Author: Roshonda B

My name is Roshonda Blackmon and I have been known in life as “the encourager” God gave me that gift before I even realized what it was or what it truly meant, the only thing I knew is that a vast amount of people liked to come to me for advice and once that advice was received, I never heard from them anymore until they wanted more advice. That gifting soon became my ministry. I’ve been through quite a bit of challenges in life from dealing with suicide, low self-image which resulted in low self-esteem, to the difficulties of growing up in a one parent household and the list goes on and on. But God in all his Mercy and Grace blessed me to overcome those obstacles and situations and gave me a “second” chance by allowing me to live through all that darkness in order to help spread an encouraging light to others. In a world of uncertainty and negatism’s I want to encourage you to LIVE. Yes, Life does get hard sometimes, But if we keep looking up at the SON; we gain strength, we become empowered and we grow in the process with God’s help; for it doesn’t matter where you are in your life at this moment in time; God is able and will meet you within that dark place and change your life from Dark to Light, I’m not only a witness to this; but JustsumInspiration to show you, That you too can make it.

The WHOLE TRUTH & nothing but the TRUTH!!!

Published on September 2, 2015December 18, 2020 by Roshonda B2 Comments

A couple weeks ago, I received a message from my old boss asking had I seen some meeting minutes I had taken during a meeting three months ago. Another meeting was coming up. Those minutes were needed to correspond with events that happened and/or had taken place during that time. The back story of this is that I had since moved from that position into another department. Upon my departure, I had gotten rid of a lot of unnecessary paperwork while I was in transition. So when he reached out to ask me had I seen those documents, “I immediately told him that I did not recall being in the meeting. There were quite a few things that were transpiring during that time and that the last minutes I had taken were from February.”

Truth be told, I knew I was in that meeting and didn’t take those notes but was afraid I had actually thrown them out with everything else that was getting trashed that week. So without telling him the “whole” truth and avoiding getting called a “lacker.” I felt like it was best to have a jogged memory to clear myself of being called “irresponsible.” At that time, I felt like a LIE was more valuable in telling him than the actual TRUTH…

The dictionary states that a lie is:

“A false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood, something intended or serving to convey a false impression.”

How many times in life do we forsake telling just to cover up the “whole” truth? There is no white lie, little lie, a small lie, or tiny lie – It’s just a LIE, an untruth. If told, a lie can start out like a seed. Its start is small until you begin to nurture, feed, and water it. If you don’t do those things, then it will never grow. However, once you start feeding, nurturing, and watering it with other lies – that small seed becomes bigger and bigger. It begins to create branches and those branches each have limbs of their own. A lie has a way of making you feel like you did the right thing, but in actuality, it’s that “small” thing that can keep many of us out of God’s graces.

The bible states in Proverbs 6:16-17, “There are six things the Lord hates, seven are an abomination to him – haughty eyes, a lying tongue…

It also states in Revelation 21:8 – “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore-mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and ALL LIARS shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Okay, so I didn’t mean to get all deep on you, but it’s right there in the word – ALL LIARS – that would include ME!)

As you can see, the bible didn’t say specifically, “Well, the white lies” are okay, but the BIG lies are an abomination. He said ALL LIARS, which means whether a lie is big or small in your mind….All liars will not be judged but headed to a pit of damnation. Now I know you don’t want that. I don’t want it for you or me.

Once I came to myself after feeling truly condemned about what I told my former boss. I asked the Lord for forgiveness and emailed them back to confess that I was indeed at the meeting. In my moving process, I had either misplaced them, or they must have been thrown away with other items. I began to tell him that I would come over and look for them; I did go to the department, and with the Lord’s help, I was able to put my hands right on them; I typed them out and made sure that he received them the same day. A lie is so easy to get into but can be so hard to correct due to our own pride and just cause reasons.

The next time you find yourself about to tell a LIE, even a small one. If you are sincerely trying to live for Christ and have a heart set after him, tell the truth at all cost. While the flesh is continuously pulling and tugging on us daily to fall into its desires, lusts, and entanglements of life. Walking in the spirit will compel you to tell the truth regardless of how it will make you look in the long run.

