Step Out...

Many of us live imaginary lives. We enjoy living in a world where we are comfortable and feel safe. We dislike disruptions and do our very best to avoid them. We look at the way others live and say to ourselves or to others, "I wish I could live like that (If what we see is a good life to have). We don't realize that to get somewhere requires effort, a different thought process and a desire. To settle for mediocrity is a direct insult to yourself and to those who rely on you and look to you for leadership.

Either way, many of us spend a lifetime wishing our lives were like someone else. We exist in a world with all the possibilities we can think of, to acquire a life-style we fathom in our minds,  Yet we venture only so far, desiring to stay in our comfort zone and fearing to go any farther.

Fathom: To understand something, usually something profound or mystifying.

Many of us never step off the curb of life, to experience new things. Many of us never step out of box that we live in. We remain in our own little comfortable worlds, thus causing ourselves to miss out on so much.

As we prepare ourselves to step out to experience something new; we must feel the Phoenix inside of us.

Phoenix: A supremely beautiful, rare, or unique person or thing.

Each of us march alone to a different beat. And as we slowly swallow down our fears, we make ourselves ready for the roads less traveled. From there we must suit up for battle. We must prepare for the things that we will encounter, as we prepare for something new. This is a test of our own cross to bare.

We were all put here on Earth for a reason. Therefore, it's never easy to be chosen and never easy to called. You must understand that when you are called or chosen it is like standing on the front-line, when the bombs starts to fall. You maybe able to see Heaven, but you will still hear the bombs and feel the heat of flames.

There are times when you know you need to do something new or different and you fear what others will think. The question to ask yourself  is "Who Am I Living for"?

Hope is in your eyes. Keep hope alive and in your hearts. You are a different being, therefore you must be different. Never allow yourself to be trapped in the clutter and shadow of others.

Dare to stand apart from the crowd.... Be willing to soar like The Eagle!!!

Challenge yourself to higher heights. Never settle for Status Quo (the condition or state of affairs that currently exists).

"Write down your goals and plans in pencil, not in ink and, then give God the eraser, to make the necessary changes best suited for your life" !!!

Lastly.... Whatever your challenges, fears or doubts; remember this:

"God has the answers to your problems even before they arise. Remember to lean on Him, in all that you do." .......>{Thanks Mitch for sending me this in an email, during a time of need.}


We all need strength to handle pressure, because there is always a price to pay for change!!!



These are my thoughts .... I welcome yours!!!

This Is Personal......

Have you ever been in a situation where you really, honestly needed an intervention from God. Your problem was so traumatic, until it you didn't know which way was up? And it seemed as though God was deaf  and blind to your problem?

The dead-line upon you needed to met was fastly approaching and it seemed as though God was not moving in you favor. Your heart was racing, your chest pounding, fear has set in and and so has frustration. And now you are seemingly to emotional to even pray?

I personally know this situation all to well. Sometimes we feel that certain thing can't happen to us. Sometimes we feel as though we are invincible. But were are not.

This leads me to a personal story upon which I wish to share. It was a situation very similar to the above description and I began to get frustrated with God. Truth be told I became angry with God. However, even in my finite mind, I had enough sense not to utter any harsh words towards God. But I was also stubborn to the point that I refused to look up towards Heaven. I would not pickup my Bible and like a fool I ceased to pray.

To me my situation was GRAVE!!! I needed God's intervention, but in my site, Gods intervention was not to be found.

Listen, I was hurting, my nerves jumping all over my chest, I did not know what to do! I  remembered the words of God, but those words were not comforting to my heart,  when He said "Trust in The Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him (God) and He shall direct your path.It meant nothing to me, at that time.

Now, I was discouraged, filling up with anger, frustrated, Irritated, confused, fearful. Then I reached a point where I would not pray. Pray for what? Nothing was happening in my favor!

Again, I had refused to look towards Heaven, read God's word or even acknowledge God.

I began to lose my appetite for food, I didn't care to go any where and yes my anger against God was increasing.

The thing about God is this,  God is Love, He is kind, Patience, Forgiving, Understanding and so many other Great things He is.

During my time of rebellion, silence and utter sin against God, He still reached out to me.  And He reached out to me in a  way that I could not see Him reaching.

When my heart began to forget my anger against God and focus on other things, God spoke so eloquently  to my heart and said so plainly, as though in an audible voice, but it wasn't. Yet it was a still small voice which said and I quote "Read The Book Of Job".

