Blog Posts

  • ONE TOUCH

    One touch from God brings healing, transformation and so much more. It is lifechanging. All it takes is one touch to see, feel, and grow a desire to walk towards him and for him.

    It changes you from feeling:

    BROKEN TO WHOLE

    SICK TO HEALED

    TORN TO MENDED

    UNLOVED TO LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY

    UNWORHTY TO WORTHY

    THAT THE OLD HAS PASSED AWAY AND YOU HAVE BEEN MADE NEW!

    Everything the enemy and this broken world has to offer is absolutely temporary. The enemy will send continuous lies and attacks in the hopes that you will eventually believe him and not go after “THE ONE” touch God has to offer.

    But let me tell you, when you trust God no matter what things look like or feel like, when you let him mold you and shape you into the man or woman, he created you to be, all you need is, ONE TOUCH from God to experience a change in everything.

    Maybe you been going through somethings (aren’t we all), maybe (sometimes) you have been praying about things and nothing seems to change. My question to you is: How bad do you want change not just in the situation you are facing but ALL things? He has a purpose for you, but will you still believe ONE TOUCH will change things as you walk through good and bad things.

    Romans 8:28 - And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for him.

    How desperate are you to get to him for that ONE TOUCH, however he would have you receive it. Maybe he sends it through a man or woman of God that would speak over you, pray over you, or lay hands on you. Maybe he sends it through a song that this time it hits you different and it brings you to tears hearing one part that sent that ONE TOUCH you needed to keep going.

    Desperate: (of an act or attempt) tried in despair or when everything else has failed; having little hope of success.

    One Touch from him and you will never be the same again.

    The bible says the woman with the issue of blood knew this:

    Matthew 9:21 – for she thought, “If I can just touch his rove, I will be healed.”

    12 years she suffered with this issue. She was so desperate that she spent all her money to fix it, she went to doctors and healers and not one healed her but made it worse. She was hopeless until she heard Jesus was coming. She pushed through the crowd to get to him. It couldn’t have been easy to get through but that is how desperate she was, she let nothing stop her. Are you desperate enough to push through all the obstacles, trials, and struggles stopping at nothing for ONE TOUCH? In her thoughts she knew all she needed was one touch and she would be healed.

    How long have you been searching high and low, going from place to place and person to person and like this woman with the issue of blood never getting better? That is until her encounter with the one that could change all things with ONE TOUCH.

    When will we realize that all we need is ONE TOUCH from the one that makes all thing new. This woman’s life was changed in an instant. Her life was changed from being called an outcast and reject to “DAUGHTER”. You also have the same opportunity to receive ONE TOUCH, that changes all things and be called HIS. Are you desperate enough? Will you do what it takes to get it?

    I don’t know if you have experienced ONE TOUCH from Him. I feel I have, and I know that with everything in me, I want you to experience it too. Even as life happens and I get overwhelmed and maybe fall apart, God always comes again with that ONE TOUCH and heals me of anything that I was holding on to longer than I should have.

    ONE TOUCH FROM HIM CHANGED ME! For me it was when I said YES to follow him. It was days when everything seemed to be flipped upside down and I wanted every day to end just as fast as it came. Then I was introduced to the God that sent his son just for me. The great thing is not just for me, for you too. That day God used the rain for me to somehow hear, “Give me a chance.” As I have grown in my walk with God, I see, He didn’t just touch me that day but even still does today. Life happens and so much changes but the one thing that never did was…. HIM! His ONE TOUCH still heals, transforms, changes things, and makes things new today as he did then. I want you to know that it wasn’t an accident that you would read this blog. God knew and set up this divine appoint because you also needed his – ONE TOUCH!