Getting cast out of God’s presence forever because of something so small is a hurt that you will never be able to erase. If we strive to walk after the spirit daily. We can become resistant to the flesh and continue to live the life that God intends for us to live, which is Holy, not to say that we won’t get tempted. Still, if we continue to walk in the spirit, we won’t be so eager to tell a LIE.

Movers & Sitters

Published on August 12, 2015November 20, 2015 by Roshonda B8 Comments

When I moved to North Carolina, my first job here was at a local Government Office – I loved the job as I was just happy to get one within months of coming to the state. I started off in Child Services, after about 2 years of doing the job – I felt like I wanted to do something a little different. So I began to seek out other opportunities within my work establishment that would challenge me a little more. I love challenges and always seem to seek out things that are more engaging.

On this job I became friends with a young lady by the name of Lauren, she was very nice and I liked hanging out with her at work, because we did the same job – we found ourselves going to conferences and trainings together. She did her job and I did mine – because we worked with child cases we also found ourselves going to court together as well. In this job task we were the same, but our viewpoints I came to find out were very different. Where I loved challenges and loved to discover new things and took my job a little further than what I probably should have. Lauren was comfortable doing the minimum, she didn’t find comfort in challenges and wasn’t eager to move up. She was comfortable staying right where she was, doing exactly what she was doing and when 5PM came around, she happily left…while I sometimes stayed around after hours. I Loved finding out about new things as those things put a wrinkle in my brain for increased knowledge, Lauren on the other hand never wanted to find out about new things, she felt like if she didn’t know about it – then she wouldn’t be responsible for it.

I discovered that I was a Mover and Lauren was a Sitter…while I wanted to run with Life, Lauren was fine just sitting and watching it go by without new knowledge or a care in the world about what was going on. She constantly sat on her lily pad, never to leap to another one to find nor discover a new adventure.

In Life there will always be Movers and Sitters, but what about when it comes to the word of God? In the church you also have Movers and Sitters. The Movers are the ones whom take the word and actually do something with it, they apply it to their lives and seek to help others do the same. A Sitter are the ones whom listen to the same word, say Amen and do nothing with what they heard; they sit on knowledge and advancement; a lot of times because they are not willing to put in the work that will allow them to grow in the word of God.

The Bible says in James 1:22-24 (NIV) – Do no merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

That means that the Word of God is to be applied and put into Action and merely not just listened to and forgotten.

So it’s easy to say that A Mover is a Doer and a Sitter is a Hearer. On Sunday our Pastor, touched on this, he began to talk about the chaos of the world and how us as Christians are saying we hope the Lord come soon and destroy the world and take us back with him, but what a boring life one must have if all you’re doing is Sitting and waiting on the Lord to take you back with him and destroy the world because it’s so MAD!….Even in the midst of all the world’s happenings, we as Christians are being called to be MOVERS! to hear the WORD of God and offer help to the Lost, Sick, Lame & Confused soul. God does not bless us spiritually and naturally for us to just keep it to ourselves and not become a help to others. Sure don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that a sitter is going to Hell! they too may just get to heaven before a mover…but what I’m saying is this – God has given us all talents and gifts, when I go before the Lord; I want to be empty – empty of every gift, every talent & every purpose that he has given to me. Don’t You?

We have all kinds of people in the world – I came across another person recently whom is a Sitter, “I don’t want to do no more than what’s required of me” they said…(If it’s above my pay grade, It’s too much)…Not to say that it’s anything wrong with that, as we all have things that are beyond our control and out of our reach as far as helping others or taking our jobs to the next level. But sometimes when it’s in our POWER to do more, we simply choose to do LESS because we have a Sitter mentality…(no more, no less)

10 years later, to this day, Lauren is still in the same position she was in when we first became friends – not willing to go the extra mile, doing the same thing that is required, nothing more nor less – And while I have moved on several times since then, I wonder if Lauren chose to be a MOVER in life; where would she be right now and how far could she have gone.

