I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will also lead him, And restore comforts to him And to his mourners. Isaiah 57:18
In life opportunities present themselves and decisions are made. Sometimes the decisions are right and sometimes they are wrong. There are times when your decisions are instantly revealed and some don’t surface until later, but each decision and every opportunity can be used for your good in the end. Even if you lost things, your reputation was damaged, the family split up or anything else that resulted from a period of time in your life when things weren’t what you wanted, hoped or imaged them to be. Well there’s good news!!! God is a restoring God and He can restore you. He can show you how to fix what you messed up, He can touch the hearts of those that said they would never forgive you and He can direct you to people and places you would have never met or gone.
Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them.” Nehemiah 5:11

If you don’t have any goals, it’s time to set some. God is ready to restore His children and the ones that will be restored are those that are preparing for elevation. You may not have what you need, you may not understand where you are going and you may not even be able to imagine yourself doing anything else but I am writing to tell you today get ready for the next big opportunity. God is ready to restore you – are you ready to be restored?

Restore me Lord,
Minister Deidra Bibb

I cannot but think on our African American forefathers who have long time come and gone, not by consent, but by constraint. Who left behind very few tangible possessions as a legacy or inheritance, but great levels of hope for the future. Reverend Joseph Lowery, when interviewed on TBN declared most recently the progress we have made, but also the mountains we have yet to push down. He also pointed out the degree of regression made as pertaining to our young people. Hastily my mind reflected a proclamation of Dr. Martin Luther King – I have a dream that one day my four little children will live in a nation where they will no longer be judged by the color of their skin but by the contents of their character. God our Father, has brought us across many great rivers, but as a citizen, I agree with Rev. Lowery, we have great mountains to tear down. We have a right to celebrate our heritage, for what the halls of congress declared would never manifest in this country has happened. Not because a man alone said it but because God had declared that the first shall be last and the last shall be first!  He cannot lie!
We had been programmed to believe God gave us nothing, to very little, to bring to the table of social culture. But we, African American descendants, are most innovative and resilient. We have always known how to survive under great pressure. We took scraps and built upon them; for we had respect for the “little”, in that we despised it not. My grandfather would always tell us that a poor man had nothing to waste. We were drilled to hate the bondage that was forced upon us, but to gaze through the window of hope. I contend with the theory to a degree that poverty breeds slum: for, in many cases, what has given rise to poverty is not a lack of opportunity, but a lack of self-motivation and inspiration to move forward.
The Word of God speaks of a man who kills an ox and sits allowing it to rot before he stands to prepare it. It speaks of the man who has chosen to sleep and twiddle his thumbs, doing nothing and finds himself in need. It (Proverbs) speaks of the procrastinator who is always going to do, yet never does. As a mother, grandmother, pastor, and ordinary citizen I often search out the ball, when it was dropped. Where did it roll? Every human in America who works and pays taxes contributes to the aid of the poor and needy who are in the system. It is designed to strengthen weak links, to offer a hand for those who are struggling. But it saddens many of us who watch those who sit on the front porch watching as the employed drive by; for it is the tax payers who afford them social assistance. Section Eight affords them housing, where in time it began to look like the hood they left behind. The absence of integrity and self-worth deprives them of better. Our grandparents could have only desired the luxury of such a temporary boost; while they continued to gaze through the window of hope in their day; for many it was a step down to depend on social services.
Many are asking what would Dr. King say to this generation??? Let’s meet here another day! Join me at the downtown library for  the local Authors’ Book Fair and Expo. (9 a.m. ‘til 3 p.m.), Saturday February 1!
Electra.gethsemaneministries@yahoo.com

