Be on the Watch

Life can be going great. You are happy and it seems like you find yourself on cloud nine. 

 

And you find yourself having zill to do something for God, or God has giving you an assignment to complete, and you are up for the challenge. You want to do for God, because that is what he requires of us. 

 

But then, it seems like everything starts going wrong in your life and the feeling you had is gone. 

 

 

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeing whom he may devour”

 

It is funny how God brought this scripture to my mind. 

When I wrote this blog, I was getting ready for a women’s program at my church, and I was getting my mind and my heart ready for it. It seemed like everything was coming my way to get my mind off what God had for me to do.  But I had to realize what was going on. 

To give a better understanding, I had to look up the meaning of a few words.  

 

So, in my Strong Concordance, I looked up the word adversary.

 

It stated that the word adversaries mean “those who actively oppose” Then it gave me who that word described. It listed Satan, gospels enemies and a rival. That is just to name a few.

 

Then in 1 Peter 5:8 state he was “as a roaring lion seeking who me may devour”

 

Have you ever watched on of the animal documentaries and you see a lion waiting on its prey. They just don’t pounce the minute they see it; they wait. They take their time, and they watch their prey. They study its movements, and when they see they have their guard down, that is when they strike. 

 

See, the devil does not want to see the children of God happy. He wants to see us down and not looking to God for help. He strikes when we are at our weakness. 

 

And that is when he gets what he wants, and he tries to devour us like he wants to.

 

Devour simply means to eat up. 

 

So, 1 Peter 5:8 is saying to watch out because the devil is watching you and waiting for the right time to jump on you forget your mind off God.

 

 

 

But the first part of that scripture says “be sober, be vigilant” well what that means?

 

Vigilant means keeping a careful watch for possible danger or difficulties. 

 

Sober simply means not drunk.

 

The bible tells us to be sober and vigilant because God wants us to keep a clear mind so we can be on a lookout for possible danger the devil may try to bring in our lives.  

 

See, he is not always going to show his true self. He could come as a friendly face, someone we have known for a long time, or even a family member. 

 

We must be watchful so we can recognize when he shows himself and we can recognize that it is time for us to remove ourselves from that danger. 

 

 

Being a child of God does not mean that we just take whatever the devil throws at us. That is why the bible says we must sober. Just like the devil is watching us to try to get us off track, we must watch out and understand what he is doing so we can remove ourselves. 

 

God Bless.

 

 

 

*Please leave a comment of encouragement for everyone. 

Being a Godly Example for our Children.

  

Children watch how their parents respond to certain things. 

 

We could get mad at the person driving the car in front of us and get mad at how they are driving. That is when we make the excuse of having road rage in how respond to the next driver.  

 

But it is how we respond that our children are looking at. We are who they get their behavior from when their lives began.   That is why if we flip people off and curse them out, our children are going to follow what we do. 

 

 So, I am going to give you an example by tell you what happened this week. My kids must be at school at a certain time, or they will not be able to get breakfast. This particular morning, I got them up late because I overslept. So, I knew they were going to be late, so we got dressed and I took them to Bojangles to get them a biscuit. So, it was right at 8:00am when we got to the school, so I knew they were going to be tardy.

 

So, they close the drive line right at 8:00am and you have to go inside the school and sign in your child. So that is what I did. I could not be mad at anyone else, because I was the one in the wrong because I had overslept. 

 

Well, there was this mother who was just not having it, so she got out the car yelling at the principle and just upset. 

 

So, if the kids are late, they must get a tardy slip to give to their teacher. The lady at the door gave her kids a tardy slip and she snatched it out their hands and instructed them to go to class without the slip knowing they needed it to get in the class.

 

Now, if those children went and went against the rules of the school or because they were mad just to prove a point, who can that parent blame? Nobody but themselves.

 

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  

 

God requires us to train our children on how to behave. They look to us as their parents in how they should act. 

We cannot say we are Christians in one breath and curse someone out in the other breath. 

 

That simply shows children that there is no standard they need to follow.  That is not good. You are just teaching your children that it is ok for you to act one way, and then name the name of Jesus in the other.

 

Not only that, but we also must teach our children how to navigate this life. 

 

It is our job to teach them, not only teach them, but  show them what they need to get through this life.  We are to be that example of how a man or woman needs to conduct themselves. 

 

Most people feel like children should figure it out on their own. They take on the mindset that “well I had to figure it out by myself, let them figure it out.”

 

Wrong mindset as Christian parents. 

We must have the mindset that God blessed us with our children, and he charged us to teach them how to live a Godly life.

 

If we don’t be that example to our children on how to live Godly, who will? 

 

 

God bless.

*Please leave a comment of encouragement for everyone. 

A testimony about Giving God Praise while going Through.

This is not one of my normal blogs. This is more of a testimonial. 

