Boldness

I believe in the past I’ve made a lot of assumptions about what I perceive people know about God or think that people know how I feel about God and I won’t anymore. The louder culture is about false idols, the more I’ll share my faith in practical ways about Jesus.

How did I get here?

In the past month, I’ve heard two messages about being bold with your faith. I realize I have a duty to share my faith and my personal journey about God even the parts I feel aren’t that pretty. 

Back in the Day

I can’t remember a moment I haven’t known God. When I was younger, my mom was a Sunday school teacher, we had Bible study drills at home and my mom bought snacks and invited kids from the neighborhood in the projects to our home and taught them about God. To give context to the Bible drills - it was more like Bible trivia. My mom had Bible trivia cards and my sisters and I would compete on who could respond fastest with the correct answer. Also, as a family, during the week, my mom woke us up at 5am to pray before school every morning before leaving the house and before dinner we had to quote a scripture before we ate. Because we talked about God and went to church so often, it was normalized in our home. It became second nature for me that if anything ever happened, I knew I could immediately call on God and that he would respond. My mom even told us, if we ever got into trouble to repeat the name of Jesus over and over and he would save us.  Now my personal life with God wouldn’t blossom until much later - but my mom set the foundation and introduced me to God.

Wrap - Up

My hope today was to share a piece of my story and some practical ways you can introduce your family to God to set a foundation for the family. I believe a fallen world calls for more representation of God. 

Practical Tips to Share Faith with Family

1. Bible Study. Utilize the Bible app or any other trusted sources to discuss a Bible story. Be sure to read the story and ask everyone what they gathered.

2. Make it fun. Have a contest to see if someone can memorize a scripture a week and give them a small prize.

3. Discuss what you are thankful for while eating dinner.

4. Cover yourself and your family in prayer before you leave your home and ask for the mercies of God to protect you.

I’ll dive more into my story in other blogs, but for now ciao! May the peace of God rest upon you.

Last week’s Blog: Fighting Temptations

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Last Place

I wasn’t sure if I should call this blog last place or life isn’t fair. 🤔 Anyway, let’s jump right into the blog. I’m currently reading through the book of Matthew in the Bible and I came across this parable about workers in the vineyard. 

Scripture Reference: Matthew 20:1-16

My summary: There were five different workers looking for work and all five people were hired by the same men to work in his vineyard. Some of the workers started early in the morning, some at 9am, noon, 3pm and 5pm; however, they were all paid the same day wage. Of course, some of the workers who started earlier were upset because the last group only worked one hour and were paid the same amount of money. They voiced their concerns and the owner of the vineyard, responded to them and said, “Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go.”

Now, I encourage y’all to read the full story to receive the full context because this summary is a quick snippet. But on first glance, I can see why the earlier workers were upset; because it doesn’t seem fair. But we all know, life isn’t fair. However, I’m trying to see how I can be last and receive God’s favor and receive the same reward as those who were first. God I don’t have to be first at everything in this season if you allow those who are last to be first! 

First place! 🥇 ✌🏽

Last week’s Blog: 2024 – This is My Year

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Hot Mess

Listen can’t nobody tell you about me as I can! Y’all might not know this - but most days I’m a hot mess!

If you look at my social media you may think I have it together, but I don’t.

I’m perfectly imperfect.

I make mistakes.

I get things wrong a lot.

Sometimes I struggle with perfectionism.

I can be impatient. 😬

I tune people out sometimes, unconsciously. 😩🎧

I say things I shouldn’t say. 🤐 I try to have the shut-up spirit, but it doesn’t work all the time.

I take things out of context.

Forget to give people grace, but I want all the grace. #makeitmakesense But it doesn’t. 😂

And so much more!

In the words of my friend Erica…BUT GOD!

In the midst of me being a hot mess, God reminds me that he can use me for his glory to help others! And if he can use me, he can use you as well!

Remember, we are all ministers and can share our faith with others.

Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 2 Corinthians 3:6

Power of Prayer (POP)

This photo embodies how I feel when God answers my prayers. My excitement level is literally on 100. Because I really do believe God can do anything and all things.

To be transparent, I wanted to blog about something else this week, but God spoke to me while I was at the gym this weekend about prayer. Does God pick random times to chat with y’all too? Lol, maybe it’s just me. And most of the time God talks to me, I cry. 😂 The good thing is sweat and tears look similar when you are at the gym, so no one else will know. 😂

Anywho, the purpose of this blog is to remind you of the (POP). I posted yesterday, “We write our future with our prayers.” It sounds simple, but sometimes prayer is our last resort when we are dealing with a situation and it honestly should be our first and constant heart posture.

Storytime: My workload at work last was astronomical and continued to compound exponentially daily. In addition, I had a huge project due by Friday and didn’t know how to do it. By Tuesday, I was stressed and could even feel the tension in my shoulders.

Y’all, I hate being stressed - so I knew something had to change. I prayed a very simple 3 worded prayer Tuesday night, “God help me.” Knowing that God knows everything, I didn’t feel the need to tell him all the details because he knew exactly what I was talking about. In less than 24 hours, God helped connect me with the right people in the company to complete my project.

Won’t he do it! 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

Like, this still blows my mind, he loves me and you so much that he won’t leave any of his children lonely or without help. He’s a good loving father. ❤️

“Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” Galatians‬ ‭4:6‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

Yellow Brick Road

Every day we have to make so many decisions. Google stated on an average day, we make over 35,000 decisions a day. That’s a lot! Some of the decisions are easy, like getting out of bed or eat this for lunch, etc… But other decisions are tough and may require us to seek our Heavenly Father for help. One of my go to scriptures for when I’m seeking direction is:

“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” Psalms‬ ‭119:105‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

When I read scriptures, I like to dissect them. I study each word intentionally and think about the visual illustration which is provided.

