When we let our minds shape the state of our souls, we can become lost to who we are and whose we are. Whatever we allow to enter our mind, affects our soul. I do not know about you, but just about every day I face challenges that seek to destroy, confuse, and entangle my mind. I look at what is happening all around me in this dark and fallen world and fear tries to creep in. Covid-19, racism, injustice, circus politics, hatred, and panic. And then we must contend with our own life and challenges. It is enough to drive any sane person crazy! Some of you may be feeling depressed and overwhelmed right about now. You may feel like everything is out of control. The truth is it may be out of our control, but God has always and will forever be in control! Nothing in our personal life or what is happening in this world has caught God by surprise. We on the other hand can get overwhelmed by it all. We can become frightened by these uncertain times. The good news is we do not have to be if we keep our gaze on God. I am careful about what I watch and how much I watch the news on TV. Someone said they do not call the shows programs for nothing, that they program your mind and your way of thinking. I can see that happening if you sit there and watch the same negative things repeatedly. I am also intentional about how much time I spend on social media. Honestly, I do not understand how a person living their life, have so much time for social media. I realize now with the social separation it is a way for people to interact and that is great. I’m just saying do not get so caught up on other people’s lives to the point where you stop living yours. And please do not compare it to yours, you see what they want you to see! My spirit said someone needed to hear that. My main purpose on social media is to glorify God. Just four years ago I knew little about social media and I had no desire to. Then God told me to tell my story and to tell it on social media. I am so happy that after some resistance; I was obedient because it was the beginning of something greater! We must understand that satan has access to social media and TV. He gets mad when it is used to spread the Gospel, spread love, and to encourage one another. He loves it when it is used to spread lies, deceit, and hatred. I am not saying we need to be oblivious about what is going on around us, but we cannot let it consume us. (Lamentations 3:22). We must look to God for answers, not man. Scripture says we perish from lack of knowledge! (Hosea 4:6). It is important we know what is going on but just as important that we do not allow it to jeopardize our faith or shape the state of our mind and soul. (Romans 12:2) In spite of what is going on with me personally and what is happening around me, I will remain grounded in the Lord. I will keep my focus on God and my faith in Him knowing that despite what it looks like, He is in control! Someone once said, “Our faith is what connects our weakness to God’s power. You can see God’s signature everywhere around you once you learn to recognize His handwriting.” And that is how I stay grounded; I can recognize His handwriting. I know by faith that even though it may look and feel bad in the natural, God is working it out for my good! Knowing this gives me the peace I need to make it day by day. (John 14:27). However, faith that has not been tested or does not translate into action is no faith at all! (James 2:17). We should allow God to lead us and use us to do what we can to help the issues in this world that tear at our souls. Whatever we know breaks God’s heart, should also break our hearts. The answer is letting God lead us and not our emotions lead us. We do what we can to rectify the injustices of this world. The rest we leave to our Father who is in control and has the power to change things in one prayer! We do however have control of our reactions and the way we respond to situations. I am still working on not allowing negative people or the things of this world to enter my mind and get into my soul. It is not easy because the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. (Galatians 5:17). Because of this we should continuously meditate on God’s Word and all that is good. (Colossians 3:2) Darkness can sometimes settle on us as we see the conditions of our world. And that is why we must keep our minds filled with a steady diet of study, meditation, prayer, and fasting. This way we can see the light of God and embrace it, not what is going on in this world. Brothers and sisters, we can refuse to fill our minds with negativity and let the condition of this world steal our joy. We can train ourselves to flip the script from negative to positive. We can make careful decisions about what fills our minds and choose the things which will honor God and guard our souls! (Romans 8:5-7) Love and Blessings…    

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) 

We cannot limit the Holy Spirit by deciding who or who may not need a word from God. We may not feel comfortable talking to certain people, or we may feel it is putting our “business in the street” if we tell our story. We may even feel ashamed. We may be scared that we will be laughed at or talked about. But guess what, so was Jesus. [ 560 more words ]https://emanne.org/…/todays-inspiration-cant-keep-it-to-mys…/