While this is merely your opinion in LIFE, and it’s okay to be a SITTER. In the WORD of God being a MOVER is the ultimate KEY to success!

ARE YOU MOVING OR SITTING?

Are you on the “A” List?

Published on July 29, 2015July 29, 2015 by Roshonda B3 Comments

In the world today, we have what we call “A” Lister’s; these people in the world’s terms are known to generally be above society due to their lucrative incomes, social statuses, how many cars they may or may not drive, how many homes they may or may not stay in and how much money they spend on elaborate shoes, suits, jewelry, alcohol and so forth..

Then you have the B Lister’s whom may not have as much money as the “A” Lister’s; but they are not bad off and still recognizable to society. After wards you have the C & D Lister’s whom are known but their status in life is not worth mentioning or recognizing and depending which you are – Your bank account is nowhere close in the rankings of even getting you into the lavish hot spots that the higher elites have access to…

Those are the lists for the celebrities, in reality we as individuals place each other on our own list of must haves, must do, must go and must see of life. We tend to place each other higher than the other solely based on if we feel you have money, what prestigious church you attend, what type of house you live in, what kind of car you drive even to the clothes you may wear and we take those things and place them on our own A, B, C & D list.

Oh but there’s going to come a day when we won’t be judged by the amount of money in the bank, But rather, what you chose to do with the wealth God placed in your possession, nor will we be judged by how many people we may know But rather, how many people did you help. We won’t be judged by the car we all currently drive, But rather, how many people you picked up, how many nursing homes – hospitals and shelters you visited with it. We won’t be judged by the lavish homes that some of us may or may not have – But rather, how many people did you open up your door too to give them a place to sleep, God will not be concerned about how many clothes you have and the name brands that’s so graciously stitched into the collar, But rather, how many people you clothed, how many people did you give shoes too in the abundance of things that you may not even wear.

When we all come before God, we are and will be of one body, one spirit, one mind and one voice. God doesn’t have social ladders of success, there are no “A” Lister’s, “B” Lister’s, “C” Lister’s nor “D” Lister’s when he looks at us. He sees us all the same (For he is a God of no respecter of persons – Romans 2:11)

No religion will be greater than the other, as a matter of fact there will be no religion preferences (There will be no Baptist, Pentecostal, AME, Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Christian Churches and etc.) Oh, what a day that will be where all races, all religions, social classes, rich, poor and whatever list you may be a part of in this life, will all answer and bow down to ONE KING, ONE JUDGE, ONE RULER & ONE FATHER of ALL!

We may not all be on the same ladder of success nor possess the ranks of an “A” Lister and so forth, right now, but take JOY! In knowing that one day, if we live righteous and holy, we’ll all be ONE in him and that’s better than any “LIST” the world will ever have the opportunity to put you on.

Remember, this life is not built on making the Worlds List (For what profits a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul. Mark 8:36); But rather, on making the “List” that will officially put you in the Lambs Book of “Eternal Life”

The Only “List” that will ever matter…

Have you Graduated?

Published on July 22, 2015July 22, 2015 by Roshonda BLeave a comment

Last week I was faced with a situation, the situation in the past and much of the present was a common mistake that I had always made, This mistake had taken over my life so much so to the point where every time I was presented with this particular one, I gave in; felt bad afterwards, so bad to the point where I didn’t feel worthy enough to go before God’s throne, I distanced myself from God & the church as if I had the ability or the power to punish myself for God from my own sinful, disgusting self and once I felt as though I was okay again, I came out of my own darkness; after the beating, the bruising and the punishing of my own fault…..I now felt worthy enough to go before God’s presence, to go back to church, to mingle around people again.

How many times do we diagnose our own problems with our own solutions, we prescribe our own self-induced medication. The bible says “For ALL have sinned and come short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). So no matter how good you think you are, mistakes are still present in our life and will be until we are changed over from Flesh to Spirit.

