#wwwjournalingtomytruth – JOURNALING TO MY TRUTH

~TIME~

February 10, 2023 Journaling To My Truth

How much Time have you wasted?

Good Afternoon Loves,

I ran across this awesome word this morning, as I had taken a moment to scroll Facebook for a second. As I prepared for the day the Lord has Blessed me and you with!

You know when God is giving you a word or message because you are reminded of it constantly. All morning, I saw references to “TIME”!!

I saw it first as I scrolled down Facebook early this morning, a Facebook friend (brother in Christ) had posted a word on time. Basically saying “time is the Lord’s”. Then I continued to scroll and as I did this, I ran across my cousin’s post, my heart got heavy, as I read that my uncle had passed away-(my dads’ uncle). I immediately felt sorrow and began to think about the precious moments and good times spent at my uncle’s home in Milwaukee, with my family. Some good ol’ fashioned family time, that we rarely see today. As I sat and was in my feelings thinking about my family, I was reminded about “time” again.

My thoughts immediately went to my dad, thinking Lord, how much more, see, on the 23rd of January, two days before my “baby girl” 25th birthday—my dad, kids, and grands almost lost their lives in a house fire. Lord, how grateful I am, they didn’t. But that day, they lost all material things and my dad lost his house, BUT GOD spared their life.

That day, I wanted to scream and shout

“LORD, HOW MUCH”

BUT COULDN’T EVEN FINISH THAT SENTENCE!!

Why-because

HE GRANTED THEM ALL “TIME”!!

That day, I thought, Lord, I could have lost my dad, my oldest daughter, my only son, and my only 2 grandsons all in a flick of a switch!!

(SEE, I TELL Y’ALL, MY PRAISE IS #REAL)–

I SHARE HIS GRACE AND MERCY AND ALL HIS GLORY BECAUSE I OWE IT ALL TO HIM !!

As I was having a moment of gratefulness, THANKING GOD FOR IT ALL!!

I KEPT SCROLLING AND YES, THIS TIME–I CAME ACROSS “TIME” IN A SERMON

God is good

because I wasn’t even friends with or associated with this person’s ministry

But God

I clicked to listen– and The sermon was on “Time”…and Yes Lord again, he put my thoughts on “TIME”!! Oh, and it blessed my soul as God continues on with “Time”!

I thought, Lord, they are leaving here–we are leaving here, my uncle and so many others have gone on now.

And many of us, yet are “so caught up” in NOTHING!!

BUT ALWAYS SAY “WE LIVING”-

as some say

“THEIR BEST LIFE”

HOWEVER, I’M SAYING THIS

“WE AREN’T LIVING LIFE IF WE NOT LIVING A GODLY LIFE”-

~BUT LORD~

I’M ASKING THIS!!

How good is that “time”, if it doesn’t REVOLVE AROUND YOU?

How good is that

“BEST LIFE”, IF WE ARE NOT APPRECIATING AND UTILIZING “YOUR TIME”

ACCORDING TO

YOUR WILL AND PLAN

FOR US?

How good is that “time”, if we not living it in love showing love, and as love?

How good is that “time”, if we are turning our backs on “Your Time”?

God reminded me, that

“TIME IS PRECIOUS”

EVERY MOMENT OF IT IS HIS AND EVERY MOMENT SHOULD BE COUNTED FOR!!

TIME

“intangible” and “unmanageable”

WITHOUT

GOD!!

We can’t control it,

we can’t stop it,

and we

can’t set it back

because

TIME

only moves

forward!!

Tick-Tock,

Tick-Tock

-the mouse didn’t run up this clock

-BUT- GOD-

definitely running down

the

TIME!

AN EXPIRATION DATE IS COMING!

And as we All are, “on borrowed TIME”

MY QUESTION TO YOU TODAY IS-

HOW ARE YOU UTILIZING GOD’S TIME?

~MY PRAYER~

Heavenly Father,

I pray that You lead my steps in all that I do so that every moment spent is spent utilizing Your Time as You intended for my life. That every moment of time granted aligns with Your Will and not my own. I pray, that in the time given, Your light shines in me, through me, and around me; so that all granted Time was “utilized” to show You Love, Spread Your Love, and Appreciate Your Love!

I pray that when my Time runs out, Lord, You are PLEASED!!

He will render to each one according to his works! (Romans 2:6)

ALWAYS W/LOVE,

JOURNALING TO MY TRUTH

(PRAYING FOR MY FAMILY AND YOU)

ALWAYS IN MY

YOU’LL BE MISSED UNCLE LONNIE

Good Morning Lord

Dr. Jane Cooke Wright

February 5, 2023 Journaling To My Truth

(1919 – 2013) Education: Teaching Research: Oncology

“The Mother of Chemotherapy” the Pioneering woman of Medical Research.

