Blog Archives

What’s my purpose?

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Ephesians 2: 10
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
 
This life was never meant to be mere survival, although that is the mode most people seem to be in. You were created with a plan, and a purpose. 
 
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
 
You were fashioned in His likeness, fearfully and wonderfully made, God never makes mistakes,  The beauty about your life is, you were created with a specific plan that God has prepared just for you to do.
 
It wasn’t designed for the Pastor, or the lady in the seat in front of you at church, that seems to be involved in everything, no this one is just for you, no one else, for your life. 
 
Your mission in life is His mission He made just for you. Today, discover that mission, that work, that perfect plan that God has for you to do. God knows what you are capable of even if you are not sure what you are capable of doing, He knows you better than you know yourself. Go for it!

Influence of Godly Mothers.

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https://godinterest.com/2018/05/04/the-influence-of-godly-mothers/

The Influence of Godly Mothers

Through faith in God and by honoring His Word, godly mothers have great influence as they train their children.

“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”

As a child, I never understood the magnitude of having a godly mother or the blessing of a mother’s love. My relationship with my biological mother was nothing close to what you read in most Hallmark cards and the Foster mother that I had was not a great substitute mother either. What I missed as a child was troubling but Mother’s Day is so much more than celebrating your own biological mother. Mother’s Day is also about celebrating the women that have stepped in that motherly role, the ones that have lifted you up in prayer day after day, loved you, befriended you, and guided you, these are the women that I call spiritual mothers.

What is a Spiritual Mother?

A Spiritual Mother is a woman that lives her life for God and helps and guides you in your walk with God. Like a mentor, only with a mother’s heart. A spiritual mother nurtures, cares, provides and creates an environment that can be trusted in which you can feel safe to grow in. Spiritual Mothers share wisdom and can help with seeing things from a different perspective. A Spiritual Mother will love you despite your shortcomings but help you shine in your strengths. Spiritual Mothers will bless and encourage the call of God on your life. Spiritual moms most of the time are not chosen by you, instead, typically they find you. A real Spiritual mother can sense the void in your life, they watch you and pray for you long before they ever come into a close relationship with you. They will never be pushy, but gently they walk along with you and when the time is right they draw close. A Spiritual mother’s love can be felt in the way they communicate with you. Their demeanor is typically soft if you need soft and firm if you need firm. I believe God has a spiritual mother in the world for everyone whether you have had a great mother or not. The need for Spiritual mothers is great, everyone needs someone to help nurture in time of need.

My Spiritual Mother 

I have a spiritual mother; her name is Crystal. I will never forget when I first became sick and was admitted to the hospital. She was always the first one there and the last one to come back. She took care of the little things and some big things. To say Crystal is just a mere mentor or Spiritual Mother doesn’t even give it justice. She is much more to me that she will ever know. She has been the mother that I never had, the kind of mother I needed so badly when I was younger. She has been the ear to listen, the one to check on me every single week, and she really cares for me. Through Crystal, I have truly had a taste of what a mother truly is and for that, I am so grateful. Crystal has been a grandmother to my kids and has given a lot of herself to me and my family. So right now, I want to take the time to honor my Spiritual Mother and say thank you to Crystal and we love you. Proverbs 31: 30-31 says;

“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.” 

I praise my Spiritual mother for her works of grace, mercy, and kindness and for taking me underneath her wings.

Being A Godly Mother

One of life’s greatest gifts you can give your children is to be a Godly mother. I will never forget holding my first baby girl just fifteen years ago. When I gave birth to my daughter, my love for her was instant and so great that I would lay my life down for her. I wanted a strong bond with her, and relationship where she knew she could come to me with anything in the world. Most of all I wanted her to know that she was a gift from God. Now, I have two beautiful children that I love so much. We say I love you every day, and we share hugs. We talk with each other, and I guide my children. I teach them the word of God. Proverbs 22: 6 ESV says;

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I believe that if I train my children to be model citizens, to be respectful, to know what manners are, to follow the ways of God, to live godly lives that not only will they live it out, according to Proverbs 22: 6, they will also teach their children the same values, morals and Christian characteristics.

How to find the”perfect”, church? My view from the pew.

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Do I Have to Go to Church to Be a Christian?
 It’s Sunday morning and we have a choice to make. Do we get up and get the kids and ourselves ready for church or do we lay in bed, maybe sleep in, or watch some TV church for a few minutes until we get bored and turn the channel to Food Network?
There is a brand-new trend that I have been hearing about lately, it’s called “stay at home Christians.” What does that mean anyway? I have also heard, “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” Let me set this straight, no, we don’t have to go to church to be a Christian, but we live in a free country where we have the right to go to any church we choose to attend, not everyone gets that choice. All over the world, especially in communistic countries, people do not get the choice of what church they want to go to attend.
 Here are some reasons why people are not going to church. I did a little research and this is what I found.
1. Churches are always asking for money. 
*It’s your choice to give or not to give. God is the one that requires tithes and offerings, take it up with Him.
(My home church does not pass an offering plate around, we have a box for tithes and offerings.)
2. Sunday’s are my only days to sleep in.
 *A lot of churches have Saturday night services as well as Sunday morning and afternoon services.
3. I don’t get anything out of it.
 *It is up to the individual what they get out of church. Some people go for the music, some people go for the message and still others go for the fellowship.
Honestly what we get out of church is what we put into church. If we will worship during the music, we will be blessed. If we will apply the message to our own life, we will be filled. If we are friendly, we will gain friends.
There are also some reasons that I believe that we should go to church. Let me give my top three reasons for going to church.
1. After Jesus went to be with the Father in Heaven, He told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit was given to them. After Pentecost, the Bible records in Acts 2: 42-44 (ESV),
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.”
 The people who followed Jesus and had received the Holy Spirit fellowship together and had all things in common
2. We are a body of Christ. We should worship together, encourage one another, learn God’s word together, pray for one another and strengthen one another.
3. When we have a church home we have a church covering. That means that we are covered in prayer by other Christians at all times. I understand that we can pray for ourself, that is great, but wouldn’t it be better to be covered in prayer by the pastor and the prayer warriors at a local church that loved us, and knew us.
 When we are not under a covering, we choose to fight the enemy alone. Wouldn’t we rather have an army with you fighting then fighting on our own.

