God in never in a hurry...

When we are waiting on God for something, it always seem to take forever...in fact most times it measures up with our own idea of "eternity"

God is outside of time but He is well aware of the exact moment we will need something. He often allows us to wait until the last minute. Not to make us wonder if He will help us but rather to teach us to trust in Him and Him alone.

Never worry, never fret when you are waiting for something and the deadline is approaching fast. Stand firm in your faith that your heavenly Father will provide it right on time!

Have a blessed and patient day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home!

The Perils of Pride....

Pride is Satan's snare! It is a cancer that kills everything and everyone it touches. It needs to be cut out of us...our spiritual survival depends on it!

Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

Pride is what caused Adam and Eve to sin against God. Pride cause Cain to murder Abel. Pride caused Israel to follow other gods. 

Pride is why the angels in hell are no longer in heaven. Pride is why Nebuchadnezzar ate grass in the forest with cows instead of his royal palace. Pride is why the Pharisees did not accept Y'shua (Jesus). 

The spirit that sent Y'shua to the cross...that lurked in the heart of every Pharisee...was the spirit of self-righteous pride.

Have a blessed and pride free day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Your Defense against Satan...

Satan is constantly seeking ways to prevent us from fully understanding God's will for our lives.

He attacks our minds by filling it with excuses and reasons why we don't have time to get into the Word, or why we need to cut our prayer time short. He tries to use the pressures in life against us. 

Satan also uses trials to wear us down and trick us into believing that God has abandoned us. A trial is a heavenly test that forces us to choose between God's will and our own nature or understanding of what is right. By standing in faith we serve as witnesses to the world of His power working through us. Remember, God knows how you will respond before the test starts.

Satan does not want us to reach out to other spirit filled people that will help lift us up and strengthen our faith. He will stir up an array of emotions such as fear, embarrassment, discontentment, self-doubt and whatever else he can to keep us off track. 

We have to keep in mind that the only way we will breakthrough Satan's lies is by surrounding ourselves with the truth! Make the effort to spend time in the Word of God and God will make sure you have time to get everything done that you need to.

Have a blessed and Word filled day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Ah-Ha Moment...

Don't you just love when you are silently questioning if you are where you are suppose to be in God's plan for your life. When everything around you seems "off" and you feel like you are not accomplishing anything. 

That's when your head screams "No...you are way off course...you HAVE to be off course!" Your mind starts to scramble and you try to figure out where things went array in hopes to get back on track. 

Then all of a sudden, without expecting it...something happens and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt...yes, you are right where God wants you! There is a sigh of relief and a smile back on your face. I just LOVE those moments. 

Have a blessed day filled with smiles, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Trust God...

Whether we are looking for answers to questions, seeking comfort for sorrow, or have a desire to get closer to God...you have to look no further than His Word!

Because God desires a loving relationship with us, He is ever ready to help us with everything that comes along. He not only knew what would happen, He had the solution for it BEFORE it happened.

All we have to do is BELIEVE and TRUST in Him. When we do, we can freely bring all things to Him and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He will take care of them. That is a huge weight lifted off of us.

Have a blessed and beautiful day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Memorial Day

It seems that more focus is put on "sales" than on our heroes for Memorial Day. I just wanted to remind everyone what this day was originally created for.

This is a day to remember the men and women who served our country. All gave some and some gave all. They are the reason we are free to celebrate today.

Before you run out and buy that mattress, think about all of our soldiers who are sleeping on the ground today. If you are buying a car, stop and think about the soldiers with blisters on their feet from walking miles everyday. Say a prayer for them and thank God that they are brave enough to put their lives on the line for you.

As you all enjoy your BBQ's with friends and family stop and think about the families who have an empty seat at their table that belong to a fallen hero. Say a prayer for them and ask God to comfort them in their loss.

Have a blessed and grateful day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Religion or Relationship

Some people think that the more "Religious" they are, the closer to God they are. I am afraid that is not true. The Pharisees were thought to be religious, knowledgeable in scripture yet they could not recognize Y'shua standing in front of them! Even though His birth was talked about and described in detail in Isaiah.

