A Light in the Darkness

  There is one thing you never forget in life and that is when you got hurt and who hurt you. There are several things you can do with this: you can lock it up along with yourself and not let anyone in, you can become an angry person that in the end pushes everything and everyone away, or you can give it to Jesus and let Him do something with it. I personally have done all 3 but none of them have worked well except for when I gave my crap to Jesus and let Him do something with it.  You see I have learned that when you lock yourself away and build walls so no one can get in, that means you also don’t let the good people in. You know those people that are there to love you and just be your friend. I have learned that  when you get angry you end up being angry at everyone and that includes the good people that are just there to be your friend and to love you. The one with Jesus however is different. Jesus was and is able to take that pain and turn it into something amazing a...

 1 Peter 2:9-10 - You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God, once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. If you are a child of God, you need to be declaring the praises of God. Telling people how Jesus saved you. Telling people how your life used to be and how it is now because of Jesus. Jesus commands it in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 to all of His disciples and once we become a follower of Jesus, we become His disciples. Guys, ladies, teachers, preachers, pastors, Sunday School teachers, people attending church, people volunteering in church, people who are a child of God that don't attend church, we need to wake up and we need to get righteously angry about people dying and going to hell. We need to quit wondering and bickering and complain...

  I was asked the other day by a friend of mine if the person who had hurt me remembers what they had done to me or if they had ever apologized for what they had done. I told my friend that I don’t know if they remember what they did to me and no I don’t expect an apology from them. My friend then said “You don’t?” and I said “No I don’t.” and here’s why. When you forgive someone, you are setting yourself free from them. You are setting them free from you and  you are giving the entire situation to Jesus to handle and to deal with. When you forgive someone you don’t forget what they have done to you but you can get to a place where what was done to you does not affect you negatively anymore.  One of the most amazing things I have seen due to me forgiving my father for what he has done in my life is to see the relationship that he and I have now. It is still not exactly where I would like for it to be but the things that he did to me do not affect me the same way anymore. ...

When I picked up the kiddos today my daughter, Joslin looked sad so I asked her what was wrong & she said “one of my friends were being mean to me.” I said “ok what happened?” & Joslin said “one of my friends called my other friend a cry baby & when she did I told her not to call her that.” After that her friend told Joslin that if she didn’t start being her friend that she would start being mean to her again & then told everybody that Joslin was the one who called her other friend a crybaby. Joslin was hurt so I asked her; “were you in the wrong?” She said “no” I said “right”. I then asked her if she was in the right & she said yes. I then asked her how it made her feel & she said it hurt my feelings & made me mad. I then told Joslin that sometimes we get misrepresented & sometimes we get thrown under the bus but it is how we react to the situation that matters. I told her that you don’t know what is going on with your friend. I told her she may have a ...

  When God calls you to do something, it does not mean everyone else is weird or stupid because they don’t agree or feel the way you do. When God convicts you of something, that does not mean everyone is weird or stupid because they don’t agree or feel the way you do. When God gives you a vision, a dream, a hope, that does not mean everyone else is weird or stupid because they don’t agree or feel the way you do. We are all uniquely made and we all have different dreams, convictions, and callings. That is what sets us apart and what makes us beautiful. Psalm 139:13-14 For You formed my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.

The way you look at someone and you think; they are amazing! When they walk in a room; you feel empowered. You feel everything is alright. You feel alive. You feel you could take on the world. When this person walks in a room; you feel safe. You know; you are home. Always remember the way that person makes you feel is the same way you make someone else feel.  If you could only see yourself the way others see you, you would be able to conquer the world. Remember who and whose you are. Remember to see yourself through the eyes of Christ and remember that because of whose you are, you are capable of taking on the world. You are unstoppable because your Father in Heaven has overcome the world and overcome you.

Every woman starts out as a rose in life. As we grow, learn, and change, our perception on life changes. We learn the cold hard truth that life is not always rainbows, butterflies, and buttercups. Sometimes we learn this through lost friendships, loss of a loved one, abuse of any kind, and the list goes on and on until one day that sweet little rose is wilted, crushed, and as good as dead. At this point in life we have a choice: do we stay where we are; bitter, angry, heartbroken, never to let anyone in or do we see this as a chance to start again. A chance to see that sweet little rose begin to lift her droopy head and once again be able to see the sweet rays of the glorious Son.  Too often in life we choose to stay broken, bitter, and angry. Angry at ourselves. Angry at the world. But every once in a while you will see that one rose that was lying on the ground begin to rise back up. Only this time she is different. That sweet little rose is still sweet, but something happened to...

  Leadership 2.0 Topic of Discussion Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Takeaways from Genesis 1:1 God loves at all times God made away Applying Genesis 1:1 to Leadership What do we do when we feel like no one is listening, no one cares, no one is responding to anything & we basically have to pull teeth to get anything done. God will always provide us with everything we need  In Leadership 1.0 we learned about God creating everything, God always having us on His mind even before He created the first star. How He had a plan and looked ahead before He ever did anything and how we can apply that to leadership. So in 2.0, let's dive a little deeper into Genesis 1:1 and look at two more things and how they can be applied to leadership. The first thing: God loves at all times. So how can we find this in Genesis 1:1? It doesn’t say it anywhere. How do we know God loves at all times from Genesis 1:1? I think the best way to find this is again loo...

  Leadership 1.0 Topic of Discussion Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Takeaways from Genesis 1:1 God looked ahead God planned ahead Applying Genesis 1:1 to Leadership People leave alot in this ministry due to being in the military Not standing in the way of a move of God and that includes someone leaving or joining the team no matter how long or short of a time they have been here Sending teammates off in love So let's get started. Genesis 1:1 says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The two words I want to focus on are BEGINNING and CREATED. If you notice the word CREATED is past tense meaning it was already created. God wasn’t creating, He wasn’t going to create, He already created the heavens and the earth. Now look at the word BEGINNING. What does beginning mean? It means the very first thing. This means God wasn’t going to wait and see how we turned out to finish creating the heavens and the earth. It means before an...

Galatians 5:22-23a But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control Philippians 4:8-9 Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me put it into practice and the God of peace will be with you. More Than Happy Chapter 15 Quote: Grandpa picked the wettest spot in the yard because that was the best place for a plum tree, and God picked our lives because that is the best place for God’s fruit tree. Why did God pick us? Go back to the two previous scriptures to see why. God didn’t pick us because we are perfect. He picked us because He knew we would carry out His mission. Will we stray? Will we wander off? Will we do our own thing? Yes! But God didn’t die on the cross for us because we are perfect. He died on the cros...