To the Woman Warriors - Keep The Faith

To those who know that that they have been truly called to stand in the gap and to be God's intercessors.  I call you Woman Warrior for God has called you into the battle field to fight, to take up your weapons and intercede on behalf of those in which you are connected.   If we fail on this assignment much is at stake, the sick will not be healed, the lost will never be saved, the hopeless will never gain hope, the wayward child will never return home, the rocky marriage will fail, the called and chosen ministers will close the church doors, the frightened teen-aged girl will go ahead and have an abortion, the depressed single mother struggling to take care of her family will just take the pills and call it quits, the discouraged businessman will give up and lay off his workers or just shut the doors all together, the future president will drop out of school, the wayward teen will end up in prison with a life sentence.... nations will continue to go to war, Israel will never have peace, politicians will continue to seek after greed instead of serving the people,.., the poor in rural America, third world countries like Haiti and Rwanda will continue to suffer with no hope in sight..millions of unreached people groups will never no the hope of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, millions of children will continue to die in Africa each day from contaminated water.... this looks very bleak and so it is, except, that my prayers, and your prayers are the key to change and turning all of these situations around.  Yes, God is the hope in each of these situations, His word, His Son, His ways are the solution.

The problem is that as Prayer Warriors, Woman Prayer Warriors, we sometimes feel that we too are at our last rope.  We too feel discouraged and hopeless that change is not taking place soon enough, we too feel overwhelmed that we need a change, God has to move, our situations seem impossible.   These issues that we deal with daily are designed to wear us down and wear us out so that we become ineffective in our ministry of intercessory prayer.  When you are being tested do not try to go through it alone, find one trusted friend who is an intercessor to petition God on your behalf.  We can be a strength to one another.  The word tells us the fervent effectual prayer availeth much - in other words passionate prayers get powerful results!!  Perhaps you are at your rope and can't go any further but the good news is that God CAN..  "With man this is impossible but with God all things are possible".

God will send rivers of refreshing, even in your wilderness. Yes, Prayer Warriors go through wilderness experiences too.  He will refresh the weary heart and lift up your head.  He will shine his face upon you.

Sing for the time of refreshing is come!!!We can rejoice in advance for what God will do.  We are called, ordained and chosen by God to do the work of intercessory prayer.  Jesus himself said that we would do greater works. The work of intercessory prayer, fasting and intervening on the behalf of others is that greater work we are called to do!!   If we continue in the faith and do our part, Jesus will take up the baton in this relay race as our Advocate and High Priest, he will then take our prayers to the Father and enter the Holy of Holies.  God will then bring about the change that we are praying for, believing for and waiting upon.

We must remember that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.  It the annointing of God that destroys yokes and sets the captive free, that changes the heart of an individual, that affects all these things we petition Him for.    So, to the Woman Warrior, I encourage you to continue in supplications and thanksgiving.  God is faithful.    Continue to live by faith in His word and His promises.  For He has promised that your strength shall be renewed, you shall mount up as eagles wings (Isaiah).  Though our adversary may attempt to wear you out, by his tactics, God has promised to continuously Give you strength.

Yaweh is Gracious.  His Grace is like River that never runs dry.   As we go forth in 2012, let's recommit to even more fervent prayers, faithfulness in fasting and interceding for our loved ones, communities, our nations and the world.  Let us take up our weapons of warfare, let us look to those warriors that have come before us for inspiration.  God is still writing names in his hall of fame, will you be one of those who will receive a reward for your works here on the earth.   God is not mocked for whatsoever a woman sows that shall she also reap.  You may never gain a Nobel prize here on earth, you may never gain the recognition or full appreciation for all your years of laboring by faith on behalf of others, but God has the record.  He himself will bless and reward you in the days to come!!!  Let us continue to encourage one another as the day of Jesus coming approaches.  I believe that 2012 will be your greatest year yet!!





Attached is an inspirational video by Vonciel Bryant http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150454182783051

He Loves You That Much!!!

