THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART

Good morning, Mighty woman of God.  I speak blessings of peace, love and joy upon your life and may you gain wisdom and understanding as you seek after our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit often speaks with me throughout the day.  He gives me guidance and messages for you and also for myself.  I am never above learning from Him.  Today, as I was driving from the Doctor's office the message for today came to me.  Here we go.

You know sometimes we think it is a good idea to always say what's on our mind.  We try to justify it by saying, we are trying to help our sister.  And often times we say, "I just have to get this off my chest".  So then are we really saying,

• I don't care anything about your feelings, and I'm going to say how I feel anyway".
• I don't care if your feelings are hurt, but I'm going to say it anyway."
• I don't care if you get more depressed than you already are, I going to get this off my chest".
• I don't care if you start to feel worthless or not, I'm going to say it anyway".
• I don't care if you start to cry once I get this off my chest".
• I'm not judging your situation, but If it were me I would do so and so".
• I'm going to say what is on my heart and I don't care if it wounds yours."

There are so many times that we should seek God's counsel on how to speak to our spouses and friends but we don't ask God.  Sometimes you don't know if what you say to someone will hurt their feelings and sometimes we don't even care.  We just open our mouths and let the hurt out.  Maybe getting something off your chest is not the right thing to do at that moment.  You think that you may be helping your friend by getting it off your chest.  Maybe you should carry it on your chest a little bit longer until God tells you how to say or do something for that person.  Sometimes getting it off your chest will make someone else's chest hurt.

 

Sticks and stones may break but bones, but words will never hurt me.  That just is not true.  Some words hurt people so much that they become a person with low self-esteem.  Words are powerful.  Rather than building up one another, we flatter, gossip, slander and give them a piece of our minds.  As James says, "with our tongue, "we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of god.  From the same mouth come blessings and curses".  This should not be.  One way we can practice such love is through our words, not only what we say, but what we don't say.  Nevertheless, what comes out of our mouths is not the real problem.  Our fundamental problem isn't a tongue problem, it's a heart problem.  We need to watch our mouth, but more importantly, we need to pray and ask the Lord to guard our hearts.

 

Woman of God, it's time for us to stop hurting one another with either our words or our actions.  God expects us to encourage one another and lift up and not tear down one another.  Give this message some thought and maybe you will find that sometimes you need to pause before you play those hurtful words out of your mouth.  PRAISE OUR LORD!

WORK FROM HOME

Calling all ladies, need a little help here.  If you know of any work from home jobs that are fun and really pay money, no scams, no telemarketing, let me know in my message box.  It's really hard to look for anything online because there are so many scams and payment plans to get on.  Honestly, I don't want to pay a lot of money, if I had the money then I wouldn't be looking for extra money.  I'm not trying to get rich, just meet my bills, and have something fun to do.

Thanks for your help! Love ya!

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Mighty Woman of God, I thank and praise God for each of you daily and that you are overcoming adversities daily by the power of God.

 

(Corinthians 12:8-10).  This is according to the Matthew Henry KJV Study Bible.  The gifts of the Holy Spirit, to whom He gives as He pleases.

 

To one was given the Word of Wisdom, that is, a knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel, and ability to explain them, an exact understanding of the design, nature, and doctrines, of the Christian faith.  Others say an uttering of grave sentences, like Solomon's proverbs.  (2) The Word of Knowledge.  The knowledge of mysteries, Ch. 2:13; wrapped up in the prophecies types and histories of the O.T.  Others say, a skill and readiness to give advice and counsel in perplexed cases. (3) To another, Faith.  That is, the faith of miracles, or a faith in the divine power and promise, by which they were enabled to trust God in any emergency, and go on in the way of their duty, and acknowledge and profess the truths of Christ, whatever was the difficulty of danger. (4) The Gift of Healing.  That is, healing the sick, either by laying on of hands, anointing with oil, or with a word. (5) The Working of Miracles.  The efficacies of powers, such as raising the dead, restoring the blind to sight, giving speech to the dumb, hearing to the deaf, and the use of limbs to the lame. (6) To another, Prophecy.  That is, the ability to foretell future events, which is the more usual sense of prophecy; or to explain scripture by a peculiar gift of the Spirit. (7) The Discerning of Spirits.  Power to distinguish between true and false prophets, or to discern the real and internal qualifications of any person for an office, or to discover the inward workings of the mind by the Holy Ghost, As Peter did those of Ananias, Acts 5:3. (8) Divers kinds of Tongues.  The ability to speak languages by inspiration (unlearned languages). (9) Interpretations of Tongues.  The ability to render foreign languages readily and property into their own.