I’m going to share with y’all the visual I see when I read this scripture: God's words are like a lamp I carry when I’m going through a dark place. Without the words of God being my lamp, there’s darkness - I can’t see my next step. But with the words of God he provides a lamp - which is a light in a dark place and I’m able to see the path he wants me to take. Honestly, when I read this - it is as God is saying to me follow this yellow brick road that I have paved and lit up just for you.

So my encouragement for you is that if you are unsure of what path to take with a decision allow God to be your lamp and light up the path he wants you to take.

Keep Dreaming

I feel like I was often told, work hard, get a job that pays well, save money and then retire. In all honesty, that plan sounded good until recently- it feels like I’m playing it safe. But, what about the feeling you have when you know God has called you to do something great for his kingdom that is bigger than a 9-5 job?

What do you do then?

For me, I’ve been praying, talking to God, writing the vision, and pursuing my purpose and destiny. The thing I’m learning about your destiny is it will keep reappearing and pursuing you even if you try to ignore it. I mentioned in my blog on Friday that the self-publishing event I created was a faith step.

So, I encourage you that a dream deferred is not a dream that is dead.

Don’t give up on your dream and what God has told you even if it feels like there are stumbling blocks and or walls blocking you from moving forward. Remember, all God needs is a mustard seed of our faith and for us to trust him even when the pieces of our life seem scattered and unorganized.

He’s the same God that causes the wall of Jericho to crumble down (scripture reference Joshua 6:1-27), so he can remove our stumbling blocks or create a door or an opening for you and me!

Remember the scripture says, “Is there anything too hard for God?” - and we already know the answer to this! - Jeremiah 33:27

Enjoying the Now

Have you ever worked toward a goal such as a desired salary range, a new position at work, a degree, a certain number of followers on social media, etc...

Once you hit that the goal, what’s next?

You obtain the desired salary, you enjoy it for a quick moment and then you want more.

You get the new job and the excitement quickly goes away after the stress of training.

There’s always a new goal, new accomplishment, or new task that strive towards after the high of reaching your initial goal fades. The sermon at church was recently about this. 

My pastor mentioned it is like you are constantly chasing the high of what’s next and not enjoying the now of the moment.

There’s always going to be a new car, new position, more money, bigger house, etc... that you want, but have you taken a moment to be present in the now and trust God with the next thing.

I’m sure many of the things we are experiencing now are answered prayers, which we previously prayed.

I’m making a conscious decision to enjoy them now and I’m trusting God with what’s next. Of course, I still have goals, desires, and things I would like to accomplish, but I’m also going to rest in what I know God has already done and I’ll leave the future to him. 

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭32:27‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Faith

So, I believe that a parent is more willing to help their child if they see them working for something versus seeing them do absolutely nothing.

For example, if you see a child making their bed, you are more likely to come help if you see them putting in the effort to try, even if it is wrong, versus if you see them sitting on the floor doing nothing.

I thought about this last week and it helped me process the concept of faith with works discussed in the book of James. The scripture says,

“For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

‭‭James‬ ‭2:26‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

This reminded me I should be partnering with my Heavenly Father, God to show him I trust him. He wants to see me working and trying vs. sitting down saying, “Whoa is me I’m not sure what to do next.” ?

To give another example, if you are stuck on the side of the road, and you are sitting inside your car doing nothing, people are probably less likely to stop to offer you help. But, someone will be willing to help you if you are outside of your car trying to fix your vehicle or even if you pop the hood of your car.

So with all of that being said, what works are you doing to put your faith into action?

“What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”

‭‭James‬ ‭2:14‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

It’s Good Friday

But was it a Good Friday for Jesus?

Picture this - the night before our Savior was crucified he had dinner with his friends known as the last supper. Jesus being all-knowing knew the next day he would be crucified.

Many hated him and lied on him. They spit on him, beat him, and placed a painful crown on his head with thorns.

What was he even guilty of? They couldn’t find any fault with him.

In addition to all of this, there was his disciple who betrayed him (Judas) and the other disciple, Peter who denied him three times.

Can you imagine him hanging on the cross for my sins, for your sins, and the sins of everyone in this world? The Bible says darkness fell on the face of the earth from the 6th to the 9th hour.

Even while he was in agony, he was thinking of you and me.

Even while he was in pain, he witnessed to the person next to him on the cross.

Even while he hung on a cross with nails in his hands, he asked his father to have mercy on someone else.

Even while he knew he wasn’t guilty, he asked his father to forgive others because they knew not what they had done.

Jesus died for the sins of the world, but before he died he hung on the cross to be the perfect example for us.

We know he rose from the dead which is significantly important - but today don’t forget Mary’s baby, the son of David, God’s beloved son, hung on the cross for you and me.

“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭23:34‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Saved by Grace

I’m taking an apologetics class at church. One of the counterarguments that we discussed was that some believe we could be saved by good works. While I don’t believe this, it was interesting to think about at the moment. I’ll share what I believe later in the blog. I started to think of how many works would it require for me to feel like I’m saved and secure.

Would I have to repeat new works daily or would my works from yesterday be enough? ?

And then I thought about how big my good works would have to be for me to be saved? Could small good works save me too? ? Or do I have to go big or stay at home? These are all rhetorical questions that don’t require an answer. Lol.

But the cool thing about reading and learning is I bring my questions to God and allow him and the word of God to define my standard.

All of that to say, I’m so glad that my good works don’t save me and that I’m saved by faith through God’s unmerited grace.

It’s nothing that I can do to earn his grace, I don’t deserve his grace, and yet he gives it to me freely. And for that I’m grateful! ??????

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Ephesians‬ ‭2:8‬ ‭KJV‬‬