Greetings 2 u!
Now I know, the title may seem like I am anti-Pastors. No, I'm not.
I have a question for pastors. Elders. Leaders. Male ones.
R U a part of the Good Ol' Boys Network?
Do you see Hophni and Phinehas running rampant in the church and instead of dealing with it, you cover it up? You are so worried about appearance and approval of man that you don't stand up for your daughters?
You see Slick Willy making a move for the praise leader and you won't do a thing about it? Then when she ends up pregnant, you wanna blast her from the pulpit?
A couple has come to you wanting to get married. The man is a leader in the church. You know the marriage is doomed and not of God. But because that's ya boy and you tired of seeing him feem in his flesh, you agree to marry him and his hottie so he won't fall into sin.
You see that pedophile masquerading as a deacon brushing up to the kids in church. He goes on all the trips where the kids go. Yet, you won't do a thing about it. You didn't check his background well enough when you 'deaconized' him, and now all the kids are at risk. But you don't have the courage to kick that nasty deacon out.
You know that preacher or organist is a little fruity. He has too much pep in his step, too much sugar in his tank. And you discern that he is sweet on a couple of guys in the church.
But because he plays that organ crazy, because he is so anointed and talented, you won't sit him down and do deliverance with him. Then he will get offended and leave the church.
Or you know that woman is called to preach. Yet, you keep her down, preach at her and tell her she has a devil because she came to you with the call.
If you have been guilty of doing these things, then you are an official member of the GOBN--Good Ol' Boys Network!!!!!!
Being a part of the GOBN means you are a part of lies, coverup and deception. Why? I don't know why. Seems to me being a member of the GOBN means losing your soul, but some kinda way, you justify being part of a coverup. You justify lying and placing people in situations where they can lose God or backslide.
You are afraid of people. You are a people pleaser. Because you know that standing up for the truth would mean losing some friendships and alliances. Some members will leave if you expose deception and foolishness. If you preach holiness and salvation instead of prosperity and partaking of foolish marriages.
Some of you can't make that stand because you fell into the trap yourself. And you conclude that you made it out okay. So, so will they.
Do you not know you are held responsible for those souls you mislead??????
Don't be a part of the GOBN! Stand up for righteousness! If you aren't gonna get folks saved, and tell people the truth about salvation, if you don't give GODLY counsel to the people and allow them to enter into foolishness....
You will see those same souls in hell with you in the JUDGMENT!!!!!
God Bless.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
What is going on with the marriages???
I didn't want to believe it.
I didn't want to receive it.
I was heartbroken.
I was heartbroken when I heard about the impending divorce of Paula White and the marital discord between Bishop Thomas Weeks and Prophetess Juanita Bynum Weeks.
This has been a trend for the past few years. When Noel Jones was divorced-that is when it seem to begin.
Major preachers marriages failing.
I thought about it. I prayed about it. I am not the type of person to be happy to hear of a Christian marriage breaking up.
God, what is going on with all these Christian marriages???????
God showed me.
Especially in Christian marriages. People, SAINTS, we need to take care of one another. I don't mean preach about taking care of one another.
I mean turning down that opportunity to preach or sing to spend some quality time with the one God gave you. Stop pleasing folks and please God, and take care of your loved one.
Don't neglect your families or marriages for ministry. We got our priorities mixed up! We are so hyped up into believing that it is okay to not spend time with our families, our husbands, our wives to prove to people who don't care anyway that we are the anointed of God!!!
What a bunch of poppycock!!!!!!!!!!!
I love my first pastor, Bro. Michael Day, pastor of Living Way U.P.C. of LaPlace, LA, I love what he told his congregation one time. He said he will not neglect his wife, Nora, for no one in that church. I love you, I will be there for you and pray for you. But God gave me this wife, and I am going to take care of her.
That was almost 20 years ago. They had been married as teenagers years before I knew them. And they are still going strong.
That is a real man of God. Yes, anointed, love God, handled the affairs of ministry effectively, meets the needs of the sheep entrusted unto his care. But I see how he has CONSISTENTLY dealt with the wife of his youth. No matter who comes or goes to Living Way, he is enraptured with his wife. He takes her out. He prays with her. He is committed to her....NOT TO HIS MINISTRY.
Meaning...
I believe preachers can be a bit unbalanced. We get caught up so with the needs of the ministry so, that we neglect home. Then we act shocked when things blow up.