 

Woman of God, a lot of you already have some of those gifts listed above.  There are two reasons why you are not operating in those gifts. 1) You don't believe that the Holy Spirit has answered your prayer for asking Him for the gifts or (2) You have not tapped into the Holy Spirit for the power to use your gift.  If God has promised you the gift that you have asked for, you have to believe that He has done it.  The problems may be that you don't leave yourself open to receive the gift.  Now you might being saying, "I do leave myself open".  But now consider this:  There are several times that the Holy Spirit will attempt to lead you into something that you are not used to doing or are not comfortable doing because it does not feel right or you have never seen anyone else in church led to do that.  I'm talking about something simple, but yet supernatural.  We are so caught up in whether or not someone will think that we are strange or that we have never seen anyone do this or that.  So we tend to put God in a box; only willing to do or say what we deem as regular.

 

Depending on the ministry that God has chosen for you, you will get whatever gift you need to complete God's work in you.  Maybe one, maybe more than one, but the Spirit of the Lord will complete you with the gifts that you will need for His kingdom and to ministry about Him to the lost.  I received my gifts in pieces. I did not know I had certain gifts inside of me, but they began to come out when needed.  In order to pray for people effectively, I needed the gifts of tongues (of course, I didn't know it, but I stayed open to be used).  The gift of prophecy was also needed as a prayer warrior, because some people will not tell you exactly what they are dealing with, so God touched my ears and I began to hear and speak what I hear Him saying to me.  God touched my tongue so that my speech became sharp.  This may all seem weird to you, and if I had not experienced it for myself, I would have to agree with you.  My purpose for telling you this is not that I be lifted up, but to let you know that whatever ministry God has planned for you, He will give you whatever gifts you will need to accomplish His will.  Never, ever, ever, think that you can minister to people on your own power.  That is a recipe for disaster.  Never, ever, ever, take the credit for yourself.  WARNING: If you have the gift of prophecy, be very careful of people that will call themselves your friends.  People tried to use me as a psychic (made me very upset), usually we don't have many friends.

 

I am a Prayer Warrior.  While in circle holding hands, the leader of the Prayer Ministry began to anoint everyone in the circle as we stood praying.  I was not used to this sort of thing but I stayed open because I didn't want to seem strange by breaking the circle, but I was afraid.  I peeked to see what was happening and I saw people falling to their knees and stretched out on the floor.  As she continued around the room, time came close for me to be anointed and I was contemplating whether or not to break the circle.  I decided to relax and let go, the moment I did that, she anointed me and down I went.  When I got up, I noticed everyone around me was speaking in tongues.  I was not sure of it then, but I stayed opened.  I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit which seemed to touch my lips and I opened my mouth and began to speak in tongues.  As soon as I heard it, I stopped, because I thought that people where going to look at me.  I did not sound like everyone else, but I stayed open.

 

A lot of people in the church have the desire to possess some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  There is nothing wrong with that.  The problem comes in when you are desiring these gifts for your own gratification or glory for yourself.  The Holy Spirit gives these gifts to edify the church, to build up the church and to build up other saints.  He will not give you a gift that you will not be a good steward over.  To whom much is given, much is required.  PRAISE GOD!

WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Mighty Woman of God, I pray that you are blessed and highly favored of our Lord, Jesus Christ as you follow after Him. 

