I Need A Word

“Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.” Jeremiah 11:11

Often times when my boys are playing together, I always hear one of them cry out “Daddy!” Most of the time it is because they want something and every now and then it is because one is agitating the other and they want me to come and handle it. Without knowing where I am or what I am doing they confidently cry out my name and I believe that it is because they are sure that I am going to answer. They don’t have to see me to know that I am present and again when they call their expectation is that I will always answer. As a matter of fact, if I don’t answer the first time they will keep calling my name until I do answer.

In this text the Lord sent a hard message to the people of Judah through Jeremiah. He told them that that they would be cursed if they didn’t abide by the terms of the covenant that He set with their forefathers. God told them that if they didn’t obey what HE has already laid out then there would be consequences. The unfortunate thing for them is the people of Judah tested God’s theory by returning to the same sin of their forefathers. As a result of their actions God brought them all of the curses of the covenant. This is where today’s text picks up and God is saying that when they cry out for Him, He will not listen because they have chosen to follow other gods to serve them.

I can’t imagine crying out to God and he doesn’t answer in some way. The unfortunate part is that many people take the covenant that we have with God lightly and when it is convenient for them, they cry out to God expecting Him to always be there to answer the call. The truth is that we can sometimes sabotage our own prayers. The Bible gives light to several passages of scripture that mention attitudes and actions that can hinder our prayers. If we sin according to Jeremiah 14:10-12 the Lord says not to even pray for the well-being of His people because He will not listen. You can also see Psalms 66:18 and Isaiah 59:2. If we are disobedient Psalms 28:9 says that if we turn from the law, our prayers are detestable. Other factors that can hinder God answering our prayers are hypocrisy, impure motives (Mal 1:7-9), lack of faith and even marital problems (1 Peter 3:7).

Even though what sometimes seems to be no answer to your prayers is simply a delayed answer, we want to make sure that we are in line with God. We can’t assume that just because we are God’s children, we can act any kind of way and still expect God to answer every time we call. My boys are confident that when they call I will answer, however when I do the truth comes out and my response may not always be what they expect. When you call on God, He already knows your request. The question is have you done anything that will cause Him to delay in answering your prayers? Think about it and get back in line with God’s will.

God Bless,
Jesse R. Watson Jr

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

The trust factor goes a long way with people. In every relationship that you will ever have the ability to trust the person and them trusting you, will make or break your relationship. Think about it, when you are dating someone and you find yourself doubting what they say to you, at that point you begin to shutdown and the brick wall goes up. Even with parents and their children, when trust goes out of the door so does the child’s freedom and they find themselves on a very strict schedule.

Faith and trust are synonymous and it is the conviction of the truth of anything. This text is in the shadow of a scripture that we have all heard before which is Hebrews 11:1. This entire text covers many situations that display the power that having faith holds. Lives were saved, many were blessed, doors were opened, truth was revealed, miracles took place and the list could go on. The writer even admits that he didn’t have time to express every instance where faith was activated and lives were changed.

Simply put the text is saying that without having trust, belief, confidence, and faith in God it is impossible to please Him. This is true in our lives as well. For a child it is impossible to please his mother or father unless they have confidence in each other. It is also impossible to please your wife, husband, or significant other unless you have confidence in each other. If there is any hint of doubt or distrust, there will be conflict and misery. It is so interesting that we hold everyone in our circle to such a high standard when it comes to trust. We expect a high level of trust and nothing less. The truth is if someone violates that trust then we are more than willing to let them know or let them go.

The same applies with God. He cannot be pleased with man who has no confidence in Him, who doubts the truth and promise for which He stands for. If we don’t believe that His way is right, there is no way to please God. The same that we require of our children, friends, spouses, and significant others are the same that God requires of us. How can we not live up to His standard, but expect others to live up to ours? Just know as well that there is no amount of work that we can do to compensate for a lack of faith.

The awesome part about God is that if we don’t have faith in Him, he still doesn’t push us aside. He allows situations to happen in our lives to help us develop that faith in Him. Just as the text states if we are going to go to God we must believe that He exist as the true and living God and that He will prove Himself to be a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him. To earnestly seek God means to do it with a sense of urgency. God earnestly seeks us daily, let us stop running and start chasing God. In order for us to become God chasers we must believe that He exists. He wants that intimate relationship with us and there is no reason for Him not to be pleased with us.

