Dedicated to Getting or Staying Spiritually Fit

I was so moved to see Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmed this afternoon. Like so many of you, I can’t help but feel a sense of pride—a sense of joy—to know that this deserving, accomplished Black woman will help chart our nation’s course. So many women of color now have a new role model to look up to as she serves on the highest court of the land. Thank you, Justice Jackson, for giving Black girls and women everywhere—including my daughters—a new dream to dream, a new path to forge, and a future we can all be hopeful for.

While in Chicago, Barack attended the Chicago Bulls game with young people from the Girls Opportunity Alliance and My Brother's Keeper Alliance. But he wasn’t the only one they got to meet—they also had a chance to hear from professionals in the sports industry to learn about careers through our Future Series.

Through the Obama Foundation, Barack and I are working to make sure that students around Chicago have access to diverse and engaging opportunities throughout the city. We never want them to learn about a job or career and feel like they can’t do it. And I hope meeting and learning from the folks working at the United Center, Bulls, and Blackhawks have taught them they can be anyone they want to be—an athlete, an executive, or even President.

I was blessed to hear two sermons on Palm Sunday, both were very thought provoking.
The first one came from the Gospel of John the other from the Gospel of Luke. There were a few different point based on each author who tells it just a little different, however there were a few similarities.

There was one really good point Christian’s today can really take and use today. Do yo know what that could’ve been.

What can you tell us about the sermon (s) you heard on Palm Sunday?

Easter is not a day – it is a season, and a way of life.

Think About It!
I’m so Grateful for the teaching of the Holy Spirit, which leds me.

As Christian’s do we really know what the sabbath is? Which was commanded prior to Christ, well let the Word Speak for itself.

Read carefully and pay close attention without adding our own biases.

Sabbath

Jesus clashed with the religious leaders of his day over many issues: religious traditions, associating with sinners, spiritual authority and more. On one issue in particular — the Sabbath — these leaders monitored Jesus’ actions scrupulously.

The Ten Commandments prohibited work on the Sabbath since it was a holy day set apart (Exodus 20:8 – 11).

What activities constitute “work?”

By Jesus’ day, the rabbis and scribes had become so strict that they accused Jesus’ disciples of breaking the Sabbath because they picked some grain and ate it as they walked through a field on the Sabbath (Luke 6:1 – 2).

Jesus’ healings on the Sabbath enraged the religious teachers who classified healing as “work” and therefore prohibited it (Deuteronomy 5:15). He revealed the rabbis’ hypocrisy with his response.

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:24-28

The reality is that, thru Christ, we live in a perpetual Sabbath or rest from our works thru the dispensation of the Grace Covenant.

As followers of Jesus, we aren't required to follow the laws given to Israel by God exactly. These were given at a specific time to a specific people group for a specific purpose. Yet the wisdom of those laws is enduring, and the law of the Sabbath is pure gold. It is not a commandment we are bound to; it’s a promise we’re invited to.

Sabbath rest is an invitation to practice for eternity.

Thank You God for Your Grace Is sufficient! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 Glory Hallelujah

This year, Lent begins on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The official end of Lent is on Saturday, April 16, 2022, the day before Easter Sunday.

Lent is the six-week season that leads up to Easter. The Lenten season is one of the most significant times of the year for many Christians around the world, especially those within the Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox churches, held at a comparable level of meaning to Advent, the arrival of Christmas.

While Advent is a time of rejoiceful anticipation, Lent is commonly regarded as a period of sober observance. The Lenten season is a preparation for commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter. From its start date on Ash Wednesday until its conclusion on Easter Sunday, Lent has been a customary time for fasting or giving something up or abstinence. Just as we thoughtfully prepare for events in our individual lives, such as a wedding, or birthday; participating in Lent invites us to prepare our minds and hearts for glorifying Jesus’ life, death, and bodily resurrection.

Ash Wednesday starts Lent with a day of remembering our humanity, the reality of death, and the need for repentance. Churches symbolize this by putting ashes on foreheads, often in the shape of a cross.

The pandemic we have all been forced to change our lives. While we don’t always have control over circumstances changing, we can choose how we will respond to them. We can either stay stagnant or grow spiritually.

Intentional Study

Live/Walk by the Spirit:
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63).

Worship in Spirit:
“We are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth” (John 4:24).

How to use our God-given gifts:

Are we being edified in our churches to use our gifts or are they being suppressed by oppression?

Live/Walk by the Spirit:
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63).

Worship in Spirit:
“We are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth” (John 4:24).

How to use our God-given gifts:

Are we being edified in our churches to use our gifts or are they being suppressed by oppression?