Don’t Go Back
Maybe Abraham knew that if his son went back, he would probably stay and forfeit the promise and blessing God had given us. Thus we’d also be disqualified of the blessing. When I reflect on this story, I realize that yes, you don’t have to forget where you came from, but you don’t always need to go back.
Enable Repeat
If I had any superpower in the world, I’d wish for the power of consistency. It’s a stubborn little task, the ability to be consistent without getting distracted by new, shiny, and attractive things. A restraint to not having a squirrel mentality allows you to follow a straight path, keep going, and stay on track.
My Unexpected Guest
God showed me that if I couldn’t be prepared for my lesson, how would I ever be prepared for my blessing? My heart sank, and my mood had instantly changed. I had almost turned around to go back home because I was angry with myself. We have so many opportunities, yet we only take them when they’re convenient.
The Fruit of Obedience
We say we want to be obedient, but we don't mean it. We're secretly asking God for baby steps of our faith, unnerved by the consequences and sacrifices that would come if God really asked us to make Bold Faith moves.
To all my Single Ladies
Singleness is a slow season, something that shouldn’t be rushed or hurried. It’s like a good meal being prepared for Thanksgiving. It takes months of planning, days of preparation, and hours of slowly being cooked in the oven to release its sweet aroma and tender juices. Singleness is savory, and it takes patient obedience.
The Long Prayer
I am rigid with my friends in this area, asking and reminding them to give me live praise reports as they happen. So that I can go back at that time to be reminded of God’s faithfulness to continually answer prayers in every season.
Life is a Memory
Maybe you can share this same feeling with me. Perhaps you wake up with a long list of to-dos or goals to achieve, or maybe a thing God has placed on your spirit and life has gotten in the way, and you simply forget to do it. Again, either willingly or unwillingly. Because we all know that there are some things, we try to close our eyes to forget or close our ears to pretend that we haven’t heard.
For the Ride or Die Believers
Admittedly, one of my favorite movies is Bad Boys II. There's something in the chemistry between Martin Lawrence and Will Smith that makes this movie work. It's hard to find that kind of chemistry, that kind of belief that these two men were the ones you called on when you were in trouble.
**Optional Faith**
Recently I’ve come to a crossroads in my life, one that I’ve seen in the distant distance, but now I have arrived at its intersection, trying to reason and understand what path to go. It’s a choice and decision that we all have to make eventually in our lifetime. However, I often see many people walk right past it, ignore it, create their own, or take another path or altogether.
Our growth phase is our best phase
Let me share something with you, resting requires discipline, which thus also involves obedience. Of course, the two are synonymous with each other around here as we walk in purpose and walk in faith.
Watch out for the Harbingers!
They usually appear as warning signs, whether they occur in a natural state like something that looks out of place or when you get a "funny" feeling about a person.
They could also occur as "strange" dreams. Last year, I had a dream of encountering a red and orange snake wrapped around my shower curtain rod. I now know that was a harbinger.
Mite-y Faith
Can we get comfortable in holding space and grace with where we are, with what we have?
It doesn’t matter if your little bit looks more or less than mine, but your first is where it starts and where it counts.
Today’s forecast
Your atmosphere doesn’t always have to be external, but it can also be the inner dialogue that lies deep in our minds and the thousands of thoughts we have every hour of every day. All those thoughts incubate the current seeds that we have planted, it’s then where you start realizing that the fruit looks a little off, it’s misconfigured, it’s ugly, it doesn’t taste right.
The Spirit of Baking
I want to say that we have all been provided with instructions. Let’s be wise enough this week to take them out, assess what we have, knowing that even if it appears that we lack in some of the ingredients. God has somehow already accounted for it, that the cookies will still come out tasting better with half a bag of chocolate chips than a brand-new bag.
Spiritual Collagen
Faithing it until you make it sounds like a good idea, but to me, it also sounds without thought, without purpose. It is just rolling through your walk without any intentionality, which could be dangerous.Faith has levels, zip codes, and even degrees to it. When you think you've figured it out, there is more to be discovered, developed, understood, and to be challenged.
50 Shades of Black / It looks different in the light
Our standard light only hits 180 degrees of our situation. We take the issue and think that it's good, but we never evaluated it in the light on the flip side. You know this to be true for all my ladies who wear and have tried to apply make-up in a dark bathroom without good lighting.
That’s a good idea…
Ideas need obedience. We have to take captive, or should I say write them down, and then plan to work them out the best we can.
The Cues of Life
So why don’t we respond to the cues of life, the little yellow and red flags along the way? Remember the game from our youth? Red Light... Green Light... Yellow Light. Our life cues work similarly, as the Holy Spirit conducts the game. Discernment, in short, is to make wise decisions in difficult situations. One thing you should know about me if you don’t already, is that I am very attuned to my body. It wasn’t easy, but I have learned the ability to make smart decisions as it comes to my health and overall well-being over the years. Do I get right all the time? Absolutely not, but everything is a process, a step toward the right direction—perception to perceive my truth.
Dust and Mirrors
For me, dust in this instance represents anything that isn’t true to my identity. Dust can equate to values, habits, attitudes, or anything that I’ve picked up over the years from culture or maybe even loved ones. Overall, it’s not your true self.
Measuring Your Soil
Each of these can represent a different condition of our soil. As I pulled out my plant soil measurer, and yes, it's a real thing. I began to go around my house, testing the condition of my house plants. One was dry, while the other was moist in some places and wet in different spots. I'd be remiss if I didn't write about this as we explore weekly about mending our soil, seeds, and essentially the plants that take root within our lives.