We allow our hurt to have way too much control in our lives. It's time to LET IT GO! When we allow our hurt to control our lives, we are practically walking around with a terminal illness. I say that out of experience, as I have found myself lingering to past hurts. My conclusion is that when someone hurts you, no matter the relationship, it simply means that they don't value you. I know this may not apply to every single situation, because sometimes others unintentionally hurt us, but I'm referring to the intentional hurt.
I'll give you an example...
I recently found myself harboring emotions that stimulated from a past friendship. I valued this friendship to the point where I became protective of the friend. I would find myself defending her (not aggressively) when others called out her flaws. Well in return this friend hurt me. She stopped talking to me and to this day I don't know why she doesn't speak to me. I've tried reaching out to her, but to no avail has she reached back. The bottom line is that she didn't value me or our friendship enough to tell me why it's over. Am I hurt? Yes. I'm still trying to find peace with the situation, but I've also allowed that sour end of a friendship to control me. It's caused me to put my guard up with other friendships, and even purposely keep my friendly circle small. The reality is, however, that I should not allow that sour end to dictate my relationship with others. Because I truly value my relationships, it's okay for me to be very protective of them.
When we allow those hurtful relationships to dictate our other relationships, we get to a point where we begin to question everything we've ever said and ever done. Did I do this right? What didn't I do right? What do I need to change about me? However, when you know that you've given a relationship or friendship your all, 100%, then why question yourself? Stop questioning yourself! Hurt people hurt people. It's not you that needs to change, it's them. If that friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc, is okay with intentionally hurting you, then they have some work to do. It's time for you to let that relationship go!
Don't let it go by getting revenge or saying mean things about them. But do as Christ would do, and love them....and I'll go as far and say love them from afar. Still pray for them, not only when you know that they are going through things, but keep them in your prayers steadily. It's obvious that when they can hurt you with no explanation, then they don't know the true value of love, and you can't know love without knowing God. The scripture says in 1 John 4:8, "But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (NLT). Therefore, even if they apologize and come around, until they begin to grow with God, they can't grow in love.
I end this by saying DETOX and LET IT GO! Give your mental, spiritual, and emotional self a full detox of the hurt that you have gained from relationships. You can start by unplugging from your connections to that hurtful relationship, and plugging into your Bible, prayer, and fasting. This will require you to take your guard down because that guard not only hinders progression physically, but it will also hinder your spiritual progression. I encourage you to forgive in your heart, as we are instructed to do so in Mark 11:25, and continue to love like our Heavenly Father in your other relationships.
Sincerely,
The King's Daughter
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Friday, December 5, 2014
How do you start your meal?
My fellow sippers,
It has truly been a while since I last posted. I must say that I am definitely in a transitioning season that has me. feeling like I am wacky and all over the place. However, my trust is in God and I will wait patiently for Him to get me through this transition.
I wanted to share some enlightenment today, because I started a new devotional on my Bible app called Prayers of Jesus. I am thoroughly enjoying the close reading of Jesus' prayers. One of the things that I noticed is that anytime Jesus had dealings with food, He blessed it. I was raised with the practice of blessing my food as well. As a young child I was taught the traditional:
It has truly been a while since I last posted. I must say that I am definitely in a transitioning season that has me. feeling like I am wacky and all over the place. However, my trust is in God and I will wait patiently for Him to get me through this transition.
I wanted to share some enlightenment today, because I started a new devotional on my Bible app called Prayers of Jesus. I am thoroughly enjoying the close reading of Jesus' prayers. One of the things that I noticed is that anytime Jesus had dealings with food, He blessed it. I was raised with the practice of blessing my food as well. As a young child I was taught the traditional:
God is great.
God is good.
