Job you have to learn to practice Philippians 3:14-15 (amp); I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. ¹⁵ So let those [of us] who are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind and hold these convictions; and if in any respect you have a different attitude of mind, God will make that clear to you also.

So, even though the summer is almost over, & August is almost over,  & 2014 is almost over, today is the first day of the rest of your life & you still have plenty of time to finish everything you started.  You still can finish strong & on top!  You still have time to be proud of the work you’ve done this year while at the same time putting yourself in the best position possible to start the New Year!  It’s almost over, but are you ready!

Authentic Life Church’s (ALC) Life Group #3 continues to do real life together!  I just wanted to give you an update on what’s going on in our life group.  We’re in our 2nd session of meetings and we are moving along strong.

We’ve shared a lot of life in these last couple of months, walking with each other through everything that could happen to a person.  Satan has tried many things to keep us from meeting, but just the opposite has happened.  Even though our group is relatively new, we have really grown a strong bond that continues to be tested.  We’ve gone into hell with some of our members to take back their health.  Other members have had to bury family members while many have had various financial & other family crises.

In spite of all of that, we are holding fast to Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (cev); You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn. 10 If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble. 11 If you sleep alone, you won’t have anyone to keep you warm on a cold night. 12 Someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes, “A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break; because we fully understand to power of friendship.  So we just continue to push forward keeping our eyes on our goals and objectives as we live the life God has laid out for us.

Our pastor, Pastor Lester Brown, has strongly encouraged & supports all of us to live our dreams because that’s where we find our purpose.  We’ve started ministries, businesses, published books, welcomed new babies, and couples are getting married.  As our members go through these life experiences and we walk with them, strong powerful friendships are being formed with bonds that cannot be broken.  We are determined to walk together to see for ourselves if God’s word works.  So far, God has not lied.  He is still being faithful to us and His promises are manifesting!

In all that we are doing in our life group, and with all that Satan is doing to try to stop us, it is awesome to celebrate the good things that are happening in our lives.  It is so great to be surrounded by people who genuinely want you to succeed and be victorious.  It is also great to feel the same way about them!  There is a peace that comes from God’s  in knowing that your back is truly covered & no one is trying to put a knife in it.  We are truly stronger together as we make each other better as in Proverbs 27:17 (cev); Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen the minds of each other. I can honestly say that my life has been enriched by Life Group #3.

[metaslider id=526] I want to tell you about a couple in our life group who got married in June,  Anettra & Jerome Bond.  They are my neighbors who supported our church from the 1st time they attended.  They also support our life group as members who give of their time & food!  We love to eat together!  So it was amazing to watch our friends honor God by getting married.  It was a pleasure and a privilege when they asked me to be a part of it.  It was a two day celebration & it blessed my soul to be there for them.  We had a spontaneous party the night before the wedding, and we partied at the wedding all the next day and even had a small after-wedding party that night.   I’m surprised I made it to church Sunday morning. (smile)

I love them because they see the blessing of God in the big things, but more importantly in the smallest things.  They really appreciate loving & being loved.  Many times we get weighed down by the challenges of life so we become blind to the many blessing we still have. Anettra & Jerome never do that.  It’s not because they don’t have challenges, but they have made the decision to enjoy the life & friendships God has given them and not take them for granted.  They don’t even know how much their love & friendship has blessed me.  They are the greatest!

Unfortunately, there are many people who are alone in this world with no one to love & no one to love them.  It is an awesome miracle not to be one of them.  Every chance you get just show love in the smallest ways to brighten someone’s day.  You don’t have to take them home with you, just be open to follow God’s lead to be an angel for someone.

Life Group #3 is truly living the life!  Through our life groups we have people who can get to know us without judgment as we get to know them in the same way.  We can be ourselves in all of our imperfect imperfections.  We socialize outside of the walls of the church building & our houses so the world can see Christians having fun & enjoying life. They can see that we are not boring or stuck up.  Gone are the days where we had to sneak off to go out because of the criticism of religious demons.  We are comfortable with unsaved people & they are comfortable with us.  This enables them to see our light & make a clear choice for themselves and we don’t have to beat them over the head with our bibles. They want the same things for their lives that we want for ours; we just know how to get it.  So we let them look into our lives & see the greatness of God up close and personal.