 This topic is really on my mind right now... with so many people are thinking about  the new year and planning to make changes concerning restructuring, reorganizing their lives, dealing with financial challenges, being laid off and looking for a new job or career, maintaining a business or expanding it, dealing with parenting issues, ... relationship issues, etc. What can we do to ensure that we go into the new year poised an ready to meet those challenges, knowing that we are fully equipped to walk in victory and bring about the changes that we seek?   Walking in victory on a daily basis is so dependent on our ability to excercise our faith and see that it is indeed working for us!! My last blog touched on faith, I will continue this subject, we will talk about what is Faith and why we need it.

What It Is

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Faith is believing in something that has not happened yet, perhaps a promise or a decree, a vision a dream something you want to come to pass.  Faith is believing in something bigger than yourself.    God does not consult our abilities, checking account balance, beacon score, etc. before deciding to place a dream inside of us.  His dreams and visions for us are always too large for us to accomplish alone that is why we need this thing called faith to accomplish His purposes. 

It also involves the fact that God chooses to work through humanity.  As a result of that we often find that we have to use our faith to believe God will work out that thing that we are hoping for through a human vessel.  It’s easier to just believe God, but when it comes to believing God to use or work through people this can be a bigger challenge.  Why?  Because people fail, disappoint, and don’t always come through, we have to believe that God is bigger than the human frailty and able to outperform in spite of working through a broken vessel.  Though God uses people we will still keep our focus on God.   Our faith is the assurance that God (who is unseen)  is able, God is capable, God is able to get the job done, God is effective, He is all powerful, He is working on our behalf even in our sleep.  “Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above what we could ever ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Why Do we Need Faith?

We can’t please God without it!!  “Without faith it is impossible to please God, whoever would approach Him must believe that he exists and that he is  a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.”( Hebrews 11:6)

 Why does it displease God for His children not to walk in faith? Because He is benevolent, wants to adopt us as sons, accept us, make known the mystery of his will to us, give us good gifts, seal us with the Holy Spirit and one day gather the entire family of God together in unity (Ephes 1:4-10)!!  Without the ability to operate in faith we are unable to receive the abundant life, peace, righteousness, prosperity, wholeness, favor, health, etc. that he so dearly wants to give. 

Without faith the power of God is not able to operate. We see this in the new testament, when Jesus was in Nazareth, “he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them.” :6 “He marveled because of their unbelief”. Jesus was not honored in his own country, among his own relatives and in his own house, therefore he could not do his mighty acts as he did in all the other regions. (Mark 6:4). God chooses to limit his operation of his mighty power to need to have to plug into our faith.  In many situations, Jesus said, to the recipient that it was their faith that made them whole (Matt 5:35) In some cases, before Jesus ministered healing, he would put out of the room or house those who were in a state of commotion or lacked faith (Mark 5:35 – 43)

Without it, we are unable to enter into a relationship with his Son Jesus “for by grace you have been saved through faith”.   Without faith in the Lord Jesus salvation is not possible!! The entire chapter of Ephesians 1 talks about trusting in Jesus Christ after we have heard the word of truth (Ephesians 1:12-13) and unfolds Gods plan of salvation for believers. Paul further explains in this chapter the inheritance that God has for his children who believe in Christ, he talks about how having faith in Christ brings splendor and Glory to God and opens up the understanding of the believer to know and experience the “exceeding greatness of His power” (:19) 

What mighty work are you believing God for in the new year?  Better Yet what are you believing Him to do before this year closes, God is not limited to the times and seasons, He is omnipotent and omnipresent... He is able to move in your situation  TODAY, Right Now!!  Take hold of your faith in Gods mighty power to move and act on your behalf, do not focus on what it seems or appears, rather yet focus on the unseen hand and miracle producing power of God.  God is able to change your situation if you will believe and put your faith in Him, His promises and His word.  His word will produce just what He says it will.. God is not a man that he should lie or the son of man that he should repent... His word accomplishes the purpose for which he sends it!!! (1)(2)

Next time I will talk more on what our faith produces in the life of the believer and dead faith versus faith that works!!  Please share this blog with your circle of family, friends, business associates, we never know who is reaching out for answers to issues that we as mature believers may be well versed in.  We get so saturated in the word that we forget there are others that may not for many reasons have as much exposure.  Share the good news…. Pass it on!!  I am joining my faith with your faith today, that Gods word shall be established an accomplished in your life.  Keep the Faith in Him and Watch Him Do Great and Mighty Miracles... He loves you that much!!

Important Scriptures to Remind Us We Can Put Our Faith In HIM!!