Lord we thank You for our food.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
However, as I grew up I began to actually pray a prayer of thanksgiving and of blessing, but it was still very traditional. Now, I am one of those people at the family dinner who gets easily annoyed with the person who wants to pray for what seems like 15 minutes over the food. But as I read the prayers of Jesus, I am beginning to see my thankfulness differently. I think that our "grace" or "food blessing" is not suppose to necessarily be about us begging God to rid the food of germs and that the food would be nourishing to our bodies, because the simple fact that He has provided the food is already a given that it will be nourishing. Instead, and this is solely my opinion, I think that we should spend more time thanking Him for the provision of the food. Think about how many individuals that we don't see who aren't able to access food as easily? We should be thanking Him for our jobs, our tables, our fellowship and gathering. I hear my food blessings be about releasing germs and the things that may be harmful to our bodies, instead of them being about thanking God for the availability of and access to food.
So here's my challenge to you my fellow sippers, before you begin "blessing" your food, consider the many things about your food that you can be thankful for. Are you thankful for the food being blessed in advanced? Are you thankful for the food being germ free in advanced? It's not necessarily about God needing to rid the food of what may be harmful, but we should be thanking Him for ridding the food of the harm. IT IS DONE! In Jesus' name!
Signed,
The King's Daughter
Monday, June 30, 2014
Confessions of a LOST me... Total Truthness
Today I am writing because I need to let some things off of my chest. I am unsure if anyone actually reads my blog, nor do I care...well actually I do care because I do want to reach at least one person. But that is definitely not the point of this post....
Lately, I have been feeling hungry and thirsty for more of the Lord, and it just seems like He isn't near. I'm praying, I'm reading, I'm fasting.... my quiet time with Him are some days hit and miss. Some days I am totally enthralled in worship, and other days it's not there. I personally don't think that my Father would want me to bring an obligated sacrifice to His altar without a pure heart.
To be even more honest, I have been feeling like my Father is turning His back on me. Yes I read all the cute little quotes that float around social media, but those mean nothing when I'm desperately seeking to hear from my Father. It's like I'm calling Him repeatedly, I've sent a thousand text messages, e-mails, tweets, FB messages, etc., BUT I feel like His response is .... "I just don't wanna talk right now!" Have you ever felt like that? I'm tired of this feeling!
This morning I posted a scripture on my refrigerator as a reminder to myself and my husband which says, "We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps" (Psalm 16:9, NLT). Surely this verse comes at a time where I am feeling lost. By age 16, if someone were to ask me how my life would be after high school I could give them every detail down to the address that I would be living at by age 25. Sadly, I have only accomplished two of those things and they are definitely not in the time frame that I had intended. So what do I do? Do I throw myself into overdrive and see how much I can accomplish by 30? Do I re-evaluate my timeline and see what I can scratch off the list? Hmmmmm.... none of these are necessarily the answer. In fact, this morning I had to tell myself that it's OKAY! Here's the thing... life NEVER goes as we plan, simply because WE are planning. I know for a fact that not planning life out is one of the hardest things to do. I just want to be able to sit in the back seat and say, "Okay Lord I'm going to chill and let You do what You do!" Seems nearly impossible....but I'm sure that He can and will give us the strength!
I guess I will end my random rambling here...
Sincerely,
The King's Daughter
Lately, I have been feeling hungry and thirsty for more of the Lord, and it just seems like He isn't near. I'm praying, I'm reading, I'm fasting.... my quiet time with Him are some days hit and miss. Some days I am totally enthralled in worship, and other days it's not there. I personally don't think that my Father would want me to bring an obligated sacrifice to His altar without a pure heart.
To be even more honest, I have been feeling like my Father is turning His back on me. Yes I read all the cute little quotes that float around social media, but those mean nothing when I'm desperately seeking to hear from my Father. It's like I'm calling Him repeatedly, I've sent a thousand text messages, e-mails, tweets, FB messages, etc., BUT I feel like His response is .... "I just don't wanna talk right now!" Have you ever felt like that? I'm tired of this feeling!
