Before I start, I want anyone reading this to declare: Jesus is the King over my life and that Satan's army is subject to my authority. Amen.
Like I've said in some of my previous blogs, we all have a purpose, Jesus died to give us life, that we may have joy & peace, that we may experience true love through Him.
But oh so often, we allow the ways of this world to manifest darkness over our lives. We allow people to come in and take the thing Jesus died on the cross for and that's our life. What I mean by this is we become broken, broken mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Some of us have suicidal thoughts and some of us even took it there, wanting/trying to end our lives because someone has made us feel like we have no life to live for. (NTL) Romans 13:10 "Loves does no wrong to anyone, so love satisfies all God's requirements." I want us to think back to a time that the one we "loved" the most said or did something that brought us to a point of no self-worth. I'm not just saying it happened once, I'm saying they did so much over a period of time that it broke your spirit, you were broken, depressed, and self-conscious of who you were. We have had times in our lives that changed us, by what people did, so we separate ourselves from God. Whatever was stolen from us, we try to find it outside of God's will, drinking, smoking, being promiscuous, cutting, ever suicide. We feel like there's no hope because we've lost hope in the only man that gave us hope (life) and that's Jesus Christ. We've allowed someone to take what they didn't give and separated ourselves from the one who gave us peace.
We start taking our frustrations out on ourselves, we start not to care about our morals and start feeding our flesh and mind with temporary satisfaction because someone told us that was all we were worth. But let me tell you what we are worth, we're worth the blood of Jesus. We're worth our beloved God giving his only son to die so that we can have life, so that we don't have to be bound by the worlds standard of whats acceptable and whats not.
(NLT) John 3:16-17 "for God so loved the world that He gave His only son so that whoever believes in Him will not parish but have eternal life (17) God did not send His son to condemn the world but to save it." So if God didn't send His son to condemn us, who are we to judge, who are we to make people feel less than who they really are, we are daughters of the most High God and we should carry ourselves in such a way that people can see the glory of God in and around us.
(NLT) Romans 12:12 says, "Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble and always be prayerful." Take joy that God has a special plan and purpose for your life, be patient in knowing that Gods plan will manifest itself in your life on Gods time.
(NLT) Romans 12:21 says, "Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good."
I've suffered from suicidal thoughts, I've actually tried once, I was that self-conscious girl, I was that homeless woman with children feeling worthless as a mother and a woman, I'm that girl who dealt with homosexual thoughts, I'm that girl that was beaten, that became promiscuous because I was numb to the word of God and focused on how hurt I was by the men I had been with and told myself that I didn't care, all I wanted to do was get my satisfaction and let it be known that I can, "Think Like A Man" (foolishness). I didn't care about morals, I didn't care about what the Word of God said, I didn't care about the only Man that loves me with the purest love and that's my God.
I'm the harsh reality of how this world can break us down to our lowest point how we allow people to come into our lives and steal our joy and when that happens, we lose sight of OUR PURPOSE GIVEN LIFE!
In the worlds eyes, I'm a statistic, a high school dropout, black woman with 3 kids, I've been on welfare, I receive government assistance and the father of my children is incarcerated. That's what the world defines me as. But let me tell you what God defines me as, I AM BEAUTIFUL, SMART, LOVING, STRONG, EDUCATED, LOVED, COURAGEOUS, PEACE, OBEDIENT, I AM, A DAUGHTER OF THE KING!!!! And so are you, when the world cast you out, God's love brings you in, into your purpose. He loves you in your wickedness, He loves you in your lust, He loves you in your NO MATTER WHAT!! So what is it for us to put on the whole armor of God, live according to His purpose and be FREE!! The world called us outsiders, God called us His children, there is power in the name of JESUS by His blood we are FREE, in His name we can LIVE! WE ARE ALIVE, WE ARE FREE!!!
DON'T EVER FORGET WHO YOU ARE AND WHO'S YOU ARE. YOU ARE THE A DAUGHTER OF THE KING!!! GOD!!!
