I have never been one for making New Year resolutions. I prefer to say I’m making lifestyle changes. Changing what I call it doesn’t make one bit of difference if I don’t follow through! It’s only been a week into the New Year and some things I said I was not going to do, I have done. And some things I said I was going to do, I have not done. Don’t judge me! I know it’s only been a week, but we all get weak at some point. I am not ashamed to say I am weak because God’s power is more easily displayed through our weaknesses. Some days we may make choices that displease God. The good news is that it is never too late to start again, as long as you have breath in your body. The bad news is that we do not know when we may take our last breath. And when we take our last breathe, none of the lifestyle changes or resolutions we made here on Earth will matter except one, our commitment to turn our lives over to God. I am determined not to fall short on this one!

Our relationship with Christ can actually help with any other lifestyle changes we want to make. Because the good news is when we are weak, our Savior is strong!  If Jesus is our Savior, we have to turn our lives over to Him and rethink how we live in all areas of our life. It’s impossible to hold onto our old ways while trying to fit Jesus in. The moment that we receive Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts. Our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit helps us live the Christian life. It is the Holy Spirit who draws us to Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our need of Christ.  If the Holy Spirit lives within us, some things have to change. Our God is Holy and cannot live with ungodliness! Paul said “if any man is in Christ he is a new creature, the old things are passed away and behold they are become new.” Everything becomes new. And we must be careful not to go back to the old! I sometimes say, “The old me would have done…” I am going to make a conscious effort not to say that anymore. I refuse to entertain the old me; I just want to rejoice in the new me!

When we make a commitment to God, every part of our life should be dedicated to God and His righteous. We should not let our thoughts, gifts, talents, or money profit the enemy but it should all be for the glory of God and His Kingdom! We have to decide whether to work with our new beliefs and follow God or go back to our old way of life and follow man. If we know God’s Word, we know that He is Holy and He cannot abide in the same place as evil. The same mouths that we praise and thank God with should not let foul and vulgar language emerge.  The mind of Christ that we strive for should not entertain evil, malicious, jealousy, envy or any other negative thoughts. If old ungodly or depressing thoughts enter your mind, think new thoughts. Believe me satin will try you, but you have a choice. God gives us freedom of choice. Today’s society have stressed our “right to choose” but have not balanced it with the message that our choices also have consequences.  Scripture tells us in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live.” We can decide to put our ways before His or we can ask ourselves, “Is this what Jesus wants of me, does this please Him? And again if you are weak in a certain area, remember our God is strong in all areas!

Living for God may mean leaving people behind. When God is taking us to a new level, everyone is not meant to come. Sometimes who we love is not meant to build a life with or go to the next level with.  We have to learn to leave doors shut that God has shut. We have to trust Him enough to walk through doors that He has opened even if we are scared. Stop trying to fit where you don’t fit! When it is time to move, you got to move! It is dangerous to stay in a place beyond your season! The reason there is frustration is because you’re not getting anything from that man/woman, job, or whatever. You cannot go into a new year hoping for change when you are trying to bring what don’t belong! Trust, you will have the same problems you had last year! God wanted to bless Abraham (then Abram) so He sent Abraham to a new land from his family and his father’s house. Now he told him specifically that he wanted him to depart from his family (Genesis 12:1). Abraham took his wife, his father and Lot went with him. If you read all of Genesis 12, you will see the problems Abram encountered by bringing Lot and Sarah along. Yes, God still blessed him but it created serious problems and delayed blessings for 5 years! We can avoid confusion and/or missed blessings by not taking baggage with us that God told us to leave behind. I’m just saying. This year trust God, let it go so He can send/give you your blessing! This year we will embrace change. Clear away what needs to be cleared away and toss out what needs to be tossed out. I’m not claiming it is easy because we all are a work in progress; we are spiritual beings living in fleshly physical bodies. But God! When we are weak, He is strong!!!!

 Sisters and brothers, do you want a joyful new year? I say joyful and not happy because joy comes from the Lord, and happy depends on what happens this year. Let us place our new wine into new wineskins, not the old wineskins. We will make our lives a testimony to our new awareness of the glory of God! I declare and decree this is the year we will start walking it out, not just talking it out! Please read today’s scriptures in “FOOD FOR THE SOUL” and meditate on God’s Word. We must read the Word to hear the Word if we are to live the Word! This year we will live for Jesus who died for us!! If we live for Him, all the expectations that we have for 2019 will unfold! Love and Blessings….

