From Pity to Praise

Special Dishes For The Holidays

Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays?

I always make my father’s yam recipe. It’s not all that gooey marshmallow stuff in it. These are made with cinnamon, raw honey, vanilla, brown sugar, nutmeg, clove, and butter. Every Thanksgiving and every Christmas I make them. I think they are called Soul Food Style Baked Candied Yams.

I remember my grandmother making her Hungarian Walnut Cookies. They were delicious. But I can’t make them as good as her, hers were super moist, and mine turn out dry. So I stopped trying to make these.

No Sleep

If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?

I’m not much of a sleeper now but if I didn’t need any I would be praying more to God. It’s at night my mind tends to be clearer. I would be reading and writing more.

I am a little bit of a night owl. I would love to crank up some music and clean on some nights. But there is someone else in this house who needs to sleep.

Our Own Worst Enemy

Has anyone ever told you that you are your own worst enemy? Chances are you’ve heard that a time or two in your life. If you’re a regular church goer you may have been taught to fight against satan, for he is the enemy of your soul.

But what do we do when our problems stem from the inner part of us and not satan?

Proverbs 14:12, says “There is a way that seems right to a man, but it’s end is the way to death.”

In other words, you are your own worst enemy. Sometimes we can cause ourselves more pain and trouble than 10 of our foes. Our own soul can be a deadly danger in our lives.

I can admit I was my own worst enemy for years, and I’m sure satan waited for that open door to sneak in and add to my pain.

We are our own worst critic. If you judge yourself too much, you sell yourself short, and by doing so you only hold yourself back from experiencing you’re full potential.

Stop beating yourself up over every mistake you make. Overcriticizing yourself only hold you back and dampens your confidence.

I lived this way for years, always criticizing myself and tearing myself down. It’s not a good place to be. It’s human nature to contemplate solutions, and then struggle between our mind, instinct, brain and heart. And over analyzing becomes an exhausting merry-go-round as solutions do a complete 180, which in turn, only serves to paralyze our progress.

Always making assumptions about situations end in disaster. Our brains love to fill in the gaps by forming a presumption that is most the time based on faulty facts.

But, we cannot place our own standards or morals on everyone else. Each of us is different we tick differently. It’s important to deal with only the facts rather than assumptions before deciding on a course of action.

We can never know the full story of another person. It’s not worth spending lots of time and energy on a particular outcome when we do not have all the facts -it’s exhausting.

Romans 8:28 tells us “And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, to them that are called to His purpose.”

Electric Cars

From my perspective: The biggest scam the world has ever seen?

Has anyone ever thought about this?

If all cars were electric…

And if we were stuck in a three hour traffic jam in the cold after a snowstorm, our batteries would be completely dead. Because electric cars basically have no heating. And the fact that we would be stuck all night on the street without a battery, heating, wipers, radio, gps the batteries dead along time ago.

We can’t call emergency services because they cannot come to help because every road is closed and probably every police car, rescue trucks, ambulance’s, and fire trucks will be electric. And when the roads are blocked by thousands of cars, no one will be able to move forward.

How do you change all those car Batteries on the spot? Traffic jams are the same problem especially during the holidays.

There’s also no way you could turn on the air conditioning for any length of time in an electric car, because the battery would be dead in no time.

Of course no politician or journalist is taking about this.

It’s just one more method to destroy the cretinous humanity.

Prophetic Integrity

If you have given your life to Jesus, you have an amazing privilege to be able to hear His voice and walk in fellowship with His Spirit. It was God’s delight to provide you with this gift combination so that you can have everything thing you need in your life here on earth.

I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if I’d known about Jesus earlier in my life. Bur, then I realize that I wouldn’t be as strong as I am today without the past experiences I’ve had to endure. It’s our sorrow’s that we have in life that lead us to the Salvation God has for us.

It is by God’s design that we are able to know Him deeply. And as we grow through the journey of discovery. His plan is that we become His mouthpiece and become one of His prophetic people. Through our experiences and traumas in life, we may be able to become a bridge for others to come to Jesus.

God often leaves me awestruck by the people and situations He leads me to in order to be His mouthpiece to help a hurting person.

In order to walk out God’s plan for our lives and do it well there are five vital goals that every true believer in Jesus should have.

To remain tenderly aligned with God’s heart and be reflective of His true nature as we yield to Him and become a conduit to release His words of love, strength, and hope.

1. Protect Your Relationship With God

This has to be your highest priority. Life is like a grand buffet with endless, appealing choices you can heap onto your plate. But we all know how miserable it is after overeating, so in reality, there is only so much we can do with life while still maintaining good health. We should always keep God on the center of our plate.

