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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Why Are You Here?

During an encounter that I had with a young person recently, I told them that things were difficult for them because there were some things that they would need to do that had never been done before. The analogy that I used to help this person understand what I was saying to them was that of a wilderness full of trees. I told this young person that they would be the first one to cut down the trees in that wilderness to create a smooth path for those coming behind them. The same is true for many of us. There are large trees that we must cut down so that those coming behind us won’t have to fight as hard as we are fighting, and they will not stumble because we are destroying everything at the root that is attempting to block us. The task of doing this may seem difficult but the testimony is worth it. You have to be able to identify the things that have hindered individuals in your lineage, know what the signs of those things are in your own life, and then eliminate it. ...

Can You Praise the Lord in Prison?

“Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening” (Acts 16:25 NLT). Paul and Silas were some bad boys! Can you imagine doing the right thing and being locked up because of it? These men had a freedom that the people they encountered needed to see because they were not bound although others could visibly see the chains that had been placed on them. They did not misrepresent Christ because of their circumstances and they did not try to give up serving Him because of the predicament that they had found themselves in. ~~~~~ Stop being mad at God because things do not go the way that you expect them to. ~~~~~ “ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Paul and Silas knew who their God was and they knew that He was going to come through for them no matter what their situation looked like. They knew enough about God...

Preparation in Waiting

One thing that I have learned about God over the years is that his plan for my life is so much greater than my own. I have also learned that his vision can be more than I can bear at times because I have a tendency to try to make the parts that he has revealed to me come to pass on my own. I ask God why and when, but the truth is that I am not ready. My faith has to grow and I’m still being prepped. It’s easy to feel like a failure when you’re trying to meet the expectation of others. I come from a family of all stars. I was expected to go to college. I expected myself to have what they have and to live how they live, but God…… God is expecting something different from me. He is expecting me to do and to move how he tells me to. This is hard…I have people expecting success from me. God is expecting success from me to. He is expecting me to listen and to wait. Waiting is hard. Jesus waited. At 12 Jesus was wise, but he had to wait. People expected things from Him also. They expected...

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 ...

Welcome Back!!!!

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it ; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. ” (Luke 15:20-24 KJV) Would it be fair to take a look at the notion that perhaps the prodigal son’s mistakes made him a little wiser than the son that stayed with his father? The son who did what he was supposed to do seemed pretty perfect for the most part. He seemed like a guy who did what his dad said and learned all that he was supposed to learn in order to manage what his father ...

You Are Not Alone: Wilderness Chronicles pt.2

“But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers” (1 Kings:19;4 KJV). The wilderness is a different place to different people. Some people consider the wilderness to be a dry place full of nothing. Other people may consider the wilderness to be a situation. Whatever you consider your wilderness to be, know that you are not alone. The devil uses the wilderness to isolate you, but God uses the wilderness to teach you, advance you, equip you, and then eventually release you out (or back) into your purpose. God can also use the wilderness to refresh you. Elijah was an awesome man of God. He literally prayed down fire and he went against kings in the name of the Lord. Elijah was bold, but he was also human. On one particular occasion, Elijah went into the wilderness after an encounter he had wi...

Advanced From Slavery

There are times when people abandon you so that you can see that God never will. It may sound strange, but people hurt you so that you can be advanced. A bad situation, no matter how traumatic or painful it is, can do things for you that your loved ones never could if you just allow God to navigate you through the process. Pain is a unique opportunity for you to see 2 Corinthians 12:10 manifested in your life. It is one thing to hear about the scriptures, but it is totally different to have those scriptures come to life for your personally. Can you imagine loving God, but still becoming a slave? Joseph, Nehemiah, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego know that feeling all to well. These men loved God, but they had to go through some things to see that God loved them also, despite their situations. In today’s society, we may not be slaves that have to do what the people in the bible had to do, but we are still slaves in some way. God is having to sift through the love of money...

Gut Check of the Heart

“But [like a boxer] I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached [the gospel] to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified [as unfit for service]” (1 Corinthians 9:27 AMP). If you need to be told that you did a good job, “You did a good job. You gave, and you submitted to man. You showed up and did what they asked. Good job.” “But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me]” (Revelation 2:4 AMP). Gut Check: Don’t love the applause of men more than you love God. Why do you show up? What do you gain from that, and what happens when the way that they applaud you does not meet your need of this kind of fulfillment? Beat your body into submission to God. Serve Him well. Become an early riser and seek the Father to release the strategy for the day to you. Sit in His presence and bask in His love. Thank Him for what He has a...

Why I won’t date

So many women define themselves by their relationship status. I used to be one of those women. It didn’t matter if that man cheated on me, lied to me, or insulted me; I was not going to leave him. I needed a relationship to make me feel beautiful and wanted, but at the same time I knew that the men that I was trying to make love me were not ordained for me. Women don’t consider that word, ORDAINED. It’s easy for a man to make us feel loved, wanted, less lonely and desired, but that man cannot make us feel full. That is what I need in my life, fullness. I understand that God is my husband and that my fairy tale love story has to begin with him before I bring a man into the mix. You see, marriage is a union. You become one with your husband. You live with him, you love him, you worship with him and you fight (spiritually) with him. The not so tricky thing about the before mentioned aspects of marriage is that all of those things have to begin in your singleness. I have a tendency...

Pass The Test

People have a tendency of telling me that I am nice. Some people say that I am too nice and other people attempt to take advantage of my niceness and mistake it for weakness. The truth is that I am really not that that great, I just get convicted. I cannot treat people any way that I want to and receive the things that God has for me. I cannot kick your cat just because you kicked my dog. There are many instances where I have to apologize, work on my heart, and repent instead of blaming other people for how I feel they treat me. “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”. (1 Samuel 16:7) I cannot go before the Lord with a filthy heart and truly believe that he is going to bless me. You have to know who you are in Jesus regardless of how people treat you and you have to respond with wisdom and with the heart of Christ. “Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I...

JaNina B.

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