Look at Juanita Bynum. I love her with all my heart and soul. But I always wondered how wise it was to be traveling all over the world and leaving her new husband behind like that.
We need to learn balance. The glamour of ministry can blind us, it really can. We get caught up with the applause, the accolades, the approval. Oh yeah, we can preach that it doesn't affect us, but it does. And if attention is lacking at home, we seek attention elsewhere, no matter how anointed we are, no matter how much God uses us.
But when the lights are off, the power shuts down, and the folks are gone, we have to deal with reality. The umph of ministry is not with us when we are home alone and our spouse is off ministering to someone else. The umph of ministry is not there when we need our spouse to help us with the kids, when we just plain miss our spouse.
Preachers, male and female, take care of the home front. Your first ministry is NOT the church, it is your family.
Take care of your marriages. Husbands, love your wives. Wives, respect your husbands.
If our families are jacked up, then the churches are jacked up.
I didn't want to receive it.
I was heartbroken.
I was heartbroken when I heard about the impending divorce of Paula White and the marital discord between Bishop Thomas Weeks and Prophetess Juanita Bynum Weeks.
This has been a trend for the past few years. When Noel Jones was divorced-that is when it seem to begin.
Major preachers marriages failing.
I thought about it. I prayed about it. I am not the type of person to be happy to hear of a Christian marriage breaking up.
God, what is going on with all these Christian marriages???????
God showed me.
Especially in Christian marriages. People, SAINTS, we need to take care of one another. I don't mean preach about taking care of one another.
I mean turning down that opportunity to preach or sing to spend some quality time with the one God gave you. Stop pleasing folks and please God, and take care of your loved one.
Don't neglect your families or marriages for ministry. We got our priorities mixed up! We are so hyped up into believing that it is okay to not spend time with our families, our husbands, our wives to prove to people who don't care anyway that we are the anointed of God!!!
What a bunch of poppycock!!!!!!!!!!!
I love my first pastor, Bro. Michael Day, pastor of Living Way U.P.C. of LaPlace, LA, I love what he told his congregation one time. He said he will not neglect his wife, Nora, for no one in that church. I love you, I will be there for you and pray for you. But God gave me this wife, and I am going to take care of her.
That was almost 20 years ago. They had been married as teenagers years before I knew them. And they are still going strong.
That is a real man of God. Yes, anointed, love God, handled the affairs of ministry effectively, meets the needs of the sheep entrusted unto his care. But I see how he has CONSISTENTLY dealt with the wife of his youth. No matter who comes or goes to Living Way, he is enraptured with his wife. He takes her out. He prays with her. He is committed to her....NOT TO HIS MINISTRY.
Meaning...
I believe preachers can be a bit unbalanced. We get caught up so with the needs of the ministry so, that we neglect home. Then we act shocked when things blow up.
Look at Juanita Bynum. I love her with all my heart and soul. But I always wondered how wise it was to be traveling all over the world and leaving her new husband behind like that.
We need to learn balance. The glamour of ministry can blind us, it really can. We get caught up with the applause, the accolades, the approval. Oh yeah, we can preach that it doesn't affect us, but it does. And if attention is lacking at home, we seek attention elsewhere, no matter how anointed we are, no matter how much God uses us.
But when the lights are off, the power shuts down, and the folks are gone, we have to deal with reality. The umph of ministry is not with us when we are home alone and our spouse is off ministering to someone else. The umph of ministry is not there when we need our spouse to help us with the kids, when we just plain miss our spouse.
Preachers, male and female, take care of the home front. Your first ministry is NOT the church, it is your family.
Take care of your marriages. Husbands, love your wives. Wives, respect your husbands.
If our families are jacked up, then the churches are jacked up.
CLARION CALL FOR THE LADIES!!!!!!
God is an AWESOME God!
The only wise God!
Omnipotent, Sovereign God!!!!!
I giving out a clarion call! Ladies, God is calling you. You are going thru hell and high water, but in the midst of the hurricane, God is calling!
Get sensitive to the Spirit and hear what thus saith the Lord!
What God has placed in you is so special! So wonderful! So powerful!
My last three posts or so have all been leading to this one, girls.
If this post is causing you baby to leap and it bears witness in you, you need to heed the call.
With the clarion call comes responsibility. This means relationships, alliances, associations and friendships must go. You know what they are, who they are with.
I don't just speak of alliances...I am not talking about just with man. Churches, groups, jobs, families, anything that you are so tied to that you cannot see God.