Know sometimes we will have to forfeit other desirable things in order to choose God. God never said to believe in Him and then go into the world and do what ever we want to do. You may have to skip out on some social media time, or other social opportunities in order to enjoy extra time with God. But in the end you will see the blessings that are attached.

At what price will to pay to protect and prioritize your relationship with God? At what price will you pay to be a friend of God. How hungry are you to not just have the knowledge about God but to know Him deeply, and personally?

2. Study And Model God’s Heart And Character

When you decide you want to dive deeply into God. He will take you on a journey to teach you about who He really is. And He is like no one else. He reveals things to you about His nature and what motivates Him. If you give Him a chance He will strip away all the junk you’ve picked up in the world and give you a fresh new observation on life.

If you make it your goal to truly know Him, the God of the Bible will illuminate the truth of His word so that your heart can understand what your head knows. He will teach you the way to love, demonstrated by His every word and action toward you.

3. Learn God’s Language And Timing

As you dig into God’s Word, you will find that God’s messages to people often seem come from a shroud of mystery. From dreams to visions to parables you’ll begin to see that symbols are a common part of His language. Proverbs 25:2 tells us, “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” As God prophetic people, He invites us to search out what He has hidden. We can do this by pursuing God, not by reasoning with our minds, for interpretations belong to God (Genesis 40:8). To learn God’s language we must listen for His Spirit to unlock understanding of His revelation.

Likewise, we must depend on God’s wisdom to discern His timing. As with Joseph, who was a teenager when he received a symbolic dream from God that indicated that someday his family would bow down to him. Joseph likely didn’t realize that it would be many years before this would play out in his life. Our human nature typically seeks immediate application when we hear from God. At times we will have a deep witness in our spirit of the correlation of what God is saying with a present situation. But when His words seem puzzling it is best to protect the word by writing it down. Ponder and pray over it, knowing that when the time is right, the Holy Spirit will unlock what God has revealed.

4. Be A Conduit Of God’s Love

It doesn’t take great discernment to seethe negative in the world. But what makes an impact is Spirit-led truth that is sourced from the heart of God, who is Love. If we don’t speak out of His love, we become ineffective in speaking the truth of God, and therefore it holds no value. Jesus Himself said that on the last day some will remind Him that they prophesied and preformed miracles in His Name, but He will reply that He never knew them (Matthew 7:22-23). God makes it clear in His Word that He is looking for people to be His voice on the earth. Prophecy is in His heart. But if the prophetic is not fueled by the love of God, it will completely miss the mark of God’s intention and be worthless in His eyes.

“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” – 1 Corinthians13:2.

On the other hand, if we are stewarding our relationship with God and studying His character with a desire to truly know Him, we will catch a personal revelation of His great love for us, which inevitably will cause us to speak God’s truth out of the overflow. “We love because He first loved us” – 1 John 4:19.

5. Humbly Walk In Fear Of The Lord

“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” – Proverbs 11:2.

Being a representative of God is a privilege that should have no pride attached to it. To hear from God is a gift that could be handled with the greatest humility. God tests our hearts to see what we will do with what He gives us. Revelation should never be paraded around or shared to glorify ourselves. Some personal whispers from God should never be shared. And others will be key to set the captives free.

The key to properly delivering God’s Word is to depend on His wisdom and to stay close to His heart, We can learn when God gives us the unction to speak what He has told you. He gives grace to the humble. If you always point people toward Jesus and stay soft and teachable, the Lord will train you as His spokesperson. As you protect your purity and maintain the right heart motivation, you will learn to serve God and His people and to represent Him well.

Humility and fear of the Lord go hand in hand. Jesus Himself walked with the Will of His Father. He said and did only as He saw His Father doing. God desires to align your life in reverence to what pleases Him and establishes His will.

God’s people should be sensitive and obedient to His promptings. They should depend on His leadership in every aspect of their lives.

Pet Peeves

Name your top three pet peeves.

Awe those somethings that a particular person finds annoying. Yes, I have a few of those.

Interrupting during a conversation. We all know someone who won’t let us get three words in before they’re already talking about something else. My big one is when I’m involved in a conversation with someone and someone comes user and intrudes on the conversation.

Rude people. Someone who only cares about themselves. They think their insults, mockery and ill-timed comments.

Screaming Children in public. It’s not even the child that needs anything. When children are screaming at the top of their lungs in a public place and the parent does nothing.

My Favorite People

Who are your current most favorite people?

Naturally my husband and my children are my favorite people. And I have a few friends that are great.

Along with those, I would have to add my Pastor. He has been a true God send. He has taught me so much not only about who God is, but who I am with God. He is the reason I am who I am today.