God Bless,

Jesse Watson Jr.

Verse of the day

“For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the
ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your
freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.”- 1 Peter
2:15-16

Most of my life, I have lived following Christ. Again as I stated
before, I have never had anything to drink or smoke ever. So there
were times especially during my college years where I was considered
by friends as “Mr. Goody” or something because I wouldn’t walk on the
edge like some of them did. Some of them would always say to me that
God wouldn’t punish me for do something wrong. I even had a
girlfriend at that time who would always say to me that she was going
to slip some alcohol in something that I had because I didn’t want to
drink. I never liked getting in trouble or having to deal with the
consequences because I saw others go through it and I was always
scared of the Lord.

Living as a servant is a lifestyle, and something that you can turn
on and off. It is also a decision that you have to be committed to
and trust me if you are committed to God then He is truly going to be
Faithful to you. As a result of my decision God has come through in
some of the most frustrated times of my life. He has made me an
overcomer so many times that I am convinced, truly that nothing can
separate me from the love of God.

I can truly say that living as a servant of God, while it may not
always be easy, is well worth it. Through Christ I have experienced
many ups and downs, however I can say that it is only through Christ
that I went through those times and truly experienced Victory.

There are a lot wolves in sheep’s clothing in the world and we have
to be careful with whom we allow to be in our space. As believers you
have to make sure that you are not one of those people. Live life to
the fullest and live free, the only condition is that the only way to
do that is through Christ.

God Bless
Jesse Watson Jr.

“[For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song.] God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”- Psalm 46:1
The Amplified version says, “GOD IS our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.”
The New Living Translation says, “God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.”

We are all familiar with superheroes. As children we either were just fascinated by them or wanted to be them. How exciting to have someone to swoop through in your time of need and take away whatever posed itself as a threat to you. That just all make believe right?

That statement is not true to a certain degree. No matter how you read this we can trust God. The text is saying that God is a mighty shelter and He is impenetrable meaning He can withstand anything. Just think if you had on a bullet proof vest, they are designed so that no bullet can penetrate them. You will still be able to feel the effects of the attack but it won’t harm you. Isn’t that true to our lives now? There are some things that we go through that we can feel the affects of but it causes us no harm. That’s Jesus Christ, our hero, the one who lightens the blow for us daily. We wear His imputed righteousness and that protects us.

In the stories of the superheroes, victims often call on their names and then out of the blue the hero appears to save the day. Well all we have to do is call on the name of Jesus Christ and He is a very present help in our time of need. His word says that He will never leave us nor forsake and it says that He who watches over Israel neither slumber nor sleep, so why wouldn’t He do the same for us. He is on watch 24/7. There are many differences between the superheroes we grew up watching and Jesus Christ.

They are human.

He is the son of God.

They have special powers.

He has all power.

They would want you to keep their secret to yourself.

He wants you to tell the world about Him.

They have a weakness

He personifies strength.

They come when you call.

He is always present with you and everyone else at all times.

They have to live to protect.

He unselfishly died to be our savior, so that we could live.

The awesome part is knowing that IF you are in God, in Christ you are fully protected and He is always ready to help. There is a song that says,” Trust in God, Never doubt. Just Believe, He’ll work it out.” Jesus Christ died to prove how much He loves us and He came to serve. We don’t need another hero when we have Jesus Christ.

He was sent to serve and you are His priority.

God Bless,
Jesse R. Watson Jr.

Verse of the day

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their
work: If one falls down,
his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has
no one to help him up!”- Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

There is a saying that states two heads are better than one. At that
point at least there is someone to bounce your information off of and
confirm where you are or give some insight on a better way.

I know for me there have been many times that I would not have made
it if I were by myself. I have a very select group of people that I
call friend, my best friend being my wife. These people have given me
life when I was down, a smile if I was sad, a good laugh just
because, an awesome return on my investment in them you name it. I
thank God for them because there was a time when I thought I could do
everything myself.

I remember when I had Narcolepsy, lost my job, car being repossessed,
roommate bailed out on me with six months left on the lease, evicted
and homeless. That was a really rough time in my life and to make
matters worse I didn’t want to let anyone in my private space. As a
result I had a life threatening sickness; where I was labeled as
totally disabled and there is no cure for it, jobless and about to be
homeless and I had no one to really lean on.

