Money is necessary to take care of many needs and wants. Generally having a lot of money is better than having a little money provided money is kept in its proper perspective. 1 Timothy 6:10-11 Amplified Bible says, "For the love of money is a root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have been led astray and have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many acute [mental] pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee from all these things; aim at and pursue righteousness (right standing with God and true goodness), godliness (which is the loving fear of God and being Christlike), faith, love, steadfastness (patience), and gentleness of heart." A ChinaAid News March 24, 2013, "With ChinaAid's Help, Two Victims of China's One-Child Policy Granted UNHCR Refugee Status" article reports that in 1995, when Guo Yanling was eight months pregnant, she was forced to have an abortion. In 1999, she was forcibly sterilized. In 2006, she was imprisoned for not being able to pay a fine for having more than one child. The Chinese government also refused to issue household registrations to her and to her husband, Du Yiliang's, three children without which they are unable to attend school or to receive government benefits. Guo Yanling's and Du Yiliang's abortion, sterilization, educational and economic terror experience is typical in China. The Chinese government collects many fines related to its one-child family. Since 1971 in China there have been 336 million abortions, 222 million sterilizations and two trillion in fines in Chinese currency (Ma Jian, "China's Brutal One-Child Policy," The New York Times, 5/22/2013.) A connection between economic policy, economic practice and population control is in America also. Thirty-two US states practiced eugenics programs before and after World War II that included forced sterilization of the disabled. The 1927 Buck v. Bell Supreme Court decision ruled that forced sterilization of people with disabilities was not a violation of their constitutional rights. By the 1970s, more than 60,000 disabled people were sterilized without their consent.
North Carolina became the first US state legislature to approve payment to victims of government-run forced sterilization programs. Ten million is to be shared by each victim through an one-time payment on June 30, 2015. ""The money don't take up the place of what happened," said Willis Lynch, an 80-year-old retired handyman who was sterilized at age 14 after being deemed mentally unfit. "I'm glad they did something, though."
Mr. Lynch said he was sent to a school for the mentally and developmentally disabled after his widowed mother could no longer care for her seven children. Records from the state's eugenics board show that in the late 1940s no one from that school was to leave without being sterilized, except in cases where children had been committed in error" ("NC offers $10M to victims in forced-sterilization- NC ends pay boosts for teacher master's," Bayou Buzz, July 26, 2013.)
Instead of using money to stop people from having children, God calls creyentes (believers) to use money to help self and other people. Luke 16:9 New Living Translation Bible says, "Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home." Jeremiah 22:1-3 Contemporary English Version Bible says, "The Lord sent me to the palace of the king of Judah to speak to the king, his officials, and everyone else who was there. The Lord told me to say: I am the Lord, so pay attention! You have been allowing people to cheat, rob, and take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners who live here. Innocent people have become victims of violence, and some of them have even been killed. But now I command you to do what is right and see that justice is done. Rescue everyone who has suffered from injustice."
Some government leaders believe the only way to help widows, orphans, foreigners and others is through communism. China and Cuba are communist countries. "Communism doesn't work in Cuba. Really, the Cuban government has supported communism to repress its people," says Berta Soler, leader of Las Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White,) a Cuban human-rights organization formed by the wives and mothers of 75 dissidents jailed in a 2003 government crackdown on political opponents. Ladies in White participate in a weekly march and in weekly attendance at Mass dressed in white to encourage the Cuban government to free all political prisoners.
Good relationships, having more than enough resources, freedom and justice are biblical ideas. In America we have a national motto "In God We Trust." God calls us to be good to creyentes and to non-believers. Matthew 5:44-48 English Standard Version says, "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
God made sex. What God makes is good, very good. Occasionally children are created as the result of God's will and sexual relations. Love celebrates and cultivates life. China Aid helped Guo Yanling, Du Yiliang and their children to become refugees in Thailand. Shouldn't all countries be welcoming to victims of China's one-child policy? Shouldn't the killing of unborn girls and unborn boys be illegal globally? Shouldn't all 32 US states compensate victims of forced sterilization? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
You Make Us Better?
"As I have already said, our number one goal should be to develop a close, intimate, personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Being in continual fellowship with God and learning to obey Him in all things will make you happier than you might ever imagine. Since God is Life, how can we hope to enjoy life apart from Him?" (Joyce Meyer, Making Good Habits Breaking Bad Habits 14 New Behaviors That Will Energize Your Life) Good, enjoyable relationships start with God who is love and expand to self and other people. "Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6 New Living Translation Bible.) 1 John 4:10-11 Amplified Bible says, "In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins. Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another."
Desmond Tutu and Nomalizo Leah Shenxane married on July 2, 1955. Almost 6o years later they are still married and still loving and enjoying God, each other and other people. Desmond Tutu is also involved in helping to free from a Chinese prison Chen Kegui, husband of Liu Fang, father of the little boy Chen Fubin and nephew to Chen Guangcheng, who is the blind, human rights activist who exposed forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China's one-child policy and is continuing to work to end China's one-child policy and other human rights violations. Tutu writes about Chen Guangcheng in a June 21, 2013, Huffington Post article "Chen Guangcheng: Has NYU Bowed to Pressure From China?", "Chen Guangcheng has been one of the most outspoken of the Chinese dissidents abroad, taking a public stand against Chinese human rights violations, including the abominable practices of forced abortion, imprisonment and enslavement of religious minorities, and the unthinkable execution of prisoners for the harvesting and sale of their organs. He is also charismatic, intelligent, with a wonderful story -- a self taught lawyer who defended villagers against corrupt officials, who before gaining fame for his escape from house arrest was known ... in the villages as the "barefoot lawyer.""
When Jesus Christ lived on earth, He had a variety of relationships. Wherever He went, He sought to make people's lives better now and forever. What are some of the ways people are better off for being around you? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Desmond Tutu and Nomalizo Leah Shenxane married on July 2, 1955. Almost 6o years later they are still married and still loving and enjoying God, each other and other people. Desmond Tutu is also involved in helping to free from a Chinese prison Chen Kegui, husband of Liu Fang, father of the little boy Chen Fubin and nephew to Chen Guangcheng, who is the blind, human rights activist who exposed forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China's one-child policy and is continuing to work to end China's one-child policy and other human rights violations. Tutu writes about Chen Guangcheng in a June 21, 2013, Huffington Post article "Chen Guangcheng: Has NYU Bowed to Pressure From China?", "Chen Guangcheng has been one of the most outspoken of the Chinese dissidents abroad, taking a public stand against Chinese human rights violations, including the abominable practices of forced abortion, imprisonment and enslavement of religious minorities, and the unthinkable execution of prisoners for the harvesting and sale of their organs. He is also charismatic, intelligent, with a wonderful story -- a self taught lawyer who defended villagers against corrupt officials, who before gaining fame for his escape from house arrest was known ... in the villages as the "barefoot lawyer.""