The Power Of Our Perspective

“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them” -Albert Einstein

You know they say, “perspective is everything,” but that depends on how you look at it all. There is great power in perspective.

Shifting our perspective not on,y changes the way we think, it can also change the way we feel and act. Having the ability to recognize, shift and change our vantage point gives us a liberating amount of control over the way we react to situations. Understanding and being able to access our perspective opens us up to more possibilities in all situations and therefore more possibility in life.

Have perspectives give us choices. When we realize different perspectives we are able to see more clearly, and have more compassion, be more understanding, and enjoy more freedom which allows us to communicate better. We have more control over our choices and actions, which usually leads to being more appreciative, positive.

Any one is capable of shifting their perspective to be aware of increased possibilities. While it can take some practice the more you do it the easier and more comfortable it becomes, until it’s a habit.

So, how do we begin to harness a new perspective on life? Here’s a few things I’ve learned in my journey through life and changing my perspective.

Notice Yourself

Awareness and mindfulness are absolutely key in being able to recognize and shift your perspective. The first step is to begin to notice where you are now. What are you doing, how are you feeling and what exactly are you thinking? It’s pretty difficult to change your mindset if you aren’t really even aware that you have one. Start being mindful about what you are thinking and the way in which you are looking at things. Once you know what/how you are thinking and can see your current perspective then you can start opening up to new and different ones.

Take Control

You have the power to change your own mind. Your thoughts are 100% completely up to you. While things happen outside of you that you may have a reaction to and your past history creates patterns and habits which influence the way you react to things, but bottom line is you are still the one making the choices about what to think. Remind yourself, often that it is your call. You have the ability to make your own choices. It may be challenging at first, but the more you own this truth the easier it will become to recognize that what you decide to think it up to you, and not dictated by any other person or circumstance.

See The Bigger Picture

Look around you. Try to connect to everything around you. Pull back from whatever you may be focusing on so intently and recognize it all -all the sights, the sounds, the feelings, every detail. There is so much to consider. Broadening your vision will help you see things you may have not noticed. Imagine yourself as a wide angle lens and literally zooming out. What would you see in the periphery of your vision? What else weren’t you seeing before? What else might you know to be there that you can’t see with your eyes? There is always more.

Be Open

It’s very hard to see new perspectives if you aren’t open. When we’re rigid and stuck in our ways, we have a much harder time seeing the possibilities and we aren’t even looking for them either.

There will always be people or situations in our life, that we can’t see a difference point of view, and it’s usually because of our beliefs and value systems. But, when we soften some of our strict expectations about how things should be our perspectives change.

Recognize The Opposite

A really quick way to see another perspective is to recognize the opposite of what ever you are seeing, thinking, or experiencing. There is a duality in everything. The more that we can remember both sides of the coin, the more access we have to a greater perspective.

For example, instead of focusing on why your pay check never made it to the bank, and getting angry about it. Shift your perspective to why did it happen work on finding out the why before you get hot with anger. Instead of blaming, choose to find out why it happened, and do what you need to do to fix the situation. Becoming aware of the opposite of the thought or situation will help you access a different perspective.

Let Go Of Judgement

Sometimes it’s hard to embrace a new perspective because we’ve gotten in the habit of allowing our judgments to control us. Judgment is a valid practice when we are forming opinions based on previous experiences but when allow judgment to take the wheel, we are letting go of a lot of control and opportunity. The problem with judgements is that they often result in instant decision without paying attention to the whole picture of what is actually happening in a particular instance. Most judgements are formed by past experiences or future fears. Be discerning, but let go of the judgment. Judgement only gets in the way of being able to consider other prospectives. When we are able to get curious and exploratory, then we allow new discoveries to present themselves.

Letting go of our opinions doesn’t mean we might not decide in the end to make a decision based on previous experience, but it gives us the freedom to see different angles and make even find better ones.

Connect With Compassion

Compassion can be hard to come by these days. But by thinking of others and caring about what they might be experiencing an shift our perspective and infuses it with love and consideration. Compassion reminds us to consider what others are going through and helps us remember everyone has a right to prosper. It pulls us back to see the bigger picture of everyone involved and aligns us with our core values.

Use Your Imagination

Usining your imagination is an amazing way to remember perspective. When we use our imagination, we are more open to the infinite possibilities around us. In fact, we are masters at dreaming up new ways of thinking and being. When you find yourself in a situation where you might feel you might need a perspective change, tap into your imagination and get creative and open to the possibilities.