Your allegiance is not to man, or a church, or a group anyways, it is to GOD!
I preached a word last week, 'R U a tree?' To God be the Glory...what God asked is no matter what storm blows in our lives, can we still be found standing in God? Psalms 1 was the text scripture...if you read that scripture, you will see God says if we don't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, sit in the seat of the scornful, translation--put up with FOOLISHNESS, then you qualify to be called a tree in the kindgom of God.
See, there are many twigs, branches, grass, and flowers in the church. But twigs and branches not attached to a tree are what? DEAD!
Grass withers, as the Word says.
And flowers, as pretty as they are to look at, really serve NO purpose in the ecosystem!
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth....
When you make a stand that you will not put up with foolishness, i.e. homosexuality in the church, people setting people up to fall, not preaching salvation, pastors shacking up, false prophesies = witchcraft, and giving the witches in the church positions and prominence, even making them 1st ladies, then you qualify to be called a TREE, not by man,
BUT BY GOD!!!!!
Ladies, r u a tree? Have you had the guts and courage to be humiliated, talked about, lied upon, mistreated, misunderstood because you wouldn't be a partaker of another man's sin?
Because you stood for truth, at all costs?
Trees are valuable to the ecosystem. They feed many organisms. We get paper, glue and other products from trees. We need trees.
As it is in the natural, so is it in the Spirit.
We need trees in the church. We need women of God who are going to feed the flock. Who will be the pillars of sustenance at least for a season, for the weaker, the younger. Too many so called mothers in the church that abandon the babies, that talk about them, have no compassion on them. That is why the girls are being molested and raped in the church.
That is why the Spirit of Hophni and Phinehas has been allowed to run rampant in the church. No one wants to expose foolishness in the church. Do you know how many women have been wounded in the church, by men?
Pastors lusterating after women in the church, and it isn't that they want that woman so much, but that spirit or lack thereof in them, they covet what God has given us women! And if they can SEDUCE you into giving up your position in God, your anointing, your self respect, your dignity, then they will. Because even if you don't sleep with them, if you get in alliance with that spirit that is lacking, then it will steal your anointing!
It will give you what you think it wants. A license? Marriage? Position? Attention? Flattery?
Watch it, ladies! Watch out for a man, EVEN IF IT IS A PASTOR, who always get in your face and it seems he can only focus on you. He tells you, "You are so great, so anointed, so powerful." That's your daddy!
He ain't supposed to be in your face like that!!!! He is about to molest you in the SPIRIT!!!!!!
Cover yourself, tree! Protect your anointing at ALL costs! The enemy will use something that started out innocent enough, but then the enemy perverts.
It is gonna hurt when you cut them off. But run for your lives! For your anointing! For your ministry!
THIS IS A CLARION CALL FOR THE TREES! THE TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!! PLANTED BY THE LORD!!!!
Come out of the foolishness! It may act, talk, sing, preach, dance and speak in tongues like God, but try the Spirit by the Spirit. Pray. God will show you.
Then be obedient and heed to the call!
Peace to you
The only wise God!
Omnipotent, Sovereign God!!!!!
I giving out a clarion call! Ladies, God is calling you. You are going thru hell and high water, but in the midst of the hurricane, God is calling!
Get sensitive to the Spirit and hear what thus saith the Lord!
What God has placed in you is so special! So wonderful! So powerful!
My last three posts or so have all been leading to this one, girls.
If this post is causing you baby to leap and it bears witness in you, you need to heed the call.
With the clarion call comes responsibility. This means relationships, alliances, associations and friendships must go. You know what they are, who they are with.
I don't just speak of alliances...I am not talking about just with man. Churches, groups, jobs, families, anything that you are so tied to that you cannot see God.
Your allegiance is not to man, or a church, or a group anyways, it is to GOD!
I preached a word last week, 'R U a tree?' To God be the Glory...what God asked is no matter what storm blows in our lives, can we still be found standing in God? Psalms 1 was the text scripture...if you read that scripture, you will see God says if we don't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, sit in the seat of the scornful, translation--put up with FOOLISHNESS, then you qualify to be called a tree in the kindgom of God.
See, there are many twigs, branches, grass, and flowers in the church. But twigs and branches not attached to a tree are what? DEAD!
Grass withers, as the Word says.
And flowers, as pretty as they are to look at, really serve NO purpose in the ecosystem!