When Jesus Christ lived on earth, He had a variety of relationships. Wherever He went, He sought to make people's lives better now and forever. What are some of the ways people are better off for being around you? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Sex And Reparations For The Disabled
The United States is a nation with a motto "In God We Trust." God counsels us in Proverbs 3:29 Amplified Bible, "Do not contrive or dig up or cultivate evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly and confidently beside you."
Sometimes instead of trusting God, our government becomes an evil neighbor. Thirty-two US states practiced eugenics programs that included forced sterilization of the disabled.
Kim Severson reports in the July 25, 2013, The New York Times article "North Carolina: Budget Pays Eugenics Victims" that the North Carolina state board ran a eugenics program from 1933 through 1977 that sterilized about 7,600; on July 25, 2013, North Carolina became the first state legislature to approve payment to victims of government-run forced sterilization programs. Ten million is to be shared by each victim through an one-time payment on June 30, 2015 (Lynn, Charlotte Observer, "N.C. budget would end teacher tenure, pay some private school tuition," July 22, 2013.)
Fear of the sexuality of people who are different is part of our past and present. The 1927 Buck v. Bell Supreme Court decision ruled that forced sterilization of people with disabilities was not a violation of their constitutional rights. By the 1970s, more than 60,000 disabled people were sterilized without their consent. Forced sterilization is illegal today, but the sexuality of the disabled is not widely celebrated.
Nick Vujicic was born without arms and legs. Today he is married to Kanae Loida Vujicic-Miyahara. The couple have a son named Kiyoshi James Vujicic. As an adolescent Nick Vujicic says he experienced bullying about his sexuality. Vujicic writes in his book Unstoppable The Incredible Power of Faith in Action, "Day after day, he'd walk by me and shout out, "Nick has no --!""
God made our bodies, and we are to use them according to His design. 1 Corinthians 7:3 New Living Translation Bible says, "The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs."
A Nigerian proverb says, "Our children are living messages sent to a future we may never see." Kiyoshi James Vujicic is a child witness celebrating the sexuality of those with disabilities. Perhaps when he is an adult American society and other societies will think it common and not a point of criticism for people with all kinds of disabilities to marry and to have children.
Americans of Japanese and other Asian heritage were interned in camps during World War II. Starting in 1990 the US government sent survivors reparations of $20,000.00 each. Do you think other states should pay reparations to victims of forced sterilization? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Sometimes instead of trusting God, our government becomes an evil neighbor. Thirty-two US states practiced eugenics programs that included forced sterilization of the disabled.
Kim Severson reports in the July 25, 2013, The New York Times article "North Carolina: Budget Pays Eugenics Victims" that the North Carolina state board ran a eugenics program from 1933 through 1977 that sterilized about 7,600; on July 25, 2013, North Carolina became the first state legislature to approve payment to victims of government-run forced sterilization programs. Ten million is to be shared by each victim through an one-time payment on June 30, 2015 (Lynn, Charlotte Observer, "N.C. budget would end teacher tenure, pay some private school tuition," July 22, 2013.)
Fear of the sexuality of people who are different is part of our past and present. The 1927 Buck v. Bell Supreme Court decision ruled that forced sterilization of people with disabilities was not a violation of their constitutional rights. By the 1970s, more than 60,000 disabled people were sterilized without their consent. Forced sterilization is illegal today, but the sexuality of the disabled is not widely celebrated.
Nick Vujicic was born without arms and legs. Today he is married to Kanae Loida Vujicic-Miyahara. The couple have a son named Kiyoshi James Vujicic. As an adolescent Nick Vujicic says he experienced bullying about his sexuality. Vujicic writes in his book Unstoppable The Incredible Power of Faith in Action, "Day after day, he'd walk by me and shout out, "Nick has no --!""
God made our bodies, and we are to use them according to His design. 1 Corinthians 7:3 New Living Translation Bible says, "The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs."
A Nigerian proverb says, "Our children are living messages sent to a future we may never see." Kiyoshi James Vujicic is a child witness celebrating the sexuality of those with disabilities. Perhaps when he is an adult American society and other societies will think it common and not a point of criticism for people with all kinds of disabilities to marry and to have children.
Americans of Japanese and other Asian heritage were interned in camps during World War II. Starting in 1990 the US government sent survivors reparations of $20,000.00 each. Do you think other states should pay reparations to victims of forced sterilization? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Lasting Love
True love comes with faithfulness. Matthew 19:9 Amplified Bible says, "I say to you: whoever dismisses (repudiates, divorces) his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery."
Christian Actors Denzel and Pauletta Washington wed in 1983, and this year are celebrating 30 years of marriage. Denzel Washington says, "We live in a time--and it's not for me to judge anyone--when people give up too easily. It's a disposable society; get another [spouse]. I was talking to this guy when [we had been] married 23 years who said, 'Man, I've been married three times, and it still don't add up to 23 years!' Well, you got to work at it;" Pauletta Washington says, "For me, the 'love' in the love story is how you come through the trials. The passion, the lust--that's easy. The love story is how you come out in love after hardship" ("Staying Power," Ebony, August 2013, Shirley Henderson.)
A proverb from Ethiopia and Kenya says, "Hasty marriages bring hasty divorces." Marriage is for a lifetime, so why not take considerable time to get to know your future spouse before marrying? Pauletta and Denzel Washington dated for six years before they wed.
No matter how long or short you are together before marriage live a life of complete trust in God. God has a unique plan for each person.
Luke 11:4 New Living Translation Bible says we can ask God, "and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation." If you are divorced, had sex outside of marriage or committed some other sin, receive God's forgiveness, forgive yourself, forgive others and stop sinning.
The Chinese invented the kite. God wants His creyentes (believers) to live higher lives, not lives weighed down with sin or anything that hinders us from living the best life God set up for us before He created the earth. International Bible Minister Joyce Meyer had a divorce, but today she is enjoying a marriage with Dave Meyer that has lasted more than 40 years.
What are some other lasting love stories? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Christian Actors Denzel and Pauletta Washington wed in 1983, and this year are celebrating 30 years of marriage. Denzel Washington says, "We live in a time--and it's not for me to judge anyone--when people give up too easily. It's a disposable society; get another [spouse]. I was talking to this guy when [we had been] married 23 years who said, 'Man, I've been married three times, and it still don't add up to 23 years!' Well, you got to work at it;" Pauletta Washington says, "For me, the 'love' in the love story is how you come through the trials. The passion, the lust--that's easy. The love story is how you come out in love after hardship" ("Staying Power," Ebony, August 2013, Shirley Henderson.)
