The Price Of Being Removed

Currently, I'm in another state for the next couple of weeks due to job training. But deep inside, I know this is a vacation for me. Now, the place where I am isn't Hawaii but back in one of my beloved stomping grounds, Baltimore MD. It's cold, it's windy but it's good. Oh how I wish my beautiful wife Dionn was here with me to enjoy the spoils, too. But everything happens for a reason and the reason is me getting rooted and grounded in my faith in Christ. I'm having to experience a process Wes's Morgan some years ago sung about called "Love My Hurt Away." There's an old saying, "Sticks and stone can break my bones but words will never hurt me." Well, whoever came out with that phrase was smoking on a street pharmaceutical. But for real though, they did. But God is healing me from many of my light afflictions. He had to take me away from the battlefield literally to get refocused on Him. Paul shared a saying with the Galatians how he marveled the ways they were soon removed from the truth they were. When I read that for myself, I felt bad. Instead of pleasing God, I was pleasing people. Instead of praying and I was staying frustrated. Instead of me being real I was turning into a Pharisee, spiritually dead but knew a lot about God but lost touch with Him. My bitterness, anxiety, and responsibilities were coming before my relationship with Jesus and being a sound husband for my wife. That's bad. That's really bad. The teachings, all the praying, and the reading was becoming garbage because my roots were drying out, no water was hitting them. Even after a tree is planted, it still needs to get water. Even if it receives water on its limbs, if the water doesn't trickle down to the roots, eventually it's going to die (although it has the appearance of a tree standing). Soon removed and I'm not the only one going through this. But here's the good news, it's a new day and there's a freshness He wants to give to us. God is able to replant us back into Him it just takes us submitting ourselves to Him admitting that we are removed. Once we take the first step forward watch Him go to work. If you're planted, stay planted by the rivers of water and share what you have with others removed with realness and love. Don't judge. I know this a lot but the truth of the gospel is setting us in God's reality of love and purpose for us. Well, that's my two cents. If this sounds a little weird it's the evidence of my faith in God is getting worked on slowly but steadily.

Much luv, dgwo

References:
Galatians 1:6
Psalms 1
Romans 11

When Bitterness Goes Away

Man, I won't lie, I did an honest introspection of my life this year and most of it was feelings of bitterness. As human beings, we have the tendency to get bitter when life doesn't go the way we planned. Sometimes, we beat ourselves up because we made a big mistake here and there and can't learn to forgive ourselves. At times, we tend to blame others for our own shortcomings never taking responsibility for the choices we made. That's us and I'm a part of that pool, too. Bitterness just like any other human flaw or emotion can lead to various other problems resulting in living in darkness (sin). I recall a part in the Bible about a woman named Hannah. She was married to a man named Elkanah, who also had another wife by the name of Penninah. Hannah was childless but Penninah had a lot of them. To bring it up to speed in 2012, some of us are broke, tired, weary, childless, homeless, friendless, and the list goes on. There may be others in your life that everything is flowing for them easily. Hmmmm. What makes it worse, just like Penninah did, they throw their successes in your face mocking you. May e it's not one person or people around, maybe it's society in general. You've got to have a lot of money, an iPhone 5, a nice car, and nice clothes to be somebody and if you don't you're nothing. So these type of these can leave us bitter. But one thing I admire about Hannah is that she didn't stay in the place of bitterness where it led her to do something stupid. Her used her bitterness as a stepping stone in her prayer life. One part of The Lord's Prayer says "Give us this day our daily bread." She not only wanted God to bless her with a child, she also wanted the bitterness of soul to go away. She didn't stop praying until God blessed. The same thing happened for Jacob. He got tired of running from his past, falling over his mistakes. He wanted a new lease on life and wanted the bitterness of his life to go away. Job lost everything he had and talked about how bitter he was to his judgmental friends. But these people have one thing in common, they prayed to God and He heard their cry. And just as He did then He is still doing now. God doesn't want us to. Live our lives in bitterness. He wants us to live free from it and all the other evils that come with it. All we have to do is come boly before His throne of grace that we may get favor and help in our time of need (Hebrew 4:16). Lately, my friends, I picked my prayer life back up and begin to come clean about my pent up bitterness. It was leading to a life of unforgiveness, hatred, irritability, and lifelessness. But when I began to cry out and reveal myself before Him that's when things in my life started happening. That's when hope was birthed through my place of pain. And today my friends, I encourage you to pray to The Lord Jesus, for He knows the impact of bitterness. Don't let it break you, you allow God to break it when you come before Him in prayer. But if we don't, the kids that bitterness produces are catastrophic.

