JaNina B.

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...

I think that we have all seen the movie Snow White , right? I’m not going to go into a summary of the whole movie, but there are a few parts that I would like to draw attention to. In the movie, the queen loved to look into this magic mirror and ask it “mirror, mirror on the wall who is the fairest one of them all?” and she was all good as long as the mirror said that it was her. She put this action into practice on multiple occasions, but a time came when the mirror told her that there was one fairer than her. The queen was not happy about this and wanted to take snow white out because she was more beautiful than her. Snow White was also a lot more accepting and nicer than the queen. My question for you today is, what does you spiritual mirror look like? When you look into that spiritual mirror, what do you see? What do you expect to see? and what would you do if the Holy Ghost told you that you were not the fairest, cleanest, most forgiving, most loving one anymore? It feels good ...

 I started singing, I started dancing, I started clapping, People were laughing. They knew my problems, they knew my pain, But I knew that God would take them away! ~Marvin Sapp “Praise him in advance” The key thing to focus on in the course of this song, is that “I knew that God would take them away!”     What do you know about God? I’ll tell you what I know; God is a redeemer, a father and my salvation. Don’t expect people to see what God sees in you because God sees you in the spirit where as people look at you through mortal eyes. Don’t you dare allow people to label you and tell you what you can and can’t do. My college advisor tried to tell me to basically stop going to college and try another field. She didn’t say change your major or even try to encourage me. This happened in a time when I didn’t know who God said I was. People’s lack of faith in me surprises me now, but I know that every accomplishment that I have made and will make,...

Do you know that some of us will leave God before we will leave a mate that lies to and cheats on us? Trust me, I‘ve been down that road and I’ve thought about going down it again, but I’m here to say to you don’t leave just yet. We give man so many chances to get it right, but we rarely allow God to shower us with the fullness of who he is. Your pain is for a season. In life we go through droughts, but God will never allow you to go dry and thirsty in the desert storms of life. Hang on to God’s every word in this season. We need to date God and treat him like the people we fall in love with. God wants that time with us and if you give it a chance, it will be so sweet. I pray that we see this sweet side of Christ. I pray that we stay up at night just to talk to him and ask him what he is doing. Wouldn’t it be awesome to blow kissy faces at God and tell him how much we love him and receive his love in return? I pray that we receive the love of the father. We know he loves us, but do...

It’s amazing to me that God can pass through a whole generation of people to pick the vessel that he is going to use.   I can just imagine how David felt when he was chosen by God himself to be the next King of Israel. I have no idea what David’s self-esteem was like, but I do know that he was the little brother who took care of the sheep. He probably didn’t even see taking care of the sheep as a ministry, but it was. God had to train him to be caring and protective because God himself possesses those qualities. David also had to learn how to be observant, strong and aggressive. When we refer to David today, we say King David, but back then, he was the insignificant little brother who took care of the sheep. I don’t think anybody ever looked at him and said “young man, there is a king on the inside of you”, but God had a plan. David was multitalented. He could play instruments and he was a worshipper. God used these qualities to usher him into the palace on a field trip. Saul m...

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...

One thing about my mom is that she has never forced me to go to any one particular church. Most of us have a church that our whole family goes to, but that church was not for me; so I searched. I didn’t search on google or go through the phone book, but people that God placed into my life took me to different churches. I was one of those people who went to church when bad things happened or because “I needed a word.” I did this for years. Today I learned that I was called despite not knowing who Jesus really was (John 1:48). I learned that he saw me while I was yet dyeing and told me to live ( Ezekiel 16:6 ). He wanted me to live while I was going from church to church despite not really having a permanent church home. I now have a church home! This means the world to me because like I said, I was called even when I didn’t know him. My current church is helping me to know God and to actually believe that he has both called and really sees me. I am not invisible to God! Like e...