(1) God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Numbers 23:18-20 

(2) So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-12

"Arise, Take Up Your Bed and Walk!!"

Sometimes we get discouraged when we have been believing God for something for a long time and the promise is delayed.   I’ve been there before and will probably be there again.  Jesus dealt with people with compassion and kindness most of the time (Luke 7:13, Mark 8:2, Matt. 9:34-35, 20:34), but he also demonstrated tough love.  Sometimes tough love is what we need to stir us to do what we can do for ourselves.  Sometimes we are waiting on God to deliver us and He has already given us what we need to take up our bed and walk.   He has already forgiven our sins through Christ, this is enough.  (Mark 2:1-12)  The same power that forgives our sins, empower, heals and performs miracles!! Jesus performs a miracle so that they would know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins.  God wants to perform a miracle in our lives so that sinners will be led to Christ and that “all are amazed and glorify God” :12, God is still doing things today” that we never saw before”!!

Read the story in the new testament of the lame man, waiting at the pool of Bethesda.

John 5:1-14. I will go ahead and paraphrase it as follows:

For 38 years he waited on his turn to be healed by stepping into the pool after the angel had troubled the waters, but because of his frailty, he was never able to get in the water in time. Jesus inquires as to whether he wants to be made well? Because He had no revelation of the Messiah, he focuses on the problem even though Jesus is right in his face,  ready to heal!! He responds, “:7 Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming another steps down before me.”   Each time he made an attempt someone got in and received the blessing ahead of him.  Ever felt like somebody else got your blessing?  In this situation, Jesus is not weeping with compassion, but I imagine firmly tells him to “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”:8.  And guess what?   “Immediately, the man was made well, took up his bed and walked.”

God has an appointed time for each of us.  We just have to keep the faith while we are waiting, praise him, focus on the good things in our lives  and when the appointed time comes, consequently, we need to recognize it.  Then we need to get up off our bed of lamentation, take up our bed (whatever you have been relying on, resting in, taking comfort in, gaining strength from….), and make the decision that you are going to walk with determination.  Choose that you will take the necessary steps even if painful.  Sometime in life we just need to show up to get our blessing, it is commonly said that success is 90% showing up and 10% knowing what to do when you get there.  Decide to step into your blessing and experience the joy and exhilaration of your miracle.

Remain Faithful

Once God gives you a miracle be sure to remain faithful to Him.  Jesus warned the man that was healed at the pool of Bethesda, “See you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” (John 5:14).   This man had been sick for 38 years, hopefully the new found freedom and deliverance was enough to cause him to heed Jesus warning.  This warning is applicable for us today, Paul talks about this in Galatians, that now that we have received God’s grace we need to be careful not to go back into sin, “Does grace abound that sin should abound?  Of course Not!!”

It's Harvest Time - Speak A Blessing Over Your Seed

Ever Sowed a Seed But Did Not Receive a Harvest?


It's Harvest Time.  Many of you have labored all year, sewing good seeds into fertile soil (into the lives of others, mates, children, family, co-workers, neighbors, etc).  Not sure whether your labor has produced any fruit or enough fruit?  Sometimes you  may feel downright discouraged and it looks like you are wasting your time on a certain relationship, right?  Just remember spring and summer are not the only seasons that fruit matures.  Fall Is the big harvest for certain crops!!

Believe God that this harvest season your crop will mature. Believe God that this Harvest Season that thing you have been laboring in will produce and prosper.  Sometimes, the seed just needs a little more water, or sunshine before it matures.  Speaking a blessing,  what God says about the situation is like pouring water or more sunshine over your seed.

Speak a Blessing Over Your Seed - Old Testament Examples


We have the power to speak life into our situation. (Proverbs 18:21) We have the power to Speak a Blessing into existence. This practice has been going on for thousands of years,  and was first recorded in the old testament in the book of Numbers  In the book of Numbers God charges the Levitical Priests and Ministers to fulfill this responsibility, and later is recorded time after time in the lives of the patriarchs.

 A benediction is simply a spoken blessing.  In Numbers 6:22-27, God spoke to Moses saying:   :23 Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites:  YOU SHALL SAY to them, :24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:  26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.  :27 So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them. When God puts His name upon a person, or people it is to mark them, to a beckon a blessing upon them.