Why do we give presents to each other on Christmas day? The gifts are an expression of our joy over the birth of Jesus and our love for each other. The beauty of Christmas is not in the Presents but in His Presence. I believe anytime we show love for one another, it pleases God. However sometimes we get so caught up in the Presents we forget about the Presence. God has already shown us that the most precious gift cannot be bought or sold. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). In giving us this gift, God gave us His Son’s Presence. And all He wants from us is a portion of ourselves, for us to spend time with Him, to be in His Presence. The fact of the matter is the reward we get is much greater than the time we  give. This is more valuable than any Present we could give to God; as a matter of fact it is the most valuable Present we can give to each other. And again the reward we get is much greater. Think about it, our time is precious. Tomorrow is not promised, even the next minute is not promised. It is good that we proclaim aspirations for 2019, but at 11:59 on December 31, we could cease to exist in this temporary home. I know, I know, it’s a time for celebration and no one wants to think about this! However, it is The Word (James 4:13-15) not my word. And I believe if we give it some thought, we would use our time more wisely. Our time is priceless! The Bible says make the best use of our time. First and foremost we should seek Him and to do that we must spend time in His Presence. Then we should give our Presence to others. Everyone loves to receive Presents, myself included. But the greatest gift I have ever received was the Presence of a friend when I really needed her. She has given me much, but her Presence in my time of need, I will never forget. Presence: visit someone who has no family, invite a struggling family over for a meal, volunteer,, spend time with the elderly or someone who is housebound, call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, write letters of appreciation, adopt a family, babysit for free, visit the hospitals or rest homes, just to listen. I could go on, but you get my point. Presents are good but Presence is Priceless! While celebrating the birth of Jesus, read Matthew 25:35-45. When we do these things, Jesus is pleased! It is His birthday; the best gift we can give Him is our Presence in the life of others! And not just those in our circle or those who love us, but love up on all of God’s children. As Christians, we should exhibit more fellowship, compassion, and care with one another. Trust me, life becomes peaceful and we get this unspeakable joy when we grasp the reality and goodness of God’s constant Presence living within us.  This time of year can bring out the worst as well as the best in people. I love this time of year! I love the lights and decorations but more importantly for me it brings out gratitude, thankfulness, caring for others, taking time to give others my Presence. It means giving of myself because of the gift God gave me, and believing in magic and miracles! What does the Christmas Spirit mean to you? This Christmas season and throughout the New Year I pray we take time to grace someone with our Presence. Those who know me know I celebrate my birthday the entire month, but I celebrate the birth of Jesus 365 days a year!!!! Merry Christmas my brothers and sisters! Read today’s scriptures in “Food for the Soul” Love and Blessings…

Sometimes I don’t even recognize myself. I am changing. I know it’s nothing I have done but all of what God is doing. It is a subtle change. I have this peaceful calmness even when the enemy tries to attack me or my love ones. I am learning to not rely on what I feel or what this world believes to be true, but to believe God’s Word which is the only truth. My loyalty now belongs to God, not to man. I am learning to keep moving in spite of the devil’s lies and destruction. I am learning to claim my victory that our Lord God has given me. I am stronger than I have ever been. I know this new-found strength comes from God. I know the God I serve is alive and that the Blood of Jesus covers me. I know who I am because I know whose I am. I am a warrior!

 We are not born warriors, we are made. We are not self-made, we are shaped and molded by the Master Himself. We become warriors through trial and error, pain and suffering. Through the tears and heartache. We are sometimes shattered into a thousand pieces. But God! We are bent but not broken. We become warriors when we still stand up after being knocked down again and again. We may not be rich or famous, we may not look like beauty queens or models, but we are much more than that. We are women of God! We have substance. We are queens. We are survivors. Each day we grow spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. We are purpose driven. Women warriors possess a determined spirit, an I can do attitude that drives their actions towards their goals. When faced with limitations, disappointment or opposition, we are more determined to make what we envision happen. A warrior’s prayer can move mountains! We know that when the force of our will is aligned with the will of God, we can say to the mountain, “move” and it will move! We move forward with our head high and with a strength that the Lord provides. I am a warrior!