What would Jesus have been like if he seeked his approval from everywhere else besides God?   He would have been a depressed mess, like most of us are. Yes, Jesus was sent to his own people and they rejected him. Yes, I’m sure it hurt, but Jesus understood who he was and he understood what his purpose was. Don’t allow people and being misunderstood deter you from your purpose and the reason that you were placed on the planet. It is so important for you to have a strong prayer life and for you to know who you are. Jesus is the model for this. He went through this life and the emotions that we have. He understands rejection. Keep in mind that Jesus was a carpenter. He understood the process, patience, and time that it took to build something. He knew what the end result should be and what things looked like when they were properly built. He also knew what potential looked like. Imagine the things that Jesus must have heard on the job or the unpleasant people that he must have en...

Some of us spend our whole lives working, worrying, caring for children and eventually dying. I no longer want to be a part of that cycle because I know that my God has so much more for me. A lot of us secretly blame God and we resent him when things don’t go our way. I will raise my hand and say that I do these things on multiple occasions because I never understand his plan. I also have to raise my hand and say that I never listen to him long enough to get his plan. At the end of the day, when we are broken and tired of blaming God we have to lay at his feet, submit, and stop trying to take on the world all by ourselves. God did not create us to try to survive in this world by ourselves, but yet we omit him and look to the heavens in a way that says “I don’t need you, I got this”. I’m here to say that I need him. He tells us so many times in his word that he loves us and that he will give us peace, but it is up to us to believe him and grab hold of that truth. God says that he k...

My truth serum is that I am an imperfect person who beats myself up for being just that. Even though I love God, I'm just like you. I get attitudes, I tell God no and I go to sleep without reading my bible, (I’m not even going to start on my thought patterns), but my biggest fault is that I lack joy. No matter who you are or where you are, you should have joy. God said that his peace would surpass all understanding and most days I still look for that peace. We mess up when we try to understand God because we will never understand him. We wonder why things happen the way that they do, but I’m blessed whenever I see or hear someone speak who has his joy and his peace. The difference between the world’s joy and God’s joy is that the things of the world will never make you happy. Stop comparing yourself to other people and just accept God because he has already accepted you. As humans, we mess up and question God when we should just trust him and know that all that he is (his gr...

  Have you ever tried to catch fire? I mean really catch fire? That notion seems hard and it seems crazy, but in this upcoming year, you need to get your catcher’s mitt ready because it’s time to catch fire! The fire that you need to be preparing for right now is not a natural fire, but it is a more powerful fire. It is an unquenchable fire. It is the fire of the Holy Ghost. God wants to ignite you like never before. He is tired of his people bei ng lack luster. He did not create us to live a mundane life. We are more than a 9-5 job. Our purpose and destiny is greater than any degree than we can get from a college or university. Stop believing that your title defines who you are. God defines who you are. No longer can you put off your purpose and your destiny. Put the fire extinguishers of life down and get aligned with your father so that you can catch his fire and run with it. God does not want for you to sit on the ideas that he has given you. Stop pushing them ...

Sometimes we need for God to check us. We need for him to put us in our place and to remind us of what we have been asking him about. My desire, starting now, is to dedicate my attitude and my job to him. I do not want for my job to just be a place where I can make an income, I want for it to be a ministry. Now, there is one major thing that stands in the way of my desire and that is my attitude. I have to change my way of thinking to see the way that God sees. It is very easy to become like your co-workers if you do not watch yourself. During the orientation at the place of my employment, the instructor advised my class to leave our hearts in the car. During the first couple of days that was hard for me to do, but after being there a while, I found myself leaving my feelings at the door on many occasions. Shame on me! How do I show Christ when I leave him in my car?   Today as I was doing my hair, God reminded me that I was praying for the population that I now work ...

