Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Dig A Little Deeper

Hello,
You got to dig a little deeper to find what you need. That was a song from Disney movie "The Princess and the Frog". The truth of the matter is in my life time I have run into quiet a number of people who have no idea what they want. They pray and ask God for things they think they want. Then when they get them it turns out it wasn't what they thought it was going to be. In essence, I guess they didn't dig deep enough. The good news is that God knows what we need. "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). 

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Encouragement for the times - Live Today


Hello everyone,

I don't know about the rest of you but I am so thankful to see another day.  Last week was a tough week, but I am still here.  What a miracle?  Don't forget to live.  Listed below is a brief excerpt from my new book titled "Hope Is Alive" which is due to be released at the beginning of May.   Don't get so busy that you forget to live. 
~~ 
Live each day as if it was your last.
Be thankful for every moment.
Be thankful for the good times and the bad times. The good times bring joy to our hearts and soul.
The bad times build our character, make us strong, and allow us to appreciate everything that is good in life.
Log on and let me know what you are doing to be thankful for each day.


Monday, March 8, 2010

Encouragement for the times ~ Love

Love is the greatest gift of all time.  Walk in love today.  What reward is there, if we only love those who love us. Love is the greatest gift in the world. Love is the most powerful weapon we possess. It paralyzes the devil and flushes out fear. Jesus said that the two most important commandants are to love God with all your heart, mind and soul, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment. (Mark 12:30) And the second, like it, is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31). Everything hangs on the law of love.  If you truly want to be blessed in life, than walk in love, even towards those who have hurt you the most.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Encouragement for the times ~ Life is Beautiful

Life is Beautiful
from the new book "Hope is Alive!" written by Dale Birdsong

Life is like a flower blossoming, preparing itself to embrace the warmth of the suns rays; it will experience the warmth of the day and embrace the coldness of the night. Eventually it will wither up and die; yet its beauty will be remembered for years to come.
Life with all of its ups, downs, trials, tribulations, heartbreaks, disappointments and rejections is BEAUTIFUL.

Nothing can compare to Jesus on the cross and what He went through to save the lost.

He is the bridge that God gave to set us free.

Life is BEAUTIFUL.

If I didn’t know Jesus, life would be full of strife and misery.

I can’t say that all of life has been full of bliss.
I can say that I am glad that I didn’t miss the most important gift.

His name is Jesus Christ.
As we celebrate the Christmas season and all through out the New Year
let us not forget that Jesus is the reason for the season.

I can’t speak for the rest of the world but I can say that I have had my share of heartaches and disappointments along the way. 

I can also say that I have had my share of goodness, mercy, grace, forgiveness, redemption and most of all love.  God’s love for us is unconditional; He gives it to us without constraints and judgments. His love is the greatest gift that any of us will ever know.

So you see life is simply wonderful, joyful, and most of all BEAUTIFUL.

Thank God for sending us His son Jesus Christ.
Through Jesus we live and we live abundantly.

Life is BEAUTIFUL.

©Dale Birdsong

Encourgement for the times ~ The Bone ~

The Bone

My co-worker shared a story of how she took home a left over ham bone from our office party to make soup. Once she got home, she decided not to make the soup and offered the bone to her gardener. My co-worker said “she felt bad offering her gardener a bone, but knew he had a wife and five kids. She told the gardener how she felt. He immediately assured her not to feel so. He got very excited about the bone and began to tell her how his wife would be happy about receiving it. He went on to explain to her that they were going to cut all the left over meat on the bone off and use it to make sandwiches for the week. Afterwards, they would use the bone to make a pot of lentil soup.

My co-worker told me that since he got so excited about the bone she decided to go and buy him a whole ham. She said “He’s really going to roll over when he sees the ham.”

As she shared this story, I know that some people would have found it offensive to be offered a bone; however, this man didn’t take offense at being offered the bone. He was able to see beyond a bone. He saw enough food to feed his family for at least a week.