A warrior knows God is her strength and the armor of God is her weapon. She is unstoppable, not because she doesn’t have failures, fears and doubts, but because she keeps moving in spite of them. She stands up for herself and she stands up for others. She refuses to be disrespected, mistreated or taken for granted. She is bold in the authority God has given her. A warrior knows what she brings to the table, so she is not afraid to eat alone! (come correct or not at all). Although strong, a warrior feels deeply and loves fiercely. She cries as quickly as she laughs. She is both soft and powerful, she is practical and spiritual. She is all these things because she listens to the voice of her Father God. She is the daughter of the Most High. She knows she is a winner because God does not birth failures! She is confident in her power because she is confident in God’s faithfulness. A warrior understands her purpose and what God has called her to do. She is committed to God and to being obedient to His Word. I am a warrior! Are you a warrior? I believe there is a warrior inside the heart of every woman; and with the help of God she can be set free. Please read today’s scriptures in “Food for the Soul”,  Love and Blessings…

 “It takes a female to have a baby,
it takes a woman to raise a child,
it takes a mother to raise them correctly,
and it takes a warrior to show them how to change the world.”
― Shannon L. Alder

Today someone lost a loved one, a child is missing, someone was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and there is a hostage situation going on. Today a relationship ended and someone lost their job. Today there are many people who are in pain, homeless, hungry and in a state of depression. I am not making this up, today all these things happened. If you don’t believe me, turn on the news. Some of us don’t have to do that because we are dealing with one of these up close and personal. I can honestly say in spite of all this, I still feel blessed. But I am not going to lie; today I was feeling some type of way. I asked God, how can we still see your beauty in this world of ugliness? And what came into my spirit was to continue to keep my gaze on Him and my glance on the world. Ok God that is what I try to do every day. Yet I live in this world, I see what’s going on, and it is breaking my heart. My next thought was maybe I should try to see the ugly things through spiritual eyes instead of natural eyes. ???????. Whenever I don’t understand something, I go to the Word to study and I research. I allow God to lead me. I found a great man of faith in the Bible, Asaph, he was David’s music director, and he wrote twelve Psalms. Asaph served in Jerusalem for all of David’s reign, He was in Jerusalem when God gave David the great promise that David would have a son who would be the Messiah, and reign forever. He saw the death of David, the accession of Solomon, and the building of the Temple. After Solomon’s dedication of the Temple, Asaph saw Israel turn into something quite different from what he expected. After a promising beginning, Solomon turned his back on God and pursued power, wealth, luxury, and human wisdom, as well as worship of other gods. To finance these pursuits the people were oppressed with slavery and taxes. Asaph and his family, who had remained faithful to the truth, became victims of violence and murder at the hands of the Solomon and the Egyptians. Asaph saw Solomon become a wicked man who entrusted the administration of his Kingdom to other wicked men. After Solomon’s death, Asaph saw David’s kingdom torn in two by God’s decree. Before today, I had not read or remember hearing about Asaph. Today I feel his pain. He must have been heartbroken as he watched the Kingdom destroyed, the Temple ruined and many of his own family killed. Yet, through it all, Asaph found God’s faithfulness a strong tower of hope. And God revealed to Asaph the ultimate truth of what He had promised. It was not what man’s ignorance and David’s impatience sought, but what God’s wisdom provided. It was not about Solomon! It was not about Solomon’s destroyed kingdom and burned Temple! It was not about Solomon’s worldly despairing wisdom! It was not about Solomon’s corrupting and corruptible riches! It was about Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace who was to come! It was His eternal Kingdom, His perfect wisdom, His true riches, and the Temple of His body! I believe as Asaph looked around him and saw all this devastation and felt all this heartbreak; he asked God as I did today, “how can we see your beauty in all this ugliness?” As remarkable as our eyes are, we only see physical things. God has given us spiritual sight through the means of His Holy Spirit. When Asaph looked at events through physical eyes, he could only see unfairness as the wicked seemed to prosper and the righteous seemed to suffer and get weaker. However, as he continued to meditate on these things with spiritual eyesight, he could see the end of all things and learned to trust God for the true long-term conclusion of all things. I really want to be able to see with spiritual eyes like Asaph. We cannot open our own spiritual eyes. We have to come to Christ. He is the light! I believe we start by making Jesus the center of our lives and keeping the focus of our life on Jesus Christ. When we see through spiritual eyes, it reinforces Romans 8:28; “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

Today I was reminded by God that no matter what this world brings, pray, believe and keep the faith anyway. I pray this helps someone. Love and Blessings….