I share my story because I want women to know that no matter what it looks like God has a plan and a Purpose for our lives. People are going to talk, they'll talk about you when your're good and they'll talk when your're down, either way, they're TALKING!! So why not give them something to talk about, let them talk about our success after our failure, talk about how God brought us OUT of our "condition" and situation and brought us into His plan for our lives. GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD! There have been days that I wanted to quit, days that I didn't want to even get out of bed because I was so broken by what I saw but none of that matters now because I understand my purpose and I'm here to show you the way through the Word of God to understand yours. LET'S GET OUT OF OUR CONDITION AND LIVE!!!!!! www.facebook.com/bstrawther
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
OPGL: Pastors
I just want to start off by thanking God for my Pastor, Pastor James McMenis of Word Of God Ministries in Shreveport, La.
(Jeremiah 3:15-NLT) says, " And I will give you leaders after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge abd understanding", I firmly believe this referring to our pastor J. McMenis. Since I've been a member of Word Of God Ministries my spiritual walk has been nothing short of amazing.
God has blessed him with an anointing (to dedicate to the service of God) to minister the Word, to teach God's Word. Pastor McMenis said something in the part 5 lesson on the series "The Gatekeeper", he said, the easy part of being a preacher is preaching, the hard part is teaching so that the congregation can understand God's word (not in those exact words but basically) and that's a true statement, to teach Gods word comes with wisdom, knowledge, & understanding of Gods word. It takes more than just getting in the pulpit, reading a couple scriptures, taking tithes and going home. It's about using God's word to be planted as a seed to manifest itself in the lives of Gods people, it's about Teaching.
***(2 Corinthians 5:18-21 NLT)
Pastors have some big shoes to fill don't they? Some have to worry about judgement, being ridiculed by people, even christians, because they don't agree with their method of teaching. But would any of that really matter or make a difference if your life is aligned with Gods word? (*1 Peter 3:15-16 NLT) tells us, "instead you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But you must do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak evil against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ."
I commend preachers & not just the ones that minister in the pulpit but also the ones that are in the streets of their communities & different countries ministering Gods word, the ones that sit in the congregation, listen & get an understanding of what's being taught, they study the word & spread it to the rest of the world. God has his hands on us, He gave us purpose through His word.
(**James 1:19-25 NLT) talks about (19) being quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.... (21) humbly accept the message that God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save souls...(22) it is a message to obey, not just to listen to, if you don't obey you're only fooling yourself... (**Read to vs 25)
Some of us sit in church listen to the message and for whatever reason get angry at the Pastor, but why? It's because most of us are sitting there not wanting to hear the truth! You'd rather your feelings be babysat & watched over, well Gods word doesn't work that way and neither should the people teaching it.
Pastor McMenis said something funny but true. He said he's not a coochie-coo preacher, in other words, he's not called to satify us and our feelings by holding back on Gods word ( that was just my take on it) he's in the pulpit to teach the manifested Word Of God so that we can not only recieve God's word but be able to understand it in a way that we can apply it to our lives and bless others as well.
I thank God for our pastor & I pray that God continues to cover his family and bless the ministry. Since I've put fourth my time in Gods word, my life has changed physically, mentally, financially, & most importantly spiritually. I can humbly say that at Word Of God Ministries I'm at my place called there, I'm home & to my pastor, I hear your heart.
OPGL-Xo♥
If your ever in the Shreveport area and you're looking for a place to worship, Word Of God Ministries is open arms to visitors near & far
6645 Bert Kouns Industrial Lp
Shreveport, La 71129
(318) 364-8977
Monday, April 29, 2013
OPGL- The Holy Spirit
Growing up, my mother would always figure things out, even things we thought we got away with (lol) and she'd always say, "the Holy Spirit spoke to me." As a child I didn't understand but as a mother, an adult, and a child of God, I get it.
(John 14:26-Kjv) says "but the comforter which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things back to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (*Always remember the Holy Spirit can only bring something back to your remembrance if it has already been studied, how can you remember something you never had.)
Have you ever had an ah-ha moment where something just came to you or as a parent, has something dealing with your children ever just came to you? I have and in my mind, I always went back to what my mother use to say "the Holy Spirit spoke to me." (lol) now I got it.
(John 16:13-14 Nlt) says, "when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not be representing his own ideas, He will be telling you what He has heard, He will be telling you about the future.(14) He will bring you glory by revealing to you whatever he receives from me."
Anything you receive from the Holy Spirit is from God. God has placed the Holy Spirit here with us to reveal truth, to bring Gods word fourth in our lives.
Some may ask how do I receive the Holy Spirit? The beginning of receiving the Holy Spirit is believing in Jesus Christ with salvation. How can you believe/receive the Holy Spirit without receiving the one who the Holy Spirit was sent to relieve and that's Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit comes to be a comforter to us, to give us wisdom, knowledge and understanding of Gods Word.
