The Queen of Nobility

The Queen of Nobility

Gone to heaven is the Queen
Into a court wonderfully pristine
Now forever to reign in glory
Alive in an ambiance most celebratory

Graciousness adorned her
Intelligence crowned her
Nurturing in her disposition
Affability won her recognition

Gone, yet her mark remains
Ingrained in hearts
No one can replace
Alleluia to God for her life

The meaning of the name Gina is Queen…

Rest in Peace
In Memoriam – Gina Burns
Fellow Member of FHS Class of ‘86

RevLDReedSr
I Owe Jesus
5/21/2010

Are You There Yet?

Are You There Yet?

Have you arrived yet,
On your glorious trip with your child?
Are you on the fabulous freeway
That leads to a lifetime of interchange.
At hand and attentive in steering them
Along the trying on-ramp of inner change?
Have you shown life’s road signs of real love,
Signaling in all honesty, that you truly care?
“How?” you ask. Just by being there!
Being there in word proven with action,
Being there to exemplify true compassion.
Being there to inspire and sincerely relate.
Being there to responsibly alert and educate,
Being there as parent to nurture and guide.
Being there with all your heart,
Doing your best to make the most of the ride,
Trusting Jesus, knowing He will help you whatever betides.
Have you reached one of the most prized destinations there is,
Your child’s precious heart?

They need to know how to deal with people or situations that vex. They need appropriate knowledge about sex. They need to know to avoid people or behavior that will drag them under. They need to know God and that He is able to deliver them from anyone or anything that would seem to break them asunder.

Ephesians 6:4 (NLT) Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

RevLDReedSr
I Owe Jesus
5/17/2010

No Time for Hating Haters

No Time for Hating Haters

There are those around about you
Who harbor animosity and doubt you.
They remember you from around the way.
They remember you from back in the day.
They sense a fresh new flow from you.
That blesses others who see and hear you.
They simply cannot seem to understand,
Accusing you of using slyness of hand.
Reviling you whenever on whatever they can,
Saying, “He wants folks to join his petty band.”
Nevertheless, you know that is not really real.
Your heart is fixed on just doing God’s will.
Even though, to others it is a bitter pill
For God to use you to them is unreal.
Don’t you dare stop to play petty games,
With haters who attack your righteous aims.
Keep stepping up for the cause of your Lord,
Reconciling the lost to Jesus, bringing accord.
Let the haters know you do not have time to play,
By being steadfast in what God told you to do and say.

You have no time for haters except to pray, do good, bless, and love them anyway. You keep your heart, your mind, your body, your whole being moving towards heaven’s way.

Luke 21:17-19 (Amplified Bible) And you will be hated (despised) by everyone because [you bear] My name and for its sake. But not a hair of your head shall perish. By your steadfastness and patient endurance you shall win the true life of your souls.

RevLDReedSr
I Owe Jesus
5/14/2010

I Am Somebody

I Am Somebody

I am somebody
A unique individual
Bursting with ability and potential
My life has significance
Each day marked by making some difference

I am somebody
With a vivacious imagination
With hopes, dreams, and Godly aspirations
In difficulty I overcome
I press to attain the optimum outcome

I am somebody
Striving to be just in disposition
Flawed, yet making the mature transition
I value the good in others
And, aim to help all love their soul brothers

I am somebody
Others may disagree
Some see only what they want to see
Despite their interpretation
I look to what God says of me for clarification

I am somebody
Sunk once by sin’s disgrace
Now raised, renewed by God’s amazing grace
Once lost and wretched
Yet, now saved and forever blessed.

I am somebody
A servant of Jesus, my Lord
Preaching His Gospel and the peace it affords
A purveyor of God’s will, God’s way
In my behavior and through the words I say

I am somebody
In the likeness of God, my Creator
In Spirit like His Son-Jesus, my Savior
Who confirmed His love for me
He loved me so much He died that I might be free

I Am Somebody

A Savior sought, blood bought, Spirit wrought child of God…

1 Corinthians 15:10a Amp But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not [found to be] for nothing (fruitless and without effect).