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth....
When you make a stand that you will not put up with foolishness, i.e. homosexuality in the church, people setting people up to fall, not preaching salvation, pastors shacking up, false prophesies = witchcraft, and giving the witches in the church positions and prominence, even making them 1st ladies, then you qualify to be called a TREE, not by man,
BUT BY GOD!!!!!
Ladies, r u a tree? Have you had the guts and courage to be humiliated, talked about, lied upon, mistreated, misunderstood because you wouldn't be a partaker of another man's sin?
Because you stood for truth, at all costs?
Trees are valuable to the ecosystem. They feed many organisms. We get paper, glue and other products from trees. We need trees.
As it is in the natural, so is it in the Spirit.
We need trees in the church. We need women of God who are going to feed the flock. Who will be the pillars of sustenance at least for a season, for the weaker, the younger. Too many so called mothers in the church that abandon the babies, that talk about them, have no compassion on them. That is why the girls are being molested and raped in the church.
That is why the Spirit of Hophni and Phinehas has been allowed to run rampant in the church. No one wants to expose foolishness in the church. Do you know how many women have been wounded in the church, by men?
Pastors lusterating after women in the church, and it isn't that they want that woman so much, but that spirit or lack thereof in them, they covet what God has given us women! And if they can SEDUCE you into giving up your position in God, your anointing, your self respect, your dignity, then they will. Because even if you don't sleep with them, if you get in alliance with that spirit that is lacking, then it will steal your anointing!
It will give you what you think it wants. A license? Marriage? Position? Attention? Flattery?
Watch it, ladies! Watch out for a man, EVEN IF IT IS A PASTOR, who always get in your face and it seems he can only focus on you. He tells you, "You are so great, so anointed, so powerful." That's your daddy!
He ain't supposed to be in your face like that!!!! He is about to molest you in the SPIRIT!!!!!!
Cover yourself, tree! Protect your anointing at ALL costs! The enemy will use something that started out innocent enough, but then the enemy perverts.
It is gonna hurt when you cut them off. But run for your lives! For your anointing! For your ministry!
THIS IS A CLARION CALL FOR THE TREES! THE TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!! PLANTED BY THE LORD!!!!
Come out of the foolishness! It may act, talk, sing, preach, dance and speak in tongues like God, but try the Spirit by the Spirit. Pray. God will show you.
Then be obedient and heed to the call!
Peace to you
Monday, August 06, 2007
There's POWER in the blood!!!
We had communion service yesterday. What glorious time in the Lord we had!
During worship, I first saw a river of blood all on the floor of the church! Waves and waves of blood.
I just worshipped and praised God and then I heard Him say, 'Dip seven times in my blood and you will be made whole!'
So just as Naaman dipped in the muddy waters of Jordan seven times and was healed in 2 Kings 5, so was I healed and made whole.
I got on my knees and bowed down seven times.
Seven is the number of completion; I have had deliverances in my past. But as glorious as those deliverances were, it wasn't complete. My deliverance was complete!
Let me tell you something...
God will show you things that may seem strange. God will tell you to do things that are abnormal and make you seem like a plum fool.
But if you obey God, He will deliver. He will take you to another realm in the Spirit. Your obedience will launch you into another dimension. One act of obedience will catapult you to such places in the Spirit that would normally take years for you to do on your own.
Besides...you don't want to do this on your own anyway. You want God to do what must be done in your life!
Not by might, nor by Power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.
Hear the voice of God...and then obey it....
Be blessed!
During worship, I first saw a river of blood all on the floor of the church! Waves and waves of blood.
I just worshipped and praised God and then I heard Him say, 'Dip seven times in my blood and you will be made whole!'
So just as Naaman dipped in the muddy waters of Jordan seven times and was healed in 2 Kings 5, so was I healed and made whole.
I got on my knees and bowed down seven times.
Seven is the number of completion; I have had deliverances in my past. But as glorious as those deliverances were, it wasn't complete. My deliverance was complete!
Let me tell you something...
God will show you things that may seem strange. God will tell you to do things that are abnormal and make you seem like a plum fool.
But if you obey God, He will deliver. He will take you to another realm in the Spirit. Your obedience will launch you into another dimension. One act of obedience will catapult you to such places in the Spirit that would normally take years for you to do on your own.
Besides...you don't want to do this on your own anyway. You want God to do what must be done in your life!
Not by might, nor by Power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.
