faith

It is always darkest before the dawn

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And it is in our dark days that we see the light more brilliantly. We saw good but have been so tainted with our own stuff we did not recognize it. And the truth is, we have a hope in Jesus, but we have so much other stuff we don’t really need him. So in this drought, Lord, take all the things that hinder us from seeing you.

One of the things that the Lord has taught me during the last eight years is that He is just.  He always rights a situation in His own time, and baby when He RIGHTS it, there is no doubt He did it.

Over the last couple of months, I have been praying for my enemies and watching what God is doing in their lives. He has done some mighty work and I have seen it. People who set out to destroy me are trying to put the pieces of their lives back together. God protects His people.

God warned me months ago that Donald Trump would be president. I thought He was just playing. I mean “Really God, him?” But sometimes in order to heal a wound that isn’t healing correctly, you have to cut it open. He has cut open our festering hypocrisy for the world to see.  You see we talk about freedom and equal rights to the rest of the world, but we don’t practice it. Sometimes humiliation has to come before humility.

Over the last 10 years I have come up against some of the most hateful, mean people who felt they were entitled to treat people anyway they wanted. I often pray Lord, don’t let me work with mean people. But it is kinda like trying to find a righteous man in Soddom and Gomorrah. There just ain’t none. We are a country full of self centered hateful people and before the Lord can use us, He has to change us from the inside out. Donald Trump will be our catalyst.

For weeks He has been giving me this prayer, and I keep pushing it back. Lord I don’t want to say that. (I know how Elijah felt sometimes.) Forgive me, Lord. I have been disobedient in not saying what You wanted me to say, when You wanted me to say it.

Lord, dry up your grace, wealth, resources and protection from a government that terrorizes your people and encourages others to do the same. Like you did with Ahab and Jezebel, let those leaders feel the void of not having  access to You and all you give as they set out to harm Your sheep. Reveal them for what they really are. Like You dried out the land of Israel in Elijah’s time, dry out the United States in these times.

Protect Your people, separate the goats and sheep, devour the wolves at the gate.

Change us, Lord from the inside out because it is only once you deal with hate that we can get on with the mission of loving each other, which is your second greatest commandment.

Like He told Elijah in 1 Kings 17, God has told me there is going to be a drought in the land. He is going to dry up all of assets that have become the idols of the hateful. I know many people who say their foundation is Jesus. They are about to find out if that is true because He is about to be all they have.

Dry up all the jobs of the hateful and entitled so they can experience what no healthcare and income feel like. Make them totally dependent on the charity of others because it will change their hearts when they see it is only grace that keeps them and not their skills and talent and hard work. When they see small children in Africa and Asia saving pennies to feed the starving Americans maybe it will change their hearts.

For all of the people who have set their hearts in destroying health care for those in need of it, let them find themselves in need of it. Let their health care not work. Allow worms to eat their insides while they are still alive causing them much pain and difficulty. Let this affluent group find no medicine or cure for this ailment only a long life with pain and suffering. With each moment allow them to see the folks they allowed to die because they didn’t want to help.

For those destroying families and pulling them apart, let their own families be pulled apart and have no peace. Let there be constant churn  and strife in their dwellings and on display for the world to see. For those aborting and abusing children, stop their reproductive systems and put children in charge of them.

For those who take what the poor has to fill their own, let their wealth melt like wax. Let nothing they try cause them any gain until they are desolate on the streets. For all those who champion these type of people, let them lose everything of value they own and join them on the streets.

We have too much stuff and won’t even share with each other, and God knows only if He takes it away will He save some lives. When you are truly dependent on one another, you find out what you really believe.

And Lord, don’t allow people You chose to lead us to abuse and kill your people without any recompense.  Let them be like Egypt’s Pharaoh and lead his followers to a watery destruction. Or more like Jezebel, let dogs eat the rotting flesh of those who take evil action against God’s people.

I pray this drought lasts as long as You allow, Lord. I know you will get the glory when hearts are changed. Amen.

For What You Have Sacrificed

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We thank you Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. You were not able to attend your kids soccer games or school programs. You were not able to see their wedding day or birth of their first children. You were not able to see the election of African American senators, congressmen and even the first African American President. But you marched on and we thank you.

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You showed us how to love when we were treated poorly. When they put the dogs on us, beat us brutally and even took us to jail. You taught us it was an opportunity to love.  Like the Apostle Paul, you even wrote us a letter from jail encouraging us during the fight.

You were not able to work for major corporations making high dollar salaries. You were not able to attend major universities seated next to children of senators and congressmen. You did not get to experience the wealth for which you fought. But you marched on and we thank you.

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You showed us that during times of adversity is when we need to take the high road. You taught us faith was depending on God and not on man. You taught us that we need to keep up the fight even though we might not see the results. You lived that example for us.

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You have left a powerful legacy. Thank you for the sacrifice. We don’t deserve it. Thank you for the example. We don’t deserve it. BUT we are going to do the same for the next generation and build on the example you have left. I pray that Lord will allow the stars in the heaven to shine brighter because of the work He has done through you.

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What’s Your End Game?

