Purpose in Praise.

Have you ever thought about why it is that we praise God? 

 

Is it because it is something that our mothers, fathers, and grandparents told us to do? Or is it because we read it in the bible and that is what we are supposed to do? 

 

Or is there a purpose in us praising God?

 

I think that is a great question to ask yourself. 

 

“I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” Psalm 18”1-
2

 

 

 

Just take a moment to read Psalm 18. Not just Palm 18 but the bible in general. What is the one thing that no matter what is going on that happens?

 

God is always there. 

 

God is always there for his children. No matter what is going on, he is always by their side. 

 

There may be times, that you may feel like you are alone, but you are not. He is always there.

 

That is reason enough to give God praise.  That has me go back to the question I proposed earlier. Is there a purpose in our praise?

 

The answer is simple…. Yes!

 

“Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.” Psalm 145:2

 

 

God deserves all the praise that we can give him. He has done so much for us in our lives, we dare not let a day go by without giving God what we owe him. We should praise God, because he is a great God. 

 

 

In Psalm 145:3 it says, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.”

 

Wow! Just think about it. God is so great!

 

 We do not fully understand how great he is.  We cannot understand just how awesome he is. 

 

That is why no matter what, we should know that there is purpose in our praise. And that purpose is to show God how grateful we are to him for the things that he has done in our lives and show just how much we love him. 

 

God bless.

What does Kindness Cost?

 

For those who do not know, I am a Sunday school teacher at my church. I teach the kids 6 to 10 years old. I love teaching kids this age because it’s fun and they are very smart children.

 

They love to learn new things about the bible and they ask so many questions.

 

 

 We have been discussing kindness in our Sunday school class and why it is so important to be kind to others. Not just others, but be kind to all kinds. 

 

As I was thinking on my Sunday school lessons a question came to mind. 

 

How much does it cost to be kind to others? 

 

This is a valid question because we see so much hate in the world. People don’t like each other because of their skin color, or they don’t associate with a certain person because of their background. 

 

Why is that?

 

Do they feel they have the right to mistreat people just because they are different?  Or do they feel like they are better than other people because of who they are?

 

 

Never in the bible do you see Jesus being rude or mean to anyone because of who they were.  He treated everyone with kindness and gentleness. 

 

One of the stories we talked about was “The woman at the Well” ( John 4).  If you have not read this story i encourage you to read it for yourself. 

 

In this story we see Jesus at Jacobs well. He sees this Samaritan woman and ask her for something to drink.  She responds “how is it that thou, a Jew, askest drink of me, which a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” (John 4:9)

 

Notice that they both were from two different background, but Jesus did not see that.

Jesus took the time to talk to her. He did not care her background. He did not care that he was a Jew, and she was a Samaritan. He talked to her and witnessed to her.  He wanted her know about God so he took the time to talk to her. 

 

That is how we should be. We should take the time to be nice, and kind to everyone.

 

I work at a nursing home, and I met a woman who different from me in many ways. Our backgrounds are different because she is a different race than me.  She told me she was hesitant to talk to me at first, but we became friends.  One night we were talking, and she told me that she knew I was a Christian, but she was afraid to speak to me because others who professed to be Christians had been so mean to her because of her background. She told me that she thought I would be the same way. 

 

I looked at her and simply told her that I was not that kind of person. I do not treat people differently just because they are different from me.  I try to treat everyone the same.   

 

Now how much would it have cost the other people to be kind to this young lady?

 

It would not have cost a dime.  We should not have to put a price on being kind to someone. We should do it freely. 

You never seen anyone in the Bible being kind to others for a price. That is not how that works. 

 

Not only does it not cost us a thing to be kind to others, as you see in Ephesians 4:32 God requires us to be kind to others.  

 

 

It does not state in the bible that we should only be nice to people that pays us to be kind to them. No, it does not

 

It does not state in the Bible that we should only be kind to people who are the same race as us, or the same the hair color or eye color.  It does not say anything like that.

 

But it tells us to be kind to everyone!!!! It does not matter if they are different from you or not.  

 

Kindness is what God wants us to show to all his people, just like Jesus did.

 

 

 

Being kind is free for all and we should be kind to everyone. 