A proverb from Ethiopia and Kenya says, "Hasty marriages bring hasty divorces." Marriage is for a lifetime, so why not take considerable time to get to know your future spouse before marrying? Pauletta and Denzel Washington dated for six years before they wed.
No matter how long or short you are together before marriage live a life of complete trust in God. God has a unique plan for each person.
Luke 11:4 New Living Translation Bible says we can ask God, "and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation." If you are divorced, had sex outside of marriage or committed some other sin, receive God's forgiveness, forgive yourself, forgive others and stop sinning.
The Chinese invented the kite. God wants His creyentes (believers) to live higher lives, not lives weighed down with sin or anything that hinders us from living the best life God set up for us before He created the earth. International Bible Minister Joyce Meyer had a divorce, but today she is enjoying a marriage with Dave Meyer that has lasted more than 40 years.
What are some other lasting love stories? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Beauty Management
Joseph had an awesome appearance courtesy of the artwork of God. Watching art can be enjoyable. God wants us to enjoy a wide variety of things knowing that everything has to be managed. No one and no thing is to be more important to us than God. 1 John 5:21 Amplified Bible says, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)—[from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life]. Amen (so let it be)."
Potiphar and his wife were at one time Joseph's employers (Genesis 39.) Potiphar's wife liked God's artwork expressed in Joseph but not God's authority. Instead of following God's plan for pursuing partner sexual fulfillment in marriage, she pestered Joseph for sex outside of marriage.
A Yoruba of Nigeria proverb says, "May my outer head not spoil my inner head." Joseph didn't idolize his beauty. He repeatedly loved and respected God and God's rules. God the Son Jesus Christ says in John 14:15 New Living Translation Bible, "If you love me, obey my commandments."
The Chinese invented the rudder. God does not give us rules without the power to steer our lives according to them. When we have a relationship with God, God comes to live inside creyentes (believers) giving us the power to do what He says.
Having God's power doesn't mean we will not struggle to use it. The struggle is easiest when we stay close to the Greatest Lover, God.
Potiphar and his wife were at one time Joseph's employers (Genesis 39.) Potiphar's wife liked God's artwork expressed in Joseph but not God's authority. Instead of following God's plan for pursuing partner sexual fulfillment in marriage, she pestered Joseph for sex outside of marriage.
A Yoruba of Nigeria proverb says, "May my outer head not spoil my inner head." Joseph didn't idolize his beauty. He repeatedly loved and respected God and God's rules. God the Son Jesus Christ says in John 14:15 New Living Translation Bible, "If you love me, obey my commandments."
The Chinese invented the rudder. God does not give us rules without the power to steer our lives according to them. When we have a relationship with God, God comes to live inside creyentes (believers) giving us the power to do what He says.
Having God's power doesn't mean we will not struggle to use it. The struggle is easiest when we stay close to the Greatest Lover, God.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Kill That Beast
God makes it simple for us to enter into a relationship with Him. God did all the work. We just receive Him. John 1:12-13 Amplified Bible says, "But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name—Who owe their birth neither to bloods nor to the will of the flesh [that of physical impulse] nor to the will of man [that of a natural father], but to God. [They are born of God!]"
Is it simple to have a relationship with you? A Twi African proverb says, "Love is the greatest of all virtues." 1 Corinthians 13:5 Amplified Bible says about love, "It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]."
God loves people of all sexes, ages, races, ethnicity and abilities. He wants us to do likewise.
The human body is a work of divine art. God starts human life from sperm and egg uniting ideally through merry, marital sexual relations.
Don't kill unborn girls and unborn boys through abortion. "Kill that beast. Let your new creature appear" ("Kill That" song on CD Kingdom Business 4 by Christian Rapper Canton Jones.) Colossians 3:5-10 Amplified Bible says, "So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God). It is on account of these [very sins] that the [holy] anger of God is ever coming upon the sons of disobedience (those who are obstinately opposed to the divine will), Among whom you also once walked, when you were living in and addicted to [such practices]. But now put away and rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, bad feeling toward others, curses and slander, and foulmouthed abuse and shameful utterances from your lips! Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old (unregenerate) self with its evil practices, And have clothed yourselves with the new [spiritual self], which is [ever in the process of being] renewed and remolded into [fuller and more perfect knowledge upon] knowledge after the image (the likeness) of Him Who created it."
A Japanese proverb says, "Do quickly what is good." Now is the time to kill that beast and let your new creature appear. Waiting for any other time is a deception.
A Chinese proverb says, "To plug the ears while stealing the bell" and means "to deceive oneself." What are some ways people deceive themselves in trying to pursue loving relationships? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P.O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Is it simple to have a relationship with you? A Twi African proverb says, "Love is the greatest of all virtues." 1 Corinthians 13:5 Amplified Bible says about love, "It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]."
God loves people of all sexes, ages, races, ethnicity and abilities. He wants us to do likewise.
The human body is a work of divine art. God starts human life from sperm and egg uniting ideally through merry, marital sexual relations.
Don't kill unborn girls and unborn boys through abortion. "Kill that beast. Let your new creature appear" ("Kill That" song on CD Kingdom Business 4 by Christian Rapper Canton Jones.) Colossians 3:5-10 Amplified Bible says, "So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God). It is on account of these [very sins] that the [holy] anger of God is ever coming upon the sons of disobedience (those who are obstinately opposed to the divine will), Among whom you also once walked, when you were living in and addicted to [such practices]. But now put away and rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, bad feeling toward others, curses and slander, and foulmouthed abuse and shameful utterances from your lips! Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old (unregenerate) self with its evil practices, And have clothed yourselves with the new [spiritual self], which is [ever in the process of being] renewed and remolded into [fuller and more perfect knowledge upon] knowledge after the image (the likeness) of Him Who created it."
A Japanese proverb says, "Do quickly what is good." Now is the time to kill that beast and let your new creature appear. Waiting for any other time is a deception.
A Chinese proverb says, "To plug the ears while stealing the bell" and means "to deceive oneself." What are some ways people deceive themselves in trying to pursue loving relationships? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P.O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Think Big And Beautiful
God wants us to have a relationship with Him. God does not want us to be ashamed. He wants us to be assured that He loves us and in our thoughts, speech and behavior we can show people God.
A Yoruba of Nigeria proverb says, "One should keep one's eyes on one's destination, not on where one stumbled." No human being can be perfect. We can be pursuing God passionately.
John 10:10 Amplified Bible says, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." God wants us to have a big, beautiful life filled with love and all of His goodness. Satan hates all people and has opposite desires for people.
