Singles & Singleness: Seeing Ourselves Through God's Eyes

Was reading a short article in the June 2017 Essence and it really ministered to me. Sometimes God puts you in a place where  you don't want to be in order to sequester you to hear and start digesting His Word in you. In my case, I'm stuck in jury duty for the time being. So here's what God has put in my spirit today for the single women and men, including myself. 

God wants us to know that there is a special place in His heart for the singles in the Body of Christ. He wants us to know for sure that every tear, frustration, pain, heartbreak, heartache, feelings of confusion, anxiety, loneliness and rejection, are felt, seen, and heard. He understands and wants us to remember that we are friends of God. We have been chosen and appointed to bear everlasting fruit, so whatever you ask in the name of the Father, He may give it to us John 15:15-16.

When we view singleness as a "problem" instead of being sacred, we will constantly devalue ourselves based upon the ideals of others. God's love and love for ourselves should be the way we define our worth in the world. God's word affirms in us that we have value! In fact, we were bought with a price by God! We are not to be enslaved by the thoughts and opinions of the world 1 Corinthians 7:23! The way God sees us is not based upon what or who we think are, what we have done, or our current state in life. God knows the plans He has for us! Plans for us to prosper and not to harm us, plans that give us hope and an expected end Jeremiah 29:11! Everything that is happening in your life right now may not be easy. It may not feel comfortable and it may not be the plan you had for your life, but know right now, that GOD MAKES ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD OF THEM WHO LOVE HIM Romans 8:28!

Keep affirming to yourself through God's word and begin seeing yourself through God's eyes!

You are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God! Genesis 1:27 & Psalm 139:4

Your faith makes you whole in spirit, soul, and body! Mark 5:34

You live by faith, not by sight! 2 Corinthians 12:7

God meets all of your needs! Philippians 4:16

God keeps you in perfect peace because your mind is fixed on Him! Isaiah 26:3

You have the anointing of Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. He teaches you truth and empowers me to live a full life! 1 John 2:27

Because you seek the Lord with all your heart, you will lack no good thing! Psalm 34:10

God pours out his love into your heart by the Holy Spirit! Romans 5:5

Because you write love and faithfulness on the tablet of your heart you have favor with God! Proverbs 3:3

The “fullness of God” is available you because you am deeply rooted in the love of Christ! Ephesians 3:17-19

Changing My Armor

It's hard for some people to understand or empathize with another person's trials and life experiences. Even I have difficulty expressing outwardly the inner hurt I feel when someone is going through. I'm learning how to be a better friend emotionally.  Some of my past experiences have caused me to carry around a hard exterior and to avoid those who may actually be in need of support.

At one time in my life I needed to wear this armor because I was so destroyed emotionally, I needed the persona to make me feel stronger than what I really was at that moment. 

But now that armor is becoming a heavy burden. God told me that I've been putting on the wrong armor for far too long! He told me to hand over that heaviness for garments of joy! He told me to put on His holy armor: a belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, and shield of faith! Never to forget the helmet of salvation and my Sword, which is the Word of God!

The Power to Forgive is God-Given

Sometimes you have to be the bigger person and forgive the people who have done you wrong. Even when they are convinced they are doing the right thing with no regards as to how you feel, just forgive them and move on. 

No one has to prove anything to anyone. On that day when we must all account for our individual lives, God is not going to ask you about your opinions or what you thought about he, she, them, and what they were doing. God is going to ask you what you have done to advance the heavenly kingdom.

Life is too short to hold onto grudges and try to get back at others. We shouldn't allow gossip, jealousy, envy, or greed to consume us. We are more than conquerors! No one can get in the way of your individual prosperity if we decide to prosper by the means of prayer, fasting, and an active commitment to advance in whatever you decide to do.

The enemy's devices can only be indestructible if we perceive them to be insurmountable. 

We can do ALL things through the power of Christ within us! Nothing is too hard for God. So that means we have the power to forgive.

The Battle: I'm 30 Now

My birthday was August 6th. I'm officially 30.

And you know what...

I do feel older.... more mature.

I look at things in the world and the people around me a bit differently.

I appreciate my mother more. I treasure my grandmothers and aunt, the little time we have left together in this world.

I wonder how it feels to be in your 80s and 90s in this world today. It must be so drastically different from when they were 30. The choices they had to make. The careers they had to choose from... the children they have raised.

It makes me hurt for them.
Do they ever pine for their  youth? Or wish for someone to hear the thoughts in their minds that they can't convey into words due to the dementia and old age?