But as many mistakes as we do and/or experience daily there are certain mistakes that we should have graduated from a long time ago, Have you ever found yourself repeating the same things over and over again? You consistently make the same mistakes. Those mistakes honestly are test, tests that we can’t seem to pass. When we take a test in school, we study and study but for some reason when you take the test, you still fail it in which makes you have to take the same test over and over again until you pass. Mistakes are the same way…

When we continue to make the same mistakes, it can cause us to be stagnated in the same place, you don’t move forward in God and/or life because if you keep failing, you will not graduate, ultimately making you to have to re-do that mistake again in which leaves for a season only to return when you least expect it. Have you noticed that when a mistake comes around again, it’s usually presented differently; it never comes back the same way as it did before. It’s kind of like taking a driver’s test for the first time, most pass the very first one; while others have to repeat it. If you are one that has failed your driver’s test the first time, you leave disappointed and defeated but you tend to study the questions/answers that you missed only to go back and find out that you are not given the same test that you had taken before but a totally different test that may have some of the same questions as before but a totally different test in which you did not study for because you were focused on the previous test and its questions and answers.

Until we actually pass and/or graduate from a mistake we will find ourselves always at some time or another presented with the same ordeal. But I can tell you from personal experience that you have the ability to graduate, but just because you graduate from this mistake doesn’t mean you won’t be presented with other mistakes, hurts, habits or hang-ups because remember what was said earlier, as long as we’re in this flesh we will continue to suffer trials, tribulations and greater mistakes but in order to fully move forward in God you’re going to have to not only pass the bigger trials and tribulations – which is easy, because we see them coming a lot of times a mile away and we humanly know how to deal with the bigger tasks, but the smaller things like little mistakes that we’re faced with daily…..The bible says “The small foxes destroy the vine” (Song of Solomon 2:15)

Sometimes we’re so focused on the BIGGER DEALS and try to steer clear of them, But it’s the simplest things in which could range from loving your brothers and sisters like God would love them, a grudge, or judging others and the list goes on and on in this category that could possibly be keeping us from graduating onto the next chapter and/or purpose that God has for us.

Don’t miss the mark of Christ over a simple mistake, as they will happen but graduate with honors from it so you can continue to move upward and not backwards.

So now ask yourself a question, Have you truly Graduated?

HE BLESSED ME, I DITCHED HIM

Published on July 15, 2015 by Roshonda BLeave a comment

EVER BEEN DITCHED?

For as long as I can remember, I always wanted my own home – I could remember being a little girl daydreaming and cutting out pictures of what I wanted my home to look like, I wanted a big house with a lot of windows. As I got older and was able to do a little research I immediately came to the realization that I did not want to start off with an apartment because to me that was a waste of money, but I wanted something that I could invest in, something that would build equity, something that when I had children; we would begin to create fond memories and then when they grew up maybe themselves and/or their children and their children’s children would be able to keep the house in the family. That house would be their foundation to remember memories of times past and build their own memories for years to come and this process would all start with me.

Well that dream became a reality when I turned 23 years old. Years of daydreaming along with months of seeking God, fasting and paying my tithes had payed off. Months before the big move, I had created a stockpile of items at my mom’s house; I did read that owning a home would not be easy as you had to take care of a lot of things yourself, like mowing the lawn – plumbing issues if there was one and so much more. So I wanted to make sure that I was good on toiletries, and other necessities that could get me by for quite a while without having to spend so much money. This home I had purchased was so beautiful it was a two bedroom – one bathroom little bungalow; it felt like home when I walked through the door, there was a bricked fence going around a very large backyard, it also came with its own storage building; the couple that stayed there, the wife was an interior decorator so the paint colors and how she had everything laid out was spectacular, along with high ceilings and a sun room; separate dining room, a big living room. The bathroom had his and her sinks and was big enough for a family of four to live out of it, it had a whirlpool tub in which 5 people could have easily swam in.

The house was my home and I loved it. When I went to look at the home, I took my mom with me – I wanted her to share in on my experience as I wanted to make her proud. She too had just received her first home when I was in the 12^th grade so excitement filled the air for both of us. While we were under the car port basking in joy, the realtor looked at me and said “If you really want this house, you should get your mom to pray; she looks like a praying woman” I wanted the house so bad until If a puppy could have gotten a prayer through – I would have begged him to pray for me.

