WHERE IS YOUR FAITH

Here’s Petey! ❤

MATTHEW 6:25-33

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

More often than not, when I hear people speak or when I am reading I hear what I call, “TITLES” in my head. This morning while reading it happened again. What I read was, “Where is you faith,” but what I heard was “Where IS you Faith?” Is your faith in yourself? Is in the government, your job, your bank account, your friends, or is it in GOD?

So many times because of disappointments, distractions, and let downs we tend to lose our faith in God or we just lay it aside not really realizing that it was ever missing. When we do that we unknowingly are putting our faith in ourselves or other things and not in God. Through the distractions and disappoints that arise in our lives the enemy has lulled us in to putting our shield of faith down. God does not want us worrying about anything at all. I know that is a hard thing to comprehend sometimes especially when life is hitting you hard but its the truth. We see from the scripture God is saying, “What are you worrying for, if I can feed the birds, if I can clothe the fields with beautiful flowers, then surely I can handle what you need.” Its our job to BELIEVE that, to put our faith and trust in Him and His word.

Philippians 4:19 And My God shall Supply ALL my needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.

So today, I challenge you to ask yourself, “Where IS my faith, where did I lay it down?”

CHANTEEA

HAPPY “RE” NEW YEAR!

Do not remember the former things nor consider the things of old. Isa 43:18

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Phil 2:5

Happy “RE”New Year!! I actually started this blog on New Years Day but due to unforeseen events I could not finish it. So January 2 was my second attempt to “RE” start what I had already started, and I was well on my way, got to the end of the blog and hit the wrong button and LOST IT ALL!!! So here I sit having to “RE” do it all over again!! Isn’t that where we find ourselves at the end of every year. Having to “RE”start things we had already started in the beginning of the year?

The prefix “RE” means to do again, to start over, or to turn around. Ha! Ha! Ha! Jokes on me right! God sure does have a sense of humor. At the end of every year we sit down and “RE”view the previous year. The progress we made, the obstacles we did or didn’t overcome. The promises we made to ourselves that we kept or didn’t keep. We make New Year “RE”solutions to better ourselves in the upcoming New Year. We are going to lose that extra 50 pounds, we are going to get out of debt, finish school, etc, etc,…But aren’t those the same goals we had in previous years? I mean seriously, take a look back over your life right now and ask yourself, “Just how many of those goals have I actually accomplished?” Do you find yourself having to begin all over again on goals that you set in the beginning of last year? Why do we have to keep “RE”starting over again every year? Good question, the answer is YOU CAN NOT BEGIN A NEW YEAR WITH AND OLD MIND. If you take your old mindset into the new year the only thing that will have changed is the date on the calendar.

The Lord spoke to me and said in 2013, THE NEW IS UP TO YOU!!! If you want to experience a NEW YEAR like never before then YOU have to do something about it! God had already given us everything we need to succeed in life. First of all He sent His Son Jesus to die on the Cross so that we could have eternal life. (John 3:16) With the acceptance of Christ and what He has done for us, we gain a NEW life and a clean slate. That’s called “RE”pentance. We have turned from the way we were living before we accept Christ and the sacrifice He made for us and we have a chance to start fresh. All the mistakes we made, are making, or are gonna make are forgiven.

Secondly, He has given us His word, with which we must “RE”new our minds. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the “RENEWING” of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12:2) The word of God has the ability to give us a NEW mind. Our old ways of thinking and doing things will change once we “RE” make our mind over with what the word of God says about us. When our minds are changed our lives will change. There is Power in the Word of God, but in order to experience that power working in our lives we have to work the word. How do you do that, you ask?

Your mind and life will be “RE” made over as you read and speak the word over your circumstances. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. (Prov 18:21) You must search the Word of God for the scriptures that pertain to your situation and start speaking them over your life even when it looks like nothing is happening. On January 1, when I sat down to begin this blog the unforeseen circumstance wanted me to bring my old mind into the New year. The thoughts that I was having were screaming, “this year is gonna be just like last year, you are not gonna see anything different just more of the same struggle and fight, BUT, THE DEVIL IS A LIAR AND AIN’T NO TRUTH IN HIM! I know what promises God has given me concerning certain situations so when circumstances arise that scream otherwise its my job to STAND on what the Word says, even if I have to do so with tears in my eyes. You see its important that you watch your words and not speak against what God has promised. That is exactly what the enemy wanted me to do that day. He wanted me to agree with him that the only thing that had changed was the date on the calendar, he wanted me to give up on coming back and starting this blog all over again. He made sure I didn’t have the time to do it either. I may have had to wait a couple of days but you can best believe God had a plan.

IF you want to experience the newness of 2013 then you must realize that the “NEW IS UP TO YOU!” You must realize the new has to begin in your mind. Make a decision to search the word and watch your life change for the better.