Til next time, gdow.

References:
Ephesians 4:31
Hebrews 4:16
Matthew 6:9-13
1st Samuel 1

The Rolling Stone

My, my, my. I woke up this morning with a thought in my mind. There's a song by a rapper named Shabach called "The Rolling Stone." It says, "the Rock, roll, rolling stone, we gonna represent y'all for the King on the throne." This thought is in my head because that is what God is doing across the globe. Whenever it seems death has its final grip, when Satan (and yes he does exist, don't be fooled) has the tightest grip in this world, and when the love of most of us has become cold, that's when God (whose name is Jesus) steps in. Throughout world history and in the Bible, we have seen Him move in great ways. From the time Cain killed Abel, to Europe surviving the Bubonic Plague, to slavery being abolished in America, God has orchestrated hope out of these hopeless situations. The key word my friends is hope and hope makes no man, woman, or child feel ashamed. In the four gospels, Jesus continuously told His disciples that He's would be killed by the religious folks but would rise up again im three days. They heard but didn't understand (sound familiar=us). After suffering being beaten beyond recognition, crucified, and buried, His disciples scattered (except John). On the 3rd day, the women who ran hard with Him during His earthly services to mankind came to visit the grace but the stone was rolled away. The angels and later on in two or three of the gospels show Jesus appears to one of the women later. They said to them, why do you look for the Savior? He's living, He's not among the dead! They ran to the disciples who were and proclaimed (yes God uses women to preach the gospel as pastors, prophets, etc, too!) and told them the Master is alive. So some of you are like, this is talking to heavy. Not really but here's the focus point. A lot of us are in a dead situation. Some of have been married for years but no kids, and the doctors say its impossible for this to ever happen. Some of us are in the bring of suicide because life has turned for this worse. Some of us may even have AIDS or cancer that is into to death. Some of us have lost faith and become atheists or turned to itself religions that has no life but only the form of it. But now it's time for us to let God's power roll the great stone away in our lives today. This great stone can be anything. Lies, deception, extortion, poverty, adultery, pornography, doubt, fear, abandonment, homosexuality, abortion, new age thinking, unforgiveness, hatred, business deals gone bad, political corruption, and the list goes on. If we read the latter parts of each of the four gospels, we should realize that it was the life giving force of God that made to stone roll away. This was the same resurrecting Jesus from the grave. And this power is available to whosoever will believe in Him. It's time for us to be released from the grave. It's time for the barriers of life keeping us in grave situations. It's time for freedom only found in Jesus Christ. Simple, isn't? That's because God is simple because He is the epitome of everlasting love. Well, I reckon this is all I have for today. I encourage you all to read Matthew 28, Mark 16, Like 24, and John 20 about the stole being rolled away. Slightly different but all says one thing, at the right moment, let God roll stones in our lives away so life can begin today.

