Transition of Emotion

A lot of times, we do not necessarily go through things...we are taken through them. We know this because we say "The Lord is taking me through this for a reason" or we say "The Lord is the only one sustaining me"...things like that. We acknowledge and recognize that all of the emotions we experience is because we are given the priviledge to understand them. These emotions range from joy, to sorrow, to rest, to anxiety, to comfort, to happiness, to insomnia, to overjoyed, to restlessness, to settled, to distracted, to smiling, to frustrated, to focused, to flabergasted, to amazed....the list goes on and on. These different emotions do not necessarily happen to us in any particular order, they just sort of happen! One after the other! Think about it. God knows just what we can handle however, the key is staying in a place of prayer and praise. Our emotions will only run as wild as we let it...right? You have to mentally alter your thoughts and bring them to a place of surrender unto God. Psalm 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. The process of change is to mentally take yourself from one stage of thought to another. It is the bridge that connects the past and the future. It is the walkway that leads you away from the present location. It is a choice to make an exchange of position, a transition of your emotions.

Appoint a blessing!

Deuteronomy 28:8 (King James Version) The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. There is nothing more satisfying to know that all the Lord wants for His children is to be blessed. So much that He commands the right blessing our way. Blessings come with obedience. Taking a step into God's direction is what protrudes us into a land of abounding provision. It is God's desire to pour out all He has for us but we have to make a choice to walk in His way and accept His will for our lives. Set your hands in the things of God. Focus your desires on the things of the Kingdom. Keep your eyes on the way of the Lord. Don't get carried away by the things of the flesh. Carnal things only lead us to distruction and isolation. Walking in the ways of God has a lot of benefits. As we worship God, He adores us. As we thank and praise God, He blesses us. Blessings come in different forms and through different mediums. It could be through a visitor, a messenger, a friend, a co-worker, a loan officer, a family member, a best friend, a stranger etc...whatever it takes. God will set in order a gift of blessing for His children, because it is His promise to us. Be open to being blessed. Be open to trusting God. Set your affections toward Him. Allow your store houses to be filled with plenty.

Regain Perspective

What happens when you have lost your passion? What happens when you cannot give anymore? What happens when you lose your drive for productivity? What happens when you cannot receive anymore? What happens when you have lost your enthusiasm for work? I pray that..... A quickening will come upon you That will lift you up out of sorrow It will engage your will into a place of certainty, a place of deliverance, a place of freedom Allowing your spirit to soar in God and experience a life of liberty Hoping in Him and totally surrendering to Him I pray that..... You will begin to see that the Lord has anointed you with an overcoming power The power to hold on to your God-given inheritance An inheritance that elevates you from a mentality of burden to a mentality of peace Challenges come and challenges go Life happens and comes to shake things The enemy comes in to kill your destiny, steal your joy and destroy your passion

BUT God is your strength and your song

He is the Glory and the Lifter of your head

You need to regain perspective, quickly! You cannot afford to forfeit your purpose in God Your have come way too far to fall into a pool of discouragement and defeat now You have been here before and can get out of it again Ladies, this is my prayer for you... Do not allow the enemy to trouble your present and thereby distort your future What's gone is gone! What's happening now is perspective change What is coming is the Promise of God! Be of good courage, for God will deliver us from all the weight that seems to hold us back!

Rest is easy!

Its hard to rest when you have so many things to do. And then when you do rest, you spend that rest time thinking of the next item on your daily agenda. This is what we do, as women! Right? (Genesis 2:2And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made). The bible tells us that on the 7th day of creation, God rested. It does not say that He rested in the morning of the 7th day or two hours of the 7th day; BUT that He rested the entire day. I believe God spent that 7th day enjoying the many things He had just created. Rest is easy. All it takes is just deciding to be lazy for once and doing absolutely nothing. You'll find that you'll pay close attention to the little things you hardly see and you'll actually have some good ol' family time or me-time. Some practical things:

• Take a walk without your IPOD or your cell phone
• Eat breakfast, and then go back to bed
• Watch TV without folding the clean laundry
• Take a good nap without reading first
• Read your bible without thinking of your next sermon
• Don't get out of your PJs so quickly on a Saturday morning. Its ok!
• Don't schedule anything for an entire weekend... (this is a hard one!)