I had no one because I didn’t allow anyone to know everything. God
and I had a very long conversation one day and the light came on. I
had three people at the time that I allowed access to everything and
things began to change. Through them I met my wife, I had a roof over
my head rent free until my situation changed, they helped me start my
own business and really got me back on my feet. Most importantly they
got me back in tune with God for real which leads to me being HEALED
BY GOD form narcolepsy.

If it weren’t for that time in my life and the people that I had to
lean on I would not be here today. The most inspiring of those
friends is my wife who chose to believe in me even when I didn’t
believe in myself. I had nothing, no job, no house, no clear direction
on where I was going and none of that mattered to her. Her patience
with me and love for me gave me new life and here we are 14 years and
two children later. God is so faithful and true to His word.

Nothing good EVER comes out of doing anything by yourself. Appreciate
the friends that God has given you and especially your husband /wife
because they are like you lifeline when you can’t find your way.

Many of you have made a significant impact on my life and you may not
know it, so I give you your roses now. Thank you and I love you.

No one deserves to live life alone and the Bible is very clear when
it says two are better than one.

God Bless,

Jesse

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42

This was a very trying time in the life of Jesus Christ. Here He was faced with being separated from His Father as a sacrifice for so many others who don’t know Him. He is expressing his distress and sorrows because He knew what was coming. Jesus Christ was faced with making a decision on life or death. We all know that He chose death out of obedience to God and to give us the opportunity to have life.

What I find that is so interesting is that Jesus Christ died to save lives long before many had been born so we had no way of knowing Him to even decide to accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior. Regardless to that fact we don’t deserve the sacrifice by Jesus Christ, He died so that we can live.

Sitting in church Sunday listening to the pastor, I begin to think about this. What if we had to make a decision like Jesus did? What if we had to choose between life and dying on the cross especially for people that we don’t know? Then it hit me. I am more than sure that if any of us had to make that choice more often than not the answer would be to live. I don’t know too many people who are willing to die, especially not for anyone else.

So then I pose this question to everyone. If life is our choice over death, then why do so many people choose death daily? There are so many things that we dilute ourselves with that is slowly killing us daily and we freely choose it. We are called to pick up our cross daily yet so many people refuse or the timing is not right for them, their lives have to be in a certain place first.

Jesus had a moment when He thought about all of the suffering that He had to endure for us. The interesting thing that made Him ask for the cup to pass Him was the thought of being separated from God not the pain. We live in a society where things that cause death, is the popular choice and I am not just talking about physical death, we are talking about spiritual death. This is why the Bible says for us to die to our flesh daily because it is in constant battle with the Spirit. You know in the end one of them have to win and the victor is the one that we give power to. Romans 8:6 says, “The mind of a sinful is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”

Given the decision, what do you choose? Life or death? Jesus Christ chose life for you and I before we were ever thought of and if given the chance He would do it again. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8

The choice is yours. Choose wisely, daily.

God Bless,

Jesse Watson Jr.

“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” Ecclesiastes 7:8

Sprinters understand that when they are competing, how they start will dictate how they finish. An athlete who has to run the 40 yard dash knows all to well that if their start is horrible then their time will not be good. In most races it is important to those who participate to get off to a great start because their biggest concern is always about positioning themselves to win.

Life is in essence a race as well and marriage for some is a part of that race. How you start in a marriage is very important. The foundation in which it is built upon really determines if there is a chance for your marriage to survive. In most relationships the beginning normally is often the best memories. You laugh, and spend quality time together in such a way that nothing else really matters. As time progress, your marriage evolves and some often get lost in the hustle and bustle of the day and get away from those things that brought you together.

There is a great responsibility of husbands and wives to make it a point to still enjoy each other, leaning on the things that brought you together and create new landmarks in your relationship to build on. It is not always easy and the truth of the matter is that it takes two not one.

Marriage is a covenant not a contract. A covenant is an eternal agreement with God while a contract is temporary and has rule for you to break your agreement. So with that said how you finish is just as important as how you start. It is true that in some cases people lose interest in each other and their relationship fades, but you have to ask yourself what role did you play and can it be fixed.

God wants us to start strong and finish strong and we can’t allow things like pride to get in the way. The Bible says that pride comes before destruction so in a prideful situation you know what comes next. In God’s eyes how you finish is very important as a matter of fact here the text is saying that finishing is better than starting!

