USE THOSE MEMORIES FOR YOUR STRENGTH

Good morning, Mighty Woman of God!  I pray that you are all blessed and highly favored of our Lord Jesus Christ.  I pray that today's message will be of comforting and encouraging to you.

 

(Matt: 26:34-35), Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.  Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.  Likewise also said all the disciples.

 

I am assuming that at least most of you know the end of that story, (read Matt. 69-75).  Peter did deny Jesus three times.  Peter even wen on to say, "I do not know that man".  Imagine how Peter must have felt when he heard Jesus' words come back to him, when the cock crowed.  I know at that very moment Peter wished that he had an eraser to erase the times he denied Jesus.

 

A lot of us will disown our friends if they denied even knowing us in a time of crises.  And when come out of whatever trouble we were experiencing, we definitely don't want to see our backstabbing so-called friend.  Peter denied even knowing Jesus, when asked three times and Jesus knew that Peter was going to deny Him, he told Peter that.  Peter's response to Jesus was, "Oh no, I will die for you".  All of the disciples made that pledge to Jesus.

 

Here's my testimony:

 

I think that my late 20's and early 30's were the worst times of my life.  In drug rehab, out of drug rehab.  Ten steps up, three steps back.  Beat down, beat up.  In a shelter, out of shelter, back on drugs, back off drugs, over and over again.  Quite a circle I created for myself.  I sometimes think about having an eraser and just erase those years, just wipe them out of my memories.  To be perfectly honest with you I have prayed to God to just erase them, you know, just give me a miracle.  But God doesn't work that way.  We wonder why He just won't block out those memories, and then we can move forward in our lives. 

 

As I progress in my relationship with God and allowing Him to have His way in my life; I realize that all my life's trials and tribulations are my strength.  My testimonies are not for me to hold my head down and wish I hadn't done this or that; they are to be a witness about God's love and mercy towards all of us.  I want you to say to yourself, "Wow, if she could go through all of that and God still loves her and is using her as a vessel; then I have a chance.  Yes, you have a chance because Jesus shed His blood so that you can have chance after chance after chance.  So if you mess up along the way, pray for forgiveness and kept on moving.  Satan would like nothing more than to whisper in your ear and lying to you about your shortcomings.  Never forget that as long as your are going through some tough and rough times your are going through them.  Meaning you are not staying where you are and allowing the enemy to do whatever he wants in your life.  Going through trials that you may be facing right now, simply means that you are moving forward.  Moving forward is always a great thing.

 

You much allow God to strengthen you through those memories that you want to be erased.  If you wonder why I talk about my past so much; it's because God is using my testimonies to help break curses that keeps us in spiritual bondage.  God has your best interest in mind and even when it seems as if God is not listening or that God is not moving fast enough you must hold on to His promises.  If you are a Christian (if you have pledged to follow after Christ), then remember, Peter denied Jesus' and yet Jesus' never brought it back to Peter upon His resurrection.  How much more do you think that Jesus would forget all about your transgression, when you have pleaded for mercy and ask Him to forgive you.

 

All this just to say that I am so happy and will continue to be humble because Jesus shed His blood so that little ole me can be forgive. Jesus will always forgive those that are humble.  Those that know that everyday they need Jesus' love and forgiveness.  It is the ones that sitting around, turning their nose up at you because you may be going through some things that Jesus will not use.  The ones that think they got it all together and don't need to be humble and nice to people.  PRAISE GOD!

RIGHTEOUS

Mighty woman of God, I wish you all well, blessed and highly favored of our Lord Jesus Christ. This might be one of those OUCH messages, but I pray that you will keep an open mind.

 

(Psalms 23:3), He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of Righteousness for his name's sake. (Psalms 37:25), I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging bread.  (Prov. 21:21), He that follows after righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness and honor.

 

Let me first dig a little deeper and bring those scriptures to life for today's day and age.  The bible says, that no one is righteous, no not one.  So sometimes people look at that scripture and make up in their own mind that they will never be able to feel the presence of God because they are not righteous.  On the other hand you have some people interpreting that scripture to say that, if no one can ever be righteous, how will they ever get to the point where they may feel the presence of the Lord in their own life.  Since the Lord knows that no one will ever be righteous according to worldliness, He is saying that one can be righteous with Him leading you.  If you allow the Lord to lead you in everything then He will direct your paths into righteousness 

 

Abraham was counted righteous by God because he was willing to do whatever it took to please God, event to the point of sacrificing his own son, that he waited years to have.  (Ps: 37:25), the writer goes on to say that he has lived many years and as far as he knows, God has always taken care  of the righteous ones.  (Prov. 21:21), the writer goes a little further, by stating that a person that follows after, seek after God with all their being will obtain righteousness, God will give them favor in this life.