Father God,

We come before You now asking You to forgive us where we have fallen short. We thank You for the gift of Your Son, as well as Your Grace and mercy. God the Your Word says that YOUR Grace is sufficient for us and YOUR strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. Help us God to accept that and press on towards the life You have predestined us to live. Empower us with Your spirit that we may do what we know to do when the enemy comes against us. Give us wisdom in all areas of our lives as we walk in the NEWNESS of this NEW year. Help us to realize that every test we have walked through in 2012 will bring forth a testimony to encourage someone else in 2013. We thank you for keeping us and all that You have done for us in the past, present and future in Jesus Name AMEN!

THE NEW IS UP TO YOU!!!!
CHANTEEA

Questioning Authority

I had an unnerving situation one morning before taking the kids to school. I went back in the house with one child while the other stayed outside near the car. When we walked back to the car, she wasn’t there. My heart nearly stopped. Thankfully, she jumped out from behind a trash receptacle. I scolded her a little about what she had done and we began talking about “stranger danger.”

The kids know about stranger danger, but they have not had to practice it. Most of the time, where they are, I am there too. It’s important to teach kids a balance in whose authority to respect. When they leave our care we want them to respect the authority of a helpful adult, such as a teacher. We had a discussion about how to be able to tell if someone is a helping authority or not. We decided we need a safe word that only we know.

This situation had me thinking about some things. Biblically, we are told to respect God’s instituted authorities (Romans 13:1, Colossians 1:16). By the example of Satan, we also know that some authorities need to be questioned. That is why we need the word planted firmly in our heart. In Matthew 4, Jesus was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness; he counteracted every one of his so called authoritative innuendos with scripture. Jesus was aware that the dark dimensions of this world have authority figures too. Those are the authority figures that we need to question.

There might be an area in our lives right now that we need to challenge the authority of what we are being told or asked to do. It could be a faith issue, health issue, or a financial issue. It could be small voices telling you that you are not going to make it or why don’t you just kill yourself. The response needs to be- by what authority are you speaking to me? In the name of Jesus, we have the power to speak to the ungodly and false authorities that appear to us. Why not use the power?

My daughter who I had scolded said we should make our safe word about God because “a lot of bad guys don’t care about God at all.” Wow-How smart she is. The bad guys will never guess our safe word.

It could be a good idea to have a safe word with God so you can know if He is actually speaking to you. You might hear God confirm it, you may hear someone say it, or you might see it printed somewhere.

Know and believe in the authority Christ has given you. Challenge any authority that is not of Him.

Let the Lord Handle the Fools

“My people are foolish and do not know me,” says the LORD. “They are stupid children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no idea how to do right!” Jeremiah 4:22

 

Jeremiah 4:22 is speaking to me right now! I believe I have encountered some very foolish people as of late. I spend a good bit of my time trying to teach my kids in the way they should go and then somebody in their folly tries to counteract what I have taught them.  For example, several times in my path driving to and from the exit of our residence, there is usually someone in the street. It’s ok to be in the street, but if you see a car coming, then common sense should alert you to move, correct?

Yesterday as I was driving in, there was a lady and a man right in the middle of the road. They appeared to be discussing tree trimming. The lady moved out of the way and positioned herself on the sidewalk. The man, however, turned his back, continued writing on his notepad, and then turned around. He literally jumped as if to be surprised that there was a vehicle directly behind him. I find it very difficult to believe that his man did not even hear a car approaching or notice the fact that the lady moved away from him for a reason.

The old Monica would have blown the horn and had a few choice words for this fool. My kids were in the car and I sat there patiently, waited until he moved and drove right by. I could not help but think of the example I was setting.  I was more troubled by the man in street and him giving the impression to my kids that it’s okay to be in the street with your back turned to potential traffic.  Granted pedestrians have the right of way, but even I teach my kids not to abuse it by quickly getting out of the way of cars.

I see and sense a lot of people acting superior, authoritative, and indignant by purposely getting in and remaining in someone’s way just like that man was. That type of behavior can set off a chain reaction of sin from people who do not know God. Even though I am believer, these situations are disturbing.

Another neighbor, parks their car illegally in a place that is clearly convenient for them. However, their illegal parking place makes it difficult for me to park my car or get out of my parking space. I have thought about having that person’s car towed or putting a note on their window. In the meantime, I’m praying for that person to recognize and become aware of the impact of their actions.

I have done and said many foolish things in my life. There comes a point when a person should definitely take responsibility for their actions and be mindful how their actions impact other people. More importantly, there is a lot to be said about just being plain ole’ considerate. I have learned that God can and will be heavy handed about correcting people when He needs to.

The Lord is right. We are foolish! We are foolish in how we act, in what we say, and how we treat people. Every day that goes by we can choose not to be.  I had to turn that man in the street and the neighbor over to God. We need to be praying for people like this to wise up, do the right thing, and set better examples. Proverbs 26:4 says, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.” Instead, say a prayer and let God handle the fools who cross your path too. I am already in agreement for the Lord to move on our behalf.