Dr. Jane Wright was the first woman elected president of the New York Cancer Society.

Dr. Jane Wright became a professor of surgery, head of the cancer chemotherapy department, associate dean at New York Medical College, and the highest-ranked African American woman at a nationally recognized medical institution.

Developed the technique of using human tissue culture to test the effects of potential drugs on cancer cells. Pioneered the use of methotrexate to treat breast cancer and skin cancer.

Wright is one of seven founders of ASCO.

Jane Cooke Wright’s father was one of the first African American graduates of Harvard Medical School, and he set a high standard for his daughters. Dr. Louis Wright was the first African American doctor appointed to a staff position at a municipal hospital in New York City and, in 1929, became the city’s first African American police surgeon. He also established the Cancer Research Center at Harlem Hospital. Jane Wright graduated with honors from New York Medical College in 1945.

~JTMT_Insight~

Dr. Jane C. Wright completed many accomplishments in her lifetime. She was a daughter of a doctor, but as I read her biography and reflected on her accomplishments, I settled on the word “SUCCESS”.

What is Success to you?

Does it mean a certain level of financial gain?

Or, Does it mean good health?

Or What?

I asked this question because I always see on my timeline and in other places, the term, “getting that bag”. Meaning- going after money, etc… And I always say the same thing, how much time do we waste speaking about money and wealth? How much emphasis do we put on it?

For some we spend most of our lives, seeking wealth and fame; and for others, we spend it trying to live like the “Joneses”. Lord, I always wanted to know who are the “Joneses”? Well, it is no one, because if you are wasting all your time, trying “to succeed” or establish a “million dollar” life-

YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME!

And I say this because many truly don’t realize, it is not money that makes you, it is not how successful you are, or what all you’ve achieved because this is not what brings happiness. Material things, money, and success can be gone in an instant.

When we start putting so much focus on material things, such as money, we start making money more important than God. Money becomes your god, and we then become worshippers of idolatry. We began to lose focus on what is important because we are chasing after “status”. We are no longer satisfied with life as God wants us to live it but began seeking after life as “WE” want to live it. We seek after “I” and not “Him”.

MY LOVES….there is NO “I” IN GOD!!

We FORGET ABOUT WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE DOES!!

We forget that God is the provider of “ALL THINGS”, He can give and He can take.

Don’t let your life be a blank canvas or empty book, with nothing to paint about or write about, because the Book of Life will not be recording “YOUR DOLLARS” or “YOUR STATUS”.

Will the Lord be reading your “BOOK OF LIFE”

or staring at “EMPTY CHAPTERS”

“The rich man’s money didn’t help him, even when he wanted (desperately) just get a ‘drop of water”!!

(Read Luke 16:19-31)

and remember, only the SOUL can GO TO HEAVEN!!

Matthew 6: 19-21 tells us…

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

So all of you who are out chasing “that bag” and not God-

let me remind you that TRUE SUCCESS IS IN CHRIST!!

ALWAYS W/LOVE,

JOURNALING TO MY TRUTH

#wwwjournalingtomytruth

#victoryall2023

#ThereIsPeaceInChrist

#IStillSayYes

#SuccessIsInChrist

Good Morning Lord

Henry Ossawa Tanner

February 3, 2023 Journaling To My Truth

Christ Walking on the Water, 1910

Medium; etching in black on laid paper, Dimensions: plate: 18.42 × 24.13 cm (7 1/4 × 9 1/2 in.)

sheet: 20.48 × 26.04 cm (8 1/16 × 10 1/4 in.), Accession Number: 2015.19.3016

Corcoran Collection (The Evans-Tibbs Collection, Gift of Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr.)

~JTMT-Did You Know~

#BlackHistoryMonth

Henry Ossawa Tanner was born in Pittsburgh in (1859-1937), the first of five children born to Reverend Benjamin Tucker Tanner, a future bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Sarah Tanner, a woman who had escaped her enslavers via the Underground Railroad.

In 1891 Tanner proceeded to Paris and commenced study under Jean-Joseph Benjamin Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens at the Académie Julian. Tanner soon joined the American Art Students’ Club and spent his first summer in France with the colony of artists at Pont-Aven, Brittany. Tanner’s choice of subject matter was influenced by a growing consciousness of his racial identity, and during a trip to the United States in 1893 he delivered a paper entitled “The American Negro in Art” at the World’s Congress on Africa in Chicago. His concern during this period for creating dignified and sympathetic portrayals of Black people in art is exemplified by The Banjo Lesson (1893, Hampton University Museum, Virginia).