This morning I posted a scripture on my refrigerator as a reminder to myself and my husband which says, "We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps" (Psalm 16:9, NLT). Surely this verse comes at a time where I am feeling lost. By age 16, if someone were to ask me how my life would be after high school I could give them every detail down to the address that I would be living at by age 25. Sadly, I have only accomplished two of those things and they are definitely not in the time frame that I had intended. So what do I do? Do I throw myself into overdrive and see how much I can accomplish by 30? Do I re-evaluate my timeline and see what I can scratch off the list? Hmmmmm.... none of these are necessarily the answer. In fact, this morning I had to tell myself that it's OKAY! Here's the thing... life NEVER goes as we plan, simply because WE are planning. I know for a fact that not planning life out is one of the hardest things to do. I just want to be able to sit in the back seat and say, "Okay Lord I'm going to chill and let You do what You do!" Seems nearly impossible....but I'm sure that He can and will give us the strength!
I guess I will end my random rambling here...
Sincerely,
The King's Daughter
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Confession: I was mad at God...
My Fellow Sippers,
It has indeed been a couple of months since I have last posted, mostly due to the chaos that the Lord helped me to overcome. I come to you guys today writing from the purity and honesty of my heart. I must confess that I have been walking around angry at God. I don't say that to brag. In fact, I am writing this because it may be of encouragement to someone else, or it may be helpful insight to someone.
Starting in February, two months before I was set to marry the love of my life, I encountered what I now understand as the beginning of life's craziness. At the moment I did not realize that the craziness would soon intensify in a matter of weeks. As soon as I felt relief from February's madness, the real March madness occurred when I was involved in my first accident ever in life. For legal reasons I won't delve into the details of what happened; however, I'll say that at that moment is when I should have been feeling happy and thankful for being alive, but instead I felt pure anger. I wasn't sure how to communicate my anger, I just know that I was walking around feeling sorry for myself and as though my Father did not love me as much as His word says He does.
April came... I got married and life began to pick up. Only six days after saying our "I Do's" I was sitting in a testing center taking yet again another important test. I left out feeling as though the world had fallen on my shoulders. I was trying to figure out exactly why God would even allow me to take that test, knowing that I wasn't fully prepared. Can I just pause and say that those thoughts were not of the Lord? Maybe two weeks after going through my testing ordeal, something hit me (I tend to believe it was my Father knocking some sense back into me). I heard a still, small voice whispering to me, "Stand still and know that I am God! I am here! I have not left you and never will I leave you!"
The Lord does not cause us to suffer, but he allows our suffering to remind us of how big our faith should be. I am a person who is big on FAITH! More than likely you will often find me preaching and teaching faith to someone, because I believe that without faith NOTHING is possible. Instead of walking around angry, I grabbed my boots by the straps and declared that I will remain faithful. I begged for forgiveness and I believe that I have been forgiven.
For those of you who have lost your faith and you're feeling like the Lord has abandoned you, I challenge you to take a few days or a few weeks and meditate on the Book of Job. The story of Job's unfailing faith is truly remarkable and worth the read for a reminder of how faithful our God is. Write on your mirrors (with dry erase markers), post sticky notes everywhere, post a reminder wherever you need it that YOU ARE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR! You were born to conquer. You are a child of the King; therefore, you are considered royalty. Royalty reigns and my dear you shall reign! Don't concentrate on the bad, but praise
Him for the good. If you are still alive, then your purpose has not yet been fulfilled. Get up and walk into your purpose. Cry out to God that He will reveal His perfect plan for your life, that you may be able to bring glory to His kingdom.
God loves you and He has not and will not fail you!
Signed,
The King's Daughter
It has indeed been a couple of months since I have last posted, mostly due to the chaos that the Lord helped me to overcome. I come to you guys today writing from the purity and honesty of my heart. I must confess that I have been walking around angry at God. I don't say that to brag. In fact, I am writing this because it may be of encouragement to someone else, or it may be helpful insight to someone.
Starting in February, two months before I was set to marry the love of my life, I encountered what I now understand as the beginning of life's craziness. At the moment I did not realize that the craziness would soon intensify in a matter of weeks. As soon as I felt relief from February's madness, the real March madness occurred when I was involved in my first accident ever in life. For legal reasons I won't delve into the details of what happened; however, I'll say that at that moment is when I should have been feeling happy and thankful for being alive, but instead I felt pure anger. I wasn't sure how to communicate my anger, I just know that I was walking around feeling sorry for myself and as though my Father did not love me as much as His word says He does.
