A fresh Word from the Lord

While I was praying over what to write today, I decided to review some of my notes in my phone to see what God was leading me to share. I fell upon a note I wrote to myself on April 29, 2022, which was a fresh Word from God for me and my family. 

One of the key reasons I write down what God is sharing with me is that I believe God wants each Christ Follower to build an altar to Him whenever He moves in the life of the believer. Thus, the journals for the boys, this blog, my notes in my phone, my journal, and any other location that I write down what I believe the Holy Spirit is sharing with me is my altar to God. One day, hopefully, my kids will read these things and see God's faithfulness and they will commit to following HIM and only HIM. I also do this so I can share with others as the Lord leads. 

Here are my notes from the Word of the Lord given on 4/29/2022.

*God is filling us with new wineskin and fresh oil. 

*He has declared that we will be blessed and highly favored in His place. 

*Wherever we go, we will have more than enough, we are favored. 

*People will long to bless our family.

*The money of evil men and women will be given away as gifts to your family so we may pay it forward and bless others. 

*Those locusts who took without asking, who took in secret and who took without repayment will be removed and you will receive seven-fold for what was eaten. 

*You will be healthy and healed. 

*Illness has to leave you and your family now in Jesus' name. 

*You will have victory and will be able to resist the devil in all things. Things that hindered you will be removed. 

*Those who cursed you will be removed. 

*God says you are blessed. 

*God says praise me in the morning, at lunch, when you sit at dinner, and when you go to bed. I see you praising me at night with your children. "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty" YES- I AM HOLY. Praise me now. Follow me only. I will continue to direct your steps. 

*Continue to walk in the path- the narrow path I have set before you. 

*Nothing can come against you because you are mine and you are training your children to be mine. 

*You are so precious to me. Walk in that assurance. Continue to praise me. Know my reckless love for you. 

Verses the Lord reminded me of during this time. 

John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (ESV) 

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (NKJV)

Deuteronomy 1:11 "May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times and bless you as He has promised." (NIV)

As I review this Word from the Lord, I am still in awe that He would offer this blessing to me. I am reminded of His faithfulness and His goodness and how blessed I am to be called a daughter of the Most High God. 

These scripture verses are very important in the receiving of this blessing from the Lord. 

First, I must remember that there is a spiritual battle going on. Good vs Evil. It is so true and real. We must remember that the enemy does not want us to follow the Lord, nor does he want us to have an afterlife with Christ. The devil doesn't want us to have successful marriages, nor does he want us to raise Godly children and he certainly does not want us to have a testimony to share with the lost of this world. God longs for us to walk with Him daily in the abundance that He offers. God wants us to make a positive impact for Christ in our homes, our communities and in our nation. Thus, we must consistently seek God's face and allow Him to help us in our daily battles so we can be fruitful in the ministry He has for us. I love how God mentioned some of our "battles" in this blessing and what He intends to do about it. 

Secondly, through Christ I can do all things because it is He who gives me strength. When I try to accomplish things outside of Him, my strength is not enough. Sure, I can accomplish many things if I put my mind to it, but how much more can I accomplish if I give up control and allow Him to give me strength to carry out my orders. This way I will walk in His mercy, His grace, His goodness and His strength... Never to tire or grow weary... in Him. 

Lastly, the final verse I was given really hit home for me. When I moved to Texas God gave me specific verses which showed me that Texas was where I was to reside. This was a huge move for me, and I left all my friends and family to make this move. I remind God of these verses He shared with me, and I remind myself of them, so I can recall all He has done and will continue to do if I am faithful. Moreover, this verse in Deuteronomy is something I must have read many, many times but unfortunately, I never saw it for what it was. It is God's promise of a thousand-fold blessing...a reminder that HE remembers the original promise and HE will keep it up to 1000 times. WOW. 

