Submit!

Romans 13:1-5 (AMP): "Let every person be loyally subject to the governing (civil) authorities. For there is no authority except from God [by His permission, His sanction], and those that exist do so by God’s appointment.  2Therefore he who resists and sets himself up against the authorities resists what God has appointed and arranged [in divine order]. And those who resist will bring down judgment upon themselves [receiving the penalty due them]. 3 For civil authorities are not a terror to [people of] good conduct, but to [those of] bad behavior. Would you have no dread of him who is in authority? Then do what is right and you will receive his approval and commendation. 4 For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, [you should dread him and] be afraid, for he does not bear and wear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant to execute His wrath (punishment, vengeance) on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God’s wrath and escape punishment, but also as a matter of principle and for the sake of conscience."

Are you OBEDIENT to the authorities placed over you? Now I know most of you will say...YES, but let's take it a step further from this question. Are you OBEDIENT to the authorities placed over you, EVEN when they are NOT WATCHING you??? Uh...oh!!! You know those times when you...should be working on your job related projects but you are working on your own personal things...like looking up shopping items, talking to your girlfriend at work, planning your next get together; taking home those office supplies that are intended for the workplace; or adding your own personal expenses to your business expenses because who's going to know???

Well, here's the TRUTH... GOD SEES IT ALL and He is NOT PLEASED with your DISOBEDIENCE.

Yes, He is a Forgiving God and will Forgive you if you have done it but He wants to see a heart change toward REPENTANCE from the action once you are made aware of it. See God looks at our hearts and gives us opportunities to MOVE towards the changes that will bring about His Will. (...For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7) He does hold us ACCOUNTABLE once we are made aware of it...and every time you decide to follow YOUR WILL over His Will you are limiting the rewards He wants to give to you now and in Heaven.

He even helps us learn this same lesson with the children we are raising…Do you reward your children when they have disobeyed you??? If you are…that’s another issue, but how would you ever get your child to obey you if they did not have consequences for disobeying? God sees it the same way! He is often using the people around us to show us our mess...because everything is connected to our relationships with Him and with others. It's the method He uses to TEACH us when we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit's promptings in our lives.

So the next time your kids are disobedient to you or you FEEL like doing something different out of your authorities view…recognize the GREAT AUTHORITY is still within view and waiting for you to SEE that you need to TURN from your will, SUBMIT to His Will and OBEY!
 

Hold On...for The Beauty!

"And LET the Beauty and Delight-fulness and Favor of the Lord our God be upon us; confirm and establish the work of our hands—yes, the work of our hands, confirm and establish it. (Psalm 90:17 AMP)

Hindsight is 20/20 Vision! I think back to the day I became a mother with my little one in my arms happy and afraid of all that was now required of me to raise up my newborn. Believing, I would make it because many had gone before me and done it...but so naive to the steps and plans that would be needed to come through SUCCESSFUL.

Well, now my little one is in her 20's and a mother to her own little one, and I see history REPEATING itself because of the things I didn't quite KNOW would be important later down this life journey...BUT GOD! With all the mistakes I made, all the lack of WISDOM, and going it alone without consulting God on many of my decisions...life experience has TAUGHT me that God was there all along GUIDING me unknowingly to get to this place now that I can HELP those going where I've been. Many will listen and many will not but if I can make an IMPACT in just one single moms life it will be all worth it for the JOY of knowing that others will not need to go down the HARD road I took because I CHOSE to do it my way instead of GOD'S WAY!

So, Single Mom today I say with ALL KNOWING that you must LAY DOWN your pride, your distrust, and your need to prove to yourself or others that you GOT THIS...and ASK for the help you need! It's all a deception to keep you TRAPPED in your belief that you are alone, when in actuality you have MANY that will help you if only you would HUMBLE yourselves to ASK!

Yes ASK...ASK GOD to lead you to people you can trust, ASK GOD to strengthen you to do what is normally not comfortable for you to do, and ASK GOD to supply all your needs and then be WILLING to accept the package He may decide to send your HELP Gift! It may look like a brown paper bag when it arrives but it will be a DIAMOND WITHIN the rough! A Diamond that will help to bring forth the BRILLIANCE that is needed for you to become the BEAUTY God intends for you to be for your children, your future husband, your community, yourself, and most of all for HIM. God is not done with you yet mom, so don't you GIVE UP or GIVE IN on what may LOOK like a hard place right now...HOLD ON...The RAINBOW is coming but it's always after the rain!

The Right Relationship

 
"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have LOVE, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have LOVE, I am nothing. ³ And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have LOVE, it profits me nothing.