The Patriarchs understood the power of the blessing,

God gave Abraham the power to bless others, Gen 14:3 "Who You Bless, I will Bless" . God himself will honour what we say and place HIS NAME upon the situation and He will bless them!!  This is so powerful, go out and be blessed and speak a blessing wherever you go and God Himself will get in the situation, no matter what it looks like and He will HIMSELF will bless it. First we must be in right relationship with God, walking in obedience and seeking to please Him, then God Himself will bless us just as He did Abraham (Gen 24:1) God himself blessed Abraham's son  Isaac after the death of Abraham - In this situation, Abraham did not pronounce a blessing over Isaac Himself because he was battling with the fact that He could not bless Ishmael so He chose not to bless either of them.  This fact is encouraging to know that when our parents neglect to perform this powerful blessing, that God himself will step in!!!(Gen 25:11)

Isaac  blessed Jacob (Gen 27:4-7). Israel blesses his two grand sons Ephraim and Manesseh (Gen 48:14).  We have to be careful that we speak a blessing according to the will of God, if you know the story of Ephraim and Manesseh the father (Joseph)  wanted to bestow the blessing of inheritance on the oldest son Manasseh , however it was not Gods will, instead it was Gods will to place this particular blessing on the youngest child Ephraim Gen 48:17-24. ..He set Ephraim before Manasseh. Israel also blesses Joseph :21-22 We need to be careful that when we do this we do it with sincerity of heart and not half heartedly, the Hebrew word for Say (Numb 6::23) is amor, indicating we should speak the blessing in a spirit of love," the desire of the blesser to see others blessed is vital, just as the desire of the hearer should be to sincerely receive the blessing it self" (www.hebrew4christians.com) Jacob blessed his twelve sons before he died Gen 48-49.

Today in the Life of Church and The Believer

In churches today, at the end of a service it is common to hear a minister pronounce a benediction over the congregation, we should not limit this practice to organized church but should apply to our daily lives and situations.  Today in the New testament each born again believer is considered to be a part of the priesthood of believers. I Peter 2:9  "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, ... that you may declare the praises of Him who has called you ..".  Let's use the authority and ministry that God has placed in each one of us to impact our world, by Speaking Blessings into our situations, the situations of others and our world.

Jesus Our Example
Jesus himself set the example for born again believers today under the new covenant.  Before his ascension to the father he spoke a blessing on the disciples, Luke 24:50-51, John 14:27, John 20:19

Again, you do not have to be an ordained minister or licensed evangelist, Pastor, Prophet, Apostle etc. to use the authority that Jesus has given you as a born again believer, He said in His word,.Luke 10:19 "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you."


Jesus the Greatest Blessing and  Lord of the Harvest
The most important blessing of all  that we can speak or pray into the lives of others is  Jesus,"Whoever has the son of God has LIFE< Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life" I John 5:12  Ultimately, God is the focus of the true blessing, He alone gives us the ability to bless others, let's make sure that all that we do and speak leads others to the ultimate blessing Jesus Christ Himself.

Heb 13:15 Let us continuously offer up sacrifices and praises to His name.  Let us operate in a spirit of love and sincerity as we speak blessing to one another.  Let us have a heart to sincerely receive the blessings that God wants to impart into our lives.    Jesus said that the laborers were few but the Harvest (of souls) was plenty.  Part of being one of his laborers includes, laboring in prayer and speaking blessing on the lost and those young in their walk until they reach maturity in the Lord.

As we continue to practice these principals and not lose heart, we shall reap the harvest that we are believing God for.  We will see the fruit of our labor.Yes even in this Fall Season, that thing that you have labored in will begin to produce, flourish, multiply and Increase.  Ultimately we look forward to the day when the Lord of the Harvest will say, Well Done.. Enter into the Joy of the Lord.!!.

 AMEN. 

How are You Feeling Today?

This morning as I was preparing a cup of green tea, which is how I usually start my day. (Green tea is full of anti-oxidants, fights breast cancer, burns fat, gives you energy while calming the spirit at the same time).  I felt overwhelmed by sadness.  A spirit of sadness just enveloped me like an ocean wave out of the clear blue, I started thinking about who was not in my life, started focusing on relationships that were either not healthy, not working or just not developing the way that I would like, and immediately, the Holy Spirit quickened me, "Do not allow yourself to focus on Who is Not in your life, BUT instead Focus on who IS In Your Life."  In other words focus on the positive, focus on the blessing. 