Til next time, gdow

The Willingness Effect

We are in the day and age of persistence, productivity, innovation, and growth. According to economic analysts, whenever we experience a time of trough or recession, a time of growth will occur. During low points, this is when we get down to the basics of things to make things happen. In the early 1970s, The Rolling Stones had to leave England because of financial woes concerning unpaid taxes. They rented an old French chateau in South France ( I think I be wrong), came together, and made one of the most groundbreaking albums in music history. This came to fruition because they were of a willing mind. They understood the willingness effect, meaning the dedication it would take to make this happen. Downstairs in the basement where it was murky, dark, and hot as a seat after on sits on it a long time. Great things don't occur when we do a lot of talking but no action. Great things occur when we say yes to whatever God has put in our hands to do and do it (or at least try). The problem I'm finding these days is that they're aren't a lot of people who are willing to be journeymen, people of excellence, risk takers. These type of people are rare and might I add transcendent and resilient. They make things happen, might I add, they are proactive. They pray about it, read the instruction manual (you should which one), get the ok from their leaders, and make it happen. They are about production with the hands not just production of great ideas never cultivated. Paul praised the church of Corinth because they learned how business ought to be handled. They learned after all their years of giving Paul severe headaches to become a people of readiness of mind. They didn't play with God's business. They pursued it and worked it. But this cannot happen within our lives today if we don't have first a willing mind. A willing mind will do whatever it takes to get it done, not to be a show off, but to manufacture God's glory in our loves for the world to see. If  it had not been for this, Moses would have never stopped at the backside of the mountain to be called into God's grace. Willingness of mind produces results of God's excellence in our lives. Whether it's pursuing a degree, starting a business, publishing a book, reaching the youth, or writing blogs to share what God has put in you, these are results of a willing mind. All we
Have to do is say yes and keep our vows to do what God has created us to do; that is to show off His glory in a dark world wherever He has planted us. As the old saying goes, "Bloom wherever you are planted."  I know this is a lot to be taking in but take it in. If The Rolling Stones made a great product, don't you think God wants to top that to reach a dying world today? Think about as these words deals with us and causes us to be about our Father's business.

Til next time, gdow (i.e. exit David Overton, enter Gabe Williams)

Reference: 2nd Corinthians 8:7-12

The Blessing of Outsiders

My wife and I just got finished with a conversation a few minutes. She was telling me certain things Momma Rachel (my mom-in-law) was sharing about life. Then I told her my dad (Daddy Overton) was sharing with me things that I tried to shun but now find true. Just a couple of weeks ago when I was getting my car serviced, an older white man said these powerful words, "not everybody gets an opportunity to be successful but when you do, you better take it." Most of my adult life has been impacted by people who I've regarded as outsiders, people that aren't in my weekly schedule. These people somehow are linked very close to me. We talk about stupid stuff and then the conversation changes. Now they're telling me this and that and what I need to do. No matter how hurtful it feels, on the end it's worth taking it in. A man by the name of Moses had to sit an listen to an outsider, who was his own father in law about how to pastor Israel. He saw how Moses was getting wore out so he learned the powerful tool of delegation. When Moses applied it, his life ran much smoother (it took him a while though). Balaam had to listen to a donkey and he stopped his crusade to curse a bunch of good people. An outsider by the name of William Mayo came to my office and instructed into the music theory applying musician that I am today. A wise talking builder by the name of Bob my pastors church for them out of the kindness of his hear. What are you saying David? God doesn't want us stuck in our little prisms of ordinary life. He wants us to be free and part of that freedom is not closing our ears from wisdom, sound wisdom wherever whenever and however it comes. Wisdom can come from anywhere and anyone. Even Jesus taught the disciples such words found in Luke 16:9. Paul stated in Hebrews 13:2 that we should treat with outsiders with the upmost respect even the rudest ones because they could be your blessing you've been waiting on. Trust. Don't be so holier than thou or so obnoxious in character that you shun outsiders. Keep your eyes open. Keep your ears open. God will bless u through outsiders so don't be quick to judge in outside appearance, look at the root of things. You'll see it. It'll bless our businesses, families, the whole nine yards.