 ANYWAY

 In this world people are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered:

FORGIVE THEM ANYWAY.

In this world if you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

BE KIND ANYWAY.

In this world if you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies;

SUCCEED ANYWAY.

In this world if you are honest and frank, they will cheat you;

BE STRAIGHTFORWARD ANYWAY.

In this world what you spent years building, may be destroyed overnight;

BUILD ANYWAY.

In this world if you find serenity and happiness, people may be jealous and scorn;

BE JOYOUS ANYWAY.

In this world people who you love may disappoint you and break your heart;

LOVE ANYWAY.

In this world you will lose loved ones, trials and tribulations will come, you will get discouraged and sometimes you won’t feel like moving on;

MOVE ON ANYWAY.

In this world the good you do today, may often be forgotten tomorrow;

DO GOOD ANYWAY.

Give the world the best you have and it will never be enough;

GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU’VE GOT ANYWAY.

YOU SEE, IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, IT IS BETWEEN YOU AND GOD;

IT WAS NEVER BETWEEN YOU AND THIS WORLD ANYWAY!

(Original Author Unknown)

(Additions Added by Curleen Johnson)

As I look out my window at this beautiful, perfect painting of a snowy, winter wonderland, I am amazed! Only God can create such a picture without paints or crayons! Just from nature, He has graced us with this beauty. I don’t care what anybody says; a God who can do this can do anything! There is nothing impossible for God; the Artist!

 We all have struggled at times with the problem of little faith. Maybe like Abraham and Sarah, we have prayed for something for years, but God has not answered. We may have suffered some tragedy, such as the loss of a loved one, and we wonder where God was when this happened. Family problems, health issues, even a small thing that would be easy for God to provide and we wonder why God does not answer. Then the spirit of doubt creeps in. As humans, we tend to trust in ourselves most of the time and in God only when we really have to. If we trust in ourselves, then we glory in ourselves. But God’s purpose is that we glory in Him alone. He will graciously bring us to the place where we have no hope except in Him, so that we trust in Him and He gets the glory. He took me to that place; you would think I learned my lesson! But the problem is that even after we trust in Christ for salvation, we mistakenly think that we are competent to live the Christian life with just a little help from the Lord.  And so the Lord has to bring us again and again to the point of helplessness. Because I am still a work in progress, I put the superwoman cape on and off again and again.  I have to acknowledge my own insufficiency and depend on His all-sufficiency. God brings us to end of our strength so that we will trust in His ability to do the impossible. Look at Hannah, (Samuel 1); she was another barren woman who desperately wanted to have a son. The Lord wanted her to have a son, too. So do you know what He did? He closed her womb! Wait what! That’s a strange way to give a woman a son! Her husband’s other wife, Peninnah, who was not a godly woman, had many children. How frustrating for Hannah, crying out to the Lord for a son, to see Peninnah, who didn’t seek the Lord, with many children! But that’s how God works with His people. He wants us to see that without Him, we can do nothing. If Hannah could have had children on her own, like Peninnah, she wouldn’t have needed the Lord.  But when Hannah finally had Samuel because the Lord gave him to her, she sang a song of praise and gave Samuel back to the Lord to serve Him.

We should never doubt God’s goodness toward His chosen ones or His power to fulfill His purpose with them in His time and way. We may not understand His ways and the reason for His delays. But that doesn’t undermine the faithfulness or power of our great God, the God with whom all things are possible. God wants each of us to see that our situation is humanly impossible without Him. That way, we’ll look to Him for His power, praise Him when He delivers us, and He will be glorified through our lives. If you have any doubt that nothing is impossible for God, look around you at the sun, moon, stars, rainbows, beaches, ocean and the snow. God is the Creator; the Artist! Love and Blessings……

Mark 11:23 tells us that Jesus instructed us to speak to our mountain, “For truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says” He instructs us to “say.” Say means to utter aloud, express in words, or give a chance to speak. Scripture says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Prov. 18:21). Why is it that we can talk all day long to people, but when it comes to using our authority and speaking aloud to our mountains, we don’t embrace that death and life are in the power of the tongue? Jesus spoke to things! He spoke to a storm. (Mark 4:35-40). He spoke to a fig tree. “When He saw a fig tree by the road, He went to it but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, ‘Let no fruit ever grow on you again.’ Immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matt. 21:19). The fig tree responded to what He said. Jesus affected a supernatural dimension with his words. You may say, “Yes, but this was Jesus, the Son of God.” No. He became like you and I. The Bible says he stripped himself of his God-like powers and became like you and me. (Philippians 2:7).

