Tag Archives: love

Love 12/8/15 

08 Tuesday Dec 2015

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This time of year is the biggest season of giving. We shop till we drop and search high and low for the perfect gift. Each year I try to express to my children that it is not about the gifts but the thought behind them. I admit, I get caught up in the hustle and bustle and stray from the reason why. My patience begin to run thin and before I know it, love is not the reason I’m going crazy; obligation and pressure are. 

I want giving to be an act of love that can be felt not just seen. It doesn’t matter the cost, the brand, the size, or the even the list itself. Why are we giving? 

Our love should not be measured by how big or costly a gift is, it’s measured by the act of giving itself. Let’s be people who give because we love to and not out of obligation or pressure. Jesus came humbly but his reason, love, was anything but. It was the grandest display of love ever seen or felt in the hearts of all mankind. He set the example…lets follow it!

As You Are 11/15/15 

20 Friday Nov 2015

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Wherever you are please hear these words and let them settle deep within you. 

No matter how you feel you’ve failed you are not a failure! Your purpose hasn’t left nor has the presence of God. He’s been there all along. Your call to journey with Jesus came with a promise that he’d never leave or forsake you. Every mistake, wrong turn, or well intended choice that turn drastically wrong will work in your favor. This is not the end!! Don’t allow the voice of the thief to come and rob you of hope and steal your peace of mind. In the Lords gentleness he leads you and I to his heart where we change from old to new, bitter to better, stained to cleansed, mess to message, orphan to child of God. It is his gift of grace that makes room for us at his table to feast with no fear. There is room for you and me there, imperfections and all. He waits to settle, squash, demolish, and conquer over everything that ever tried to convince you otherwise. Come out from your pit and sit with Jesus at the table he has prepared for you. Here is where every need is met and every desired fulfilled. Don’t try and work it out before you come…come as you are, he’s waiting with arms open wide. 

A Good Father 11/4/15 

04 Wednesday Nov 2015

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Good morning friends!! 

I woke up this morning singing a song about what a good Father God is. Seeing God as a father can be very hard for some; it was for me. We tend to look through the lense of our personal experience with our own dads. If our experience has been bad or even non existent it will be a challenge to see God as he really is. 

I love the movie “Father of the Bride.” I can not watch that movie without crying. The way George Banks loves Annie just melts my heart. He wasn’t perfect, in fact he was hilariously cheap but his love, admiration, respect, and devotion is what I imagined a dad’s love should be like. 

No matter what your experience has been I’m hear to tell you that our God is a good Father. His word says it. His actions prove it. His track record is flawless. He can be trusted. He doesn’t withhold good from you. He will always keep his promises and meet your every need. His plan is not to harm you but protect you. He stores your tears and knows the very number of hairs on your head. There is not one moment of your life that he has left you or forgotten you. He sees you. He ears you. He is for you and his heart will always be to give you all of him. 

Lord I pray today that you heal every broken part of us that keeps us from seeing you as you really are…our good Father. Comfort those of us who still grieve over the loss of our father and relationship. Bring peace and quiet the noise that drowns out your voice. In Jesus name…Amen! 

Fight!! 10/29/15 

29 Thursday Oct 2015

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Good afternoon friends!! 

Today I want to encourage y’all to fight the good fight of faith!! This life is full of battles that we will have to press through. I often hear the misconception that as Christians all will be well with us; that we will have a perfect, trouble free life. Huh?! No disrespect, but what bible have you been reading? 

All through out scripture we see faithful men and women of God who encountered trials and troubles in their life. They too, wondered where God was; does he hear me? See me? Abraham and Sarah were childless for years, Joseph’s family betrayed him and sold him as a slave which caused years of unfair injustice to him, Saul tried to kill David, Job lost everything and all he loved. Those are just to name a few who had to fight to continue to believe that God was faithful and would do what he promised. 

Issac was born to Sarah at 90 years old, Joseph became second in command over all of Egypt, David became King and Job received double of all that was lost. You make look today at your situation and say impossible…I say take another look. God is about to revive that which you thought was dead! He’s going to restore you!  

What is your battle today? What is it in your life that for the moment has you believing it’s over? Financial loss? Sickness? Family trouble? Do you need hope? Joy? Strength? Encouragement? My friends, there is only one answer and his name is Jesus!! He promised life abundantly to those of us who trust in him. His word says that we are MORE than conquerors! We have victory because of his great love for us. These trials weren’t meant to kill you but to prepare you for an amazing future. Don’t give up now! Keep on pressing through!! Look up!! Believe!! Hope against all odds that Jesus will do all he said he would do!! You my friend are gonna make it and come out with double for your trouble!!! 