⁴ LOVE is patient, LOVE is kind and is not jealous; LOVE does not brag and is not arrogant, ⁵ does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, ⁶ does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but REJOICES with the TRUTH; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ LOVE NEVER FAILS; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part; ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. ¹² For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. ¹³ But now faith, hope, LOVE, abide these three; but the GREATEST of these is LOVE." (1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NASB)

As a teenager, I was angry.  Others said I had good looks, a shape that stopped men dead in their tracks, high intellect, and an attitude that made others feel somewhat intimidated. After a few heartbreaks and disappointments, my anger grew to bitterness. This bitterness made me appear confident, sarcastic, and honest to a fault, and wanting attention/affection but responding in a way that pushed others away. I often offered help to others but never seemed to get it back in return.

Always looking for love in all the wrong places – men!  Men who were mostly unavailable emotionally and leaving me wanting for more than they would offer. I was hoping that the words coming out of their mouths were true but not trusting that they could ever be true. Using work, men, fashion, and giving as a means to validate who I was.

When, in fact I had low self-esteem. Never quite measuring up to my mother’s standards, I seemed to hold on to the perceived criticisms in my head. My dad being too preoccupied with a life of partying, philandering, and sports to give me the fatherly love that every girl needs and desires.

Still God was in control. The final bad breakup that broke me to the core was with someone I thought to be a friend. He was just playing the game until he had the opportunity to catch me in a vulnerable state to compromise myself to fulfill his goal – sex. After a few years of allowing the booty calls and the unrealized disrespect, I wanted more. I thought it was a relationship with him, but in fact it was my soul crying out for the LOVE of God.

How wonderful it has been to date Jesus. I’ve gotten to know myself better and to know God better. All that energy I seemed to spend on people and things that really couldn’t appreciate or see me for who I am. I am a wonderfully, precious, beloved and great woman of God who is what God says I am – His!

I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me! With Jesus, I have chosen to walk by the Spirit within me and not by my fleshly emotions…sexually pure, drug and alcohol free, anger managed by God, and believing Jesus will walk with me through life’s struggles as I walk in obedience to His Word – The Bible.

There is nothing like the FREEDOM found in the RIGHT RELATIONSHIP... with God by HIS Love!

Don't Give Up...Have FAITH!

"For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance." (2 Corinthians 5:7)

I was fortunate to have worked for the Travel Industry most of the years I was raising my daughter. Now having ENOUGH money for what I WANTED to do was another thing. Yes we had a roof over our head, we usually took a vacation at least once a year for either one of our birthdays (in HONOR of our VALUE to ourselves, the world and to spend QUALITY TIME together); however, most of the EXTRA things I wanted like decorations for my house, dance classes for my daughter, fashionable clothes, artwork...came because I DECIDED to take on a JOB that would supply what I WANTED.

So when I wanted artwork...I began selling artwork. No these jobs didn't last forever, because it was keeping me from spending time with my child, but for a short time to get what I wanted for my home. When I needed Life Insurance, I began selling Life Insurance to recoup what I was planning to put out for it. When I needed Life Coaching, I began selling it so I could get it at a lower cost and GROW from it. I'm SAYING all of this to say… WHAT DO YOU WANT??? HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT???

A lot of times we don't BELIEVE we can have it so we don't even TRY to have it. Yes, you must have the FAITH FIRST to do anything that you want to do. However, once you have SET YOUR MIND (FOCUS) on what you want, God somehow will OPEN the DOOR for you to get it…but will you TAKE ADVANTAGE of it when it SHOWS UP??? I think the main thing we have lack of FAITH in, is OURSELVES and the GOD in which we SAY we have FAITH.

I know when things start going south in our lives we sometimes forget who we really are INSIDE, but be assured, GOD has not FORGOT! He sometimes has to take us through the VALLEY for us to get to the MOUNTAIN top. The VALLEY is where we learn that we will NOT SINK when we WALK on the Water with Him. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s SCARY as heck, because you’ve never walked in this particular situation. But remember you do have a little history to look back over whenever you might begin doubting it.

Nothing is NEW to God! We just have to TRUST that He has our GREATER GOOD all worked out…even when we fall (and we usually will fall).  But you know the BEST thing about it is, when we do, He always has a LOVING hand reaching down to PICK us up which makes us all the MORE GRATEFUL to get off and running again with Him by our sides to our Destiny. We just have to KEEP MOVING towards it!

Blessed and Highly Favored

Today, I was Blessed & Highly Favored from my time with God! I had to get some MUCH needed extended time in with the Lord this morning. See, I usually read a chapter of Proverbs everyday and then let the Lord lead me as I meditate on what POPS off the page at me. Well Proverbs 3 is one of my FAVORITE chapters...because of Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart..." you know the one. But today verses 3 & 4 SHOUTED at me..

"Let not MERCY and KINDNESS [shutting out all hatred and selfishness] and TRUTH [shutting out all deliberate hypocrisy or falsehood] forsake you; bind them about your neck, WRITE them upon the tablet of YOUR HEART. 4 SO SHALL YOU FIND FAVOR, good understanding, and high esteem in the sight [or judgment] of God and man." (Proverbs 3-4 AMP)

You see, I've been praying for FAVOR...FAVOR with people, FAVOR in my business, FAVOR in everything I put my hand to do. With 2012 being such a persevering and testing year as I ventured out into NEW territory, I needed to SEE some fruit from all the labor I had been putting out.

