A Grace that Covers

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 and I want to beat myself up, but the lover of my soul is always there to cover me with his grace. I’m an advocate for Jesus, because I know how He saves.

Sometimes it’s hard to look past people in order to please God. We all want to be liked, but we should be more concerned with pleasing Him. So what if you didn’t get invited to the office after party, the true reward is in heaven when God says “Well done my good and faithful servant”. I want to be a good and faithful servant. Every day I need His help. I don’t exactly seek him as I should, but those are the very days that I feel the effects of not spending time with my father. God has a way of making my whole world right when I am with Him. He knows Janina. He knows my emotions, He sees my impatience, and He knows my faults. I thank God for his unmerited favor because it is a covering even when I don’t deserve it. I know that I am undeserving in every way and that helps me see His love all the more because it shows up in those times when God should abandon me. I am so thankful that God is nothing like man. I’m thankful that God is nothing like me. I’m thankful that God is making me more like Him and less like the world.

The process of being made in His image hurts. It hurts a lot. The flesh has to die so that His spirit can live through you. There are times that I have to repent and apologize to both man and God.

Whether you are waking up or going to bed, lets thank Jesus for his grace and for the fact that He loves us <3 Let’s thank the father for the gift of communion with Him. I personally thank God for the fact that He has never failed me. I thank Him for those private blessings that he gives me. I’m thankful that I know what it’s like to be in His presence. I pray today that you feel His presence. I pray that we all learn to be quiet so that we can listen to Him as he speaks. Lord interrupt our day with your presence and allow us to show the same grace that you shower on us each day. In Jesus name, Amen. #AGRACETHATCOVERS

Recommended Reading "And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV).

“What will separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or violent death separate us from his love. As Scripture says: "We are being killed all day long because of you. We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered." The one who loves us gives us an overwhelming victory in all these difficulties. I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us. We can't be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation. (Romans 8:35-39 GWT).

Encouragement: Be encouraged today. God is ready and willing to forgive you. All you have to do is ask Him. God will not condemn you for your past. He loves you no matter what you have done and He has a future in Him waiting for you <3 God loves you, know that! “In Jeremiah 29:11 God says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. Whoever you are, whatever it is, give it over to God. He is faithful and can make it right <3 You must know that all things are working for your good beloved <3

Comments

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

Refreshment for the Journey

You cannot tell everybody your dreams because your dreams might be bigger than their expectation of you. You will do things for God that man did not see coming. Learn to lean on the opinions of Jesus instead of allowing yourself to become esteemed by the opinions of man. Those folks do not know you or the potential that God has placed on the inside of you. Some of you even have family members that don’t know the real you. Think of yourself as a plan that God has up His sleeve. You are unexpected, but powerful through His grace. Nobody saw Joseph coming. His own brothers did not even know who he was to God. People don’t always treat you like the One who created you. That is why you have to learn to see yourself the way that God sees you and have no bitterness in your heart toward man. Forgive those people who talk about you and use you. Joseph had to forgive his brothers because God was going to use him to protect them. People have no idea that you may be the one that God is...

I have Chosen You: Distractions and Distress are not Your Portion

“You did not choose me, but I choose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you.” (John 15:16 ESV). At the church that I attend, the stage/ alter has steps that one can ascend on to reach the top. As I looked at the steps, I envisioned what God is doing in this season. I saw a representative on the floor before the steps began , and I saw them moving up one step at a time. We are in a season of elevation and with elevation comes great responsibility. As I consider the prayers that I have prayed and the questions that I have asked God , I see the answers all around me, but inwardly I have rejected the responsibility that comes ...

Keep Your Lamp Filled

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept” (Matthew 25:1–5). Everyone had the same mindset to go to the same place for the same reason. Everyone was on their way, but partial action was taken by five of the virgins. The bridegroom had the capacity to care for all ten. Everyone had a lamp, but everyone did not have oil to see Who they were waiting for. The oil was available, but five virgins did not take the initiative to get more oil. What they had was not enough for the journey they were on. Five of the virgins were wise; they did what was needed to obtain more oil. The other five virgins were foolish, thinking that what they had was enough and that getting...

Weight Lifting: Lifting Beyond the Capacity of What You Can Carry

A default mode that I have developed over the course of time is the ability to understand everyone’s perspective in a situation. This is easy for me to do because I have been doing it professionally for years but it can be physically taxing on my mindset personally. As a person who always understands, it can be difficult to feel understood. As a person who is always giving, it can be difficult to receive. As a person who pours life into the dry places of others, it can be more than easy to wither in your own personal desert if you never ask for help. A hard truth is that even when you instinctively know what is bothering others, people will not always know what is bothering you. I encourage you to speak up, and if you feel unheard, voice that feeling and refuse to shut down. Asking for help looks different for everyone. You may be able to pour your heart out to a friend, someone in your family, someone at your local church, or to a therapist. Who ever that person may ...

JaNina B.

Search This Blog