Dear Edward

Dear Edward,

This third semester of graduate school has been the most difficult so far. In three weeks you have had your integrity and intelligence questioned by a professor. You have been given the title of having anxiety by that same professor because you wanted to be prepared for the test. I know after last night quiz you felt defeated. It feels like you’re in a stagnant place, where your back is up against the wall and all you know what to do is fight back. Physical fight is not what we do but God have given you the weapons to fight spiritually.

It comes a time in your life where you have to dig deeper inside and Trust God even when you can’t trace Him. He make it’s difficult for you to hear Him or even feel Him but remember He is a teacher. He is the one who will help you cross over to the promise land. God never goes back on a promise or change. In Deuteronomy 31:6 God tells us to be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Be strong and courageous- no matter what your going through hang on. Keep smiling and praying . Don’t let the enemy try to pull you off track or get inside your head. Keep your helmet on tight and the rest of your armor. God told you He will never leave you nor forsake.

God is looking to see how obedient you will be. He’s looking to see how much trust you will put in Him. No one can tell you what you can do because God said you can do all thing through Christ Jesus. Hang on in there, the time will come when whatever your facing will meet your God. Even though you can’t see your Way out, the victory is already won. God has already wrote your story. Remember He will Never Leave you nor forsake You.

Hang in there,

Edward Caldwell

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Got Pain?

Are you hurting? Are you struggling to get to the next level? Are you undecided on what to do with your life?  The majority of the world is dealing with these same issues. Many have a lot of aspirations of becoming successful, but no one wants the hurt, pain, and  struggle that goes with it. Pain is something we can not escape whether if we are babies getting vaccination or an elderly person dealing with life changings. Pain is a vital part of our life . God allows pain in our life to draw us closer to Him. If God didn’t allow pain, how could you help encourage someone through life journey, if you never experienced anything before.

How could you speak boldly in faith , if you never had a chance to speak to your own mountain before. Not only does God allows pain to happen but He uses it to help us grow. Everyone wants to grow but the  discomfort, aches, long nights, and sporadic pain that comes with it isn’t fun at all. Growing pains hurts because there is a change that’s happening on the inside. God is not only changing you, but sometimes He’s removing people out of your life as well.

When I think of growing, I think of a tree. A tree  deals with a lot through it’s lifespan on earth. It loses branches but still remain tall. It loses leaves, but still remain in a perfect shape. The key to a tree lively hood are in it’s root. A tree can survived any climate  because it’s roots are  deeply rooted in the ground. God wants us to be deeply rooted in His Word. No matter how much we are struggling with life,  if we are deeply rooted in God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will leads us into His truths(John 16:13). The only thing we need to have is an  open heart, humble lifestyle, and a listening ear for God.

Pain is not fun but be thankful that God is allowing you to experience it. We may not understand the pain now but when God delivers you through this test, you will be so grateful that He chose you. Take out a moment in your day today and Thank God for the pain that’s in your life. Let God know that you Trust Him through it all.

John 16:21

A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come, but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no remembers the anguish,  for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

Fan V. Follower- Blog inspired by Not a Fan

A fan is often someone who admires a team, someone, or something. It’s the person who doesn’t mind sitting outside in the cold at a football game to cheer on his or her team. It’s the person who doesn’t miss a game because he or she is loyal to the hometown football team. Does that sound like someone you know or is that you? On December 25th, fans came out of nowhere to help celebrate Jesus’s Birthday. Jesus has the most fans but He never asks for them. His Church has turned into arenas instead of a safe haven for sinners who desperately need to be healed and saved. In Luke 9:23-24: Then He said to them all, If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my Sake will gain it.

 Jesus personally invites you to “take up your cross…” . But this is where we lack to RSVP to His invitation.  We say, “Not today Jesus, maybe tomorrow, next week, or next year.” We treat Him like the diet we were meaning to start. Like the Gym membership we were meaning to use, however we let it sit around and drain our funds (in relation to our spirituality). Unfortunately, tomorrow may never come. Therefore reality sets in and reminds us that In order for us to get what we need from Jesus, something inside of us or around us has to die. 

We ask the Lord for a lot. We pray the most ridiculous prayers in hopes of gaining something or someone we don’t need. We desire them because we see others with these worldly things, and our flesh desires them as well. We get mad when God give us that one prayer we prayed for, although it didn’t turn out how we expected it to. Why? Because He needed to show you it wasn’t what you REALLY needed. We ask… He answers, He asks and we “run the other way.”  Jesus wants us to die to what we believe holds value… or what we believe we can overcome alone such as worry, hurt from the past, and lukewarmness.

But when we learn to “die daily,” things change in our life.  We begin to discover life, and most of all, what we’re put on this Earth for… PURPOSE! “Dying daily” is not easy. It requires pain, suffering, and even shaking. Never question the process because it’s all working for your good. I remember the old medicine bottle stated “shake well before using.” The reason you had to shake the medicine well was to get the full effect from it.  God has to do the same to us. If you’re struggling with something, remember God is trying to get the full effect out of you.

 Last week, my girlfriend was excited to use this new mask she bought. It was a spray-on mask, so the more you sprayed on, the more the dead skin would instantly fall off. I thought it was cool and wanted to see the dead skin fall off my face as well. Thus, as I put this spray on my face I saw the dead skin fall off, but I heard God say, “The more you apply me to your life, the things you are holding on to will fall off.” So as we enter 2017, I pray that we continue to follow God and apply Him to our whole life instead of certain areas… that way we can be cleansed from the things that are holding us back.