God does not want a groupie...He wants a friend. He desires a close and personal relationship with all of us. He wants us to come to Him with our problems, share our joy with Him, honor and worship Him as our Lord and Savior. He does not want us to recite wordy prayers by repetition, He wants us to TALK to Him from our hearts. He also wants us to listen and learn His voice because He does talk to us...sometimes we are just not listening.

If you think of God as unapproachable, or feel that you are to insignificant for Him to care about you, then I urge you to open yourself up to a relationship with Him. Spend a little time each day just seeking Him. Get into His Word more. You will find that He is truly the only one you will ever need in this life.

Have a blessed day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Love, Joy, Faith, Hope and Peace

Wishing you a day filled with Love, Joy, Faith, Hope and Peace. Any one of these will make our lives a little easier but all of them will let us know what it is like to be a privileged child of the King!

We should try to surround ourselves with other people who choose to make these a priority in their lives because they are contagious. When we are filled with peace and contentment, negativity does not have a place in our lives. 

That does not mean we will be immune to problems but it sure is easier to deal with them when you have a positive support system. Always try and be a positive support to others. Do not validate their negativity...give them a reason to rise above it. 

Have a blessed and wonderful day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Commandment vs Suggestions...

Instead of constantly expanding our tolerance and permissiveness for things, we ought to be defending the Ten Commandments! 

What is the difference between a Commandment and a Suggestion...

Commandment -  

• a divine rule, especially one of the Ten Commandments.
• • a rule to be observed as strictly as one of the Ten Commandments.
  • 
    

  Suggestion - 

• an idea or plan put forward for consideration.
• an idea about what someone should do or how someone should behave.
• something that is said in an indirect way

It does not take a rocket scientist to see what effect moral decline has had on our society. To be honest, we have no right to complain about it because we have allowed these changes to take place. We looked the other way rather than stood up and did something about it. 

Have a blessed and wonderful day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Dreams and Reality...

There is only one thing we need to make our dreams become a reality and that is to take action. 

Many people have big dreams but that is all they will ever be...just dreams. It takes motivation, dedication and commitment to turn your dreams into reality. Unless we are willing to take action, we will never see our dreams come to fruition.

Think about one dream that you have been holding on to. What do you need to do to make that dream come true? Isn't it worth the effort? Take the first step into making that dream a reality.

Have a blessed and action packed day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Calmness is trust in God...

When chaos takes center stage in our lives, we need to remain calm and remember that there is nothing that will happen to us that God cannot protect us from.

When we become anxious and try to "fix" things ourselves, we are only impeding God's help. If we truly believe that God is in control then we should be able to remain calm and wait for Him to take care of us. 

Being worried or anxious will not make any situation better...it only wears down your faith. When you are calm through the storm, you are building up your faith and gaining experience with God's faithfulness. There are also an added health benefits from keeping a calm demeanor. 

Have a blessed and calm day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Be Yourself...

It takes a lot of courage and inner strength to be yourself in this world. There always seem to be pressure to change, to conform, to fit in with everyone else. I have often wondered just how many people caved under the pressure and discarded the things that made them unique.

Please stay true to who you are and stand up for what you believe in. We owe it to ourselves and to God to be the best person we could be. He created each of us different for a reason. We should embrace our individuality and celebrate our uniqueness!

Have a blessed and unique day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Embrace Joy...

We do not have to wait for something good to happen in order to be happy. Whenever we need a lift in our spirit, all we have to do is to recall something that brought us joy, peace or a feeling of warmth.

We should always embrace joy whenever we can. It will keep us balanced and enable us to get through the tough times. 

Another easy way to boost our spirits is to reach out to someone who is struggling and remind them of a something fun that we shared with them. It will get their mind off their troubles for just a few minutes and it will bring back the joy of that moment to us as well.

Have a blessed and joyous day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Adopted Child or Orphan...

If we have been adopted in the Royal Family...why do we still act like orphans? 

Orphans have to fend for themselves. They have no one looking out for them. They carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. They have no one to answer to so there are no rules to follow and they do whatever they want, whenever they want to.

When we are chosen and adopted...we have a Father that ensures our safety and takes care of all our needs. He gives us rules and guidelines to follow for our own benefit. We are responsible for our behavior.

