In My Right Mind

I wrote this almost three weeks ago.  I received confirmation to go forward in sharing the next afternoon, and even again that following Sunday.  And today after much prayer, I'm ready to share my secret.  The thing that caused me so much pain and confusion and heartache.  The thing that controlled me for most of my life...but by God's grace I am healed and delivered from those things.  This topic addresses incest and child molestation.  It is something that has crippled so many that walk around in private shame.  This is for all of the girls and boys like me, whose lives were forever changed by an act influenced by the spirits of perversion, bondage and lust.  These spirits have invaded marriages, families, and the Church, and have been so disruptive that people stop believing because people that are to reflect God instead succumb to the enemy's attacks against their mind.  Today, I challenge you to speak out to begin your healing and to forgive.  I challenge you to walk in your deliverance.  Because Jesus died, you are delivered!!!  In surrendering this and all your hurts, cares, and secret pains to Jesus, the final blow to the enemy's hold on your life has been delivered. 

Sorry for the sermon, lol, but please read on...God bless and I hope it blesses you!

"What is your name?" Jesus asked him." Legion," he said--because many demons had entered him. Luke 8:30

I never thought I would see the day that I would  be ready to share this.  But I never imagined I would be here in this place either.  Tonight I went to church.  On the first Sunday night, we have our monthly communion service.  I think it was fitting that I went today too, because after the last month, I was in need of remembering the blood of Jesus, why He died, and what He has done for me.  But God had a word for me there, even with the distraction of my neighbor taking pictures for Facebook and pictures of herself during the service (she had me take two pictures for her too, lol).

I recognized this text that I had long remembered.  For the whole text please read Luke 8:22-39.  In the past, I used this passage of scripture as my justification of why I do not eat pork (clearly I occasionally but unintentionally eat it now, because I know its not what I put in my body that makes me unclean, but that what comes out that makes me unclean, so eat on pork eaters! lol).  Legion means a very large number.  And this man in this passage, was possessed by a very large number of demons, so many that he was not in his right mind, and that he ran about naked, and that he had to be chained and fettered, and that he was found near the tombs, near the dead--the lifeless and the hopeless, dead dreams and visions.  

As I listened to the sermon, I realized so many things.  I had been battling with some revelations I had recently, but this one rang out clear for me.  It dawned on me, I knew what this man felt like.  

I knew what it felt like to be crazy.  I knew what it felt like to feel lifeless and that there was no hope.  I knew what it felt like to be naked--by being naked, I mean exposed and vulnerable as if all your faults were on display for the world to see.  I also know what it feels like to be delivered, and to now sit at the feet of Jesus, healed, delivered, and restored, in my right mind, and clothed--covered by the blood of Jesus.  So I know you are wondering, what made me crazy?  What possessed me that I had a legion of problems to drive me out of sanity?

We all have our crosses to bear.  I think I spent so much time carrying mine and trying to bear the crosses of others that when things fell down and the bottom fell out of my life, I was crushed under the pressure.  What made me crazy, was when my daddy died because it seemed to pull the scab off of a seeping wound.  What cross was I bearing--the pain of being molested as a little girl, among other things.  The pain of never talking about it, the guilt it caused, the shame, and the demons that came with it.  

I could have been a very different person, and if you want to know who, just look at your nearest street corner to imagine what could have been my fate.  I think about how God saved my life as a little girl at a very young age.  And I have my mom to thank for that.  She made sure my brothers and me were raised in the church.  So I met Jesus at a very young age.  It was not until I became an adult, and more recently until my father's death, that the 'legion of demons' were cast away from oppressing and tormenting me.  