    PS… Never forget that as you are waiting in the midst, whatever it maybe, God is with you. Don’t give up! Keep going – Breakthrough is coming! – Melissa

  • YOU ARE CHOSEN

    Ephesians 4:1 - Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 

    This entry is a REMINDER. If you're anything like me, maybe you need this reminder because somewhere along the way, you started to lose focus or maybe even lost focus. The enemy is out to steal kill and destroy. John 10:10 (NLT)- The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. He does everything he can to get you in a place where you begin to believe his lies. You lose focus and the lies seem like maybe they are true. The focus gets blurry when you begin to struggle with things new and old, the trials seem to be never-ending, the pain you been going through seems to be taking much longer than you ever thought or even that feeling where you feel you just got drop kicked in the chest and in the past you were able to get up and be ready to go again but this time:
    it seems harder
    this time it hurts way more,
    this time it feels like your grip is loosening this time you feel more alone than you ever have,
    this time everything seems to be to be destroyed to be repaired,
    this time it seems that darkness is surrounding you, but there is light! 
    HIM! THE LORD! HE IS THERE! HE NEVER LEFT YOU! HE CHOSE YOU!

    I sat in tears writing in the joy of the Lord because I know if you stopped to read this, it is not an accident. It was HIS plan for you to read this and encourage you that it is time to tell the enemy that HE IS A LIAR!

    To be honest, HE has reminded me over and over that He is ordering my steps. Proverbs 16:9 (NLT) - We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. In moments I think I'm alone I see, HE never has left me and he's even putting more people in my life that are praying, watching over me, and helping to build me up.

    I AM CHOSEN! HE CHOSE ME!
    Before I was even born, he chose me. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 

    Tears of joy as I think; How, just how could I be so special to HIM that even before I was born, HE CHOSE ME? 
    He chose me:
    despite my past, 
    despite my every failure
    despite my poor choices
    despite my rebellion
    despite my running away from him,
    despite my being angry with him, HE still chose me!
    An overwhelming unconditional love that you just never want to let go. I want to repeat it so much so others that hear me want to have it too, I want everyone to know what I know. I can say it makes me feel I am enough; I am worthy, I am loved, I have purpose, I am forgiven because I AM CHOSEN!

    I just can't end this without saying that you are here reading this to the very end because God wants you to remind you OR even if you didn't know:  HE CHOSE YOU TOO!

    Get up! Tell the enemy he lost because you remembered or was informed that you have the VICTORY! 

    YOU ARE CHOSEN!!!

  • COME BACK

    Luke 1:37 – For with God nothing will be impossible.

    This entry is a little different because it’s part of a message I shared with my church. That message I struggled to give because it had me feeling like it was two messages. I see now, it is two messages.

    The first message God asked me:

    “CAN THE BONES LIVE?”

    This message God is asking:

    “CAN THE BONES LIVE?

    Ezekiel 37 speaks of dry dead bones and that God asks him this very question.

    Ezekiel 37:3 – Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”

    In this message, He wants me to see how close I became to becoming dry dead bones. I cried again as he worked in me to bring this message to you, just as he was placing it in my heart again to share.

    He did not want me to forget the hurt HE felt as he sees, I’m still struggling to have that passion and love I first had for HIM, that first love feeling. HE sees I’m still struggling to spend intimate time with HIM. He sees I’m struggling to worship, to sing at my house or in my car like before.

    All I can continue to say is… BUT GOD…is so good!! Even as I have fallen so very short and undeserving to hear HIM still tell me:

    ‘YOU’RE MINE!”

    “I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU!”

    “I CHOSE YOU!”

    “I WANT YOU BACK!”

    “COME BACK”

    1 Peter 2:9 – But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priest, a holy nation. God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God for he has called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

    I am chosen! You reading this are chosen!

    We often get lost in our circumstances, our situations, the trials, the battles that have us feeling we are surrounded by dry dead bones. The natural eye will see dry dead bones that couldn’t possibly live. I felt this and felt so disconnected from “THE ONE” that could make the bones live. I realized, I am not dead, and I opened my eyes to see HE wanted me back. God is calling for HIS church back. I am the church; you are the church too! I want you to know, He will bring the dead bones to life.

    Those dead bones do live, why? Because He said it! He told Eziekiel to prophesy over the bones, and He also tells you to prophesy over what you see in your life as dead bones.

    COME BACK!!!