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I saw this tree all day, but it wasn’t until the end of the day that I actually looked at it. Then I saw the one leaf hanging on for dear life. It is funny how you can see something all day and not really see it. How you can work at a job for many years and wonder what the heck you are doing there? How many of you are hanging on to something that is not for you?  Like this leaf, you think you are going to make this work.

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Many of you are in places you were not supposed to be. Maybe God had you there for a little while and you got comfortable and stayed.  You figure the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. But it is slowly killing you, physically, mentally and spiritually.  You have lost hope because you have your hope in the wrong things, like a job, a child, a marriage, location, a president.

The Creator of the universe created you for something special. When He called you into being, He specially designed you with a purpose and a plan.  He knew He could bring something beautiful out of darkness.

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And like the sun that sets everyday, He has a purpose and plan for you. It is time for you to start operating in your purpose.  I remember seeing this sunset and thinking wow. I need a picture of it, but sun was setting faster than I could get my camera ready.  If you don’t start operating in the purpose He has for you, you are going to miss those amazing moments God has planned for your life.  It is possible to miss the blessing.

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But it is never to late to catch a glimpse of His glory as long as you are on this side (in the land of the living). It is not as spectacular as the original blessing, but still worth it.  In 2017, ask God what is your end game? What are you working towards? What were you created to do?

 

 

 

Is There A Story Waiting To Come Out?

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Is there a story inside of you waiting to come out? When I started, I had no idea of where I was going, but it led me on a path of self-publishing. When I talked to companies that helped authors like me I could not afford them on a single mom’s salary. So I learned to do it myself. I am glad I did.
If you want to learn, email me. I will only take ten people in the class, but I promise you will be able to self publish yourself by the end of class.self-publishing-flyer

 

You are going through these struggles now

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because it is building up your faith. Like a caterpillar struggles to get out of the cocoon, you are building up your faith muscles. If the caterpillar didn’t struggle to get out, its wings would not be strong enough to fly. Change the perspective on how you face the struggle. Whatever you are going through is helping you get to where God wants you to be. Instead of “Lord, why me?” ask “Lord, what do you want me to do here?”

Today as I found myself in a situation I did not like, I had to keep telling myself, that there is something God wants me to get from this.  There is something He wants me to do. Change my perspective.

There was this man who a few days ago caused me a great deal of struggle. It was not his intention, he was just doing his job, but it interfered with mine. Needless to say, he did not fare very well in my book.

So today, here he was again. Oh brother. He had no clue of the trouble he had caused or so I thought. I had a choice to make. I could light him up and let him know how much trouble he caused me. I could let him know that he was not wanted near me today. or I could greet him as if we were old friends.

Yeah, I chose the latter. Let me tell you, he was the most helpful person on the floor the rest of the day. He went out of his way to be helpful and did things I had not ever seen him do. By the end of the day, I was like “Wow.” I changed my mind about this person.

Whatever type of situation God has placed you in, look around you. What is He trying to tell you?  He has already told us that His ways are not our ways (which means He is not going to make everything easy). He will do things to strengthen our faith. He is going to get some glory from your situation.

 

15 Things I Learned in 2015

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I learned a lot spiritually in 2015 and I am sharing it with you. You can look back through my blog if you want the full version, but the cliff notes are below. I got to know God in a way, I have not known Him before.  I look forward to what 2016 holds.

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Mourning is a process. You have good days and bad days. Own it, but don’t wallow in it. Ecclesiastes 7:2

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Sometime we wait because the Lord has to take the teeth out of the serpent that is waiting to bite you Psalm 61:4

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all of the struggles we are currently going through is God cultivating our hearts. He is taking hard dry ground and enabling it to grow something Ezekiel 11:19

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Sometimes our blessings are in the storm Ezekiel 34:26

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Remember who I am praying to. Revelation 4 tells me that I am not praying to a really good human being. He sits on the throne with flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. Four very scary creatures watch over him.  He is mighty, all powerful and sovereign.

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We work better together. God put us in community to work together. I am so blessed to be among a group of women who love and serve Jesus.  Hebrews 10:24-25

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He continually reveals himself to me. He tells me He loves me every day whether I hear it or not.  Deuteronomy 29:29, 1 John 3:1, 1 John 4:10

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He trusts us with moments, don’t take any for granted. Some people you are never going to see again. Act like it. Isaiah 43:10

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When things I want are not in line with what God wants, Be Still. Trust Him. Psalm 46:10, Proverbs 3:5-6

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Prayer is an effective tool to communicate with Him. James 5:16

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Until you are dead, it is not too late to start anything. Remember the Sunday School class for women in their 80s.

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I think God listens to our crappy prayers and decides to teach us a lesson by teaching us we don’t know what we are talking about.

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Even though some  things do not fit right now, I know that it will all come together because the one who made the plan completes everything.  1 Peter 2:7

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I need friends who will remind me of God’s faithfulness. Deuteronomy 7:9

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Fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There are lots of scary things on the planet earth, but there is none that I fear above the Lord.  The study of Revelation has given me a grand picture of who it is I worship.  It is not an accident that there are lots of thunderstorms and earthquakes in the area during the year we are studying Revelation. He is giving us an overview before the real thing happens.  Deuteronomy 10: 12-13.

CeCe Winans says it best. Worship Him.