Sometimes we have not sinned. Satan wants us to think we have sinned and get stuck on these harmful thoughts. Satan is also a liar with multiple ways to try to destroy people.
God commands His creyentes (believers) to love Him and people. God didn't give us excuses to do wrong. God gave us Himself to live inside creyentes, and God is everywhere. So creyentes have what it takes to love.
Ending abortion and implementing immigration reform are some big, beautiful ideas. Truly big and beautiful ideas come from the Bible. What are some big, beautiful Biblical ideas currently expressed in your relationships? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P.O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
A Yoruba of Nigeria proverb says, "One should keep one's eyes on one's destination, not on where one stumbled." No human being can be perfect. We can be pursuing God passionately.
John 10:10 Amplified Bible says, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." God wants us to have a big, beautiful life filled with love and all of His goodness. Satan hates all people and has opposite desires for people.
Sometimes we have not sinned. Satan wants us to think we have sinned and get stuck on these harmful thoughts. Satan is also a liar with multiple ways to try to destroy people.
God commands His creyentes (believers) to love Him and people. God didn't give us excuses to do wrong. God gave us Himself to live inside creyentes, and God is everywhere. So creyentes have what it takes to love.
Ending abortion and implementing immigration reform are some big, beautiful ideas. Truly big and beautiful ideas come from the Bible. What are some big, beautiful Biblical ideas currently expressed in your relationships? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P.O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
A Good Mind
"No matter the day no matter the time make up in your mind to take over your life and choose to be successful. I'm goin' have a good day .... Folks try to get in your head to try to make you feel mislead. Don't give them that control. They're trying to keep you from your goal," sings Gospel Singer James Moss on his CD V4 ... The Other Side in the song "Good Day."
God made His people reinas y reyes (queens and kings). Queens and kings are called to show the love of God which requires us to manage our minds. The Apostle Paul, a Jew and Christian with Roman citizenship, wrote in Philippians 1:10 Amplified Bible, "So that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble]."
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States, according to Wikipedia, a nonprofit on-line library. The anthem says, "And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"
A Japanese proverb says, "There is nothing more costly than what's free."
To be brave and free requires much effort and expense. The book of Joshua is probably written by Joshua, a Jew who was a slave in Egypt and became a leader of the free nation of Israel. Joshua 1:8 Amplified Bible says, "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success." Proverbs 18:15 Amplified Bible says, "The mind of the prudent is ever getting knowledge, and the ear of the wise is ever seeking (inquiring for and craving) knowledge."
Jeremiah 1:5 Amplified Bible says about the prophet Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Yet in America, China and other places it is legal to kill unborn girls and unborn boys.
When the law is a lie it needs to be changed. All lies need to be turned to the Truth. John 8:31-32 Amplified Bible says, "So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free." Truth is another name for God the Son Jesus Christ who is good to both believers and non-believers.
As you manage your mind today what are some lies someone is trying to tell you? How did you apply the Truth? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P.O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
God made His people reinas y reyes (queens and kings). Queens and kings are called to show the love of God which requires us to manage our minds. The Apostle Paul, a Jew and Christian with Roman citizenship, wrote in Philippians 1:10 Amplified Bible, "So that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble]."
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States, according to Wikipedia, a nonprofit on-line library. The anthem says, "And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"
A Japanese proverb says, "There is nothing more costly than what's free."
To be brave and free requires much effort and expense. The book of Joshua is probably written by Joshua, a Jew who was a slave in Egypt and became a leader of the free nation of Israel. Joshua 1:8 Amplified Bible says, "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success." Proverbs 18:15 Amplified Bible says, "The mind of the prudent is ever getting knowledge, and the ear of the wise is ever seeking (inquiring for and craving) knowledge."
Jeremiah 1:5 Amplified Bible says about the prophet Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Yet in America, China and other places it is legal to kill unborn girls and unborn boys.
When the law is a lie it needs to be changed. All lies need to be turned to the Truth. John 8:31-32 Amplified Bible says, "So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free." Truth is another name for God the Son Jesus Christ who is good to both believers and non-believers.
As you manage your mind today what are some lies someone is trying to tell you? How did you apply the Truth? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P.O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Right Makes Might
Christian Minister T.D. Jakes writes in his book Let It Go Forgive So You Can Be Forgiven, "I am a lover of people who have big ideas! I love the way they envision the world as an expansive landscape of ever-growing possibilities. What others see as insurmountable mountains or treacherous waters, they view as giant-sized opportunities and limitless horizons. I love to hear them talk because through them my own ideas are watered and fertilized by my exposure to their way of thinking." Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was fighting apartheid in South Africa. Through the efforts of many apartheid fell. Apartheid comes from the spirit of fear whose author is Satan/the devil of the kingdom of darkness. Sadly the continent of Africa has many places where the spirit of fear lives. Gladly Africa also has many places where another spirit lives. Today Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is head of the African Union and is seeking the big ideas of Africa's development and the dismissal of the devil. 2 Timothy 1:7 Amplified Bible says, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control."
Everyone needs to ask God for a new spirit. John 3:1-5 Amplified Bible says, "Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (a leader, an authority) among the Jews, Who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know and are certain that You have come from God [as] a Teacher; for no one can do these signs (these wonderworks, these miracles—and produce the proofs) that You do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb again and be born? Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and [even] the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God."
When Angela Yuan was a new creyente (believer) she prayed, "Lord, give me strength to face this new day. Help me be the light of Christ in this family" (Out Of A Far Country A gay son's journey to God. A broken mother's search for hope.)
God wants us to pray and to push each day for His global goodness. Iran is ruled by the spirit of fear. Christian Minister and US Citizen Saeed Abedini is in Evin prison Tehran, Iran, because of his Christian faith and works. His wife, Naghmeh Abedini, is praying and pushing. Recently, Naghmeh Abedini spoke to the United Nations to pressure Iran to free Saeed Abedini. We can pray and push too by writing Saeed Abedini a letter and signing a petition to save Saeed Abedini at the website http://www.savesaeed.org.
Just do it now. Christian Minister Joyce Meyer writes in her book Making Good Habits Breaking Bad Habits, "I once heard a story about three demons who were graduating from their course on how to deceive people in the world and prevent them from knowing God. Satan was questioning each demon, and he asked each one how he would deceive people. The first one answered that he would tell people there was no God. Satan answered, "You won't deceive many because most people down deep inside of them do believe God exists even if they have not chosen to follow Him." The second demon said he would tell people that heaven and hell didn't really exist. Satan said, "You will deceive a few more than your coworker, but you won't get many souls either." The third demon said that he would tell people that there was no hurry, and they could put off the decision to follow God until another time. Satan got excited and said loudly, "You will reap many souls for the kingdom of darkness by simply telling them to make the decision later."