    COME BACK BECAUSE IT’S DONE!

    COME BACK AND RECIEVE YOUR HEALING!

    COME BACK AND RECIEVE RESTORATION!

    COME BACK AND WATCH YOUR FAMILY BE LED TO THE ONE TRUE KING!

    COME BACK AND RECIEVE FREEDOM!

    COME BACK AND RECIEVE THE MARRIAGE YOU DESERVE!

    COME BACK AND SEE THE BREAK TRHOUGH!

    COME BACK AND WATCH HIM BRING DEATH TO LIFE!

    This entry is for YOU that maybe backslid and now you feel your walk is too broken to repair, for the one who’s relationship with God feels so disconnected that you can’t even imagine how he will even accept you back, for the one that’s lost all hope, and for the ones that never even know there was a GOD that could bring dry dead bones to life.

    So, I reshare this to tell you: COME BACK! HE SAID THE BONES WILL LIVE! HE IS ASKING YOU AS HE ASKED EZEKIEL! CAN THESE BONES LIVE? TO SEE THE AMAZING THING EZEKIEL SAW, YOU HAVE TO ALSO PROPHESY OVER YOUR SITUATION, THE DEAD BONES YOU SEE AND BELIEVE, SPEAK LIFE AND WATCH GOD BRING TO LIFE WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS DEAD!

  • HAVE YOU CONSIDERED?

    Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

    “FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU,” SAYS THE LORD.

    Let that sink in because HE does have plans for you, but if you are anything like me, maybe you don’t always see it. Maybe it’s hard to see because it seems like you have gone battle after battle and hurt after hurt, and maybe the plans seem blurred, but… HAVE YOU CONSIDERED, the rest of the verse.

    ”THEY ARE PLANS FOR GOOD AND NOT FOR DISASTER, TO GIVE A FUTURE AND A HOPE.”

    To consider means to think about, to contemplate, to reflect, to acknowledge, to recognize, but it doesn’t mean to ignore, reject, or overlook.

    We go through things and think, ” God these plans you have for me seem to be hurting me more than helping,”

    BUT!

    Have you considered the change in you? The change that happens to you and within you because of the battles, trials, and struggles. They hurt and are uncomfortable, and all you want to do is get to a safe place.I want to tell you, God is your safe place!  For me, I never considered that in my weakness, I’d find strength within me to keep getting up every time the enemy knocked me down with something.

    2 Corinthians 12:9-10 – 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. We have to know that the enemy will not stop. He is just tries harder. I want you to know that through it, God never leaves you. In the darkness, you find light.

    Maybe you are down but once you realize the newfound strength within you. Just look up, you will see the hand of God move on your behalf. Psalm 121:1-2 – I look up to the mountains does my help come from there? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! The moment you look up, and realize, HE ‘S there, you will begin to believe the other half of the verse – THEY ARE PLANS FOR GOOD AND NOT DISASTER, TO GIVE YOU A FUTURE AND A HOPE.

    I never considered that thru the hurt, through the changes, and the trials that HE was preparing me and building me up for the promises and the plans he has for me. I don’t know what you’re going through or what you’ve gone through, but I pray that you keep this verse close and repeat it so much you won’t forget it and you always remember…. HE KNOWS THE PLANS HE HAS FOR YOU!

    Our ways aren’t HIS ways! His ways aren’t ours! Isaiah 55:8-9 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,so, my ways are higher than your way and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Let’s be honest, who, wouldn’t pick the easiest, shortest, less painful way. Through the battles, trials, and struggles you may feel you’ve lost. You feel you lost when things didn’t turn out the way you thought they were going to turn out. LIES!! Don’t let the lies of the enemy get you to believe that your ways are better than God’s way. I want to tell you that no matter how much you hurt, struggle, and fight, God’s way, HIS way is the best way. He won’t leave you down and broken and if you let HIM do things HIS way it brings growth, endurance, love, strength, and so much more.