Our words, combined with the name of Jesus have the power to move mountains. We get that we cannot be negative, critical and judgmental. We get that we need to pray and add thanksgiving to our petitions. But sometimes we don’t get that we also need to speak to our mountains in the name of Jesus, and because of our faith, expect them to disappear. We may look and feel foolish. We may sound crazy, but it will have an effect upon our mountains. When I could barely walk at all, I was told that I may not be able to walk. At that time I didn’t know how powerful my words were but I said, “The devil is a lie, and I will walk!” They thought I was crazy but I just refused to believe that, no matter what it looked liked! There is power in our words. I am a walking witness! We pray and pray about our mountains. That’s a good thing. We should pray, but there comes a time when we must speak to it. Praying is great, but don’t stop there. Go one more level and speak to your mountain. When we are faced with a mountain-sized problem, we get scared and run to tell God all about it. That’s good, no better one to run to. But the truth is, He already knows about our problems and He’s already provided everything we need to overcome it. God has supplied everything we need by grace (Ephesians 1:3). Faith doesn’t move God to do what He’s already done; faith moves mountains! So praise the Lord for carrying all your infirmities on the cross and then command your mountain to bow to Jesus! (Titus 2:15) He gave us authority. “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:19) The enemy will use mountains to make us lose hope and lose faith. He will use mountains to block our vision of our futures. He wants us to get upset with people and get upset with God. If he can do this, then he has won. He has kept us from experiencing all God has for us with a simple mountain. No one in the Bible ever faced an obstacle and did not advance if they handled it correctly. Your mountain has a name. Cancer, depression, or whatever, it doesn’t matter what the mountain is, if it is outside what Jesus has planned for you, command it to go in Jesus name! Jesus said we could do what he did and even more. (John 14:12).There is a miracle in your mouth! There is power in your words! There is power in the name of Jesus! Love and Blessings….

Sometimes because of the way we are treated or because of things that happened in our life, we may feel lonely and invisible. We began to doubt our valve. We lose our sense of purpose, especially when there is trouble in our relationships. I believe God uses life’s challenges to bring us to the end of ourselves, so that we can really think on the purpose of our life. Our purpose is bigger than a failed relationship or marriage. It is bigger than that person who decides they want to walk out of our life. When I think of the story of Amnon, with his wicked self, I get angry. Yes, it makes me mad! Before you judge, there are two kinds of anger, there is the anger of man which does not achieve the righteousness of God (James 1:20), and the anger which is an expression of God’s righteousness (Ephesians 4:26-27). Any injustice makes me angry!

Now back to the Amnon. He raped his sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13:1-21). He destroyed her destiny and her future. He killed her self-esteem and spoiled her integrity. He assassinated her character. And to make matters worse, he did not want her afterwards. The Bible says, “he hated her with a greater intensity than which he loved her before” (2 Samuel 13:15). The old saying goes its a thin line between love and hate. Tamar pleaded with him to not throw her out. She said, “What you’re doing to me now is worse than what you did to me at first. Raping me was horrible, but not wanting me is worse” (2 Samuel 13:16). She lay on the ground outside with nowhere to go. The Bible says she cried. I’m sure many women and men can relate to Tamar. I believe she felt worthless and of no value. Some of us have gone through situations or relationships that left us feeling unwanted. It can destroy your sense of esteem and value. It hurts. If you allow it too, it can change you forever and how you relate to others.

I not going to tell you that it’s an easy fix to get over the pain of being wounded like Tamar was.  I will tell you that it is possible. I believe if you know whose you are, it will change how you think of yourself. And how we think of ourselves, will determine how we respond to life’s hurts and pains.  One of my favorite scriptures is Jeremiah 1:5, “before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I set you apart.” WOW! This always blows me away! Our parents did not even know us before we were born! Each and every one of us was set apart. We were planned in the heart and mind of God. No matter the circumstances of our birth, we are one of a kind, a special product created by God. Because we are a product of God, nothing that happens to us in this life, can diminish our valve! And if that is not enough, take a look at what David declares in Psalm 139:13-14. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” WOW AGAIN! Our worth and valve is not in the eyes of man, but in the eyes of God! There is another woman the Bible speaks of that felt like a “nobody”. Hagar, who was the slave of Sarah. I’m sure in her culture, pregnant and alone, she felt hopeless and invisible. But God saw her. God stepped in. He protected her twice from Sarah’s hatred (Genesis 21:1-21). And when God saw her, she in return saw him. This empowered her! God became real to her. When we really see God, even through the tears, pain, and life’s ever ending issues, we see an ever-present hope, encouragement, salvation, and joy, not just for this life but for eternity! 

