Tick... tock... tick... tock...
The clock keeps on ticking and you are wondering when is a change going to come. You keep telling yourself the old cliche' "patience is a virtue". But all your virtue is about to go out the window. So instead of waiting you begin to put things into motion, and the next thing you know everything has blown up. Now you have to start all over, when all you had to do was just wait.
Why is that we have a hard time waiting on things? Is it because we live in a "microwave" society, and just have to have everything right now? Is that we feel that if we don't get what we want we when we want it, that we will never be able to have it? Try saying that five times fast! LoL!
I have learned that it does not matter how hard I would try to make something happen, if its not time for it to happen it will not happen unless God wants it to happen. Waiting on God is truly a faith building and trust building process. It is almost His way trying to see if we really trust Him like we say do... and if we are honest... we usually don't trust Him like we say we do.
So what do we do? I am still working on that myself! LoL! However, what I have learned is that when my prayer life is strong and I am in my Word, I experience this peace that only comes from the Lord (Philippians 4:5-8). Its like I reach this place where I say "God let your will be done", and I actually mean it! Lol! But I promise it is the best thing that you can ever do. The word of God says in Jerm. 29:11 "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". In other words if God has already figured it for you, then you may as well just wait on Him. The "worst" that can happen is that He only gonna bless you ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1gCrHGQIl4
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
The Real Reason for the Season
So I went Christmas shopping yesterday, and this is the first time I was on a serious budget. Seriously was hitting up the stores that had for real sales! I did not use any credit cards or go into my "secret" sash of money. Nope... just used what little I had to make literally a few purchases. Anyone who knows me knows I love to buy gifts for people, and I don't shop cheap! LoL! Nope... I am the friend who people love to receive a present from, because you know that it came from the heart.Or at least I like to think so... LoL! :-) I found myself some what discouraged, because I could not buy for all the people I wanted to buy for, nor could I even afford to buy some Christmas cards to mail out to people.
However, I had to stop and think... Christmas is not about buying gifts or even receiving gifts. Its not about putting up a tree or going to Christmas parties. Its really about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Its about how God blessed the world with the greatest gift of all... His only begotten son (John 3:16). Jesus is the reason the reason for the season. We often times get caught up in the commercialism of the holiday season that we forgot what this day is really about.
This season lets not forget. This season lets not stop celebrating the birth of Jesus. Everyday should be day of celebration that the King has been born! Make sure to take time out and thank God for the greatest gift that He gave us all... Jesus! Emmanuel!
However, I had to stop and think... Christmas is not about buying gifts or even receiving gifts. Its not about putting up a tree or going to Christmas parties. Its really about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Its about how God blessed the world with the greatest gift of all... His only begotten son (John 3:16). Jesus is the reason the reason for the season. We often times get caught up in the commercialism of the holiday season that we forgot what this day is really about.
This season lets not forget. This season lets not stop celebrating the birth of Jesus. Everyday should be day of celebration that the King has been born! Make sure to take time out and thank God for the greatest gift that He gave us all... Jesus! Emmanuel!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Exercise Your Right to Forgive!
It happened five years ago, and you are STILL angry?!? It was five years ago to date that they betrayed your trust, and walked out the door with your dignity, your pride and your heart. However, at some point you have to let it go and move on with your life. That person is sleeping at night, and has not a bit more thought about what happened. In the meantime you have tried to convince yourself and others that you have moved on, and that you are now "living your life like its golden". But the truth is that you are tossing and turning every night. You cannot listen to the radio without every song on the radio reminding you of some part of that relationship. Your close family and friends have been victims to your random tirades, and the relationships that have come after have failed.
So what do you do? I am glad you ask... What I am about to share with you is something sure to blow your socks off. That, if you do this your life will be forever changed... you have to F-O-R-G-I-V-E. *Pause for dramatic effect*
Its such a simple word, but yet it carries so much power behind it and nobody really wants to use this power. People actually choose to be bitter and angry! They find it so very easy to hold on to the pain and the hurt. Not realizing that they are serving hard time as a prisoner for not forgiving. The Bible says in Matthew 6:14 "In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part".