Hear the voice of God...and then obey it....
Be blessed!
My God is an AWESOME God!
Praise the Lord!
We serve an awesome, AWESOME God!!!!
I have to give my God all the glory for what He has done in my life, in particular in the past few weeks!
The enemy had literally plotted to destroy me and my family. But God has ensured me that NO weapon formed against me or mine shall EVER prosper!
He took me to Isaiah 54 yesterday in between services. The power of God was all over me. I sat in my car in His Presence and He showed me:
Isaiah 54: 6-17<
6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
Have any of you ever went through something so devastating, so heart wrenching, so horrible, that you felt forsaken of God?
Have you ever been shattered into billions of pieces?
I know in this passage of scripture, God seems to be speaking to a woman. That's what makes it so wonderful.
I'm gonna be real.
I have been rejected on a most intimate level. My marriage broke up. My ministry was misunderstood and scandalized. My name was put out there for evil.
I felt forsaken of God, for real! I said God why you called me, brought me to this level, only to allow these horrible things to take place in my life????
But in spite of it all, God still kept His promise:
9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
God not only keeps His Promise, but He protected my children! And promises to keep them!
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
This is SO powerful!
God revealed to me that the weapons the enemy forms against us, the ones who makes the weapon and the ones who use the weapon are all created by God.
This means that no matter what the situation is, no matter what weapon the enemy has formed against you, no matter who is coming against you....
GOD Almighty made the weapon, He made the one using the weapon and the one who created the weapon!
You know what that means????
GOD IS IN TOTAL CONTROL!!!!!!!!
God is in total control of the attack! At any given moment and time during of the attack, God can stop the attack. God can disseminate the enemy at any time. He can speak to the storm and command the winds and waves to cease. He can stop the enemy at any time.
Why won't He?
Because He is gonna get the glory out of this!
God trust you with the trial, the attack. Be honored that He does. No that the weapon cannot, will not work against you.
Trust God to take you out on top, with the victory!
I love the Lord!
Because I know He has my back!
Be blessed in God!
We serve an awesome, AWESOME God!!!!
I have to give my God all the glory for what He has done in my life, in particular in the past few weeks!
The enemy had literally plotted to destroy me and my family. But God has ensured me that NO weapon formed against me or mine shall EVER prosper!
He took me to Isaiah 54 yesterday in between services. The power of God was all over me. I sat in my car in His Presence and He showed me:
Isaiah 54: 6-17<
6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
Have any of you ever went through something so devastating, so heart wrenching, so horrible, that you felt forsaken of God?
Have you ever been shattered into billions of pieces?
I know in this passage of scripture, God seems to be speaking to a woman. That's what makes it so wonderful.
I'm gonna be real.
I have been rejected on a most intimate level. My marriage broke up. My ministry was misunderstood and scandalized. My name was put out there for evil.
I felt forsaken of God, for real! I said God why you called me, brought me to this level, only to allow these horrible things to take place in my life????
But in spite of it all, God still kept His promise:
9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
God not only keeps His Promise, but He protected my children! And promises to keep them!
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
This is SO powerful!
God revealed to me that the weapons the enemy forms against us, the ones who makes the weapon and the ones who use the weapon are all created by God.
This means that no matter what the situation is, no matter what weapon the enemy has formed against you, no matter who is coming against you....
GOD Almighty made the weapon, He made the one using the weapon and the one who created the weapon!
You know what that means????
GOD IS IN TOTAL CONTROL!!!!!!!!
God is in total control of the attack! At any given moment and time during of the attack, God can stop the attack. God can disseminate the enemy at any time. He can speak to the storm and command the winds and waves to cease. He can stop the enemy at any time.
Why won't He?
Because He is gonna get the glory out of this!
God trust you with the trial, the attack. Be honored that He does. No that the weapon cannot, will not work against you.
Trust God to take you out on top, with the victory!
I love the Lord!
Because I know He has my back!
Be blessed in God!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Don't let NOTHIN' steal ya praise!
Praise the Lord!!!!!
I am so blessed to be able to give my God the highest praise!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!
You know, it is indeed an honor for any of us to be able to stand in the presence of a Holy God and to praise His Holy Name! To worship Him in the beauty of Holiness!
I don't think we realize just how wonderful it is to be able to bless the wonderful name of Jesus!
We get caught up with the trials of life, problems, distractions. Do you know we can even get distracted with our blessings????
How so?