No matter what we face in life, knowing that God knows us, loves us, and will never leave us, is enough for us to face anything. When the pain gets to be too much and you feel like you are worthless with no value, take another look at your label. We are the children of the Most High, the King of Kings! I don’t know about you, but this makes me a princess! That is enough for me to pick up my crown, hold my head high and keep moving! Love and Blessings…  

I knew I was in trouble when the pain went above my tolerance level. I have always had a high tolerance for pain! I knew something was wrong when the pain began to move from my wrist to my ankles, from shoulders to chest, from head to toes. I knew something was wrong when two days of pain became four days and four days became weeks. And two years later, it’s still hard to explain to people a pain that never goes away. A pain that affects your entire body and that can sometimes get so bad it’s hard to breath! It’s hard to explain to people when you look like there is nothing wrong, but some days you just curl up in bed and medicate. So you hide it most of the time. It affects you mentally; you think you are going crazy. Actually, in the beginning I was told by the “professionals” that it was in my mind, until they finally figured out the problem and came up with a diagnosis. And then they think you are crazy again because you refuse to accept the diagnosis! I’m not telling this because I want pity (I have passed the pity party stage), I’m telling this because someone is dealing with their own pain, and it may not be physical. Someone has their own story. It could be the pain of depression, the pain of divorce, the pain of loneliness, financial pain, the pain of addiction, or the pain of losing a love one. I want you to know that I tried to stand, I fought hard! For a year I dealt with the pain in secret and silence. I believe that was the problem. I stood, I fought, and I dealt with the problem.

 When I could no longer stand, I knelt down to God and I let Him know I was tired and that I was giving my pain to Him. Even when the pain is unbearable, even when we can’t move, even when we are crying, we must pray, we must give our pain to Him, and then trust God, not our feelings. You can call me crazy, but I refuse to accept defeat, in spite of a diagnosis. I refuse to accept defeat because of what my bank account looks like! I refuse to accept defeat because someone walked out of my life! I just refuse to accept defeat! (John 5:4) We serve a God who is greater than any diagnosis, circumstance or problem! (1 John 4:4) Listen, Jesus suffered and died so that we could be healed! I live by His promise, Isaiah 53:5, no matter what it looks or feels like!

We must breakdown the strongholds of satan against our bodies, our finances, and our families. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) We must realize that we are the temple of the Holy Ghost. (1 Corinthians 3:16) Greater is He that lives in us than he who lives in this world. Once we realize this, we will experience the power of God. God is greater, and when we simply trust in His wisdom, we are able to behold all the greatness of God! I’m not saying I no longer have pain, I’m saying that God is greater than the pain. His grace is sufficient(2 Corinthians 12:9)and He is using me in ways that I have never imagined! Believe in the promises of our God. When everything is going good in our life, we will probably boast in ourselves. When things are going bad, that’s when we will glorify God and trust in Him more because we know it’s only the almighty God that can help us. And He gets all the credit when we get through it. I know the struggle is real, but so is our God! You may not see the light at the end of the tunnel right now. You may feel that you can’t stand any longer, that’s ok, just kneel. Keep praying, keep fasting. Sometimes God doesn’t answer in our way or our time, but He answers in the best way and at the best time! Sisters and brothers don’t give up when it’s raining or you won’t see the sunshine when it comes.(2 Chronicles 15:7) And it will come! I am a witness of the glory of God! Please read God’s Word in “Food For The Soul”. Love and Blessings…..

