A Prayer For You

A Prayer For The Re-Discovered Woman

Colossians 1:9-12 (ESV)

“ 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks[a] to the Father, who has qualified you[b] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. ”

There are times when we want to pray for ourselves, loved ones or even strangers but do not know exactly what to pray for. More often than not, our prayers revolve around requests for needs and negates the work God desires to complete in us. Think of how powerful our prayers can be if we shift the focus of our prayers to what God truly desires for our lives. The Apostle Paul did exactly that when he wrote out a prayer to the church of Colosse in Colossians 1:9-12. Whether we are praying for ourselves or interceding for others, Paul’s prayer can be applicable in every life circumstance.

V9- To be filled with the knowledge of His (God’s) will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

God’s plan for us should be the central pursuit of our daily lives. We need to know what His plan is concerning us and to discern His guidance. This then prevents us from pursuing our own desires and deviating from the path of God.

V10- To walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, FULLY pleasing Him.

What is a manner worthy of the Lord? ---Fashioning our lives to bring glory to God.

V1-  To bear fruit in every good work

What does it mean to bear fruit?--- Yielding positive results in this world.

V10-- To increase in the knowledge of God.

Praying for an increased knowledge of God is a request for us to draw closer to Him and to gain a deeper understanding of who He is. Reading the Bible and applying God’s word in our lives helps increase our knowledge of God but we need the Holy Spirit to aid this process.

V11- To be strengthened with God’s power according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.

We all need the strength of God on a daily basis to ensure life’s circumstances. Relying on our own strength will fail us but the strength of God grants us endurance, patience and joy even in the toughest of situations.

V12- To give thanks to God

Giving thanks to God recognizes His Lordship over our lives and attributes who we are and will ever be to Him. Being thankful releases a move of God over our daily lives because we recognize Him as our source.

I pray that God grants us the grace to pray according to His will daily and that our prayers will yield results. Amen.

Building A Positive Self-Image In A Social Media World

During the 05/24/17 broadcast of the WR show, we discussed self-image and the need for us to build positive self-worth in this era of social media. Here are 10 practical strategies from our discussion to safeguard us from negative self worth.

1) Prayer: Pray asking God to secure your heart in Him. When we dismiss God in the process of building or re-building our self-esteem, our results do not last. God has a plan for you to improve how you feel about yourself, to boost your confidence and improve your relationships with others. His plan involves seeking Him to be a part of that journey as He unveils His will to you. Invite God to secure you in Him. Psalm 127 vs 1 tells us that anything done without God is done in vain.

2) Know your values: Ask yourself, “What is it that I value?” Another way to phrase this may be, “What qualities do I admire in my life.” These questions are important to ask in order to keep you focused and true to what you want out of your life. Looking to others to define this for you has the tendency to make you loose your true self and what you find important to you.

3) Set goals: We all have an innate desire for accomplishments. Your values enrich your life and you should prayerfully work to develop them. Set goals that are in accordance with what you value. Habakkuk 2:1-3 is an example of how God wants us to write down things and work to get them achieved through Him. Realizing you can accomplish the things you set out to do – even mundane things – is part build a positive self-image and self-worth.

4) Guard your mind: The temptation to think negatively is all around us. When you find yourself thinking negative thoughts about yourself or being very judgmental about yourself, remember this word, “STOP”. Remind yourself of God’s unconditional love for you. That love was so unconditional that He sent Jesus to die for you!

5) Speak the Word: Along with guarding your mind, it is important to have some scriptures memorized to renew your mind about who you are in Christ. Remember, when the enemy came to tempt Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus did not fight by mere words but with the written word of God. Examples of scriptures you may want to start with are: Psalm 139:14; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9; Judges 6:16; Ephesians 1:3-6; Jeremiah 29:11

6) Forgive yourself: Self-forgiveness is a concept many of us shy away from. As humans, we make mistakes. Often it feels safer to consciously focus on something external that seems “not good enough,” or something we wish we had done differently. When we make mistakes, we should admit it and repent, asking God for forgiveness and also allowing ourselves to let go of it. The enemy has a way of molding our unforgiveness towards ourself into a deeply rooted negative self-image. Do not give the enemy any room to operate. Forgive yourself!

7) Make friends wisely: Let us be honest, there are certain people who can be toxic to our mental, emotional and spiritual health. Ensure that you spend time with people who do not negatively criticize or condemn others or you. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 tell us to encourage one another and build each other up. Relationships that encourage and seek to bring the best out of you are what meet Biblical standards. With that said, you should also make every effort to build and encourage those around you. That is what God wants from us.