We cannot limit the Holy Spirit by deciding who or who may not need a word from God. We may not feel comfortable talking to certain people, or we may feel it is putting our “business in the street” if we tell our story. We may even feel ashamed. We may be scared that we will be laughed at or talked about. But guess what, so was Jesus. This right here is for somebody! If God was with you in the storm, and He brought you out, you better tell somebody! He blocked the enemy from destroying you so you could be a living testimony. Not to show what you did to survive, but what He did to save you. You get to tell your story, and God gets the glory. Sharing your personal testimony is a way to share the gospel with others. It shows how God changes lives. It shows how God can change situations and circumstances if we wait on Him. Because we know God loves us all the same, your story gives hope that if He did it for you, He will do it for me. Hope then gives strength to hold on. Somebody needs to hear from you to know that they just need to hold on, to not give up, to keep the faith, and that God is working it out! We must not let fear keep us from allowing God to use us. God will tell you when to tell your story and who to tell it too. You may or may not be an author, and your story might not be for everybody. But God knows who needs to hear it, and He will make sure the people who need to hear it is in the right place at the right time. We must be obedient when the Holy Spirit says the time is now. We must let the Holy Spirit speak through us. We are to send God’s Word into lives by faith and trusting the Holy Spirit to do the teaching and imparting. The Lord promised to put His laws in our minds and write them on our hearts. We as believers know His requirements and feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit when we do not meet them. God said all shall know him, from the least to the greatest. I am so thankful that I know Him, and I am committed to allowing the Holy Spirit to use and direct me to bring souls into the family of Christ. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ! I cannot keep the goodness of the Lord to myself!!! Love and Blessings…

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

“And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19)

“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15)

“For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:12)

“For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10:20)

“I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26:17-18)

When I reflect on my time in the wilderness, I see a woman who was holding on by a thin thread. I see a woman who was hurting, physically and mentally. Her world as she knew it had suddenly come crashing down, and she felt like she was drowning. This woman was so overwhelmed that it was hard to breathe some days. Some days she thought she could not take any more. Some days she just wanted to give up. But. She. Did. Not. That woman is me and I am so thankful God did not allow me to give up. Sometimes the boldest thing we can do is take the next breath. I have learned that taking the next breath is easier when you build up your spiritual stamina.  

I think about Elijah the prophet. God appointed this man to go before Kings, bringing the message of warning and repentance. By speaking the prophecies of God, he made enemies, but his enemies could not overpower him. He was a man of deep faith. His spiritual stamina had to be strong. However, this one time it seems his spiritual stamina had weakened. I have read it many times trying to figure out why. Scripture says his enemies could not touch him. So, I guess it is because he was human. We all can relate to that. Scripture says that God had just done an amazing thing, showed up and out for Elijah. And right after, the queen of Israel, Jezebel, threatened Elijah’s life. He was frightened and he fled for his life. He went out into the wilderness to pout. He claimed he was alone, and he sat under tree and said, “I have had enough Lord.” You would think he would have no fear after what he just saw God do on Mount Carmel. But before we judge Elijah, if we are honest, we all have been guilty of forgetting how God showed up in past situations. I thank God He has been helping me work on my spiritual stamina. I work on it every day. Because like Elijah I am human, and I want to make sure it is strong. Spiritual stamina strengthens you and when you are faced with difficult situations; you are calm, and you act so. You can rest, breathe, and wait on God to show up.  

Your health, your finances, your children, your spouse, your job, whatever the situation, may have you feeling tired, frightened, and overwhelmed. You feel like you are alone and that no one understands. You jump over one hurdle and just when your feet are adjusting to walking again, a new hurdle appears. You cry out that I have had my share of troubles; it is someone else’s turn. You may sometimes want to say as Elijah did, I have had enough Lord. You just want to give up. Do. Not. Give. Up! Do not be like Elijah and forget how faithful God has been through past trials and troubles. Stop, rest, and breathe. God’s response to Elijah’s moping was, “get some rest, eat some food, go back the way you came, and find the others who serve me to support you.” Then the Lord sent an angel to Elijah. The Lord will place the right people in our life who will pray, support, and help us through challenging times. Do not be like the woman I was and refuse the help. It is also important to work on building spiritual stamina before the trials and troubles come. We must strive to develop spiritual stamina so when a problem occurs, you do not react out of emotion but out of wisdom. Stay connected to God. Study His Word. When we experience moments or seasons of complete and total despair, it is important that we know God, so we can hear His voice. We must be still and breathe. And that is when God refills, replaces, and empowers. He renews our faith. He replaces fear with hope. He empowers us with strength to go on, strength we did not even realize we had. Giving up will no longer be a choice!  

