LETTHEREDEEMEDSAYSO

                 GOD has truly brought me out of my heavy "STORMS OF LIFE."
                          The following story depicts a lot of our particular storms.
                           But no matter what bad things that we have done in life,
                                         there is Forgiveness for us In Christ Jesus.

                                      HIS PROMISES ARE MADE TO ALL OF US.
God has brought US ALL to this point right here and right now. HE wants us to be a testimony to other Brothers and Sisters who may or may not have the courage or the understanding or know that they are in a "Storm."   Sometimes our storm have to be identified to us. We get so caught up in trying to please the flesh, that is ourselves or a "loved one", that we fail to see that we are really letting Jesus down. It seems that we don't take our problems to Him, but we try to solve them on our own or we find ourselves some kind of "crutch", as in sex, drugs, and/or alcoho. Which all add up to self abuse. We put up with things from people that were shouldn't tolerate, and just generally have disorder in our lives just because we won't turn to Christ Jesus.

Let us be about our FATHER's BUSINESS of equipping
each otherwith the knowledge of WHO it is that SAVES us,
and WHERE it is that we can find our REFUGE,
and WHAT it is that is DESTRUCTION to our Souls.
It is a Commandment of God

                                              WE ALL HAVE STORMS IN "THIS" LIFE.

         NOW, CHOOSE to make it; "THROUGH THE STORM"
               and "TO the "NEXT LIFE!" ETERNAL LIFE

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                   I CAN STILL BRING YOU OUT!!!!

Many times in life we struggle with our past and
fail to walk in our potential future.
Let me make a profound statement...
Your past has nothing to do with what God can do for your future!

God says "In spite of what you used to be or have experienced,
I can still bring you out!

I know that you used to be a dog, but I can still bring you out!

I know you slept with half the football team, but I can still bring you out!

I know that you have bad credit and now you want a house,
but I can still bring you out!

I know that they call you by your problem and not your name---
I can still bring you out!"

There is no past too troubled and no person that God can't redeem.

He took a MURDERER name MOSES and made him a PROPHET.

He took a PIMP named ABRAM (if you wonder why I called him that,
go back to Genesis and see how many times he sold his wife off for
possession because he was afraid of being killed) and made him the
FATHER OF MANY NATIONS.

He took a LIAR and CHEAT named JACOB and made him a
PRINCE named ISREAL and BLESSED HIS SEED...

He took a PROSTITUTE named RAHAB, CALLED HER BLESSED AND
CHANGED HER PROFESSION!

He took a CHRISTIAN HATER name SAUL and made him a
GREAT APOSTLE PAUL.

I could go on and on. If God used those people, he can use you.
So what you've had a bad past? That is the problem--- YOU keep living in the past.

God wants to bring you into the present and develop you a great future!
He says it best in

2Cor.5:17. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!"

                                  YOU ARE SPECIAL

Hold on my brothers and sisters your change is coming.

No more low self esteem!
No more worries about your credit history!
No more worries about whether he is going to pay child support or not!
If you fix your mind on the Lord, He'll make that joker pay you child
support and back pay.

Hallelujah! Glory to God!

Do you realize that most people have lost their mind over what we survived?
We made it through!

Sometimes we need to just thank God for survival.

Oh, you don't hear me!

We are looking for the "big testimony", but the true testimony is my spouse
cheated on and left me but I survived it. You thought you would be on
Prozac the rest of your life but God healed your wounds.

We are a Survivors.

Stop right where you are, stand up and give yourself a high five because you made it.
Now look at your co-worker and say "I made it!"
They may not understand but you know what time it is!

Stop trying to make people understand you and praise God anyhow!

Baby, after all you went through and you're still serving the Lord...

You are a survivor.

I thank God for being a survivor. God brought you out.
The truth be told you had suicidal thoughts about the problem but God
brought you out. I believe I got a few witnesses.

Most people could not go through what you have been through and make it.

Others have given up on life and are homeless but God brought you out so
that HE can bring you into the joy of life!
                 In the Graveyard are Dreams Defferred,
    There are painting not painted, songs not sung, buliding not built,
                     goals not reached, callings not answered.

          Will you go through this life and never answer your calling?

                              Oh I feel like preaching but I better not.
                     Oh forget it I am going to preach it. Repeat after me...

"GOD HAS BROUGHT ME OUT FOR A REASON.

I SURVIVED BECAUSE HE HAS A PLAN FOR ME.ALL THE BAD RELATIONSHIPS,

ALL THE SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, THE BAD CREDIT, THE REPOSSESSIONS, THE DEATH OF MY LOVED ONES, THE BACK STABBINGS FROM MY FRIENDS.