If your marriage is on life support, ask yourself have I done everything that I can to finish strong despite my husband/wife’s efforts. If your answer is no or you have doubt then you have work to do because at the end of the day God is more interested in how you finish. After all you made a vow to your spouse and a covenant with God. Even runners get tired but they don’t stop running, they have certain techniques that they apply to help them get their second wind to finish the race.

Don’t quit if you can stand it, just push. God is rooting for you and so am I.

God Bless,

Jesse Watson Jr.

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.” 1 Timothy 2:3-7

Many of us are working hard to secure our future financially. We work crazy hours week in and week out just to position ourselves to retire after 30 or 40 years with high hopes of being financially secure. We work hard everyday not just because we have to but because we want to model for our young people how to be responsible, and dependable. It is true that we work because we have to pay bills but I am sure that there is more to it for you than that, at least I hope that it is. Either way we know that today’s youth play a huge role in our future, so we have to shape their minds and hearts to be prepared.

What about working hard to secure our future spiritually? While we are going through our daily routine, how much attention are we giving to what God has called us to do? Here the Apostle Paul was talking to young Timothy helping to prepare him to live for Christ. He was training young Timothy on how to be a great leader that not only others can trust but one that God can trust.

When we think about the full knowledge of God, who really qualifies to share the truth and how does the youth today know how to identify those individuals? When I read 1 Timothy 1 it brings me to accept the actuality that just like Paul, I too am one of the worst of sinners but by the grace of God He has considered me trustworthy and appointed me to His service. We are all in that same position so our approach to helping these young people know and understand the truth should be taken from these pages in 1Timothy.

We have to be a Paul to these young Timothy’s and help them understand that they are like Timothy or help them grow to desire to be like Timothy. This is where identity comes in. When you look at the text above if we share it from the right context I believe that we can turn on the light to letting these young people know that they too are included in God’s plans. The Bible says that God wants all not just some people. God wants these young people to come into knowing the full knowledge of the truth which is made so clear in versus 5 and 6 above.

We have to help these young people recognize who they really are in Christ and how to discern who has been appointed to God’s service so that they can be discipled. We have to dedicate the same time if not more to truly make a major impact on the lives of the youth for Christ sake as we do trying to secure our financial future. We have to help them see that when they interact with us it is not by accident, it is an appointment by God (the proper time) for them to grow to know who they really are in Jesus Christ. Equally important, they have to understand that God appointed us to lead them to that truth and they have to see how much we value Jesus by the way we represent His name.

Don’t forget that while we are securing our financial future, we have to invest in our youth to secure our future spiritually as well.

God Bless,

Jesse R. Watson Jr.
Email: morningcoffee2011@yahoo.com

“For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,” Philippians 1:29

Once you read this text it makes you think. Reading the part about suffering for Christ may not sit well with many people. According to a report by “Christian Today” done in 2011, 51% of the people in the world believe in God. 18% of the world doesn’t believe in God and 17% are undecided. I don’t know about the remaining percent of people. However, it appears that not many people are too sure about believing in Christ either.

This text is actually liberating when you dig deep into its meaning. First, the word “granted” means a privilege so in essence the text is saying, “For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.”

The question may arise here as to why it would be considered a privilege to believe in and more especially suffer for Christ? Suffering for Christ could come in many different forms. People may talk about you because of your belief or strong faith in Christ, you may be treated differently, or you just may find that you have some people who are against you. We have to keep in mind that if there were no cross then there wouldn’t have been a crown. So we may experience temporal suffering now but the eternal glory is the reward.

A lot of our suffering is self-made as a result of sinful behavior but that is not the same suffering that Paul was talking about. Suffering for Christ develops our spiritual muscles and gives us the strength and courage to face whatever enemy we may encounter. The blessing in this thought is that according to scripture we have victory in Jesus Christ, so our side always wins.

Ultimately, our faith in God implies an oneness with Jesus Christ and a fellowship with His suffering according to Philippians 3:10. To suffer with Jesus Christ proves our union with Him, and our union with Christ insures our salvation. So count it all joy when you face trials of many kinds. The truth is we were destined to face trials, it is just liberating to know that we are doing it with Christ so in that we will always experience victory.

God Bless,

Jesse R. Watson Jr
Email: morningcoffee2011@yahoo.com