Category Archives: Spirituality

Wellness Wednesday

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Hope

Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. Psalm 146:3

When I read this passage today it made me laugh. In my daily interactions I see more and more people putting their confidence in people to help them achieve happiness or success. They hope that the people they are focused on can bring about a change in their lives. They look to these people to help them move forward in life or to get a better life. Perhaps they think, “if only I stay with him or her a little while longer, he or she will change and then things will be better.” Or maybe it’s, “I know I should not be interacting with this person but if I just stick with him or her, I’ll finally be where I need to be.” I think that is sad that people depend on other people for their satisfaction and success in life. People will fail you every time. You’ll find yourself accepting things that you swore that you would never accept. Doing things that was never in your character or a part of your belief system. And why? Because you thought that would help you get more money, be loved, be accepted, move up the corporate ladder or just to not be lonely any longer. Guess what? You don’t have to do it any more.

God is waiting for you to totally surrender yourself to Him. Give up worrying about how you’re going to make it to the next level. Trust God. Give up worrying about what he or she is doing when they are not in front of you. Trust God. Give up worrying about how the bills will be paid. Trust God. Give up worrying about whether you will ever have enough. Trust God. Don’t compromise yourself for a quick moment of satisfaction. What is meant for you will be for you no matter what. You don’t have to accept being less than what you are just to feel adequate. That’s not what you were put here for. You are magnificent just the way you are. God doesn’t make mistakes and you my dear are by far no mistake!

So if you’re unhappy in your relationship, your job or your current situation, release it to God and walk away from it. Do not put your confidence in anyone any longer. Trust your own intuition and move forward with confidence in yourself and God. Be confident that who began a good thing in you will carry it on to completion. With or without certain people in your life. Be sure of that.

Be at peace with yourself. Know your change is coming and it will be wonderful!

Love you with the love of Christ,

Kelly

Testimony Tuesday

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Red Sea

If it had not been the Lord who was on our side — let Israel now say— if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters. Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped! Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 124 1:8

Temptation and testing seems to be the way of my life lately. My emotions have been challenged when I am not in a place where I can just roll with them. I thought I had them under control, then one comment on Facebook, one text message, one phone call causes me to be in tears. I finally realized that my grief is not gone, it is simply at another level now. I am finally moving onto the more of an acceptance level. But make no mistake my grief is there.

I read comments from some of my friends yesterday about how they felt about me. The comments sent me into a crying fit because I did not understand how someone could feel that way about me when I did not feel that way about myself. I did not understand how someone could feel certain things about me when at many points in my life I was not the nicest person. So the things they said touched me in a way that I am sure they did not expect. Plus on top of that my feelings about everything is on my shirt sleeve right now. But as I cried uncontrollably I stopped and thought, if it had not been for the Lord on my side where would I be? If I had not decided that Jesus is the way, the death of my nephew and the loss of my job would have sent me into something worse then a crying fit. But because I believe in Jesus Christ I am not swallowed up by my grief and anger. Do not get me wrong I am silently angry about everything but it is controlled because I have given it up to God. I trust that He is working everything out for my good.

I understand more and more that temptations and testing will happen the more that you are closer to your blessing. I have been tempted to cuss people out, seek revenge because of things someone has said or done to me and I have wanted to just do a time out from the world. But everytime I go to do any of that, I remember that the Lord fights all my battles and protects me. There is nothing that comes to me that God will not bring me out of.

Please remember things may look tough right now but you are more than a conquer. You are victorious over all that worries or concerns you. God made you. God made you perfect. Stay calm and trust God for everything. Stand strong.

Love you with the love of Christ,

Kelly

Monday – New Beginnings

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To you alone, O Lord, to you alone, and not to us, must glory be given because of your constant love and faithfulness. Psalm 115:1

The beginning of the week, the beginning of the month and the beginning of the year is our opportunity to start something new. It could be viewed as a do over if your previous week or previous month or previous year did not go as you had expected it. New beginnings are our opportunity to clear the proverbial slate and try again. In trying again, we need to be mindful of doing the same thing over and over again. For example, if we had a bad week last week even though we followed our normal routine, perhaps it is time for us to change our routine. Change the way that we operate.