 

In other words, God will count a person righteous. God is looking for a people after His own heart.  His is seeking the type of person that will do whatever it takes to appear righteous.  God counted Abraham, Noah and Job righteous because they loved Him and trusted Him, therefore doing whatever it took to please God.

 

So many people say that they desire to have a closer relationship with God, but do they make themselves available to God?  Only you can answer that question.

 

Some women say they desire a closer relationship with God.  They stand in the anointing line and say that they want prayer to have a relationship with God, but they don't receive the prayer by strengthening their prayer time, spend more time in worship and praise to Him. So they constantly keep getting in that line.

 

Some women's priority list goes a little bit like this: boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend.  Or boyfriend, self, kids then God.  Could you imagine that?  Me either.  Some people will love their significant other so much that they even go to the point of checking email messages, phone messages, keying cars, stalking, busting windows, knifing tires (etc.).  If they have so much time to do those things, then God should definitely be somewhere in that time.  I know I'm not talking about you, but maybe you know someone that this does apply to.  PRAISE GOD!

COME FLY WITH ME

Good morning, Mighty Woman of God!  I pray that today's message will touch the hearts of those that just need a little bit of encouragement and comfort.

 

As I was in my devotion time this morning, it started rainy really hard and thundering.  I don't mind the rain, but believe it or not this 49 years old woman don't like the sound of thunder.  Sometimes I can hear the thunder coming from one end of the block to my house.  Loud thunder makes me feel like my house is going to blow away, especially when the house literally shakes.

 

So, while I was trying to stay focus and keep worshipping the Lord, in the back of my mind, I could not control the fact that I am afraid of that loud noise.  Then I began crying about something that I am going through right now.  Listen closely as I give you exactly what I heard the Holy Spirit say to me.

 

It's only thunder that I have created.  Nothing that was, is or ever will be will not be created without ME.  You are focusing on the loud noise that you are hearing.  The devil wants to keep you focus on the loud noise that the world is creating around you.  The devil is attempting to get you to stop worshipping ME.  The devil is loud but so AM I.  He will never be as loud as I AM.

 

Sometimes we can visually see a storm brewing up in the clouds.  There are other times when it just start pouring down so hard while you are in the middle of the block.  You don't have an umbrella or a raincoat so you might get wet.  There are times where we might not listen to what God is saying to us and God will allow you to get a little wet.  You won't get caught in the storm, God says, "because I love you so much".  Now God is saying, "You have to fly above the clouds, above the loud sound of the thunder, above the storm".  God says, "The rain and storms comes from the clouds, so you have to fly above the clouds".  God says, "COME FLY WITH ME".

 

I don't need to make a message longer when God says, "That's all to write".  PRAISE GOD!

REWRITE THE SCRIPT

Good morning, my sister's in Christ Jesus!  I pray that you are blessed and highly favored of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

(Psalms: 25:1-5), Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.  O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed: let not mine enemies triumph over me.  Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.  Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

 

Today we're going to see a movie.  How many of you go to the movies based on the commercial that they show on TV?  I am one of those people.  Then when you get to the show, you pay that outrageous price for the ticket and of course, gotta have that extra butter popcorn.  You are so excited to be seeing the movie that you have been waiting for.  You get comfortable in your seat, get yourself situated only to find out that the commercials on the television had the best part of the movie.  You leave the show made that you spent all that money for nothing, but buttery popcorn.

 

If you have decided to get off the script that God has written for your life, you will be surprised to know that the devil only showed you the good parts of your life.  The devil has a way of deceiving women into thinking that we can make it without Jesus as long as we have a man in our live that says he loves us.  You read God's script (the bible) for your life and decided that it was too much trouble to act out.  In the meantime, you have seen only a glimpse of what the devil wants you to see.  He wants you to see money, cars, houses and he will not show you the price you may have to pay to be the star in his movie.  All you know is that you are happy right now, but what about when things get tough in the middle of the movie.  Or what about the end of the movie, when you finally figured out that you are just a stand-in for the movie.  Because you have not studied the script that God gave you and started blindly playing a part in Satan's movie, you are totally lost.  You don't even know what scene you are in and now you realize that you are starring in a low budget movie.

 

There is an out for you.  It made be time for you to quit orchestrating your own life.  Pray ask for God's forgiveness and get with His program.  You still have an opportunity to rewrite the script for your life, but you cannot do it without accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  Repent.  God makes "all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose".  Satan makes all things work together for his good until your life has not purpose.  PRAISE GOD!

 

"Spiritual Growth for Women Ministry", is your ministry, you are a member of the ministry.  Please remember my sister's in Christ Jesus, that I am always available for prayer or just to have someone to touch and agree with or just talk.  I never share your business on facebook, and those of you that have called me know that once we give it to God, we don't give it to facebook.  Call me at 678-69-3179.  God bless you, woman of God.