I see so many in the church today who I believe are pimping God. I know you all have heard that saying. It means folks go to church, make commitments and vows to God not because they love Him or simply for who He is. No.
They try to play God like...."Ok, God. I got this situation I am dealing with. I have this need. If you meet the need, if you fix my problems, if you give me the man, the house, the woman, the car, the ministry, etc. then I will serve You."
And because we serve a God that is faithful to His Word, He honors it. Just like the children of Israel wanted a king and God gave them Saul. Or when they cried out for manna in the wilderness and it was bad...God will give us answers to prayers...
Even if answering those prayers will hurt us.
You see, God know the end from the beginning. He knows that giving us what we want, when we want it, how we want it, will only pacify us but for a moment. It will stop us from crying and throwing a fit. Just like when one of our kids are in the store crying for candy in the register line. How many of us (mothers especially!) are guilty of giving in to our crying babes?
"Oh, alright! Here! Take the candy!"
And who does it end up hurting? Not us, the child. A cavity, an upset stomach, not being able to eat a meal....all are results of giving in to what that child wants.
Well, God does that to us. He knows the man isn't good for us. He knows if we get that job we won't ever be able to go to church. He knows if we get the house the bills will be astronomical. The car may be a lemon after all....Yet, we pout. We try to manipulate God into giving us what we believe is best for us.
And when He does, we have to learn for ourselves why God was nudging at our hearts, telling us that maybe what we are praying and believing Him for is not His perfect will!
Then we got to repent, get back in line, and get into the perfect will of God....
All that when we could have just obeyed that still small voice telling us otherwise......
How did I get off on that tangent????
Anyway!
Blessings we pray for can even serve to be a distraction.
Saints, we can't let nuttin' get in the way of our praising God!!!!!
Absolutely NOTHING!!!!!!!!!
Because stuff happens. Trials come. Persecutions arise. What are we gonna do?
Go around and wimper like a sissy? "God why me? Why has this happened to me???? I try to do the right thing and look what happens????"
Uh, uh!
I thank GOD ALMIGHTY that I have learned that no matter what we got to praise, we MUST praise, as J. Moss sings!
We are commanded to praise YE THE LORD!!!!
I know some shrug their shoulders and say, "She ain't got nuttin', she is just emotional..."
Let me tell ya something....
You weren't there when I almost lost my mind. You weren't there when God saved my life.
You weren't there when He healed me spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally, and even sexually!
You weren't there when He filled me with His Holy Ghost.
You weren't there after Katrina. You weren't there when I thought I would never see my kids again. You weren't there when I didn't know sometimes where we would live or how we would eat.
You weren't there when my name was put out there for evil, scandalized. You weren't there when I was rejected, by churches, by preachers, by family, by friends.
And all I had to turn to was the Lord.
You weren't there when HE ordained me a prophetess unto the nations, right there in Nita Mae's womb!
You weren't there when the enemy tried to take my life by making me be born three months premature!
You weren't there when I attempted suicide. Or when I was molested and raped. Or when my husband threatened my life and I had to be on the run while I was five months pregnant.
You weren't there when I felt a lump in my breast and God healed me.
You weren't there when I prayed THRU a stroke, BABY!
You weren't there when the man I loved asked me to leave my home...because he was intimidated by the call and the anointing that rests upon my life.
You weren't there when God called me by my name August 21, 1969 in the wee hours of the morning and told me to come forth.....because He was ordaining me. And because He was ordaining me, God promised me-NO WEAPON ON EARTH OR IN THE AIR THAT IS FORMED AGAINST ME SHALL EVER, EVER PROSPER!
So because you weren't there...you have absolutely nuttin' to say about me praising my God!
As a matter of fact, the only reason you cannot praise Him is because you don't believe in Him. You don't trust Him. You trust your intellect. Your connections. Your networking.
You don't know God.
You trust religion. Men. Money.
All of that is coming down. And the only things we are going to have to stand on in these last days are God's Word and His Praise!
And we MUST pray!
We are in warfare, as I stated in the last blog.
Prayer, praise and the Word....those are our weapons.
Do you know the weapons of your enemy?????
I think I will make that the title of my next blog!
I love you all!
Be blessed in the Lord.....
I am so blessed to be able to give my God the highest praise!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!
You know, it is indeed an honor for any of us to be able to stand in the presence of a Holy God and to praise His Holy Name! To worship Him in the beauty of Holiness!