 

God bless.

Dealing with Grief

There are times in our lives where we are going to have to deal with the loss of someone. It is hard, and no one wants to deal with it, but one way  or another we have to.

See, I have had many people in my life who passed away, but recently I had someone who passed away that was close to me. This hit differently, because of who she was to me.

She was my mother. One of the most Godly women I knew, even at the end of her life. 

I found myself with a mix of emotions that I did not know how to deal with.

I completely shut down from family, friends, my kids and my husband. I even shut down from doing what God has told me to do. 

I quit writing, and I even quit seeking God's face. I was barely reading my Bible, and praying, because I was that sad. I was in my feelings  and I did not know how to deal with them. 

I still have my days where I do not know how to express how I am feeling, but God is showing me how to deal with grief.

See, going through this process, and it has not even been a month since the Lord called her home, I had to truly understand  that I am not the only one who has been through this, and I cannot shut God out. 

That was the most important part. Shuting God out was one of the worse things I could do, because it made me feel worse. But I thank God I figured it out before it was too late.   

When you find yourself going through grief there are several things that you will have to understand. 

First of all, don't forget to lean and depend on God. Even if you cannot express your feelings to other people, seek God's face. Have faith that he will give you peace in times of sorrow. He is able to give you comfort and joy that others are able to. 

He is the only one who can be the one you can lean and depend on, even when others dont understand. 

Second, it's ok not to be ok. Your emotions are going to be all over the place, and that is ok. You have to deal with it in your own way. Others will try to make you understand what they went through. And that is ok. But it is ok not to want to talk to others about what you are going through, until you are ready to talk to them. 

Lastly, lean on your family. If God blessed you with a close family, lean on each other to get through. It's ok to talk to your family about what you are feeling. I do not know what I would have done without my dad, brother and two sisters. 

Even the people who are not blood related, know who you can truly depend on in that time of grief.

God knows when you are grieving it is one of the hardest times in your life. But God is faithful that he will help you through it with the help of others who love you.

God bless.

Teaching our Children about God

This will be one of the shortest blogs that I write. But something happened that made me a proud mother today, and it showed me I was doing something right. 

 

As I am resting up for work tonight, my 7-year-old son Jack came to my room to talk to me. 

 

Now a few days ago, I had a conversation with my children about how I will be traveling for work and that I would be gone a few days out the week. I was honest with them, I told them I was nervous because I never done this type of thing before, and I never been away from them, but I was excited at the same time because it was a new opportunity for me to do something different. 

 

 

So, as I am laying on my bed today Jack comes in my room as he always does with a smile on his face to check on me. Him and my 4-year-old son, Gavin sat on my bed, and he said: 

“Mama are you nervous to leave for your job in a new city?”

 

  I told him I was nervous, but it was going to be ok, I knew God had me. 

Then, without hesitation, Jack asked if he could pray for me. I told him yes, and him and Gavin took me by the hand and Jack prayed for me. 

 

It may not be a big deal to some but to me it was a blessing, and I am going to tell you why.

 

It was at that moment that I look at him and I knew that he was watching me and my walk with God. 

 

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

 

He knew that if there is a problem that you could not solve to go to God and prayer and give it to him to handle. He knew that his mommy was nervous, and she needed prayer. 

 

 

I try to teach my boys, all three of them to lean and depend on God. Me and my husband both has conversations with them and try our best to explain things to them in a way they will understand.

 

Not only do we talk to them, but we try to be that example for them. They see me studying, reading my bible, even watches my inspirational videos on YouTube, and just recently, I let my oldest read some of my blogs. 

 It made me feel good to see that he knows even at the tender age of 7, that mommy needs prayer and the only one who could help her was God.

 

 

As parents, it is our job to teach our children about God. We must show them that Christ is the only answer in life. Reading the bible to them and having family time is a great way to teach them the word of God. 

By teaching our children about God, and teaching them how to know God for themselves, and being that example to them, no matter how old they get and what they go though in their life, they will always remember that God is with them and will lead and guide them. 

 

 

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says;

 

            “And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. . And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

 

 

It starts with us. We must know God for ourselves for us to teach our children. They look up to us, even if we don’t realize it.  What they see mommy and daddy do, they are going to copy because that is all they know.  