We spend a lot of our time working and paying for where we live, what we drive, and the many bills we have and don't spend enough time enjoying where the money goes. REST is easy! We can drive out the overwhelming spirit , if we choose not to bombard our mind with much. Do you agree?

How much more do you want?

I heard a powerful sermon this weekend that was based on an illustration of the life of Abraham. There were quite a few points in the sermon that we can all relate to:

• Letting go of ourselves ... we need to submit to our spiritual leaders that God has placed over us. i.e. our Pastors, Elders, Leaders. They are our covering and protection.
• Letting go of the delay in our lives ... a place of past dissapointments, past hurts, past frustrations.
• Letthing go of ungodly relationships ... be a righteous and a holy people of God. Do not isolate yourself from the world but be ye seperated. Go into the world and make a difference.
• Letting go of our failures ... Sometimes when we make a new step in God, we have certain expectations that we demand of God and when those things don't start taking place, we get off track and we start figuring out ways to make those things work for us. We need to know that there are no challenges if we are already in the will of God. God will take care of all things and we need not fret.
• Letting go of our blessing. This is the part that really stuck out to me! I was truly challenged by this because I can relate to an example of a person who gets a blessing and cannot figure out how to let that blessing go. I figured I have been tried and tested for so long, and now that my blessing has come, its truly mine! :) But God calls us to more, right! And the bottom line is that if my hands are still full, I cannot receive anything else. Giving off of your blessing does not necessarily mean giving away all of your money but it means to think of others' needs before yours. How can I bless someone else today? How can I make someone else have a better day? It is not all about me!

The method is simple! Bless others with the blessing that you have and God will multiply your increase!

Changes, Changes

Change is not a location but a mental decision to move from one place to another ~ Anonymous As women, we go through all kinds of changes in life; work changes, changes in our bodies, we change our priorities, changes in our emotions, we re-adjust our day to suit others, career changes, financial changes etc...we make changes all the time. And I find that its hard to stay focused when these changes happen, but even more seriously, its challenging to stay encouraged. It is essential that we learn how to edify ourselves, to encourage ourselves, to stir up the giftings within us, to call those GREAT things in us out to the surface, to look at ourselves differently, to speak words of encouragement to other women around us, to see the big picture and so on. These are some tools that can help us emotionally, spiritually, physically, practically and mentally. Sometimes things happen and it completely shifts us off gear. But ladies, this is the BEST time to get re-charged. Maybe it is a time to re-evaluate some things, to prioritize some things in our lives...maybe it's a time of promotion. But if we do not encourage ourselves, we may lose the blessing that is coming to us. Depression is not of God. It's really of the enemy. Be careful that we do not fall into this trap. As ladies, we are quick to think of a million things in a minute and sometimes these million things are usually not positive. They are usually a combination of our dissapointments, our hurts, our failures, our frustrations, our dreams that we have let go, our loneliness, our past hurt, our incapabilites, and on and on. If you are anything like me, I tend to think so much at such a short time that when I find myself in a million thoughts than I started with, I pause and think of how I started out thinking of that one thing in the first place. But I know that God is doing a work in me that is allowing me to surrender all my thoughts and emotions to Him. It's not for me to fix, it's for me to leave it at God's feet in exchange for His peace. So, let me encourage you ladies. When you find yourself going through one change or another, be mindful that it is just a period in your life's journey. Do not wallow in it as if it is the end of the world. God has promised us life and life more abundantly. (John 10:10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly). Hold on to that blessing, encourage each other and get out of depression in Jesus name!

Be a Messenger!

