The Safety of Abiding in God's Presence

I have many of my close girlfriends (more like my sisters) who are expecting great things from God in 2012. In addition to that, they are longing to get closer to God like never before. They have dreams and goals that God has planted in their hearts. Every time we talk about their plans for 2012, they are giddy just like a kid in a candy store. My girlfriends are very much excited about what lies ahead for them spiritually, physically, and financially.

However, along with all the giddyness and excitement come attacks from satan. He doesn't want us to get excited about our future; and part of it is because satan knows how bright our future is in Jesus. So, he will do everything in is power to diminish our hopes, our dreams, and our faith in God. With that being said, I thought Psalm 91 is one of many bible passages that fits best when it comes to praying for protection from the enemy. Whatever area in your life that the devil is attacking, plead the blood of Jesus on it and stand on what God promises you in Psalm 91.







Psalm 91
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”


Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler[a]
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.


A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.


Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.


“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”

Let The Opportunity Present Itself

Today I had a pleasure of taking a walk (more like a power walk) on a beautiful sunny day. It was like the first day of spring....again!! And I love it. I was able to set that time aside for myself and I enjoyed every minute of it. It's opportunities like such as this that I try to seize every chance I get.

The great thing about this was while I was enjoying the beautiful weather, I was walking, which is one of the best exercises you can do to get in shape. In the midst of my walking, I felt like I was in God's presence. Even though I was walking by myself, I did not feel alone. I knew my Daddy was walking with me giving me the strength to put one foot in front of the other.

I must admit that I can be an expert for making excuses as to why I am not going to exercise. "I am going to go exercise later on after I do (fill in the blank). " And, of course, I end up not exercising at all that day. Today was not like that. I said was going to take walk and that's what I did.




The picture above was taken by me today. I had a pleasure of having this as my view while I was walking. With that being said, this view alone was more than enough evidence to prove that God was there with me. To tell you the truth, I don't need any evidence for me to believe that God is hanging out with me. If you need to start moving and shaking your body, just do it. And always stay alert for those special opportunities from God to get in shape and spend time with Him at the same time. Otherwise, you will miss it.


Blessings to you on what I feel is going to be an awesome week.

One Week of Posting...Yay!!

This has been my first time in a long time that I posted for one straight week. For me, it's a huge deal because one of the things I would like to be is consistent. Blogging is one of things I want to try to stay consistent. So, we will see what this week is going to bring as I go into my second week of posting.


Have a blessed week and Happy Monday!!! :)

Blooming in the Gray and Dark Times

When I saw this picture above, I had an epiphany!! And it's something I already knew and don't doubt for a minute. But, I thought this picture is the perfect illustration for my epiphany. And that is....

No matter how gray and dark things may appear around you, God will always find on a way to let His light shine, so that blessings can bloom in your life. Every blossom will out weigh and out shine any dark and any gray area in your life. The keywords are TRUST and BELIEVE.

1. TRUST in God 110%. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths," (Proverbs 3:5-6)


2. BELIEVE in His Word and what He promises us. "Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things [are] possible to him who believes," (Mark 9:23).

For some, this may be easier said than done. However, that's part of the growing process for a Christian. This is what I like to call a work in progress. In addition, it's about building your relationship with God. The more you read His word and spend time with Him the more you will get to know Him. As a result, you build up that trust. It's so much easier to trust someone you know rather than someone you don't.


Remember, no matter how bleak things may be in your life, don't be discouraged.  If you just wait...patiently on the Lord, He will bloom supernaturally in your life.  One rose can easily turn into a beautiful rose garden.

A Song for Worship ~ Amazing Grace (Chris Tomlin)

I love to praise and worship God in the name of Jesus. It restores. It revitalizes. It transforms. It prunes. It cleanses. Praise and worship is great for the spirit and our relationship with God. God delights in our praise and in our worship. He inhabits the praises of His people, His children.



When I decided to do a post on this subject, the first person who popped into my spirit was Chris Tomlin -Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone). It is God's grace that has kept us throughout our lives and many difficult situations. I saw this video on YouTube and I liked it. I hope you do, too. May this song be a blessing to you in the name of Jesus!!






   "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,..." (Galatians 1:3)

Eating Up!!

I was thinking that these waffles would be great for my breakfast tomorrow morning. Though I may be looking forward to feeding my physical being with delicious, finger-lickin food, I must in turn look forward to feeding my spiritual being. This goes in part with Matthew 6:32-33 about seeking God first. My prayer is to keep the balance, whereas I would feed my spirit man just as much as my physical.




Enjoy the rest of your Friday!!

John 3:16

For God so LOVED.....




The World......










That He gave His only Son (Jesus)....






And whosoever BELIEVE in Him.....







Will not perish.....







But will have EVERLASTING (Eternal) LIFE!!!!

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!!

Freedom to Read the Bible

Now that this week is my attempt to start back blogging again, I cannot wait to start visiting you all so that I can see what I missed and what everyone has been up to.

Today in Charleston, SC the weather has been exceptional beautiful. It seems like the first day of spring in February!!  Believe it or not, early this morning birds were chirping outside my window and squirrels playing in my yard, running up and down the trees. I almost felt like Cinderella without all the mice dressing me and everything. :)

However, it's such a blessing to have the freedom to sit in my front yard on a warm sunny day and read the bible. Sometimes, we do take little things such as this for granted. One thing for sure it's a blessing to live in a country where I can do that and where you are encouraged to read the bible and build a relationship with God.





For those who don't have the freedom of being a Christian and is unable to sit in their front yard and read their bible, I pray that one day they will in the name of Jesus!!






I hope everyone is having a Happy Hump Day!!

Seeking God First!!

One of my sweet blogsister (Ms. Butterfly) as well as sister in Christ said it best when she commented in my previous post...."Key word being "pray." That never fails." Please check out her blog His Princess Bride .

What she said is true. Prayer is key to everything and it never fails. I remember I use sing in the choir growing up called "Prayer is the key and Faith unlocks the door!" This is what I called a "Hallelujah!!" and "Amen!!" song. Prayer is vital to your spiritual well-being, when you are embarking on a new journey and fulfilling dreams birthed in your heart by God.


My prayer for 2012 is Matthew 6:32-33.

"...For your heavenly Father knows that you need

all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and

 His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

God knows what I want. He knows what I need. Most importantly, God knows every desire and every dream that is burning within my heart. But, if I don't SEEK GOD FIRST and put Him the head of my life, none of these things will come to past. I realize that in order for a manifestation of my dreams, my hopes, and my desires to happen, I must "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" (His right way of doing things). This is something I cannot afford not to take heed to.

---

My prayer is that...Heaven Father, I pray that I seek you first in all things. I know that if I set you as top priority in my life, you will work miracles beyond miracles in my life, bless beyond measure so that I can be a blessing to others, and turn my list of what seems to be impossibilities....possibilities. I thank you God in the name of Jesus that you are the head of my life. I stand on your word and what it says in Matthew 6:32-33. And I know all things wil be added to me, if I seek you first. In Your Son's precious name I pray, Amen.

Getting Back into the Swing of Things!!

It feels so weird posting after a couple of months, which seems to be a bit longer than that to me. However, it has been awhile since I have been really consistent. I am hoping I can get back to that. I really enjoy blogging and reading other blogs, as well as getting connected with great people via cyberspace.

Sometimes, I tend to over analyze about what I am going to post, instead of just doing it and not waste valuable time. So, with that being said, I pray that I can back into the swing of things because I have missed everyone so much. Enjoy the rest of your Monday!!!