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.      Romans 8:35-37 

Liar Liar 10/12/15 

12 Monday Oct 2015

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Good afternoon friends!!

Don’t you hate it when a thought interrupts your day and overstays it’s welcome?! Me too!! I was doing the dishes {when am I not?} and I had a thought about dishonest people {ugh}. Trying to decode why people lie is almost impossible. You’ll hear lots of reasons why but truth is there is only one real reason anyone lies…fear. I know all the times I’ve lied {guilty} has been out of fear. Fear of consequences. Fear of what the truth will look /sound like. Fear of what I will look like if I tell the truth. Honestly, the truth sometimes is a scary thing. 

Truth requires more out of us. Telling a lie is the easy way out. We don’t have to confront ourselves or others. We get to hide a little bit longer and avoid the inevitable…truth or consequence {a result or effect of an act or condition}. The bible says the truth will set you free…free from what? Free from strings that lies are attached to {my condensed definition}. Guilt. Shame. Condemnation and ultimately sin. We as Christians know the truth {Jesus, his word} and yet we settle for lies everyday that chain and bind us like a slave to the enemy and in return it results in a lifestyle of sin and destruction. 

I wanted to judge the liar and realized that I too, have been one. I am one every time I tell myself anything contrary to Gods word; when I comply and agree with the enemy when he whispers lies in my ear. I want to be an honest person but I must know the truth…Gods word! Live it. Believe it. Speak it and then I’m free from lies and the hurt they bring. 

Lying is a temporary fix for a deeply rooted fear. God is the only one who can dismantled our fears with his truth and love that leads to right believing and right living. Next time you’re tempted to lie think…What am I afraid of? I guarantee if you process this and begin to practice truth in your inner being you’ll be less tempted to lie to yourself or anyone else. 

Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.           Psalm 51:6 

Keep in Mind 10/11/15 

11 Sunday Oct 2015

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Good evening friends! 

Monday is quickly trying to take over my Sunday and that is no bueno! LOL! 

Are you dreading tomorrow? Well, here is a list of things we need to keep in mind this coming week {repeat as often as you need to}.  

  • My God has already gone before me {nothing is by happen chance or a result of Gods failure} 
  • I will pursue peace in every decision {if it dosen’t feel right I won’t do it, eat it, or say it} 
  • I am only responsible for myself {what others do is a result of their choices not mine} 
  • I am deeply loved by a good God {when doubt enters in and I can’t see that the devil is a lie} 
  • I will see the goodness of the Lord this week {expectations are a set up for surprises} 
  • Nothing and no one is in charge of my happiness {this is an internal job} 
  • Smile! {people are watching} 
  • Pray! {fail to pray plan to panic} 
  • Live! {don’t spend so much time making a living that you forget to enjoy living}     

My sincerest hope is that we don’t dread our life. Look around and see all that God has done. Focus on the good. Look for it and dwell there. I pray that the Lord cover and protect you and that you know the depths of his love for you! 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. {Proverbs 3:5-6}

Have a great week!! 

Protected 10/9/15 

09 Friday Oct 2015

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Good morning friends!! 

It’s raining and I just love this weather! Rain boots, umbrella, coats and scarves oh my!

God likes to speak to me in the most silliest of ways. I was going through my pics to delete them and saw this one and it all of the sudden hit me. I was smiling in the rain, with an umbrella, completely dry! Usually, I see it’s raining and I figure oh well I’ll just get a little wet, no biggie and then regret not bringing one. Ugh! How many times do we assume we can handle what’s going on without the help of the Lord? 

Today’s encouraging word is…allow the Lord to be your umbrella {something which provides protection}. He is able to protect you during the changing elements {seasons, issues, circumstances} of your life. Don’t leave him in the back seat {guilty}, or coat closet {guilty again} when you know you need him. So many times we see what’s going on and we try to weather the storm on our own; protect ourselves. Beloved friend, Christ came to be our umbrella of protection. I love the analogy of a mother hen protecting her chicks under her wings. Life is hard sometimes. Sometimes it’s just a little rain and other times it’s a downpour; either way we need him! He desires to be first pick. Go to him today and ask for what you need. Don’t assume you can do this on your own. Your need is indicative that you can’t. It’s ok. Be needy. Seek shelter. Run for cover! He can keep you smiling, dry, and protected all while you enjoy the journey! 