At that moment, I began to read The Book of Job as a hungry man looking for food, as a Camel needing to drink water and as a baby needing milk.

As I began to read the great book, The Spirit of God brought to a specific chapter. Now listen, all of the word of God is good and true, but The Spirit of God  highlighted the 38th chapter of The Book of Job in my heart.

As I began the 38th chapter, my heart began to have hope, My Spirit began to soar within. Help was approaching. What I wanted wasn't given at that time, but what I needed was.

As I read on in that 38th chapter of Job, the first verse got my attention:

¹Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

²Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

³Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. I other words; Bernard prepare yourself like a man; I have some question to ask you. And he did.

As I read on, I could not answer any of the questions that The Spirit of God ask me. 

Now .... The verses that brought me to tears was this: 

²⁵Who hath divided a channel for the rain-flood, and a way for the thunder's flash;
²⁶To cause it to rain on the earth, where no one is; on the wilderness wherein there is not a man;
²⁷To satisfy the desolate and waste [ground], and to cause the sprout of the grass to spring forth?

In other word, this is what The Spirit of God said to me and in a language that I could understand;

Bernard, I send rain to places where there are no people. I send rain to places where no man's feet has ever stepped. 

I send rain to water the grass, in order that the blades of grass may grow. Then He said to me, If I care enough to take care of areas that are not known by any man ... Don't you think I care about your problems?

It was at that time, I fell to my knees, prayed, thanked and worshiped God. Because I now had an understanding - That If God cares about places that man don't know about, have never been, or ever seen; yet He (God) takes care of those places and things; Surely, because I was created in His image... He surely cares about me and my problems.

The moral to this story is this: God Speaks Through Circumstances!!!!!!!

• God Care .. Even when we don't think He does
• God Provides .. Even when we don't see where the provision is coming from
• God Hears .. Even when we think He doesn't
• God Loves You (Me)
• God desires that we trust Him .. All The Time

It doesn't matter how major, how bad it seems, how dangerous it appears... Still Trust God and His Word!!!

I going to ask That you read the entire 38th chapter of the book of Job.  If you can, read the entire book of Job. You will be glad you did. Plus you will get a clearer understanding of Job's relationship with God and you just might discover, exactly where you stand with God as well!!!

Ooh!!! .... I almost forgot!!!! Yes .. God supplied my needs. He gave me what I needed and the help I needed. Yes, He provided in His and not my way. Either way ... God met my needs.

• Trust Him ... At All Times
• Believe in Him ... At All Times
• Give God the opportunity to work on your behalf  ... Each and Every Time
• Take God at The Authority of His Word ... At All Times

I hope this writing has helped you with whatever needs you have at this time....

These are my thoughts .... I welcome yours!!!

A Fireside Chat!!!

The Treadmills of life can take place without ever taking a step.The treadmills of life most times begins within the mind. We sit, we think, we wonder and then we form opinions. And we still fail to come to a conclusion. And when we do, well, many times we form the wrong conclusion.

Lets take for instances an unknown bad situation that has taken place. What do we do? What opinions or conclusions do we form?

The Mind’s Reality – Our mind always makes unknown situations worse than they actually are. Its goal is to dwell on pain and problems. Often when we find out the truth, we feel instantly relieved that the “reality” of events wasn’t as bad as what we had imagined.

Lets take for instance things are not going well on our job, at home or within a relationship. He has left you or you have left him. What happens then?

We need to think things through before falling into a Pity Party, that can lead to a wrong decision.

 – When others behave in ways that you are not happy with, drop the self-pity story, bring in compassion, and try to understand why they are behaving in certain ways toward you. There is always a reason. Often times, we’re so wrapped up in defending ourselves and making our own side be understood that we fail to truly see things from other people’s perspective, and we miss the chance to heal others and ourselves.

Remember this: 

Everything is Auspicious – No matter how bad things seem there is always a reason that contributes positively towards us. There always exists an incredible gift in any “bad” situation, trust that you are always being taken care of by the protective arms of Existence. More importantly ... God care about you!!!

Auspicious: Marked by lucky signs or good omens, and therefore by the promise of success or happiness.  ..


 Listen: I for one do not believe in luck. I believe in Blessings and you should too. Why? Because every good and perfect gift comes from GOD!!!