8) Be Selfless: In line with being a person of encouragement, Luke 6:38 tells us to givers. Givers of our treasure, talent and time. In building or re-building your self-image, you need to understand the value of selflessness and its power to position you for God’s blessings. When I say blessings this does not only mean physical things we acquire, no, far from that. Blessings can be emotional, spiritual or mental such as peace in your mind. So, look for ways to be of help to others and watch how God uses that to restore or build you.

9) Take care of you: I think I need to add this here, being selfless does not mean you neglect or abuse yourself. No, God wants you to care for yourself and glorify Him in your body as well as in your spirit. You cannot glorify God in a neglected, uncared for body. Notice that Jesus, the greatest example for all of mankind even took breaks from caring for others to care for himself. There is a saying that goes like this, “When you look good, you feel good”. This has proven true for many people in building a positive self-image so try it! Look Good for the glory of God!

10) Be Grateful: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. God in His wisdom designed each one of us to maintain an attitude of gratitude (oh that rhymes!) God’s will for our lives is to give thanks in all circumstances, literally wake up being grateful and go to bed grateful. The secret of having an attitude of gratitude is that it leads us to have an abundant life! A simple way to practice this is to ask yourself each day, “For what am I grateful? Each and everyone of us can find at least one small thing each day for which we can be thankful. This keeps us on the positive track of life and away from negative emotions that can devalue our self-image. Some scriptures you can meditate on are: Psalm 34:1; Psalm 50:14; 2 Corinthians 9:15; Ephesians 5:18-20; Colossians 3:15

So, in conclusion, I just want to remind you that you do not have to be liked or approved of by others to feel valued. God proved how valuable you are to Him by sending Jesus to die for you. Each and every one of us are of infinite value to our loving God. Our acceptance and definition of self-worth should not come from Social Media or the world but from God. This means our primary goal in life should not be to live for the approval of others but for the approval of God only. God wants us to be the best version of ourselves so He will be glorified. So please, let us tune our minds, words and actions to that which glorifies Him and Him alone. I would love to hear your strategy of keeping and building a positive self-image and self-worth. Please comment below and let me know!

Love and hugs!

3 REASONS WHY GOD MAKES US WAIT

By: Akosua O'King

I confess, I hate waiting. Be it waiting in line, waiting in traffic, waiting to get a parking spot, waiting for a text message response or just being put on hold during a call; I HATE TO WAIT. The word “Wait” should be one that never existed, at least in my opinion.

The hardest moments of waiting is when I have been praying about a situation in my life and find myself waiting for the breakthrough…I wait, and wait, and wait…

The interesting thing I have come to understand is that though I hate to wait, waiting is something God seems to enjoy! As a matter of fact, our journey with God will always have seasons of waiting. No one can escape that.

So the question becomes, why will our loving God keep us in a place of waiting? Why doesn’t he just move when we need Him to? What is the purpose of waiting?

Truthfully, I do not know all the reasons why God makes us wait however, in my walk with Him, I have concluded on at least 3 reasons why God keeps us in waiting seasons:

(1) Our Sanctification is His delight: What is in your heart? Do you know? This question is best answered when we are waiting. First, it will be helpful to understand that God’s greatest desire is to make each of us like Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:3, Romans 12:2). Our souls are His priority. So how does God take us through this 'Christlikeness process'? Well, He sanctifies us; we are spiritually transformed during our waiting seasons. God tests the intent of our heart. Of course, God knows all things but He wants to show us, deep down, what’s really in us. Behavior and traits that hinder our walk with God are exposed and God begins to work on our heart.

(2) To set the stage for His Glory: God created us for His glory and ultimately everything about our lives must bring Him glory. God often allows us to come to the end of ourselves before intervening. Billy Graham once said, “When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God” and this is true. If there is a possibility of you or anyone taking the glory from your answered prayer, God may have you wait. There is this point in our journey where you and everyone who knew what it was you were believing for will say, “This is definitely God at work”. You will not be able to accredit the glory to yourself neither will anyone else claim the glory for themselves.

(3) Faith and Gratitude development: If we never have to wait, we will never learn to truly trust God and appreciate His works in our lives. As we wait on God’s timing for us, our faith elevates from one level to another. The joy of God’s faithfulness fuels our reliance on Him and stands as a benchmark for our journey with him.

