JaNina B.

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...

Have you ever had a childhood item that you loved? That thing may be worn, dirty, and falling apart, but you hold on to it because of sentimental value such as the memories attached to it . That item could be anything. It could be cloths, a toy, or even a picture. In many of our lives the old sentimental thing that we hold on to is our sin. We attach unhealthy sentimental values it. Many of these sins originated in our childhood so we hold on to it and in most cases, hope that no one ever sees it. Not every sin is private, some people are wide open with their sins because it is socially acceptable to take part in such things, or they have stooped caring what other people think it. Like those childhood items, we may tuck our sins away and bring them out in secret. In some cases, we even form unions with people who are holding on to the same item (sin) that we are holding on to. The items (sins/ demons) have been with us so long, we don’t know how to function without it. Today, Go...

In 2010 I was lost. I did not know who I was or where I was going. I was sinking. I was not living a life of purpose, but I was merely existing. That all changed when God injected Himself into the mix. I cannot say that I was looking for Him, but I can say that He definitely took the opportunity to change my heart through love. God loved me during a time when I placed a man’s attention over seeking and falling in love with the attention that He was showing me. God had already placed so much in me that He saw fit to not allow what He had already started to be wasted. I was in a backslidden state, but yet God loved me enough to still use others to show me what He thought of me. When God begins a work in you, He is faithful to bring it to completion. I desired God, but I was not running after Him. God meant me in a dark and lonely place. He continued to shower me with His love and He allowed the roots that He had already planted in my life to go from a dormmate state to a growin...

Your hard moments, setbacks, short comings, and tough times is what builds the “ tada ” for God to be revealed in your life. 2016 set the stage for 2017. People are watching you and trying to figure out how you are going to make it another moment. God has set the stage and you are the one that He has chosen to show His power through so that others may believe. God never left you, He prepared you. How any times did you think that you would die, but God provided a way each and every time? So many people have questioned God about the promises that He made to them. They are questioning His timing and praying that His timing will align with theirs. God is going to do everything that He said He would do, but it will be in the season that He has appointed for His word to manifest. Don’t try to move ahead of God because you are likely to get results that He did not intend for you to have. In Genesis 16, Sarah had a call on her life to be the mother of nations, but she wanted the c...

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy” (James 1:2 NLT). Have you ever turned down a nice glass of lemonade? It tastes great doesn’t it, especially when someone that knows what they are doing is making it. No two people make lemonade exactly the same because our taste buds are so different. Some people like really sweet lemonade, but I personally prefer for my lemonade to be a little more tart. I want to taste the lemons! Some of us have spiritual taste buds that require us to taste the lemons of life. Everyone will not have a sweet journey, but the things that we go through will be enough for us to make a glass of lemonade to be shared with others. “There isn’t any temptation that you have experienced which is unusual for humans. God, who faithfully keeps his promises, will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist. But when you are tempted, he will also give you the ability to endure the temptation...

Before I said yes to serving Jesus, one of my friends used to ask me “What will it take?”. He was saved and I was not. He taught me how to use my gifts for Christ, although I had no idea that that was what I was doing at time. I just knew that I could help in the area that I was helping in. I didn’t know that I was being trained in the area that God was going to use me in. At that time in my life, I had an idea of how I wanted God to come for me.   I don’t like new things and I wanted Him to come in ways that I had seen Him in before. That particular view of God still trips me up in my personal walk with Him because I am used to how I have seen Him before. I don’t need new, I just need Him to do what I have already seen Him do in my life before. I was comfortable with the old, but now everything is changing. God wants to expand my view of Him, but each and every step of the way I am kicking. I am again at a place of “what will it take?” What will it take for God to grow me u...