My mom, a highly spiritual and anointed woman turned to me and said these words “God said he was going to give you the house…. (YES LORD!! I thought), but he said he was not going to tolerate your sin… (WHOA, STOP THE PRESS – HUH???)….Oh Boy, I was in trouble (yes, I had been praying and so forth, but you know how you have one foot in the church and one foot out of the church) I was totally there, I was the type of person that loved God dearly, truly even; but my love for him was based on me having a clear mind – with no distractions in tow, my love for him was also based on “if I was not loving someone else” at the time and for the past couple of months I was okay as my mind was clear because I had a focus on what I wanted. (Nothing but the truth folks)

So when mama said that, I was hesitant to ask her to really pray for me, but I wanted the house so bad. I told her Mama, God won’t have any problems out of me; I humbly said YES PRAY!…..Well, after I completed the mounds of paperwork and received my key, I proceeded to move all of my stock pile compiled at mama’s house into my own. For a good two months it was just me and JESUS, then one day out of the blue an ex-boyfriend showed up at my door step and the rest…….HISTORY! He eventually moved in and my humble house of abode began to look, smell and feel different. I had let all types of things into my home when I allowed him to come into the back door, The good job that I had at the time was going down the drain; I was feeling myself and felt like it was either going to be me or the poor attorney that they had hired for me to work for, I had been at odds with him for months, so one day I got fed up with him, the office and everyone else – I packed my things and walked out…….I had been telling people that I got laid off – but in reality I had made some poor decisions that lead to very bad judgments that eventually got me fired, they wanted me to come back as long as I apologized for my actions, but I was too bull headed to go back…..PRIDE is a silent killer. I had just gotten my home 4 months prior and because I could not find a decent job and refused to work in fast food, lost my beautiful home to foreclosure.

How many times does God bless us with the things that we so desire and want only to ditch him when we have received what we wanted, YES; we may ask God for a new car and send up many prayers to him which Intel what we would do when you receive it, how we would keep it clean, take care of it and maybe even if he will bless us with it, we will go to church; and God being so merciful will bless you to get the car, only for us to make good on that promise for a month and shut him out. The things that God blesses us with, we in turn can turn around and curse him with it.

God says in his word, that if you delight yourself also in the Lord, He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:4 – Please take note the underlined text, you have to continually delight yourself in God before, during and after the blessing. I had a friend to tell me one day that we treat God as if he was a friend with benefits a.k.a (FWB), A friend with benefits is a “friend” that can provide you the “benefit” of what comes along with a relationship, but there is no love involved. That is the way we treat God when he Blesses us and we ditch him, what we’re telling him is “Well Lord, you know we cool right; I really don’t want a relationship with you at this point, I know one day I will get there and if something happens within that time frame where I feel like I may want you more than what I want of you now, then I will revisit our relationship status but for right now, I just want your blessings…..if you can keep those coming on a regular basis, we’re good; no love lost.

I can’t tell you how many times I have actually ditched God, I have ditched him for relationships I felt that were more prominent than his, I have ditched him when he gave me what I wanted; I have picked him up and put him down so many times in my life until it’s a wonder he still wants to actually have anything to do with me. But God does not love us for where we are, he sees who we are to become and yes, right now he may get ditched; but there is going to come a time where if you listen and follow his directions closely, he knows you will love him right back.

To this day, I still think about the house that I lost; I sometimes feel consumed with the should ‘a, could ‘a, would ‘a’s of life. But most of all I think about how I treated God during that time, someone so loving, so good and so merciful to me to bless me with something so beautiful and I just let it slip through my hands, which was my relationship with him and the house he so honorably allowed me to have. If you have ditched God, just know that he is forgiving and a God of second chances and many more in some cases.

I would love to have a home again…and while I was foolish and ungrateful the first time around, this time I have the right mindset toward God to not serve him until I get what I want and ditch him, but my relationship is that of true admiration and LOVE in which he now receives the praise through every blessing he sees fit to bless me with from beginning to end.