When God makes us wait, it also becomes harder for us to take certain things for granted. Imagine you had to wait for 5 years to have a baby or you had to wait 10 years for God to launch you into ministry? Will you appreciate those things differently? I believe so.

There have been many times where I had to wait on God. Actually, I am currently in another waiting period as I write this. Looking back, one thing has remained constant, the joy I feel when the wait is over is nothing compared to the pain of waiting. Whenever God says “Not yet” to us, it is our opportunity to grow spiritually and to see another side of God’s faithfulness.

God may have you in waiting for the reasons I have touch on above, or perhaps for completely different reasons. Know that whatever the reason is, God is never late and he is never early, either — His timing and purposes are always perfect and the “wait” is truly for our benefit!

Be encouraged and encourage someone else.

Hugs

Character assassination : Are you the culprit or the victim?

By Akosua O'King

Here he comes! There he is! LOOK! the master assassin is lurking everywhere. He is going to and fro looking for whom he may devour. His most oldest yet prolific method, character assassination.

These days it seems everywhere you turn there is some manner or form of character assassination going on. The enemy has employed squads of associate assassins to release their weapons of destruction in social media, phone conversations, text messages and silent whispers behind closed doors.

Look, the enemy is not here to build or create anything good. His solo mission is to annihilate destinies by destroying relationships, planting seeds of hurt and discrediting the assignment God has given to His beloved servants.

And guess what, he has assassins everywhere to do his dirty work. The funny thing about these assassins is that many are employed without them knowing they are employees! Satan uses their idleness, insecurity, bitterness, self doubt and jealousy to enlist them as assassins. He preys on their void lives to destroy innocent and well meaning people.

Someone hurts your feelings? assassinate their character. You are jealous of someone? assassinate their character. You don’t like someone’s style ? assassinate their character. You meet someone you don’t like, assassinate their character. It seems as though character assassination has been unleashed as the answer to all things these days.

The sad part of this malicious act is how it has penetrated our Christian churches, fellowships and godly relationships. As believers, we are gradually becoming comfortable with this evil which is solely opinion-based with no truth or biblical authority.

So why am I writing about this today? Well, because I have come to personally know how easy it is to get swept into the squad of assassins. Let me describe how easy it is.

Imagine meeting someone for the first time and you form an opinion of them during your encounter. Without really giving it much thought, you proceed to share that opinion with a close friend. This close friend also goes and shares with another close friend and then the cycle takes off from there.

During this spread of opinion, the original message gets distorted and before you know it, it has turned into a monstrous slander destroying someone’s destiny. It may seem innocent to begin with but there really is an evil spirit manipulating events targeted towards someone.

I think at this point I must come clean and confess. Sadly, I have been swept in this cycle. Fortunately for me, the Holy Spirit convicted me of participating in hell’s agenda. Unfortunately, shortly after my conviction, i had to bear the consequence of my action.

My behavior destroyed a friendship very precious and dear to me. The person was hurt deeply and I was hurt for allowing myself to be used to cause such grieve. God’s mercy is gradually rebuilding that relationship but what a shame that I even allowed this to happen in the first place!

As if this was not enough, I went on to become a victim of character assassination. Being on the receiving end of these disastrous verbal assaults is one of the most damaging and spiritually wounding experiences anyone can ever go through. Talk about God pruning me in the wilderness! WOW!

Beyond peer assassination, some assassins take their mandate a notch higher to the Church leadership level. Congregants assassinating pastors, pastors assassinating other pastors, churches assassinating other churches … the list goes on and on! Why are we allowing the enemy to employ us in his agenda? Why?

Recently my husband and I met up with some friends and during conversation, a collectively known minister's name came up. For those who have had the opportunity to listen to my husband teach, you do know that he HATES gossip. He has a ZERO tolerance for that. So when this other minister’s name and story came up my husband quickly re-routed the conversation to something else.

In that moment, it was as though darkness had tried to cover us and someone quickly handed each of us flashlights for safety. Of course the person who raised the issue looked embarrassed and perhaps felt disregarded, but we were all saved from that dark path through my husband’s wisdom. We were each given a way of escape from being enlisted as character assassins.

It is time we realized that gossip/conclusion with no evidence are demonic seeds that get planted into people’s minds. These seeds get nurtured and before you know it, good godly people have become agents of the enemy destroying destinies.

In Proverbs 16: 28, the Bible tells us “A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends.” What insight!  I bet none of us would want to be known as perverse Christians. At least I know I don’t.

You may be thinking, but what if there is truth to what is being said, especially if it pertains to church leadership misconduct?

