It’s Just One Day

Beloved, I have been told and I have heard this said many times “it’s just one day” concerning my attendance at my church Potential Church and how I should not go, in order to partake in some other extracurricular activity.

Missing service to me and the message that Troy Gramling or any other pastor may deliver is something I rarely do. The very message may well be the answer to a prayer I was waiting for, or the encouragement I needed, a challenge and opportunity to know the heart of God more or even a tool to utilize to help share my faith with someone else. It is limitless what someone can experience at a bible based church and the message that is being shared with others on that day.

Today the Holy Spirit turned the phrases among around and said, “What if just for one day you didn’t do the harmful things you normally do?”

Here’s a list of things He showed me:

1. Choose this time around to attend church service.

2. Choose not to take another drink.

3. Choose not to raise your hand at that person.

4. Choose not to hangout with that crowd.

5. Choose to be honest with them.

6. Choose to not smoke _________ (you fill in that blank).

7. Choose not to look at that website, channel or movie or enter that place.

8. Choose to eat healthy.

9. Choose to get some rest.

10. Choose not to think so much and trust more.

11. Choose to take that next step.

12. Choose to ask for forgiveness finally.

13. Choose to get the help you desperately need.

14. Choose to open that bible that has sat on your shelf collecting dust.

15. Choose not to be afraid.

16. Choose to pray for real and not for pretend.

17. Choose to love and not hate.

18. Choose to walk away from that harmful and uncommitted relationship. 

19. Choose to encourage someone today and not to be all about yourself.

20. Choose not to use curse words to express yourself.

21. Choose to listen more and talk less.

22. Choose to hug them back or accept a hug from them.

23. Choose to finally visit them... It’s been way too long.

24. Choose not to get even.

25. Choose to be generous with your time, talents and treasure.

26. Choose Me!

If we would all choose not to do the harmful things we all do even for one day, what would this world be like and what amazing things could start to take place in our lives? So, as I am encouraged and challenged by some of these, I encourage you also, CHOOSE not to do that harmful thing... “It’s just one day.”

As always... YOU ARE LOVED.

7 Key Points Received at Night of Hope

KEY POINTS from Night of Hope

Night of Hope Miami 2013

My beloved and I ready to serve at
Night of Hope Miami 2013

Beloved, this was written April 21, 2013 at 1:19am. These 7 key points I learned and was refreshed by from Joel and Victoria’s: America’s Night of Hope in South Florida at Marlins Park on April 20, 2013. I was most blessed to serve as an usher at Night of Hope on behalf of Potential Church and receive a free ticket to enjoy and receive the blessing of witnessing many people give their lives to Christ. Amen. So, I wanted to pass on this blessing to you as well, as I know you will not only gain insight into the heart of God, but you will be refreshed by them as well. With that being said, I now invite you into my HEART...

My Book Report (Ch.23): Every Day A Friday

Be a People Builder

Are you an encourager? Can anyone “Be a People Builder?” Such questions may very well cause many to shake their heads in a (no) response.

But why is that? Why aren’t we all encouragers. Why aren’t we building up people on a day-to-day basis?

I believe the answer lies within this quote from Joel Osteen, as he dives into chapter twenty-three of Every Day A Friday, with this powerful statistic:

Hard Choices

Advice for Life: “Don’t make permanent decisions based on temporary emotions.” – Ps. Troy Gramling of Potential Church

Does The Heavenly Father Hear Us?

Today’s blog post will cause the heart to open up and be healed. It will cause doubt to be extinguished. It will cause worry to be quieted, and it will cause you to change the question into a sure answer...

My Book Report (Chapter 4): Every Day A Friday

Chapter Four

"Bloom Where You Are Planted." These words certainly spark curiosity. I always find it absolutely amazing where God will lead an individual who is looking to be lead. Therefore, allow me to lead you to the meaning of the word bloom.

Bloom: to flourish; to glow; to produce; to thrive; to prosper; to achieve- To invest oneself. 