The spirit of fear from the kingdom of darkness can seem mighty and make some put off praying and pushing for its defeat and God's global goodness. Former US President Abraham Lincoln said, "It has been said of the world's history hitherto that might makes right. It is for us and for our time to reverse the maxim, and to say that right makes might."
Everyone needs to ask God for a new spirit. John 3:1-5 Amplified Bible says, "Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (a leader, an authority) among the Jews, Who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know and are certain that You have come from God [as] a Teacher; for no one can do these signs (these wonderworks, these miracles—and produce the proofs) that You do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb again and be born? Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and [even] the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God."
When Angela Yuan was a new creyente (believer) she prayed, "Lord, give me strength to face this new day. Help me be the light of Christ in this family" (Out Of A Far Country A gay son's journey to God. A broken mother's search for hope.)
God wants us to pray and to push each day for His global goodness. Iran is ruled by the spirit of fear. Christian Minister and US Citizen Saeed Abedini is in Evin prison Tehran, Iran, because of his Christian faith and works. His wife, Naghmeh Abedini, is praying and pushing. Recently, Naghmeh Abedini spoke to the United Nations to pressure Iran to free Saeed Abedini. We can pray and push too by writing Saeed Abedini a letter and signing a petition to save Saeed Abedini at the website http://www.savesaeed.org.
Just do it now. Christian Minister Joyce Meyer writes in her book Making Good Habits Breaking Bad Habits, "I once heard a story about three demons who were graduating from their course on how to deceive people in the world and prevent them from knowing God. Satan was questioning each demon, and he asked each one how he would deceive people. The first one answered that he would tell people there was no God. Satan answered, "You won't deceive many because most people down deep inside of them do believe God exists even if they have not chosen to follow Him." The second demon said he would tell people that heaven and hell didn't really exist. Satan said, "You will deceive a few more than your coworker, but you won't get many souls either." The third demon said that he would tell people that there was no hurry, and they could put off the decision to follow God until another time. Satan got excited and said loudly, "You will reap many souls for the kingdom of darkness by simply telling them to make the decision later."
The spirit of fear from the kingdom of darkness can seem mighty and make some put off praying and pushing for its defeat and God's global goodness. Former US President Abraham Lincoln said, "It has been said of the world's history hitherto that might makes right. It is for us and for our time to reverse the maxim, and to say that right makes might."
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Self-Less God-More
The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:13-14 Amplified Bible, "For you, brethren, were [indeed] called to freedom; only [do not let your] freedom be an incentive to your flesh and an opportunity or excuse [for selfishness], but through love you should serve one another. For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is complied with in the one precept, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself." Paul incorporated people into his life and was especially fond of seeking out those who didn't know God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit and introducing God, Paul and other creyentes (believers) to each other. Paul's growth as a creyente included the growth of others.
Mary Church Terrell, a civil rights activist and women's rights activist, believed that self-development goes with the development of others. Terrell said in her speech The Progress Of Colored Women, "Not only because they are women, but because they are colored women are discouragement and disappointment meeting them at every turn. But in spite of the obstacles encountered, the progress made by colored women along many lines appears like a veritable miracle of modern times."
The miracle Terrell talked about didn't come through selfishness. After talking about the lives and accomplishments of various colored women Terrell also said, "Lifting as they climb, onward and upward they go struggling and striving and hoping that the buds and blossoms of their desires may burst into glorious fruition ere long."
Selfishness may seem beneficial, but it's a lie. Nick Vujicic is of Serbian heritage, born in Australia without arms or legs and immigrant to America. Vujicic is married to Kanae Loida Vujicic-Miyahara, who is of Latino and Japanese heritage. Together they have a son named Kiyoshi James Vujicic. Vujicic says in his book Limitless Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life, "The kind of self-love and self-acceptance I advocate is not about loving yourself in a self-absorbed, conceited way. The self-love I encourage is self-less. You give more than you take. You offer without being asked. You share when you don't have much. You find happiness by making others smile. You love yourself because you are not all about yourself. You are happy with who you are because you make others happy to be around you."
We all have a tendency toward self-more. The self-more is stingy with people and has to be fought consistently. Victory is possible through God-more. In April 2013 Governor Mary Fallin signed into law the Oklahoma Nondiscrimination in Treatment Act which prevents healthcare providers from denying people lifesaving treatment "on the basis of a view that treats extending the life of an elderly, disabled, or terminally ill individual as of lower value than extending the life of an individual who is younger, nondisabled, or not terminally ill." God loves people of all ages, races, sexes and abilities; God wants us to imitate Him.
Peter Baker reports in The New York Times July 3, 2013, article "Bush a Fond Presence in Africa for Work During and Since His Presidency" that former US President George W. Bush has been in Africa renovating clinics and expanding screening and treatment programs to fight cervical cancer. Bush has also been a long-time friend of immigrants, unborn girls and unborn boys.
Fred Hammond was an unborn boy who survived an attempted abortion. Hammond is also a Gospel singer and father of Breeann Michelle Hammond and Darius Sean Hammond who says in a "Thank You Prelude" prayer at the beginning of Fred Hammond's CD Love Unstoppable, "Lord bless my dad, my mom, my sister, the president and all my family and friends. Lord bless everyone who hears this CD .... And most of all bless someone to be better friends with you because of my dad's music. In Jesus' name. Amen."
May God bless the Senate to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Protection Act; may God bless the House to pass immigration reform; may God bless President Barak Obama to sign both into US law; may God bless an unlimited number of people to become better friends with Him.
Mary Church Terrell, a civil rights activist and women's rights activist, believed that self-development goes with the development of others. Terrell said in her speech The Progress Of Colored Women, "Not only because they are women, but because they are colored women are discouragement and disappointment meeting them at every turn. But in spite of the obstacles encountered, the progress made by colored women along many lines appears like a veritable miracle of modern times."
The miracle Terrell talked about didn't come through selfishness. After talking about the lives and accomplishments of various colored women Terrell also said, "Lifting as they climb, onward and upward they go struggling and striving and hoping that the buds and blossoms of their desires may burst into glorious fruition ere long."
Selfishness may seem beneficial, but it's a lie. Nick Vujicic is of Serbian heritage, born in Australia without arms or legs and immigrant to America. Vujicic is married to Kanae Loida Vujicic-Miyahara, who is of Latino and Japanese heritage. Together they have a son named Kiyoshi James Vujicic. Vujicic says in his book Limitless Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life, "The kind of self-love and self-acceptance I advocate is not about loving yourself in a self-absorbed, conceited way. The self-love I encourage is self-less. You give more than you take. You offer without being asked. You share when you don't have much. You find happiness by making others smile. You love yourself because you are not all about yourself. You are happy with who you are because you make others happy to be around you."