Well, the Bible gives us clear guidelines for accusations against church elders or leaders. When you read 1 Timothy 5:19, it says "Don’t listen to a complaint against a leader that isn’t backed up by two or three responsible witnesses." (MSG).

Friends, scripture is instructing us to deal with facts and not our opinions, perception, ideas or our offense. We need to come to a place where we are able to rightly discern between Biblical correction and our personal opinion or preferences.

To my fellow victims of character assassination, I want to encourage you to draw strength from God. Remember David’s advice at the end of Psalm 109 and know that God is for you. If you are being attacked or falsely accused, keep your heart and trust planted in God.

I know, it is not easy, honestly, this will be a painful season in your life but know that God will not only defend you but He will also promote you spiritually.  What I mean by this is that, enduring your season of character assassination will move you into another level in your maturity in your walk with God.

Remember, your promotion is dependent on your submission to God in your tough seasons.

I wish I could tell you that once you go through one level of character assassination you are home free. Unfortunately, every level of promotion God brings into our life will have its own attacks attached to it. Don’t get discouraged, please stay with me, I have good news.

The good news is this, if you stay planted in your purpose and keep doing what God has called you to do, no number of assassins can defuse God’s approval of you. It is God we seek to please, not man. If you have God’s approval, no man can discredit you. It is said that character always outlives a lie. Let your life, your works and your integrity speak.

Friends, this is a very critical area we can all do better in. Let us refuse to be enlisted as character assassins. Is there something about someone you do not like? Please go to God and lay it at His feet in prayer.  As James 1:19 says, let us be slow to speak.

Be encouraged and encourage others!

Dear Current Self: An Open Letter

Guest blog by Michelle Ziregbe

Dear Current Self,

Don't despise where you are now because it's propelling you to get to where God wants to take you. Where you are today is just as important as the place you’re going. For it pleases the Lord to see the beginning of a thing; your steps are ordered. (Zechariah 4:10)

Dear current self,

Thank God for the small victories as well as the big ones! It might look little to you but God is into details for even the very hairs on your head are numbered by Him (Matthew 10:20). Every little step paves way for the greater glory, so don’t wait for tomorrow to thank Him; Start today.

Dear current self,

Whatever you do, don't be afraid of failure. God is with you so you cannot fail (Psalms 46:5). If you fail then God fails and that’s impossible! God never fails. What you see as failure is God redirecting your life. Remember that the things you refuse to subdue end up ruling you; believe me, fear makes a terrible god! Even if it doesn’t work out as you hoped, it’s better to have tried and learnt than to sit and wonder. You have what it takes because the excellent Spirit of God is within you, now all you have to do is trust Him.

Dear current self,

Learn to choose your battles. Sometimes your victory is hidden in your silence. When you decide you want your voice to always be heard, you deny God a chance to speak for you. Be rest assured that power rests in His word and not your reaction. Release Him to fight for you! (Exodus 14:14)

Dear current self,

Never forget you are a breathtaking collage of beauty! A spitting image of the one and only true God. Don’t let the world discourage you because even in a state of utter brokenness Jesus still thought you a masterpiece worth dying for. He thought you worth laying down all that He was without any confirmation that you’d love Him back. He did this so He could show you that you are worth loving right.

So dear current self,

Don’t be anxious about tomorrow so much so that you forget to appreciate today. You are enough, not because of where you are in life today, but because Jesus makes you whole. Don’t be in such haste for tomorrow that you miss what God is doing today. Don’t look at someone else’s tomorrow and envy them because all flowers cannot bloom at the same time. Even in your today, God has crowned you apple of His eyes so don’t ever forget that you are loved infinitely and that love makes you whole.

AWAKE!

Guest blog by Josephine L.

How many times have you driven by the same place over and over and then one day BAM!! you noticed a sign or a building that has always been there but you never saw before?

How many times have you misplaced something, freaked out, searched and searched, only to realize you were holding whatever it was in your hand the entire time or it was right in front of you?

Sometimes we search for an answer to a question only to realize after the fact, that it was very obvious what the answer was!

It happens to the best of us. I have been there...way more times than I can count.

(The image above is a rock that has plants growing on it.. did you notice it’s in the shape of a boat and looks like it’s about to go into the water?)

I have a point with this.. so please stay with me.

This has been my faith journey…I actually want to say my life journey.

I am that woman who tends to overlook most things when everything is fine and dandy, but the moment a single piece in my life goes out of alignment, I break down and lose sight of all the other perfectly placed pieces.

