Snap Out of It & Stay Out of It!!!

It's time to wake up!!

Good evening Kingdom Sisters & Brothers, it's time for a bit of a wake up call. No scratch that, it's time for you to snap out of your "it" and STAY OUT OF IT!! Now I know that it has been awhile but honestly, who am I to try to pour out from a cup that hasn't been cleaned in awhile? You see, we always hear about "you can't pour from an empty cup" which is absolutely true.. You also can't serve your guests dirty dishes to eat their food on. My cup wasn't clean enough, my cracks were unstable and unfitting to be served to anyone. Or so I thought. You see, how many of us have allowed ourselves to get in the way of what God would have us to do when it comes down to serving Him? I know that for awhile, I was in my own way. Am I typing this out to you in total confidence that I am finally out of my "it" , well dear readers, you should know by now, of course not. How can I even think of helping anyone who reads this if I am unable and or too proud to allow transparency to come forth? You see dear readers, I was letting alot of the things that God has blessed me with get in the way of the most precious thing in my life: My relationship with God.. Now of course anyone from the outside looking in could say "huh" but you're ivi, you're always: Straight. Good. Put Together. Strong. Well, we all have moments where we feel as though we're going in circles, constantly trying a battle that Jesus has already won but we're too prideful to admit that we cause a lot of our own "defeated" moments. If you have been here over the past few years that this blog has been up, then you know that I can't and still refuse to give you a perfected painted picture of how life as a woman after God's heart is like. Even in moments like this, I can't just runaway and hide when times are tough and as for me personally, I have my moments of returning to that "I'm just a doormat" mentality for the enemy. Yes, you read that right, a doormat for the enemy, where you just give into all the lies, tricks, and set ups from the enemy and sometimes it isn't even the enemy, it's... YOU 

Now yes, I'm sure that to some of you this entire post, no matter how long or how short could come off as cliche and you could and might even brush it off or even forget about it. If your mentality is set to: "Yeah yeah yeah, I'm my own worst enemy, got it” then I advise you that just for this moment, just for now, with no distractions, focus in on this and allow God to wrap you up in His goodness. I can tell you right now that if any one of you have been fighting with those feelings that look as if a rainy cloud is over you, you'll appreciate that you aren't alone in this and that this nudge of transparent encouragement will help just a bit. Truthfully it's up to you how far you will go after today. But let me let you in on something first: God misses the relationship you both shared.. How can I say this? Well if you're fighting to overcome your "it" , I'm currently on that same battlefield.. I got wounded and left myself wide open to the point to where I took off the very armor that was designed by God to protect me. But this time...this time, I'm never doing that ever again. So join me in this battle against our fleshly ways, it's time to WARRIOR UP!!!

Your responsibilities are not distractions or excuses...

Yikes!! Typing that one sentence alone can make your skin crawl but it's true. Don't allow your responsibilities to keep you away from the very One who blessed you with them. Your car, home, job, spouse, even down to your children, are not more important than the One who blessed you with it all. God misses what you and Him had? How do I know that, well because deep down, we miss Him too. And no, I'm talking about those moments we just do good and not do the obviously bad things that we used to do or indulge in our "Sundays only" habits or even those " let me act this way in front of certain people" habits. I'm talking about the lifestyle, the lifestyle of a worshiper, the lifestyle of a intercessor, the lifestyle of a good steward, the lifestyle of a humble and obedient servant, the lifestyle of one who is filled with childlike faith. The lifestyle of a child of God, that's what He misses from those of us who have not been being about what we speak about or even stand for. I would be an incredible hypocrite if I tried to start wearing fronts as if I had everything under control. Now of course, we know that there is a way that we should carry ourselves, but there's a huge difference between being genuinely mature and just throwing on the holier than thou act. And guess what? If you've been one to put on a front, it's okay to still come to God about it and finally lay it to rest. Let those tainted up cracks and wounds burn up in the fire of the Holy Ghost. Acknowledge yourself when you notice that there is an unhealthy shift in your flesh! "Well girl, how am I supposed to do that?" Watch how you respond to certain things. If you find yourself being eager to hear about the actions of others, gulping in the tea, NOT EVEN SIPPING IT, then your flesh has taken an unhealthy shift. If you find yourself getting lost aimlessly scrolling through social media and allowing moments where you actually have peace and quiet to just talk to God pass you by, that's an unhealthy shift. If you find yourself complaining by closed doors more and praying a great amount less than what you used to do, you've got an unhealthy flesh problem going on. Now before you even try to become offended or try to pin point if this is just all on you, that's up to YOU to see, as for myself, I KNEW I wasn't doing my best for awhile now when it came to my relationship with God. Now with my responsibilities, Lord knows I love my husband, I love my son, I'll always love my family but they can't bring me closer to God on a personal relationship. My husband can't give me a ticket into Heaven just because I'm his wife. My son can't beg God to just let me into new seasons and new blessings just because I'm the best mommy in the world to him. I have to work on my personal relationship with God for myself. Now of course we receive things purely off of grace. 99.9% of the blessings that I have in my life, I don't deserve it, I was guilty when they called me guilty. But Jesus knew that I was worth dying for and I personally don't want to let Him down. Yes, that could sound dramatic but it's just that serious. Did you know that it's possible to actually grieve the Holy Ghost to leave you. And what is the Holy Ghost's job? Mainly it's to comfort. I don't care if you're married or not, we need that comfort and guidance, imagine that leaving you. Imagine God saying "alright, you neglected me, good luck on your own!" We wouldn't make it. We genuinely wouldn't make it. Your personal relationship with God needs to be revived, it's time to breathe again...