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of my book, "Spiritual Growth for Women - Breaking Shackles", visit www.amazon.com for a special price.  Thank you for your contribution.  God bless you.

WILL YOU EAT CAKE?

Good Morning, Mighty woman of God!  Happy Monday!  I thank God each day for you and your prayers for me.  The Lord has blessed me with this ministry, for over a year and I continue to learn and grow through Him.

 

I come up with these catchy little titles sometimes while in my devotion time with the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes I laugh when there is a kinda funny message and sometimes I cry when He gives me an OUCH message, because sometimes the message is for me too.  Depending on where you are in Christ, this can be a laugh or OUCH message.  Enjoy!

 

Yesterday I was reading in the book of John and what caught my attention was Jesus asking the disciples, "Do you love me".  He asked that question three times, "Do you love me, do you love me, do you love me".  Jesus did not say those words back to back because in between asking Peter and others replay was yes.  But I could imagine what they were thinking, when Jesus kept asking them the question as if He didn't hear their answer.  If our parents where to ask us something three times, we would begin to question ourselves, it is just nature for someone to do that.  There was nothing wrong with Jesus' hearing, there was something wrong with the disciples answer.  But then Jesus goes on to say, "If you love me, then feed my sheep".  That is the focus for today's message.  Although it is not titled "Feed my sheep".  You'll see why.  I kept hearing the words, "feed my sheep" from the Lord.  Last night as I read and then again in my devotion time.  Now here's the way that the Spirit of the Lord gave me the message.

 

I've been out of school for a very long time and it is hard for me to remember all those little "Mother Goose" stories.  There was a series of "Mother Goose" stories and nursery rhymes in books that were fun to read.  The one that the Holy Spirit brought back to my mind was the one about the "Mother Hen".  Stay with me, I'm going somewhere!  Anyway, the mother hen was going to bake a cake.  She had three little kids (chicks) and she asked them, "Who wants cake?"  All three of them got excited and answered, "we do".  So she asked them, "who will help me pick some wheat for the flour".  All three of them came up with excuses as to why they couldn't help.  When she returns home with the wheat, she asked all three, "who will help me gran the wheat for flour".  All three of them came up with excuses that they could not help.  So the mother hen, makes the flour.  After the flour is done, the mother hen asked all three, "who will help me bake the cake".  All three where too busy to help.  So the mother hen bakes it herself.  As hours past and the cake was smelling good, the mother hen checks on the cake and takes it out of the oven.  Then she says to her three chicks (children), "who will help me eat this cake".  All three of them got excited, grabs spoons and shout loudly, "I will, I will, I will".  The mother hens says to them, "NO, you did not want to help me get the wheat, make the flour or bake the cake, so you will NOT eat any cake".

 

Well, you get the meaning.  Now there is a reason why the Lord had me to give this message.  Especially because I would have never thought about that "Mother Goose" tale of the mother hen.

 

Jesus' question to you today is, have you feed my sheep.  Sometimes when the Lord ask us to do, say or don't do something, we come up with a bunch of meaningless excuses.  We can't get up early to pray because we went to bed late, tired.  We don't speak to our co-workers about Him.  If people in your everyday circle do not even know that you are a believer of Christ, there is something wrong with that picture.  Jesus says, "Feed my sheep.  Go to the highways and bi-ways".  But so many times we are just to busy to even answer that call to be a vessel.  God is not asking you to do anything, but allow Him to use you as a vessel.  Some people think that they are doing Christ a favor by showing up at church on Sundays, like you will receive a "get out of jail free card".

 

So my question to you today is, WILL YOU EAT CAKE?  Will you answer the call.  Do whatever it is that is required of you by the Lord so that when it's time to eat, He will not pass you by, you will get a big piece of cake, just because you said, "YES".  GIVE GOD SOME PRAISE TODAY!

DEVOTION

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

 

Devotion.  What is devotion?  The word devotion is the root word of the word devote. 

Devote: To give or apply one's time, attention, or self entirely to a particular activity or cause.  To set apart for a specific purpose or use. 

Devoted:  Felling or exhibiting strong attachment or loyalty, dedicated. 

Devotion: Ardent attachment or loyalty.  An act of religious observance or prayer, when private.

 

My question to you today is, do you have time set aside that you spend with the Lord?  Is your prayer life centered around the Lord or is the Lord centered around your prayer life.  The difference is, when you have a life that is centered around the Lord, that means that whatever is going on in your life, you stay devoted to spending time with the Lord.  If you have devotion (time with the Lord) centered around your life means that you only devote your time to the Lord when circumstances in your life have the need for prayer.