Saying the Wrong Thing; Doing the Right Thing
by Rev. Joseph R. Reid

A Holy man had a parrot who used to say to everybody, “Watch out for the trap. Don’t sit on the trap.” Of course, he meant illusions of the world, the trap of greed, power, prestige, possessiveness, the trap of anger and violence. The Holy man used to say to his disciples, “Watch out for the trap. Don’t sit on the trap.” By and by the parrot also learned it. So whenever the Holy man would say it, the parrot would also repeat it, even louder. And the parrot would say, “Watch out for the trap! Don’t sit on the trap!” And everybody enjoyed it. One day by mistake, the cage of the parrot was left open, and he flew out of it. Everybody had started to love the parrot, so the Holy man and his disciples went all over the forest to search for him. When they were reaching deeper and deeper into the forest they heard the parrot saying, “Watch out for the trap! Don’t sit on the trap!” So they were very happy that he was there. So, following the direction of his voice, they reached him. And what did they see? They could not believe it: he was sitting on a trap with his legs caught. He was trapped – sitting on the trap he was continuously repeating, “Watch out for the trap! Don’t sit on the trap!”
Sometimes in life we keep on repeating things with our mouth that we don’t believe or know in our heart. Like the parrot we say things from our head but our heart is not there. In other words we say the right thing while doing the wrong thing. We need to reverse that.
There are three ways to do the right thing and stay focused on what we do and not on what we say. First by not living our life as a hypocrites, second by not committing spiritual suicide and third by making sure our “No” is authentic but doing the right thing anyway.
The problem is many of us who claim to know the right way are like parrots, we say “yes” to the Lord but do what we want to do. Spike Lee, the well- known producer and director’s third movie was entitled: “Do the Right Thing.” In the movie he highlights the many injustices in our society that outrage and could justify violence. He poses an important question, what is the right thing to do?  His quotes Malcolm X and MLK Jr. in the closing sequence which leads me to ask, what is the right path to the Lord? In other words, do we say what’s right and do what’s wrong?
Let’s consider Jesus as He went into the Temple during Passover leading up to His crucifixion. Jesus is in full rebellion. He overturns tables and the seats of the money-changers and sellers of doves. The money was used to pay the clerics and the doves were used as sacrifices that ultimately benefited the high priest. They quickly question Jesus about His authority to do these things and His answer was the parable of the two sons. If you recall the story from the Bible, one son, when asked by the father to go to work in the vineyard said “No” but later changed his mind. The other son when asked to do the same thing said “Yes” and did not go. Jesus’ question to the priest was which son did the will of the father? Naturally they answered the first son. And here is where Jesus’ condemnation came clear. He said that tax collectors and prostitutes would enter the Kingdom of Heaven before the so-called religious people. In other words saying the right thing does not necessary mean we do it! Sometimes saying the wrong thing ultimately leads us to do the right thing and when we do the right thing for whatever reason, we receive the blessings of God.

by Dr. Wilkerson

“You are my friend if you do what I command” (John 15:16).

Not long ago, I ran into a Christian friend I hadn’t seen in six months. I knew he had been off work for several weeks. When I asked him how he had been doing, there was a great out-pouring of information and pain that lasted over an hour. He had several physical disorders, back trouble, and ulcers among them. However, the thing that hurt him the most was his family’s condition. His children had strayed far from God and their sinful lifestyles were bothering him terribly, and tearing his home apart. He explained how they had gone to church and Sunday School since they were small, and he couldn’t understand where he and his wife had gone wrong in raising them.
I listened and tried to reassure him as best I could, though the best thing I assured him of was that I would pray for him. Someone has said, “God had one son who was without sin, but He has never had any without trouble.” Trouble comes to us all. It is no respecter of persons. However, the old hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” tells us how best to deal with it. It tells us never let our troubles discourage us, but take them to the Lord in prayer. If we want to avoid despair and discouragement, we must take our troubles to God.
We must learn to lean on Jesus. God’s Word tells us “Cast all your cares upon the Lord because He cares for you” (I Peter 5:7).

Dr. Robert Wilkerson is a minister, writer, and founder of People for the Christian Way, an organization whose mission is to encourage all people to practice Christian principles in business, politics, and every area of life. drbobwilkerson@bellsouth.net, www.peopleforthechristianway.com.

NOVICE
You are no doubt thinking who or what is a novice  – and rightly so.  A novice is an inexperienced person, a beginner.  The leadership of far too many leaders has the idea “this is “my” church and I make the decisions. Many do not know what the Bible says about the leader or they do not know what it implies. Jesus points out a leader’s responsibility in Luke 22:24-30, which is just one of the many Scriptures that tells and explains the importance of a leader who desires to lead His people.  THERE IS A GREAT PENALTY FOR MISLEADING GOD’S PEOPLE.  Many leaders think their education qualifies them to lead God’s people, but many, many times the paper on the wall is the most disqualifying factor.  By all means, understand me correctly – an education is a MUST – you cannot succeed successfully without knowledge, but knowledge does not qualify you for the Kingdom of God. You must understand priorities.  Jesus does not need nor want your knowledge. The ACTIONS of the Pharisees teach a great lesson in Matthew the 23rd Chapter. Jesus accepts a broken and contrite heart, and a heart that loves Him, thus loving His people.  [Hosea 4:6 and 6:6; John 17:3]  Jesus said in Matthew 12:7, “If you had know what this means, you would not have condemned the guiltless.”
God’s desire is that you have knowledge of who He is, and knowledge of the CROSS of Jesus, and what He accomplished there, because it is not what you do, but what Jesus has done [Micah 6:6-8].  The Lord loves His people, and desires that all come to the knowledge of Him.  LEADERS MUST BE BROKEN AND LEAD SPIRITUALLY.  www.thealmightyeyes.com