Rejoice!  It is your heritage to have JOY!!

One of the ways I show love to my daughters is to give them things that make them rejoice. Christmas is an exciting time for me because I love giving gifts. Nothing causes me to get more excited than the prospect of finding the perfect gift for someone I love. I want to suggest to you that God is the same way about you. He is intent on bringing you joy. It is one of the greatest gifts we enjoy because of our relationship with God.

It is unique to the followers of Jesus because only God can give you joy. Of course, human beings have the capacity to be happy and even experience gladness or glee at times, but joy is the exclusive product of God sovereignly giving you joy. By joy I mean the spiritual condition of being in a state of rejoicing or feeling jubilant. Ushering up from your spirit you feel an inner sense of utter delight even euphoria and amusement operating inside your being. It has nothing to do with your outward circumstances or even how things may be going at the time. It is something that defines your outlook, your perspective even your mental posture.

You are a person of joy. Of the many promises God gives us in His word, this is one we cannot afford to fail to inherit. Jesus says in John 15:11, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” Notice God’s intent is that joy be a permanent part of your life remaining in you all the time and that joy will be in such dominant proportions that there is literally no more room for anything in your life but joy. Joy occupies so much space that you don’t have any opportunity for anything but joy to be your disposition, your state of being. It is like you are overjoyed, literally exuberant always in high spirits.

One of the greatest lies ever put forth by the forces of evil is that sinners have more fun than Christians. So many people delay accepting the Lord because they are led to believe that becoming a Christian will mean being boring and uneventful. Nothing could be further from the truth. To the contrary no one lives better, has more to celebrate and absolutely enjoys their journey on earth like those who get to walk and talk with Jesus. Jesus wants you to have joy. Thank God for the promise of heaven we will receive later but right now there is the promise that you can have joy. It is very simple. To have joy you simply must rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Let’s decide that we are going to not only live with God but live joyfully with Him. His motivation for how he has moved in your life is He is constantly giving you reasons to rejoice.

Happy Birthday!

The month of June has special significance to me because it is the month in which I was born. I believe everyone should celebrate the day they were born. It is intended to be a day of joyful reflection of being blessed to have been given life on this earth. I believe life is the greatest gift God gave us through His Son Jesus Christ. However, in many instances the circumstances in which people were born sometimes makes the day of their birth not seem all that special. As a matter of fact, some people have never celebrated their birth because of how they were conceived. I was one who was born to an unwed mother. I am sure for her it was a challenging time being so young and having to face such an uncertain future. It was enough for her to figure out her own path and I must have added some measure of responsibility.

I am grateful for her courage and sacrifice navigating through that difficult time in her life. I believe I was affected by her struggles and the absence of my biological father. Subconsciously it affected me in ways I have only recently started to realize. One of the things I have noticed is how I have always felt like I was a burden to my mother. Even as a child I always felt like I was obligated to do my best to make sure she was happy because I was the reason why she had so many challenges. It made me feel as if my birth was a problem rather than a blessing. When I was born, I made things harder for my mom. Of course, all of that was a lie. I had no control over the circumstances of my birth and while I felt that way, my mother never said that my birth was ever a problem. But somehow, I was fed a lie from the enemy that my birthday was not something to celebrate. And so, birthdays were never that special to me.

When I was born again in Christ, He revealed to me that that was a stronghold that needed to be pulled down. He showed me that my birth was by design and that I was fearfully and wonderfully made. It changed my outlook on my birth. I realize that maybe the circumstances were not ideal for my parents, but it was ordained by God that I got here. My birth was special because it was God who saw fit to have me be born. Every year I celebrate two birthdays. The day of my spiritual birth on March 14, 1979, and the day of my physical birth June 10, 1958.

I want to send a shout out to all the people reading this that may not have had the ideal circumstances at their birth. I think about Jesus who saved the world even though he was born in some unfavorable circumstances. Maybe like me there are those of you reading this blog and the circumstances of your birth were not ideal. You have been told a lie that your birthday is not significant. I want to encourage you that you are special, and you should celebrate because God gave you life. He had a special purpose for your life. You are not a mistake. You are not a problem. You are not an accident. You are not the result of some indiscretion. However you got here, you are a gift from God to this world.

Happy Birthday to not only me but to you too! Whenever your birthday is remembered it is a great day and it is a day to celebrate!
The enemy is a liar! Happiest of Birthday’s despite the circumstances. Happy Birthday no matter the month.

Stepping into Your Greatness

II Timothy 1:1-8

• Destiny is a predetermined state assigned by God Himself for you to come into at the opportune time.
• Destiny is when you step out from possibility to actuality. What was hoped for becomes reality.
• Greatness means the departure from being insignificant, obscure, mediocre, ordinary, inferior, and common.
• What you have been experiencing is in line with the things God has spoken over your life from the beginning.
• It is time to boldly step forward and accept the new things God is doing through you.
• Shame is one of the biggest obstacles to greatness. Don’t allow any form of it to block the gift of greatness within you.
• Don’t shrink back, God has not given you the spirit of fear or timidity!
• Your gifting is in your dive authority and capacity to act on God’s behalf.
• Your gifting is your greatness and this is the time when greatness is coming Fourth in you and through you.

