My Dear,

My Dear,

Good afternoon sweetheart…I hope this letter finds you well. I have been listening to you sing lately and it is beautiful. I love you. I must admit, however, that there is something on my mind that I’ve been trying to speak with you about. Remember when we went to Diane’s party last weekend? I was very hurt while we were there. Did you notice?

Let me refresh your memory a little bit incase you forgot how the night went about. Diane invited you over for a fun night of board games and pizza. Since we are always together, you invited me too. This made me feel so special. I love you so much, you know. I delighted in the fact that I could meet some of your friends, new and old, and really get to know them and vice versa. Your life means so much to me. I desire to be more involved with you.

So we got to Diane’s and not once…..not once did you speak with me. This made me very sad. I tried speaking with you, but you turned your shoulder to me and instead kept speaking with Tom. I saw the way that you looked at him. I wish those eyes were set on me like that.

I thought maybe when you were sharing your secrets with Samantha that you would have included me in on that too, but you didn’t. That hurt. I knew those things anyways, but it is my sheer delight to partake in them with you speaking to me about them.

So the night went on…I noticed that you were sad after Tom took Diane’s phone number instead of yours. I wanted to hold you and tell it would be ok, but instead you ran to the bathroom and didn’t ask me for any advice or comfort. Why not? You know I have always been there for you in the past.

I love you. I do not bring condemnation to you, but rather correction with love. Want to hear some exciting news about that night? Your friend Matthew was talking with me, yes he and I know each other very well. He told me some things about his life that he never told anyone else that night and now I am going to help him overcome those things. Katie-Ann and Marsha also spoke to me quite a bit and I was even introduced to a new friend …Leandra. It was a divine appointment in which I met her that night. She was very sad inside, although most people didn’t know that about her. Her and I will be meeting up again very soon.

You see, even though I didn’t speak with you that night and felt ignored by you….I still love you very much and am excited to meet up with you again. I hope you feel the same way.

Love,

God

To Give Thanks...

I recently read one of my younger cousin’s high school English papers. The paper was about him helping people out. I had to smile when I read the part where he wrote, “It is important to me when people say thank you.” I thought it was so cute that he would write that. Being fourteen, you wouldn’t really think that he would care that much about things like that…but he does.

It wasn’t until a few days later that the revelation came to me about how much God loves to hear us say thank you to him. I was reading the Psalms when I noticed how much it says to “Give thanks unto God.” “Amen”, I have said again and again when someone says this. But am I really thanking God at all times?

Psalm 69:30
I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

Psalm 95:2
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

There are SO many Psalms and other books of the bible that declare that we should thank God.

God is good and his love endures forever. He is full or mercy and love.

How many times do people pray for something and then when it comes to pass they are happy, but do they thank God? We should rejoice always and again rejoice…according to the apostle Paul’s words. “Rejoice Always” means to rejoice and give thanks in all circumstances.

I was thinking about how many Lepers Jesus healed and how many of them actually returned to say thank you to him….how sad? Jesus cured them from an “incurable” disease. Imagine that!? It’s true!

I was thinking about how rude it really is when people don’t thank you or get back to you about something that you have asked them or whatever…and yes, maybe they forget (we all do), but there are some things that you cannot forget. The Lepers could not have forgotten about what Jesus did for them.

I was even thinking about how people pray for protection from something….or traveling mercies…but when they get where they are going or make it through something really tough or trying…do they stop and say “thank you, Lord?”

There are never enough hours in the day for how much we should be thanking God. I am certain that there are more circumstances than we know of, where God protects us, blesses us, encourages us, strengthens us and uses us. Be grateful today...his hand is upon your life in miraculous ways. Be encouraged!

Praise God!

Fear Not

The bible says not to Fear 365 times. One verse for every day of the year? Coincidence? I think not.

God delivered me from a spirit of Fear when I got saved. Before coming to Christ, I filled my eyes and ears with all sorts of tormenting things. I would watch every horror movie and would crave ghost stories, etc. That was since I was young!! My brother and I would watch video tapes of old horror movies almost every day. Sometimes twice a day!

Allow me to tell you what a spirit of Fear did to me. I could not go in my bathroom without the door being open..even slightly. I was afraid that I would see or hear something from the movies that I watched. I couldn’t even go in my basement to do laundry. Granted, we had one of those cement floor basements anyway…the kind that a lot of people are afraid of…but still. I would attempt to walk down the stairs and get caught on the third step, frozen in fear. My Grandparents couldn’t believe how terrified I was. It was crippling. I would refuse to stay alone in the house if no one was home and also would often run down the hallway if someone yelled out for me. I was very anxious. I was usually expecting something bad to happen and in a lot of cases, it would.

God is speaking to me right now as I am writing this and saying, “what are you meditating on?” I believe this is a word for all of us. What is your heart set on today? Is it that movie that you watched the other night? That cute guy/girl that you just met? Your lack of finances? Is it Fear?

The bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7 that “God has not given us a spirit of Fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.” Amen. God does not give what he isn’t. He is not fear. He is not anxious. He is not intimidated. He is POWER. He is LOVE. He has a SOUND MIND. Praise the Lord!

God delivered me from watching those movies and being involved in things like ghost hunts, etc. PRAISE GOD! I can’t tell you how much different I am now. I am a living testimony of God’s faithfulness. I live alone now (with my Dog) and do not own a horror movie or watch them. I can be alone and know that God is always with me, therefore I do not have to Fear. He has seated me in the heavenly places with him. (Ephesians 2:6) He has given me POWER to trample on snakes and scorpions. (Luke 10:19).