In other words you need to forgive in order to be forgiven. How can you come to God without first forgiving others and even forgiving yourself? God is so merciful to us and is constantly showing us His love toward us. He does not bless according to the good we have done. He blesses us because of His grace and mercy. Could you imagine if God decided to bless us according to our works?! I would imagine that our lives would be a living hell if that were the case. We have to forgive! We must forgive! Its not for the other person, but its for YOU! You need to experience peace of mind. You need God to hear you when you pray. You need to do because God loves you inspite of all the wrong you do on a daily. You... must... set... yourself... free!
Now forgiveness is a process and it takes time to reach a level of full forgiveness. But if you are honest with God, and let Him help you out with the process, it won't take long for you to get there. Does that mean you will become best friends with the person who wronged you? Who knows... but at most you will have a peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7- NIV).
So, try it today... Forgive and set yourself free from that prison of unforgiveness.
*Unless otherwise noted, all bible references have been taken from the Message Bible.
So what do you do? I am glad you ask... What I am about to share with you is something sure to blow your socks off. That, if you do this your life will be forever changed... you have to F-O-R-G-I-V-E. *Pause for dramatic effect*
Its such a simple word, but yet it carries so much power behind it and nobody really wants to use this power. People actually choose to be bitter and angry! They find it so very easy to hold on to the pain and the hurt. Not realizing that they are serving hard time as a prisoner for not forgiving. The Bible says in Matthew 6:14 "In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part".
In other words you need to forgive in order to be forgiven. How can you come to God without first forgiving others and even forgiving yourself? God is so merciful to us and is constantly showing us His love toward us. He does not bless according to the good we have done. He blesses us because of His grace and mercy. Could you imagine if God decided to bless us according to our works?! I would imagine that our lives would be a living hell if that were the case. We have to forgive! We must forgive! Its not for the other person, but its for YOU! You need to experience peace of mind. You need God to hear you when you pray. You need to do because God loves you inspite of all the wrong you do on a daily. You... must... set... yourself... free!
Now forgiveness is a process and it takes time to reach a level of full forgiveness. But if you are honest with God, and let Him help you out with the process, it won't take long for you to get there. Does that mean you will become best friends with the person who wronged you? Who knows... but at most you will have a peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7- NIV).
So, try it today... Forgive and set yourself free from that prison of unforgiveness.
*Unless otherwise noted, all bible references have been taken from the Message Bible.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Waiting on Boaz
*** Disclaimer: This was written before God blessed me with my man of God, but I am sure that this can be a blessing for someone out there***
Since I can remember my past relationships have been filled with nothing but heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak. Whether it was me doing the heartbreak or receiving the heartbreak it is a cycle that I am ready for it to end, because I am no longer cut out for the games. I can no longer do relationships that last any longer than a minute (my longest relationship being seven months and the shortest being close to a month). Personally it is a waste of my time and the man’s time when a so called relationship lasts that long.
First I must admit that I am one of those persons who wears my feelings on my sleeve. It does not take much for me to become attached to a person, and that goes to my love for people period. Male or female… I am just a people person. I have never had a hard time making friends because for the most part I am one of the most transparent people that you could meet. However, it is the area of relationships that I seem to have a problem with, and I have not figured out how to keep a man.
I will not sit up here and say nothing is wrong with me, because as we all know everyone has flaws. That goes without saying and as much as I would love to believe that I am perfect (LOL) the reality is I am NOT Jesus. With that being said I know I am flawed. The difference I think with me is that I am able to recognize my flaws, and even more amazing I am more than willing to work on my flaws. Now how many people you know can do that? I am not afraid of changing and I welcome constructive criticism, especially if at the end of the day it will make me a much better person for the Kingdom of God. I feel that if I am better servant of God then I will be a better person for my friends and family.