I picked today’s scripture because sometimes our normal routine is giving ourselves the glory for the things that go well in our lives. We do not take the time to praise God for Him giving us the ability to be successful, for Him aligning the right people in our lives or making our crooked paths straight. Instead we pray to God for Him to do the things that we want done. Not His will but our own. Then when our prayers that we vehemently prayed for does not happen, we become disappointed. We do the same routine. Pray for how we want the situation to go then get upset because it did not happen the way that we prayed it would. God is not a genie.

Know that our destiny has already been planned. God knew who we would be and what we would do while we are on this earth. But because He gave us free will our path to our destiny can be an easy path or difficult. It is totally up to us but understand we will arrive to our destiny no matter what path we decided to take. Even if that means repeating the same thing over and over again.

As I read this scripture, it reminded me that I should be praising God through it all. The good times…. praise God. The bad times…. praise God. The indecisive times….praise God. The “I don’t understand why this is happening” times…. praise God. Nothing that goes in my favor was done by me. It was the glory of God that allowed it to happen. So I give the glory for everything because He knows what He is doing and what He is planning on doing. He knows the plans that He has for us and we should all know that those plans are not to harm us.

So today and this week change your routine. Start your day out by giving God the glory for everything that He has done and for all the things that you are trusting Him to do in your life. Put everything in His hands and do not let anyone throw you off your walk of faith. Keep the faith and try the path of least resistances with God.

Love you with the love of Christ,

Kelly

Faithful Friday

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I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:8

Sometimes you have to be shaken up to recognize the multitude of God. We have to go through disappointment, sadness, times of sacrifice and times of generally being uncomfortable to feel his presence. Having a life with no problems does not give us the opportunity to experience God’s grace. If we never went through anything how can we know God’s strength? The answer, we would not be able to.

Our suffering is not meant to break us. It is meant to strengthen us in our mind, body and spirit. The things we go through might be too hard for us to comprehend but that is when we need to trust in the Lord more and not lean to our own understanding. Once we fully trust in the Lord, we will experience a peace that we have never known. Being at peace allows us to think rationally. Being at peace lowers our anxiety which prevents health issues. Remember peace over worrying. Worrying does not add one day to our life nor a dollar to our pocket. Be at peace. Know change is coming. We all need to be at peace with it. Things cannot and will not stay the same.

To me, our shakeups are a prelude to major change. I am a witness to that! I find it interesting to hear people say, “what else could happen” or “the way my life is going no wonder XY and Z happened”, because they are more correct than they know. More can and will happen because we were not meant to be stagnant. Perhaps we keep going through things because we are not learning the lessons we need to learn. Learn the lesson. Accept the change. Then look at the change optimistically. Change gives us new possibilities in our life.

Be open to change today. Expect the unexpected optimistically. What you have been praying for and hoping for will come to fruition. Believe it!

Love you with the love of Christ,

Kelly

Throwback Thursday

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But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak. Isaiah 40:31

I remember sitting in church with my grandmother Garrett and the choir was singing “I Will Trust in The Lord”. I clearly remember the part where my grandmother would sing a smidgen louder, “I’m going to stay on the battlefield until I die.” I thought that was a bit much. I did not understand as a child what that meant to stay on the battlefield until I die. As a child, if things got too tough I would run from the battlefield! No way was I going to stay and fight. I valued my life too much. But now as an adult, I get it. And boy do I get it!!

I do not believe that anyone will get the true meaning of that song until you have really experienced some things. I have been in church singing:

Trust in the Lord
I’ll trust in the Lord
I will trust in the Lord
Until I die

I’m gonna stay on the battlefield
I’m gonna stay on the battlefield
I’m gonna stay on the battlefield
Until I die

I’m gonna treat everybody right
I’m gonna treat everybody right
I’m gonna treat everybody right
Until I die

Not truly understanding what it meant to stay on “the battlefield”. The battlefield has been defined for me within the last year, the last month, the last day. The battlefield is your mind, your spirit, your body, your relationships, and whatever else causes us to put our trust and confidence in the Lord. It may seem like things are happening to us and around us but we have to remain faithful that the power and protection of God is present. Whatever negative experience we have had IS the battlefield. We just need to know what weapon to bring to the battle. That negative experience was put there to take our life, our mind or the use of our body. But remember no weapon formed against us will prosper as long as we use our weapon of faith and hope. As soon as we lose hope we go running away just like I thought I would when I was a little girl sitting next to my grandmother. Then the battle is over.