 

See, over the past 8 months, my husband has been going through a few battles of his own.  ( I mentioned it in my last blog but I did not go into depth about it) 

On August 25, 2023, my husband and my oldest son was hit head on by a drunk driver. Praise God they both made it out alive, but my husband’s left leg was injured.  My son just had a few scrapes and bruises, but he is ok. 

 

So, I have watched my husband go through this season in his life. 

I saw him laying on a hospital bed with his leg bleeding bad, and I saw him being whisked away into emergency surgery. 

 

I saw him spend 50 days in the hospital, all the while thanking God and praising him for everything he was going through. 

 

Even now, as I write this, he is back home from the hospital recovering from an above knee amputation of his left leg. 

But in spite of everything, from the months of physical therapy, and the pain, the infection in his knee, even now to the amputation, I watch my husband be that man of God that I know he his, and who God has called him to be.  

 

His smile is contagious, because even when I watch him talk to people about what he been through he is not mad. He knows God has been with him every step of the way, and he smiles. 

 

He inspires me, because he never complains, and he gives God all the Glory. 

 

“I will bless the Lord at all times:his praise shall continually be in my mouth” Psalms34:1

 

I have learned the true meaning of this verse.  Because no matter what we go through, and no matter what is going on in our lives, we should bless the Lord.

 

See, in this situation my husband could have very well had his own pity party. He could have been sad, and just gave up.  But as his wife, I saw him praise God when he was in pain, and he couldn’t move. 

 

He Praised God though everything that came his way these past 8 months. God has shown me the meaning of praising him, and trusting him, and having faith in him. 

 

He did not become his situation. He prayed, gave it to God, and thanked him for just keeping him though it all.

As his wife, as my sons mother, I had to thank God for everything.  

I thank God that they both made it out alive. 

I thanked God that even though it ultimately had to to amputate my husband leg, my husband still is in his right mind.

I thank God for just keeping us through out this difficult time in our lives. And I even thank God when I felt all hope was lost and I did not know how we were going to get through this, God still showed us the way to go. 

I pray that this blog encourages someone to understand no matter what happens, praise God for what he has done for you in your situation in life, and thank him for bringing you through it.  

 

I am thankful to say that he is on the road to recovery, and he is doing wonderful. 

 

Just remember that God sees what you are going through. He knows what is going on in your life. He is going to all ways be by your side no matter what the situation is. Good, bad, or ugly God is always there. Give him all the praise and know he got you.

 

God bless. 

*Please leave a comment of encouragement for everyone. 

New Meaning of my Wedding Vows.

May 17,2007 was my wedding day. And though parts of it were not a happy time, when I saw my husband standing at the alter waiting on me on that Thursday night, I was so happy. I was starting my life with this person that I dated for three years.

 

I was excited to start my journey as his wife, but I had no clue what I was getting my self into.

 

When I got married, I had this illusion of something I say in the movies. I thought it was going to be all fun and games. We were going to love each other, and we were going to have a happy life and we were not going to have to go through anything.  

 

But that is a different topic for another time. 

When we got married, we had to say our wedding vows in front of everyone in the church.  

 

We stood and we said those vows proudly. In front of every one that was there and God, we said those vows. 

 

But who take their wedding vows seriously? 

 

For me, August 2023 those vows took on a different meaning.  My husband was in a bad car accident. For months he was dependent on me to help him do everyday tasks because the bones in my husband’s wrist was shattered and he had to get it repaired and so was his knee.  He had to wear a contraption to keep his knee stable. 

 

Things I normally must do for my patients as a CNA I found myself doing for my husband.  

 

And it was not an easy task. To find yourself one day having an independent husband to having to care for him was not easy.   I found myself in tears at times, because I could see the frustration he was dealing with. 

 

I was back and forth from the hospital to take my children back and forth to school, to the hospital to help take care of my husband. 

 

But God showed me something all the while he was in the hospital.  He brought back to me rembrace our wedding vows.  

 

“For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness an in health.” 

 

This part stuck out the most because no one thinks the day of their wedding that years down the road their lives will change, and I would have to remember them.

 

For me it was a little over 16 years of marriage when God had to show me the true meaning of my wedding vows. 

 

Those words are not just words. To me, they have a meaning behind it. 

 

Simply put, you will have good days, you will have bad days. You will have everything you need at times, and there will be days when you just don’t know. But in spite of everything you may have to go through, there should be love, honor and you should cherish one another, through everything. 

 

See, I had to step up and help my husband in ways I never thought I had to.  (Sickness and health, better or worse). 

 

I had to be a different type of wife. I had to be his hands and his legs when he could not use them.  I had to pray over my strong man when he could not pray for himself.  

 

I had to be strong in the Lord when I wanted to just throw in the towel and give up. But God gave me the strength to uphold my vows. 

 

 When I wanted to give up, God showed me this is what I signed up for that Thursday night all those years ago. 

 

God bless. 

*Please leave a comment of encouragement for everyone. 