Of course there are familiar spirits that will try and come back into your life, as Fear did to me this past week. I had a couple of mice in my apartment and by the Grace of God they are gone! But this last week I was reminded and humbled by how God had brought me out of the pit of Fear. I had let myself become so overwhelmed by Fear again that I lost sleep, wouldn’t be home for more than I absolutely had to be and my priorities became out of whack. All because I had let Fear in. I rebuke every attack of Fear in Jesus’ name. Perfect love casts out ALL Fear. (1 John 4:18) I am reminded today just how gracious and awesome our God is. I praise him that he has delivered me from Fear. That he has delivered me from torment and anxiety. I am a child of God and I will activate my Faith, which is the opposite of Fear. I’ve heard it said that Fear is “False Evidence Appearing Real.” Rise up above the circumstances today that would try to weigh you down. Live today to the fullest because we are not promised tomorrow. The bible says that tomorrow will worry about itself. Today is a NEW day. A day to walk with God with our confidence and trust IN HIM. Our hope IN HIM. Our eyes set upon HIM. When I was dealing with the Fear this week, I knew that my eyes weren’t upon God…sure I was asking him to help me, but it’s like this analogy…a little girl is asking her Father to hold her hand and help her cross the bridge that has snapping alligators underneath it..just waiting to take her out with one bite. Her Father is helping her, but she is still looking down at them. Her Father says “Don’t look down! Keep your eyes on me…we will get through this.” But she is panicked and stricken with fear because although she is holding her Father’s hand, her gaze is fixed on those gators. She can’t move nearly as fast as she could if her eyes were ahead…fixed on her Father…

Trust God…he will do it. Whatever it is.

By Your Side

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J95rAr0gOFU

Great song by Tenth Avenue North

Only he can satisfy...

I realize something now...something that I knew in my head, but until you experience it for yourself, you don't fully understand it.


Only he can satisfy.


There have been soo many sermons and soo many people that have told me this in the past. Since I have been a Christian, I've heard it said that only God can fill our void in our heart. I agreed, although didnt understand how that was true. Especially considering, I've had some big hearts desires...and if I just had those things...or even one of them, I would feel oh so satisfied...wouldn't I???


No. Not exactly. Not even close actually.


I think back to many times (in my old days) of going out to the bars in hopes of finding a "good guy" amidst the sea of bad ones. I am grateful that I had high expectations and didn't settle for the one night stands that they wanted to offer me. I am also so grateful that God protected me (even when I wasn't living for/walking with him.) There were many nights of dancing the night away with my girlfriends and hoping..just hoping that the cute one would come my way. Thinking that maybe if I moved around the dance floor and moved closer to him and caught his eye with a better dance move than the last, then he would come talk to me, etc. It really sounds silly now that I look back...maybe a new shirt would catch the cute's ones eye that night...or maybe getting my hair done or wearing tighter pants? I exhausted all of my efforts and witnessed my girlfriends going to extremen measures to catch the guys attention. Being in the mirror for hours before going out...not eating all day in order to not be bloated for the night out...spending tons of money on new high boots, etc...all just to stick out. To get the guy. : / HOW SAD?!?!?!


The saddest part is that this all still goes on with some of my old girlfriends. I lost touch with them years ago...leaving the past in the past and moving on with my life. I pray for them.


I didnt plan on writing all of that about going out dancing, but God had other plans.


I wrote all that to say this...so, you get what you want. Say you wanted to date the cute guy at school....you day dreamed about going on a romantic date with him....talking for hours, laughing, holding hands and walking together...etc....then boom it happens one night. You think, "this is it...this is love...it's everything I hoped for." You go home feeling so completely satisfied...thinking "this is all I want or need...I am SO happy!" And maybe you are...for the moment. But does it last?? Does that "in love" feeling last forever? Absoultely not. Let me tell you from experience. I've been there. I've dated the guy that I wanted...I've had moments of romance...moments of love...but NEVER did it last. The only romance that will last forever and never changes is the love of God. The love of the Father that created you before there was time. He holds your hand, he walks with you all the time, he looks you in the eyes, he searches for you when you seem distant, he loves you with an everlasting love....his love is fathomless. We can never understand it.


There may have even been a job that you thought, "this is perfect for me! I love it!" But when that job comes crashing down, when you get laid off or don't get that promotion that you had your heart set on, when people gossip behind your back in your very office, etc...when all of that happens are you still completely satisfied?


My Pastor once said that Deon Sanders (famous athlete) said that he had a thousand pairs of shoes and no where to go, a couple of the fanciest cars but no where to go, a bunch of friends but no one to talk to, a huge house but it felt so empty....


That was before he met God.



Only God can satisfy...he fills the longing in our hearts. He created it to be that way...a spot that only he could fill in his creation. It's beautiful...it's romantic...it's altogether lovely. And so is he.

My best Christmas present....My Sister

I am so blessed...


My younger sister, Faith, came to stay with me for two weeks during my holiday vacation. She is still here until this week and has been such a blessing to me and others. I am so appreciative of the time that we got to spend together. She sure has matured a lot since the last time that I saw her!


We did so much while she was here....constantly on the go and visiting people, going out, eating, going to every church service, etc. She loved all of it too and I am glad. She even really liked meeting most of my friends which meant a lot to me! : )


Having her visit me...especially alone (so that we could have some time to catch up) was the BEST physical Christmas present that I could have received this year. God knew exactly what to give me...