Today remain faithful throughout whatever you are going through. Do not lose hope. There is no time for that. The battle is not yours, it’s the Lord’s. Release your worries and concerns to the Lord. Keep this in your head all day today and tomorrow, “I’m going to stay on the battlefield. Until I die.” Be blessed my brother and my sister. The Lord is with you today and will be with you always.

Love you with the love of Christ!

Kelly

Wonderful Wednesday

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Run your best in the race of faith, and win eternal life for yourself; for it was to this life that God called you when you firmly professed your faith before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12

Not everyone believes that you have turned your life over to God when you announced your faithfulness. People will point out all of your failures and point out the things that you did/do that prevents you from being a total servant of God. But those people do not know the struggle that you go through everyday to live your life righteously according God. It is a tough battle because the old self wants to stay around while the new self is busting out at the seams. The old self is a comfort while the new self treads on a experience that feels good yet makes you nervous. You’re nervous because of the old known. But you have to preserve because that is what your faith is built on.

The scriptures says to run your best race. That means that when you have doubters, haters and look-loos rooting for your down fall, your faith in God and the process will prove to them that you are more than a conquer. When pain, doubt, and disappointment comes to your door, you are able to answer without hesitation. You are a child of God. You are an heir/heiress. That means that whatever your father has, it will be yours upon his death. Well guess what? Your savior already died, so everything that he has is yours. Peace, love, good fortune, faith, patience, kindness, increase in finances, decrease in debt, healing, understanding, and forgiveness is yours by inheritance. Declare and decree all the blessings that you accept in the name of Jesus. Whatever you have longed for is yours because it has already been yours. You are simply waiting for the manifestation of the blessings. Be patient because it is coming.

God is good. I’m glad that I know him on a personal level. I hope that you too know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. He has helped me through the roughest patches in my life so I know he will help you too. Don’t push God away. Embrace what he has to say. He will never leave you or forsake. Keep the faith my sister, my brother. I pray that everything that you ever dreamed of and prayed for comes to fruition for you.

I love you with the love of Jesus.

Sincerely,

Kelly

Testimony Tuesday

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For this reason I remind you to keep alive the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, his Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control. Do not be ashamed, then, of witnessing for our Lord; nor be ashamed of me, a prisoner for Christ’s sake. Instead, take your part in suffering for the Good News, as God gives you the strength to do it. 2 Timothy 1:6-8

It’s been a couple of days since I wrote last. I stopped because I thought I was not hearing the Holy Spirit anymore. The doubt began to creep in. I did not think anyone would care what I had to say at this point, because I did not have some profound revelation or some miraculous breakthrough. I am still that woman that has been struck repeatedly in the recent months by major setbacks. I have no idea why things are happening to me. I have no idea of how I am going to come out on the other side so I can be a witness to other people. So again, doubt began to creep in. With that doubt came the wavering of my faith. I mean I would go through the motions but my belief system was being pushed to the limits.

This morning as I prayed, I asked God to reveal to me my purpose. I cannot just be out here with no direction. My life had such structure to it and within the last year my infrastructure has crumbled. I am trying to rebuild but with out the blueprints I do not have a clue of where to begin. So I prayed. I prayed by declaring and decreeing that my life will have structure to it. I prayed that by the blood of Jesus that I would be made whole…… tenfold. I prayed that whatever was taken from me would be come clear soon. I prayed that I could relate to Job, Moses, Esther and David. I prayed that God use me in a way so that I would understand that the heartbreak and disappointment that I was experiencing would become clear. I prayed. After I prayed I got on my morning conference call. The topic was 2 Timothy 1:6-7. I read on to 2 Timothy 1:8. That is when I realized that God heard what I prayed for.

Here is the point of today’s blog. We ask in faith to God to reveal things to us or to heal us or to direct us but then we do not activite our faith. We do not stay persist in doing what is laid on our hearts to do. Just because it is something that is uncomfortable or something that is out of character or something that does not yield dividends does not mean that it is not God answering us. We need to ask, believe it is already done and act in faith. So today I write. I wrote because I know that is one of the things that God had put on my heart a long time ago. To be transparent so others can be inspired or encouraged to move forward regardless of what the circumstances my look like now. Do not doubt what God has whispered to you through music, devotionals or people. Do not be stagnant. Move forward. Do not be afraid.

We are made to persist. That’s how we find out who we are. – Tobias Wolff

Love you much & I will be back!

Kelly

Flashback Friday

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Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40

But God…….