Listen: The next time someone offends you, deeply hurt you and cause you to feel very low in spirit... Don't curse them or think ill thought towards them. This will only destroy you from within.


Parting Words

When things get low, do all that you can to come back to your center, and remember that you are a luminous and empowered being. You have the power and choice to bring the light into any situation that may appear dark.

No matter how unfair a situation may present itself, remaining in self-pity, blame and resentment will only hurt ourselves, and draws us deeper into that darkness. In fact, we only have two choices – to remain in darkness or to bring in the light. You have the choice to prolong the suffering, or to end it and move on.

Regardless of what is happening, the ups and downs of life will continue to prevail. So, deal with the down times and welcome the coming of the up times. 

Next time you hit a down time, remember that it is only temporary, focus on what can be learned, trust that it is the best thing that could happen to you right now, and know with certainty that the up time is just around the corner.

Fluidity of Life – Life is always fluid. The unexpected and even unimaginable can and does happen at anytime. And all things, scenarios, events can shift their course at any time: from bad to good, from good to bad. 

There is no good or bad, there just is. In other words, forget about good or bad and understand that circumstances happened. 

Never focus on your problems, but rather think on a solution to your problems. Make a decision as to how you are going to your present issues. Even, if its- just to walk-away and leave the issues behind, a decision was made.

Hey listen... Either you learn to make a decision concerning your issues or one will be made for you.  Smiling...But either a decision is going to made. So, why not you be in control of your situation.

Moving on:
Surrendering to whatever that happens, without placing unnecessary importance or investing excessive emotions holds the key to lasting happiness. At any moment, we have the choice to choose bliss, to see the light. Surrender to rigid thinking and choose to live a conflict free life. {Although conflicts will occur.}

Bliss: Perfect happiness...

Remember this ...We create habits, then habits creates us and then we become the habit(s) that we've created.

If you change the way you think, I promise you, that you will change the way that you live!!!

And... If you can see yourself through the eyes of God, you will then see how large and important you truly are:  

Get the picture???


Lastly: Trust in The Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding.In all your ways Acknowledge Him (GOD) and He shall direct your paths. (Show you, the direction you should go)


These are my thoughts .. I welcome yours!!!

A mirror has two images!!!

It is important to be Honest with yourself!!!



For some reason I chose to write about reflections in a Mirror.  I realize that a mirror reflects objects. These objects change as often as facial expressions.

As we know, a mirror is used for personal grooming. Making sure that a dress, slacks or suit is fitting nicely.

A mirror is designed to let you see yourself exactly as you are. But are these reflections true. You will either look good, bad or indifferent to yourself in a mirror's reflection.

The real question is "am I truly and honestly seeing what is there. Is the image I'm looking at, really reflect the person that I truly am?

Do I see Honesty, Integrity, Trustworthiness, Sincerity, Faithfulness, or do I see a person of Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, Untrustworthy, Lack of Sincerity or an unfaithful person?

Reflections in a mirror can be distorted, just as the picture's reflection above. But, the truth is never distorted. it is plain and simple. Some say otherwise, but I say no way..Now, that being said .. What do you see when you look in the mirror?

Understand, maintaining an image can be very difficult. Especially, if, I'm not a person of Honest character.

You and I both know that looking in the mirror at one self, does not always depict the truth. Even in life words are spoken, pictures are portrayed that sometimes may or may not be true.

Depict: (To describe or portray something in words).

But the things men and women need to believe in and see the most is that, people are basically good and honor courage and virtue is everything.

That power and money and money and power means nothing. That Good always triumph over Evil. That true love never dies, whether I believe it or not.

Man should always believe in those things, because those are things worth believing in.

So, the next time you look in the mirror, look at yourself eye to eye and look to see if those things are present that you truly believe and look to see if the qualities such as Honor, Courage, Virtue, Honesty, Integrity, Sincerity, Faithfulness  and Trustworthiness are starring back at you.

And, if you fail to see these qualities starring back at you, while you are looking in the mirror, then tell me which image is true. The one you see in the mirror or the image that the mirror is reflecting.

The above listing of attributes are choices. If you don't make the choice, then the lack of choice will categorize you and make YOU!!!

Attribute:  {Assign qualities to somebody or something} To regard somebody or something as having particular qualities.

A mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror.


Think about it ......??????


These are my thoughts .... I welcome yours!!!