(Galatians 3:2 Nlt) says, "let me ask you a question, Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law? Of course not. for the Holy Spirit came upon you ONLY after you believed the message about Jesus Christ." (Galatians 3:5 Nlt) ...(5) does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? of course NOT. It is because you believed the message you heard about Jesus Christ." (continue Galatians 3:8-14)
God has a purpose and a plan for our lives but to receive the promises that God promised Abraham, we must first put our faith in Christ as Abraham did.
Christians, don't lose yourself trying to satisfy your flesh by depending on the law to make you right with God, receive Christ through salvation & baptism, have faith in God so that the same promises Abraham received through his faith we can receive through ours, the promised Holy Spirit.
OPGL-
(John 16:13-15; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16; James 1:5-8; Matthew 13:15,16; Romans 14:17)
I encourage you to study the scriptures in Gods Word, pray that he brings all things to your remembrance and to receive revelation, knowledge and understanding of His word. God Bless...
(John 14:26-Kjv) says "but the comforter which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things back to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (*Always remember the Holy Spirit can only bring something back to your remembrance if it has already been studied, how can you remember something you never had.)
Have you ever had an ah-ha moment where something just came to you or as a parent, has something dealing with your children ever just came to you? I have and in my mind, I always went back to what my mother use to say "the Holy Spirit spoke to me." (lol) now I got it.
(John 16:13-14 Nlt) says, "when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not be representing his own ideas, He will be telling you what He has heard, He will be telling you about the future.(14) He will bring you glory by revealing to you whatever he receives from me."
Anything you receive from the Holy Spirit is from God. God has placed the Holy Spirit here with us to reveal truth, to bring Gods word fourth in our lives.
Some may ask how do I receive the Holy Spirit? The beginning of receiving the Holy Spirit is believing in Jesus Christ with salvation. How can you believe/receive the Holy Spirit without receiving the one who the Holy Spirit was sent to relieve and that's Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit comes to be a comforter to us, to give us wisdom, knowledge and understanding of Gods Word.
(Galatians 3:2 Nlt) says, "let me ask you a question, Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law? Of course not. for the Holy Spirit came upon you ONLY after you believed the message about Jesus Christ." (Galatians 3:5 Nlt) ...(5) does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? of course NOT. It is because you believed the message you heard about Jesus Christ." (continue Galatians 3:8-14)
God has a purpose and a plan for our lives but to receive the promises that God promised Abraham, we must first put our faith in Christ as Abraham did.
Christians, don't lose yourself trying to satisfy your flesh by depending on the law to make you right with God, receive Christ through salvation & baptism, have faith in God so that the same promises Abraham received through his faith we can receive through ours, the promised Holy Spirit.
OPGL-
(John 16:13-15; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16; James 1:5-8; Matthew 13:15,16; Romans 14:17)
I encourage you to study the scriptures in Gods Word, pray that he brings all things to your remembrance and to receive revelation, knowledge and understanding of His word. God Bless...
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Success
Have you ever wanted to be so successful, you could feel it it all over? Have you ever been so confused about where you wanted to go in life that you felt like you'd never make it? Or have you ever prayed so hard and so long daily but it seemed like God just didn't hear you?
Well, I have. I've felt ALL of these things. Some may be able to relate to my situation. I've always been the type of person that I had a plan, in my head, it's great and when I presented it to others it sounded AWESOME but as time passed, I never executed that that "awesome plan". I just thought about it, talked about it but never did anything about it. It wasn't until I got TIRED of hearing myself talk about what I wanted to and where I wanted to be . Success and being successful takes GREAT SACRIFICE!
For several years, I started cosmetology school and for several years, I quit cosmetology school. I got so wrapped up in what I thought I wanted to do and not what God had planned for me to do. So finally in 2011, I took that step and applied for school at Regency Beauty Institute, those 12 months were the most up and down moments of my life and at one point in time, I wanted to quit, all the drama, foolishness, and rules just overwhelmed me. I remember in workshop, I had a falling out with one of my classmates, I was mad beyond the point of understanding, but I remember Mrs. Nett kept me in her office and these are her exact words "No ma'am, No ma'am, you will NOT, this is your PURPOSE", that was the first time someone directly said anything to me about "Purpose", she told me not to let anyone take me or move me from MY SPOT and from then on I humbled myself (for the most part). I think all of us Shreveport Regency Students that graduated between May 2011 - July 2012 broke down a time or two.