***WARNING***WARNING***WARNING***WARNING***WARNING***

    Spoiler Alert—Spoiler Alert—Spoiler Alert—Spoiler Alert—Spoiler Alert

IF YOU ENJOY PARTICIPATING IN HALLOWEEN PLEASE DO NOT READ

I greet you all with love and blessings. I meditated a great while as to how to properly deliver this topic. I prayed to God on how this message should be delivered to honor Him and the Kingdom. His message was clear, tell the truth in love with mercy and full of grace. I Clifton, a servant of God and Jesus Christ, write to all the saints in the Faith and pray that grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ:

As a child, I recall Halloween being one of my favorite times of the year. A time when it’s okay for you to eat as much candy as you want! I wasn’t too big on wearing costumes or anything, but those bite size chocolate candy bars, they were on point! I used to try to hide them because my mom and dad would be digging all in my bag talking about I don’t need all this candy. That was a long time ago, now as a parent I witness my children growing up eager to join in on the festivities. To them they knew only the fun associated with this day, they were unaware of the pagan traditions associated and the merchandising that went along with it.

As a believer in God and Jesus being my Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit has given me deeper insight on Halloween. I want to shed some light on two factors concerning Halloween.

The first is that it originated as an ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred.

In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints; soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. Starting with Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, donning costumes and eating sweet treats. Those of us that try the spirit by the spirit and clearly see this holiday originated with pagan concepts, honoring Samhain instead of God. It also was later changed by Pope Gregory III to in some ways create a positive outlook on a negative celebration. In other words, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represents Halloween, the Tree of Life represents Christ. Meditate on these scriptures below:

 Ephesians 5:15-16 (ERV)

“be very careful how you live. Live wisely, not like fools. I mean that you should use every opportunity you have for doing good, because these are evil times.”

I Thessalonians 5:19-22 (ERV)

“Don’t stop the work of the Holy Spirit. Don’t treat prophecy like something that is not important. But test everything. Keep what is good, and stay away from everything that is evil.”

 Ephesians 5:6-12 (ERV)

“Don’t let anyone fool you with words that are not true. God gets very angry when people who don’t obey him talk like that. So don’t have anything to do with them. In the past you were full of darkness, but now you are full of light in the Lord. So live like children who belong to the light. This light produces every kind of goodness, right living, and truth. Try to learn what pleases the Lord. Have no part in the things that people in darkness do, which produce nothing good. Instead, tell everyone how wrong those things are. Actually, it is shameful to even talk about the things those people do in secret.”

 The second factor is the merchandising of Halloween. Can you believe that one-quarter of all the candy sold annually in the U.S. is purchased for Halloween? Or that Americans spend an estimated $9 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday after Christmas? They estimate this year each American will spend a record $86.79 per person, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey. One reason is that Halloween is a very affordable holiday. It doesn’t cost as much as Christmas or Thanksgiving and is still lots of fun. Part of this is a permanent shift to thrift that occurred during the Great Recession. Record Halloween sales statistics buoys retailers. According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween signals how well retailers will do during the all-important holiday season. That’s when about 20% of retail sales occur for the entire year. The kick-off is Black Friday, which is just a month later. In fact, 40% of shoppers begin their holiday shopping before Halloween.

 Which brings us to the point of this revelation. I know many Christians prefer “Trunk or Treat” at their churches or try to exclude all the scary and dark things associated with Halloween and try to make it a righteous event. I pose to you this question, can man alone turn something evil into something good? I present this question not to cause division among the body of Christ, because we are to all be of one accord. I recently noticed how many yards were decorated for Halloween this year. I learned two things, people are very creative, and a lot of adults enjoy this time of the year as much as kids. I started to wonder, what does God say about all of this? So, I asked Him, I said “Lord if Jesus was to come back right now, what would He say about all these fake cemeteries, ghost and all those other scary looking creatures in people’s yard?” I was thrown back by His answer, He told me to look pass the things you see on the outside of people’s houses and look into their hearts. Look into this person’s purpose in my kingdom. Instead of judgment show encouragement, be an example. And then He sent me to this scripture:

 Philippians 5:27 (ERV)

“Just be sure you live as God’s people in a way that honors the Good News of Christ. Then if I come and visit you or if I am away from you, I will hear good things about you. I will know that you stand together with the same purpose and that you work together like a team to help others believe the Good News.”

 As always God is true, righteous and just. I was also reminded by my mother (by the way check out her God inspired website at www.emanne.org), that imagine if God looked at Saul with human eyes, there would not have been a revelation at Damascus, and Saul would’ve remained Saul instead of Paul. Bottom line, Love, Grace and Mercy should be our guiding light when discussing the worship, practice or celebration of Halloween.

