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God, You are Amazing!

God, You are Amazing!

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I am so utterly and profoundly grateful for how God watches over us. He blesses us in ways that still amaze me…

Before the pandemic, every first Sunday we would meet at one of the local rehab facilities to minister to the patients there. We know that we are there to pray and sing and love on them, but every single time that I was there…I felt like I was the one being ministered to.

Once while we were there, the young man who was preaching that day became so overwhelmed while reading the scripture that he could hardly read it. The Spirit of the Lord was so heavy on him that the word of God came to life right before our eyes. The other thing that made it so amazing was that four of the five patients that day were men. 

That may not seem like much, but typically the services would always have mostly women. God is so intentional. He knew in advance who would be there, and He sent the one that the people could identify with.

The one that they would open their hearts and minds to hear.

When a man loves the Lord it is so powerful. It’s awesome when anyone loves the Lord, but women typically won’t have a problem expressing how they feel. Men, on the other hand very seldom let their emotions show. To them, it feels like they are showing weakness…when in fact, it’s the other way around. It shows a confidence in Christ that wherever I am…Christ is with me, and I am not ashamed of how I feel about Him.

God wants all of us to open up to Him just like that. 

He wants us to not be so concerned with others that it affects our worship to Him. Don’t let anything come between you and your praise to the Father. We want the kind of relationship with Him that even when we don’t have the words to say…we know with confidence that God hears our heart. And if we put our relationship with God first…the Bible says EVERYTHING else will be added unto us.

How amazing is that?

Until next time…

Be blessed!

Making Myself A Priority

Making Myself A Priority

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I was listening to a message this morning that reminded me of something I went through a while ago. 

A few years ago, I took part in a service at my church for ministry workers. One of the things I love is being in the house of the Lord. It just does it for me. I love worship. I love praise music. I love God’s word…and I love the atmosphere. 

The thing is that even though I love these things, sometimes my body and my spirit are just tired. I didn’t recognize it at the time, because I thought pushing myself was what I was supposed to do. I remember going to the service, but not really looking forward to it. It wasn’t because I didn’t think the service would be good, I was just suffering from trying to be everything to everybody…except me.

Being tired was all a part of what working for the Lord was all about, right?

God gave me a good brain, but I definitely was not using it the way He intended. Saying no…to anybody was hard for me. I wanted to be the one folks could count on. That kind of thinking is not healthy, and it is definitely not what God was asking me to do. 

So glad that we serve a God of second chances. I have learned that it is perfectly fine to say no. It is also perfectly fine not to go to church every time the church doors open. Look, if God is calling you to rest…then rest. 

The world will still keep spinning even while you take a nap.

It’s hard to think straight when we don’t have the proper rest. When we are physically, emotionally or spiritually tired…we are not able to make the best decisions (Best believe the enemy takes advantage of that). 

Take some time to care for yourself, and do things that you want to do…even if no one else wants to. 

To make sure that I make myself a priority, I am making a promise to myself to be diligent about staying in God’s word, make sure that I am getting enough rest, and I will work on surrounding myself with people who want the best for me. 

How about you? What will you do to make yourself a priority?

Until next time…

Be blessed

I Am Not Superwoman

I Am Not Superwoman

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Life has been a little hectic for me lately. And it has made me finally come to the realization that I am not superwoman. There. I said it. I don’t have to pretend any longer. Everyone now knows that I cannot do everything, or be everywhere. Whew! I feel better already.

I mean I had good intentions. I wanted to please God by being the kind of person that others could depend on in their time of need. But here’s the thing…we are supposed to help one another, but we are not supposed to be the only one people can call. That’s crazy thinking, and that’s the kind of thinking that is rooted in insecurity and fear. That’s the kind of thinking that will make your life miserable, and send you to an early grave. God did not call us to do that. There is a saying that says “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I don’t really know who said it, but the Bible kind of backs it up in Proverbs 14:12 when it says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” 

All I can say is that it seemed to make sense at the time. It has been difficult giving up my “halo,” but with God’s help, I am beginning to see the light.

What God showed me was that my priority had shifted, and He was no longer my focus…pleasing others was. Ouch! That hurt. I love the Lord with all of my heart, and pleasing Him is why I do anything. So…finding out that He was no longer my focus hit me deep.  I do not like feeling as if I have let God down. So, I have had to re-prioritize my thinking about things. I know that it is not about me being the one…but about me representing “The One.”  

Until next time…

Be blessed

Spending time with God

Spending time with God

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God is so brilliant. I use the word “brilliant” only because my vocabulary is inadequate to express what my heart wants to say. Even though this is a very chaotic time for us, God is bringing order out of all the chaos. 

I believe that minds are being renewed during this time. What I mean by that is, we are beginning to recognize what really is important. We are realizing that we don’t have to go full-speed all the time. That it’s okay to say no, and not have the world fall apart. That it’s okay if we don’t go to every program at church or school, and that our families will live if we take a weekend for ourselves every now and then. 

I know it may sound trite, but we really do need to make God our priority. He deserves to be first in our lives. We get angry with Him when it doesn’t seem like He puts us first, but we do that to Him all the time. We keep making our own plans…without consulting Him, and then when it doesn’t work out, we feel like He has let us down. We keep going when He clearly tells us to stop, and sometimes we even try to tell Him what He needs to do for us.

[OK, so I may have been just talking about myself back there…]

Seriously though, we should take advantage of this time to renew our relationship with our Father. To just get alone with Him, and talk to Him about everything. I know that some of us may find it hard to spend uninterrupted time with God…especially if we are shut in with a full house, or still working outside of the home. But when we do, God honors our sacrifice, and strengthens us for the journey ahead.

Until next time…

Be blessed