 

(Matthew 28:19), Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. (John 14:26), But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 16:7), Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.  (Acts 1:5), For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. (Acts 1:8), But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

 

There is a lot of controversy, when it comes to the position or the who is question of the Holy Spirit.  Now I am not an expert on the matter but I will share what I believe to be true according to the bible, the Word of God.  If you ever have a disagreement with any teachings on scriptures, it is always a good idea to search the scriptures for yourself.  Pray and ask for clarity.  God does not want you to be confused about any teachings of the scriptures and His Word.

 

Some people do not exactly know where to place the Holy Spirit when it comes to our Lord Jesus Christ.  They know and believe without a doubt that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  So, let's start there.  God the Father, walked with Adam, Eve, Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Jesus Christ walked among the people and His disciples in the Book of the Gospels.  Once Christ died on the cross for our sins, He ascended into the heavens, to sit at the right hand of God, the Father.  John the Baptize, never baptized people in the name the Son, or the Holy Spirit because their time had not yet come.  In the Book of Acts, Jesus tells the disciples not to leave where they were until the promise of the Father was fulfilled.  The promise was the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Lord.  The Holy Spirit is not a this or it, He is a He.  Not less but equal to the Father and the Son.

 

In the O.T. there are a lot of scriptures that make note of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  I will give just one; Genesis 1:26, and God said, "Let us make man . . . ."  The word us, has to mean more than one.  Meaning, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is not a ghost, like something out of a scary movie.  He does not roam about your home covered in white.  Although the Word describing the Holy Spirit as the 3rd Person of the Trinity, the word trinity is not in the bible.  The word trinity means, three.  Now catch this revelation that the Holy Spirit just gave to me.  A woman is pregnant with triplets.  She will give birth to three babies.  All of the babies are different, their own personality, their own blood, heart, veins, etc.  They were all born of the same womb but once she has given birth, each of them will take on their own shape.

 

When Jesus spoke to the disciples, He told them that once He leaves that He would not leave them comfortless, meaning He would not leave them alone.  He is sending help.  The Holy Spirit has several names.  The Helper, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of the Lord, etc.  Any spiritual gift that you have or will receive is given by the Holy Spirit and you must acknowledge Him.  Whenever I am praying with someone and I am given a prophetic word for that person, I am operating with the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the Person that gives me knowledge as to what to pray for when praying for people.  The prophetic gift that is within me, is given by the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of the Lord.  Only to glorify God in heaven.  If the Spirit of the Lord (the Holy Spirit) uses me to speak a word to someone else or say something that only God would know, then that person will without a doubt know that nobody but God is speaking to them.  They will glorify God, not me, because I have never seen or met that person before.

Any spiritual gift that the Holy Spirit gives to you, is for you to use to bring the lost to the cross (Jesus Christ) and to glorify God in heaven.  Not for you to use anyway that you chose, but it must be used the way that the Holy Spirit choses.

YELLOW RIBBONS

Good Morning, Mighty Woman of God.  I speak blessings of peace and joy upon your life today.  I pray that you are strengthen to overcome any trials and obstacles thrown your way, by the power of the Spirit of the Lord.

(Ezekiel 34:11, and 16), For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. (12) As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. (16) I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.

I once heard a short story depicting about a man that not returned to his home is a long time.  The man was not sure whether or not he would be welcomed back home by his father.  I have replaced the man with woman.

Here's how the story goes:  The was a young woman on a train sitting next to an older lady.  The older woman noticed that the younger woman was very nervous about something, although she didn't know what.  She spoke to the young woman says, "Hello, honey, are you alright?"  Younger woman, "Yes, I am very nervous about returning to my home".  Older woman, "Oh, I see, why are you so nervous, don't you want to go home?  I'm sure your father will be happy to welcome you back home."  Younger woman, "Yes, I do want to return home, it's just that I have been gone so long and I have done some things that my mother and father don't exactly agree with."  Older woman, "Well, I'm sure everything is going to be just fine, they probably miss you so much and love you so much that all they want it for you to come home."  As the train began to pass by some houses on the road, the younger woman got more nervous.  Younger woman, "This train is going to pass right by my home, and I told my father to tie a yellow ribbon on a branch of the tree near the house, if he would accept me back home".  Then the younger woman went on to say, "I am so nervous, I don't want to look".  As the train passed by the house the younger woman asked, Do you see a yellow ribbon?"  Older woman says, "No, I don't see a single ribbon".  The younger woman holds her head down in shame.  Then the older woman shouts, "I see 100 yellow ribbons, tied to the tree branches, and what a beautiful sight".  Younger woman, "Thank you, Jesus".

