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

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 ...

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...

It Is Well: Faith Through Trigeminal Neuralgia

“ Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘ My grace is all you need . My power works best in weakness ’ . ‘ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong ’ ” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). I can’t tell you how many times I spoke through tears. The tears where not because of emotions, but because of the searing shocks caused by Trigeminal Neuralgia. Trigeminal Neuralgia is a condition that causes intense pain, usually affecting one side of the face. It is a rare disorder that affects less than 1 percent of the population. I happen to be in that 1 percent. The pain from this disorder feels like shocks that are auditioning for a lightning storm show. Th...

Shrinking Is Not an Option

Today I realized that I was afraid of success. I’m afraid of being all that God has called me to be because I am afraid of the accountability that it will intel and I feel undeserving of all that He has for me. I feel like 2019 is a time to grow forward and to excel. It’s like we are knocking on the door of the promises of God after spending so long in a wilderness. The thing about being in a wilderness is that that place is meant to make you a warrior, not a weak-minded victim. You are supposed to learn how to fight and encourage yourself in the wilderness, but some of us have become content with the dryness of the land instead. Today, I wanted to shrink because so much seems possible for me right now. Things that I have been working for are right in face, but a part of me wants to just shrink because I am comfortable. I became comfortable with fighting and with the thoughts of giving of up. I became friends with being disappointed, but now God is wanting to call fo...

Take Up Your Cross

God paved the way for my present and my future with the prayers that He placed into my heart many years ago. I didn’t know what new challenges I would have to overcome or what would be required of me as I uttered the sentiments of my heart into His ears. All I knew was that I wanted to serve Him. One my many heart’s desires was to not be a seat filler. I didn’t want to grow content with occupying a seat in the church and never getting out of it to go into all the world to do what God had ordained for me to do in the earth. At that time I didn’t know who God had called me to be and I didn’t understand that some of my prayers was an indication of it. Spoken from a transparent place, as life happened, the more God told me to get up the more I wanted to sit down. Tiredness and fear had gripped me on more occasions than I want to admit and I have had the audacity to whisper, “ get somebody else to do it”, on more than one occasion. I felt justified in what I...

When Destiny is Calling Your Name

When destiny is calling your name, it could cost you your purpose if you do not respond. Purpose can sometimes pull you away from all that you are familiar with as it was in the case of both Abraham and Moses. Both of these men had to leave their familiar surroundings so that they could be made and developed into the leaders that God had called them to be. Sometimes your call will seem crazy to those that don’t know God. Stop placing such high esteem on the opinions of what other people have to say about you and walk in the things that God has told you to do. In God, you will accomplish more following Him then you ever will falling into line with the state of mind that people have assigned to you. Don’t look at your job, where you are in life right now, or the negative words that people have spoken over your life. Make up in your mind that you will look at the big master piece painting of GOD instead of the small perishing polaroid of man! ~ You fall when you lose focus. St...

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...

Those Are Fighting Words!!

If you would, imagine that words can be cloth in armor, have a helmet on, and can carry a sword. Now, imagine that the words are powerful and can be gathered into an army. The words are strong on their own, but in a large number, they can either propel you into your next step or stop you in your tracks. With a battle field full of words with helmets on in mind, do you see the seriousness of this powerful tool that pushes us through life? Words are spoken to us and around us in our mother’s womb. The words help to shape us and to influence our thinking patterns. Now let me ask you a question, what are you allowing the words that have been spoken to you to do? Are you using the words to fight for you or are you allowing the words to war against you?” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1 KJV). In the beginning was the word. The word was with God and the word was God (truth). Everything that God had to say about you from the...

Destroying Idols

“For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:15 KJV). As I was up late watching videos of people talking about the personal lives of celebrities, I thought about the fact that it is crazy to worship those people. I thought about the fact that we actually worship flesh and I thought about the fact that we will all die someday. There have been extremely talented individuals that have passed away and their talent went with them. These individuals were considered to be iconic and they were worshiped because of it. Theses celebrities had gifts that were not known to be used for the One that gave it to them. These people had beautiful things and they had gatherings where people called out their names and raised their hands in worship to them, but what about God? Isn’t God the giver of the gifts and isn’t God the one who allows people to live lavishly? What about the worship that belongs to Him? Are we as humans so selfish, t...

The Barrel of Meal Shall Not Waste, Neither Shall the Cruse of Oil Fail: RESET

This morning as I was thinking about the fact that God gives us a new start each year, the word reset came to mind. I tried to figure out why that word came to mind, and I began to look up its meaning. I have listed the meaning in the noun, verb, and adjective forms. Reset- set again differently, cause to enter the state representing the number 0, a plant that is planted again, to restore, a plant that has been recently transplanted, adjust again after a failure, set anew. Once I found the meaning of the word reset, I began to look for synonyms associated with it. Words like order, switch, replace, shift, changed, corrected, reformed, prepare, recondition, make ready, modify, do over, reappraise , and rework came up. At this point, I got a little excited and began to wonder how the Lord reset His people in the bible and what that word means concerning me. One of the first thoughts that crossed my mind pertained to the prophet Isaiah and the time that hot coal was placed over hi...

JaNina B.

Search This Blog