April came... I got married and life began to pick up. Only six days after saying our "I Do's" I was sitting in a testing center taking yet again another important test. I left out feeling as though the world had fallen on my shoulders. I was trying to figure out exactly why God would even allow me to take that test, knowing that I wasn't fully prepared. Can I just pause and say that those thoughts were not of the Lord? Maybe two weeks after going through my testing ordeal, something hit me (I tend to believe it was my Father knocking some sense back into me). I heard a still, small voice whispering to me, "Stand still and know that I am God! I am here! I have not left you and never will I leave you!"
The Lord does not cause us to suffer, but he allows our suffering to remind us of how big our faith should be. I am a person who is big on FAITH! More than likely you will often find me preaching and teaching faith to someone, because I believe that without faith NOTHING is possible. Instead of walking around angry, I grabbed my boots by the straps and declared that I will remain faithful. I begged for forgiveness and I believe that I have been forgiven.
For those of you who have lost your faith and you're feeling like the Lord has abandoned you, I challenge you to take a few days or a few weeks and meditate on the Book of Job. The story of Job's unfailing faith is truly remarkable and worth the read for a reminder of how faithful our God is. Write on your mirrors (with dry erase markers), post sticky notes everywhere, post a reminder wherever you need it that YOU ARE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR! You were born to conquer. You are a child of the King; therefore, you are considered royalty. Royalty reigns and my dear you shall reign! Don't concentrate on the bad, but praise
Him for the good. If you are still alive, then your purpose has not yet been fulfilled. Get up and walk into your purpose. Cry out to God that He will reveal His perfect plan for your life, that you may be able to bring glory to His kingdom.
God loves you and He has not and will not fail you!
Signed,
The King's Daughter
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
D-Day: The Johns
My Fellow Sippers,
With all that has been going on in my life within the past week, I am glad that I am still able to dedicate some time to doing our D-Day. I always look forward to spilling the tea on each of the books that we've read. More importantly, I always look forward to the response.
I know that I skipped all over Galatians, but I'm so excited to get into the Johns. Therefore, I will discuss Galatians at the end of this month's challenge. Let's jump straight into it....
1 John 1
I love how this book opens up in verse 5 with "God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all." John makes it clear to us that we can't live in the light and still have darkness reside in us. In order for us to have true fellowship with each other, and to have the blood of Jesus cleanse us of our sins, we have to remain "in the light."
I like the reference of light and dark, simply because in literature light represents good and darkness represents evil. To relate it to our spiritual being, if we have light, then we have good, and this good is a representation of God. If we have darkness within us, then there is still evil. Not to say that it is inevitable to rid our spiritual body of evil, but as long as evil is within us, then there is still representation of Satan. In order for us to be completely tied to God, we have to allow ourselves to fully be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
This brings me to my next point, where verses 8-10 backs up the aforementioned.
1 John 2
In this chapter, John tells us that when we sin, we have an advocate who pleads on our behalf (Jesus Christ). Verses 4-6 says:
Then in verses 15-17 we are urged against loving the world. We can't love the world and love our Father. Our flesh = the world. If it fills the desires of our flesh, then we are living worldly.
1 John 3
Again in this chapter, we are compared to the world. The world doesn't recognize us as children of God because they (the world) lack the knowledge and understanding that it takes to know that to be fully committed and wholeheartedly love God, is to be His child. Once we fully commit ourselves to God, we are purified. Once purified, our sins are no longer existent. To continuously sin after proclaiming your commitment means that you are not as fully committed as you think you are.
We should not be deceived by the teachings of the world. It is not okay to claim "Christianity" while living a life of sin. Righteous living = RIGHT LIVING! Therefore, we should always strive to live righteously, or live right!