Well, sometimes in our LABORING we can be so driven to make it happen in our own power, we work, work, work ourselves right into a merciless and unkind mode just to try to MAKE the TRUTH of what we believe WORK out like we want them. So of course when I saw this verse this NEW 3rd morning in this NEW Year, I saw this chapter and verse in a NEW LIGHT.

We must remember to ask God to ENLIGHTEN us with His Word as we read it otherwise reading His Word can become another LABOR on our list of things to do without any NEW ENLIGHTENMENT or REVELATION from it. God's Word is INSPIRATION (see 2 Timothy 3:16) to our lives when we SLOW DOWN long enough to ask Him for His insight, digest/receive it and  then apply it to our lives.

So today as you are trying to get to the next thing you are trying to complete, remember that God wants to be a NEW ENLIGHTENMENT in your daily task as you "bind mercy, kindness and truth around your neck and write them on your heart to find FAVOR from God and man." Be Blessed!

The STORMS of LIFE

"Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you!" James 4:8

The effects of Hurricane Sandy came through Philadelphia, PA and left us in a windy, rainy, and power outage state. The warnings never really prepare you for the actuality. I'm one who is an overall SAVER...Literally and Spiritually...always putting away for a rainy day...so most of what I needed for the storm I already had on hand...just needed to have it READILY AVAILABLE.

After two power outages and a scramble for all the candles and battery operated flood/flashlights, I realized how much we DEPEND on things...things that really do not amount to a hill of beans in the Kingdom of God. While my household & I sat in the candlelit room trying to FIND the unusual things to do with our now forced QUIET time together, I realized even with the simple things in life, we have all that we need when we STOP and take a moment to reflect on it. 

The time that we usually would be watching TV, surfing the internet, playing with some type of an electronic gadget or on the phone, could be better spent reflecting and talking to God through these storms. We really don't need much for Time with God just the WILLINGNESS to draw closer to Him by READING His Word, the WILLINGNESS to PRAY about what strikes our HEART, the WILLINGNESS to WAIT and LISTEN to what He has to say about it, and the WILLINGNESS to OBEY what He has to say about it.

The Storms of Life have their purpose...they are meant to keep us CLOSE to the One who can get us PREPARED for, AWAY from, or THROUGH the Storms of Life! So I ask you...How much are you DEPENDING on Him Who is Able, Ruler of All Things, and The One Who Never Leaves Nor Forsakes Us? Why not SIT STILL and try it for yourself? I know He will make Himself KNOWN to you when you commit to do it!

Faith....Your Ready to Go Without the Training Wheels!

  

2 Corinthians 5:7 (AMP)

 For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.

Wow..."But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty: the foolish things of the world are meant to confound the wise!" (1 Corinthians 1:27) Boy, am I FULLY understanding this more and more as I walk with Jesus! We think we know God when things are COMFORTABLE and things are the way we would prefer them to be. But, we REALLY don't get to KNOW God until we have nothing but Him to lean on...Shoe leather FAITH where we have to truly WALK it out with every uncertain step.

Be careful what you pray for because what you THINK you are praying, will usually not manifest the way you thought. God's ways are above our ways, and I'm realizing this the more I walk by FAITH and not by what things LOOK like.

We humans seem to think we can imagine something, but by the time God puts His Precious Touch on it, it's always bigger and grander than we can ever imagine. What we prayed for will usually come by way of PRACTICE to get us where God wants us. We think it's going to be SMOOTH sailing because we PRAYED about it; however the complete opposite usually happens from what our finite minds can imagine. We want more favor…God TEST us to let us see what our RESPONSE is to the little things in life. We get to see if we can be TRUSTED with the BIG FAVOR that He wants to give us.

Oh, yes God wants to give you what you want as soon as you request it, but are you MATURE enough to handle it? We are just like the 14 year old boy who wants to drive, but he's not mature enough to handle the responsibility that comes with driving. So he has to wait...watch others do what he wants to do, read up and learn the laws that go with driving, take a written test to make sure he knows the rules, PRACTICE what he knows intellectually to get the HANDS-ON-EXPERIENCE that gives him a BETTER understanding, and then the BIG DRIVING TEST to be eligible to drive alone. 

 God is holding our hand a little more in the beginning of our FAITH journey to eventually allow us to be less supervised because we've proven we are TRUSTWORTHY to go along without Him instructing us as much. We are GROWING up when we have stayed close to Him enough that we KNOW His Character even when we don't hear Him instructing our every step. Thank God He knows when to take the training wheels off our bike of FAITH to test us for a while to help us know we are mature enough, responsible enough, and READY to ride without them!!!