I realize now I'm being vague.  How was I crazy?  Well, I thought that God didn't love me for allowing that to happen to me.  I thought that God didn't love me for taking my daddy and my cousin away from me.  I thought that God didn't love me for allowing me to get sick and keeping me alive.  I thought that God didn't love me because I was alone, and that I felt that no one would ever love me because of all my imperfections.  Those demons had me bound; seeking love in meaningless relationships out of lust and perversion--the perversity was simply a twisting of God's word, that I could make someone else love me by doing whatever they wanted instead of yielding to God who already loved me.  That legion were the spirits of lust, perversion, and bondage.  Because of it, I had a victim mentality and I was very angry too.  Angry that no one noticed, angry that I always had to hide it in shame and I was guilty because I hurt people because of my own hurt, and the even sadder fact was that I was oblivious to it or blocked it out.  I hurt my family, friends and myself--like the man possessed by Legion did.  He was bound for his own safety, but was he really safe?

And when Legion met Jesus, all that changed.  He went from being a captive in every sense of the word, to a free man; free to worship, free to praise, and free to walk in God's covering.

I was freed after my daddy died.  Ironic, right?  It took my daddy dying for me to be freed.  It took me losing him and my cousin, and almost my life, to truly gain life in Christ.  Free, to sit at His feet.  Freed from that guilt, that shame, that anger.  Free to forgive.  And now free to love others, and love them all unconditionally.

We all have a legion we are fighting against everyday.  But we can only be freed by meeting Jesus.  In meeting and accepting Jesus's gift of salvation, we are reborn--re-clothed in righteousness, healing, and love.  Our minds are renewed through daily surrender to Jesus, in our acceptance of His grace and mercy.  I can really say I'm in my right mind today.  Of course, I have slip ups if I do not renew my mind and guard it since that is how the enemy can take us captive if we are not on guard.  I think about how my life has changed dramatically since I met Jesus, since I truly came to know Him for myself.  I like this Marquita a whole lot better than the other one.  Yes, I still have much work to do but as long as I surrender to God and remain at His feet--in prayer, praise, and worship--I'll keep making progress.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2EGirG9zz0

I share this song with you.  My co-pastor is Bishop Paul S. Morton and this song is on his latest album.  As I sang along tonight, it gave me peace.  I no longer feel bound by that hurt and the myriad of emotions associated with those things.  I encourage you right now, that whatever storms you are facing whether it is that legion of problems that is trying to call you out of your position of faith or those demons that are trying to condemn you, to call on the name of Jesus and He will free you.  I just realized that the verses where Jesus stills the storm are in the very first few scriptures before the ones pertaining to the demon-possessed man (verses 22-25 I shared above) and this is so perfect here.  Call on Jesus to still the storms of your life and to guide you through them.  I will not say that it is going be easy, but the beauty of being in your right mind is that you can see clearly and that you can trust Jesus and the freedom that He gives.  One of the things that Bishop pointed out was the nature of that man's community--how they were accepting of his mental state and inherent possession and that they were afraid when he was delivered.  Maybe your friends and family will not appreciate what God is doing in your life right now, but if you will simply sit at Jesus's feet and rest there, He will give you peace and joy there regardless of the storms that surround you.  Like that man--no longer Legion--you will be able to return home and rejoice, testifying of the goodness of God that is evident in your life.  And that light that you will bear, will change those around you.

I love you guys!

"Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.  Luke 8:39

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Is it Good for Something?

"The young lions suffer want and hunger: but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."  Psalm 34:10

I have been having the most difficult struggle with being away from my friends and loved ones.  But I finally realized today that it is good for me to be here in this season.  Of most importance right now, I have been able to learn to focus on the immediate task.  Because the only distractions here in New Orleans for me are my raging thoughts.  One thought will have me listening to a song while I am attempting to study and that will lead me to run off and do something else completely unrelated, with me accomplishing nothing or my overall productivity greatly diminished.  I have learned to step outside of my comfortable walls and go to a coffee shop so that all the distractions around me somehow quiet my mind so that I am able to get work done.

So, I read this scripture today.  I have been reading the 34th Psalm almost daily as a part of this devotion I signed up for.  And today as I read it during a work break, this scripture stood out to me as another popped into my head.  Then I asked myself, if I am seeking God, and He withholds no good thing from me,  maybe it is not good for me to be close to my family and friends right now.  And that thought brought tears to my eyes as I would want nothing greater than to be close to home.  Today I thought of that as I talked to my brother and my niece.  She's talking, still gibberish but its getting clearer.  As my brother told me about her, my heart became heavy because I want nothing more than to spend time with her and be closer to my family.  Even this year will be the first year that I will not be going home for Thanksgiving.  I'm 28 years old and this will be my first time away from home and my loved ones on Thanksgiving.  I asked God what was the purpose in all of this, why I am I being isolated like this.  So I assume this scripture was the result of that prayer.