Shifting your perspective is a skill and all skills require practice. I have found an excellent way to practice shifting your perspective is to find ways to clear your mind, using mindfulness techniques or meditation, i find I can think more clearly after reading God’s Word. Basically anything that quiet your mind and allows you to think more clearly and get in tune with you’re authentic selves.

When we can see into our own mind, we have the ability to recognize our thoughts and perspectives. We can connect to our intuition, and our own wisdom which changes our perspective.

My Favorite Animals

What are your favorite animals?

When it comes to Animals, Black Panther’s have always been my favorite. Their melanistic color variants between the leopard and the jaguar. It’s solitary and doesn’t spend much time with other panthers, unless it’s a female with offspring. They hunt alone which is different from any other cat in the wild.

Generally I’ve never met an animal I didn’t like. Society has deemed so my dogs dangerous. I don’t think there is any dangerous dogs. I believe it’s the owners who ruin them.

I few Christmas’s ago I was delivering a meal to a man. I wasn’t aware he had an aggressive dog. As I reached over his gate to hand him his meal his dog lunged up and took a bite of my hand. I was able to get my hand away, but not without significant damage. I didn’t blame the dog, it was the way the owner trained him.

Soul Exhaustion

Amidst all the turmoil in the world from the economic disruptions, wars, and hate that is spewing out over every thing these days. Many of us hav reached our limits. I don’t even turn on the news anymore. It can just become overwhelming. Emotionally, physically, and mentally, we all need a break to rest our weary souls and find inner peace.

However, the demands of modern living, often make it challenging to find a balance. We’ve become so busy chasing in this achievements and activities that we forgotten our true nature. We’ve relinquish our souls piece by racing after instant gratification, and sense pleasures. Money, materialism, and fleeting desires have taken priority over spiritual growth.

We’ve begun to see the consequences of living at such a fast pace. Many people feel burnt out and long for a different way of existing. Stress levels have skyrocketed in the last decade because of this obsession with achievement and productivity. People might want to slow down, but with prices rising daily, they can’t always afford that luxury.

The world demand more of our minds and souls than ever, and it doesn’t stop turning just because we feel exhausted. We emphasize having perfect bodies and extraordinary intellect, but what about a peaceful soul? Every one wants to achieve that but, the question is where to start.

How can we live in this world without becoming consumed, or controlled by its pressures? Here’s a few pointers on resting you soul.

“Sleep doesn’t help if it’s your soul that’s tired”

Feeling drained after you wake up in the morning might signal soul exhaustion. Sleep is supposed to rejuvenate the body and mind, but that doesn’t help your soul feel more energized. When your soul reaches its limits, you need something more profound than sleep to recharge your batteries,

Many people today have insomnia because of daily life stressors. They lie awake for hours each night, tossing and turning, not knowing how to escape your minds. Feeling mentally, and physically, exhausted in the morning, can make your soul even heavier. But even when it seems hopeless, you can still find light in the darkness.

I’ve tried meditation right before bed. I was a huge skeptic on meditation in the past. But have found if I do even a short 10-minute meditation before bed it’s easier for me to settle into sleep. I have found practicing observing your thoughts and learning to silence your mental chatter can eventually help you feel more in control.

If you’ve ever felt like you want to escape your life. It’s tempting to daydream about running away from your life and all it’s demands. And dealing with stress every day, can take its toll and feel like a burden after a while. You might imagine, living in a cozy cottage in the woods, far away from the jungle of civilization, or maybe your dream, and escaping to a foreign country and living near a tranquil beach.

Either way, it’s easy to frequently use our imagination to live in an alternative reality, where everything seems better somehow. People with swords, often often escape into their mind to counter the feeling of being trapped in life.

We can use the jeep emotions to our advantage. Finding a creative outlet, such as writing, painting, or drying, can help release repressed feelings. In history, some of the best creative endeavors have come from people who turn their suffering into a passion.

Soul exhaustion can manifest itself as a unpleasant physical symptoms. People who need a spiritual, cleanse, often build blockages in their minds and bodies. Physical or mental disturbances occur when we’re out of alignment with our true nature. So, next time you have a headache or back pain, think about what your body wants to tell you. Our minds and bodies speak to us constantly, giving us subtle signals about what needs attention.

There’s something called body scan meditation, that kind of pinpoint any areas of discomfort or distress. These can help remove some energetics blockages.and cause us to feel more unrestrained.

Soul exhaustion can make you feel like an alien on planet earth. Many people your heaviness in their souls. People wonder where the true freedom in life is. If you’re a empath you might often feel like you don’t belong here because you think you’re a more evolved soul. Maybe you’re more interested in cultivating inner peace than chasing endless pleasures.

If you feel disconnected from everyone, please don’t think there’s something wrong with you. That means your soul needs attention.