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How do I find the perfect church for me?

The truth is, there is not a perfect church. We are all sinners saved by grace, gathered together in our Fathers house under one roof however there is a church that we can belong to and we can grow in.
Finding a church that believes the way you do can be difficult, but it is not impossible. The excuses run wild with why people can’t find the perfect church these days.

The millennial’s, for the most part, are looking for great music and a modern service. The older generation typically likes the traditional style of church services. It’s no wonder people have a challenging time finding a church that fits them, but many of the larger churches offer both styles of services at different times.

 We are in a state of transition as the body of Christ right now and attendance is at a staggering all-time low.
Almost ten years ago, there was always something wrong with all the churches that my husband and I visited; the church was too small, they used chairs, I liked pews, the music was not moving, the Pastor didn’t move the earth and sky with his sermon. When we had enough excuses, we would move on to another church. We walked into every church expecting to “fit,” in somewhere and that was never going to work.
 Things began to change, oh sure, you could find us on the same pew every Sunday unless we really didn’t feel like going. We didn’t speak to anybody, we didn’t move when it was time for meet and greet. As far as we were concerned we went to church because it was the right thing to do. We came in to church, sat down, enjoyed the worship, enjoyed the sermon and at the end of service we went straight home, with no real communication.
It wasn’t until I met, what was soon to be, my Spiritual Father who made me get up off that pew and become sociable. I started helping with small jobs. I became a greeter on Sunday mornings and if I wasn’t greeting, I walked around and “tried” to carry on conversations with people. I taught children’s church occasionally. I volunteered for church events. I stayed after church and helped clean up.
 All of these things added up to molding myself into a church family. I had to learn to make myself mold into the church and create a place for myself instead of trying to make the church fit to me. The trick is, you must get up off that pew and move!!! Move around the church, sit in a different spot. God may have a special person that needs to connect with you.
 The excuses for not being able to find a good church are just silly. Pick a church that you agree with what they believe, then go, and mold yourself into that family! Be a part of the kingdom of God and grow.
 As for me and my family, we continue to mold ourselves into our church family and be disciples for Christ.

Overwhelmed.

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“…I will cry to you when my heart is overwhelmed.”Psalm 61:2

Let’s be real for a moment;

I use to sing a song to Pre-K kids that says, “if all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops oh what a rain that would be!”

My rain is, freezing and hailing right now. I am overwhelmed to the core. My heart can’t take much more on literally and figuratively.

This past week I have been in tachardia, I was admitted in the hospital for severe stomach pain, I am so tired…let’s talk tired for a minute….Tired for me is not as simple as taking a nap and feeling rested, ever! I wake up tired. I nap, and I am tired. I do nothing and I am tired. I am exhausted from the inside out. My insides are beating me from the inside out. I am mentally, physically, emotionally, exhausted. I am fighting a war that I may never win. I get small victories…the question now is,” are the small victories going to sustain me?”

I don’t know the answer to that right now. I feel like I am running on Empty.

It’s 4am. I have had a restless night. God can you hear me right Now! I need you! I need to be on higher ground.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2027995500757408&id=208400296172610

 

Overcome Evil with Good.

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Romans 12: 21
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

This passage from Paul requires action on our part! No longer can we be complacent, no longer can we say, “I just don’t want to get involved.” If we are soldiers of the cross then we need to act like we are soldiers of the cross. Not passive, no apprehensive but confident bold, strong. God told Joshua when he was to take over for Moses as leader, to be strong and very courageous (Joshua 1:7). So, you are the leader of your own surroundings, so I say, “Be strong and very courageous and over come evil with Good in your home, at your work, with your leisure time.” Let the Evil one know you are in the house and he needs to vacate. Today, be bold, overcome evil with good.

 

Monday morning pick me up. ( The secret for happiness and success in life.)

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Every morning my Pastor at Grace Fellowship Ministry writes and sends out a personal devotion to each of his members in our church on text. I have asked him to write Monday morning pick me ups for this blog because I know that when Monday comes we all need a little encouragement and he was happy to help me out. I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I do. Please feel free to leave any comment or any questions and I will make sure that they all get to him personally. Happy Monday everyone!!

Joshua 1:8
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

If I were to tell you that I have the secret for happiness and success in life, what would you think. Skeptical? Don’t be, because it’s true, I have the secret to living an abundant Life. God gave Joshua the inside scoop; Keep God’s word as your foremost guide. Meditate on His word, talk about His word, discuss His word whenever you can.
Here is what I usually get from people, especially Christians; “I don’t understand the Bible.” Really? There are over 450 English translations of the Bible and thousands of commentaries about the Bible and you can’t find one that speaks to you? Listen, if you want to prosper and be successful, go to the promise from God’s own mouth, meditate on His word, it will give you abundant Life.