We can let our feelings control us Or we can deliberately choose to control  our feelings.  In my quiet time today, I enjoyed reading a letter from Joyce Meyer Ministries.  Guess what the topic was about?  "You don't have to be ruled by your feelings anymore..." In her letter, Joyce states, "It's important to realize that God gave you feelings.  The solution is not to get rid of your feelings and live like a robot.  Instead, God wants you to Enjoy them and Find Freedom to manage them instead of them managing or leading you."  Amen.  She goes on further to state that at times your feelings can seem pretty powerful and overwhelming, (I just said that was exactly how I was feeling this morning).   So what is the solution when  you feel overwhelmed?

We need to Remember We are not What We Feel, we are what God says we are!!  Remember why Jesus came, not that we would be miserable, but so that we would have an abundant life!! (John 10:10)  When these negative feelings come crashing in, we need to deliberately, bombard our thoughts with the word and teaching of God.  Apply the appropriate scripture to our situation. (Today with technology available you can incorporate online software to help with your daily devotional time, if you are looking for a scripture and don't know what to use, just type in the topic you are dealing with in google and an appropriate website will come up that will take you to a scripture dealing with the subject.)  Or just go to a good site to use to study is www.biblegateway.org.  and http://bible.cc (If anyone has any other favorites to share please post a comment), just go to the search field and type the subject and an appropriate scripture will come up.

We need to be in God's word daily, it has to become our necessary food. If we do not have a hunger for Gods word we need to Ask Him to Give Us a Hunger and He will do it. The more you eat it, the more you will have an appetite for it, it's like real food you are not used to eating, you have to cultivate a taste for it, and once you get used to having it regularly, you will start to CRAVE HIS WORD!!!  We must schedule time to read God's word, meditate on it everyday, it must become a priority if we are to win the battle of the mind. 

Many of us are Challenged Today, are daily lives are a Juggling Act of Balancing so many competing responsibilities, job/career or business, family, community or civic duties,school,  regular exercise, daily time with God, maintaining a home, etc, but with God's Help We Can Win this ongoing battle and incorporate regular time with God.  Each day (today) we have to make a choice as to who and what we will serve.  God told the Israelites that they had to make a choice and explained to them both the blessings and the cursings of each decision (Joshua 24:15)   My pastor, Sam Mayo of  The Tabernacle suggests to his congregants that we schedule a daily appointment time with God, if necessary have two backup times so that if one appointment is cancelled you have reserved in your calendar two other slots that will work.   Each persons life is different, everyone can't do it in the early morning, maybe mid-day or evening will work better for some, but the point is we have to work it out! Each man must work out his own salvation with fear and trembling (Phillipians 2:12),because at the end of the journey we will all have to stand before God for what we did in this life, and we all want to hear a good report, "Well Done". What do our emotions have to do with this?  A LOT!!, many will have to answer for abusing or neglecting their mates or children because they let their emotions rule them.  Many will have to answer for not Allowing God to Break Bondage Issues, because Instead of Reaching out to God and His word and meditating on it daily, digesting it by letting His word get in you and transform you, they continue to allow their minds, thoughts, hearts, spirit,  and FEELINGS  continue to be Controlled by Works of the Flesh (Galatians 5:19 -21) instead of allowing the Holy Spirit with the Help of God's Word and the Blood of Jesus to transform us so that we can produce the Fruit of the SPIRIT (Gal 5:22-26).  Many will answer for Allowing Excuses of loneliness and depressions from keeping them from multiplying their talents and reaching out to others.  Now I am not trying to beat anyone over the head, I know the challenges of walking in this life, and daily war with keeping my Spirit Man dominant so that I will grow in the fruit of the spirit.  I have known the challenges of fighting depression, loneliness, rejection and feeling isolated, I have been alone but not All Alone because God is With Me and Dwells within me through His precious Holy Spirit.  I personally know that if we apply these principles We Can Walk in Victory, some days our walk will be stronger than others, but we will not fail because God Promises, that He that began a good work in you will Complete IT!! (Phillipians 1:6)  And if we do NOT GROW WEARY....(Gal 6:9, II Thess. 3:13)... we shall reap a reward,.. the fruit of HIS Righteousness, right relationships with HIM and our neighbor, joy, peace, contentment, healthy living, etc.