If we say that we are adopted and still act like orphans, what does that say about the Father who adopted us? We are not portraying Him in a good light, are we? What does YOUR actions say about your family status? Are you a proud family member or a disgruntled orphan?

Have a wonderful and blessed day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

God can use you...

Satan would love for us to believe that God would not think of using us because of our sins or poor choices. That is the farthest thing from the truth.

1 Corinthians 1:27 says "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty" (NKJV). 

God can use ANYBODY...as long as they allow Him to. It always has been, is now and always will be a heart issue. We do not have to be perfect for God...we just have to have a heart's desire to follow and serve Him.

Open yourself up and see how God will turn all your bad choices, your short comings and your past sins into an amazing training ground to build you up and make you a mighty warrior for His kingdom.

Satan tries to fill you with doubt, regret, sorrow and self-condemnation. He wants you to believe that God could never use you for anything. That He will never forgive you because you have sinned to much. Remember, he is a liar and your worst enemy!

Psalm 103:12 says "He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west." (NLT) 

Have a blessed and useful day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

In Our Struggles....

We cannot grow if we are never put in a position to grow. Every battle, every scar, every fall, every defeat and every tear can be turned into a training ground. 

If we use the lesson to become stronger and wiser then we have just witnessed Romans 8:28 "And we know that, for those who love God, He works all things for good, beforehand, He appointed ahead of time, because they have the same form of the likeness of His Son, for He was Firstborn among many brothers."

Always stand your ground because no matter what adversity comes your way - you will not fall under it but rather rise above a better person then you were before.

Have a blessed and victorious day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Ten Ways to Love....

There are so many ways that we can show our love for one another. Love is a level playing ground. The real significant ways that we can show others are love are free so we can all afford to do it.

Unfortunately, many people put way to much emphasis on materialistic things these days. They think they need to live in the biggest house, drive the best car, look a certain way, wear the latest fashions, have the newest technology. They judge their self-worth by the things they own not by the attributes they have. However, you will never attract the kind of person your heart desires that way. Your character is far more important than your financial portfolio!

If we all start with just few examples from the list above, we would see the spirit of love sweep through our lives, our homes and our communities. Be an example of love to those around you and they might just start changing too.

Have a blessed and love filled day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Warrior not Worrier

Did you know that when you worry you are in defiance of God's Word? Philippians 4:6 says "and you must at no point be anxious for nothing, but your requests must quickly be made known to God in every prayer and entreaty, with thanksgiving."

God wants you to go to Him right away when you are in need. There is no reason to wait. We need to be prayer warriors not situation worriers. When we bring something to God, He will take care of it and we no longer have to put ourselves through worrying. When we hang on to things and try to "fix" them ourselves, we are usually in a constant state of worry until they are resolved. Why put ourselves through this when God is perfectly capable and willing to help us with our problems.

When we pray for God's help we are letting Him know that we want things to go according to His plan...not ours. He might now answer the way you want or expect Him to but He will ALWAYS answer. 

Sometimes God will calm the storm we are going through and other times He calms us through the storm. Either way His hand is on us and there is no need to worry or be anxious. 

Have a blessed and worry free day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Wear Your Crown...

It does not matter who the world thinks you are...it is important that YOU know who you are. You are royalty and it is about time you started acting like it!

Keep a humble and contrite heart but never ever forget that you are a member of THE Royal Family. Your Father is the God Almighty, King of the Universe. 

Wear your crown proudly. People might not see it but trust me...the spirit world not only sees it but they are fully aware of the power in that crown! 

Wearing the crown lets your nemesis know that he has no power over you. Stand tall, dressed in the armor with the crown on your head. Watch with strong purpose and perseverance, ready for all attacks with the knowledge that you have a legion of angels standing besides you, ready to fight with you. 

Ahhhh...the privileges given to those who choose to follow Him now...

Have a blessed and privileged day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

An opportunity to bless someone....

We never know when God is going to give us the opportunity to be a blessing to someone else. We must stay alert and open to His voice. Ready to move when He speaks. 