So if you want to enrich your life and have some fun, come to ALC & join a lifegroup.  We have a seat for you in Life Group #3. We are truly building friendships & family here.  Feel free to come join us.  We are doing real life together!

Why is it that people think that the grass is greener in someone else’s backyard?  Why is it when people peer & peek into someone else’s life, they think that person’s life has something that they don’t have & can’t get?  Why do we even desire to be a voyeur into someone else’s business?  Could it be that green-eyed monster at work?

We see this behavior all the time in our own lives, but we are probably more willing to admit that we see it in the lives of others.  People seem to like comparing themselves to their perception of someone else.  The demon involved does a good job at getting us to view the lives of others as better than we view our own life.  We really do it when it comes to the lives of celebrities or anyone we see that we think is more successful than us.  Crazy right?  We don’t even know those people.  We don’t know how they live or what they are dealing with. But, because they seem to have more “stuff” than us or their “stuff” looks better than our “stuff” they must be better.  It’s like we view these people as “super” humans or something.

Remember the song “I Wish” by Skee-lo?  Click here if you’ve never heard it or just need a gentle reminder.  The song is about a guy who doesn’t seem to be happy with what he has so he sings about all the things he wishes he had.  Then and only then can he be happy.  This song came out in 1995 and I remember it so vividly because I too wished I had some things that I thought would make my life better.  I was short, skinny & I didn’t have any boobs.  I didn’t think I was pretty & I didn’t view myself as attractive.  So this song became the anthem of my life.  Now, by this time I had been married, had my share of the men I wanted, had 3 kids, and was living a good life. But in spite of all of that, I still was holding onto this “I wish” list that I had since I was a child.  And it was keeping me from really enjoying the things I did have. This is the danger of focusing too long & too much on all the things we don’t have.  It was robbing me of the gift God gives us everyday – the present!

I know what you’re thinking, there are some things in your life that you want to change.  You want a better job, maybe a spouse or a better one (smile), a better car, more money, etc.  I get that.  There are things in my life too that I want & I feel that having them would improve the quality of my life.  So let’s talk about it a little more.

Let’s check our motives.  Why do you and I really want these things?  Who told us that having them would make our lives better?  Have you ever asked yourself these questions?  Do you want these things because you see others with them?  Do you want these things so you can brag about having them?  Do you want these things so you can feel better about yourself?  Do you want these things because you need to feel you are better than other people?  Are you being possessed or influenced by jealousy?  Are you a hater?  Is it that you don’t want to see someone with something that you don’t already have?  That’s where I used to be.  I didn’t mind that others had “stuff”, I just wanted to have it first. If you’re in this anywhere, be very careful because following the lead of this demon is very dangerous.  The bible tells us to walk in love in 1 Corinthians 13:4 (amp); Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily .  It’s dangerous for a few reasons, but one reason is because once you open the door to this demon, you don’t get to choose who comes with him.  Demons never travel alone.

Now, if your motives are pure & sincere, there is nothing wrong with wanting a better life.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to improve the lives of others.  God tells us in His word in Jeremiah 29:11 (cev); I will bless you with a future filled with hope—a future of success, not of suffering, that He wants the best for us and that His plans for us are great.  God just wants you to love Him as much as He loves you. God wants your company.  God wants to protect you.  Check out what God says in Matthew 6:33 (amp); But seek ([a]aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness ([b]His way of doing and being right), and then all these things [c]taken together will be given you besides..

 So, here’s my suggestion to you.  Go to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to teach you how to believe in yourself, just as you are right now.  Ask Him to show you how to build yourself up, taking what’s good about you & making it better.  Then once that plan is done and you are working it, ask the Holy Spirit to help you tear down the bad things in you; to destroy them.  Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to tap into God’s power so it flows through you like a river.  This way you can finally experience how great you truly are in Christ!

You are so special & unique to God, tap into that.  God put things in you that are in no one else.  Once you begin to discover & uncover those things, do what you need to in order to develop, nurture and grow them.  Also remember, you are not alone in this quest.  God has sent many angels, in spirit & human form, to help you along the way and they are just waiting for you!

So, the next time you find yourself tempted to look over someone else’s fence at their grass, remember to stop and water your own grass!