But is it so hard for me to meet a man who will honestly and truly love me for me. Who will not run at the first sign of trouble, and be able to stand with me through the good and the bad. Who will be patient with me as I work on growing to become the virtuous woman God has called me to be. Someone who I don’t have to ask to call, text, email, or do any other form of communication to me because he will do all these things because he cannot go through his day with knowing that I am fine and hearing my voice. I wanna know that smile on his face I had something to do with it. Who will keep it real with me and be able to respectfully tell me when I am tripping. Who won't tell me that they love me but only later to take it back when things are not going the way they expected… In other words my man made just for me… My Boaz…
I am aware that this requires patience and remaining focused on the things that God has placed before
me. My problem is just waiting… That is the hard part for me. I want to love and I want to be loved. I am sure that the man God has for me will know how to love me just the way I deserved to be loved. I just want to know how to wait on my Boaz, and how will know when he finally comes into my life? I am afraid that because of the things I have been through that I may miss him, if I have not missed him already…
Any takers???
Since I can remember my past relationships have been filled with nothing but heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak. Whether it was me doing the heartbreak or receiving the heartbreak it is a cycle that I am ready for it to end, because I am no longer cut out for the games. I can no longer do relationships that last any longer than a minute (my longest relationship being seven months and the shortest being close to a month). Personally it is a waste of my time and the man’s time when a so called relationship lasts that long.
First I must admit that I am one of those persons who wears my feelings on my sleeve. It does not take much for me to become attached to a person, and that goes to my love for people period. Male or female… I am just a people person. I have never had a hard time making friends because for the most part I am one of the most transparent people that you could meet. However, it is the area of relationships that I seem to have a problem with, and I have not figured out how to keep a man.
I will not sit up here and say nothing is wrong with me, because as we all know everyone has flaws. That goes without saying and as much as I would love to believe that I am perfect (LOL) the reality is I am NOT Jesus. With that being said I know I am flawed. The difference I think with me is that I am able to recognize my flaws, and even more amazing I am more than willing to work on my flaws. Now how many people you know can do that? I am not afraid of changing and I welcome constructive criticism, especially if at the end of the day it will make me a much better person for the Kingdom of God. I feel that if I am better servant of God then I will be a better person for my friends and family.
But is it so hard for me to meet a man who will honestly and truly love me for me. Who will not run at the first sign of trouble, and be able to stand with me through the good and the bad. Who will be patient with me as I work on growing to become the virtuous woman God has called me to be. Someone who I don’t have to ask to call, text, email, or do any other form of communication to me because he will do all these things because he cannot go through his day with knowing that I am fine and hearing my voice. I wanna know that smile on his face I had something to do with it. Who will keep it real with me and be able to respectfully tell me when I am tripping. Who won't tell me that they love me but only later to take it back when things are not going the way they expected… In other words my man made just for me… My Boaz…
I am aware that this requires patience and remaining focused on the things that God has placed before
me. My problem is just waiting… That is the hard part for me. I want to love and I want to be loved. I am sure that the man God has for me will know how to love me just the way I deserved to be loved. I just want to know how to wait on my Boaz, and how will know when he finally comes into my life? I am afraid that because of the things I have been through that I may miss him, if I have not missed him already…
Any takers???
Letting go and Letting God
Sometimes it takes a situation to help you realize that it is time for you to do some things differently. It was in my recent situation that I realized that my walk with the Lord was off, and had been off well before my recent situation took the turn it has taken. In my praying today, it was then that I realized that I trusted people blindly and could not trust God to be in charge of every area of my life. I also realized that I was not willing to be patient with God, and I was not even trying to work on His time schedule. I wanted what I wanted when I wanted. No questions ask. By being this way I found it easier for me to be in a bad mood when things did not turn out the way I expected them too. It is also becomes easier to fall in the traps set up by the enemy telling me that this is a hopeless situation, and like other times before I can expect the same result. In other words it became too easy to lose my joy, give up and allow doubt to creep in and distort what I know to be true...which is that God will always work things out for my good, because I love Him and I am called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). How can I forget that you may inquire...I am so glad that you have inquired. Simply put I allowed my problem to become bigger than God. All I could see was the right now and I could not see the victory that was also right in front of me. I allowed myself to go to bed with my problem on my mind, and wake up with the problem on my mind. Crying and just angry and hurt! All types of foolishness. Giving the enemy more power than he deserved... I did everything I could do to fix the situation, instead of sitting back and allowing God to step in and have His way with the situation. Nope. I couldn’t do that because I wanted to fix it, and I wanted things to go my way. Not realizing that what I was going through was to show me the distrust and the impatience that I possessed when it came to God. Sad to say but true... In essence this was about God wanting my attention on solely Him, and if it meant that I was going to have my heartbroken again for Him to get it then He was going to do what needed to be done. I still think He could have chosen another method to get my attention...lol... =)