We don't truly love God if we don't love His people. To be truly in love with God means that His Spirit reigns over our flesh. Spirit says to love even when we aren't loved back, because God has an eternal love for us that will never disappear.
1 John 4
In this chapter, we are warned against false prophets. Although to a certain extent it seems as though we are judging, when we are fully in engaged with God, we are given a spirit of discernment. It is our duty to use discernment in filtering the truth and the fake.
Also, we are reminded yet again that we should love others. If we fail to love others, then we do not truly love God. I love verses 9-10...
1 John 5
In this chapter we are given the following information:
Furthermore, verse 21 tells us to keep away from anything that takes God's place in our hearts. This is one reason why we should be consistent with fasting. When we find our flesh overpowering our spiritual being, we should then consecrate our bodies.
2 John & 3 John
2 John is only 13 verses long, and simply reiterates what 1 John says.
** As always I look forward to your responses. Below is the reading for our last few days of February! We will pick up in March!!
February 25 - 1 Peter 1
February 26 - 1 Peter 2
February 27 - 1 Peter 3
February 28 - 1 Peter 4 & 5
March 1 - No Reading
March 2 - No Reading
March 3 - D-Day (Discussion Day)
-Signed,
The King's Daughter
With all that has been going on in my life within the past week, I am glad that I am still able to dedicate some time to doing our D-Day. I always look forward to spilling the tea on each of the books that we've read. More importantly, I always look forward to the response.
I know that I skipped all over Galatians, but I'm so excited to get into the Johns. Therefore, I will discuss Galatians at the end of this month's challenge. Let's jump straight into it....
1 John 1
I love how this book opens up in verse 5 with "God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all." John makes it clear to us that we can't live in the light and still have darkness reside in us. In order for us to have true fellowship with each other, and to have the blood of Jesus cleanse us of our sins, we have to remain "in the light."
I like the reference of light and dark, simply because in literature light represents good and darkness represents evil. To relate it to our spiritual being, if we have light, then we have good, and this good is a representation of God. If we have darkness within us, then there is still evil. Not to say that it is inevitable to rid our spiritual body of evil, but as long as evil is within us, then there is still representation of Satan. In order for us to be completely tied to God, we have to allow ourselves to fully be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
This brings me to my next point, where verses 8-10 backs up the aforementioned.
8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.We all have sin. There is not one of us who is without sin. We are born into sin, (this came about when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden); therefore it resides in us (the darkness that is within us). But by confessing our sins, we are cleaning out the darkness and purifying our spiritual body.
1 John 2
In this chapter, John tells us that when we sin, we have an advocate who pleads on our behalf (Jesus Christ). Verses 4-6 says:
4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.We should be a reflection of Christ. To "know God" is to be like Him, living righteously. He has given us the perfect example to follow in order to be like Him, when He gave us His Son, Jesus. Therefore, Christ has laid out the path in which we should follow.
Then in verses 15-17 we are urged against loving the world. We can't love the world and love our Father. Our flesh = the world. If it fills the desires of our flesh, then we are living worldly.
Verses 28-29 pretty much says to LIVE OUT LOUD FOR GOD! Be bold. Be confident. Be faithful.15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
1 John 3
Again in this chapter, we are compared to the world. The world doesn't recognize us as children of God because they (the world) lack the knowledge and understanding that it takes to know that to be fully committed and wholeheartedly love God, is to be His child. Once we fully commit ourselves to God, we are purified. Once purified, our sins are no longer existent. To continuously sin after proclaiming your commitment means that you are not as fully committed as you think you are.
We should not be deceived by the teachings of the world. It is not okay to claim "Christianity" while living a life of sin. Righteous living = RIGHT LIVING! Therefore, we should always strive to live righteously, or live right!
We don't truly love God if we don't love His people. To be truly in love with God means that His Spirit reigns over our flesh. Spirit says to love even when we aren't loved back, because God has an eternal love for us that will never disappear.
1 John 4
In this chapter, we are warned against false prophets. Although to a certain extent it seems as though we are judging, when we are fully in engaged with God, we are given a spirit of discernment. It is our duty to use discernment in filtering the truth and the fake.