Isaiah 61:1 1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; We come across different people everyday. We run into them at different places of interests; we work with then, spend time with them, and sometimes we get to know them more than our own family members. We find ourselves in these relationships and we underestimate the power of God in us. Our friends share things with us, they confide in us and we listen, and maybe we share a little but not a whole lot, or we share lightly and not truthfully. Before you read any further, if you are yet to give your heart to the Lord, there is no better time than now! It is time that you serve and worship the one true God totally and wholeheartedly. Disregard that this is happening by web but consider that your heart is about to be melted towards God. Your life will be changed completely after you pray these words, and walk in His truth and freedom. "Dear Jesus, Thank you for dying for me, thank you for your cross, and thank you for the freedom that you have freely given me. I commit my life to you and submit my will to you. Change me this day, renew my mind, transform my spirit and make me like you. Teach me to walk in your way from this day forth and show me your glory all the days of my life" AMEN! Now that you are a part of God's great Kingdom, I charge you to do the same with others you come across. The bible tells us that we have been anointed and consecrated, set apart above our fellows by God to preach good tidings. We are messengers of the gospel and we are to carry the good news with us always. There are many that are afflicted around us and our job is to proclaim God's word over them. The word of God is like a blanket; it meets you right where you are, wraps firmly around all the hurt, shame, pain, dissapointments, disgrace, fatique, anxiety and brings healing to your soul. We all have some kind of feelings....even the intellect and the strong do too. God can meet us right in the middle of it all and show us He cares for us, if we let Him. As we come across that friend, that family member or co-worker that has suffered brokenness and at their end, that is the perfect opportunity to mention the name of Jesus and preach the truth to them, in love. Do not worry about looking for the perfect words to use, God will give you a spontaneity of an outflow of His word. And it will be clear and concise too! You'll see that it'll release people out of bondages and those who feel as if they are in exile and cannot return to God; will be set free! AMEN! God is calling us to a place of boldness and confidence, where we are able to capture His people from the very gates fo hell into a place of Salvation from sin!

Leaders Manual 101

1 Timothy 3:1 1Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. If anyone seeks a promotion to become an overseer/elder/leader/boss, these are some things we need to aspire to become:

• a life above reproach
• be humble, when you do find yourself in a higher place
• be faithful in everything you do
• exercise self control
• spend wisely
• make it a habit to tip your waiter/waitress
• offer your heart unto the Lord
• have a good reputation, in and outside of the church
• live wisely
• be hospitable
• be kind at heart
• open your home to guests
• have joy
• be selfless
• be teachable
• do not be violent
• appreciate people around you
• be a teacher
• do not submit to the drinking of wine
• come early, be on time, leave later
• do not submit to the love of money
• manage your family well
• submit to the Spirit of God
• be gentle, not quarrelsome
• have respectful & obedient children
• deny the flesh of its sinful cravings
• have an unshakeable foundation
• be slow to speak
• be consistent in all areas of your life
• do not be hypocritical
• have integrity
• tithe faithfully and truthfully
• be a servant
• be well respected
• do not be dishonest with money
• be trustworthy
• be committed to your leaders, your staff, your family, your marriage, your boss, your friends, your job....BE COMMITTED...
• be loyal
• do not be prideful
• commit to the faith in Jesus Christ
• do not slander others
• be an encourager

Ladies, this is what the word of God tells us about how leaders are made; promotion comes this way. AMEN!

Where we belong.....

This weekend was a restful, productive, enjoyable time with family and friends. Our friends/family come in different forms, morals, standards, convictions, values, etc but as they say "every family has that ONE crazy person" ... :) I have a feeling that I might be that crazy person in mine... (smile). But in all seriousness, I realized even more this weekend that family time is very important and is necessary to bring balance and rest in your life. Now, for some of you, some family time may not be as enjoyable as the last, but if you try to make the best of it, it might be worth it. All through the bible, we see that when a character is mentioned, the lineage/geneology is listed....to show the family/blood line. And you can see great warriors, evangelists, preachers, teachers, prophets came out of a not-so-good looking blood line. Even the blood line of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the natural eye did not look so promising but Jesus Himself, came and died for us all. God is all about family, and He continuously teaches us of this in His word . Sometimes, we feel unlucky (if I may use that word) to be in the families that we are in but I believe that God is totally strategic in where He places us. It is not coincidental that you are in the family you are in right now. If you start looking at the spiritual side of things; it is more of a blessing, for you, your friends and for your family members. Ok, so things may not look great but maybe you are to be the voice of reason. On the other hand, things may be wonderful in your family..and that in itself is a great blessing. But no matter what family you come from or what issues you see in them, this is where you belong. It's time we start seeing where we are, what we can do to change things, how we can make a difference, who we can bless, why we should be praying, who we should be praying for and what we should be praying about. Family and friends are a huge part of our lives, let's share stories with them, cherish them, challenge them in their callings, truly thank God for them, take pictures with them, encourage them in their giftings, respect them, house-sit/baby-sit for them, listen to them, seek God on their behalf, laugh with them, really spend time with them, rejoice with them, dine with them and amongst other things, make them KNOW we love them!