In my adult life, I have had bursts of anxiety, self-doubt, restlessness you name it. Things I have been ashamed to admit. Why? well, most of the people in my life are strong encouragers who stop at nothing to express how important faith in God is. The fact is, being a christian woman, i know i need to have faith; well, I do ... on most days, but stinky feelings like doubt still creep up on me and some days I admit, they get the best of me.

A few weeks ago during a Sunday meeting with a group of friends, we reflected on the passage of the transfiguration (Luke 8: 29-35). Verse 32 struck a chord in me and I have been reflecting on it ever since. The passage reads,  “Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became FULLY awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.” (NIV) 

If you read the full chapter, you’ll find that the disciples had been there for a while. In spite of this, Peter and his companions had not really seen what was happening right in front of them. Why? because this whole time they were sleepy. They did not get to really see until they were fully awake…

So my question to myself after reading this was, how long have I been asleep? How often do I get drowsy and miss out on God’s magnificent work and blessings in my life? Actually, what does it mean to be fully awake? Do I think I am awake now and really I am not?

We could be here for days trying to answer these questions.

However, from this scripture, I learned that there are countless times I am in Peter and his companion’s shoes. There are times I get blinded by feelings such as doubt and these feelings inhibit my ability to have a clear Godly perspective. It causes me to be spiritually asleep!

As a young woman, I am at a transitional time in my life. There is a way I want to see my life go. There are things I want to achieve by a certain age. And like most people around this age, let’s call it the twenty-somethings, anxiety, self-doubt, restlessness you name it find a way of creeping into our lives.

We get on social media and wallow over the ‘perfect’ lives others our age have and we begin to beat ourselves up or maybe question God on why we are not doing as well as that person.

This scripture teaches us that until we are fully awake, we cannot see what is right in front of us. We will miss out of the magnificent process of life God is taking us through. We will miss precious encounters with God!

I am not anywhere close to perfect. This is my every day challenge. Some days are harder than others but I am constantly reminding myself to really focus on who God is molding and calling me to be. 

For as long as I keep my focus on what I do not have, I am asleep and don’t get to enjoy what God has placed right in front of me.

For anyone reading this who feels they can relate in some way, join me.. Let’s challenge ourselves to be awake. My prayer is that God helps us stay awake so we can really experience His Glory in our lives. So we can let Him use us for what we have been called for. So we can be our truest most authentic selves in every way possible.

Let’s stay awake so we don’t miss out on God's glory.

Blessings friends.

3 Lies I Believed About Marriage

As common as marriage expectations are, I have come to believe that marriage disappointments are as equally common. Society often creates good looking lies about the marriage institution that our hearts easily get drawn to. Whatever we believe ends up creating expectations in our mind and when we believe the wrong things, we end up having wrong expectations.

I confess, I was guilty of believing many lies about marriage. It wasn’t until I actually got married that i realized how damaging these lies could be! So dear single and married friends, how about I share with you 3 of these lies that can lead to disappointment  (a whole lot of it) in marriage...

Lie # 1 : “ Marriage will make you happy”

Sorry to ruin the party but the purpose of marriage is NOT to make you happy. Before you shoot me please hear me out. This lie is a selfish one. It creates unrealistic expectations for your spouse. Chances are you will not be 100% happy all the time. Truth is, if you are not happy now with your life, it will only magnify in marriage. So the question becomes, what do you do when unhappiness sets in? Do you walk away? Do you take your love back?

Every marriage knows unhappiness. Every marriage has its own share of conflict. Every marriage definitely will have its well portioned size of difficulty. That is the cold hard truth. This means our expectations of marriage making us happy will fail sometimes.

God’s design for marriage is such that marriage grows and nurtures us into Christ-likeness (an image of Christ)

Did Christ always have it easy? NO! As a matter of fact his life was a tough one but in every phase of difficulty, he responded with hope and love. Why? Because he sought to bring God glory.

Beyond comfort, beyond desires, bringing God glory was his priority. And this should also be our focus. Not our happiness but God’s glory. This focus nourishes joy and contentment which translates into our ability to still love in the difficult times of our marriage.

Read Colossians 3:17

Lie #2: “Love is FELT”

Falling in love can be very easy to do, but so is falling out of love. New relationships are fun! We find ourselves constantly thinking about this new person we are courting and how amazing life will be with them. We want to spend all our time with them, talk for hours and hours, send cute text messages, facetime every minute of the day and create all these memories that will last forever and ever! It’s all rainbows and sunshine, peaches and cream...okay, you get the picture.

