Inspiration and Encuragement Comes from Everywhere

Don't mind the messenger, mind the message. B. Scott spoke to me and could be speaking to you too.

It happens around the half way point... click the link to get there because I can't figure out how to get the volume on this!

a great forward...

God has it under control!

"DO NOT GET WORKED UP…GOD WILL HELP YOU DEAL WITH WHATEVER HARD THINGS COME UP…" MATTHEW 6:34 (TM)

Fear is just a ‘grown-up’ version of worry! If you let one in, the other comes with it. Stop and take inventory; of the things you worried about last year, or even last week, how many came to pass? And how many did you change by worrying? And did worrying make them better or worse? And what about the physical and emotional toll it is taking on you?

And what does your worrying say to those who know you are a follower of Christ? ‘What can I do?’ you ask. You will only stop worrying about tomorrow, when you learn to place it in the hands of the One who holds all our tomorrows.

Listen: ‘Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you’ (Psalm 37:5 NLT). By committing each day to the Lord, you are trusting Him to go before you and work things out in your favour. It is amazing what you accomplish when you live, trusting God a day at a time.

Have a Blessed Weekend All!

the begining of my testimony...

A Long Time Coming but It Came...

After returning from a two year trip to London, England I decided to become a writer. I made up my mind to pursue the one thing that I've loved doing since I was young (I began writing my first book when I was 12).

It took a lot of work and a LOT of applications (and prayers!) but I finally got a position as a writer for AMOI Magazine. This month's issue features not just one article by me, but four and my book section contributions. Some of you guys might know that AMOI asked me to become their Book Section Editor and this was even before I began working in the publishing industry (I've been working full-time for a book publishing company for two months now).

Long story short: God is Great and worthy to be praised! Amen

You all (in Canada) need to go out and get this issue of AMOI! Available everywhere...Shoppers Drugmart, Zellers, Walmart, Chapters...

and God willing I will have some more big news regarding my writing before the end of 2008

Stay Blessed and Remember to Chase Your Dreams..not the money!

Employing Patience

We know the promises but it's so hard to believe them.

Consider the following dialogue between my spiritual being and my human being:

• All things work together for good
• So then why am I working somewhere that doesn't use all my talents and that I hate?
• For God's glory
• How does God get glory from me suffering
• In His time your mourning will turn to gladness
• Why is His timing so delayed, I'm suffering now
• Count it all joy when you fall into various trials
• Why, Why me, Why now, Why?
• The testing of your faith produces patience
• So?
• Let patience have its work so that you will be mature and complete, LACKING NOTHING (James 1)

We all talk to ourselves but when we are in turn with the holy spirit our spiritual being alway prevails and we are persevere.

Patience is the key to us getting all that we desire in the will of the Lord. Remember the reason for which you go through something may not be known to you, but He knows and it will alway be for your good and His Glory.

If only...

I always feel rushed to pray and spend time with God in the morning but yet I alway find time for breakfast and to make my lunch for work (because I don't want to waste money).

Why couldn't I look at my time with God as neccessary as the food I put in my body? If only i regarded my time with God as important as my breakfast.

That will be my new resolution. I'm fasting today and it's my first fast this month. Beginning tomorrow I resolve to spend quality time in prayer each day just like I spend time eating.

It will be difficult but food for my soul is way more important than food for my body.

Stay blessed and may God bless you and yours abundantly in the new approaching month and for the rest of your life!

Never Give Up

So you've prayed, fasted, been to revivals and have even had hands laid on you but yet your miracle is not here yet.

That business that you're praying for is not here. That money you need to pay your bills is not here. The job that you've been desperately searching for has not yet come. Or has that husband/wife.

Times are starting to feel bleak. Especially when you think of all the awesome wonders that God has performed in the past (and for you).

So you want to give up. On your desire and even on God. You want to not tithe, pray or read the Word.

It happens to us all. It's called discouragement.

What usually happens is that we give up. On praying and believing that God has heard us and will provide all of our needs.