I look into their eyes and I just see the desire. The desire to respected, loved, appreciated, and needed like they once were at a point in their lives.

Just to feel important is to be important.

The gleam. I see it. It's still there. The desire. I see it. It's still there. The passion for life. I see it. Still there.

Yet when you're wrapped inside a feeble body and a mind that's going through a constant loop of memories that you are trying to hold on to for dear life... you get lost.

Forgetting. Trying to remember. That's the battle they fight everyday.

My battle?

My battle is just trying to focus. Life. Love. Family. God.
I understand, but keeping focus... that's my war.

A Thin Line Between Love and Hate: Christian on Christian Crime

A Thin Line Between Love and Hate: Christian on Christian Crime

1 John 2:3-10  (NIV)

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.

4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:

6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.

8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.

10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

When we entertain rumors, gossip, suspicion, lies, stereotypes, and fears about others in our lives, we give room for the enemy to make a presence in the way we process the truth about others and ourselves.

We are never able or capable to see, hear, understand others and overall, fully love, because we are constantly judging and pre-judging each other through the filters of prejudice, bigotry, and favoritism.

We treat the people who will and who have loved us unconditionally like dirt. But the one who means to do us harm, we treat them to a five star dinner on gold platters!

Are you entertaining the enemy in your life? Have you made a room in your heart that the enemy has taken his residence? Are you using devices of evil to keep others in bondage or to get into higher positions? 

Proverbs 26:21-23(NIV)

21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,

so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.

22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;

they go down to the inmost parts.

23 Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware

are fervent lips with an evil heart.

If you are gossiping, if you are spreading rumours, if you are lying, let me tell you... you are putting yourself on a red eye jet pass ticket to an eternity in hell!

James 3:5-8 (NIV)
5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.
6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,
8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

We have to LOVE people through their mess! I don't mean coddle, pat their back, and tell them that it's right! I mean PRAY FOR THEM! We may not agree with how people live or the choices they may make, but it is not our mission to judge people or put them in man/woman made living hell prisons!


1 John 5:16-17 (NIV)

16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

Sometimes many Christians think that by talking behind someone's back or belittling another person, you are helping that person to see that they are wrong. But this is not the way that God wants us to treat others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ! We are to PRAY for our brothers and sisters!

James 3:9-10 (NIV)
⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.
¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
Why are we choosing to the opposite of what the Word of God says to do? Why are we aiming to tear down each other with our words instead of building up and blessing each other with prayer???

People who say they love God should not have so much hate and evil in them.... they shouldn't.... but they do. These type of people are not lovers of God, because if they truly loved God, they would not do such things to other brothers and sisters in Christ.

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)

On Not Loving the World

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

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Even though the Word of God tells us not to love this world and the sin of this world, not to do bad things... we still do. The fact is, because we all have done so and will do so at one time in our lives, means WE ALL NEED TO REPENT AND CHANGE from the ways that tear down and destroy our souls. If you believe in God through Christ Jesus, you should know and believe that through His power, we are able to choose a better Way, a more perfect Way, God's Way!

1 John 5:18-20  (NIV)
¹⁸ We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
¹⁹ We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
²⁰ We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

God can and will cleanse us from the impurity of our lips, hearts, and minds. God can and will keep us from sinning. God can and will follow through with His Word. God never fails. We as believers need to take His Word seriously and understand, that our actions have consequences.

As Long As You Put God First, YOU WILL ALWAYS WIN!

SMILE!!!  :)

Phillipians 4 (KJV)

4Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

5Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

6Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let ...your requests be made known unto God.

7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

9Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

10But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.

11Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

12I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

God does not want us to become preoccupied and stressed out with the problems, difficulties, and trials we may have in this life. It is the immediate reaction of our flesh to want to take on the burdens of life and put them upon ourselves. But God does not desire us to God wants us to put ALL of our trust in Him and Him only!

 

Rejoice in the Lord right now for your victory! It may look like a dim situation, but if you put God ahead of your trial, you can't lose! If God be for us, who can be against us? (Rom.8:31) My God can do anything but fail! (Deut.31:6,8) We are MORE than conquerors! Nothing, NOTHING can seperate us from the love of God! (Rom.8:36-39).

 

Everything can go wrong around us, but isn't it good to know that we serve a God who gives us peace, that gives us the ability to endure through all of the struggles we may encounter, and in the end we ALWAYS come out VICTORIOUS! We can do ALL things... not just a few things, but ALL things through Christ who gives us the strength to them! God wants you to know that if you are with Him, you are a SUCCESS! You are always on the WINNING SIDE! Keep the faith, Stay the course, and you will finish the race!