The gardener not only expressed appreciation at the receipt of the bone but also had enough faith and vision to see the provision that the bone was going to give. Due to his appreciation and faithfulness, he was blessed with even more provision.

There are times in life where we turn our noses up at things that don’t appear to be very appealing rather than taking the time to look beyond the appearance and see the whole picture. If we take the time to look, we might find that beyond the exterior of the appearance is a wealth of abundance. After all, God doesn’t judge us by our exterior. He looks at our heart. I Samuel 16:7 for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Many years ago, my husband left me and I had to find a new place to live. I prayed and asked God to direct my path. He led me to a townhouse in Sylmar, California. The townhouse looked awful on the inside; it was a work in progress. The couple that owned the townhouse, said to me, “we still have some work to do, but it’s yours if you want it.” At the time, it didn’t look appealing at all. However, I needed a place to stay and I chose to see beyond what I saw. I lived in that townhouse for seven years. My rent was never raised. My children and I were able to get on our feet. My credit was restored to A rating and I was able to purchase my own home. I thank God that I chose to exercise faith and see beyond what I saw on that first day.

Often times, we missed out on blessings because things don’t look the way we want them to look or aren’t what we envisioned them to be. God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts aren’t our thoughts; however, everything works to good for those who are called according to His purpose. The question is do we want His purpose? Do we want His will when it goes against our will? I have found that like the man with the bone, God’s provision may not always come the way we want it to come. However, when it does come, don’t walk away from it, even when it’s in the shape of a Bone.

In all things give God praise.

Don’t overlook the small things; from small beginnings, come great things.

©Dale Birdsong

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Testimony: 3-28-02 How Anointed Gifts & Services Started

God is a Provider!

Being a single mother of three sons, finances tend to get tight. I am a tither. I know that tithing is a covenant with the Lord. It shows him that we trust him. I stand on God’s word. I thanked God for what he had already done in my life and then I prayed and asked him for help in my finances.

God gave me the scripture II Kings 4:1-7, which speaks of the lady who was about to loose her sons because she didn't have enough money to pay her debts. She went to Elisha, to ask for advice. Elisha asked her if she had any goods to sell? The only thing she had was some oil. He told her to go to her neighbors and ask them for baskets. She did. She had more than enough baskets to put the oil in. He told her to take the oil to the market place, which she did. It was more than enough to pay off her debts. I asked God what was my oil? He said to me "I have given you much, now it is up to you what you will do with it. I called my pastor and he prayed with me over the phone. The church was having a holiday fair in November, which I attended. It was my first business adventure. On the morning of the holiday fair, my car wouldn't start, but God always has a ram in the bush. I called one of my friends and she took me to the marketplace. The Lord gave her a word for me from Proverbs " Despise not the day of small beginnings." I went to the marketplace. I did okay. I was able to pay for the booth I rented and had enough left over to buy some fish dinners for the kids (smile). I remembered the scripture given to me, "Despise not the day of small beginnings."

The word of God states that I am the head and not the tail; A lender and not a borrower; I can do all things through Christ.

I will succeed!

This is the only the beginning. I speak by faith. Every thing we do should glorify our Father, which is in heaven. The ideas, the creativity, the talent all come from our heavenly father. I thank him. The Lord has given me over one hundred verses of poetry, several plays, speeches, and a powerful vision of the power and authority we possess through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I praise him. I am only a vessel that he uses. This is the oil given to me by him. He has given each and every one of us oil. It is up to us how we use that oil. I want to use my oil to glorify Christ.

I am in the process of marketing, networking and getting the word out about my business, but most of all about how good God is! He is a provider like none other. He is my father. He is everything we need.

We must believe, trust and keep the faith. God takes me one-step closer each day. As I continue to acknowledge him in all my ways and lean not to my own under-standing, he directs my path.
Let his will be done, not mine. To God be the Glory!