Also, we are reminded yet again that we should love others. If we fail to love others, then we do not truly love God. I love verses 9-10...
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.How is it possible to love an invisible God, but hate a visible person? We've never seen God, yet we have deep love for Him, but He has given us people to love and we find it absolutely impossible to love some of them.
1 John 5
In this chapter we are given the following information:
- Spirit = truth
- Water = Baptism
- Blood = the Cross or the Sacrifice
Furthermore, verse 21 tells us to keep away from anything that takes God's place in our hearts. This is one reason why we should be consistent with fasting. When we find our flesh overpowering our spiritual being, we should then consecrate our bodies.
2 John & 3 John
2 John is only 13 verses long, and simply reiterates what 1 John says.
- Love one another!
- Beware of false prophets!
** As always I look forward to your responses. Below is the reading for our last few days of February! We will pick up in March!!
February 25 - 1 Peter 1
February 26 - 1 Peter 2
February 27 - 1 Peter 3
February 28 - 1 Peter 4 & 5
March 1 - No Reading
March 2 - No Reading
March 3 - D-Day (Discussion Day)
-Signed,
The King's Daughter
Friday, February 21, 2014
Lost & Found
My Fellow Sippers,
Lately I've been compelled to share my story, and to encourage others who are on the borderline of fully surrendering their lives to Christ. Although it is still a journey for me, I will begin by saying that the best decision I've ever made was getting to know the Lord firsthand, and not to allow religion to dictate my relationship with Him.
Here's a little background information for you to build the picture (don't mind me I'm a visual person).
I grew up in the church. I came from a small town in South Carolina, where religion was heavily influenced in my family. Both of my parents were heavily involved in the church. As a young girl I was enthralled at the sight of the adults being fully engaged with the Word. I absolutely loved to hear preaching. In fact, I wanted to be a preacher. Even funnier, in the seventh grade I was nominated to most likely be a preacher.
As a preteen and a teenager I didn't see church the same anymore. I started to dislike it heavily. Church to me seemed more like an obligation, rather than a spiritual choice. During my freshman year of high school my parents made the decision to leave our former denomination and we became members of our present church. Although the atmosphere was different, it still took me a while to like going to church again. I then became involved with the youth ministry, which gave me another perspective of spirituality. I was captivated by watching other young people succumb to the presence of God. It was awesome! Our youth pastors were great! I loved church again. Then something happened (I choose not to go into detail). When this happened, I was hurt and many of us felt abandoned. I went away to college and tried to live the innocent Christian girl life... until I chose to engage in premarital sex and became pregnant.
Pregnancy changed my life. I'm not sure how most 21 year old single women handle pregnancy, but for a period of time I felt like I was in a depression. I was mad at myself. I knew better! I disappointed my family, especially my parents. Most of all, I just knew deep within my heart that the Lord was absolutely angry with me. I was so deep in bondage that I didn't want to go to church anymore. I didn't want people to look at me and see me wear my sin. I felt like Hester Prynne from the Scarlet Letter, except I wasn't wearing a scarlet "A". My scarlet letter was the baby bump that I walked around with until my delivery date.
During my pregnancy, while feeling alone and as though the worst thing happened, the Lord spoke to me. He reminded me that He loved me regardless. Yes, I disappointed Him, but I asked for forgiveness and I believe that He forgave me. Something we as Christians often forget is that our Lord loves sinners. If we were all perfect, there wouldn't have been a need for Christ to die on the cross. He died so that we could have life and have it more abundantly. How could I not love the One who sent His Son to die for me?
After having my daughter, I felt more free in Christ, which is when I began this blog. I felt restored with purpose to share God's love with others. I'm not where I want to be spiritually, but each day I see growth. I surround myself with others who desire to be captivated by the love of God. Does that mean that I can't have fun anymore? No! Something that young adults will realize is that surrendering your life doesn't mean that the fun is sucked out of you. In fact, you find life to be more fun because you are free. Of course you won't continue living like the world, so your fun won't be like the world's definition of fun.