Their are many applications of how we can let our emotions control us and not live the Godly productive, fruit bearing lives that Jesus' death on the Cross paid the price for.  Ultimately, that is what we will have to answer to God for, why did we not Walk as Overcomers when God has given Us EVERYTHING WE NEED to be Victorious in our daily lives.  (II Peter. 1:3) "God's divine power has given us everything we need for life and for godliness. This power was given to us through knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and integrity."(God's Word Translation)

I  went to a play last night, "Is My Living In Vain" It was really good, if you have an opportunity tonight and live in the ATL look it up www.antiochlithonia.org   The last scene was the roll call in heaven and everyone in the play had to come before God the Father to have their life judged.  Revelation 3:5 "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."  Let me get back to the main subject on dealing with our feelings....

Our feelings come from the mind and the heart.  God wants to give us a new spirit and a new heart. "....A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you....I will put my spirit within you , and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them.." (Ezekiel 36:25-28)   Of course, today, we are not under the Jewish Torah and not required by God to keep all the old testament ordinances and laws, today, Jesus said the two great commandments incorporate all the law and the prophets, he instructed us, "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind and soul; and to love thy neighbor as you love yourself."  So basically, we are to put God first, love our neighbors (good and bad) as we love ourselves (second).  In order to do this we have to control our feelings, we have to let God put His Spirit and Heart in us, then we are empowered and enabled to seek Him first and love our neighbors along with loving ourselves.  What is the vehicle or tool that brings all this together?

Prayer and Prayer and More Prayer!!!   E.M> Bounds states in his book, entitled, "Answered Prayer", page 22, "No new heart ever throbbed with its pulsations of divine life in one whose lips have never in prayer with contrite spirit sought that precious privilege of a perfect heart of love and cleanness.  God has never put His Spirit into a realm of a human heart that had never invoked by ardent praying the coming and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  A prayerless spirit has no affinity for a clean heart.  Prayer and a pure heart go hand in hand.  Purity of heart follows praying while prayer is the natural, spontaneous outflowing of a heart made clean by the blood of Jesus Christ.....God deals with each one personally, so that every saint can put the promises to the test "Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord"(Malachi 3:10)  The praying saint has the right to put his hand upon the promise and claim it as his own, one made especially for him, intended to embrace all his needs, both present and future." Needless to say this is a great book, a classic and a wonderful tool to deepen your prayer life, a thorough study of this small powerful paperback will help you get powerful answered prayer!!

Isn't it wonderful to know that as saints of God, we can claim Gods promises, promises as unique as each one of us!!  (Matt 10:30) Isn't it wonderful to know that God will do just what He says he will do, His word says, "So shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11 - Authorized King James Version) .  So if we pray and Ask God to help us to learn to manage our emotions he will do just that!!

Isn't it wonderful to know that we do not have to be ruled by our emotions, that God is Willing to Step Right in on the Inside and give us a New Spirit and a New Heart, that He Wants to be in a relationship with us to help us manage our emotions, which are a precious gift from Him and He wants us to enjoy them!!  Isn't it wonderful that He Allows us to choose, that we are Not just Robots, preprogrammed to do what He wills, but He allows us to be an integral part of the process of our own growth and development in this journey of developing emotional maturity.    Isn't it wonderful that He preserved his precious Holy Word that Inspires us and Teaches us (His heart towards). His Word shows how much He truly wants to bless us, Renew us and Prosper, us as we remain obedient to living out life according to the golden rule.  Isn't it wonderful that He gave us a Mouth, to Have conversation with him Daily, and He Responds back to us and communes with us!!  If we humble ourselves and seek HIM he will answer us!! (II Chronicles 7:14)   He reveals not only His Heart but also shows us how to line up with Him so that our lives will be governed by maturity and not by immature emotions. 

