Janina B.

I was in an interesting place six years ago. I was unhappy, I was in an un-ordained and emotionally draining relationship, and I was in need of something or someone to rescue me. I kept making the mistake of thinking that I could fill myself up with pills or that somehow my relationship would give me purpose, but those things didn’t work. I was in need of Jesus, but I didn’t know how much I needed Him. Even when I accepted Him as my savior, some negative behaviors still remained. I was still filling my empty places with things that couldn’t give me peace instead of going to the prince of peace. I’m still learning to find my peace in Christ. In this world, we have to learn to break up with those things that many of us are not even aware that we have made gods in place of the everlasting God that we really need to allow to reign over our lives. This time of year is special to me because it was when my Father found me in a desperate state. It is so easy to fake a smile, but God k

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

I remember growing up in a place that required inspections. I used to hate them because I knew that my mom and I would be up all night making sure that the house was clean. I understood that everything had to be just right before the apartment manager came in to make sure that things were how they needed to be, so I got to cleaning. I had two methods of cleaning depending on my mood. I had a lazy way of making everything appear spotless and I had a thorough way of cleaning that I learned from my father and grandmother. When I was in my lazy mood, I just stuffed everything into closets and under the bed because I knew that no one would look there. It produced great results and we passed the inspections. When I cleaned the way that I observed my father cleaning, I would make sure that everything was how it needed to be. I eventually began to dislike things under the bed and I got into the habit of cleaning out my closet. These results also produced great outcomes that I didn’t ha

Some people live amazing lives in the world’s eyes. They are philanthropist, humanitarians, authors, musicians, painters etc. It’s easy to get up and talk about the lives of people that we think are amazing because WE think that they are amazing, but what about the condition of their hearts. The truth is that we can be whoever we want to be to the world. We can put on a face and fake it ‘til we make it, but God sees the true us. He sees the us that we neatly tuck away to the rest of world. He sees the tears, hurts, fears, medication, sleepless nights, and so much more. The major fault in this is that people don’t give every area of their lives over to God so that we can actually be those great people that we present to the world. God specializes in messes. I should know because I am one. So many times I want to hide and pretend, but God sees right through me. He sees me when I can’t sleep and when I want to do right, but end up failing. There are some days that I fail

  The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving (Psalm 28:7). I remember a time in my life when I was not so happy. I remember even asking my mother to put me in some type of facility because I thought that I would find peace there. What was I thinking and why would a thought like that cross my mind? I had no idea who I was or whom I would become in Christ. I just knew that I wanted peace. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus ( Philippians 4:7 ESV ). No one had ever talked to me about changing my mindset, all I understood was that I needed counseling and depression medication. I didn’t understand the power of prayer or the extent of deliverance that I would need to overcome the things that I was battling with. The devil is so precise with his plans against us. He watches us. He watches our fami

Being quiet does not mean that one i s weak, it can merely mean that that individual is wise. There are some things and some people that deserve no reply. We have to make th e daily choice to either ar gue our way through life's situat ions  or pray our way through it. Know the difference between praying your way out and praying your way through something. Some seasons and environments are meant to grow you. It may feel as if your dying, but you may merely be sweating out the impurities. Hot environments are uncomfortable, but the cactus has everything that it needs to survive in the desert. You have to depend on the water source that you have on the inside of you that no one else may be able to see.     Don't look at the time clock waiting for God to move you because you hate where you are placed on assignment for Him. Instead, look at that same time clock and ask Him when it's time to move on H is behalf where H e has placed you. Be the change agent that God i

  Becoming great takes faith. Peter did not become great in the twinkle of an eye. He had to go through things. This same man who stood up boldly to tell people about the Holy Spirit also once denied Jesus. We have to be so prayed up in Christ because we don’t always know what our flesh or our circumstances will cause us to do. The struggle to greatness gets real! David had to fight many battles not only in the world, but in the kingdom of God because he was called to greatness. David wrote many psalms documenting his trails and successes. He was a man after God’s own heart, but yet he was not perfect. We go through things that help sustain us in this life and we can’t remain discouraged by the hurts that the world throws at us. I admire the bravery of the apostles because I don’t know how well I would have done emotionally if whole systems were coming against me. These men were beat, lied on, and put in prison because of the Christ that they were representing. People will pers