  Have you ever had a “who me” moment? In Christ, “who me” moments happen every day. It’s exciting and it’s shocking at the same time because you are getting to know someone that already knows everything about you. God is observant. He knows the number of hair that is on our head and he knows every situation that we will ever go through before it even happens. Before I allowed God to come into my heart, I thought I had myself figured out. I knew that I was quiet and I knew that I was observant, not liked, rejected ect. As you see all the things that I knew about myself were not positive, but God came in and changed that. God showed me who I was to him. This is very important in the life of a broken vessel because God will send people into your life to encourage you; he will come into your bedroom late at night and whisper sweet things into your ear. I cannot tell you the number of times that God has held the tissue box as I cried out to him about some matter. I cried out to hi...

We don’t always understand our journey, but we still have to trust God. That area is not always the easiest for me, but my God is faithful. I was believing God for something and on the morning that I wrote this, he gave it to me. It’s funny because I actually forgot that I was believing him for this particular thing and he had to remind me…. Trust God. Stand firm in his word and I promise you that he will not let you down. A “no” from Lord can be for your protection. It can also mean “not right now”….. I pray for your strength in the Lord and I pray that you get so close to his heart that nothing else matters. In Jesus name…..Amen…. Enjoy! Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (Genesis 12:1) In other words God said trust me, stop looking towards men for the answer and experience something new that only I can give you. God has gifts in place for us that no man c...

I love God because he can provide you with the element of surprise.   God will surprise some folks with the plans that he has for your life. People will look at you and label you. They will tell you what /who you are and they will tell you what you can become. People thought that Jesus was just a carpenter’s son. I’m sure nobody would have imagined that this same man who made their cabinets 10 years ago would be the Messiah of the world. They thought that he just built furniture, but they had no idea that he was a people builder also.   Think about Paul, I mean really, who would have thought that murdering Saul could turn into awesome Paul? People may look at you and prophesy untrue things about you. They may only see you with eyes of flesh, but God has such a plan for your life, it will blow your own mind. I cannot tell you how many people never thought that I would accomplish certain things. I’ve been talked about and labeled, but I serve a God who had different plans f...

Everything that you go through is preparing you   for your moment. Your moment can be anything. In the life of John the Baptist , even as a fetus ( that boy was filled with the Holy Ghost before he even stepped out of the womb) was in preparation for what he would one day become. He was the joy of his parent’s life, but he had a purpose and a plan in Christ, so he had work to do. John grew up in a desert place.   He ate locus and honey "and the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel" (Luke 1:80).Some people may feel as if he could have had the life of luxury because he was such a blessing, but he was not meant to be just   a blessing and answered prayer to only his parents, but he was meant to be a blessing to the world. John was sent to prepare the way for Christ. His message was good news, but some people did not want to hear what he had to say. He was telling people to get it together because someone is ...

Let me ask you a question, do you know what it is like to love someone? Now, I have another question, do you know what it is like to be in love with someone? Think to your selves about the difference….   I have to watch my thoughts and my judgment of others because I have been where they are. I know what it’s like to go to church and then go home and sin. I know what it’s like to read my bible one day and curse someone out the next day. I also know what it’s like to have a man that I cannot see come into my life and turn it around. I used to date men that would make me cry, but God made me cry in a different way.   When I cried before God, he cared about what I was feeling and he always had a true explanation as to why I was going through what I was going through. I was being cleansed and set free from all the things and people that I thought I needed to make me whole. I don’t want to preach and condemn people; I just want to tell them my story so that they can see G...

Does nobody ever feel like the underdog? You’re picked last for everything, no one ever listens to you and you always feel like you get the short end of the stick? Carrie felt like that. Yes, the horror movie chick Carrie! Her life, at the beginning of the movie, is very relatable. She had all this power, but she was over looked.   She would always say, look I have all this power, but people teased her and she was still over looked. Stay with me now, I’m not with all the demonic stuff, but what if Carrie was saved? What if her gifts were spiritual? Instead of Carrie tearing everything up in the natural, what if she used the power of God (Look at her from a Godly stand point) to pray for people. Can you imagine the destruction that her prayers would have done to the devil's kingdom? Don’t be discouraged if you are the underdog. David was an underdog to his family, but he was a power house to God. Focus on who God says you are. If you spend most of your time alone, allow God to c...