THE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS, THE LACK OF SUPPORT.

I MADE IT BECAUSE I AM BLESSED IN THE CITY,
BLESSED IN THE FIELDS.
BLESSED WHEN I COME AND WHEN I GO.

I RELEASE AND I LET GO OF ALL PAST HURTS, MISUNDERSTANDINGS
AND GRUDGES BECAUSE I AM   BLESSED!

I RECOGNIZE THEM AS THE ILLUSIONS THAT THEY ARE FOR GOD IS ALL THERE IS ALL ELSE IS A LIE."

NOW GIVE YOURSELF A HUG, WIPE YOUR TEARS AND WALK IN THE VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU BUT GOD LOVES YOU EVEN MORE!!!!
BE BLESSED AND KNOW THAT YOU ARE AT ONE WITH
THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD!

                        MAY THE LORD keep watch between you and me
                                when we are away from each other.
                                                         Genesis 31:49

Submitted by John Robinson and Larry Foster
Author Unknown

I felt that it was my own testimony. And judging from responses that I have gotten about it, it is YOUR testimony, too. We don't know who the Author is, we sure would like to give them their propers for this work.

So along with original page, I also include it here at the bottom of this comment. Cause have I been going through some "hell" since I stopped doing the will of the enemy and started doing the will of GOD. I had to began by FORGIVING and LOVING.   I could no longer let the past hurts and wrongs done by me or to me to dictate my life. God Had saved my life through many storms that were either imposed or self-imposed on me, but HE saved me because HE had a plan for my life. HE bought my life with the price of HIS Blood on the cross. When my life was spiraling out of control, He reached down into the muck and mire and HE pulled me out and made me a PROMISE. And I made HIM one, I will go. Use me, I will do my best, He said, if I do my best , HE will do the rest. JESUS CHRIST, the only PERFECT BEING that ever walked the EARTH.   Thank You, Lord.

                     How Black Men Get Their Groove Back:

                                 HONEST LOVE

                                                             by Gregory L. Towns

Romancing a Black woman begins with HONESTY. There should never be an
ULTERIOR MOTIVE; it should be from and about the heart. Black women have
enough problems with home, family and career without dealing with DECEIT
from someone she loves. In my many years I've found that the more direct
you are with a woman, the more she is able to understand everything.

                                             A LOVE SONG

HISTORICALLY, Black women weather the worst of times, they SHOULDER THE
BURDENS when Black men give up on the system and life, they've taken work
on the lowest step of the ladder and held their heads high. I don't think
it's too much to ask of my fellow males to show our support and love in every
way possible. Don't keep you're honest feelings to yourselves, when asked
about situations BE TRUTHFUL, when issues arise DISCUSS THEM OPENLY.

We as MALES are TEMPTED on a DAILY basis to stray, the idea that one
woman is not enough, this fallacy is a DESTRUCTIVE FACTOR to Black
relationships. Men spend countless hours involved in outside activities
and other women, and justify this with "I'm a man, it's my nature". To this
I have two words "Lorraina Bobbett". Our excuse that WOMEN TAKE OUR
MANHOOD FOR GRANTED by being something so simple as independent,
that women reduce us to second class citizens when actually we do it
to ourselves.

             DEATH OF A BLACK WOMAN

These are the SAME WOMEN should HOLD IN HIGH REGARD THROUGH THE
WORST SITUATIONS and we repay them with inattention, deceit and disrespect.
Only after we've lost them do we realize that the focal point of our lives,
was the woman we loved. Then we find ourselves in deep depression
and build an impenetrable wall that the next woman who gives us a receptive
glance is treated the same despicable way.

WAKE UP Black men, open your eyes to the REAL PROBLEM -
THE MAN IN THE MIRROR. WOMEN HAVE GIVEN SO MUCH AND WE'VE TAKEN.

                    GOOD MAN VS GODLY MAN

Time to make a deposit of something else other than sperm.
Stand up and LET BLACK WOMEN KNOW HOW PRECIOUS THEY ARE TO YOU,
TRUTHFULLY AND HONESTLY. There is no shame in telling and showing a
woman what an important place she holds in your heart and in your life.

If I had a nickel for every time a Black woman said "Everything in our
relationship would be great IF he was honest about everything" I'd be
living next door to Bill Gates. Drop the BULL men and give truth a try.
LITTLE LIES BECOME BIG PROBLEMS and" SORRY" isn't enough.
Black women that I've come to know fill shoe boxes with "I'M SORRY"
and use the boxes to build a wall around their hearts. I personally am
tired of walking over other brothers' trash, lies and deceit. When I meet
a woman I've got to spend a month trying to repair the damage that
some thoughtless guy has done.