What are you connecting with spiritually? Are you connecting with God or are you connecting with the flesh?   I often tell one of my friends that she connects with a certain individual that she knows so well because they both have a habit of leaving their crowns at home. When you are filled with the spirit of God, don’t try to hide the glory that he desires to show through you. The connection that they have is a spiritual one because they are equipped to pour into each other spiritually. Today I realized that I have a connection with an individual that I work with because I do to myself spiritually what he does to himself in the natural. I work with children and many of them have uncommon gifts, but the things that they have experienced in the world make them connect more with their flesh than with the things that God has placed on the inside of them. Many of them don’t know who they are “yet” in Christ so they act as if they are not royalty and precious in the eye sight of the Lor

  “So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset” (Exodus 17:10-12). Can you imagined being called to be a leader? Moses went through a lot just so that he could be used to lead Israel out of bondage. Moses was talked about by his family, he was misunderstood because of his relationship with God, and the people he was called to lead always wanted to choose a new leader because they didn’t respect the direction that he was called to take them in. When you reject your leader, you reject God. The people were rejecting God when they disrespected the leadership of Moses because he was God led. Even

Two reasons you might be in the desert. Number1, preparation. Number 2, grumbling. Moses, John, and Jesus all went into the desert. Moses spent 80 years of his life in a desert. The first time that Moses went into the desert he was being prepared to be used of the Lord. Moses had to be torn away from everything that he knew so that nothing about his former self could interfere with the voice of the Lord. A lot of times when we hear God’s voice, we try to get advice from people that may not know God on the level that he desires for us to know him on. Moses had to learn how to be alone with God and depend on his instructions instead of other people’s opinion. Just imagine, what if Moses was still in Egypt when God gave him the official ok to be used as a tool to lead the Israelites to freedom. Sometimes people get so familiar with you that they don’t respect your anointing so you have to be moved away from them. Egypt was familiar with Moses and those people thought that they knew

Today I pray that you are encouraged in the Lord. I pray that you know that he has not forgotten about you and that your process is leading you to your promise. Sometimes we have to stop looking at ourselves and our surroundings and remember what a big God we serve. Everything we go through is small in comparison to Him. I tend to get fearful sometimes. I worry about my future and I worry about what God is going to do next instead of trusting that I am moving in Him. Last night I prayed and I began to feel peace. For some reason it did not click into my mind until just a second ago that talking to my father is what gave me peace. As I spoke to Him about my worries I just began to feel calm. Yes I still have questions, but even in that God can be that calming factor that rubs your back and tells you that all things are working. Today remember what God has done. I know that just this year God has done some amazing things in my life. This year has been a year of firsts for me. Thi

One of the hardest but most comforting aspects of this Christian walk is the fact that God actually knows the purposes and plans that he has for our lives. In everything we go through there is a purpose. When I was out in the world I thought I had a plan. My plan was to become a doctor, maybe move in with my boyfriend, and get saved later. All but one of those plans fell through. I didn’t think about the plan that God had for my life. I put aside the secret desires of my heart and I just used writing as an emotional outlet from time to time. I didn’t know that the thing that I considered an outlet was actually attached to my destiny. I didn’t know that God had a real plan for me. We hear the verse “ trust in the LORD with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” but we don’t really apply it to our lives. We make all these plans and never think that God has a different one that will blow our mind

Some men come as a distraction and not as a covering. Mary could not date whoever she wanted to because of who she was, who she was attached to, and because of the promise that God had given her. Mary carried something so precious on the inside of her and she had to wait for a man that could handle her anointing . Mary had to wait for a king's kid.   A son of a king understands order, discipline , and the covering. Joseph both covered and protected Mary when the enemy wanted to destroy her promise. Ladies, the enemy wants to destroy that thing that God has placed on the inside of you and he will use what and whoever he has to just to make sure that you don't give birth to destiny.     When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.   "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.    Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.   So he got u