It is hard to imagine what it must have been like to have been one of the twelve disciples walking daily with Jesus. It had to have made an indelible impression on them to be around him and observe His ways. It is interesting that out of all the things they could have asked Jesus, they asked Him to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1-4). Being around him made them realize the importance of having a prayer life. They watched him handle all kinds of situations as well as deal with opposition. The disciples realized the key to His power and effectiveness was his prayer life.

His response to their request was what we know as The Lord’s Prayer. It was the pattern for how they should pray. It is also the pattern we are to use in prayer as well.

Jesus was not saying that when we pray, we should merely repeat the prayer verbatim, but rather these are the elements that should be addressed when we pray. The Lord’s Prayer reminds us that:

1. God is Intentional. He has a plan for your life. He wants His purpose to be fulfilled through you. He is rooting for you. Praying keeps us aware of what He means to us. He is our helper. He provides and protects us from evil. He strengthens us daily. Most importantly, because Prayer is two-way communication. When we are communicating continuously with the Father, we stay aware of the condition of our heart and His Presence!
2. God is revelatory. He brings to light things that are normally under the surface. He gives us wisdom, knowledge, and discernment regarding our specific situations and circumstances.
3. And most of all God is relational. The prayer starts with OUR FATHER! He loves us unconditionally. The Father wants an intimate relationship with us. His desire is for the fellowship to be on a continual basis. The more we pray the more power and strength we will receive. My grandmother use to say baby girl “No Prayer. No Power”. “Little Prayer. Little Power”. “Much Prayer. Much Power!”

Are you aware of how far you have come? I believe one of the underrated spiritual exercises is reflection. Reflection is the looking back at where you have been and what God has done. It is when you draw from your experience and allow it to make you conscious of how good God has been to you. I believe reflection is one of the keys to having great faith. Nothing fuels optimism like thinking about how miraculous your journey has been. I believe God intentionally did things a particular way in your life to reveal to you how much He loves you and how much He can be depended on. When you consider what He has done, you cannot help but have hope for all He can do. So many of the Psalms were times when David reflected on God’s goodness. I believe it was these times of reflection that gave him assurance that God would be there for him in his present crisis. One time he said, “ I have been young and now I am old, yet have I seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread.” Take time today to reflect on how good God has been to you in the past and watch how it inspires you to believe for what is yet ahead.

How confident are you in yourself? I believe there is direct link between how much faith you have and your degree of confidence. I would go so far as to say that you can measure your faith by your confidence. If God is your source, you are never lacking what you need. If God has promised you things, you always have something to look forward to. If God is all powerful, then there is nothing that you must fear. If God is with you, He is more than the world against you. Lastly, if your confidence is in the Lord, you have all the security you will ever need. I want to encourage you to make it your intention to be more confident today, knowing that God accepts you and is for you. Romans 8:31, What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Happy New year! What expectations do you have for the new year? I believe HOPE should always be our mentality. The fact that God is so good, and He can do anything but fail means we can always have high hopes. It is a misperception if you ever think good things are not ahead in your life. I am not suggesting that you will not have misfortune and challenges. However, I do believe God’s intentions for you are to bring good things in your life.

All things are working for your good. Not somethings, not isolated things but you must see the big picture. When you put all things together then you will see all the good that is coming in your life. For that reason, I believe you can expect great things this year because some things are going to finished. There are some things that God did that set you up for what He is about to do in your life NOW!

December is a very special time for us all. It is when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is one of the most amazing fulfillments of prophecy that God sent His only begotten Son into the world to save mankind. While we exchange gifts this Christmas nothing can ever equal the gift God gave us in His Son. As it is the last month of the year, it is also a time to take stock on where we are and prepare for the new season. With great anticipation, I am looking forward to building from what God has done and launching forth into all He has planned for me in the future. I just believe there will be more in 2024.

November is known for the holiday of Thanksgiving. What a wonderful time for family and friends to get together around a meal and celebrate how God has given us so much to be thankful for. This year my two daughters were here for Thanksgiving. It had been a while since we were able to have both to spend time with us for several days. I must say it was an invigorating experience to have heartfelt conversations, shopping, and catching up on what has been going on in their lives. While I did shed several tears when they left, I am so thankful for the honor and blessing to be their mom. I hope you are thankful for how God has blessed you this year. Of course, there are always challenges but there is so much that we can be grateful for because God is good all the time.

October is a month of transition in Maryland. It is the time when the season starts to change, and cold weather starts to set in. The color of the leaves is the most pronounced part of the landscape and the trees become bare. The most difficult times in our lives are always during times of transition. There is something about change that causes additional stress and uncertainty in our minds. However, the nature of life is that things are always in transition. God is the eternal Stabilizer. Our lives are always in flux. However, He is forever God. He is a rock and a foundation. We can always count on Him to be there for us and to help us as we navigate through the changes in life. I pray that you will rely on and trust in Him more and more. I hope you discover that no matter how different things may become God is always the same. Faithful, loving, and a supportive God.