Sometimes we get so caught up as to how long we have been away from God.  We spend so much time thinking about the fact that we may have strayed away or backsliding that we forget about the mercy, grace and compassion that God has towards us.  The biggest trick of the devil is to keep you in the mindset that you have been out of the presence of God too long for you to go back.  It is the devils job to keep you thinking that God no longer wants you, or that God will not forgive you of your sins.  As long as he can keep whispering in your ear, that you are not love or wanted and will not be accepted back into God's loving arms, he is winning his battle.  God wants you to change your mindset.  Accept His love and return home so that He can heal your battle wounds.  You are the sheep and God is the Good Shepherd, He will tend to your physical and mental wounds that you have been fighting.  Don't allow the enemy to keep whispering in your ear; "you're not good enough, you said you were going to stop this or stop that" or you really messed up this time.  God is sick of your promises".  It's the devils job to remind you of your shortcomings, not our Heavenly Father's.  Don't allow that lie to keep you from returning to your Father.

The awesome thing about our Heavenly Father is that, He foreknew all of us.  He knew everything that you would do and will every do before the thought even enters into your mind.  Our Heavenly Father, knew your shortcoming, and yet, it was the will of our Heavenly Father that you be birthed.  Our Heavenly Father did not say, "I will abort her, because she will be a burden".  OH, PRAISE GOD!

I pray that this message will help, comfort and encourage someone to get back up again and keep on moving.  Accept God's grace and mercy.  AMEN!

DON'T LOOK BACK!

Good Morning, Mighty Woman of God!  I pray that you are blessed and highly favored of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

(Genesis 19:17 and 26), As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives!  Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain!  Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"  But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

 

This is the story about Lot's family as they were brought out of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Sodom and Gomorrah had become cities without any type of morals.  Men have sex with men, partying, drinking and just simply refusing to obey the laws of God.  In fact, if you read (Genesis 19:5-7), you will notice just how wicked the city had become.  God told Lot that He would spare him and his family.  The one commandments that God told them was not to look back.  I am not sure but I would say that the purpose of Lot and his family not looking back meant that they were ready to leave that type of lifestyle.

 

When God brings you out of something He does not want you to look back.  Looking back only means that you are not sure whether or not you are ready to move forward.  Often times God's desire and our desire clashes.  God desires for you to be free from anything that does not glorify Him. 

 

When God brings you out of a toxic relationship; don't look back, thinking that maybe he does love you and will stop punching you.  Maybe he will ask you to marry him after all these years of empty promises.  Maybe he will at least try to look for a job.  Maybe he will at least watch his own kids, without calling it babysitting.  You just got delivered from drinking and drugs, whether prescription or non-legal, and you think you can just hang around the same people without getting swept back in that type of lifestyle; how can you be so sure?  The moment you even think about looking back, the devil is waiting.  Understand that Satan starts working on your will and emotions the moment you began thinking about the way things used to be.

 

If you look back, you will miss the blessing that God has waiting for you on the other side of the mountain.  You're not where God wants you to be, you are where you want to be.  That's a big difference and a mighty statement by God.

 

God's desire is to bring you up in a higher place in Him.  God's desire for you is that you prosper, but you cannot prosper if you are constantly looking back.  God's desire for you is that you don't look back because the enemy is always roaming to and from, seeking to devour you.  Looking back only gives the devil a foothold to get you back where he wants you to be (spiritually dead, abuse, whoremonger, gossip, liar, partying).  I can imagine the devil just sitting by your door (mind, will and emotions) waiting for you to go right back where God has brought you from.  No, you won't turn into a pillar of salt, that would be too easy.  You will turn into the devil's playground.