We all have a tendency toward self-more. The self-more is stingy with people and has to be fought consistently. Victory is possible through God-more. In April 2013 Governor Mary Fallin signed into law the Oklahoma Nondiscrimination in Treatment Act which prevents healthcare providers from denying people lifesaving treatment "on the basis of a view that treats extending the life of an elderly, disabled, or terminally ill individual as of lower value than extending the life of an individual who is younger, nondisabled, or not terminally ill." God loves people of all ages, races, sexes and abilities; God wants us to imitate Him.
Peter Baker reports in The New York Times July 3, 2013, article "Bush a Fond Presence in Africa for Work During and Since His Presidency" that former US President George W. Bush has been in Africa renovating clinics and expanding screening and treatment programs to fight cervical cancer. Bush has also been a long-time friend of immigrants, unborn girls and unborn boys.
Fred Hammond was an unborn boy who survived an attempted abortion. Hammond is also a Gospel singer and father of Breeann Michelle Hammond and Darius Sean Hammond who says in a "Thank You Prelude" prayer at the beginning of Fred Hammond's CD Love Unstoppable, "Lord bless my dad, my mom, my sister, the president and all my family and friends. Lord bless everyone who hears this CD .... And most of all bless someone to be better friends with you because of my dad's music. In Jesus' name. Amen."
May God bless the Senate to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Protection Act; may God bless the House to pass immigration reform; may God bless President Barak Obama to sign both into US law; may God bless an unlimited number of people to become better friends with Him.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Pro-God And Pro-People
Susan B. Anthony refused to pay a fine for voting because in the 1800s United States law prohibited women from voting. Anthony did the right thing. In 1920 American women secured the right to vote.
Jeremiah 1:11 Amplified Bible says, "Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a branch or shoot of an almond tree [the emblem of alertness and activity, blossoming in late winter]." Women have gone beyond the right to vote and are now pursuing global equality and freedom. In 1953 Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit became the first woman president of the United Nations General Assembly. Today Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the eldest of eight children, a mother of four children and an anti-apartheid activist, is the head of the African Union which is focusing on an African renaissance of growth, peace, stability and development.
Being pro-woman is not being anti-man. Galatians 3:27-29 New Living Translation Bible says, "And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you."
God promised Abraham that he would be blessed, be a blessing to others and would have an abundance of descendants. However, some people hate males and females. In China since 1971 336 million unborn girls and unborn boys have lost their lives through abortion and 222 men and women have been sterilized. Many of these abortions and sterilizations are forced. A ChinaAid News March 24, 2013, "With ChinaAid's Help, Two Victims of China's One-Child Policy Granted UNHCR Refugee Status" article reports that in 1995, when Guo Yanling was eight months pregnant, she was forced to have an abortion. In 1999, she was forcibly sterilized. In 2006, she was imprisoned for not being able to pay a fine for having more than one child. The Chinese government also refused to issue household registrations to her and to her husband, Du Yiliang's, three children without which they are unable to attend school or receive government benefits. Guo Yanling's and Du Yiliang's abortion, sterilization, educational and economic terror experience is typical in China. What isn't nearly as typical is that with ChinaAid’s help, Guo Yanling and Du Yiliang have been granted refugee status by the UN High Commission on Refugees and are living in Thailand.
In America unborn baby boys and unborn baby girls had their right to life stolen by the 1973 US Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision.
While America has many Christians and Jews, America has a persistent problem in ensuring the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. The 1927 US Supreme Court decision Buck v. Bell ruled that forced sterilization of people with disabilities was not a violation of their constitutional rights. By the 1970s more than 60,000 disabled people were sterilized without their consent.
We need to fully defeat the idea that only certain people can contribute to society and are entitled to the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Former Mexican President Benito Juarez said, "El respecto ajeno es la paz" (The respect for the rights of others is peace.") Christian Minister and Civil Rights Activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools. We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way God's universe is made; this is the way it is structured."
Jeremiah 1:11 Amplified Bible says, "Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a branch or shoot of an almond tree [the emblem of alertness and activity, blossoming in late winter]." Women have gone beyond the right to vote and are now pursuing global equality and freedom. In 1953 Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit became the first woman president of the United Nations General Assembly. Today Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the eldest of eight children, a mother of four children and an anti-apartheid activist, is the head of the African Union which is focusing on an African renaissance of growth, peace, stability and development.
Being pro-woman is not being anti-man. Galatians 3:27-29 New Living Translation Bible says, "And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you."
God promised Abraham that he would be blessed, be a blessing to others and would have an abundance of descendants. However, some people hate males and females. In China since 1971 336 million unborn girls and unborn boys have lost their lives through abortion and 222 men and women have been sterilized. Many of these abortions and sterilizations are forced. A ChinaAid News March 24, 2013, "With ChinaAid's Help, Two Victims of China's One-Child Policy Granted UNHCR Refugee Status" article reports that in 1995, when Guo Yanling was eight months pregnant, she was forced to have an abortion. In 1999, she was forcibly sterilized. In 2006, she was imprisoned for not being able to pay a fine for having more than one child. The Chinese government also refused to issue household registrations to her and to her husband, Du Yiliang's, three children without which they are unable to attend school or receive government benefits. Guo Yanling's and Du Yiliang's abortion, sterilization, educational and economic terror experience is typical in China. What isn't nearly as typical is that with ChinaAid’s help, Guo Yanling and Du Yiliang have been granted refugee status by the UN High Commission on Refugees and are living in Thailand.
In America unborn baby boys and unborn baby girls had their right to life stolen by the 1973 US Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision.
While America has many Christians and Jews, America has a persistent problem in ensuring the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. The 1927 US Supreme Court decision Buck v. Bell ruled that forced sterilization of people with disabilities was not a violation of their constitutional rights. By the 1970s more than 60,000 disabled people were sterilized without their consent.
We need to fully defeat the idea that only certain people can contribute to society and are entitled to the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Former Mexican President Benito Juarez said, "El respecto ajeno es la paz" (The respect for the rights of others is peace.") Christian Minister and Civil Rights Activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools. We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way God's universe is made; this is the way it is structured."
Friday, July 5, 2013
Big-Hearted Is Best For All People
1 Timothy 6:17-19 Amplified Bible says, "As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be proud and arrogant and contemptuous of others, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches, but on God, Who richly and ceaselessly provides us with everything for [our] enjoyment. [Charge them] to do good, to be rich in good works, to be liberal and generous of heart, ready to share [with others], In this way laying up for themselves [the riches that endure forever as] a good foundation for the future, so that they may grasp that which is life indeed." Mary Church Terrell was born into a family of wealth. Her father, Robert Church, although born a slave became the South's first African American millionaire. Instead of leading a life of pride, arrogance and contempt for others, Mary Church Terrell led a life of good works.
