Back 2 School: Not Just for Kids............. Study the Word!!!

Hey All!!!

It's been too long and I feel like I've left my blog unattended! It's like my little baby!!!

Anywho....... although I haven't been writing, God's been dealing with me in many ways! Wow... this has been a turbulent time, however God is guiding this ship and I am certain that he will bring me out on the other side. The turbulence might cause scars, but every scar will be a testament to God's faithfulness and revelational for my growth!

Over these past few weeks, God has shown me how to be more compassionate (recent test that I will have to retake), patient, how to trust him, and most of all to be thankful when he's guiding my life - especially when he takes me through a hard NO!

I've started reciting Psalms 34: 1-10 every morning. Boy, when I started quoting this, I had no idea how God was getting ready to lead me through. I am certain he gave me that passage in scripture at the perfect time because certain verses started applying after I memorized them. At first they were just words to memorize. Now, the entire passage has come to make perfect sense and comfort my soul. "Blessed is the man who trusts in him" (Ps. 34.8).

The Holy Spirit revealed to me why it's so important to hid God's word in your heart (Ps. 119:11). When you study the word, it pleases God! Not only is it an opportunity for God to approve you as his workman (2Tim 2:15), but the word of God (in concert with the Holy Spirit) is a sustainer, comforter, guider, ALL OF THAT! LOL. The word of God will spring forth in you and the Holy Spirit will send you back to passages that you've studied during your time of need to help soothe your soul and remind you that God still cares, He's still on the throne, and He has a purpose for everything concerning you!

I'm slowly but surely learning to be faithful in giving thanks in all things (1 Thes 5:18) because God is decided! He knows my beginning from my end. And even when things don't go my way or work out how I want them too, God still has his hand in the situation (if I'm doing what's right and upholding his standards - no compromising!). Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path." That's a KJV/ NIV combo version! LOL But... we forget that God is still (and even more so) directing your path when he says NO... not now, wait be patient, trust me... all of those things. Because things don't go our way, we get discouraged. And that's not how we're supposed to live. We have to stop letting no's frustrate us... and certainly don't let it frustrate your purpose!

The Lord spoke through my dad today. He called and told me that whenever something doesn't go my way, I should pray and say Lord, thank you for directing my path!

WORD IN PRACTICE: If things had gone my way... who knows what would have happened... who knows what God blocked me from. Sometimes... you have to thank God for blocking you from yourself! HALLELUJAH!!!! I might shout by myself! WHEW! My pastor said the other day... we were made in God's image... not with God's mind! Our ways are not his ways, our thoughts are not his thoughts (Is. 55:8). So even when we think we know what's best or have a desired end in mind - God still knows best!!!! And his plan, alternate route, and expected end or better than anything we can dream, desire or imagine!!!

I'm getting a little excited over here... God's showing me the true meaning of his sovereignty. He's in control at all times!

Well... I'm back! Get ready... I guess I needed this break to renew my strength so I can continue being about my Father's business even through this blog! I hope y'all are ready... cuz it's about to be fire!!!

Here's two titles you can look forward to:

• The Sermon that Changed My Life...
• Posturing VS. Positioning...

Praying for THE Partner..........

This is an early morning post... It's 3:45 am on Sunday morning and for some reason I can't sleep. The urge to write has overtaken  me to the point that I actually got out of bed to get my dad's laptop.

In case you're wondering... i didn't miss posting last week. I actually wrote a post... but I didn't feel released to publish it. If any of you know how the Holy Spirit can deal with you on certain things... then you know what I mean.... For all others... consider me "dealt with!"

This post easily displays the dichotomy that is my life. Yes... my last post was all about independence... but this one is quite the opposite! LOL... no I'm not crazy... as I've told you before, I'm just going through changes! LOL

This mind change thing, that the female species has gracefully mastered, is probably half of the reason I'm single! Hehe!

However, as I was tossing and turning in bed... I started doing something that has become part of my prayer life - I was praying for my future husband. Now, you might think this is weird, but for me it's like praying for a job interview you really want, or praying for God to touch your finances... it's just one of those things on my prayer list! :-)

I believe in faith and the concept of speaking things that be not as though they are or were (Ro. 4:17). Psalms teaches us that if we commit our ways to (please) God, He'll give us the desires of our heart (Ps. 37:4). I don't always do everything right... but I can say that in the past few years I've made a concerted effort to ensure the things I do are pleasing to God. I earnestly desire to please God with the way I live my life in public and private. Understanding this... I also know that it's possible to pray our desires into existence by praying in accordance with The Word. That doesn't mean I'll get them right away... our timeline is definitely not God's timeline. Yet, I believe praying in the flow of the will of God for your life is a method of showing sincerity to God. It also sends the message that you trust the promise he declares in Isaiah 55:11.