Til next time, dgwo

Stop Thinking Like A Slave, Start Thinking Like A King

Today, I made a declaration to myself. I said to self, "self, it's time to stop living like a slave, it's time for you to start thinking like a king." As one wise man said thousands of years ago, "so as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." A popular saying but how many of us really knows what he really meant? I'll tell you what he really meant. He meant it's time for us to prioritize our way of thinking. We tend to think on those things are a negative, repulsive, lustful, bitter, and unproductive. Many of us (I hate to say this) are stuck in the same rut. Year after year, it's the same thing. Every time things get hard, we revert to victims instead of being victors. We play the blame on those who raised us and those we thought were supposed to help us. But as I've learned within my 31 anos on this planet, life ain't fair. Things don't go our way all the time, it doesn't matter who we are. From the President of the United States, to the smartest chess player in the known world. But what makes us special is the way we think. To throw a nugget at you, what determines the way we live? It's the way we think. Jesus talked about three types of soil that received seed from the farmer. One soil received it but the seed bounced off of it because it was so hard. The other soil received it but thorns and briers choked out the seed from the ground. Another soil gladly received the seed and produced a great harvest. 1 out of 3 us are going to be that good soil. Think about it. Look around you. Look at the world. Many of us, even after reading this will still live like slaves because we'll continue to think as slaves. Willie Lynch's words still are prevalent in American society. His words still have reduced the opportunity of living as royalty insurmountably. But this is where Jesus' promises come in.....If we take hold of His words, dudes and dudettes, we'll never fail. No matter, our minds are fixed to live as royalty, gladly, boldly, smartly, and humbly. One of the reasons why we see certain people in society being fruitful, they've made their minds up to make it happen. When we read about the life of Jesus, we should see He walked, talked, and thought like a king. He wasn't a slave to sin, the ways of this world, or to what people wanted Him to do. He was a king who lived for only one purpose. And we need to take on His mind set, to live as kings and not as slaves. Slaves are blind, dumb, dumb-founded, and naive. They are easily tricked into doing things that will keep them chained. But kings see afar off. They rule well. They take care of the people God has put in their lives. They make wise decisions. They think ahead. One thing I can't stand is seeing people live below their means as far as life goes but never be the royalty they are supposed to be. This goes for the ladies who feel their only way of income is on the pole to the dudes who think a life of crime is the only way to go. Our kids are slaves to fashion instead of excelling in their studies. All this potential wasted on foolishness. Think higher. Reach higher. Don't like the surroundings, be different. Na'mean? (NY style). Seek the mind of Christ and follow His examples He's left behind for us to observe.

Til next time, dgwo

Reference:
Proverbs 23:7
1st Corinthians 2:9-16

Get Your Mind Right

Since beginning my journey in an MBA program, my mind has been through heavy rearranging. The time I used to mess off is now being used to get things accomplished. My vision is getting much clearer and my senses are heightened. I'm no longer down with the ship of mediocrity. I'm down with getting things handled, getting reproved, and moving forward. I've realized this is the perfect time for me to get my mind right. You know what else? It's time for you to get your mind right, too. Over a decade ago, a "Brooklyn-ite" by the name of Memphis Bleek came out with a song called "Get Your Mind Right." I guess it's safe to say the essence of that song was to get your mind focused on being the best that you can be. To be honest my friend, the blote has a valid point. When our mind is focused on accomplishing goals, we get it done. No excuses (fancy lies - Peace to Mandryum Moore). We become proactive instead of reactive. Getting our mind right is being productive and leaving all that high school/middle school chatterboxes in the gutter where they stand. Getting our mind right is all about moving forward and not looking back. Of course, the only way to move forward is when we have the mind of Christ. What is the mind of Christ? It's the type of mind that gives us the power to have the exact nature and character of God Himself. It causes us to pray when we see trouble coming from afar off. It's the type of mindset that causes us to speak blessings when cursings is seemingly overtaking our life. The mind of Christ helps us get our minds right and ready to roll. It's the mind regulator.