When I disconnect occurs in the mind, body, and soul, it can create mental problems. Sadly, millions of people suffer from anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders in today’s world. And dismantle this harmony can upset the souls peace creating discord in other areas of life. For example, people with mental health issues, often feel fatigued, which stems from the soul.

Many people today are taking antidepressants or something for anxiety. Despite being on pharmacological pills, it’s important to practice self care an honor yourself if you suffer from anxiety or depression. The world can wait, but your souls peace cannot.

Sadly, most people feel like they’re just going through the motions. They are constantly on auto pilot in life. While it’s normal experience this sometimes. Feeling constantly disassociated from your emotions I mean your soul need some rest. When we feel uninspired or drain, our soul wants us to reconnect to our Trussell. The only way to help soul exhaustion is to dig deep and work on understanding yourself beyond yo-yo mind and body.

Everyone experience sold them to Austin at some point in their life. It can happen for various reasons, from job dissatisfaction to problems at home. However, all this harmony Sims from one cause -disconnection from the soul. To feed your inner peace, you must tune out the world, and learn to hear your inner voice. We all have intuition, but our logic driven world often silences it.

Please don’t allow the world to dictate your emotions, you can still find peace by trusting yourself and tuning into your soul.

Beach Or Mountains

Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why?

I have lived my entire life by the book cliff mountains and near the desert. Which is amazing. The wild life that can be seen in these areas are great. There is just no price to put on walking out the door in the morning and seeing a beautiful deer standing in your drive way. The winters are snowy and if you’re into skiing and such the mountains are a great place to be.

I would absolutely love to live near a beach that I could walk, and listen to the crashing of the waves each day. See the beautiful ocean sunsets. I would love to experience it all.

Your Prophetic Destiny

Your prophetic destiny is that which God has ordained for you. What God ordained for you is in God’s heart, waiting for you to discover and develop yourself so you can participate with God for the fulfillment of it. God has His plan for everyone He created.

We have the power to choose to cooperate and participate with God or do otherwise. His plans are for our good.

Ingredients For Fulfilling Your Destiny

The things that can hinder, pollute or pervert the destiny God has for us are laziness, carelessness, and ignorance. Satan uses the works of our flesh, the systems of the world and the cohorts of hell to affect us whenever we allow him. We must remember to know when and how to yield to God and how to take charge in the realm of the spirit and in the natural so God’s will can be done.

Yielding to God is where we let God show us what He sees in us. We need to ask God’s help to root out what needs rooting out and repent from. And engage the weapons of warfare to get the victory over issues of impurities, bitterness,worldliness, and other works of the flesh. There are tests to pass as we move on to fulfill our prophetic destiny.

The taking-charge stance is where we summon the courage in God to press into His revealed will for our lives.

The following will help us:

1. Our Prayer Life: Jeremiah 29:11-14; Matthew 16:16-19 and 1 Timothy 2:1-4.

2. Our heart condition: A heart of humility will be teachable, not yielding to pride or naughtiness.

3. Our hunger for God: This is our genuine desire for God; to experience more of His grace, love, and power as we stay in the place of dependence on Him and willingness to obey Him.

4. Our hunger for souls: We know Jesus died for all mankind and many just do not know Him. So, we seek to get as many people saved as they come to the knowledge of His sacrifices for Him. I do not believe in shoving the love of Jesus down people’s throats. Loving people and living by example is the right way to do it.

5. Developing endurance and perseverance: This is staying power; staying at it even when things get rough and tough.

6. Skills: This comes through practice.

7. Our word life: It is to the extent we obey the word, that it is to the extent it can abide in us.

Our prayer life is the birthing place for all the right conditions, positions, provisions and displays of God’s power in our lives and circumstances. In the place of prayer we are affected by the power of God, after which we become instrumental in seeing others affected by His power, love and their circumstances affected.

There are three different dimensions to our prayer life. Prayer is fellowship with the Father through His Spirit as we have become new creatures in Christ. Worship is a dimension where we get intimate as we adore Him, appreciating all He has done for us in Christ and naturally. Then we make our requests known to Him, known as petitioning. Supplication has to do with is asking for His help in the areas of our weaknesses. Intercession is when we pray for others for their needs to be met and God’s mercies are requested to meet all needs, for their salvation and well being.

Nothing can stop us from entering into the prophetic destiny God had for us. This is our season to harvest and receive all God has for us in the Name of Christ Jesus.

We serve a faithful God and no person or circumstances can prevent His prophetic call upon our lives being fulfilled if we keep our hearts right before Him, stay in an attitude of obedience, and remain in a place of integrity and honor towards people.