APPROACH A WOMAN WITH TRUTH AND HONESTY
and I'll guarantee the road to a happy, fruitful relationship
will be smooth. Wasn't it Johnny Cochran
who said "If it doesn't fit you must acquit",
DISHONESTY DOESN'T FIT. It clouds the air around the two of you.
Give a Black woman honesty and she'll give you the love of a life time.

                  PLAYMATE VS SOULMATE

In the first two parts of this series I've exposed some of the problems
Black men have, some amusing, most tragic. My attempt to open the eyes
of some of you, who don't comprehend, before it's too late.
Save yourself some agony and pain be open and honest. You'll find a
Black woman's love is the strongest fabric of which a relationship is made.
She can handle anything you can throw her way, except lying,
cheating deception and the juvenile attempt to pull the wool over her eyes.

Remember that all a woman is looking for is communication, attention,
understanding, honesty, loyalty, fidelity, creativity, and commitment.
Our Black women deserve all of this. Put down the remote and spend
less time with ESPN and more with her, find out where real,
true love can be found.

                                       HOW WILL I KNOW?

                                                          Submitted by Gerald Davis
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"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. . . ."
                                         II Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
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    Ye shall not STEAL, neither DEAL FALSELY, neither LIE ONE TO ANOTHER.
                        and ye shall not SWEAR BY MY NAME FALSELY,
         neither shalt thou PROFANE THE NAME OF THY GO; I AM THE LORD.
                                                 Leviticus 19:11,12 KJV

                   The BIBLE tells us to be truthful at all times and that;

                      "He that COVERETH HIS SINS shall NOT prosper:
       but whoso CONFESSETH and FORSAKETH them SHALL have mercy"
                                                             (Prov 28: 13)

HE says to Confess your worst deeds in truth BEFORE THE ALTER OF CHRIST:
YOUR CONFESSIONS are not being made to man, but to GOD, who judges you;
and GOD shall make you clean, holy, purified, sanctified......

                                           HE THAT "OVERCOMETH"
                     THE SAME SHALL BE CLOTHED IN WHITE RAIMENT;
    AND I WILL "NOT"BLOT OUT HIS NAME OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE,
                          BUT I WILL CONFESS HIS NAME BEFORE MY FATHER,
                                                AND BEFORE HIS ANGELS.
                                                     Revelations 3: 5

Lord, HAVE MERCY! Please search my Heart, and if you find "Anything" that
should not be in there, please take it out and give me the strength to keep it out.

AND AS FOR THE MAN OR WOMAN who judges you......well, they will have their own
   problems to deal with.......

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make HIM a liar, and
HIS word is not in us.
                                                   1 JOHN 1: 8-10
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DO YOU HAVE ULTERIOR MOTIVES?
Communication is the key to any relationship When leave a person assuming in your life,
then you are opening a door for the enemy to enter into that person's mind and speak all
kinds of evil against you. I once heard a man say that sometimes if you get no response
from a person, then his "non response" may be the answer that the person is givng you.
This indicates to me, that a person does not want to be real with you. Pain will always pass
when Christ is your Comforter and the Promises of His Rewards far outweigh any let
downs, deceitul acts or disappointments that any person can cause. Keep your own speech
and actions in check and inline with the word of God. and off of God's Annointed Children.

                       Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation?
                                   do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
                                                          Psalm 58: 1 KJV

               IN YOUR HEARTS YOU DEVISE WRONGS; your hands deal out
                           violence on earth. The wicked go astray from the womb,
                                   they err from their birth, SPEAKING LIES.
                                                           Psalm 58:2,3 RSV

Men, your woman has also began a great work in you. She has invested her time,
money and heart into you. Please do not take the great work that she began
on you and give it to another woman that has not up until this point given you
the time of day. As you leave her, be mindful you leave her in pain and in
need, whether is be financial support for herself and your children,
moral support, or spiritual support, you have robbed her of what she has given to you.
Too many of you accept what a woman gives without returning or restoring to her what
she has invested in you, but then do you ever get back what you give?

Lev 19: 13: says: Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages
of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

Duet. 24: 10 When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go
into his house to fetch his pledge.

Prov 28:8 He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance,
he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.

Duet. 24:14-15 says: Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor
and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy
land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun
go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee
unto the Lord,   and it be sin unto thee.

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; HE rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is   a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for HIM! O people of Zion,
who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious
HE will be when you cry for help! As soon as HE hears, HE will answer you.
                                  Isaiah 30:18,19 NIV
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