But what is the sense of that? It is far better to wait in expectation of something great from God than to sink in despair.

Get up and read the word and keep on believing and thanking God for his goodness.

Beware of False Prophets

I find myself putting certain people on a pedistal. People who are clearly lost. I say that without judging but with reference to the word. How can one say they are a Christian and prefer living in sin rather than getting married. Who picks and choose which things from the bible they are going to follow and not follow and then say they fear God?

I'm bringing this up because someone who I thought was an outstanding follower of Christ is proving to be a false prophet. The person I am refering to is Oprah.

She speaks to a wide variety of people, all races and society statuses, but I have begun to notice that she is not promoting a good image of a follower. While her not getting married to Steadman is an obvious flaw, she has also promoted some questionable new age philosophies.

I love Oprah and what she has accomplished but I just pray that we can dicern true prophets from the false prophets out there and not get caught up in their lives.

Take heed,

1 John 1

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,

and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

Testimony Time

I prayed and He delivered

I did a week long fast in January and since then I have done about half a dozen fasts. After the first week I was upset. Surely, I thought, during my one week of fasting God's great blessings would come down on me. I finished fasting the Saturday at sunset, went to church the next day and woke up on Monday depressed as anything. No miracle.

But then, at around 10am I received an email. I got a writing assignment from a magazine I applied to write for.

Since then the blessings have come in slowly but surely. Obviously there are the big ones like health and live, no accident etc. but the ones that I have prayed for are coming.

The best thing since I became more dedicated with Him, through prayer, devotion (bible reading), fasting and fellowship, He has smiled on me in great ways and I know more blessings are to come.

"He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" - Hebrew 11.6

stay blessed,

m

You Ask and HE Gives

"Life and Death are in the power of the tongue; those who love it shall eat its fruit." Prov 18.21

You pray for a job and you get an offer for a minimum wage one. It's totally not what you want but its a job right? Sometimes it feels like God has a serious sense of humour when you get what you technically asked for.

In situations like that it is imperative that you use discernment. Is God sending this to you because He knows it's better for you or is He testing you to see if you know what you really want?

Either way, His answers to prayer are always from love, lesson or not. Like the old saying and proverbs say, be careful what you ask for.

This is Why You Pray

We know nothing. Nothing about life, our life and especially about God's plan. He runs this universe and we are in it.

There are times when you think that He is distant from you but that shouldn't stop you from praying. Why? Because you never know what He is up to.

When the spirit comes over you, praise Him, worship Him, speak in tongues and just keep doing it until you are filled. Thank God for the time that you spend with Him. Your communing with Him is what protect you from evil, He blesses your going out and coming in, saves you when everyone else isn't. Your relationship with Him is what keeps you in His hand.

Think about it and remember that everything happens for a reason but God's love is for all seasons.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Lord! You are Good.

What to Do in the Meanwhile

Best-selling author Iyanla Vanzant has written a book on the meanwhile. It's the period when you go through a change and are waiting to receive all the good things that life has to offer. What do you do in this moment though. When you have made realizations and have taken the action necessary to bring you closer to fulfillment but you are still not there yet.

This period can also be described as the period of waiting for God to answer your prayers.

You have prayed so much that you might think that He is avoiding you. Everyday you bring your supplications to Him, you go on your knees and cry out to Him and nothing. You fast and you fellowship and still time goes by and God's answer has not been made clear to you.

When you're praying about something specific like getting a job it's easy to see how long your prayer has been unanswered and it is just as easy to lose heart.

So what do you do in these moments? This might seem redundant but you pray. You keep praying and talking to Him. Present all your feelings and thoughts to Him and believe that He has a reason for the apparent delay. A reason which may or may not be reviled to you but regardless His love will continue to be present.

Sometimes God's delay is not for you but for your testimony. Think about it.

Even as the days become weeks and then months and maybe even years (God-forbid if your prayer is regarding a job), just encourage yourself because it is God's will. Every closed door doesn't mean God is denying you your blessing. No, never. God's will, love and plan for your life will always work together for good (romans 8.28).