God Wants our Entire Lives to be Blessed, our relationship with Him and with Others!!  He wants our health to be blessed!  He wants our children, mates, brothers and sisters to be blessed. (And anyone that blesses us to be blessed, remember the promise he made to Abraham?  Gen 12:3) He wants our communities, businesses, ministries,  careers, educational pursuits, whatever we find ourselves passionately pursuing... ALL Blessed!!! "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live": (KJV DBY WBS) (Deuteronomy 30:19) But wait a minute,   JESUS even takes this blessing thing into a whole new dimension when He says, that we are even to use the power and authority He has given to us to bless our enemies...we are to have so much blessing flowing into and out of our lives that we do not discriminate... enough of the love of God (His greatest blessing) to love our enemies and bless them "but I -- I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those cursing you, do good to those hating you, and pray for those accusing you falsely, and Persecuting You, (YLT)(Matt 5:44).  In essence we are to do what He did, live like He lived, be his hand extended, regardless of how we feel, whether our emotions are up or down, regardless of how others are treating us...we are to have enough of Him Inside of Us to even Bless our Enemies... (Remember the story of Stephen while he was being stoned... He prayed for His persecutors, that God would not "lay this sin to their charge" Acts 7:60 and Remember what did JESUS say on the Cross... "Father Forgive them for they KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO"   (Luke 23:34) But for the Grace of God!! We can Do it!!! By His Spirit, not by or our might!! but by "MY Spirit, saith the Lord!!!"...

I am getting ready to close (really)  He has shared the keys to the Kingdom  of God, "...joy, righteousenss, and peace.." (Romans 14:17) with us, all we have to do is commit to daily, regular  studying and applying his divine principles as revealed in His Word to our lives.  Speak His word over our situations, Put On the Full Armour of God, rely on Him to do what we cannot do, claim and stand upon His promises. (Ephes 6:13)  In the process we begin to enjoy life, manage our feelings (walk as overcomers) , learn to trust God more and wait on Him to fix the stuff we cannot fix, enjoying His presence.  Instead of choosing to be miserable while we wait, We Can Celebrate Every Day Life In His Presence and He gets the glory because, we cannot do it ourselves. 

Today, I Choose to Focus on Who Is in My Life!! God the Father, Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit and a host of family, loved ones, and you my wonderful friends.  I am too blessed to be sad today!! It is a beautiful Fall Day and I am going to enjoy it!! Further I am going to commit to pray everyday, everywhere, without ceasing so that every event in my life is subjected to  prayer,... to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17)

As always if you think this blog has encouraged or inspired you in some way, why not share it and lift someone elses day that may need a word of encouragement and  pass it along!  Also don't forget to post a comment.    Selah.

". . . The Testing of Your Faith..."

How do we respond when our faith is tested?  Do we withdraw from God's presence?  Do we fail to fellowship with Him?  Disregard the opportunity to commune with Him and allow Him to enjoy being with us?  Have we forgotten our first love?  Remember what it was like when you were "in love", the joy and exhilaration of just being together?  Regardless of what was going on in your world, you just wanted to be together as much as possible.  Just to hear His voice, to hear His heartbeat...to share a hug....to meet eye to eye... the energy just from the contact....

If we can remember what it is like to be in-love in a natural relationship, we can get a better picture of what God wants to share with us.. in good times and in bad times he desires just to be with us... amazing isn't it?  Amazing that the God who created the heavens and earth by His Spoken Word wants to hang out with us!!!  Why do we withdraw when things are not going our way?  When answers do not come as quickly as we would like.  When we cannot See Him Moving we begin to doubt and enter into disbelief and even perhaps mistrust.  I believe it is the disbelief and mistrust that Satan uses to create a wedge in our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Gracious Lord Jesus. 

It's easy to trust God when things are going well.  It's easy to communicate with Him when things are going our way.  As a believer my faith has been tested over and over again.  Each time, I have to start all over and stand on Gods word and believe what He says about my situation..  It's much like an athlete in training, you have to keep working out each day to get stronger and stronger.  To build endurance you have to continue to push beyond your comfort zone, having our faith tested over and over is much like that.  Our past victories do give us some confidence, not in ourselves, but in God's track record and based upon His track record we can expect the same faithfulness in the current situation. 
James 1:2 says, " My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, (3) because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, (4) and let endurance have it's full effect, so that you may be mature and complete lacking nothing." 

