Allow God to WORK!!!!

By no means does this post condone premarital sex or having children out of wedlock. Nor does it condone divorce or am I saying that children aren't a blessing because they are.   

I was a single parent, not for a long period of time but long enough to rip and run on my own, to be the mom and dad and to have that alone feeling, that feeling of what if or how will I do this or that or maybe the father will love me later on. 

All of those emotions ran through me day in and day out and even though my son did not survive I feel I still got favour. My son's death saved me so don't worry about me. My heart cries out to the single parents or the person who feels having a child will change things. It will not. 
 I was reading the OT and came across Hagar, who for those who don't know was Sarah's maid. Sarah was barren (unable to have kids) so instead of her waiting on God, she grew impatient and allowed Hagar to get impregnated by Abraham. Now Hagar got pregnant right away and gave birth to Ishmael.  Years later Sarah was finally blessed with a son Issac and as soon as he was weaned that's when Sarah wanted Hagar and Ishmael to be casted out. 
Genesis 21:10
"Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this bond woman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Issac."

Now Abraham did as his wife asked because God told him to listen to her. 

Further in the OT you find Jacob with his wives Leah and Rachel. Now Rachel was barren and that is who Jacob truely loved but Leah had many sons by Jacob. All Leah kept saying is "Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons" The end result was that his heart belonged to Rachel.  Now I get many lessons from these stories in the OT but the one that sticks out to me is. Yes we all make mistakes, yes we confuse love with lust and yes sometimes you end up raising a child alone but if you turn to God he promises to take care of you and your child, he will become the absent parent. God doesn't want you stay in a broken home, playing house with someone who isn't your husband. OK you had a child now let's get it right.  First who God intends for you to be with trust that is who you will be with. Like me, most of us had children with a person we shouldn't of been with in the first place. In my case it turned out to save me and turn me completely to Christ. Don't get me wrong children are a blessing but they are also expensive and hard to raise alone. If you are a single parent I commend you and pray you turn to God so he can help you along the way and maybe even send you that husband or wife who is willing to be a great parent to your child. But if you're reading this and you have no children I say wait. Wait on the Lord to send you who he deems fit for you, not saying everything will be lollipops and unicorns but when God is guiding you and your partner it's so much easier. Trust me, I know. I will say this, since I allowed God to choose who I should date man oh man everything is much easier. Be blessed and remember God has a plan for your life it's up to you to follow Christ. 

Trust The Promise

As human beings we tend to worry, go into panic mode or stress over every little thing. I thought for awhile it's just my generation that does this because we are a weak generation. Money, dead end relationships and pleasing others are our focus. This past week I worked 130 hours, why, I really don't know, I figured let me stack more money before school starts. Well working so much made me too tired to go and worship at Sunday service, I was too tired to do anything, so my daily bible reading got pushed to the back burner, I missed bible study and I love bible study and well you get what I'm trying to say. I finally stopped and said what am I doing, why am I working so hard, it couldn't be for my needs because God promised to supply all of my needs, so what I had to be working so hard for was my wants. I realized I ignored Gods promise to me and did what I wanted to do or what satisfied me. I decided to take a day and pray and read my bible. I didn't know what book I wanted to read, finally the spirit led me to the book of Genesis. Well talk about people doing things their own way geeezzzz. Who struck me most was Abraham. God gave Abraham a promise: Genesis 12:1-3 KJV [1] Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: [2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: [3] And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Now here is the promise by the time you get to the middle of chapter 12 Abraham, loses faith and uses deceit because he feared that he was going to be killed for his wife Sarah. I was reading my bible puzzled. Then later God tells Abraham he will protect him and makes his rewards great, but instead of Abraham being satisfied with that he goes and says to The Lord, Genesis 15:2-3 KJV [2] … what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? [3] And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. … As to say your protection and rewards are well and good but it's not enough I want a baby. God promises him a child and not only does he not wait for the promise him and Sarah takes matters into their own hands and Abraham has Ishmael with Hagar. So at this moment I threw my hands up because enough was enough. The best part is through all of that God kept his promise, God remained faithful and Gods love never wavered. There is a promise for each and everyone be of us if we trust God to do what he said he would do. Trusting him doesn't mean tampering with the promise, it doesn't mean he needs your two cent, it doesn't mean he needs a push from you, it means be still and know that he is God. God gave me a promise about the middle of last year and even though I had my moments where I grew inpatient I had to step back and let God be God. Most of us are self destructive anyway why not let God handle your life. I say this to say, God knows the plans he has for you and if you just let him do the work what a great plan it would be. You've tried it on your own for how long? Try God, his promise remains the same today, yesterday and forever. Be blessed my brothers and sisters.

Meeting the Mark!!!!

Earlier last week I got into a great conversation with the guy I'm dating about people wanting to do what they want and figuring as long as they screamed "God forgive me" that somehow that meant you we're getting into heaven. I noticed that people take God for granted. They use his grace and mercy as a reason to sin continuously but as we were talking he said something that made me want to write this blog, he clearly said "there is a mark you have to meet as a Christian". Not that I didn't already know that but I feel a lot of people that may be new in Christ may not. There are a couple of facts; God's grace and mercy endure forever, God is a forgiving God, God sent his son Jesus to die for us so we may have eternal life and salvation, God wants you in the number, he wants you to make it to the kingdom of heaven and of course you will fall, for we are all sinners BUT!!! BUT, just because God is a forgiving God and his grace and mercy endures forever doesn't mean you are to sin every hour then scream God forgive me and you are getting into the kingdom of heaven. First you're taking a huge risk because we don't know the hour or minute Christ is coming back and you may be caught out there, second if you are saved and a child of God when you sin knowingly you feel conviction which leads you to repentance. Repentance leads to forgiveness and should teach you not to commit the sin again. God is able to deliver you from sinful ways but you have to be willing also. There is a mark you have to meet if you want to get unto the kingdom of heaven. Now God will meet you half way and help you along the way through your transformation but you have to put in work too.. In the book of James 4:7-8 KJV it states:
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."
Like I said in my last blog there is no more riding the fence. Of course when you first come to Christ you are like a baby but as you grow in Christ you will learn how to behave as a Christian. If you don't know something is wrong then ok, you'll learn, but if you know it's wrong and you continue to do it then obviously you don't care about the consequences.  The Holy Spirit teaches us a little bit at a time but there is work you have to put in, there is a mark you have to meet. It's like getting into the best college, not just anyone can get in, you have to meet the college admission standards. It the same with getting into heaven, there is a mark you have to meet, whether you want to meet it or not is on you, as for me it's not easy but everyday I become a better Christian than yesterday, meeting that mark is my prayer each and everyday. Be blessed my brothers and sisters!!!