I choose to let the light shine within me and through me. I don't allow religion to control me. I'm not saying that church is the worst, but I'm saying that the church is full of sinners striving to be saints. I choose to have a true relationship with my Father. My duty as a Christian is to lead others to the Kingdom, not to chastise them for being imperfect. I strive to be like Christ, and for others to gravitate to His love that flows through me. When I die, I want to die assured that I will be able to run into the arms of my Father and that He will say to me "Job well done!" I don't think that I will ever be perfect, but I love a perfect God who loves imperfect me perfectly. Try Him!
Signed,
The King's Daughter
Lately I've been compelled to share my story, and to encourage others who are on the borderline of fully surrendering their lives to Christ. Although it is still a journey for me, I will begin by saying that the best decision I've ever made was getting to know the Lord firsthand, and not to allow religion to dictate my relationship with Him.
Here's a little background information for you to build the picture (don't mind me I'm a visual person).
I grew up in the church. I came from a small town in South Carolina, where religion was heavily influenced in my family. Both of my parents were heavily involved in the church. As a young girl I was enthralled at the sight of the adults being fully engaged with the Word. I absolutely loved to hear preaching. In fact, I wanted to be a preacher. Even funnier, in the seventh grade I was nominated to most likely be a preacher.
As a preteen and a teenager I didn't see church the same anymore. I started to dislike it heavily. Church to me seemed more like an obligation, rather than a spiritual choice. During my freshman year of high school my parents made the decision to leave our former denomination and we became members of our present church. Although the atmosphere was different, it still took me a while to like going to church again. I then became involved with the youth ministry, which gave me another perspective of spirituality. I was captivated by watching other young people succumb to the presence of God. It was awesome! Our youth pastors were great! I loved church again. Then something happened (I choose not to go into detail). When this happened, I was hurt and many of us felt abandoned. I went away to college and tried to live the innocent Christian girl life... until I chose to engage in premarital sex and became pregnant.
Pregnancy changed my life. I'm not sure how most 21 year old single women handle pregnancy, but for a period of time I felt like I was in a depression. I was mad at myself. I knew better! I disappointed my family, especially my parents. Most of all, I just knew deep within my heart that the Lord was absolutely angry with me. I was so deep in bondage that I didn't want to go to church anymore. I didn't want people to look at me and see me wear my sin. I felt like Hester Prynne from the Scarlet Letter, except I wasn't wearing a scarlet "A". My scarlet letter was the baby bump that I walked around with until my delivery date.
During my pregnancy, while feeling alone and as though the worst thing happened, the Lord spoke to me. He reminded me that He loved me regardless. Yes, I disappointed Him, but I asked for forgiveness and I believe that He forgave me. Something we as Christians often forget is that our Lord loves sinners. If we were all perfect, there wouldn't have been a need for Christ to die on the cross. He died so that we could have life and have it more abundantly. How could I not love the One who sent His Son to die for me?
After having my daughter, I felt more free in Christ, which is when I began this blog. I felt restored with purpose to share God's love with others. I'm not where I want to be spiritually, but each day I see growth. I surround myself with others who desire to be captivated by the love of God. Does that mean that I can't have fun anymore? No! Something that young adults will realize is that surrendering your life doesn't mean that the fun is sucked out of you. In fact, you find life to be more fun because you are free. Of course you won't continue living like the world, so your fun won't be like the world's definition of fun.
I choose to let the light shine within me and through me. I don't allow religion to control me. I'm not saying that church is the worst, but I'm saying that the church is full of sinners striving to be saints. I choose to have a true relationship with my Father. My duty as a Christian is to lead others to the Kingdom, not to chastise them for being imperfect. I strive to be like Christ, and for others to gravitate to His love that flows through me. When I die, I want to die assured that I will be able to run into the arms of my Father and that He will say to me "Job well done!" I don't think that I will ever be perfect, but I love a perfect God who loves imperfect me perfectly. Try Him!