Sometimes, we go through periods of isolation.  It is often during these periods of isolation that we go through our greatest spiritual growth spurts.  I went through one last year, but this one is even harder because I honestly hate being here.  I recognize there are a lot of ways about me that still need to be cleaned up, and I think at this point, maybe I have been running away from the things God wants me to do for too long now.

This even made me think about the things I want really bad...like to move back to Atlanta and to get married!  I can no longer deny the fact that Mother Nature and her clock has me desiring to have a family of my own...but all I have is Parker.  lol.  This scripture made me think of this too, and maybe what I want is not good for me, well at least right now.  Then I thought a little deeper, have my pursuits of these things, like moving closer to home and applying for jobs, spending time with friends and family, and even desiring to get married (mainly unsuccessful dating attempts since I have been here) kept me from seeking God?  Because maybe it is me, my thoughts and the actions that result from them that are keeping me from having what I want.  The things I want are good things...but if I meditate and focus on them too much, they can become idols which of course will serve to sever my bond with God.  I wouldn't seek Him as diligently in prayer, I would be neglecting Him.

So this sometimes happens to us in life, God seemingly strips away all those things of value to us, to get us to Himself, so that we can put things in proper perspective.  I've been going back and forth about being here in New Orleans.  I really want to leave, but I do now realize that being here is good for something...for me to draw closer to God and seek Him ever more intently.  Maybe the source of the storm has been within me all along...holding on to those things that remind me of who I used to be instead of accepting who I am becoming.  In doing that, I have been resisting being here this second year so far, wanting to leave to go back to what was old and comfortable.  The truth is, I seriously contemplated transferring from Clark to Clemson...but staying in Atlanta and yielding to God was one of the best decisions I ever made.  Perhaps it is God's will for me to stick it out till I graduate from law school, maybe it isn't.  At any rate, I will seek Him more, so that when I am released from here (prayerfully soon), those things I currently lack will be exactly as He wants them to be when its time for me to receive them.

Yield now and be at peace with Him; Thereby good will come to you.  Job 22:21

The Patience Lesson

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:6

I regret the day I prayed for patience.  I frequently say how much I despise the word.  I really do.  I would be lying if I said I didn't.  But I say this in honesty because I have learned so many lessons about life and myself.  From my dealings with others, to how I view myself, patience has made all the difference.

I was angry today because a pastor I follow was judging women who are saved for how they dress--because they have not quite gotten to where she is.  I had a conversation pertaining to this type of judgment a few weeks ago with a pastor about my own experiences with it and how I have learned that it takes time for God's works to be completed.  It was apparent to me that these people forgot that God didn't deliver them overnight; they told me themselves.  The scripture above confirms that!  You see, I wasn't always this way.  I was much different and even though I still have a long way to go, I have made progress which directly reflects God's hand on my life.  I still have some very marked flaws but I trust those to God too.  That has been one of my struggles lately, wondering how God is going to get me from here, the place I am in mentally, physically, and spiritually to where He wants me to be.  And it rang out, patience, trust the process and allow yourself to be prepared.  Likewise, people, including clergy, sometimes forget the process that God took them through to get where they are.  I was guilty of this when I was a baby Christian.  I wanted my boyfriend at the time, my friends, and family to all get to where I felt I was in my walk.  But God showed me that I still had more growing to do.  So the next time you judge that lady in church for her tight pants and cleavage in church, although distracting if your mind isn't focused on getting the word, remember she is not where you think you are, and God invites us to come to Him as we are, imperfections and all.  Because He is more than patient with us all, right?