So today, what is God sharing with you? Perhaps you have forgotten a blessing He has offered specifically to you and today you find yourself in a place that does not have joy and peace. These blessings may be specific to my family however I believe that the bible is FULL of blessings for you and your family. You just need to believe and be faithful to HIM. Today I hope you will quietly pray for the Holy Spirit to remind you of God's goodness and His love for you. I hope today you will repent of sin and seek to remove all evil from your life. I hope you will find comfort in His word and dwell in it today. He longs to love you. Not as the world loves you but only in a way the Loving Father of creation can love you. He created you with a plan and a purpose, He created you just for this time. Offer up a prayer now, ask, seek and knock... Jesus will meet you and help you. All you have to do is ask. In Jesus name... AMEN. 

Rule of 5 for my husband

 Yesterday I posted about the Rule of 5 that John Maxwell teaches on. I mentioned in the post that I would share my husband's rule of 5. Here you go...

1. READ the Bible

2. WRITE in the gratitude journal.

3. COLLECT a quote

4. ENCOURAGE the boys with my words 

5. ACTIVITY with my family

**Read Write Collect Encourage Activity**

Once again, I don't believe my husband purposely picked the order of his Rule of 5, however I do appreciate that he put reading his Bible first. My favorite scripture verse is Matthew 6:33. It states, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." It is so important to seek God first and foremost in your life. As stated in yesterday's post- he will direct you and guide you and this guidance will lead to fruitfulness. It doesn't necessarily mean that life will be problem free however I do believe that when faced with problems, if we are abiding in Him, those problems will weigh less on us. 

Journaling is something that both Jeritt and I do occasionally. We think it is helpful to write out our thoughts, prayers, scriptures, needs and offer thanksgiving to God. It is nice to see that my husband wants to make sure that this is a daily habit. 

Collect a quote might seem like an odd daily task. Yet, I think it shows me that my husband wants to grow. He has shown to me some of the daily quotes he has collected. Some quotes were funny, some enlightening and others challenging. He is a cosmetology teacher and most days he will put up an inspirational quote for his students to ponder and discuss. 

Encourage the boys with my words... this one has been an important one for my husband and really for me too. We are very matter of fact people, and our love language is definitely NOT words of affirmation. However, we know the necessity of building our boys up, helping develop their self-confidence and their identity in Christ. Daily it is important to us to practice praising the boys for their accomplishments and helping them learn from their mistakes or discoveries without being too overbearing. The daily reminder to be encouraging is a great rule to have in the Rule of 5. 

Activity with my family... It is nice to purposefully approach each day thinking of something productive to do with the family other than the usual. We try to find a family friendly show that we can all sit down and watch together for 30 minutes an evening. Sometimes the activity is cleaning up from dinner, doing the dishes together... that's not so fun but necessary. Sometimes it is going outside to look at the sunset, or walking to our mailbox, or riding bikes at the lake. Just something together that does not involve the cell phone or computer. 

Anyway, I hope reviewing the Rule of 5 yesterday and today will get your mind thinking. Perhaps it is time for you to create a Rule of 5 for you. It's not something you have to commit to 100%. Remember I gave myself a 75% on my successful completion of my 5 daily. Now I would say I would give myself a 95% in completion of my first rule daily.... Moreover, I am reminded that we must be purposeful in our day, but also be flexible. God sometimes needs our willingness to set aside our daily agenda to carry out His tasks and sometimes His tasks are already in our daily agenda. God bless! 

Rule of 5

I am a huge fan of John Maxwell. In 2015, my employer allowed me to be trained by John Maxwell in his mentorship/leadership program. It was a pleasure to be present with John Maxwell and the great leaders he employees in his mentorship program. I even got to personally meet him. 

As a fan of his, I often read his books and watch his videos. Last year, I came across one of his teaching videos which I found to be quite insightful and encouraging. He discussed something he calls The Rule of Five. Now please bear with me because I certainly am not going to do the explanation of this teaching justice. If this interests you, I encourage you to find his video on the Rule of Five - anywhere- YouTube, John Maxwell's website etc. If you search for it, you will find it. In this teaching he shared how he has 5 rules he focuses on each day, that are for his own personal and spiritual growth, which he accomplishes every day to help him. 