Truth is, feelings are fleeting! Everyone talks about falling in love but very few actually mention “STAYING IN LOVE”. I have come to realize that love is not just a feeling but actually a choice. One of the most important choices you will ever make in your life daily. Keyword, DAILY. After the rosy glow of the new relationship wears off, we have to make a decision. A decision to focus on the good in our partner every day, rather than focusing on the negative things that irritate us. Daily, we make a decision to accept them and love them regardless of ...

The Bible teaches us that God is love. Basically, everything we need to know about love, we must look to God because He is the definition of love itself. We also know that God loves us deeply. So deeply that He gave us Jesus. God never says, “I don’t love you anymore because i don’t feel like it” or “ I don’t love you anymore because today you did not behave well”. Absolutely not, God’s love for us is constant. Never changing and never failing. This is the kind of love he purposed for marriage. Not the feeling but the consistent choice of acceptance and extending grace.

If we go into a relationship thinking we can change someone, we are setting our relationship and ourselves up to fail. (That is a topic for another day) The secret of great love is not the feeling we feel but the choices of acceptance we make daily.

Read 1 Corinthians 13

Lie #3: “Be the kind of person you want to marry”

During my  time of singleness, I bought into the idea that I had to invest in the type of wife I one day wanted to be. Don’t get me wrong, investing in preparation is always key to properly handling any blessing God brings our way.  And yes, we  must not expect from others things we are not willing to give or behaviors we are not willing to portray. But truth is, there is no perfect spouse, there is only a spouse perfect for you. What do I mean?

During your time of “preparation” towards marriage  and even in marriage, PLEASE do not lose yourself. Don’t try to fit this persona of a perfect wife material. There is only one original you and God made you with all your intricacies for a purpose. Don’t get me wrong and think i am condoning stinky character. No, if your character stinks please allow the Holy Spirit to fix that before you marry (Trust me, you will thank me later)

What I am saying is this, do not force yourself to carry an identity that is not yours. It’s a tragedy to lose love in marriage but so is losing yourself. Truth-telling about all areas of your life should be a priority. The heart that is meant to love you WILL love you for you. Be authentic. Take off the mask. Authenticity is transparency and admission of inadequacies. It is us coming to a place where we reject pretense and hypocrisy. Too many people are burdened with this idea of perfection!

Remember what i said earlier about God using marriage to mold us into Christ-Likeness? Well guess what, Christ was always truthful. Never lied. Never deceived and he in fact defeated the Father of Lies (Satan)

Read 2 Corinthians 1:12

These are just a few of the many lies out there!

So how about we make the effort to truly understand what God has to say about marriage before making any conclusions?  How about we pick the mind of the creator of marriage before we pick our partner for marriage?  Sounds like a good idea? 

 

FRESH START

Every now and then we come to a place in our lives where we just want a fresh start. Those moments where we close one chapter or door in our lives and decide it is time for another chapter or door to open. Often, i speak to women who are tired of the same routine or they are at a place in their lives where they are looking to start new ones.

The good news is, new beginnings are always possible no matter what age or season of life we find ourselves in. In fact, God delights in giving us new beginnings and He has the ability to “make all things new”. If you are in that place in your life where you are seeking God’s will for your new beginning or looking for scriptures to pray with to start something new, here are some of my favorite scriptures on that subject. Be encouraged and encourage someone today.

• NEW BEGINNINGS START WITH US. WE CHOOSE IT.

“...to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

—Ephesians 4:22-24 (NIV)

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.”

—Isaiah 55:6 (ESV)

• GOD MAKES NEW BEGINNINGS AVAILABLE EVERY DAY

"Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

—Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)

• GOD RESPONDS TO OUR DESIRE FOR NEW BEGINNINGS

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

— Matthew 7:7 (NIV)

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

— John 15:7 (NIV)

• GOD RENEWS OUR SPIRIT FOR NEW THINGS

“For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.”

—Hebrews 3:4 (NASB)

“And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh”

—Ezekiel 11:19 (ESV)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

—2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

—Romans 6:4 (ESV)

• GOD MAKES WAYS OUT OF IMPOSSIBILITIES

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

—Isaiah 43:19 (ESV)

“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.”

—Joel 2:25 (ESV)

• GOD MAKES THE NEW EVIDENT IN OUR LIVES

“And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'”

—Revelation 21:5 (ESV)

“Though your beginning was insignificant, yet your end will increase greatly.”

—Job 8:7 (NASB)