Patience is the product of suffering and trials.  It teaches us to endure, and endure in faith.  It strengthens our faith muscles, much like push-ups and squats build muscles.  But you can't work out once and expect to lift cars!  You must be patient--and endure.  God has been drilling me in this lesson for the last 4 years.  Everything I desire: healing and deliverance from medications, marriage and children, debt freedom, and now to become a judge...I have to patiently endure the process necessary for all of this.  While I know I don't have it 100% mastered, patience has taught me to trust God and cleave to Him to have the faith necessary to keep believing that the things I want in life will manifest.  

I think the most beautiful lesson I've learned in all of this is that as long I as trust God for what He has shown me, no matter what, I will have those things.  And the reward of patience is knowing God more intimately.  To endure and persevere for His promises causes you to draw nearer to Him.  And its in the drawing nearer to Him that you are transformed and changed.  You gain the intimacy of relationship with God and its there in that intimacy that you learn to walk in those things He has promised you--you walk in your healing, you walk in your favor, you walk in your deliverance.  You expect your spouse, you await those children, and you can endure in peace and joy.  I'm getting there, because it has been tough enduring for me.  I have had to overcome myself and the things that have come against what I want.  But I see how God has changed me and those around me, and I can rest in knowing that its simply a matter of time before my desires make their appearance.

So the next time you feel judged, remember two things, God isn't through with you yet and just like they judge you, God will judge them.  Let patience have its work in you and your life.

But patience will have a complete work for itself that you would be perfected and complete, and that you would be lacking nothing.  James 1:4

So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.  Galatians 6:9

Chocolate Milk

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.  1 Peter 2:2-3

I really feel like I have the most non-random, random encounters of God. (There are NO coincidences, haha.)  So let me explain.

I was dropping off a friend of my friend after finishing getting my hair done.  He is a make-up artist and we talked on the way, about how he came to be in Atlanta, and what is his ultimate goal.  At some point in the conversation, he asked me what is my sign.  I said huh because I wasn't totally listening at that very moment, and he repeated it.  I replied, "oh, I'm a Cancer."  He then told me I have sweet spirit but can be crabby.  I burst out laughing because its true.  Then I thought about how a lot of stuff astrology and horoscopes have to say about people born around my time of the year are true.  Then somewhere in those thoughts and words buzzing around my head, God spoke to me about how religion and spirituality are now flavored or enhanced by these things that are not of God.  Growing up, I LOVED to drink chocolate and strawberry milk.  So it dawned on me: pure milk is what we need, but chocolate milk is what we want, and subsequently drink. 

Nowadays, in many churches, in many homes, and in many of the minds of the masses, there are beliefs that are not biblically based or that are variations of the word of God.  From Christian denominational traditions to the mainstream inclusion of astrology, voodoo, witchcraft, and other religions and New Age movements as parts of our everyday life and personal belief systems, there are many things that are flavoring the pure milk.  Sure, you may still be getting milk, but at what cost?  What are you sacrificing--are you getting whole milk, that full fat, pure milk of the Lord, or are you getting skim milk or 2% milk?  What are you adding to it?  What has been taken away from it?

I don't know why that stuck out in my mind.  I guess to show how we are easily deceived and make things 'doctrinal' that really should not be.  Or maybe to show how easily we get caught up in worldly things, flavoring that milk, until there is no longer any milk left, but the damaged caused by the additives.  Case in point, when we don't truly know the word of God, we get confused...and I hope you know that the enemy is the author of confusion, seeking to corrupt us all and damn us to eternity separate from the Father.

We are susceptible to it because of the society we live in.  We get caught up in them because they sound better than what the Bible tells us to do: making it wrong to offer correction to a brother or sister in Christ and right to encourage their downfall.  Religious freedom and tolerance allow for a variety of belief systems to flourish.  As a result, strangely enough, this tolerance promotes religious swirling.  By swirling I mean many churches and religious figures add a little bit of this and a little bit of that to get more people through the doors, and the more that happens, the more watered down the Word will be.  It is my hope that God corrects that in me, that I always accurately represent Him to the world and I pray you the same!