4 weeks ago my life changed forever. I received news that brought me down to my knees, literally. And I remained there for hours. My nephew took his life. I thought my faith would not help me or sustain me because the pain I felt was indescribable. My heart broke.

But God……..

A couple of weeks ago my company eliminated my job. I’m a divorced mom. I’m a homeowner. I’m in debt because of my divorce. I’m the sole provider.

But God……

Every area of my life has been changed within a year. It felt as though as soon as I was about to settle into my new life something happened. Just when I thought the storm was over, a hurricane developed and tried to destroy me. But I was not destroyed. Right when I thought I had loss everything and my mind was next, my faith kicked in.

“But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,miracles that cannot be counted. Job 5:8-9

God has been an ever present help in my life. There is no way that I would have been able to endure the things I have if it was not for my faith in God. Yes, tears fall everyday but they do not consume me. Yes, I am still heartbroken but I’m not broken. I am a strong woman of God.

So remember hard times will happen. Your faith will be tested. But remain strong in the Lord. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He loves you and he will sustain you. You will see his glory come to be in your life.

Be incredibly blessed today my friend.

Love you,

Kelly

Trials & Tribulations Thursday

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Perserverance

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12

Today I did not want to get out of bed. I was about to go down that road of why should I, it does not matter. Then my clock radio went off. As you may have read yesterday, I was having issues with my radio. Yesterday it would not do anything but play static. It interrupted my morning. Today it was clear and loud. It played as though yesterday did not exist. I had not moved the radio nor had I adjusted the antennae. It played like yesterday did not happen. What was more interesting was what the DJ was saying. He said, “there are no problems just a process”. That stunned me for a second because I thought about all my “problems” I am/have gone through. I believe that everything happens for a reason that will be disclosed at a later time if we are open to really knowing. But I had never thought about exchanging my “problems” to my “process”. So I hit the snooze. 10 minutes later the radio went off again. Clear and loud. This time it played the exact same song as yesterday. The song sang to me, “This is your season for grace and mercy. This is your season to reap what you have sown”.

I have come to the conclusion that things that make us uncomfortable and challenge our faith will happen. It is how we handle the discomfort. Will we cry uncontrollably? Will we become a monster to everyone around us? Will we become detached from the world? Will we start doing self-destructive things? Whatever we choose to do in a time of trials and tribulations is up to us. God gave us free will. But in our free will we have to think, do any of those self-destructive ways help us through the trials? Do they change what has happen to us or around us? The answer is no. It still happened. Yesterday is gone. Yesterday cannot be changed or altered. Just like my clock radio, today is a new day that is clear and you can make it as you wish.

Perhaps you have to make some of adjustments of your life because of your trials and tribulations, but do so with thanksgiving. God did not create you for failure. He created you for greatness. It is only up to you as to how long you want to operate in defeat or sadness. It is up to you of how long you want to take to discover your destiny. But know you will discover it. You can take the quick way or the long way. It is all up to you and your attitude. Will you allow today to be clear? Or will you still be disturbed by the interruption of yesterday? You decide.

God be with you. Grace and Mercy.

Love you,

Kelly

Wisdom Wednesday

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Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. Psalm 62:5-6

This morning my alarm only had static playing. For the last year, I usually wake up to gospel music. No matter where I moved the radio I got nothing but static. I moved the wires; nothing but static. But when I put my hand on top of the radio it played clearly. When I stopped getting frustrated by the interruption of my morning routine and just rested my hand on top of the radio, it played. It played, “this is my season for grace and favor. This is my season to reap what I have sown.”

As I sat here, with my hand on the radio the irritation of the interruption went away. I trusted that as long as I kept my hand exactly where it was my music would come out clearly. Just keep my hand where it was. Don’t try to move the radio. Don’t try to twist the wires a certain way. Don’t try to adjust the radio station. Just keep my hand where it was and relax.

I thought about what was happening. Sometimes we have interruptions in our lives. Things happen that we did not plan on. Things happen that totally confuses us. We become unglued. We become shaken. But if we remember that God is our rock and our salvation, we will not be shaken. We must stay focused on God’s promises. Not our situations or our circumstances. God will NEVER leave us or forsake us. He is our fortress. We can relax and rest in his presence.

Keep your focus on God. Keep your hand on top of the radio so your music comes out clear.

Be gracious today in everything you do. Be unmoved by circumstances. Be abundantly blessed my friend.

Love ya,

Kelly