Sometimes we have to put our inhibitions aside and do whatever it is that He tells us to do. What might seem like an uncomfortable moment for us might just be the lifeline someone needs to baby step to the next minute in their life.

We should always have an abundance of uplifting and encouraging words available...they can have more healing power than a medical degree sometimes!

Have a blessed and uplifted day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Happy Mother's Day...

Happy Mothers Day!!!

I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge all 

Mothers today. I hope that you are able to spend time with your children today and build beautiful memories together. However, if that is not possible remember the memories that you have already made and thank God for each one of them.

For foster and adoptive mothers, I want to say thank you for taking care of children that needed someone to love and care for them. It is a hard job that you have and one that goes unacknowledged on a daily basis. May God bless you abundantly for reaching out to these children.

For all the women whose children are deployed and in the military, I want to thank you for raising unselfish men and women who are working hard to keep me and everyone else free! Please know that we appreciate your sacrifice of not being able to be with your child/children today. May God fill you with peace and place an army of angels around your child for protection.

For all the women who have suffered the agony of a child's death, miscarriages, or for all those who have chosen to terminate a pregnancy...you are still mother's. You may not have your child here to celebrate this day but you will see them, hold them and be able to love them when you go home. May your heart be filled with peace, comfort and joy knowing that Y'shua (Jesus) is taking care of them until you go home to be with them.

For all those who are waiting to have a child, be patient and know that God's timing is everything! May God fill you with contentment and bless you with a child soon.

For all the men who have to be "mom" as well as "dad"...I salute you and want you to know that you are more than enough for your child! There are not many men who step up to the plate in this arena. May God bless you and keep you sane...lol 

If your mother is celebrating this day in heaven as mine is, celebrate her memory by sharing your favorite story about her with someone. You can also acknowledge a mother who cannot be with her children today as well.

Have a blessed and wonderful day, my friends. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Positive Life or Negative Mind...

No matter how much you want to be a positive and upbeat person. If you do not take the necessary steps to switch your mind from negative thinking to positive thinking...you will NEVER be able to maintain a positive attitude!

We will NEVER be free from negative influence in this life but when we learn to spot it, we can adjust OUR thinking and actions. We can choose to remove ourselves from it or we can give it little attention and find a positive thing that can come of it and focus on that. 

We must retrain our brains. Part of that would include prioritizing the things in our life and putting the proper emphasis on them. When we do this, often we find that we were wasting a lot of good energy on negative people and/or situations. Eliminate the negative and make room for the positive!

No matter how depressing this world gets remember this...if you are saved, you will be going to a much better world when you leave this one. How is THAT for a POSITIVE thought?

Have a blessed and positive day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Giving is Worship

Giving does not only pertain to a monetary gift. We should always give our tithes and offerings to the Lord however, there are so many other ways in which we can give as well.

God gave each one of us different gifts and talents. We should use them to help others whenever we can. This is one way we can build up the Kingdom of God. 

When we reach out and give to others from our bounty, our resources or our connections, we are actually worshiping God. We are showing Him that we are grateful for what He has blessed us with and we are passing His blessing on to others.

Can you think of a way that you can worship and honor God? Go forth this day with a purpose of praising, worshiping and honoring God by being a blessing to someone else.

Have a blessed day filled with opportunities to give, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Friends sharpen friends...

Whether we know it or not, we are being influenced by those that we spend the most time with. We should make sure that we surround ourselves with people who we respect and share the same values and morals with. 

Otherwise, we might find that we start to compromise and/or adjust our beliefs to blend in with those around us. This could have a detrimental effect on our lives. 

It is also important to teach this to our children at a young age. If we build them up as leaders now and show them how to pick and value good friendships, the less likely they will feel the need to compromise to fit in with others.

Have a blessed and influential day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Tell them I love them...

God does not want you to ever forget that He loves you more than anything else in Heaven or on Earth. He designed you to be His special friend.

That's right, I said FRIEND! God wants to have a close personal friendship with us. He watches us with the friends we have now. He sees us love, laugh, cry, help and everything else we do in our friendships with others. He longs for that type of relationship with us. 