Working for God with no Excuse

God has place something in our hands to do as Christians. It can be something big, or something small, but he has something for all his children to do.

 

I have heard for a long time “God does not call the equip, he equips the ones he calls”.

 

Now I am going to be honest, I have not read those exact words in the bible, but there were a few scriptures that showed God giving instructions, and men questioning him. 

In Exodus chapter 4 God was giving Moses’ instructions and he was questioning God.  

 

Exodus 4:10: “And Moses said unto the Lord, Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent, nether heretofore, or since thou has spoken unto thy servant; but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue”. 

 

I had to look up the word eloquent, and it said, “the fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing.” 

See Moses did not think he was qualified to go and do what God told him to do, as we can see in the first few books of Exodus because he questions God more than one. 

 

Exodus 4:11-12 says “And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord? No therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” 

 

If God tells us something to do, we should never question “Lord me? I am not qualified.”

 

As a little girl, I remember my parents looking at a preacher with cerebral palsy. His name was David Ring.  His speech was different, and his walk was different, but I remember him standing in that pulpit preaching the word of God.  I went and watched one of his old videos about his life and he said that he thanked God how God made him. 

 

But the thing that got me was that he did not let his disability stop him from doing God’s work. He trusted God and he went to do what God placed in his life to do no matter what his circumstances was. 

 

 

Simple, the bible says it plain. We must trust in God.  (Proverbs 3:5) 

 

And I am going to be honest with you, that is hard sometimes. God tells us to go left, but we know that there is something that we don’t want to encounter if we go left, so we go right, and find out that the short cut was left. 

 

We must have an understand that we cannot make decisions on our own. That is why it says, “lean not unto thy own understanding”, but trust in God that he knows better than we do. 

 

We find or shall say we make every excuse when God calls us to do something, and we find out we have messed up our own blessings that God had for us because we decided to do things our own way. 

 

The best thing to do when God places a task in our hands is to pray and ask God to be with us and give us the strength to go on in his name and to carry out his will with no questions asked. 

 

Philippians 4:13 says “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”

 

We must stop to making excuses as to why we cannot do the work for God. It does not matter how we walk, or how we talk, or how we feel like we are not qualified to do. 

 

If God tells us to do something he is going to equip us with the words we need and the strength to do it.

 

God bless. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trust in the Lord

 

Recently, a situation happened that left me at a loss for words. I was shocked when it was told to me, and I began to get sad. But as I was sitting in my car, I immediately went into prayer, because I knew that me being sad would not do a thing. I needed strength to get through what was going on.

 

As I went on about my day, I kept hearing the word “trust.”

 

Trust? Why was this word placed on my heart?

 

So, I went and looked up the meaning of trust. 

The meaning of trust is “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.”

 

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5&6)

 

Truly trust in the Lord it means that you have the firm belief In Gods ability to help us though out our lives and that Gods strength is way better than your own. 

 

It was important for me to get to the point of trusting God in the situation, because I could’ve very well start trying to figure things out on my own. And that this particular situation I had to put my trust in God because it was nothing that I could do.

 

 

We as Christians must learn that we are very weak when it comes to certain situations in our lives. And instead of trying to get an understanding of things on our own that we need to understand that God has the power to make every situation OK even when it seems like it’s not.

 

Sometimes we don’t understand why we go through things in life, and it can be to the point where we’re at a loss for words. But God is always there to show us the way to go. 

 

We need to stop worrying about things that we cannot control, and truly trust in God to handle it for us.

God Bless

Praising the Lord

 

 

"I will bless the Lord at all times: his praises shall continually be in my mouth" Psalms 34:1

 

 

Do we praise the Lord like we should? or do we just go about our day like he has not done anything for us?

 

David said it prefect in Psalms 34. He says "I will bless the Lord at all times."

 

That means no matter what you are going though, you should always praise the Lord.

 

We may find ourselves in a storm with nowhere to go, and we feel all alone. But if we just start praising God, we will see how we start feeling. 

 

God has done so much for us when we did not deserve it, we should always want to praise him and thank him for being there for us. 

 

We should not just praise God for what he did for us, but for who God is to you personally.

 

That is what I had to learn, who God was to me?

 

See, we don't always look at praising God for who he is. Sometimes we think we just need to praise God for what he had done in our lives and that's it. 

 

And there is nothing wrong with praising God for what he has done in your life, that is not what I am saying. But it is something about when you realize who God is in your life... That is a different kind of praise.

 

“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither weary? There is not searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have not might he increaseth strength.” Isaiah 40 28&29

 

God has shown all of us that he is God and the only one who will always be there for us. 

 

God is everything to us. He is the only one we can go to when we need someone to talk to. He is our protector though out the day. He is a healer when we don't feel good. He is a shoulder to cry on. the list goes on and on. He is our creator, and our savior. The main thing he is to us, he is God.

 

He is everything to us because he is everything. We must always praise God because he is everything that we need in our lives.

God bless.