 

That moment made me a proud mom, because I know what every my children faces in life, they will know and understand how to get through life with the help of the Lord. 

 

 

God bless. 

Having Peace in your life.

Having Peace in your Life

Going through this life, we find ourselves having good days and bad days. It seems like sometimes we find ourselves having more bad days than good.

 

It can be frustrating because it seems like noting seem to be going the way it should be going. We find ourselves stressed out because nothing seems to be going out way. We try everything we can to try to be happy, but it never seems to work out in our favor. 

 

But the beauty of being a child of God, is the peace that he gives us to be able to bear anything that the enemy seems to throw our way. 

 

Philippians 4:7- “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus.” (KJV)

 

I love this verse.  This verse means so much to me. When you think about the peace of God! How wonderful it feels to have that kind of peace. 

See, when you have the peace of God which passeth all understanding, you find yourself thinking on God and depending on him to handle ever situation that comes your way. Granted, it can be a hard thing to do , but when you have God in your life, truly in your life, then you find it easer to have that peace in your life.  

I can think back on my life and some of the times that it was very stressful. I try to have peace about certain situations, but I just felt my self being overwhelmed. I can even go as far as saying I was depressed.  It seem any way I looked to be at peace, I just could not find it. 

 

But when I truly gave my life to the Lord and I truly let him handle certain situations that I knew I had no control over, I was able to have peace about it knowing God would handle it. I did not know how God would handle it, but I knew he had all power to handle it, because I could not do it on my own. 

 

To truly have peace in your life, means you are simply free. You are not bound to the things that is holding you back, and you can go on with your life knowing that God is in control, and he has everything handled for you. 

 

 Isn’t it a blessing knowing the kind of peace you have when we have Christ in our lives? It is a different kind of peace that we may not understand but it gives us comfort. 

 

God bless. 

 

 

 

 

Psalms 119:165- “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” (KJV)

Just be yourself

 

 

One thing that frighten me the most when I started blogging and doing social media was the way I came across to other people. I am already a shy person, so when I decided to start sharing a piece of myself a few years back I was scared.

 

I saw how people would respond to others on their social media platform. Some people were loving, and kind while others were judgmental and negative. 

 

But the one thing that I learned from doing this for so long, was I needed to be myself. It was one thing for me to try to be what others wanted me to be, but I had to learn that I was not being trueful to myself. 

 

See, when I make the choice to share my life, I was trying to be like others that I saw on the internet. And to be honest, I mimic some of the things that I saw others do thinking that I would get the same response that they were receiving from others. I quickly learned that that was not the approach that I needed to take. 

 

Then I had to take a step back and wonder why am I not getting the same response as others? 

 

Then it hit me!!! 

 

I was sitting talking to my husband about how I was feeling, and it came to me. See I was not being true to who I am and why I began on this journey in the first place. 

 

And then I had to look at it in all aspects of my life. 

 

It’s funny…. I can always find a lesson in everything. 

 

 

See, God made me, Amanda, the way I am for a reason. If I was like anybody else, I would probably be a boring person. But he made me uniquely.  

 

Most people who know me knows that I have a twin sister. We look just alike, we even sound alike and we make the same faces when we are displeased with things. But I am not my sister, and she is not me. We are so different in so many ways. 

 

I cannot try to be her because I am not her. Same thing goes for her. I am different from her, and she is different from me. 

 

We what does that have to do with being myself? I am so glad that you asked.

 

Being yourself simply means that. You be you.

 

 

“And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2 KJV

 

 

When you be yourself, you stand out above all the rest. You do not blend in with the crowd. Let people see you as yourself. They do not see you as the person that you might be trying to mimic. They what to see the true you.

 

And when you are true to others about who you are, they can see the bright, spirited person that you have become. 

 

Then, and only then, can not only others see you for who you are, but you will be able to see yourself. 

 

God bless. 

An Unwavering Faith

Back in May of this year, me and my husband took a trip for our 14-year wedding anniversary. We went to Virginia Beach like we do every year for our anniversary. 

 

I remember this trip, because it was at a time in my life where I did not know how I was going to make it. It was hard for me because I felt lost.