Have a great weekend my friends!! 

Honesty ~ Encouraging word 10/5/15

05 Monday Oct 2015

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Good morning friends!! 

Don’t you hate it when you are confronted with yourself?! Ugh! This past week I felt a tug at my heart to pray for certain things that I have not prayed for in awhile. Oh, I pray everyday for all sorts of things but I realized the reason I haven’t prayed about certain things is simple…I didn’t want to be disappointed if it didn’t happen…again. 

I was so sad to come to grips with how I really felt. I love God, I trust him but how could I not trust him enough? The thought broke my heart. The Lord was drawing me in so he could shine his love in the dark places of fear, doubt, and whatever kept me silent before him. He sees my orphan heart and has gone to great lengths to prove his love for me. His perfect love wants to cast out all my fears, one by one, till all the monsters are gone. 

It’s ok to be honest before God, truth is he already knows. Go boldly before God and let him know how you feel. He waits to unload you from all your cares and anxieties.

  Lord I pray that you show us tenderly our areas of fear. Take this orphan heart of ours and swallow us up in your loving arms. Show us that you’re a good Papa who longs to do good towards his babies. Amen!!


Courage…Encouraging Word for 9/29/15 

29 Tuesday Sep 2015

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Good morning friends!! I feel it in my heart that someone needs to know this today!! 

When I was little I heard that children were to be seen and not heard and in order to keep the peace we were to keep quiet. Here’s my thought on that…silence is NOT peace…it’s the absence of sound and how could we ever keep the peace when there was none to begin with?  

I saw and experienced injustice and dysfunction all around me as a child. It created a fear based mentality that crippled me from speaking truth. No matter how bad I wanted to speak up I couldn’t. There was no peace only silence; they are NOT the same. The idea that my words could bring destruction haunted me until I discovered that I was meant to bring destruction to lies with Gods word in me!! God has given us an arsenal, his WORD, to combat the lies of the enemy. Had I known that my destiny was to speak and use my words to tear down lies I wouldn’t have wasted so many years in silence. You see the moment a truth is spoken we have just spoken life. We have declared war over death in an area! I love it!! Our words our powerful!! They can bless or curse. They can tear down or build up. They speak life or death. We choose. We have authority in Christ and the enemy wants to keep us from using it.

The lies from my childhood had caused a lot of damage but those lies were no match against Gods truth. It doesn’t happen overnight but this damage can be reversed!! I’ve had to dig deep and discover what God says about me and my life. What he likes and dislikes. What pleases him, what doesn’t. He longs to shed his light on the dark abandoned places of our heart, the areas where no one is allowed to go, not even us. He longs for us to speak the truth to ourselves even if it hurts, even if we’ve never said it out loud…we need to. It’s time to be seen and heard. It’s time to be free. 

I don’t know where you are today in your journey but I want to encourage you that you are seen and heard by a God who deeply loves you. He wants you to know his heart towards you. He wants to dismantle every lie and replace it with his freeing truth. He wants to be your friend, your refuge, your safe place to hide. He wants you to know you’re safe with him and in him there is real peace. Friends don’t waste another moment in silence and fear. God is waiting and knocking on your hearts door…will you have the courage to open it and let him in and find your voice?! 

He Said What?! 

13 Sunday Sep 2015

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So what is the definition of love? The Lord commands us to love one another {sounds fair}; to love our neighbor as ourselvelf {not so hard} and to love our enemies…What?! Now that is just cra cra!! The bible says love is…patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude; it does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

When I consider what the word of God says about love I find that I’m lacking in this area. Loving my enemies is not easy when the they are…my enemy! I want to be irritated! I want to be rude! I’m not kind or patient. It’s easy to love those who are for us but Jesus calls us to the extreme. He was extreme in his love for us to the point of death. I can honestly say I would die for very few people. Looks like I have some growing to do. I’ve only worked on the outside. You know smiling while inside I want to tear them apart; give them a piece of my mind. Faking it in other words but he’s been working on my inside. He wants my inside and outside to match. It’s gonna be a process because dealing with people Gods way is hard when our flesh rules. I want to be loving, patient, kind, and it be authentic. This kind of love is my goal and is only attainable through Jesus. I can’t go at this alone and thankfully he’s promised I don’t have to. He’s promised to be present to help me to do the impossible. I am willing are you?!