BlessedAssurance

What Profits a Person to Gain the Whole World and lose his/her soul? The soul is deemed integral or essential to consciousness and personality . As I contemplate on this thought, I have to take a look in the mirror at myself. With any evaluation made, one must first perform a self assessment , which equates to self-awareness . Knowing where you stand on a particular subject or how you feel about a particular topic, first requires some soul searching and getting to know SELF . So, I ponder and pray sometimes about the direction God wants me to take; about the decisions God wants me to make; about the work God wants me to do; about the associations God wants me involved in; about the influences God wants me to have on others; about the thoughts God wants me to write; and about the people God wants me to touch; then I pick up my Bible to read and He reveals some of these things that I ponder over. Oftentimes, I may not know where to start, but He leads me to where he wants me to g...

Don't waste your time arguing with or listening to people who are argumentative by nature. Some people will "argue with a stop sign", that's what they use to say in the old days. Just ignore the noise and focus on other things that are more important. Let the small stuff go! There are many more urgent things going on that require more attention. Let us take a look at John chapter nine. Here, Jesus heals a man who was blind at birth and the Pharisees were trying to find out every thing they could to find fault in the miraculous thing Jesus did for this man. First, the disciples asked Jesus, what sin did the man commit? John 9:1 - As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answers, 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him w...

While driving along the highway in the mist of a wind storm or heavy thunderstorm, the first thought may be to pull over along the side of the road and wait for the conditions to become more favorable for driving. With the wind gusts blowing the car from left to right or the heavy raindrops pounding against the windshields, visibility decreases; likewise, the desire to hold the steering wheel a little tighter increases as the gusts carry the car along the road. What is the consequence of pulling over and waiting this thing out? In the mist of adversity, there is a covering that is extended to the chosen. In Psalm 91: 5-8, the Psalmist writes about the protection against the adversary. Those that come up against you will not prevail. They will fall to either side, but not come near. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at y...

 Love  Love  Love! The Greatest Commandment. Matthew 22:34-39 (NIV) 34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”   37 Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' Love is an action word! It is more than a notion, a belief, some fantasy. It is truly seen by way of one's actions. Love causes us to sacrifice many of the our own personal agendas and follow God's agenda. His agenda is for us to love Him with all our hearts, every inch of our being and mind. When we extend a helping hand to that lady in the store who just had back surgery and is not able to pick up an item she just dropped in line, we show love . When we...

Today's Thought from Blessed Assurance: Often times, we operate in a world where everything is so fast paced. If it is not fast paced, some things just go unexplained or we just do not ask the questions to gain in-dept knowledge. Often times, we do not ask the questions because that’s the way it’s always been done. Not really understanding the “why” behind it or the rationale of the concept. What benefit is it to go through the motions and not understand the desired goal? Are we setting and accomplishing goals or are we setting motions in place wondering aimlessly with a blind fold tampered on our eyes? Let us take a step back today and write down some goals, identify the steps it will take to accomplish the goals, and align them with something greater than us! Blessings to you, ~LaKenya

(Genesis 12: 1-3) 1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you .(The promise of Land) 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others .(The promise of descendants) 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”( The promise of blessings and redemption)                         A promise, in general , is a declaration , written or verbal , made by one person to another , which binds the person who makes it to do , a specified act ; a declaration which gives to the person to whom it is made a right to expect the performance of a specified act . The Bible is the authoritative source ...

The King Cake is believed to have originated in France around the 12th Century. These early Europeans celebrated the coming of the three wise men bearing gifts twelve days after Christmas calling it the feast of the Epiphany, Twelfth Night or King's Day. The main part of the celebration was the baking of a King Cake to honor the three Kings. The cakes were made circular to portray the circular route used by the Kings to get to the Christ Child and confuse King Herod, who was trying to follow the wise men so he could kill the Christ Child. In these early King Cakes, a bean, a pea or a coin was hidden inside the cake. The person who got the hidden piece was declared King for the day, or was said to have good luck in the coming year. In Louisiana, Twelfth Night also signifies the beginning of the carnival season, which ends on Mardi Gras Day. The beans, peas and coins have been replaced by a small plastic baby to symbolize the Christ Child. The person who gets the baby is expected...