RevLDReedSr
I Owe Jesus
5/12/2010

Endeavor to Be Phenomenal

Endeavor to Be Phenomenal

Phenomenal – amazing, remarkably and impressively good or great

Prayerful- earnest or sincere, strongly influenced by or involving prayer

Humble- modest and unassuming in attitude and behavior; feeling or showing respect and deference toward other people

Enduring- persisting or surviving in the face of difficulties; patient or tolerant despite many difficulties

Noble- possessing high ideals or excellent moral character; impressive in quality or appearance

Optimistic- tending to take a hopeful and positive view of future outcomes

Motivated- to give somebody a reason or incentive to do something; to make somebody feel enthusiastic, interested, and committed to something

Energizing- to supply somebody or something with strength or power; to become, or cause something to become, vigorously active

Nurturing- to encourage somebody or something to grow, develop, thrive, and be successful

Affirming- to declare support or admiration for somebody or something

Loving- showing or feeling affection, done with enjoyment and careful attention

- Our God is Phenomenal –

Pardoning…Holy…Eternal…Notable…Openhanded…Mighty...Enlivening…Nurturing…Accessible…Loving…

RevLDReedSr
I owe Jesus
5/5/2010

When Defriended…

When Defriended…

When one is defriended,
Dialogue is suspended.
Communion upended.
You muse, “Have I offended?”
You lament it has ended.
But, may your joy be amended,
For being lovingly befriended,
By One divinely recommended,
Whose friendship is most splendid.
Jesus and you, friendship transcended.

Proverbs 18:24 (The Message)
Friends come and friends go,
but a true friend sticks by you like family.

RevLDReedSr
I owe Jesus
5/2/2010

My Mama’s Boy

My Mama’s Boy

I must confess. I thank God for my Mama. I love my Mama. By the grace of God, my Mama has been there for me since my beginning. I was her firstborn. She held me. She fed me. She taught me. She disciplined me. She loved me. For forty plus years, she has been there encouraging, chastising, and just being my Mama.

Mama has always been firm in her convictions. She spared not the rod of discipline. My brother and I had assigned chores to do. We had godly standards to live by. What she asked of us, she demonstrated herself. I am awed by how she held up. I am grateful to God for being her stronghold.

In my family’s trials, she was the rock, the purchasing agent and the executive chef. She medicated and mended as the doctor, and was guidance counselor and peacemaker. She put on the brave face. She looked at the positive side of things and taught us to be ever thankful. Whatever was needed she tried to get it done with dignity and grace.

She has endured so many trials. Heartache and pain have seemed to be always at her heals. Her father committed suicide when she was in her twenties. Though hurt, she kept walking by faith. Subsequently, her mother was weighed down with decades of depression and distressing behavior, making Mama to all intents and purposes mother to all her siblings and in many ways mother to her own mother. She bore her burdens in the heat of the day, knowing that the Lord would make away. She had hard trials, sleepless nights on pillows damp with tears, but God helped her make headway.

Daddy was in the home, grown in age, but long in the process of growing up. Mama did not run out, nor run away. She prayed and she waited. She waited and she prayed-calling on God to touch daddy’s heart and turn his life around. She called on God to touch my brother and me that we would be and do differently in our lives. She stood on the word of God and trusted God to make everything all right. God heard and answered. I was grown and gone, but Mama persevered to see God bring her prayers to fruition.

I can testify that my Daddy is being the man, now, that God is pleased with. He loves His wife. He is there for her, providing for her. She is his queen. He has a fruitful relationship with God and his marriage is fruitful because of it.

The time was ripe for us to draw nearer to each other. In 2008, my only sibling, my baby brother, died without warning of a massive heart attack at the age of thirty-seven. It was another blow for Mama, one that hit us all hard. We got through it together, just as a family should. I had the hard task of preaching the funeral. In spite of the burden, God helped me bear up and that buoyed my family, just as Mama had done for so long for us.

Daddy and I have grown closer together. We both serve God. I respect him as my Daddy and am grateful for how God has and is blessing and using him. I look like him and some would say I am stubborn like him, too. Still, my Mama and I have a special relationship. Tears, time, and trials wrought with the love of God has blessed it so. I am proud to be my Mama’s boy.

I encourage you to love and honor your mother for whatever good she has brought to your life.

Proverbs 31: 10. Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies…

RevLDReedSr
i owe Jesus
5/1/2010