    Walk in confidence that his plans for you will come together. You will realize it was all worth it. You will then look forward to a better future, and you find the hope you thought you lost is still found in God. Keep the faith. Faith doesn’t mean you won’t have questions. To me, it just means you will keep going and trust that even if it hurts, I will keep going because I know who to take it all to. I can trust that EVEN If it’s the darkest, driest place I’ve ever walked, crawled, or dragged my way through, I know that just on the other side, is the plans GOD has for me.

    HAVE YOU CONSIDERED?

    Have you considered that through your greatest pain, is where you find your ministry waiting to be born. HE planned it for good, for a future and a hope.

  • DON’T GET COMFORTABLE!

    ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:18‭-‬19‬ ‭NLT‬‬ - [18] “But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. [19] For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

    Don’t get comfortable in the old!

    Don’t settle for the bare minimum!

    Don’t keep all that brought you down!

    DON’T! DON’T! DON’T!

    GOD HAS SOMETHING NEW!

    Something new for me – I claim it!

    Something new for you – are you claiming it!

    Forget the old – that’s NOTHING!

    It’s nothing compared to what’s coming. He’s doing a new thing. GET READY!

    FOCUS! So you can see he has already started! Stop letting the enemy blind you.  Let me be honest – I’m guilty of allowing the enemy to blind me and keep me from seeing that God has already started something new.

    What has he started in you and for you? Have you shifted your focus on God to see the greatness he has coming your way?  Don’t lose out on greatness!!

    The wilderness you’re scared to walk through because you haven’t been through that path or maybe you did and and got hurt.

    OR

    The parts of your life that you’ve allowed the enemy to turn into an overgrown  and dead wasteland. It happens because the enemy growls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬ – [8] Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

    Stay alert! It’s to distract you from believing that God is bringing to life the life he has for you.  You have unused gifts, talents, words, discernment, and so much more. Just fill in the blank.

    DON’T GET COMFORTABLE! DONT SETTLE FOR THE BARE MINIMUM! DON’T BE OK IN THE DRY, BARREN, AND OVERGROWN THINGS THE ENEMY KEEPS THROWING AT YOU!

    GOD IS DOING SOMETHING NEW! WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT IS COMING!

    So if you don’t know Christ as your Lord and Savior, know you didn’t stumble across this blog by accident. HE’S calling you to come recieve your something new. All you need to do is call unto him and let him in. Let him be your everything, your Lord and Savior.

    If you’ve fallen and can’t seem to get back up because of your current situation. You feel your focused on your current position – down and out. But God has said, ” I didn’t guide you to this blog by accident, it’s time to forget the old because I have a new thing for you!”

    If you’ve settled, gotten complacent, reading this blog still isn’t an accident. God is even telling you -“DON’T GET COMFORTABLE! IT’S TIME! IM BRINGING SOMETHING NEW TO LIFE. GET READY!

    It’s up to you to grab onto your new thing!

  • Pain to the Promise: Hold On!

    1 Peter 5:10 – But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

    Athletes have to train to reach a point of higher endurance, greater strength, and stronger discipline to reach their goal of a higher level of competition. They don’t stay or want to stay at the same level they have been competing in. There is no ignoring the fact that the competition also have the same mindset. They want to level up! To level up they prepare. They prepare themselves in every area for those coming after them. The main goal of those coming is to make you drop a level or even remove you from the whole competition. Guess who else wants to drop you from your walk with Christ and doesn’t want you to get back up. He wants you dead. John 10:10 – The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

    Training is part of the preparation.

    • No one likes the pain that comes with the goal you have in mind.
    • No one enjoys the pain, but what we do enjoy is: the results of our training as we reach and pass goals and make new ones.
      • Example: My sons trained for wrestling and Jujitsu. They hated the training, the soreness, the bloody noses, the scrapes, the dislocated collar bones, but when they stepped on the matt and the times, they were at the top of their game and were advanced to a higher level and winning. They loved stepping on the podium to receive their medal, belt, or sword.