As I read through chapter four of Joel Osteen's "Every Day A Friday" I was challenged tremendously. Joel goes on to write in this chapter about being the best you can be where you are at in life despite situations, circumstances, peoples attitudes or even our ability to not see the best in ourselves or others for that matter.

You may be thinking, why the metaphor of plant growth? Joel starts this chapter with a personal experience of his own. He was walking through a forest and came to a large opening that was full of  'dead, dried-up, brown, ugly weeds.' As he continued walking about a hundred yards in he saw a beautiful flower. Joel goes on to describe, "It was so bright, so colorful, so refreshing. It had bloomed right there in the middle of the acres and acres of old, ugly, dried-up weeds. And I thought. Really, that's what God wants us to do. Just bloom where we're planted."


If you are anything like me, you may tend to beat yourself up when you can't do better than you are doing. You want to be more. You want to know more. In essence you want to be someone you aren't at the current moment. But that is the good news. Just as I may not be certain things yet! Doesn't mean I wont be these things in the future. That goes for you too! Therefore, as I am comforted yet inspired to do better, I will use these blessings that God places in my life, in my path, such as this book by Joel Osteen that I am reading, to do my best where I am at, and constantly look to God to strengthen me to reach and achieve better and never settle for where I am at.

As I have mentioned to many people, I certainly look to challenge myself to reach higher than my present lot in life, as my lot is what God has made for me and that is Victory. Amen.


My Takeaway:

It's always a tough thing to break barriers in your life especially when you lacked the upbringing of victory. But as my pastor, Pastor Troy Gramling has shared and is successfully modeling, 'Although it wasn't modeled for you doesn't mean YOU can't model it' I am encouraged to lead out by example despite the model not being there for me.

I'm looking to God to do just that. The strength to break barriers; to be the best I can be where I am at yet never settling to stay where I am at, and to bloom even when I'm surrounded by weeds. Amen.

Beloved, I leave you with these words of encouragement and truth, ‘Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”’ (Matthew 19:26 NIV)


As Always...YOU ARE LOVED

Easter 2012: A Love Unforgettable

"Easter 2012 @potentialchurch Come be a part of Life Change!" - F. Lugo

Good morning! Today I am honored to share with you exactly what was in my heart when I got up at 8am.

Woke up to this song of praise in my heart, "I am yours and You are mine." 

This praise song had me thanking God He is on the throne- both in heaven and here on earth in my very heart! What do I mean by this? God rules in my heart. My heart is permanently pinned to Him as He is permanently pinned to me. Hence that song of praise..."I am Yours and You are mine."

As Easter is fast approaching (11 days away) I am further reminded of my King's great and everlasting love. You see, Jesus was pinned to a tree taking away my curse 2000+ years ago once and for all as the Word of God describes, 'Anyone who is hung on a tree is cursed.' (Deuteronomy 21:23). 

I am Free! because He was lead into captivity. That captivity was death because of sin and as the Word of God proclaims, "the penalty for sin is death." (Romans 6:23). Jesus had to die. And because He died I am no longer a slave to sin, as the Word of God promises, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23) and again, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20).

When those nails penetrated my King's flesh a shout of praise began to circulate in the heavens. And in all creation many captives were going to be lead free from their slavery by a merciful Hand, as the Word of God describes this great act of love and courageousness, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." (Deuteronomy 20:2). In fact! This merciful hand was a pierced Hand. A Hand forever engraved by a scar that would triumphantly say YOU ARE LOVED! I AM YOURS AND YOU ARE MINE. Amen! Lord Jesus!

This Easter as you make your way with your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to your church, or are invited to a church (http://potentialchurch.com/easter-2012/) maybe for the very first time. Know this! Jesus is no longer on that tree known as Calvary's Cross. He is alive, on the Throne of righteousness and grace. And He wants you to know that the message is still clear today as it was 2000+ years ago. He died for you because He Loves You. 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)


I have come to embrace and believe fully that Love isn't on a billboard. In a club. On a street corner. In a bar. With a gang. In a needle or a bottle. Love isn't on a website late at night when no one is around and certainly not in a magazine or a tinted window location. But Love can penetrate all those avenues of darkness and destruction, because Love conquered eternal darkness itself! Jesus raised from the dead three days later conquering death and all its ways of conquering us once and for all. These words of victory haunts evil and makes way for good, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you...‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words. (Luke 24:5-8 emphasis added).