Signed,
The King's Daughter
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Confession of a Godly Wife: My Testimony
My Fellow Sippers,
Recently the Lord has laid upon my heart to incorporate a segment known as "The Godly Wife" and use the authorship of my dear sister in Christ Mrs. Tanesha Lester. Tanesha is the leader of our Godly Wife group, which has been such a blessing to me as a soon to be wife (51 days away...YIKES!). I can go on and on about how God is using her, but I'll let you find out for yourself. Without further adieu, I present to you the Confessions of a Godly Wife.
Confessions of a Godly Wife: My Testimony
By: Tanesha Lester
My relationship with God became even stronger after I was married. I have always had a relationship with God, but I just kept failing at it. I didn't put as much effort into it. I made excuses to not go to church. I didn't study the Word, I just read it. God was blessing me tremendously and what was I giving him in return?
Once we moved and my internship was over, I found myself without a job. I became depressed and began to question God. Long story short, I was broken. I have never been so low in my life. I kept reading my bible and praying, but I also kept contradicting it. I wasn't believing what I was reading. I knew I couldn't go on like that and that God had something in store for me so one day I just cried out for Him. I poured my heart out to Him with hopes that He'd hear my cry. I began a consecration with my church for the new year and begin studying my bible and praying more. On the 9th day of January, God blessed me with a job. I couldn't stop thanking Him. I decreed and declared increase and He blessed me. To those of you who may be suffering or broken, just know that God has something in store for you. 1 Peter 5:10 says "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself, restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Sometimes we need to be broke down to truly experience God's love. Being unemployed may not seem like a big deal, but to me, being unemployed made me feel lost. It was definitely a humbling experience and it made me realize just how much I value working or making money. You don't have to necessarily bow down to something in order to worship it. God will tear apart what He is not involved in. Everything I have is because of Him and I was too selfish to see that before. I thank God for that experience because it helped me to grow and become closer to him and my husband.
Right now, I challenge you to cry out to Him. Just begin to pour your heart out to Him. He's waiting for you.
-Signed,
The King's Daughter
Recently the Lord has laid upon my heart to incorporate a segment known as "The Godly Wife" and use the authorship of my dear sister in Christ Mrs. Tanesha Lester. Tanesha is the leader of our Godly Wife group, which has been such a blessing to me as a soon to be wife (51 days away...YIKES!). I can go on and on about how God is using her, but I'll let you find out for yourself. Without further adieu, I present to you the Confessions of a Godly Wife.
Confessions of a Godly Wife: My Testimony
By: Tanesha Lester
My relationship with God became even stronger after I was married. I have always had a relationship with God, but I just kept failing at it. I didn't put as much effort into it. I made excuses to not go to church. I didn't study the Word, I just read it. God was blessing me tremendously and what was I giving him in return?
Once we moved and my internship was over, I found myself without a job. I became depressed and began to question God. Long story short, I was broken. I have never been so low in my life. I kept reading my bible and praying, but I also kept contradicting it. I wasn't believing what I was reading. I knew I couldn't go on like that and that God had something in store for me so one day I just cried out for Him. I poured my heart out to Him with hopes that He'd hear my cry. I began a consecration with my church for the new year and begin studying my bible and praying more. On the 9th day of January, God blessed me with a job. I couldn't stop thanking Him. I decreed and declared increase and He blessed me. To those of you who may be suffering or broken, just know that God has something in store for you. 1 Peter 5:10 says "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself, restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Sometimes we need to be broke down to truly experience God's love. Being unemployed may not seem like a big deal, but to me, being unemployed made me feel lost. It was definitely a humbling experience and it made me realize just how much I value working or making money. You don't have to necessarily bow down to something in order to worship it. God will tear apart what He is not involved in. Everything I have is because of Him and I was too selfish to see that before. I thank God for that experience because it helped me to grow and become closer to him and my husband.
Right now, I challenge you to cry out to Him. Just begin to pour your heart out to Him. He's waiting for you.
-Signed,
The King's Daughter
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