 

This was a chapter in my life where my faith was not strong. I had so much going on and I did not know if I was coming or going. I was just getting over Covid 19 and my relationship with my husband was not the best. 

 

But I knew I was beginning a journey that I have never been on with God, and it was scary. He was telling me what he wanted me to do, and I questioned him every step of the way.

 

 Sure, I was telling everybody through my inspirational videos to have faith and let God show them what to do, but my life was a mess, and I could not give myself whole heartly to God.

 

One of the things I question the most was why me? Why would you place this assignment in my hands and my life was in turmoil and I did not know which way was which. I was not prepared. 

 

But as me and my husband got to the beach and I still was feeling unsure about my life, I went to the balcony of our hotel room, and it was about 10:00pm and I just sat there watching the waves of the ocean and God reviled somethings to me. He showed me the true meaning of unwavering faith. 

 

This next part is what I wrote on the balcony that night: 

 

 

One of the hardest things for me to realize is how rocky my faith in God really is. 

 

As I sit here watching the ocean and I think on things, God showed me something. Looking at the ocean, there are times that the storms and waves of our lives are calm and still. 

 

Then there are times that the storms and waves are big and strong, and they come some large and some small. But the one thing that God showed me is this.

 

Often, our lives are calm and still. Everything is going right in our lives, and we are happy. That is when we find our faith the strongest. 

 But when the waves come in our lives and they are big and strong and too much to bear, that is when our faith is weak.  

 

 

That is when we take our eyes off the Lord, and we see how WE ourselves can fix the problem in our lives.  Not realizing when we take our eyes off God that is when we see our lives spiral out of control. 

 

Just like Peter in Matthew 14:22-33. He saw Jesus’ walking on the water and wanted to walk out with him. He started walking on the water, but when the wind became too strong for him, he took his eyes off Jesus, and he began to sink. He asked Jesus to save him.  His faith was gone.  But then Jesus said to him in verse 31 “Oh thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt”? 

 

When things come in our lives, we should never doubt God, our faith should be strong in him. 

In Matthew 17:20 he says we should "have faith as a grain of mustard seed".  Meaning that no matter what may come up in our lives, we should have faith in God to get us through it. 

 

But don’t you know that when the storms and waves of our lives are big and strong and out of control that is when we need to look to God the most.

 

Our faith needs to always be strong in God. No matter what may be going on in our lives, whether it be calm and still or the storm is ragging, if we have an unwavering faith in God, we will be able to handle whatever comes our way. 

God Bless

 

 

Get Connected to God.

Get Connected to God. 

 

As I sit here finishing up my bible study for the night, I cannot help but to reflect on myself. 

 

A few years ago, I would not even pick up my Bible to study it. That is just something that I did not use to do. I called myself a Christian, but you could not tell by the life that I was living. 

 

See, I went to church on a regular basis. I always have ever since I was a little girl. My parents took me, my brother and two sisters to church every Sunday. We did not miss a Sunday. My father was the pastor of the church, so he made sure we were always there when the doors were open.

Yes I am a P.K (preachers kid)

 

So, I knew how to walk, talk, and act like a Christian. 

 

I wanted everybody to look at me and say that they knew I was a Christian, just by the way I carried myself, but I was not doing what I needed to do to show God living in me. 

 

It wasn’t until I went to college my freshmen year, that I wanted to have a relationship with God, but I still wanted to be the same person I was.  I really wanted to change, but I did not want to give up who I was and who my friends knew me as. 

 

It is strange how that works. I wanted to be connected to God, but I was not taking the steps it took to be so. It’s like wanting to go bungie jumping without being connected to a firm foundation. You can jump off the cliff, but if you are not connected at the other end, you will fall to your death.

 

But that was the key. I was not connected!

 

See, to have a relationship with God you must be connected to him, spiritualty,

I had to realize that to have the relationship with God that I desired in my heart, I had to be connected spiritually with God. 

 

I knew what I had to do.

 

It was only about 2 years ago that I really found myself wanting to have a deeper relationship with God.  But there were a lot of things that I still did not have right within myself.  Honestly, I did not know how to have a relationship with him. 

