Sunday, April 15, 2018

The Bible says...

Good morning my warrior sisters-

We lost a great man of God recently.  Billy Graham walked on this earth for almost 100 years. He visited with the Queen of England and served many presidents. They sought him, not because of who he was, but of what he represented. He had a great calling and that was to spread the word throughout the lands and he did just that.

Fox released a short documentary on his life last month and I carefully took in traits that made this man persevere.  Here are just a few:

He was humble.
He surrendered all.
He said I will follow where you lead not knowing what that meant.
He trusted in His God to make His path right.
He spoke not his words but the Bible's words.
He was who you saw.
He hated seeing his own name in lights when it took so many people to make a meeting happen.
He wanted to be unseen so Christ could be seen.
He stood for the African American people in the middle of death threats to his family.
He had wise counsel around him at all times.
He loved his wife and cherished her until her death.
He struggled with God and the Word and accepted the word of God just as he had accepted Jesus, by faith.

Billy Graham was just a man called by His God to spread the word and to encourage people that there was hope in a dark time. He wasn't about himself, how good he looked on camera, or how important he was to be sought after by the Queen of England or all those presidents. He was about leading them into the light and giving them the Word, so that when he wasn't near, they had something to cling to.

Today we are searching for happiness. I see it everywhere. There are even counselors now that can help you find your happiness.  What happens when the truth is revealed? At some point, disappointment is going to come along and then those same people striving for happiness will get lost in the darkness. Why did David cling to the Word of the Lord so hard? Because he knew that life had peaks and valleys. He sat in caves, fought battles and still, he knew his hope and future were with and for the Lord.

I admire King David and Billy Graham for believing that they could make a change. I am in awe of the strength they both had to be with God and to do His bidding. They were both men and that makes them real. They both were challenged in this life but overcame much of the hate with love. They believed that the commands, precepts, promises and words of God were real and had major impact on those they led.

Both men were great shepherds leading many sheep to God. In Psalm 119, you can read over and over David seeking and loving God's words. Billy Graham believed that the hope of all the lost was in the Bible.  If you watch that documentary, you will hear him say over and over, "The Bible says.." Why? Because the holy word of God cannot be refuted. Man can stumble with words but the Holy Living Word of God won't stumble, has never fallen and lives so that we may find peace, prosperity, and eternal life.

I normally like to copy scripture here for you but today I'm directing you to the living word. Open your phones to the Bible app or get your Bible out and read Psalm 119.  Look for words, like commands, precepts, and words and meditate on what David was saying.  David and Billy loved God with their whole hearts. They wrestled just like us but ultimately, through his words and commands they found the one true God. That's my hope today. As you wrestle with being unseen, unworthy, and lost, you will find the one true God.

I have been there and continue to be there but my hope is in the living word for the Bible says that I am loved and I was chosen for such a day. It states that when I came to Christ I am a new creature. I've been washed white as snow by the blood of Jesus and I stand on the fact that if you confess that Jesus is Lord you too will be beside me eternally. For the Bible says,"Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to the spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying,
'You must be born again.' " (John 3: 5-7 NIV)

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Finding Peace in the Journey...

Good morning my warrior sisters-

It's been some time since I've written and it feels good to be back. From time to time, I take time off this platform to reflect on God so it's been awhile.  I'm getting on today because I've had many revelations I wanted to share with you.

Over the last couple of years my journey has not exactly been what I had hoped for in my life. I've really had to find myself again with Jesus at the helm. I had my life paved with gold up until 2016 when much fell apart.  That life was driven by success, money and pride.  Fortunately for me, God decided it was time for a change.

In April of 2016, I had a choice to make, Jesus or money and in the end Jesus won out. I actually left my job with nothing else in sight and trusted the process. I have been providing a steady income for my family, health insurance and a comfortable lifestyle my whole life and with a blink, I gave it up. 

By May of 2016, God provided another opportunity that I loved and after a year, I was laid off with two weeks severance and nothing in sight. And then, in June of 2017, God opened a door into a new career.

From 2016 to now, I have taken pay cuts, lost roles and floundered to find me in the journey. With no hobbies or outside adventures, work was my joy and now it has become my cross. How can I say that? Well, work is where I found happiness, where I became worth something and where I found status and unlimited financial potential. It was where I could shine. Unfortunately, it's where I was falling into a pattern of sin.

I loved money, I loved position and I loved being the lead. So the challenge over the last 3 years is how do I remain peaceful in a journey that has turned my world upside down?  The answer, Jesus.
Jesus has changed me in a way I would never have thought. I wanted position and financial independence more than I wanted Him. It's true. I wanted a house and cars and money in the bank and then in 2016 I found myself realizing that money didn't buy happiness.

So, I've been in a storm. Really it feels like a tornado from time to time. My whole life has changed. I now just have a job, not a career. I work from 8-5 and I'm home every night. I don't have great wealth nor am I destitute. I have found time to read my Bible and send scripture to  my closest friends every morning. I can serve others and do it with an open heart. I've started that book I continue to feel unworthy to write and I've found me in the eye of the storm. Not the person everyone thinks they know but the person Jesus knows.

In the last couple of years, I am being transformed as if I was a blob of clay. I have been pinched, smashed and reformed carefully by my maker. He is refining me and opening me up to  free me from the sin and inner turmoil I carry. I've always been performance based. How high can I jump? Well, tell me I can't and I will push to jump higher. The problem with that philosophy is I can't do it alone. I have to have Jesus in the midst. I have to have Him walking beside me. I have to release my ideas, my wants and my desires and focus on the kingdom and on His will. I've been chasing success, money and accolades for so long, to now come to the end of me and find that His will must be at the center of what I do, how I think and how I move forward.

It's a journey my sisters. It has trials and tribulations. I want more than anything to help women all over the world, to encourage you not to give up on Jesus. I want you to walk with Him in your storm, pursue His words and believe that He alone knows your purpose. I am not over this trial by a long shot. I fight it every day but I've come to realize that my purpose is not what I believe but what His will is for me.

As I watch the world events unfold and see the children of Syria on the streets, my heart tells me there is much work for all of us. We must find peace in our own journey so we can concentrate on others. It won't be easy. It hasn't been easy for me. It has been life changing and I'm grateful for the journey because it's given me more time to look around me and to care about what our God cares about which is the lost, the destitute, the misfits and the hurting.

It's by His word life is revealed. The Bible is true. Look around you, there are rumors of war, earthquakes, death and destruction. There are children turning against their parents and parents killing their children. There is evil on this earth and yet, when we walk in peace, God provides a door for us to come in and get out of the storm. Be encouraged that today may hold trouble but God will provide hope in the midst of it.

Please look these Scriptures up today:

Matthew 4:4
Jeremiah 29:11
Proverbs 3:5
Daniel 6:10
Matthew 26

Our time is now. We are being refined so that we can trust in Him who has given us life. His will must be done on earth as it is in Heaven and we must stand still and find His peace in the journey. For it is not by bread alone but by every word of God. Stand with me today and may God bring the lost into His arms and provide peace in the midst of your trials. I'm praying for you my sisters and I know that there is power in prayer.