So, being inspired by his teaching, I set off to create my own Rule of 5, and I am so grateful I did just that. 

Here is my Rule of 5 list: Every day I will....

1. READ God's word and either watch a video or read a book, something to grow me as an individual. 

2. MOVE my body physically to improve overall wellness. 

3. LOVE and serve my family by avoiding distractions and being present. 

4. WRITE something to inspire, challenge and uplift. 

5. PRAISE God and speak of how grateful I am for HIS goodness. 

**Read, Move, Love, Write, Praise**

Now, today I am reviewing my Rule of 5 and taking an assessment of how I did last year with these five. I would probably give myself a 75% on the successful completion of these five daily. 

Why?

Things come up... right? I am a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, a friend.... sometimes I would complete most of the 5 but definitely not all of the five. 

Next thought in my reflection time on the five is, were these reasonably attainable for me? YES they were. 

What's next?

Well, I think I will work on the five again this year. Just as they are written- no changes to be made. Perhaps I should reorder them? No... I don't think that is what I need to do. However, I do believe I need to prioritize better. 

Life is busy. It can get messy. Things get pushed to the side because of emergencies. However, I know that it is good to have a goal, game plan, some type of idea of where you are headed each day. 

Psalm 119 comes to mind when I think about my day-to-day life. 

Psalm 119:35 states, "Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight." (NIV)

Psalm 119:133 states, "Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me." (NIV)

God must be in my daily living plans. He must be first. I don't think when I originally wrote out these 5 rules that I thought through the order I placed them in, however, I love how I did order them. First is my time with the Lord. Daily, I seek to start my time with Him early in the morning. He must direct my path so that I won't sin and so that I find fulfillment in the day and thus carry out His purpose for that day. I also really appreciate how I put praise the Lord last. As I review that rule what I see is me coming before God at the end of my day and acknowledging all the wonderful works of His that occurred that very day. AMEN! 

Steps 2, 3 and 4... Well, 2 and 4 are things for me. Right? Well, sort of anyway. I think making sure my health is a daily task is important. Especially given how my health has struggled since 2016 when I was diagnosed with dermatomyositis. The bible teaches us that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). I believe the Lord urges us to take care of our bodies, so we are fit and able to carry out His plans and purposes daily. Now, can there be a time in which we are unwell and that is the purpose. I am sure there are times in which we are gaining lessons in this, however, I firmly believe God has called us to a purpose -daily and we must be able to complete our God tasks. 

Step 4, writing. Well, I feel led to write often. I have so many different little writings on my laptop and in my phone. I also keep a journal for each of my boys. Writing is a part of me, although, I don't expect people to read it. If someone does read what I write, my prayer is that it will draw them closer to God. The journals I keep for the boys will be like a love letter to them when they are older. Time is so precious here on Earth. I don't know when God will call me home, but I do know that I want the boys to know how much they are loved by me, by their dad, and by God. The journals will hopefully help them to experience that. 

Step 3... Love and serve my family by avoiding distractions and being present. Wow. That is a great goal or rule.. and sometimes I fail miserably at it. It's the distractions that get me. My phone, cleaning, cooking whatever it is. Sometimes I just lose focus. Jesus told us in Acts 1:8, "...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Practically speaking my Jerusalem is my home, the boys, my family. I must be a witness to the people in my home first. Then I can be a witness to my community, my state, my country. This is the order God has assigned. I see so many hurting Christian families because they don't understand this principle. They expect the church to witness to their family. If God wanted the church to do all the witnessing, then why did God so many times tell us how to raise our children? 

Proverbs 22:6 says, "train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (NKJV) The parent is supposed to lay the biblical foundation onto the child's heart. Not the church and certainly not the world. The parent. 