 

It was one day at work where I was talking to a coworker, and I was telling her about how I was trying to find a place for me to learn. I felt like I needed to get deeper in the word of God, but I did not know how. She was telling me about a Bible Study that her church has every Wednesday for women. 

 

Wow. I was excited and nervous at the same time. I never went to an all-women’s bible study before. But I was so glad I did. 

 

The first time I went, I did not really speak I just listen. It was different. 

 

I remember feeling free. I was able to be myself and I was not uncomfortable. 

 

I was able to learn and grow in a way that I never have before. It was funny I was getting what I had prayed for. I was changing.

 

See, if you truly want to change in your life, you must go to the one who can help you with that change in your life that you desire. You must get connected to God, so he can show you how to change your life for him. 

 

How do you get connected to God? I am glad you ask. First, you must ask God to become your Lord and savior. Ask him to forgive you of your sins, and to help you change your life. 

 

Then you must get into his word.  2 Timothy 2:15 says “Study to show themselves approve unto God, a workman that needed not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

 

Simply put, you must study the bible so you will be able to know it for yourself. 

 

Pray and ask God to help you change from the way that you are and help you be the person that he wants you to be. 

 

God bless. 

 

Go to God for help

“I want to do this…. But I don’t know!!! I want to do that…. But I don’t know!”

 

This has been me for the past few weeks. I have been going back and forth on things that I know in my heart that I need to be doing, but I find myself second guessing myself.

 

It almost seems that I do not have the faith in God that I say that I have.

 

Questioning my Life

 

It’s like I am questioning everything thing that he has been telling me to do in my life. Weather it because I am scared to do it, or it is just the fact that I do not think I know how to do it, I find myself in the same boat repeatedly.

 

 It seems like every time I take two steps forward, I find myself taking five steps back. It’s like I am being repetitive. But I am learning with every passing day, that I am looking in the wrong place for the answers that I need out of life.

 

You may feel like I am being too honest with this blog, but I just want to help others and show that I am fighting the same fight that others may be fighting in their lives.

 

Now, as I have been trying figure out things in my life, I started to complain. It was not nothing too serious, but I was complaining, a lot. The one thing that I said I did not want to do. That is what I found myself doing.

 

I found something wrong in everything that I was trying to do for my life.

 

“I am not perfect!”

 

“How can I work for God? I do not feel like I am ready!”

 

 

 I have so many “how am I going to do this and that” questions in my life I was getting frustrated. I started searching for the answers in the wrong places. I thought I could talk to my sister about it, and I thought I could talk to my husband about it, but I realized that they could not help me with what I was feeling.

 

Seeking God for Answers

 

True, they can give me advice on what they feel like I should be doing, and they can even give me scripture, but they cannot help me the way I needed to be helped. The kind of help I needed was a little deeper than just talking to them.

 

When I realized the help I needed was only going to be giving to me by God himself, I felt foolish.

 

 I had been looking all over for someone to give me the answers that I was seeking, and it was in me the whole time.

 

See, in Matthew 6:33 it says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you” (KJV)

 

 Even though my family very well could give me good advice, I needed to seek God on some things myself. God and answer the questions that I may have better than any man can. When I took a step back and I sought God on my own, he showed me what I needed to do and I felt better, because my father in heaven let me know what I needed to do.

 

Studying his Word 

 

As Christians, sometimes we go to the wrong place to get the answers that we need for the questions that we have burning on the inside of us. Often, the answers are two places.

 

First in the word of God.

 

In 2 Timothy 2:15 it says to “Study to shew thyself approve unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

 

 We must get into God’s word, because all of the answers that we need are in the Bible. God has giving us a great resource in the Bible for all of the things that we may be going through in life and how to handle every situation.

 It is up to us to get in the word of God and study it so we will be able to use it in our life.

 

 Praying

The second way is to go to God directly, as I stated earlier. We need to pray more and ask God how to handle the difficult things in our lives. When we have that relationship with God, we can go to him, and he will give us the answers that we need. Now some answers are some we may not want to hear, but God is a gracious God, and he will never steer us in the wrong direction.

 

Bottom line, God is who we need to go to when we have questions and need spiritual answers. He knows what we need when we need it. I pray that this blog helps you with your journey with God.

 

Be Blessed.