So smile and sing Hezekiah Walker's Faithful is Our God and Marvin Sapp's Not the Time, Not the Place and remembered you are blessed.

No Phone Calls

When was the last time yo spoke to your best friend? Probably recently because if you didn't they wouldn't be your best friend would they. When was the last time you spoke to God? I might have been just a minute ago but maybe it was longer than that. Maybe you can't remember. But the real issues isn't when was the last time but it's now that you realize that it might have been a while, what are you going to do? Are you going to put it off or schedule time to do it later? But who said later is promised?

Take a few minutes now to speak to your good friend and father. He's waiting to here from you.

Stay Blessed Saints

Fasting for Blessings

Not many churches include fasting in their program anymore but it's a sacred form of worship which is intended for seeking God's face. There are many references in the bible to fasting. The most popular being when Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness.

Fasting can bring you closer to God's word while tuning your Holy Spirit to His voice. It is a very powerful form of worship that can help bring about many things including restoring and positive change.

In Mark 9, Jesus was able to cast out a demon from a boy when others who tried where not able to. When they asked Him why He was able to cast out the demon and they were not He said in vs. 29 "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting" (NKJV).

The NIV version omits the fasting from that verse but in the bible you find many times where fasting was need to bring about change. Aaron the priest fasted a few times to stops God's wrath from destroying the ungrateful Israelites that were in the wildness.

Fasting shows your seriousness and commitment. With all that being said, abstaining from food is no easy feat. It requires discipline but even more than that it requires a commitment to God. Pray and seek His guidance to help you fast and worship Him.

My first time fasting was just over a year ago. I went 3 days (78hrs to be exact) with only water. I haven't been able to go that long for a while. I now mainly do dawn to dusk fasts where I don't eat until 6 as is the practice with my church’s end of the month 3 days fasts.

The benefit of completing a fast is that it gives you confirmation that God hears your pleas (as He always does). You may not get exactly what you want from fasting. David fasted for seven days for God not to kill his child that he conceived in sin but the baby still died. Nevertheless while refusing your body food you are gaining control over your fleshly desires and yielding to God's desires.

If you have never fasted before, look into it. Research scriptures and books to find out the best ways to go about doing it.

Here's a site that help me on my first fast:

http://www.billbright.com/howtofast/

Remember that fasting is not only for seeking God's face but also for worship. You can do it even if you don't want Him to do something for you but just want to praise Him.

God is great in 2008!

-m

God gave me Love and Happiness

Just keep saying it to yourself. Make it your mantra and say it when you are by yourself. The more you say it the more you believe it. What God has in store for you will definetley display His love and will give you happiness~

What Has God Done for Me?

It's still early in 2008 so you might be still reminiscing or reflecting on 2007. Things like unanswered prayers or problems with illness might have plague you last year and you are feeling discouraged in the New Year. You might think that because things didn't go well last year that this year has no hope. Discouragement has settled in your heart and you beginning asking "What has God done for me?"

Only God knows what 2008 has in store for any of our lives. While your financial situation may not have have gotten better, or you may have been unemployed for most of the '07, or you may have lost a few friends, let me tell you what God has done for you.

He has loved you. And if you don't think that is enough consider what His love does for you. It gives Jesus as your comforter and helps you face the uncertainties of live and certainty of death.

His love is all that you need. So whether it was a sickness, debt or job issues that you felt limited you in 2007, take a look at the bigger picture. Christians and non-Christians all suffer from the same issues but how many non-believer can smile while suffering because they know that they are heading to a place where they will cry no more.

Check out this testimony to further encourage you: http://blessingsforlife.com/blessings/doneforme.htm

Glory to God

-m

Another Year of God's Glory

Welcome 2008

Welcome God's favour and blessings

Welcome new adventures both good and bad

Welcome God's promises and most of all,

Welcome God's Love


Have you said a prayer for your heart's desires in the New Year? It's never too late. Sit down for minute and pray, ask God to protect and you in this new year of life so that His will be done in your life.

Blessings and Favour for the new year

M