    My point is we have to go through the process and just because we are Christain doesn’t mean we are exempt from PAIN! We want to be exempt and to be honest when I first gave my life to God, I thought that I was exempt, but I am not. It just doesn’t work that way. Even Jesus endured the most extreme unimaginable pain on the cross all for YOU and ME! He did it, He went through the process because He trusted God the Father and His love. Even in His moment of asking is there another way but still he went through the pain of the process. Luke 22:42 – “Father, if you are willing, please take his cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

    COMFORT is what we want to experience to our promise. It’s natural to want comfort, who doesn’t want to be comfortable all the time. We know that God uses the difficult circumstances that we come across in our lives to develop and transform us. John 16:33- I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. God is calling me and calling you to go through this process to experience the growth we need for what he is calling us for now and the next level coming. I know I will have to go through some pain to get to my promise, but being honest when I’m going through the pain, when I’m struggling to continue my walk, when I’m hurting, when I feel like I keep falling and every time it seems harder to get up, I forget this is the process to get closer to my promise. The pain is part of the process but just, HOLD ON! Hold on because the last time that I thought I wouldn’t or couldn’t get back up and by the strength of God I did, and you will too. I thought I just couldn’t continue this walk with God, but I am, and I want more. We avoid the pain through the process so just don’t try it but hold on because God will not let you go.

    We want comfort! We want the easiest, smoothest, and fastest route to our promise. No pain, just easy and comfortable! The world will tell you to cover your sadness, anger, anxiety, or hurt with a pill, alcohol or something else. Don’t get me wrong if a doctor prescribed it then go for it but to use things to cover things up to not feel the pain will not make any of it go away. It will still be there! It isn’t gone! It’s covered up and hidden for a moment! BUT HOLD ON! GOD is standing with you, and he will not let you go.

    We have to build, train, and search for THE ONE that can get us through the pain that seems like will never end but I want to tell you HOLD ON! That pain is temporary. 2 Corinthians 4:17- for our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!

    JUST HOLD ON! Hold on and look up and trust HIM!

    The pain to your promise requires preparation. We have to train to be able to fulfil our purpose to get to our promise.

    SO:

    We will make mistakes…BUT HOLD ON!

    We will want to quit…BUT HOLD ON!

    We will fall …. BUT HOLD ON! Get up and keep going!!

    I want you to know you aren’t reading this blog by accident. It has all been God’s plan. I encourage you as you read not to dwell in the pain but take some time in prayer and ask God, ” What are you trying to show or teach me?” As much as we want to, we can’t take short cuts. Short cuts won’t help you or build you up, it takes away from your growth.

    JUST HOLD ON! The pain to your promise may make you feel broken but even broken, God will restore, transform, and rebuild you into a better version of yourself through him, making you stronger and wiser to be able to help others know that if they just hold on, the pain to the promise is life changing!

  • DON’T LOOK BACK!

    Genesis 19:26 – But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.

    Judgement was coming to Sodom and Gomorrah!
    God had mercy on Lot and his family. He sent warnings for them to escape before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah hit.
    As you read this, I ask:

    WHAT WARNINGS IS GOD SENDING TO YOU, TO YOUR FAMILY, TO THE
    COMMUNITY YOU LIVE IN AND EVEN YOUR CHURCH TO ESCAPE THIS BROKEN WORLD?

    He is sending warnings, but are we hearing them or ignoring them? God was so merciful that he sent angels to warn Lot and his family, and still, they had to be rescued by force to leave and with specific instructions.

    What warnings and instructions has God sent your way?
    Or can I ask? Are you banking on the same mercy that was given to Lot and his family because they still hesitated on what was about to happen.

    Genesis 19:16 – When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hand of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful.

    Their Instructions were: ESCAPE, RUN, DON’T LOOK BACK OR STOP!

    Genesis 19:17 - When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!

    If, as I am giving this message, you begin to think or wonder what the instructions are for you,
    your family, your community, and / or the church, I want to tell you:

    REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE!! 

    Luke 17:32-33 – 32) Remember what happened to Lot’s wife. 33) If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.

    We know the story, we know what happened to Lot’s wife?