Knowing that My Savior and Lord has Risen! I can now say with confidence, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

⁵⁵ 

    

The picture of Easter can be expressed by many picture painting expressive words as you can see but truly, only 7 things are needed to grasp fully what Easter and God's Love is all about. 


A tree (Luke 23:21). A crown of thorns (Matthew 27:29). Nails (Mark 15:25). Blood flowing (Matthew 27:26). A prayer of forgiveness (Luke 23:34). Paradise promised (Luke 23:43). A shout representing Victory! "It is Finished." (John 19:30)


Beloved, Jesus loves you and that's no cliché. It's a proclamation of truth that cost Him His life. This Easter as you enter God's House, don't leave without giving your whole heart; your whole life to Him as He gave His one and only Son up for you, for me, for all who would believe. Amen.


Beloved, I leave you with these words sang from hearts that know Who True Love is (Sing Along)

"My whole life is Yours, I give it all

Surrendered to Your name

And forever I will pray

Have Your way, have Your way"

Beloved, as always...YOU ARE LOVED.

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Emergency Post: Positive vs. Negative (Reinforcement)

Positive vs. Negative...which one are you?

Good morning beloved. Yesterday was my 32nd birthday as I mentioned in yesterday's post (click HERE TO READ POST.) Well, I'm thankful to share with you all that the Lord gave me an amazing birthday. Filled with so much love, laughter and ROLLED TACOS..YUM!

Early in the afternoon prior to my birthday dinner kick off I was talking with my cousin (Elizabeth Lopez) about the differences of being encouraged and being forced to do something. In life I have noticed when it comes to relationships as all things are relational, you have positive and negative reinforcement. One encourages and the other forces you. Somewhere along the line there's a break down between the one who is applying the reinforcement and the one who is being reinforced. 

There's a way to get a message of encouragement across to someone without forcing them to do it. There's a difference between telling someone to "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near" through the example you set that positively reinforces that message and the lack of example you set that causes that message to fade away- in one ear and out the other. You can only reinforce what you yourself do. 

Now in saying this, there comes a time where "tough love" needs to be enforced and this also is by the example you yourself lead out in. You must be a leader in what you think, say and do. Otherwise you fall in everything. As author and leadership speaker John C. Maxwell says, "Everything rises and falls on leadership." He is right! You cannot affect change in anyone's life until you yourself have changed. And that is leading by example. What you put out there is what you live out daily. Don't get me wrong. All leaders have their moments of failure, but it's not something that is consistent and not learned from. That's the key to effective leadership...Positive Reinforcement. You model it, you commit to it, you're consistent with it and although failure may come you don't step back in defeat but press on towards the goal. Any leader will tell you that it's not in the amount of failures that your leadership incurs but the amount of successes despite those failures that makes all the difference.

I myself am learning these principles, and as my Pastor Troy Gramling shared to a room filled with over 1700 men during the 2012 Men's Conference (V.I.P.) at Potential Church (see HERE), "Even if it wasn't modeled for you, doesn't mean YOU can't model it." Amen. We have all experienced the pain of not having others in our lives to lead us and encourage us through positive reinforcement, but that doesn't mean we can't decide to model it for others. I myself never had a dad to teach me to be a man, a father, a husband and a leader, but I look to the example Jesus models to perfection in the Word of God to help me and build me to be the man I'm called and created to be then I can model it for others who experienced not having a dad either. 

This blog post is absolutely a blessing from God, and this I have had the great pleasure, privilege and honor to witness and model myself. God will use anyone to speak His message through, and if we are humble enough to receive the message despite age, background or gender we will be all the more blessed by it. With that being said I thank God for the brief conversation I had yesterday with my cousin Elizabeth. God inspired me through it and because of it, the treasury of my heart has grown. Thank you Jesus.