Imagine the love, the power, the grace, the gifts that God would bestow on us if we were to give Him the same time and attention that we give to other people in our lives. He actually gives us all those things now without us making a big effort. It blows my mind to think of what He would do when we make the effort! 

Have a blessed day knowing that God loves you the most! May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

We will NEVER walk anywhere alone...

Faith seems so easy when we are able to see and walk out the plans God has for us. However, when the picture is not clear, when the obstacles seem larger than life, when you do not know what lies ahead...it becomes a little bit harder, doesn't it?

These are the times that we have to draw from our personal experiences that we have already had with God. He has ALWAYS seen us through whatever it is we walked through. He is ALWAYS waiting with anticipation to talk to you and listen to how you are feeling. He is ALWAYS there to turn us around when we get lost.

We just have to trust and believe what His Word says.  When we do, we will NEVER walk anywhere alone because He will be right beside us, protecting us from all harm! Go forth fearlessly knowing that you serve the Almighty God, King of the Universe and you are under His protection. You will never need anything else than that!

Have a blessed and fearless day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home!

From Prison to a Palace...

Did you know that Joseph spent an additional two years in prison because he put his trust in the king's cup bearer to get him out rather than waiting on God? 

When we put our trust in anyone or anything other than God, we ought to know that your plans will not succeed...does that stop us from doing it? NO! 

We need to remember that we must immediately submit all situations to God. Here is the hard part...we have to WAIT for His timing for the answer. His timing is perfect however, it never comes when we expect it! 

When facing your next problem, save yourself the aggravation and just give the entire situation to God. Ask Him what He wants you to do and WAIT until you hear from Him before reacting. When God handles a situation...it is taken care of completely. 

Have a blessed and trouble free day, my friend. May you always have Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Never to late...

As long as you are breathing it is not to late to accept Y'shua (Jesus). The problem is that if you delay, you are playing Russian roulette with your soul. You do not know when your last breath will be so why put it off? 

Y'shua paid a high price for you to spend eternity with Him and His Father. However, He is not going to force you to accept salvation. Only you can choose to do that.

Upon death you will meet Y'shua...I pray that it will be to spend eternity with Him and not separated from Him. 

Take a moment to think about where you are going to spend eternity. Don't joke about it for this is the most serious decision you will ever make in your lifetime!

Have a blessed and wonderful day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home!

Who's approval are you seeking?

Who are you trying to win approval from? Your boss, your friends, your family members? Do you ever feel like you have to compromise some things to gain that approval?

Approval from others is NOT needed for you to live a happy and healthy life! Be a strong person who knows who they are and what they need to do. Independent thinkers are the people that stand out and succeed in life because they are not worried about anyone else's approval.

If you must seek approval...seek God's approval. In the end, the only thing that really matters is what you have done to build up the kingdom and the souls that you bring in with you!

Have a blessed and independent day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.

Ego vs Spirit...

Once we recognize the true order of things...everything will fall into place. 

If you insist on taking care of everything yourself...you will not have peace. There will always be something pressing on you, demanding your time and/or attention. Something that will have your attention all the time.

When you have inner peace, all the chaos in the world will not shake you. This is the kind of peace that I have found and I strive to keep. Without it, I would fall under the weight of everyday pressures. 

Not sure where to find it? Here is the key: It comes with the knowledge and understanding of who Y'shua (Jesus) is. Know Y'shua, Know Peace...No Y'shua, No Peace. I hope and pray that you too will find inner peace through Y'shua. 

Have a blessed and peaceful day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home. 

The Voice of God...

This is the ONLY one way to test what you hear. If it lines up with the Word of God then it is from God...if it does not line up with the Word of God...it is NOT from God!

Remember...Satan knows the scriptures too. He also knows how to insert a lie into the truth and twist it to make it sound right. That is why it is so important for us to know God's Word. The more we read our bible it the easier it will be to recognize His Word. The more we study it, the better understanding we will get from it.

It is not rocket science...we only get out of it what we put into it. How important is God's Word to you? How much time do you invest in it? Daily, Weekly, just when you need Him to do something for you? 

Have a blessed and Word filled day, my friend. May there always be Shalom in your heart and in your home.