We can see from this passage that God is not just testing us to be harsh, because he is calloused, indifferent to our trials, but He has a goal in mind, to produce stronger character in us for His Glory.  As we continue in our trials whatever kind it may be, sickness, trying to lose weight and can't seem to get it off, marriage issues, challenges in child rearing, financial distresses, loss of a loved one, waiting on a mate, whatever your trial may be..., we need to face them with joy and thanksgiving (emphasis mine) and continue on to  grow in endurance.  What may be a trial for you may not be a trial for me, we need to have and express compassion and encouragement for our brothers and sisters as they face their own Goliaths.  We also need to encourage one another to draw closer to God and spend more time in His presence when we face trials, for truly this is where our joy and strength will come from.

Personally, I have been tested since 2004 with a very challenging trial of changing careers and finding an opportunity that is stable and will offer opportunities to grow and develop new skills and also that will pay well enough to support my family. I have been working in commercial leasing for the last four years and it has been like a river that has completely dried up, but how many of you know that God will send rivers in your wilderness! (Isaiah)  God has truly been  faithful and provided for this single mom with four daughters!!! Our faith as a family has been tested over and over to trust God for provisions and He has never let us down.   I can testify today that I have not had a good paying full-time job since June 2004 and  God has blessed my household, all three of my oldest daughters have been blessed with a college education which I could not possibly afford.  Jesus has been our Jehovah Jireh, he has blessed their diligence, in working hard in school to be able to obtain scholarships and grants.  He has been not only our constant healer in keeping our family healthy, He has been our assurance when we had no medical insurance.... Praise His Name there have been no major illnesses in our family...we try to live a balanced lifestyle, eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, but we fall short...it is His grace that sustains us...

I just wanted to share with you all that I am not just talking a bunch of fluff stuff, I have been tested over and over again and continue to have my faith tested.  With each test, I ask God to continue to purge me of anything that is not like him, to continue the purification process so that one day there will be nothing left of me and all of Him.    There have been times when I could not thank God for my tests, but today, I can look back and see how God has made me a stronger person through it all...

I think it was Andre Crouch who wrote, "Through It All... I have learned to trust in Jesus, I have learned to trust in God... Through It All I have learned to depend upon His Word..."

I just want to encourage someone today that may be going through a fiery trial, a very difficult time where God just doesn't seem to be listening, or even present....Stand on His Word, Speak His Word into your situation... when you can't say what God says just keep quiet...rest in His Presence and His Strength will See You Through.. 

Psalm 23  "The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want. (2)HE makes me to lie down (in His Presence) in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters. (3) he restores my soul.  He leads me in right paths for His names sake. (4).....Yeah though I walk THROUGH THE VALLEY of THE SHADOW of DEATH  I WILL FEAR NO EVIL...."(5) You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows (with joy, peace)..(6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long." (New Revised Standard Version)

When your faith is tested, let's run to Him!!

Are You Hungry for Change?

A few days ago, I took what I intended to be a short afternoon nap.  However, mother nature had different plans, I did not wake up until the day was almost over!!!  I am sure that many of you take a Saturday or Sunday afternoon nap from time to time, right?  Well, I woke up with a ravishing hunger, the hunger pains were so strong that my stomach literally hurt!!  This has happened before recently, not the over sleeping but the deep hunger pains, at times I realize what I am hungry for is not always natural food. 

Sometimes our soul is hungry for a deep change.  To get in tune with what we are in deep need of requires spending time in God's presence.  Not just haphazardly coming before Him but with deep reverence, coming to Him with thanksgiving, praise and worship, expecting in our hearts that he will meet our deepest need and speak to us. We do not have to wait until we are in a church setting to experience God's presence in a personal and intimate way.  As born again believers are bodies are the temple of God and His Holy Spirit abides in us, and stirs us to have deeper fellowship with the Father and the Son of God, in holy sweet communion.   I invite you today to stir up the gift within you (God's Holy Spirit is our most precious gift) and let the Shechinah (Settling Presence of God, Dwelling Presence of God, Calming Presence of God, Peaceful Presence of god) or Shekinah (common spelling) meet your every need and bring about the change(s) you are hungry and thirsting for. 

I am reminded of a Song:  "In the Presence of The King" 

In the Presence of Jehovah, God Almighty, Prince of Peace
Hearts are mended, troubles vanish,
In the Presence of the King..."