    She suffered an INSTANT death! Why?

    1. She was disobedient after being given direct. and specific instructions.
    2. She was rebellious.
    3. She didn’t trust, she doubted, and she didn’t believe the warnings of what was to
    come.
    4. She longed for and desired for what she was leaving behind, and what did she do:

    SHE LOOKED BACK AND TURNED INTO A PILLAR OF SALT.

    Salt is a double-edged sword.

    It can be used to preserve and enhance taste, but too much can destroy. Lot’s wife paid the
    consequence for her looking back.

    Is there something God is telling you not to look back on? Do you see that if there is and you ignore the warnings and look back, it could cost you more than you wanted to or thought you’d have to pay. Lot’s wife paid with her life.

    You see, she chose death when God offered her far more than what she stopped to look
    back at because she thought she wanted what she left behind more.

    Delaying, lingering in the things of the world, we are doing the very same thing as Lot’s wife.

    I ask you: Are you ready to pay the price for a moment to look back at something that
    God is trying to rescue you from?

    It’s not easy! It’s not easy because maybe you’re like me and say I’m just used to that way
    of living, but I come to tell you that you’re not that person anymore. For me, God has been trying to tell me that for so long because I keep looking back to the woman I used to be. I keep looking back, trying to do things the way I used to all because I feel God isn’t moving fast enough. Who am I to tell God he isn’t moving fast enough when He has been present in my life through the hardest moments trying to move me away from who I was to who he is calling me to be. To be truly transparent, I sat in my living room in tears reading:

    2 Corinthians 5:17- This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

    My new life has begun! I don’t need to look back at what was! Because God has the promises, he
    gave me and more ahead of me. AS I write this I want you to know: YOUR NEW LIFE HAS BEGUN!

    REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE!!
    DON’T LOOK BACK!

    Lot’s wife was given the escape plan to be spared of the destruction that was to come. All I could
    think of was: Why wasn’t what God had for Lot’s wife good enough?

    Then…then… I could hear over and over was: WHY ISN’T WHAT GOD HAS GOOD ENOUGH
    FOR YOU MELISSA? So as I sat and wrote this, I began asking God to forgive me because I know what he has for me is more than good enough and far more than I deserve! I’m walking forward to what God has for me despite what lies behind me.

    I challenge each and every one of you reading this blog to REMEMBER LOTS WIFE! Let go and don’t look back! That life you leave behind isn’t for you anymore! Run towards what God has for you! Don’t stop to look back at the lie that the enemy is trying to get you to go back to. He wants you to believe that what you leave behind is better than what God has for you. It’s a lie! Keep going, look forward, and Chase after God.

  • REDEEMED

    Isaiah 44:22  - I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free. "

    Sin has caused us all to fall short at some time in our lives. Not one of us can say we haven’t sinned because we are human, we make mistakes and fall to sin. You reading this have sinned, I writing this blog have sinned, and even the person you least expect has most likely sinned. Romans 3:23 – For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. There is not one perfect person. Romans 3:10 – As the scriptures say, “No one is righteous- not even one.

    Sometimes we fall so far into sin and end up paying a cost we never wanted to pay and find out that the cost is much higher then we ever thought. Never did we think the walk back to Christ would be so difficult.

    We look and it seems there’s no way out, it looks completely dark, and then it just begins to feel like it is just easier to stay in the sin. You find yourself so deep in this lie of the enemy, this sin that now you feel like your climbing and climbing and getting nowhere, you feel like your trying to run back to God and you realize your still in the sin, you try to hide and hide but the sin still finds you and you end up staying. Why stay, when God provides a way out.

    1 Corinthians 10:13 – The temptations in your life are no different from what others expereince. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptations to be more that you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

    It’s hard to get out because satan will stay steady in your ear reminding you over and over of your sin. Satan calls you by your sin but God call you by name. Isaiah 43:1- But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you, O Isreal, the one who formed you says, “Don’t be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.