I know God has a plan and purpose for my life (Jer. 29:11). I know that it's His will that I prosper and be in good health (3 John 1:2). I pray in those "streams." Thus, this concept of prayer isn't unseemly when you consider that I know God didn't create man to be alone... he created a helper for man (Gen 2:18).... namely... ME (for a particular person, that is!)

Seriously though... imagination and the ability to conceive ideas and desires are a gift from God. That's how many of us figure out the "passions" we have in life. Likewise... the ability to one day be a wife is a desire that I believe God has given me. Despite wedding season... I'm not in a rush... I know that God is taking his time on cultivating the skills, ideas, and capacity for me to deal with one man for the rest of my life and similarly He's developing the necessary tools it will take for that special gentleman to deal with me!

So back to the topic... I PRAY FOR MY FUTURE HUSBAND! And, I hope he prays for me! What do those prayers sound like??? Well... God knows the details of what I desire in my mate... so the gist is:

• that my husband is walking in the plan and purpose that God has for his life;
• that he seeks God with all of his heart and leans not on his own understanding;
• give him a desire for "more out of life"... to help him to be content with where God has him at the moment, but not settle for less than where God wants to take him;
• when I meet him, he appeals to me (physically, educationally, career-wise);
• help us finish the purpose that He's placed each of us on earth to complete. I want God to use each of us to help push and promote each other into the divine destiny He's called us to achieve! 

I know that my future husband is going to be a great man of God! He will be relevant and influential in his generation and time! I speak that and claim it for his life. In the meantime, I often wonder what's holding me back from meeting him. What is God trying to teach me or cultivate in my life that I'm missing? Is there something I'm supposed to learn, master or accomplish before I meet my husband? I believe that there's obviously a strategy in place. There's something that God is doing in me.

Knowing this, I'm committed to letting God work out whatever it is in me. When it's time for me to meet Mr. Right, I won't lag behind God's plan or sprint ahead of it. I want to be precisely in line with where God wants me to be! I'm certain of one thing however, He that has begun a good work in me, is faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6)!

Bring on the process. Whomever he is, I'll be ready whenever he arrives!

I've shared... now you join in! Do you pray for your mate? What things do you pray for in a mate?

I'm not krazy... I'm just going through changes!

As I've alluded to in my other post, it's been a journey to get to this point in my walk with God. By no means do I declare to be perfect. In fact, I recently learned that there is a fine line between being "an inspiration to others" and "judgmental." I aim to be used by God but not come across critical - but sometimes that's difficult if I come off in a way that's perceived as offensive to my recipient OR if people aren't open to receiving what I'm sharing. By God's grace and mercy, I'm being perfected through the test, trials, circumstances, and situations that I find myself in.


That being said, I frequently reminisce on the time when my best friend was starting to feel compelled to establish a better relationship w/ God. When she was making moves... I was totally like, "Dude... what are you doing?" "Why are you doing that?" She even heard the occasional... "That's stupid." I thank God that my negative words didn't stifle her journey.  But then... those same tugs started pulling on my heart. All of a sudden it clicked!


Kierra Sheard has a song called "One." The song's chorus says this:
"One - way to get to where He is;
 One - only one life to give;
 So I'm do what I gotta do so I can be counted"


What clicked to me was that there's only one way to get to where I'm trying to go at the end of this life and there's only one way that I can live my life to get there. So, like my BFF, I started to surrender my life to God's will and plan for my life. To some, that may seem crazy... but it's not. I still have an AWESOME life! I probably laugh more now than I ever have. However, my tastes have changed... I don't desire the same things that I used to. Now, I live with the focus that want my actions to please God. This doesn't mean that I don't slip up and do things that I regret from time-to-time. Facebook is a prime example... I blab how I'm feeling and then feel convicted about my word choice later. But I'm slowly getting better at this... and I've got a long way to go!


These new desires have, in turn, impacted the type of man that I want. When someone would ask me my criteria for dating, I would say "I want someone who goes to church"... and then rattle off the rest of my 36 page list. But that's changed. These days, I want someone who thinks the same way I do on the above topics - has a sincere relationship with God, who's compelled to walk out the plan God has for his life, loves his family, has a fun and energetic personality but at the same time and can be as chilled and relaxed as I am. Although we're supposed to pray without ceasing... that doesn't mean you're supposed to be a bump on a log!!! LOL


I hope this song challenges you to be your best self through a relationship with Christ! Here's my jam of the week! One... by Kierra Sheard. Lata Gatas!