 

When I first started attending church on a regular basis and participating in different ministries of my church, I had a great mentor.  I say that because she played a very significant part in my beginning to understand more about Christ, then just reading my bible.  To me, Catherine was the most humble person that I knew and I wanted to know the Lord more intimately.  I wanted what she had, when it came to knowledge of the Lord.

 

One day, while running errands with Catherine I began talking about all the things that I do in a day and how much time I spent doing things for my family.  Then she asked me, "When do you have devotion?"  "Devotion, I asked, what is devotion?  What do you mean?  "When do you spend quiet time with the Lord?"  My reply, "Well, I never thought about that.  I pray everyday".  Her reply, "Devotion time is prayer time, but it is time that you have set aside just for the Lord."  I will never forget that conversation and to this day, she probably has no idea that at that very moment, she changed my life and my relationship with the Lord.

 

Mighty woman of God, if you center your life around (devotion) prayer, you will have less 911 calls to the Lord.  If you just devote your life to prayer according to your situation or circumstances you will have more 911 calls to the Lord.  One of the definitions of devotion is, "a sense of loyalty".  Are you loyal to the Lord everyday?  Does your loyalty to the Lord depend on what YOUR needs for the day is.  Are you loyal to the Lord no matter what is going on in your life?  Are you loyal to the Lord when YOU have time.  Are you still loyal to the Lord, now that He has blessed you with a new job?  Now that things are going great in your life, do you still devote your time to the Lord?

 

Guess what happened to me on Tuesday.  Okay, I have devotion time every morning in the privacy of my bedroom between 10AM and 10:30A, depending on when my husband wakes up.  On Tuesday, I had a doctors appointment at 10A and I was not able to keep my same time of devotion.  As I sat in the waiting room, I begin to miss the Holy Spirit.  I actually sat there thinking about the doctor's appointment taking away from my time with the Lord.  Then I began talking to the Lord and all of a sudden, I felt the presence of the Lord.  And then I heard the Holy Spirit say, "You don't have to be at home.  Because you devote your mornings to me, I am here with you now".  Boy, did I smile.

 

PRAISE GOD, FOR HE IS WORTHY TO BE PRAISED!!

TROUBLE VS. DRAMA

Good morning, Mighty woman of God!  I pray that you are all blessed and highly favored of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Today's message is an OUCH message.  I know you ladies like the feel good messages, so when you get to an OUCH, just say, "She must be talking about someone else".

 

(Psalms 27:5), For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me: He shall set me up upon a rock.

 

Okay my sister's in Christ Jesus, here we go, remember, if this message hurts too much, just say, "My friend needs to read this message.

 

The bible has so many scriptures about how good God is to His sheep (us).  How God comes to our rescue over and over again.  How gracious God is towards us.  The bible also has a lot of scriptures about God hiding us in His bosom.  One thing that is not written in the bible is that God will help us in our time of drama.  There is a hug difference between TROUBLE and DRAMA.

 

Trouble can come upon us because of the way of this world.  Because the enemy has been hurled down to the earth, we encounter times of trouble.  Psalms 27:5, God will hide us in times of trouble and put us upon a rock.  God will hide you from the enemy, so that he will not find us.  The devil sets he eyes on us and our family and there are certain circumstances that may rise up because of that.  There are times when we have done all that we can do and we still end up in times of distress, that's just the way that things go.  During the times of trouble, it is up to us to continue to hold on to our faith in God.  It's up to us to continue to pray, praise and worship God.  And as we wait patiently, through faith, we know that all things will work together for them that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

 

Drama can come upon us when we don't do all that we should according to the Word of God.  Some of us bring about drama in our lives that is surely not caused by God.  Some of us have so much drama in our lives that we push God into a box and He will not move on our behalf.  We call out to God to help us with the drama in our lives that we have caused.  I people always say that God's hands are never tied and that God can do anything.  Well, this is true in some instances.  We tie God's hands by not allowing Him to change our dramatic situations.  When God gives us opportunity after opportunity to get our lives in order and we still settle for the drama in our lives, we tie God's hands.  What are some of the drama that some of us have?  Well, I'm glad you asked.  Too much drama in our lives can cause us to post things that should be secret on Facebook.  We curse people out on Facebook, like people really care if you don't like someone.  We fight over a man that doesn't deserve you on Facebook.  We drive around looking for our man all night or scratching up cars, destroying our own property because of drama.  We don't speak to our friends anymore because they stopped listening to your drama.  Cursing and fussing every time you think that you deserve the blessings that God gave to someone else.  Some women aren't happy unless they are created more and more drama in their lives.

 

Again, there are countless scriptures in the bible that's written about how God will help us in our time of need or trouble.  God is not concerned with your drama, nor is God going to keep waiting for you to decide whether or not you want to give up causing drama in your life.  There is no way that you can have a healthy relationship with God or another else, if you keep the drama.  PRAISE GOD!