 

Does Love Hurt

Year after year, we hear the slogan “love hurts.” Many people say love hurts from past experiences that have caused them to become timid or even fearfull to love again. It’s easy to confuse lust with love . Lust is only a sexual desire when Love is an intense deep feeling. There’s a huge diffence, but society only paints the sexual desire, which makes love seem like it hurts when a relationship doesn’t last. Love is more than a feeling because love requires and demands actions.  Lust is temporary when love is forever. If love ever hurt you, then it wasn’t love.

Love doesn’t hurt; it brings joy to your bones. Love makes you blossom when times are wither. Most of all, God loved you enough to die for you. We love because God first loved  us. When I hear that, it brings joy to my soul . If you never experienced love, keep seeking God because He gives and shows us all how to love.  God’s love is like no others. When you’re down or low,  always remember 1 C0orinthians 13:4-8:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails………

Fall Again ?

 

Last Thursday was the beginning of the fall season . You could tell it was fall from the colors that were being represented around town, the post on social media about the cooler weather from people around the world, but most of all, the changes of the leaves on the trees. That was so great to hear but it still felt like the first day of summer in Texas. The weather that day was literally 95 degrees and no sight of fall was in site for us. People still had to blow their air conditions even harder and some had to even keep the fans blowing as well. The heat was ridiculous but we knew soon the weather would change because we had rain in the forecast for the weekend. The rain was like no other that weekend–the flood gates from  Heavens were open. Today as I stepped outside it was 61 degrees in Texas. Many would say Texas weather is just crazy, but it’s a message here for all us. God gives us messages, however it’s our job to understand them.

When we hear the word rain, we automatically think about our plans being ruined–we have to stay in the house, and it just messes up the flow of things. The things we are thinking about is the physical and worldly things that will not last forever. We need to be grateful for the rain. When it feels  like the rain won’t leave your life,  just look up to heaven and say, THANK YOU JESUS. God sends rain to wash us from all of the dirt that we have accumulated from life; He sends rain to help us grow out of bad situations, and finally He sends rain to make a clear path for our purpose here on earth. What I love the most is that in our life, we experience every season . At the end of the season, we should have grown and be able to help someone else, but the greatest of them all is that the season will change, but Our God still remains the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pressure Inside

This week has been a very long one. I thought since it was my birthday week that everything would go smoothly, but it didn’t. My girlfriend did everything to make it a great birthday, but leading up to it was hard–from work problems to life stumbling blocks. It seemed like the enemy was throwing everything he had at me. The first thing the enemy comes for is your mind; that’s why you have to be grounded in the Word Of God. As he was trying I could hear Jesus say, “If you suffer with me, you will reign with me.” – (2 Timothy 2:12 ). When you are grounded in the Word of God, the enemy can attack all he wants, but he will never be able to touch you because his gun is empty and Jesus has already defeated him.

It was times this week where I felt like giving up, but God wouldn’t allow me to . The pressure on the inside felt like water getting ready to burst out of a pipe. I  could feel the pressure building up, but the pipe wouldn’t break. I wanted to become sluggish because of the stuff that was getting thrown at me, but I knew I had to keep doing my best. At the moment where I was ready to give up because the politics at work was driving me insane, God stepped in. He showed me that no matter what is going on, God is still in control. He turned what I thought was a bad week to a prosperous week. I was told that they wanted me to take a position for an upcoming job starting in November.  I will also be seeking a Master’s Degree in Public Health in the spring. I’m sharing this with you to encourage you to stay in the fight because it takes pressure to make diamonds.

The pressure on the inside has to be increased in order to draw you closer to God. He also takes that pressure to clean off the things on the inside that are keeping you down. He use the pressure like a pressure washer to bring the old back to new.  The pressure will finally burst and a new feeling will take over your body. That new feeling will be a new desire for God. That desire that only the creator can give to you. I want you to use that feeling and change the whole world. I know it’s hard at this moment, but hang in there because someone out there needs your light.  I am cheering you on and God Loves You.

 

 

 

 

 

Hope Is Found

In 1970 my cousin was attending East Texas State University in Commerce, TX (which is now known as Texas A&M Commerce). While going to school he met a lovely lady who would eventually become his wife for so many years. One day she was riding around town with her hand hanging out the window and lost his class ring that he had given to her. She tried searching for it but didn’t have any luck on finding it. I could only imagine the things that she was thinking because she had lost something so precious to her. She probably thought about this ring over and over but couldn’t do anything. The only thing she could do was pray that one day it will appear again. This year was a hard year for her because my cousin passed from a heart attack. Sometime in August, Timothy (My cousin brother) received a phone call that his brother class ring had been discovered.

He thought it was hoax but in September he found it to be true. He met with the young girl and family at cracker barrel to hear how she found the ring but most off all to receive the ring. The young girl was playing her instrument at band camp where she kept kicking the ring because she thought it was a rock. She reached down to pick up the rock and discovered his class ring. The ring had been lost for 46 years but was in perfect condition. Over the weekend Timothy presented the ring to his brother‘s wife at a family reunion.

When I think about the ring, I think about how many weather climates it had to go through from Earthquakes, Tornados, Flooding, and cold winter months. It’s an absolute blessing that the ring was discovered and was in perfect conditions. Just like the ring, we must go through these life storms. While in the life storms we must hold on to God’s unchanging hand. Life can be hard and make you want to literally pull out your hair but when you have God that’s all you need.  To know that the ring was in perfect condition lets me know not only will God protect you, He will also preserve you. What’s so amazing that Psalms 121:7 tell us “the Lord will preserve thee from all evil; He shall preserve thy soul.” Things may be hard now but God is molding you into something great. You can’t see it now but remember God is preserving you for something greater.