Today as I was reading a devotional, the writer spoke of a time in her life when she had to use rocks to see the things that she could not see. She was a child and so badly wanted to take a peek into a territory that was not hers, but yet, she and her friends were curious about what this territory held. One day the writer and her friends discovered some rocks. The friends gathered the rocks and used them to help them reach their destination. As I reached the section of the devotional that talked about rocks, I thought about the fact that the still things have a purpose. The rocks in your life have a purpose. Those things that seem to be dead and unmovable come to life when God gives you an idea or when He gives it a command to move. Unmovable things have a destiny and a plan to move in its appointed time. “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe ...

Many people want a baby. Babies are cute and huggable, but before the manifestation of the baby can come, there is a process that has to be completed. People make saying yes look easy. The journey that they have to take because of that yes is usually a little harder though.   It’s easy to look at cute pregnant women and want what they have. If they are married, we think in our minds that we want to get married too. We want the wedding, we want the attachments like the kids and the great house, but we don’t think about that cute woman’s responsibilities. When we look at people in the body of Christ, some of them look like they have it all together. They look free and their prayers are beautiful, but we never think about their process. We don’t consider the babies that they have lost along the way and we don’t consider the pain that they had to go through to birth the beautiful baby that we see them carrying around (purpose, freedom). The birthing process is not that pretty. ...

As I was reading a devotional today I saw the word crushed. I love this word! I also love the words broken and wrecked. To most people these words are destructive and may even evoke an emotion of pain, but to me, these words are beautiful. There is beauty in the crushing. There is beauty in brokenness. There is beauty in being wreaked. Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what and who have you allowed to dictate what you consider to be beautiful? To be very honest, just because I stated that I love the before mentioned words, that does not mean that I love the process that comes with them. Life hurts. We have ups and we have downs, but what have you allowed your perspective to be in the midst of every painful experience that you have endured? I have had so many things attempt to take me out, but the beauty that I have found is that God always seems to hold me together. I have had my heart completely wreaked by people and by life over and over again, but the trials h...

  “But now, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. We are the work of your hands” (Isaiah 64:8 GWT). Do you remember playing with playdough as a child? It came in all kinds of colors and it had multiple variations of molds that you could choose from to make whatever object you could imagine. When you took the playdough out of the container, it came out in the shape of the container, but it was moldable. In order to change the shape of the playdough you had to tear it apart, put it back together, squash it down, and maybe even separate it in order to make exactly what you wanted. When you bought that playdough, you never intended for it to stay in the container, but you bought it with the intention of making something new out it. You may have even bought it with the intention to share it with other people. When Christ died on the cross, He bought us with the intention of making us into something new for His glory and He bought us with ...

“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...

Whenever my feet hit the ocean, something magical happens. I start thinking about the Lord and I have no choice but to take notice of this massive life giving source of beauty that He has created. I just love water. It inspires me and it helps me to see the magnitude of God. This year, I learned how to float again. I first learned as a child, but somewhere along the way, I stopped going swimming and therefore forgot how to float. I also forgot how to trust God. My whole life has been about trusting God. I go through so many obstacles that require me to trust Him and I get upset every time because I expect Him to just take care of me. What good is that when it comes to getting to know Him on a personal level? Will you really work at your spiritual relationship and growth in the Lord if you are never required to really get on your face and seek Him concerning heaven? Yes, He is a parent, but He wants us to learn something on this journey of life also. He wants us to be emotionall...

You fight because you are royal, but this fight is not just against the world; you also have inner battles that you need to win also. The battle that one fights within themselves is one of the biggest battles that you will have to win in your life time. You already have an enemy against you (the devil is your enemy), why are you becoming your own worst enemy also? Learn to believe what God has already said about you. You have to know that you are good enough despite what your circumstances throw at you and you have to know that you are smart enough if the Lord saw fit to send you. King David was not trained on how to build and keep a kingdom. He was not even the first choice as king, but he was the holy choice. God will move people out their positions to make room for you if you are His choice. Be mindful concerning how you represent the Lord where you are right now in your life. You may be over looked. You may be under paid. You may even be unpopular, but the Lord will affirm yo...