Terrell was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a speaker, writer and activist for freedom and equal rights for African Americans and for women of all races. Terrell was big-hearted. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were black leaders with different views on how to achieve African American progress. Terrell saw merit and areas of disagreement in both perspectives; yet she helped both men.
She also was a married woman who helped women of all races. Terrell worked with suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt. After American women gained the right to vote in 1920 Terrell organized women to become active in the Republican Party and in international groups. Terrell said, "We believe we can build the foundation of the next generation upon such a rock of morality, intelligence, and strength, that the floods of proscription, prejudice and persecution may descend upon it in torrents and yet it will not be moved."
While everyone will not be materially wealthy, God calls everyone to be big-hearted. Proscription, prejudice and persecution are heart problems. The remedy is the love of God living on the inside of creyentes (believers) and overflowing on the outside. 1 Corinthians 13:3-7 Amplified Bible says about love, "Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory, but have not love (God’s love in me), I gain nothing. 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 is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]."
The enemy of love, Satan, is always working to make our hearts small. While American women got the vote in 1920, in 1924 the US Immigration Act shut down almost all immigration from Asia and in 1973 the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision stole the right to life from unborn girls and unborn boys.
A Chinese proverb says, "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." The US House of Representatives lit a candle recently by passing the Pain-Capable Unborn Protection Act which protects the life of unborn girls and unborn boys age 20 weeks and older. The Senate also lit a candle by passing immigration reform.
Un dicho says, "Clamor del pueblo sube al cielo" ("The outcry of a people rises to heaven.")
Now is a good time to pray passionately to God that the Senate will pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the House will pass immigration reform and President Barak Obama will sign both into law.
Terrell was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a speaker, writer and activist for freedom and equal rights for African Americans and for women of all races. Terrell was big-hearted. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were black leaders with different views on how to achieve African American progress. Terrell saw merit and areas of disagreement in both perspectives; yet she helped both men.
She also was a married woman who helped women of all races. Terrell worked with suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt. After American women gained the right to vote in 1920 Terrell organized women to become active in the Republican Party and in international groups. Terrell said, "We believe we can build the foundation of the next generation upon such a rock of morality, intelligence, and strength, that the floods of proscription, prejudice and persecution may descend upon it in torrents and yet it will not be moved."
While everyone will not be materially wealthy, God calls everyone to be big-hearted. Proscription, prejudice and persecution are heart problems. The remedy is the love of God living on the inside of creyentes (believers) and overflowing on the outside. 1 Corinthians 13:3-7 Amplified Bible says about love, "Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory, but have not love (God’s love in me), I gain nothing. 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 is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]."
The enemy of love, Satan, is always working to make our hearts small. While American women got the vote in 1920, in 1924 the US Immigration Act shut down almost all immigration from Asia and in 1973 the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision stole the right to life from unborn girls and unborn boys.
A Chinese proverb says, "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." The US House of Representatives lit a candle recently by passing the Pain-Capable Unborn Protection Act which protects the life of unborn girls and unborn boys age 20 weeks and older. The Senate also lit a candle by passing immigration reform.
Un dicho says, "Clamor del pueblo sube al cielo" ("The outcry of a people rises to heaven.")
Now is a good time to pray passionately to God that the Senate will pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the House will pass immigration reform and President Barak Obama will sign both into law.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Life, Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness
1 Corinthians 11:11-12 Amplified Bible says, "Nevertheless, in [the plan of] the Lord and from His point of view woman is not apart from and independent of man, nor is man aloof from and independent of woman; For as woman was made from man, even so man is also born of woman; and all [whether male or female go forth] from God [as their Author]." God's ideal of working together in harmony under the leadership of God is not always implemented in reality. Where God's ideals are not implemented oppression is.
Young Molly Welsh was an employee in the late 17th century in Britain. Her employer said she stole a pail of milk. Welsh said a cow kicked over the pail and spilled the milk. The quarrel ended with Welsh's employer arresting her.
British law allowed for Molly to be hung for stealing. Instead she was sent to a tobacco farm in Maryland, which was a colony of Britain at the time.
For seven years Welsh worked as an indentured servant. Then she earned her freedom and rented a farm close to the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Within a few years she bought a small farm and two slaves one of which was a man with the last name Bannaka from the African country Senegal who said he had been a prince in his homeland.
Molly Welsh freed Bannaka and her other slave around 1696 and married Bannaka whose name changed to Banneky. They stayed on their farm because a marriage between a black man and a white woman wasn't legal.
Their eldest of four daughters, Mary, married a man named Robert who was from Guinea West Africa. Robert kept Mary's name of Banneky.
Mary and Robert Banneky had three girls and one boy named Benjamin born November 9, 1731. This Benjamin is the Benjamin Banneker famous in history as an astronomer, mathematician, inventor and writer. Molly Welsh was also very fond of her grandson who she introduced to the Bible and encouraged his love of learning.
An African Swahili proverb says, "The way you bring up a child is he way it grows up." Benjamin Banneker grew up in a family where women and men of different races loved each other. They also valued equality and freedom and were able to live and work together harmoniously under the leadership of God.
Benjamin Banneker was a free African American man who lived during the time of legal African American slavery in the United States. In 1791 Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson who was secretary of state to President George Washington and had earlier drafted and signed the US Declaration of Independence, which says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."
The Chinese invented fireworks. Banneker's letter was fireworks comparing African American slavery to the bondage of the American colonies before they obtained independence from Britain. Banneker's letter to Jefferson advocating African American equality and freedom became famous and says:
"Suffer me to recall to your mind that time, in which the arms of the British crown were exerted, with every powerful effort, in order to reduce you to a state of servitude; look back, I entreat you ....You were then impressed with proper ideas of the great violation of liberty, and the free possession of those blessings, to which you were entitled by nature; but, sir, how pitiable is it to reflect, that although you were so fully convinced of the benevolence of the Father of Mankind, and of his equal and impartial distribution of these rights and privileges which he hath conferred upon them, that you should at the same time counteract his mercies, in detaining by fraud and violence, so numerous a part of my brethren under groaning captivity and cruel oppression, that you should at the same time be found guilty of that most criminal act, which you professedly detested in others."
The Brazo River in Texas was named Los Brazos de Dios which means In the Arms of God. God does not use His arms for criminal acts to oppress humanity. He has His arms open to a now and forever relationship with a wide variety of people. John 17:3 Amplified Bible says, "And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent."