You are on your way to purpose and destiny child of God. Do not fret because of where you are right now; God is using everything that you are going through for what he has called you to do. I love Moses because he knew what he was supposed to do, but he was trying to do it at the wrong time. Sometimes we try to operate in a ministry that God has to equip us for. Moses knew that he had a “God” calling on his life, but he tried to operate in it before God actually released him to do it. Acts 7:43 tells us that Moses knew that God was going to use him to save the Jews, but they did not understand that. God placed in Moses heart to go and visit his people on the day that God equipped with a passion that caused him to kill the man that was hurting one them. I’m not saying that God told Moses to murder the Egyptian, but I am saying that on that day, God gave him passion. When you have passion, you can’t just sit back and allow wrong to happen. Jesus had passion. He was so passionate that...

“God is using all of your experiences, both good and bad, to develop your character to match your calling”. Lysa Terkeurst Have you ever rushed through a book because you just had to know how it ended? What about asking someone what happened at the end of a movie because you just couldn’t bear to sit through it for whatever reason? I’ve done both of these things and let me tell you, I find myself wishing that I had taken the time to savor that great book or enjoy that long movie because although I knew the ending would be awesome, I wish I would have taken the journey of enjoying my way to the ending so that I could appreciate the outcome more. I’ve been told on a few occasions that I should enjoy the journey. The word journey reminds me of the word process and I hate that word. I just want to get to the point, but I miss so many valuable lessons just trying to get the point. Our tada comes through our journey. We hurt, we cry, and we regret; but we also learn, laugh and mature...

Recently I have gained some very valuable but simple wisdom. This life is a journey. On the journey you will hurt people and you will be hurt, but enjoy the moments that you encounter. I wonder if people notice that we see God the most when we struggle. David saw God when he was on the run from Saul for 20 years. When you read Psalms it may seem like he spent quite a bit of time looking for God or crying out to him, but notice what came out of those moments, the book of psalms.   I am blessed by one of the kids at the green house when she sings this one particular song. “When you seek me, you will me in your heart”. That baby is 4 years old, but she knows something that many adults spend their whole lives trying to find out. If we seek him, we will find him. David was a seeker. He looked for God, he spent his years in expectation. Each thing that he went through, every battle, every heart ache was a step closer to his purpose. He had to have mercy in order to be king. His merc...

Today I thought about a poem that I had to memorize in the seventh grade. I have not thought about this poem in years, but today, for some reason, I did. We need to understand that all roads are not created equal. Many of us make decisions that we later regret. Think about Lot. He had the choice to live in a beautiful grassy area or the land that God had set aside for Abraham. All  Lot saw was the beauty of that area, but he never consulted God before he chose that road to travel down. God has a land that He wants to show you, but you have to consult Him on the way that He wants to lead you down. The grassy areas of life may seem easy, beautiful, and entertaining but those roads lead to death. Seek God today on the road that He wants you to travel. Trust Him and know that no matter what happens along the road that He is leading you down, He is keeping a watchful eye on you. In Christ, all roads lead to life <3 The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost ...

Don't allow anyone or anything to distract you from the relationship that you have with God.   How deep does your love go for your father? Are you willing to risk it all for him? Are you willing to leave your family, friends, and intimate relationships for him? Some people have such a special relationship with God, that other people won’t/don’t understand it. They don’t understand why you’re on your on your face when they walk past you at church or in your own home; they don’t understand those late night prayer sessions that you can’t keep to yourself. Some of us are so desperate for love that we ignore God's divine love. It’s time to do a self-check of what you think love is. I didn't understand God's love and I still don't.   I try to figure out why he loves me, it baffles me. My mind has a hard time trying to understand God’s love. God’s love will not make me depressed; it will not leave a trail of tears on my pillow. God's love is respectful and k...