Love and Blessings… 

“Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So, Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So, he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.” (1 Kings 19:1-9, NIV)  

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) 

“But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) 

All my life I had to fight (in my Color Purple Sophia voice). I am a woman. I am African American. I am a mother. I am much, much more, but those three has had me raging war more times than I can count. I am speaking in terms of physical battles in this world. How many times have I said, what do you mean a woman’s place? or Yes, I am black, beautiful, and proud of it! And if you really want to make me salty, mess with my child! Even today I will fight these battles should the need arise. (so, what if my child is a grandpop, I am still his mother!) Do not judge me. 🙂 Unfortunately, we are born into this world with battles we sometimes cannot see. And often it is the enemy behind what we do see. The hardest battles are those we cannot see, the spiritual warfare and the battles within our mind. Sure, we understand the circumstances and situations that the enemy uses to destroy us. We can accept the truth of how the enemy uses the world to lure us in and to tempt us. We can understand to some degree that the battle in the spiritual realm is ongoing and real, even though we cannot see it. But, to get a grasp on what is going on within our own hearts and minds can be the hardest, most exhausting, battle of them all. Some prefer not to deal with spiritual warfare; it is too scary and frightening, so they prefer to ignore it. As a result, the enemy is winning; just look around. Pandemics, murders by those who were sworn to protect, racism, hate, division, all fueled by fear and panic. And there is still sex trafficking, missing kids, domestic abuse, homelessness, hunger, and so much more! It makes me want to cry. But crying is not going to change the fact that this is much more than it appears to our natural eyes. We are in a spiritual war. We know God is in control, but we are his soldiers. We must put on the whole armor of God and we must be “vigilant and sober” as scripture says. We must look beyond the surface and ask God to open our spiritual eyes. One thing the enemy does is distract you while he is doing his dirty work. We have to stay focus! The enemy will come where there is an opening, he will fit in where he can get in. If God, the Father, allowed His Son, Jesus Christ to be tempted by Satan then chances are you will have to deal personally with the enemy at some point in your lifetime. When the enemy attacks you, he will try to hinder you from being able to progress from point A to point B in your walk with God. He will use your family, friends, or anyone else he feels can get to you. He also will start playing mind-games with you to try and throw you into mental torment and separate you from your spiritual connection with the Lord. The enemy will try to tell you that you have committed the unforgivable sin, God does not love you, that you are not smart enough, pretty enough, that you are just not good enough. And he will keep at you until you start to believe him. Then he will persuade you not to study and read your Bible because he knows you will see how much God does love you and that you are more than enough. He knows that is where your strength to fight comes from. Scripture tells us he would come to seek, kill, and destroy! The battle, the struggle, the war, the fight goes on in our thinking, emotions, and our feelings.There is a struggle, a wrestling match being fought inside of us. It is between satan’s deceptions and God’s truth. The good news is that it is a battle of victory for those of us who study, apply, and strive to obey the Word of God. I am telling you, satan is an expert at deceiving people. Beware when feelings and thoughts are not in harmony with the scriptures. It is God’s Word that will tell you if your thoughts and feelings are from Him or satan. You may ask yourselves, why do I even want to fight? We must fight to receive the victory God has already given us. You think the devil is going to give up without a fight? God gave the land to the Israelites, but they had to fight for it. And as long as they obeyed God, they were conquerors. The most important gift Jesus has given us is salvation. Once we have it, it cannot be taken away by satan or man. However, if we want the life God intended for us here on earth, to live life abundantly, we must fight the enemy for it and live victorious in Christ. Every day victory is achieved by knowing, believing, and understanding the battles that we are enduring daily. We can be passive or active in the battles. I choose to take my sword up and put on my armor of God. I want everything God has for me! I choose to fight! Our defense is to know, understand, and obey God’s Word. Examine everything by God’s Word! We have the power of God operating on the inside of us through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The enemy is no match for those who know who they really are in their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are God’s soldiers. Do not be afraid because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world! (John 4:4) I am not scared to fight; I have read the ending of ‘The Book” and I know who the victory belongs to! Love and Blessings… 

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) 

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) 

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1Peter 5:8-9) 

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:10-11) 

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”(2 Thessalonians 10:4-5) 

“But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.” (2 Thessalonians 3: 3) 

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) 

“For the LORD, your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” (Deuteronomy 20:4) 

“I [Jesus] have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33) 

If we ever ask ourselves these questions; What have they done for me lately or what’s in it for me?, then we need to meditate on the scriptures below.

“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:32–36).”

 ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Have a great weekend and spread some love! Love and blessings to all.