I don't think we realize just how wonderful it is to be able to bless the wonderful name of Jesus!
We get caught up with the trials of life, problems, distractions. Do you know we can even get distracted with our blessings????
How so?
I see so many in the church today who I believe are pimping God. I know you all have heard that saying. It means folks go to church, make commitments and vows to God not because they love Him or simply for who He is. No.
They try to play God like...."Ok, God. I got this situation I am dealing with. I have this need. If you meet the need, if you fix my problems, if you give me the man, the house, the woman, the car, the ministry, etc. then I will serve You."
And because we serve a God that is faithful to His Word, He honors it. Just like the children of Israel wanted a king and God gave them Saul. Or when they cried out for manna in the wilderness and it was bad...God will give us answers to prayers...
Even if answering those prayers will hurt us.
You see, God know the end from the beginning. He knows that giving us what we want, when we want it, how we want it, will only pacify us but for a moment. It will stop us from crying and throwing a fit. Just like when one of our kids are in the store crying for candy in the register line. How many of us (mothers especially!) are guilty of giving in to our crying babes?
"Oh, alright! Here! Take the candy!"
And who does it end up hurting? Not us, the child. A cavity, an upset stomach, not being able to eat a meal....all are results of giving in to what that child wants.
Well, God does that to us. He knows the man isn't good for us. He knows if we get that job we won't ever be able to go to church. He knows if we get the house the bills will be astronomical. The car may be a lemon after all....Yet, we pout. We try to manipulate God into giving us what we believe is best for us.
And when He does, we have to learn for ourselves why God was nudging at our hearts, telling us that maybe what we are praying and believing Him for is not His perfect will!
Then we got to repent, get back in line, and get into the perfect will of God....
All that when we could have just obeyed that still small voice telling us otherwise......
How did I get off on that tangent????
Anyway!
Blessings we pray for can even serve to be a distraction.
Saints, we can't let nuttin' get in the way of our praising God!!!!!
Absolutely NOTHING!!!!!!!!!
Because stuff happens. Trials come. Persecutions arise. What are we gonna do?
Go around and wimper like a sissy? "God why me? Why has this happened to me???? I try to do the right thing and look what happens????"
Uh, uh!
I thank GOD ALMIGHTY that I have learned that no matter what we got to praise, we MUST praise, as J. Moss sings!
We are commanded to praise YE THE LORD!!!!
I know some shrug their shoulders and say, "She ain't got nuttin', she is just emotional..."
Let me tell ya something....
You weren't there when I almost lost my mind. You weren't there when God saved my life.
You weren't there when He healed me spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally, and even sexually!
You weren't there when He filled me with His Holy Ghost.
You weren't there after Katrina. You weren't there when I thought I would never see my kids again. You weren't there when I didn't know sometimes where we would live or how we would eat.
You weren't there when my name was put out there for evil, scandalized. You weren't there when I was rejected, by churches, by preachers, by family, by friends.
And all I had to turn to was the Lord.
You weren't there when HE ordained me a prophetess unto the nations, right there in Nita Mae's womb!
You weren't there when the enemy tried to take my life by making me be born three months premature!
You weren't there when I attempted suicide. Or when I was molested and raped. Or when my husband threatened my life and I had to be on the run while I was five months pregnant.
You weren't there when I felt a lump in my breast and God healed me.
You weren't there when I prayed THRU a stroke, BABY!
You weren't there when the man I loved asked me to leave my home...because he was intimidated by the call and the anointing that rests upon my life.
You weren't there when God called me by my name August 21, 1969 in the wee hours of the morning and told me to come forth.....because He was ordaining me. And because He was ordaining me, God promised me-NO WEAPON ON EARTH OR IN THE AIR THAT IS FORMED AGAINST ME SHALL EVER, EVER PROSPER!
So because you weren't there...you have absolutely nuttin' to say about me praising my God!
As a matter of fact, the only reason you cannot praise Him is because you don't believe in Him. You don't trust Him. You trust your intellect. Your connections. Your networking.
You don't know God.
You trust religion. Men. Money.
All of that is coming down. And the only things we are going to have to stand on in these last days are God's Word and His Praise!
And we MUST pray!
We are in warfare, as I stated in the last blog.
Prayer, praise and the Word....those are our weapons.
Do you know the weapons of your enemy?????
I think I will make that the title of my next blog!
I love you all!
Be blessed in the Lord.....