God is the Author of freedom, equality, peace and all that is good and wants to share His goodness with many. Many Christians and Christian ideas are in America and elsewhere. Today in America Welsh and Bannaka would not have to hide from the law their interracial, marital love on a Maryland farm; African Americans are not subject to slavery, and Welsh would not be hanged for allegedly stealing in Britain. However, some people are still oppressed. "As long as there is one ... oppressed human being in this world the struggle la lucha continua," said Dr. Georgia McMurray, educator, writer, activist who had the progressively degenerative muscle disorder Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
On July 4th America celebrates independence from Britain. The ultimate source of oppression is Satan. God is the Liberator. Is there a day you celebrate your liberation from Satan? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/michelelove30.
Young Molly Welsh was an employee in the late 17th century in Britain. Her employer said she stole a pail of milk. Welsh said a cow kicked over the pail and spilled the milk. The quarrel ended with Welsh's employer arresting her.
British law allowed for Molly to be hung for stealing. Instead she was sent to a tobacco farm in Maryland, which was a colony of Britain at the time.
For seven years Welsh worked as an indentured servant. Then she earned her freedom and rented a farm close to the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Within a few years she bought a small farm and two slaves one of which was a man with the last name Bannaka from the African country Senegal who said he had been a prince in his homeland.
Molly Welsh freed Bannaka and her other slave around 1696 and married Bannaka whose name changed to Banneky. They stayed on their farm because a marriage between a black man and a white woman wasn't legal.
Their eldest of four daughters, Mary, married a man named Robert who was from Guinea West Africa. Robert kept Mary's name of Banneky.
Mary and Robert Banneky had three girls and one boy named Benjamin born November 9, 1731. This Benjamin is the Benjamin Banneker famous in history as an astronomer, mathematician, inventor and writer. Molly Welsh was also very fond of her grandson who she introduced to the Bible and encouraged his love of learning.
An African Swahili proverb says, "The way you bring up a child is he way it grows up." Benjamin Banneker grew up in a family where women and men of different races loved each other. They also valued equality and freedom and were able to live and work together harmoniously under the leadership of God.
Benjamin Banneker was a free African American man who lived during the time of legal African American slavery in the United States. In 1791 Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson who was secretary of state to President George Washington and had earlier drafted and signed the US Declaration of Independence, which says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."
The Chinese invented fireworks. Banneker's letter was fireworks comparing African American slavery to the bondage of the American colonies before they obtained independence from Britain. Banneker's letter to Jefferson advocating African American equality and freedom became famous and says:
"Suffer me to recall to your mind that time, in which the arms of the British crown were exerted, with every powerful effort, in order to reduce you to a state of servitude; look back, I entreat you ....You were then impressed with proper ideas of the great violation of liberty, and the free possession of those blessings, to which you were entitled by nature; but, sir, how pitiable is it to reflect, that although you were so fully convinced of the benevolence of the Father of Mankind, and of his equal and impartial distribution of these rights and privileges which he hath conferred upon them, that you should at the same time counteract his mercies, in detaining by fraud and violence, so numerous a part of my brethren under groaning captivity and cruel oppression, that you should at the same time be found guilty of that most criminal act, which you professedly detested in others."
The Brazo River in Texas was named Los Brazos de Dios which means In the Arms of God. God does not use His arms for criminal acts to oppress humanity. He has His arms open to a now and forever relationship with a wide variety of people. John 17:3 Amplified Bible says, "And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent."
God is the Author of freedom, equality, peace and all that is good and wants to share His goodness with many. Many Christians and Christian ideas are in America and elsewhere. Today in America Welsh and Bannaka would not have to hide from the law their interracial, marital love on a Maryland farm; African Americans are not subject to slavery, and Welsh would not be hanged for allegedly stealing in Britain. However, some people are still oppressed. "As long as there is one ... oppressed human being in this world the struggle la lucha continua," said Dr. Georgia McMurray, educator, writer, activist who had the progressively degenerative muscle disorder Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
On July 4th America celebrates independence from Britain. The ultimate source of oppression is Satan. God is the Liberator. Is there a day you celebrate your liberation from Satan? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/michelelove30.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Whose Time Is It?
Ephesians 5:15-17 Amplified Bible says, "Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is."
The Chinese invented the mechanical clock. It is never a good, productive use of time to be outside the will of God.
Jeanne Louise Calment was 122 when she died in 1997 in France; she holds the record for the world's longest living person in modern times. Jiroemon Kimura died at age 116 in Japan in 2013 and is the world's oldest man in modern times. No matter how long we live, this earthly life will end. Ending it without a relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit equals a second death. Revelation 20:14-15 English Standard Version Bible says, "Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Creyentes (believers) have their name written in the book of life and need not waste any time now or ever.
The second death can be avoided. John 1:12 Amplified Bible says, "But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name—"
Helen Keller is a creyente who was blind and deaf. As a young person and even into her 70s and beyond, Keller traveled making speeches to help people live better lives. Keller said, "I thank God for my handicaps, for through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God."
A North African proverb says, "Every day of your life is a page in your history." Keller used her time on earth to create an outstanding history. She was a creyente who had a several-decades-long friendship and business partnership with Anne Sullivan and was a writer, speaker and advocate. Keller spoke out for a variety of causes including disability rights, women's right to vote, just working conditions for the poor and international peace.
God probably said to Helen Keller at the end of her earthly life "... Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys" (Matthew 25:21 Amplified Bible.)
Do you believe God will say likewise to you? Are you making history pages in God's timing and will?
The Chinese invented the mechanical clock. It is never a good, productive use of time to be outside the will of God.
Jeanne Louise Calment was 122 when she died in 1997 in France; she holds the record for the world's longest living person in modern times. Jiroemon Kimura died at age 116 in Japan in 2013 and is the world's oldest man in modern times. No matter how long we live, this earthly life will end. Ending it without a relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit equals a second death. Revelation 20:14-15 English Standard Version Bible says, "Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Creyentes (believers) have their name written in the book of life and need not waste any time now or ever.
The second death can be avoided. John 1:12 Amplified Bible says, "But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name—"
Helen Keller is a creyente who was blind and deaf. As a young person and even into her 70s and beyond, Keller traveled making speeches to help people live better lives. Keller said, "I thank God for my handicaps, for through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God."
A North African proverb says, "Every day of your life is a page in your history." Keller used her time on earth to create an outstanding history. She was a creyente who had a several-decades-long friendship and business partnership with Anne Sullivan and was a writer, speaker and advocate. Keller spoke out for a variety of causes including disability rights, women's right to vote, just working conditions for the poor and international peace.
God probably said to Helen Keller at the end of her earthly life "... Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys" (Matthew 25:21 Amplified Bible.)
Do you believe God will say likewise to you? Are you making history pages in God's timing and will?
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