Make it hard for yourself to go backwards! 

Do you know why it can be so easy to leave ourselves wide open for the enemy’s attacks? Because we make it so easy to return to the very things we have been set free from. What happens when a soldier is wounded? Whether it's a life threatening wound or a flesh wound, it still hurts, it still bleeds, BUT there's still an URGENCY to stop the bleeding, clean it thoroughly and wrap it up in safe bandages in order for it to heal up properly. What happens to it as time goes by? Well if you don't replace the bandages and clean it out again every now and then, it causes more pain, infections, and before you know it, your healing gets farther and farther away from you causing you to end up in an even more painful place than you were before. This is what happens to our minds, attitudes, our behaviors and our overall lifestyles if we choose not to tend to our wounds properly and keep ourselves unguarded. Think about the areas, yes AREAS in your life that makes it so easy for you to be frustrated, petty, bitter, resentful, unforgiving, manipulative, lustful, greedy, victimized, and shallow. Of course there are more areas that can be listed but whatever it is for you, get rid of the very things that makes it easy for you to fall into one or more of these categories. If you are always talking about a certain person, or what they do bothers you, leave them where they are and seek forgiveness from God. If you talk about being the bigger person but you don't display that to God, that's just a show called "Hypocrisy starring YOU!"  Guess what, you can be the best actor in front of man, but God ALWAYS sees and knows when you're putting on your costume and trying to get into character. It's time to leave your religious acting career behind, you won't make it big there. You'll either end up revealing yourself or worse, God could allow others to see right through you and you may run into the right one who will be vocal about what's being shown to them about you. Sometimes it could be from someone who shows love in a softer correcting way. Other times, that correction can come from someone who's more of a tough love advocate. Make it hard for yourself to go backwards by eliminating the things in your life that causes you to be the opposite from who God has called you to be. Now of course I know that we all will still stumble and fall but in order to keep from going way off the deep end, you have to start setting spiritual boundaries. What are you watching before you fall asleep. Was that phone call helping you grow or was it pleasing your flesh. Did that person really give you what you needed in your time of need or did they just tell you what you wanted to hear so you could shut up about your problems and return the focus on them? We always say that we want godly connections but how are we maintaining them when we receive them? Sometimes Godly connections don't happen as swiftly because 9/10, the ones you aren't supposed to be around painted a picture of hate towards the ones who actually care about your accountability in Christ. If they're quick to point the finger at someone else, one wrong move and they'll point that finger to you. You'll be left confused and most of the time, innocent, but don't worry, God always sees the entire truth no matter what man may say or even think.

My hope for you and I...

As I draw to a close, you've heard me say it before, and I'll say it again, for any newly wed, any woman desiring marriage, any moms to be, moms, or moms waiting for their chance to become a mom, I want you to learn from my mistakes and strive to do better. Please, for the sake of your salvation, work towards being a better version of yourself FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST! Getting new clothes, doing your hair and make up or having pamper days is all fun and cute but real healing and loving on yourself is hard, revealing, and uncomfortable, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world because Jesus saw how dirty and messed up my life was, God knew what I put myself through and He knows what the enemy tried to do. God knows the entire truth, so start living in that, return to having the lifestyle of a worshiper, intercessor, obedient servant, forgiver, and an all around child of God. My hope for you and I is that we will overcome all of the "it" areas in our lives and we'll stay away from them. Even if we slip up, seek good, godly counsel, reach out for prayer, don't expect that to secure your godly connections or you'll lose them, be around those who hold you accountable and always seek God's face through His Holy Spirit and His Word. We can do this because the battle is already won, keep your armor on this time soldier!

As Always: Stay Blessed & Encouraged