    The strategy, the scheme of the enemys is the hope that you will begin to believe the lie and allow that sin to define you. This world we live in today is so broken that everywhere we turn, everywhere we look, sin is there and the enemy will use it all to steal, kill, and destory. John 10:10 – The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purposes is to give the a rich and satisfying life,

    Sin is missing the target that God has for us.

    Sin is breaking His laws

    Sin is what is separating you from God.

    Sin is death!

    I want you to know, that even covered in sin God is still waiting , and watching for you to come to or return to Him. The enemy will try to stop you by calling you alcoholic, addict, adulterer, thief, liar, and so much more BUT GOD calls you HIS. He came to set you free! He came to redeem you! Ephesians 1: 7 – In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, accordign to the riches of His grace

    Redemption is paying the price to purchase something; paying a ransom.

    Through redemption we are forgiven when we ask and so your sin, my sin – PAID FOR!

    Sin blinds you and separates you from God in such a way that it is incredibly hard for you to see how much He loves you. I can’t give a comparison of what His love looks like because that love is true and pure that it is even a greater love than that of the love a parent would have for their child. So if you’re a parent and you know you love your child to no end, can you imagine how great the love God has for us is? I don’t have to remind you that He gave his only son to die for us. John 3:16 – “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

    His love is true!

    His love is real!

    His love is unlimited!

    So stand up and stand tall with confidence and faith that your sins are forgiven when you ask.

    YOU ARE REDEEMED!

  • THE KEY

    PROVERBS 16:9 - We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

    What are your plans for your life? Most of us can give a general answer but what I want to ask is:

    Are they your plans or are they the plans God has for you?

    I will tell you about my own life before I chose to accept God in my life, I lived my life the way I wanted and how I wanted. I lived my life believing no one would or could change anything about how I wanted to live.

    What I can see now that I didn’t then is that my steps were always ordered by God –

    Whether I wanted to believe it or not.

    Whether I was going to be obedient to his word or not.

    Whether I was going to continue to run or not.

    Whether I took the long way or the short way.

    The plans for my life, have always been ordered and determined by God.

    I come to tell you, whether you believe it or not your steps are ordered too.

    Maybe as you read this you are thinking, “well she’s writing this because she has it all together and that’s why its easy for her to walk the path God has for her.”

    Let me tell you, if I sound or if you seen me and I look like I have it all together well I give God all the honor and praise because it is the peace I receive from our mighty God. Its the peace that I can feel from him as he continues to calm the storm around me when all I want to do is find the easiest, fastest, and safest way off the rocking boat.

    If I sound like I have it all together, I want you to know that the enemy has come what seems like over and over punching me in the face and taking me out at the knees. He comes repeatedly thinking he came up with the best strategy, assignment, or attack he sent my way, has me out for the count. Let me just tell you, it’s not that I have it all together it is the peace of God within me knowing he orders my steps. I know now that I may have been hit so hard that I fell to my knees but I am in the best position to bring it all to God and to praise him even through the storm. I get back up because, THE ENEMY IS A LIAR AND DEFEATED! He tried and continues to try but what he intended for harm God turns it around. Genesis 50:20 – You intended to hard me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of any people. I wasn’t and won’t be out for the count, I am receiving…THE KEY to the strength, the love, the peace, the direction for what comes next and so much more.

    I stand up! I keep going! It hurts, its hard but I’ve learned that even if the path before me isn’t completely visible to me with my natural eyes, I walk trusting ‘THE ONE’ leading me through it one step at a time.

    My excitement in sharing this encouragement is that, THE KEY isn’t just attainable to me but it attainable to all who will accept God in their lives and trust him as he orders their steps. So stand up because the enemy is a LIAR and DEFEATED!

    Let me tell you, I was a mess. I cried every single day. I was mad every single day. I wanted to even die at times to not feel or hurt. I wanted to stop this Christian walk so many times because all I saw was hurt after hurt and attack and after attack knocking me down over and over. One day was different. I remembered when God said, “Give me a chance” and I did, my life changed. He gave me a key to HIM. A key that was always there that in the past, I just over looked it or thought it wasn’t for me. Now I realize now, it’s the key I have always been searching for in my life. Only my own plans weren’t fit for that key because God had other plans for me. This key has given me the love, the peace, the strength, and so much more in Christ that I never knew really existed.