~JTMT_Insights~

In the painting below, Mr. Tanner did an excellent job depicting Jesus walking on water. While studying the painting, it reminded me of “True Faith”, and how we start off confident and strong and end in doubt. As Peter began walking across the water, when Jesus summoned him, he was confident and focused on Jesus and WALKED.

But as he took his focus off Christ, he became afraid and began to drown. Think of the times you did this, you start off in “True Faith”, strong, confident, and focused on Christ: then something, like the boisterous winds, grabs your focus off Christ. And as you lose focus, you began to drown-drown in your troubles, sorrow, or pain.

Not really realizing, because you took your eyes off Christ, is the reason, you began to feel afraid. And as fear crept in, it began to make you doubt in Christ, in yourself. But, it isn’t that Christ is not there, it is because you doubted his abilities and lost hope in Him.

REFOCUS, REMOVE, AND REJUVENATE YOUR FAITH!!

REMOVE THE DISTRACTIONS AND DIMINISH THE NOISE!

And remember

TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON CHRIST!

THE REST WILL FALL IN PLACE-TRUST HIM-HE GOT IT!!

YOU CAN STAY FOCUSED

(An awesome story in the Bible-take a read in Matthew 14: 22-33)

CAN YOU IMAGINE WALKING ON WATER, AS JESUS DID?

THAT IS THE TYPE OF FAITH I AIM FOR, IF JESUS BECKONS ME TO WALK ON WATER-I WANT TO WALK!! GLORY TO GOD

ALWAYS W/LOVE,

JOURNALING TO MY TRUTH

#wwwjournalingtomytruth

#keepyourfocusonchrist

#victoryall2023

#ThereIsPeaceInChrist

James Weldon Johnson

February 2, 2023February 2, 2023 Journaling To My Truth

James Weldon Johnson (Famous Black Poet) 1871-1938

~JTMT/Did You Know~

Born James William Johnson in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 17,1871; he changed his middle name to Weldon in 1913.

James was the son of a headwaiter and the first female black public school teacher in Florida, both of whom had roots in Nassau, Bahamas. He was the second of three children. Johnson’s interests in reading and music were encouraged by his parents.

Johnson earned an A.B. in 1894 from Atlanta University. He was brought up in a middle-class setting, and for a time shielded from poverty. The summer before he graduated college, James attended the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois where he visited a celebration called “Colored People’s Day” and heard Fredrick Douglass speak, and heard the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar whom he instantly befriended.

Answer to Prayer

Der ain’t no use in sayin’ de Lawd won’t answer prah (prayer);

If you knows how to ax Him, I knows He’s bound to heah (hear).

De trouble is, some people don’t ax de proper way,

Den w’en dey git’s no answer dey doubts de use to pray.

You got to use egzac’ly (exactly) de ‘spressions (expressions) an’ de words

To show dat ‘tween yo’ faith an’ works, you ‘pends on works two-thirds.

Now, one time I remember — jes how long I won’t say—

I thought I’d like a turkey to eat on Chris’mus day.

Fu’ weeks I dreamed ’bout turkeys, a-struttin’ in der pride;

But seed no way to get one — widout de Lawd pervide.

An’ so I went to prayin’, I pray’d wid all my might;

“Lawd, sen’ to me a turkey.” I pray’d bofe day an’ night.

“Lawd, sen’ to me a turkey, a big one if you please.”

I ‘clar to heaben I pray’d so much I mos’ wore out ma knees.

I pray’d dat prah so often, I pray’d dat prah so long,

Yet didn’t git no turkey, I know’d ’twas sump’n wrong.

So on de night ‘fore Chris’mus w’en I got down to pray,

“Lawd, sen’ me to a turkey,” I had de sense to say.

“Lawd, sen’ me to a turkey.” I know dat prah was right,

An’ it was sholy answer’d; I got de bird dat night.

In this poem by Johnson, he talks about how he prayed for a turkey, but he speaks of how he was asking the Lord wrong.

By James W. Johnson

~JTMT_Notes~

We often forget that God owes us nothing, but “We Owe Him Everything”. and many of us pray selfishly without thinking of how offended the Lord may be. In James 4, he speaks of this and explains, how they prayed for selfish reasons, and how God didn’t answer them. So, when you kneel/bow in prayer, humble your requests before the Lord and present yourselves according to His Will. And remember to pray that God searches our hearts and removes our selfish ways and replaces them with His So that our lives our aligned with His perfect plan for us

James 4: 1-3

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

2) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3) Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Always W/Love,

Journaling To My Truth