 In conclusion, we are aware that Halloween originated as a pagan celebration, and that it is a money-making event. But for those that follow Christ, how do we respond to these things? If God hasn’t revealed to us the hearts of those who celebrate it, we should follow the righteousness of Christ and be led by the Spirit to respond accordingly. Some people will decorate their house with a Fall theme, others believe it is a time of harmless fun without included all the demonic stuff or can we mix things of dark nature with the things of Light nature and call it innocent fun?

 I Corinthians 10:14-22

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?”

 You have the origin of Halloween, you have the merchandising of Halloween, now you must pray and seek God concerning our participation in Halloween. To my sisters and brothers in the Faith according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

 COMMENT BY EMMANUEL: Wow! To God be the glory! Deep and thought-provoking. Knowledge is powerful! Charles Spurgeon once wrote,

“Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.”

If we think that we know it all, or at least that we already know all that we need to know, we are already potentially deceived into believing a lie.  Satan I believe wants us to think than we are smarter than we really are.  Whenever this deception occurs we are then not going to make the effort to seek to know the truth of God’s Word. Love and Blessings…

Dan 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

My neighbor, a man of God wrote this prayer. Every morning I start my day with this prayer. There is a spiritual warfare going on my brothers and sisters. If you remember, I wrote about how we are God’s soldiers and we need the full armor of God, how we need to study the Word of God and place it in our hearts, so like Jesus, we can use it when the enemy comes with his lies. I also wrote about the power of the tongue and how words are powerful. We can use words in the fight against the enemy. I suggest starting your day with this powerful prayer. Yes, this prayer is long, but would you go to war with only a few weapons? No, you would want the entire armory. Our words, when they come from the heart and are based on His Word have the power to defeat the enemy! The Holy Spirit tells me to leave this here for a week. Also read Food for the Soul Scriptures pertaining to Spiritual Warfare. Feel free to ask questions, comment and share. Love and Blessings…

A WARFARE PRAYER BEFORE STARTING YOUR DAY

Heavenly Father, I bow in worship and praise before you. I cover myself with the blood of Jesus Christ, and claim the protection of His blood for my family, my finances, my home, my spirit, soul, mind and body. I surrender myself completely in every area of my life to you. I take a stand against all the workings of the devil that would try to hinder me and my family from best serving you. I address myself only to the True and Living God, and refuse any involvement of satan in my prayer. satan, I command you and all of your demon forces of darkness, in the name of Jesus Christ, to leave my presence. I bring the Blood of Jesus Christ between you and my family, my finances, my spirit, soul, mind and body, I declare, therefore, satan, that you and your wicked spirits are subject to me in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Furthermore, in my own life today, I destroy and tear down all the strongholds of the enemy and smash every plan that has been formed against me and my family. I tear down all the strongholds of the devil against my mind, and I surrender my mind to you. Blessed Holy Spirit, I affirm Heavenly Father, that you have not given me the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). I resist the spirit of fear in the name of Jesus, the Son of the living God, and I refuse no fear, refuse to doubt, refuse to worry, because I have the authority (power) over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt me (Luke 10:19). I claim complete and absolute victory over the forces of darkness in the name of Jesus, and I bind the devil and command him to lose my peace, joy, prosperity and every member of my family for the glory of God, and by faith I call it done!!!

I break and smash the strongholds of satan formed against my emotions today, and I give my emotions to you dear God. I destroy the strongholds of satan formed against my will today. I give my will to you, Heavenly Father, and choose to make the right decisions of faith, I breakdown the strongholds on satan against my body today and I give my body to you, realizing that I am the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19-20). I cover myself with the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and pray the Holy Ghost would bring all the works of the Crucifixion, all the works of the Resurrection, and all the works of the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ into my life today. I surrender my life and possessions to you. I refuse to be discouraged in the name of Jesus. I will not hate, envy, or show any type of bitterness towards my brothers, sisters, or my enemies; but will love them with the love of God shed abroad, in my heart by the Holy Ghost (Romans 5:5).

Open my eyes and show me the areas of my life that do not please you and give me strength, grace and wisdom to remove any sin or weight that would prevent our close fellowship, work in me to cleanse me from all ground that would give the devil a foothold against me, I claim in every way, the victory of the cross over all satanic forces in my life, I pray in the name of the lord Jesus Christ with thanksgiving and I welcome all the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Lord, I seal this prayer in the Blood of the Jesus claiming no interference from satan or any contrary spirit, in the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen and Amen…

Howard Coates