    I am not saying I’m perfect or happy every second of the day because I am human. I have struggles, cry, and breakdown in emotions. I write telling you, it’s only God that has transformed me from a woman that would fight, argue, and walk away from anything that would make me feel vulnerable or too transparent, to a woman that trusts God with my whole heart knowing, I may not be an artist but I trust the painter who holds the paint brush for my life.

    So I leave you with this thought…

    What are your plans for your life and are you willing to let go of your ways for God’s ways, to pick up that key that holds everything you been searching for in HIM? 

    




    

    



    


    


    






  • 

    EVEN IF
    


    

    

    

    

    

    




    Daniel 3:14-18 – 14) Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I set up?15) I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you reuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to recue you from my power? 16)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17)If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18)But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue up.”
    




    Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego got ratted out! They were turned in to the king for not following an order to bow down and worship the golden statue. The king gave them one more chance. This so called chance was really one more chance to bow down to a statue they knew didn’t deserve the honor. One more chance to sin against God and really to bow down to the world. One more chance to chose life or death. One more chance to reject the world or be part of it.
    




    As you read through this, I ask you where do you stand when your one more chance comes around? What does your one more chance look like to you and those watching you?
    




    Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood before the king and boldly stated they didn’t need to defend their decision. They would not bow down to their god, they confidently declared that the God they served would deliver them.  They could stand boldly before the king because they knew the ability, the power, and authority of God.
    




    My question is Do you know the ability, power, and authority of God? 
    




    They knew God would save them from burning in the furnace and even save them from the king.
    




    Again I ask: Do you know that God can and will save you from this burning broken world.
    




    They boldly declared that EVEN IF…EVEN IF he didn’t, they wouldn’t go against God.
    




    

    

    

    

    Often times people will complain and even ask:
    




    God why haven’t you gotten me out of this or that?
    




    God how is this situation fair?
    




    God, why am I still hurting and struggling?
    

    

    

    

    




    And in all those questions at times people walk away because this Christian walk is just too hard. Often times people end up believing the lies that it is better to bow down to this broken world we live in because things seem easier. I remind you again that nowhere in the bible does it say we won’t have struggles or trials. In fact, the bible says:
    




    John 16:33 – I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
    




    

    So, I ask you tonight:
    




    EVEN IF…God says not yet.
    




    EVEN IF…God says no.
    

    




    Can you still boldly proclaim that you trust Him and keep walking through the fire, through the storm?
    




    Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t back down, they didn’t stray away from what they knew God would and could do. They wouldn’t deny God EVEN IF… His plan was different from theirs.
    




    I want to ask : Can you and will you stand tall and together trusting God through all things EVEN IF… his plan isn’t looking like what you thought it would. Let me tell you at times it can be hard. So hard, but I come telling you that if you trust God with your everything, even in death for his honor and glory, YOU WIN!
    




    Weather the death be life, a relationship, a job or whatever it may be, stay faithful in all situations and remember what the enemy meant for evil God intended for good.
    




    Genesis 50:20 – You intended to hard me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.
    




    How deep is your love for God?
    




    Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego displayed the deepest love for God. Today we actually see many do have a love for God and serve him but in their own selfish ways. They will serve God  but still love the world, still sin, and love themselves more.
    




    1 John 2:15 – Do not love this world not the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
    




    Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were bold enough to say, EVEN IF he doesn’t.
    




    I leave you with this thought:
    




    

    

    

    EVEN IF IT’S NOT WHEN YOU THOUGHT.
    




    EVEN IF IS ISN’T HOW YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE.
    




    OR EVEN IF HE DOESN’T
    

    

    

    




    Are you bold enough to deny the enemy when things come against you and be obedient no matter the cost?
    




    EVEN IF… the cost seems too high, Can you still say, “ I will not bow down to no other god but MY GOD ALMIGHTY!