 

I can think of only two reasons why you should look back, once God has brought you out of the hands of the enemy; that is to remember where you don't want to ever be ever again.  There is no point in looking back if you are not going to learn from it.  My prayer for you is that you are able to move forward towards the things of God.  Pray that the Lord will change your mindset to line up with His purpose for your life.  PRAISE GOD?

 

If you are interested in supporting "Spiritual Growth for Women Ministry", purchase a copy of my book, Spiritual Growth - Breaking Shackles", visit www.amazon.com or www.xlibris.com.  Thank you for your support and may God bless you.

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

Good morning, Mighty Woman of God!  I pray that you are blessed and highly favored of our Lord Jesus Christ, as you follow after Him.

 

(Matthew 13:3-9), And He told them many things in parables, saying A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and ate them up.  Other seed fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil; and at once they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.  But when the sun rose, they were scorched and because they had no root, thy dried up and withered away.  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them out.  Other seeds fell on good soil, and yielded grain some a hundred times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much and some thirty. (Amp. Parallel Bible).

Some of you hear the word but do not understand what God is speaking to you.  Therefore you are not able to hold on to the Word of God spoken over your life.  You come before God and sit in the congregation acting like you got it all together, but it comes in one ear and goes out the other, and makes no impression.  You say that God knows your heart, this is true, and Satan also knows your heart.  If the things of the world are not broken up in your heart, then your heart will not be prepared to receive and heed to the Word of God.  You must cover the seed (the Word spoken) after hearing the Word of God by meditation and prayer.

 

Rocky Ground, Some of you have a good impressions of the Word of God, but it is not lasting.  You are glad to hear a good sermon, but you will not profit by it.  Your heart may melt under the word, but you still  have no firm resolution in your will or emotions.  Inwardly you are no more affected than a stone; After hearing the Word of God, you are still not united to Christ who is our Root; you still don't fully trust in Him.  In worldly terms (you are hard-headed).  You might be able to endure in the storm for awhile, but in the end, you will be swallowed up by the devil because you lack roots.  The Word of God, just fell on a hard head.  God knows that you only have a form of godliness and so does Satan.  Satan seeing you as having only a form of godliness he easily swallows up your seeds.

 

Thorns,   I call this stage, just a little stuck.  You are at the stage where you are constantly getting stuck by thorns in your life.  These thorns hurt when you try to get pass them.  Just like rose bushes if you brush up against them you get stuck.  No kind of thorn feels good.  When you get stuck by a thorn, it is human nature for you to look at the spot where you were stuck.  The longer you stay focus on the thorn, you are not fully put your faith in God and are not able to cast all your worries on Him; therefore falling short of benefitting from the Word of God.  You are built up in church service by the Word of God, but you are still being overcome by the things of the world.  Worldly cares are compared to thorns; they are  entangling, vexing, scratching, and their end is to be burned.  Toxic and relationships seems to be the main thing that keeps us women from moving away from those thorns.  These thorns choke the good seed.  You have good seed sowed into your spirit, but those thorns (worldly people, places and things) are great hindrances to your moving into God' purpose for your life. 

 

Good Ground: Fruitfulness.  A true woman of God bears good fruit.  This does not mean that you will not have stones in it, or no thorns, but because you have hidden the Word of God in your heart and planted the Word of God on good ground nothing will be able to hinder your fruit from growing.  A woman bearing good fruit can always feed another woman.  Other women should be able to draw from and eat from the fruits that you bare.  You cannot feed another woman if your fruit is rotten (bad attitude, gossiping, whoremonger, deceitful and lying spirit).  A woman that has sowed seed on good ground is not perfectly free from the remains of sin, but happily freed from the reign of it; meaning you don't quickly run towards sin.  You understand the sense and meaning of the Word of God and take care of the seed that God has planting in you.  With your fruit right, and your heart honest, your return from God will be hundred, sixty or thirty-fold.  Your fruitfulness will graciously accepted by God.  PRAISE GOD!