In closing there are two verses in scripture that I want to share with you that will increase the treasury of your heart. They speak to leadership and the humble manner in which you should lead your people. The first one is by the Lord Jesus Himself. 

So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45 NLT emphasis added)

Whenever you speak to someone in order to influence them, let the reinforcement given be positive and not negative, then the individual(s) set before you will not only grow and become stronger. They will become leaders through your example that you yourself consistently model. Why is this important to seek to do always? Then the individual(s) will carry in their heart an image of them self that will cast a leadership shadow everywhere they go. No one desires to feel bad about themselves but rather feeling great and walking tall. “As a man thinks in his heart that he is.” (Proverbs 23:7)

Beloved, I pray these words will sharpen and grow you as they sharpen and grow me. It's my prayer that through effective communication we will experience record breaking growth in our lives and in all our leadership endeavors.

As always...YOU ARE LOVED.

Happy Birthday To You Pastor Troy

"You encourage us with your style, commitment and passion." - F. Lugo

Today is my Pastor's birthday. Therefore I decided to not only wish him a happy birthday, but let the world know of a man who is chasing after God's heart. From my few years of being part of such an eclectic family of Potential, to my actual words exchanged with Pastor Troy Gramling and my encounters with a humble man who is easy going, soft spoken as a man, but a booming voice for God, I am glad God lead me to Potential Church.

It all started years ago in 2006. I was invited to share my testimony before hundreds at Potential Church (then Flamingo Road Church) and as I was praying backstage because I was very nervous to stand and speak before many, I remember as I raised my head up and opened my eyes after praying, I saw a tall man leaning against a wall. He looked tired and as I realized who stood before me, I was shocked to realize it was my very own Pastor. But I said to myself, 'This can't be him. I've seen him preaching the Word of God like a warrior...This is a Super Hero in my eyes.' Not knowing what to say to my Pastor, I said the only thing my finite mind could come up with that seemed intelligent and appropriate, I said "How's it going?" To which my Pastor replied, 'good.' I couldn't believe it! I spoke with my Pastor. What a thrill! A memorable moment in my life I would always be able to recall and thank God for.

But God spoke to me later concerning this divine encounter between my pastor and I. He said, 'Your amazement of this man is not amazement at all, but reverence for your leader. You were honored to be among him. This is called humility. You were thankful for the exchange of words although little. This is called being a child of God.' As I have heard my Pastor teach many times, there is one thing that never changes. I am always thrilled to hear from him again. Every time I attend service to hear what my pastor has to share with us that day from the pages of his heart, whether in person, or on a big screen because he is elsewhere doing the Lord's work or simply enjoying much needed rest, I am grateful to God for my Pastor and for God allowing our conversation to continue on.

I see my Pastor as a leader, and a hero. We all need to have heroes in our lives. And if that hero is in Christ Jesus, we should all be honored and thankful to God by always showing our respect and appreciation for the amazing job that hero; that leader, is doing in our lives and the lives of others. Let us never become familiar with our leaders and heroes whether we hear from them daily or not, but let us consistently rejoice with them always because God appoints all the leaders to their positions in life. That they who lead us triumphantly and victoriously may always be cherished, prayed for and encouraged. Why? They are people to and they as we, need to be loved, cherished and cared for also. Amen.

As I thought of a verse that would speak to my Pastor I thought it appropriate to not simply quote a verse, but rather speak a blessing over my Pastor. It's called the Priestly blessing: Pastor Troy may...

“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV)


If you haven't known Pastor Troy and you haven't decided on a church to become part of their family, I invite you, I extend my hand in friendship towards you. I will be honored if you would come and join the celebration of God's grace that is Potential Church. Come to know a leader, a hero, a warrior, a husband, a father, a brother, a son, a man who is for God. His name is Troy Gramling and he is my Pastor. Amen.


Happy Birthday Pastor Troy.
As always...YOU ARE LOVED.