Rotation B was the TRUTH (lol) our talks, our jokes, out tears, our whispers, we were a family, a big DYSFUNCTIONAL family BUT it worked, for US! We formed bonds that'll last a LIFETIME.
Regency and the people in it showed me a lot, they prepared me for life outside of being a student, not having Ms. Kim, Mrs. Nett, or Ms. Blanche to hold our (my) hand. At this point, I'm ready, I'm ready to get out there and be SUCCESSFUL, to live out my purpose that God had set up for me.
Now that I'm a professional, a licensed professional (as my sister would say) I'm in the real world and I'm working around/with the best and I'm going to be honest, its a bit intimidating but never the less and experience, a good one at that.
These past couple days I've been here and there about if this is whats for me, I think about what people might say, what they might think of me and my skills, and how they feel about my craft (kind of crazy cause outside of the business, I wouldn't give it a second thought) but inside the business, its nerve recking. God said to me something I'll never forget 1 sentence 4 words, "I'm waiting on you". Sometimes we wait on God and them there are times He waits on us, He waits on us to stop worrying about what it looks like ans start believing by faith that in what it is and its success and being successful through Him and His Word.
(2 Kings 18:5-7 NLT) talks about how Hezekiah trusted the Lord, saying that he remained faithful to the Lord and he carefully obeyed the commandments God gave Moses and the Lord was with him and Hezekiah was SUCCESSFUL in everything he did... The key in those scriptures was that he trusted God, he care obeyed Him, and he remained faithful and with those 3 things Hezekiah was successful.
Sometimes we sit back and wonder why or we ask God why. Then God turns to us and asks us WHY. Why haven't you trusted me? Why don't you have faith in me? Why won't you obey me? Before we ask God why, we should look at ourselves and then maybe all of our questions would be answered.
Lord why am I not successful?
-Because you don't trust me.
Lord, why can't things just fall into place for me?
-Because you wont obey me.
Lord, why cant i just get a break?
-Because you don't have faith in me.
I'm sure a lot of us have asked these questions over and over again to get no answer, why because you already know, sometimes its better to answer your own questions, to get the revelation your trying to see and the revelation God is trying to get you to see.
If you read (2 Kings 6:1-7) this DECLARATION OF FAITH will make sense:
*I DO NOT SHOW FEAR IN ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES. IN WHATEVER STATE I'M IN, I KNOW THAT GOD IS ON MY SIDE AND WILL PROVIDE THE MIRACLE THAT I NEED TO SEE ME THROUGH.
To apply the "declaration of faith" to your life, you must have FAITH! (Matthew 9:28,29) talks about how Jesus touched the eyes of a blind man and made him see but He asked a question, He asked the him if he believed that He (Jesus) could make him see. Their reply "yes". Jesus told them that it's because of their FAITH that it happened.
World, we need to come to the realization that we can't do this alone, it's not just about us becoming successful or having more, it's about knowing that God will do all that we ask or think, all we have to do is have the faith to know and believe that He can and will do it by faith.
(Matthew 17:14-20) talks about how the disciples couldn't heal the demon possessed boy (Matt. 17:19) the disciples asked why they couldn't heal the boy and the answer was simple, they didn't believe (have faith). (Matt 17:20) [ most of us know this verbatim] "if ye have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain remove hence to yonder place and it shall move and nothing shall be impossible for you."
In life period, it takes faith to succeed to the highest level that God has planned to takes us. Let's stop waiting on God to answer our questions and revert those questions to ourselves and then when they're answered, let God know that you have the faith, he obedience, and the trust to go where He's willing to take you and follow his unquestionable lead.
OPGL-SUCCESS
Well, I have. I've felt ALL of these things. Some may be able to relate to my situation. I've always been the type of person that I had a plan, in my head, it's great and when I presented it to others it sounded AWESOME but as time passed, I never executed that that "awesome plan". I just thought about it, talked about it but never did anything about it. It wasn't until I got TIRED of hearing myself talk about what I wanted to and where I wanted to be . Success and being successful takes GREAT SACRIFICE!