Today is the day that I will attempt to make a significant shift in my Rule of 5 completion. Hopefully today, I can carry out these 5 while honoring God through them.. and continue this practice faithfully. Following God's plan every day, starting my time out with Him first thing so I can get my daily instructions and then end my day telling Him how awesome He is and how I finished my daily tasks for Him. 

Hopefully, you can do that as well. I encourage you to create your own Rule of 5. I had my husband create his own Rule of 5. Perhaps tomorrow, I can write out his for you. Anyway, sit down and pray over what God wants your Rule of 5 to be for the year. Write them out. Simplify them to help you commit them to memory. Then carry it out this year and this time next year, examine your growth and completion of the daily 5. I hope it will grow you personally, professionally, emotionally, and spiritually. I hope your 5 brings you closer to your loved ones. The choice is yours. 

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:4

On the way home from picking up the boys from school, they were asking me if we could move to a different home. If you don't know our story let me fill you in real quick... we live with Jeritt's parents. Back when I fell ill, we honestly were not certain if I would live. Thus, the decision to move in with Jeritt's parents came up and we accepted. This has been a huge blessing for us, and the boys have enjoyed living here. However, recently they have asked more than once when are we going to move into our own home. 

The conversation on the way home from school this day was Beaumont asking if we would move into a new home. I told Beaumont that we must pray to God about such things and wait for His answer. If God wants us to move into our own home, I believe He will make a way for it to happen. Beaumont then prayed out loud to God asking him for a new home so he could have his own bedroom. 

Knowing this was a teachable moment I decided to share a scripture with him. Psalms 37:4 states, "Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart." I shared with Beaumont that God wants us to delight in Him, to think about Him, worship Him, think of Him like a best friend... meaning go to Him always with our concerns and our praises. Once we begin to "delight" in Him, then our desires will match His desires and we will see how He moves in our lives. Beaumont then prayed again out loud. He said, "God you are my bestest buddy, you are my greatest friend. Please hear me about wanting our own home so I can have my own room." 

I giggled at the sweetness of his request, and reminded him that God knows when we are lying, so we must be certain that when we pray we are honestly seeking Him when we make our requests. Then Beaumont prayed again out loud, "God if you believe my prayer then I will throw you a pizza party in heaven when I meet you there. High five God, High five. Amen." 

Man I love this baby son of ours. Beaumont is autistic. Sometimes how he words things, how his brain works puts me in awe. What a teachable moment for this mommy. Beaumont showed me in that short prayer that he understood that God was his friend, that God was in fact his buddy, so much so that he wanted to bring God a gift- a pizza party... How precious. And then to offer a high five to God... like Beaumont could tangibly touch God's hand here on Earth... Wow. 

Today in Church news I am hearing of a revival starting in Asbury University. Once again, the young people are crying out to God for him to move in their lives and the lives of the people of the United States. Like my sweet Beaumont, these university students are delighting themselves in the Lord. I believe this revival has continued now for 6 days, 24 hours a day for these 6 days... and now word is that other Christian universities are following suit. I pray that this revival will continue and open up on all college/university campuses throughout the USA. We so desperately need the Lord. 

If we will remove the noise from our lives, remove the distractions and fervently seek the Lord, we can and will see a change in our own lives, in the lives of our families and then in the lives of our communities. But we must start with ourselves. We must seek Him, repent of sin, and remove the worldliness from our own lives first. God wants to be first place and will ONLY accept that first place position in our lives. But it's up to us to place Him there. 

My prayer is that our sons, Allister and Beaumont, will be the salt and light in their schools. I hope that God will use them to advance His Kingdom where they are. It would be awesome to see a revival start here in our community like what we are witnessing in these Christian Universities. 

Back to the original verse - Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart...It's been my prayer for years to see revival and reformation in the USA. It's also been my prayer that our sons would follow Jesus and help advance His Kingdom.... and now in 2023, I am going to be praising God and praying even more because I do believe, I just might get to see the answer to this heart desire of mine!! Praise God.