Where is the love?

Many times I have been to churches and I have experienced no love. Now, you may wonder what I mean by this. I’m not saying that God should not be the focus and I’m definitely not saying that we should go to church for people or to play the sympathy card. I’m merely asking where is the love of Christ in church? I did not experience the love of God through “church people” until I got to my current church (I got so tired of people hugging me, lol). A lot of times we see people sitting right next to us and we don’t even bother to ask them how their day is going. God can do all things, but He uses us also. You smiling or asking someone how they are doing can brighten their whole year up. The world can be so cold and unforgiving. No one should have to come to the Lord's house and experience the same treatment. If you were in a tough place in your life and a stranger told you that God loves you and asks you if you needed prayer, would you look at them crazy? Keep in mind that you’re in a tough place in your life when answering that question. This same example is how God desires to use you. We do not go to church to look pretty and fill seats; we have a job to do and God is feeding us His word so that we will be equipped to do it. Show the love of Christ to someone today. I know that this assignment may be hard, but ask God to teach you how to see with His eyes, feel with His heart and hear with His ears.

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You are Seen

“Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the LORD, who had spoken to her. She said, ‘You are the God who sees me.’ ” (Genesis 16:13) Hagar was unexpected. She was an Egyptian maid who turned into a baby mama, given to a man so that his wife could bear a son before her time of blessing had come. and she was a track star. My girl was a track star too. She got out of the house of Abram so fast when she became mistreated. Hagar never asked to be placed in the position to become a wife while still being called a maid. Her yes impacted her greatly and a ‘beef’ was the result. Hagar knew the house rules, “We serve the big G and not the little g’s over here.” She saw Abram praying and observed him meeting with God, but then it happened. Sari commissioned her, and she was given to a man. Hager was never really asked, she was never really considered a wife and was more lik...

You are Not Lost in the Crowd. God Sees You!

Someone asked the question Why do we sing? When we lift our hands to Jesus What do we really mean ~Kirk Franklin “Why we sing?” It’s very very easy to get lost in the realm of religion or to get caught up in the hype of “church”. God has blessed so many of his people with gifts and talents that range from writing and composing, to worshiping, preaching and dancing. At my church, it seems like every one has some sort of gift and I must admit that I feel lost in the shuffle, but that brings me to point of asking myself questions such as ,“who am I going to church for?” and “whose attention am I aiming for?” Everyone wants to be noticed. We want to be praised and we want to be the favorite child, but at what cost? What are we paying to be number one in the congregation’s eyes? and do we even care if God is pleased with us right where we are? I’m the queen of being offended and I often compare myself, my progression in Christ, and my life to others. This should not be so and...

Beauty for Ashes: Release the Urn

“ The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord ’s favor , and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion , to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair . They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. ” - Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV A vessel of God told me to write the real story. The one that was uncut, raw, and honest. I was to write the TR...

Be Still and Know

“Be still, and know that I am God”- Psalm 46:10a KJV Today as I was driving to work, anxious, knowing that I needed Jesus, I saw “In God I trust”, and “ Be still and know” on two separate cars, one after the other. I needed both things, and that is what I am clinging to. The past can make you feel as if you are in a track meet running from it. It seems faster and more advance within the race, but God says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Being still in a world full of thoughts is its own task, but the command of God is bigger than that. “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words.” -John 14:23a Above anything, God’s word is the answer. It is what halts the past and brings stillness instead of constant worrying. I considered Moses today. This man, who literally ran from his past, was asked to lead others to a future that God...

The Process of Faithing It: Trusting Jesus with Your Faith

“Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction” (Mark 5:34 NKJV). Can you imagine Jesus in a crowd? Everyone has a need, but His target in that moment is to go and build the faith of a little girl’s family at the request of her father because they think that she will die. The father is scared, but Jesus was on the way until He felt something. This feeling was different, but powerful. Jesus turns around looking, asking questions, but finds his answer in the form of a woman, standing and looking amazed at what just happened to her. After 13 years of anemia, tiredness, dizzy spells, soiled clothing, and impacted relationships, she is healed. This woman with an issue of blood had spent all of her money, but decided to trust Jesus with her faith, which was all that she had left. Jesus was not too busy to stop and ask, “Who touched me?”. The disciples reminded Jesus of all the people that were around them, but this touch was different. Some...

Waiting for the Promise vs. Moving in Impatience

“Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? ” And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him” ( Genesis 17: 17-19 NKJV). Isaac was desired, but Ismael was birthed out of impatience. If God told you that you were going to birth something beautiful, no matter what your season may look like, bank on the Lord’s promises. Your Ishmael does not have to be a man, your Ishmael can be an opportunity. Don’t walk into just any ole thing because you got tired of waiting on God. If God promised you something in 2016 and you didn’t see it in 2017, that does not mean that He forgot about what He promised you. Isaac had a set season and ...

The Importance of Knowing How to Pray

No matter what mental state you are in, where you are in life, or who you have around you, prayer will always be the heartbeat of your survival. You need to know how to pray during both the mountain top experiences and the valley experiences. If no one ever taught me anything, I learned how to express myself to God through prayer. Prayer isn’t always about asking God for things, but you can actually sit with Him and tell Him how you feel. There have been moments in my life where I felt like the Lord was the only one that I could talk to about what was going on in my life. You have to get into a place where you begin to communicate with God as you would with anyone else. There are times when I speak out loud to God because I know that He is around me. God’s presence is peace, it changes the atmosphere, and it will shift your entire mood. Once you’ve talked to the Father, you know that everything will be ok just because He is around you. I pray that for anyone that needs it. I p...

Who Are You Married To?

“Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly” (John 4:17-18 NKJV). Over the last few days, I’ve missed someone. You may wonder why I would even start things off in this way, but this type of stuff has to be confronted because it’s how people get caught up and entangled in what God loosed them from already. As I was thinking what I was thinking, each time I heard, “What part of toxic do you miss?” I can’t argue with the question. The situation was beyond toxic, but with this being so, what causes me to miss something that left me so shattered? The answer: the familiarity. Being familiar with a thing will cause you to run ...

Need Prayer?

“But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32a). For a time, I didn’t ask people for prayer . I became protective of ‘my stuff,’ and I backed away from needing people because I had me-the army of one. I felt alone, misunderstood; all the things that I wanted no one to know about because I got me . This mindset created offense and functional depression. I backed away so that no one would see it; no one knew me enough to recognize what it looked like. “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:32b). What does it look like when you are being sifted? The sifting starts early in life and can be a continuous pattern if the devil feels like his tactics are working against you. I asked a friend recently, “Why am I so emotional? Did God give me these emotions?” I tend to feel deeply because I am an intercessor, but the emotions have to be stewarded properly. You have to master them by submit...

Push

Growing up I heard the word of God in a general sense. God loves us. We all know that God loves us right? He hears our prayers, He is a divine being, and we should go to church every Sunday. These beliefs are pretty general. I remember sitting in church and not really being penetrated by the word. I respected God. I believed in God, but I would not allow Him to have full access to me. I saw the older people around me being what I have come to know as being “transformed”. I did not understand the word transformed because it had not happened to me. I did not know, or rather I did not pay attention to the presence of God in my life. I mean His true presence. I did not really understand the realness of God until I got saved for the first time at the age of 16. I used to feel this tugging of what I now know to be the Holy Spirit pulling on my heart during the alter call but I would never go. Well, one Sunday I went. I almost felt a holy push to get up. You need to know that God can ...

JaNina B.

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