Many of us are guilty of allowing our problems get in the way our praise, and we in turn sometimes forget how EXCELLENT God has been to us. It’s not on purpose but it’s our flesh. When we are in a storm we don’t usually see the day break on the other side. All we see is that it’s hailing, lighting, thundering, and “is that a tornado coming my way”?! Not realizing that if we go inside the “house” we will be safe. The house being that place where we go to have intimacy with the Father. Not realizing that if we put up our umbrella we can minimize the amount of rain falling on us. The umbrella being God’s arms and hands covering us. Not realizing that this too shall pass. There is always sunshine after a storm! It’s in a storm that God shapes and molds us for the next level that He is preparing to take us in Him. It’s here in the storm that we learn how to get strong. How to become patient. How to love ourselves. How to love God. How to love others. How to praise God. You follow me? That way when the next storm comes we will be better prepared. I heard once that we can guarantee to be in three stages in our lifetime: 1) You are getting ready to be in a storm; 2) You are in a storm; and 3) You are out of the storm. The question then becomes which stage are you in? If you are not in a storm have built yourself up with Word of God to be ready for the storm of life? If in the storm do you remember that greater is He that is within you then he that is in the world (1 John 4:4), or have you folded under the pressures of life? If you have just come out of the storm are you still praising God or have you forgotten what He has done for you already? To me it’s all about how you handle each stage of life that you are in that will determine if God is going to move you up. We are able to delay our blessings when we constantly try to do things our own way. What will take for us to learn to let go and let God? How much further could you be in your life if you had just allowed God to work things out for you right then and there?
But no matter what part of the storm you are in don’t lose the faith. I am grateful for my current situation because it has opened my eyes to see that I need to get my walk better with God. That way I will be a much better person for the Kingdom.
Therefore my charge to you is to praise God no matter what. His word tells that we should have continuous praise in our mouth (Psalms 34:1)! That means we ought to praise Him through the good, the not so good, and the bad. He has been too awesome to give Him anything less.
Be Blessed =)
Many of us are guilty of allowing our problems get in the way our praise, and we in turn sometimes forget how EXCELLENT God has been to us. It’s not on purpose but it’s our flesh. When we are in a storm we don’t usually see the day break on the other side. All we see is that it’s hailing, lighting, thundering, and “is that a tornado coming my way”?! Not realizing that if we go inside the “house” we will be safe. The house being that place where we go to have intimacy with the Father. Not realizing that if we put up our umbrella we can minimize the amount of rain falling on us. The umbrella being God’s arms and hands covering us. Not realizing that this too shall pass. There is always sunshine after a storm! It’s in a storm that God shapes and molds us for the next level that He is preparing to take us in Him. It’s here in the storm that we learn how to get strong. How to become patient. How to love ourselves. How to love God. How to love others. How to praise God. You follow me? That way when the next storm comes we will be better prepared. I heard once that we can guarantee to be in three stages in our lifetime: 1) You are getting ready to be in a storm; 2) You are in a storm; and 3) You are out of the storm. The question then becomes which stage are you in? If you are not in a storm have built yourself up with Word of God to be ready for the storm of life? If in the storm do you remember that greater is He that is within you then he that is in the world (1 John 4:4), or have you folded under the pressures of life? If you have just come out of the storm are you still praising God or have you forgotten what He has done for you already? To me it’s all about how you handle each stage of life that you are in that will determine if God is going to move you up. We are able to delay our blessings when we constantly try to do things our own way. What will take for us to learn to let go and let God? How much further could you be in your life if you had just allowed God to work things out for you right then and there?
But no matter what part of the storm you are in don’t lose the faith. I am grateful for my current situation because it has opened my eyes to see that I need to get my walk better with God. That way I will be a much better person for the Kingdom.
Therefore my charge to you is to praise God no matter what. His word tells that we should have continuous praise in our mouth (Psalms 34:1)! That means we ought to praise Him through the good, the not so good, and the bad. He has been too awesome to give Him anything less.
Be Blessed =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)