So I ask you today to ask yourself, are you getting pure milk?  Are you taking what you hear at face value because the preacher, or your teacher, or your friends, or your mom said it?  Or are you studying the Word for yourself, spending time with God for yourself, and praying, so that you can adequately test those things that come along--because they most surely will--and discerning for yourself through the help of the Holy Spirit, that which is truth?  Be careful, be leery, because all it takes is a turn off, a omitted word, or a rearrangement of the words, as the serpent did with Eve, to fall.  And if it sounds good and tastes kind of sweet, you might be getting some chocolate powder added to your milk!

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"  2The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "  4"You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. 5"For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.  Genesis 3:1-7

Fwd: Thorns

**I preface this with saying, some of you may remember this Marquita, some of you never met her.  And thank you Adrienne, and thank you to your sister for being conduits of God's grace to remind me why I am still kicking!

Marquita

The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and threw a purple robe around Him.  John 19:2

So, I guess the only place to start is at the beginning.  I hope this blesses and encourages you to keep pushing, even when you get to your breaking point like I did.  The last few weeks have been beyond hectic, and the last year has been beyond difficult.  All of the frustrations and heartaches for me came to a head the weekend before last.  It started with my oversleeping and missing the ride to Atlanta with my church, but I was okay, because I was able to get a bike (score for me...sorta...I later found out I could have gotten the same bike brand new for the price it cost me to get the bike and get a tune up...but oh well.)  Then...I needed to get a trim...initially I decided against it.  But I knew I was going to get a sew-in this past Saturday and needed a trim before I got it done.  (I'm not sure if its showing up, but trim is bolded, lol, pay attention.)  So, it bugged me, and to make sure my hair stays healthy while in these protective styles and since I was trying to let it grow out, I went ahead to get a trim. Sigh.  Let's just say my precious hair is 2-3 inches shorter and cut even when that was not my request.  I prefer layers, not even hair (*insert angry scowl here*).  I was devastated.  I got depressed immediately and I am just recovering from the test of my faith that ensued.

Most of you may think I'm crazy, and maybe I am.  Sue me.  But it was in the midst of that situation that I had several epiphanies that were not so comfortable.  I felt like, with valid reason, that every time I got back on my feet and was moving forward, an obstacle would come or some attack would knock me down.  And especially with my hair.  My journey with growing my hair out has been my tangible example of my faith walk.  So I was very down...very low.  Over the course of last week, I told God I don't care, and that I'm not the person for this and that I was angry about all the things I have had to go through with no breaks.  I still am not sure whether I am.  I asked Him flat out why am I still here if all I do is fight and struggle and be strong for others and suffer and wait.  No answer came to me at all that day.  I didn't flat out stop praying, I vowed to pray for others and ignore what I wanted because it seemed like I would never get it.  Yet, somehow I knew when I prayed for others it would work.  Strange thinking...no stinking thinking. LOL.  I had several conversations last week where people attempted to encourage me.  I tried listening to a sermon, I tried reading the Bible, and I tried reading devotions but I just wasn't in the right state of mind.  

 

So last Friday, I woke up early so I could try to get out of New Orleans on time to leave for Atlanta.  I prayed the night before and I finally accepted that the hair was gone. (Side note, I went through the stages of grief smh; trims are traumatic for me unless I go to Tamara.  From now on until I die, I will suck it up and make that ride to Atlanta from wherever I am...never again will anyone else trim my hair).  By the time I got in the car to go to work, I had a text message from one of my linesisters, letting me know that her sister was diagnosed with Lupus.

See many of you don't know that technically, I was diagnosed with Lupus back in 2006 when my kidney problems were discovered.  I went into a deep depression; I was angry with God then too.  During junior year, I started having some strange symptoms which led to me having to have a biopsy.  Well right there was God's hand on my life.  Because instead of prepping me for the biopsy, the doctor ordered additional labs that morning, which was not the norm, and I waited.  I later was admitted to the hospital where I stayed for two weeks during the middle of the second semester of school because had they done the biopsy that day, I would have bled to death.  I was poked and prodded like a cow, isolated, depressed, and everything imaginable while I was in there.  They could not find out what was wrong with me.  I read the bible and I prayed to God that it would not be Lupus.  I prayed and I prayed.  Some friends, including my college roommate and two of my spiritual sisters, came and prayed for me.  My boyfriend's (at the time) mom and aunt and sister came and prayed for me. Friends came and visited me.  At some point during the hospitalization, I tested positive for some of the markers for Lupus.  Then, after being treated with all sorts of medicines to get my platelet count up, I had the kidney biopsy.  I had been being tested since I was 16 and every time after being in the hospital, the tests were negative.    