For several years, I started cosmetology school and for several years, I quit cosmetology school. I got so wrapped up in what I thought I wanted to do and not what God had planned for me to do. So finally in 2011, I took that step and applied for school at Regency Beauty Institute, those 12 months were the most up and down moments of my life and at one point in time, I wanted to quit, all the drama, foolishness, and rules just overwhelmed me. I remember in workshop, I had a falling out with one of my classmates, I was mad beyond the point of understanding, but I remember Mrs. Nett kept me in her office and these are her exact words "No ma'am, No ma'am, you will NOT, this is your PURPOSE", that was the first time someone directly said anything to me about "Purpose", she told me not to let anyone take me or move me from MY SPOT and from then on I humbled myself (for the most part). I think all of us Shreveport Regency Students that graduated between May 2011 - July 2012 broke down a time or two.
Rotation B was the TRUTH (lol) our talks, our jokes, out tears, our whispers, we were a family, a big DYSFUNCTIONAL family BUT it worked, for US! We formed bonds that'll last a LIFETIME.
Regency and the people in it showed me a lot, they prepared me for life outside of being a student, not having Ms. Kim, Mrs. Nett, or Ms. Blanche to hold our (my) hand. At this point, I'm ready, I'm ready to get out there and be SUCCESSFUL, to live out my purpose that God had set up for me.
Now that I'm a professional, a licensed professional (as my sister would say) I'm in the real world and I'm working around/with the best and I'm going to be honest, its a bit intimidating but never the less and experience, a good one at that.
These past couple days I've been here and there about if this is whats for me, I think about what people might say, what they might think of me and my skills, and how they feel about my craft (kind of crazy cause outside of the business, I wouldn't give it a second thought) but inside the business, its nerve recking. God said to me something I'll never forget 1 sentence 4 words, "I'm waiting on you". Sometimes we wait on God and them there are times He waits on us, He waits on us to stop worrying about what it looks like ans start believing by faith that in what it is and its success and being successful through Him and His Word.
(2 Kings 18:5-7 NLT) talks about how Hezekiah trusted the Lord, saying that he remained faithful to the Lord and he carefully obeyed the commandments God gave Moses and the Lord was with him and Hezekiah was SUCCESSFUL in everything he did... The key in those scriptures was that he trusted God, he care obeyed Him, and he remained faithful and with those 3 things Hezekiah was successful.
Sometimes we sit back and wonder why or we ask God why. Then God turns to us and asks us WHY. Why haven't you trusted me? Why don't you have faith in me? Why won't you obey me? Before we ask God why, we should look at ourselves and then maybe all of our questions would be answered.
Lord why am I not successful?
-Because you don't trust me.
Lord, why can't things just fall into place for me?
-Because you wont obey me.
Lord, why cant i just get a break?
-Because you don't have faith in me.
I'm sure a lot of us have asked these questions over and over again to get no answer, why because you already know, sometimes its better to answer your own questions, to get the revelation your trying to see and the revelation God is trying to get you to see.
If you read (2 Kings 6:1-7) this DECLARATION OF FAITH will make sense:
*I DO NOT SHOW FEAR IN ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES. IN WHATEVER STATE I'M IN, I KNOW THAT GOD IS ON MY SIDE AND WILL PROVIDE THE MIRACLE THAT I NEED TO SEE ME THROUGH.
To apply the "declaration of faith" to your life, you must have FAITH! (Matthew 9:28,29) talks about how Jesus touched the eyes of a blind man and made him see but He asked a question, He asked the him if he believed that He (Jesus) could make him see. Their reply "yes". Jesus told them that it's because of their FAITH that it happened.
World, we need to come to the realization that we can't do this alone, it's not just about us becoming successful or having more, it's about knowing that God will do all that we ask or think, all we have to do is have the faith to know and believe that He can and will do it by faith.
(Matthew 17:14-20) talks about how the disciples couldn't heal the demon possessed boy (Matt. 17:19) the disciples asked why they couldn't heal the boy and the answer was simple, they didn't believe (have faith). (Matt 17:20) [ most of us know this verbatim] "if ye have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain remove hence to yonder place and it shall move and nothing shall be impossible for you."
In life period, it takes faith to succeed to the highest level that God has planned to takes us. Let's stop waiting on God to answer our questions and revert those questions to ourselves and then when they're answered, let God know that you have the faith, he obedience, and the trust to go where He's willing to take you and follow his unquestionable lead.
OPGL-SUCCESS
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