I had the moon pie face and I hated taking pictures.  I refused to be in the front of a picture.  And then I got bigger than this!

You can see here that I was just getting the stria on my arms (they were still red so my skin was still ripping from the weight gain)

When I got out of the hospital, my life changed completely.  I went from eating and drinking whatever I wanted to a strict diet and a new additive: prednisone.  I gained about 30 lbs in less than 2 months.  People asked me what was wrong; it hurt to walk and I was easily fatigued.  Some people asked if I had a baby...  So last Friday morning when I got her message, I suddenly understood why I was still here as those memories rushed back.

I had a vision after reading the message from my linesister.  I saw an image of Jesus with the crown of thorns around His head.  I saw the scratches they caused and the blood that dripped from them and I thought of the pain, His shed blood for our lives.  Then I thought of Paul and the thorn in his flesh.  Both had thorns, but it was how they looked at them that was different.  So I now have a new understanding of 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.  Paul was tormented by a messenger of satan.  This thorn he had, much like my thorn, can be equated to those negative thoughts. That messenger of satan will torment you and cause you to get depressed and discouraged, either by haunting you with thoughts of your current suffering and the things you have faced in life.  It was in realizing God's grace, God's love, God's gift to him--Jesus' life, death and resurrection--that Paul was able to rejoice because God used those situations in Paul's life to bring victory, to save souls and to spread the Good News to the world.  It was in looking at the thorn in his side as Jesus did, necessary to bring about God's intended purpose, that Paul was able to walk in God's grace through it.

And now I can do the same.  I had thought of thorns in my mind, how instead of victories, the things that I had gone through were like the notches in a tree that was being chopped down.  They were thorns, embedded in my mind and heart, serving as a constant reminder of what happened and I was allowing them to still cause me pain.  I have the physical reminders of what I went through, the stretch marks, the transplant scar, the biopsy scars (I had a bone marrow biopsy and a kidney biopsy before I was diagnosed, and a thyroid biopsy after my surgery).  I have the little stubborn pooch that seems like it will never go away (ugh lol) from my daily prednisone.  These thorns have been areas of torment for me instead of access points for the victory.  I was reminded of the thorns because these thorns, these uncomfortable situations, are preparing me for my eternal crown.  Because for every thorn I have, God has a way in the making for me to rejoice in spite of that thing.  And while encounters with thorns sometimes leave scars, those scars fade.  I went through what I went through so that I could testify of what faith can do.  God healed me.  Even though I had to have a transplant, I am healed.  Even though I take medicines, I am healed.  I live and come and go as I please.  I remember that He died and rose.  He bore the thorns so that I can wear a crown.

I'm a living testimony of the power of faith.  I have had several other diagnoses that I no longer have.  The things that happened to me this last year, for a moment were like a prison.  I was imprisoned by the burdens, by those thorns in my mind.  And even though my diagnosis still says Lupus, the tests they have given me since then say that I'm negative.  Why?  Because I chose to look at that 'thorn' through the eyes of faith and I chose to focus on God's truth and His grace He extended to me.  So I encourage you, that in whatever situation you may be in today, to have faith and get back up.  Rise again.  Shake off the depression and discouragement; look at your thorns the way that Jesus did. Look at those situations as preparation for the crown of glory God will give you.   Don't focus on the pain, focus on the purpose.  Remember in spite of what you've gone through and may be going through, God loves you and His grace is sufficient.  Remember His power is greater than anything you may ever face and that your crown awaits!

This is two weeks ago, the week of that dang trim! Ugh! lol! Argghhhh lol.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; you have been healed by His wounds.  1 Peter 2:24