Thursday, March 08, 2007
That's right, I Still love the Lord!!!!!
Praise God, saints!
God is so awesome, so glorious, so marvelous! I can never thank Him enough not for what He has done or is going to do, but simply for who HE is!
We sing that. But I wonder if we really know who Jesus is????
We sing all the latest praise and worship songs in church or listen to them in our homes or cars. But do we know HIM?
Read Phillipians 3. That is one of the most powerful chapters in the Bible!
Paul starts out by warning believers to beware of 'the concision. Evil workers.' The concision Paul speaks of are those who put much emphasis on the mutilating of the flesh. You see, in those days, circumcision was the thing to do to prove you were really a Christian. Zealous, hungry after God. No doubt these folks were very well versed in the law and very active in the synagogue.
So what's wrong with a few 'religious' folks? They are a little zealous, so what? They are doing it for the Lord, right?
Wrong! Paul called these folks 'dogs!' What would make Paul do such a thing? Was he not one of the concisors back in the day? He was...
5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Yet in spite of all that, he later on declared that all that stuff, all of his righteousness, was dung. Poop. Mess. Feces. You got it!
God declares that all OUR righteousness are as filthy rags before Him in Isaiah 64:6.
Paul was admonishing us to beware of folks that focus on the FLESH!!!!
We go around saying that sinners focus on the flesh. This is true. They have tunnel vision, per se. They can see nothing else but flesh; their spirit man is dead.
But sinners aren't the ones we need to run from. For our very lives, ya heard!
I speak of religious folks.
And there are religious folks in every denomination! So we can't point to one denomination or another and declare they reek of religiosity by association. No. We discern who they are after the Spirit. The Spirit of God will let us know who to cleave to and and who to run from!
Then Paul after sharing his testimony of how he was so religious, how God made him to know Jesus.
Was it from speaking in tongues? Or from dancing the aisles? Perhaps it was reading the Word more, being an advent studier of the Word....
Was it by associating with 'spiritual' folks? Or maybe becoming more active in the church? You know, an idle mind is the devil's......
NO!!!!
We don't get to know Christ in any of those ways!
How do we get to know Him?
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
We get to an intimate knowledge of who Jesus is when we DIE!!!!!
When our stinking, rotting, deplorable flesh dies to what it wants and craves and yields to the power of God!!!!!!
When we allow ourselves to suffer when we did no wrong w/o retaliation...that is when we are 'conformable to his death....'
Because if we die with Jesus, it is guaranteed that we will be raised up, just as Jesus was!!!!!!
This is why in the midst of my crucifixion, in the midst of my flesh being torn to shreds, in the midst of public humiliation and persecution, I can truly and honestly declare that, as the songwriter sings....
"Go ahead
Drive the nails in my hands
I will rise again
Ain't no power on earth can tie me down...
I will rise again
Just can't keep me in the ground!"
Yes, so I say come on! If this dying is what it is gonna take for me to go to my next level in God, then Go, ahead!!!
But be sure these two things....
One, I STILL love the Lord!!!!!!!
and, Two...
I WILL RISE AGAIN!!!!!!!
With the power and the authority of Almighty God in my hands!
And the devil is gonna regret he ever messed with me!
Cuz this is one who really, really LOVES her God!!!!!!
God is so awesome, so glorious, so marvelous! I can never thank Him enough not for what He has done or is going to do, but simply for who HE is!
We sing that. But I wonder if we really know who Jesus is????
We sing all the latest praise and worship songs in church or listen to them in our homes or cars. But do we know HIM?
Read Phillipians 3. That is one of the most powerful chapters in the Bible!
Paul starts out by warning believers to beware of 'the concision. Evil workers.' The concision Paul speaks of are those who put much emphasis on the mutilating of the flesh. You see, in those days, circumcision was the thing to do to prove you were really a Christian. Zealous, hungry after God. No doubt these folks were very well versed in the law and very active in the synagogue.
So what's wrong with a few 'religious' folks? They are a little zealous, so what? They are doing it for the Lord, right?
Wrong! Paul called these folks 'dogs!' What would make Paul do such a thing? Was he not one of the concisors back in the day? He was...
5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Yet in spite of all that, he later on declared that all that stuff, all of his righteousness, was dung. Poop. Mess. Feces. You got it!
God declares that all OUR righteousness are as filthy rags before Him in Isaiah 64:6.
Paul was admonishing us to beware of folks that focus on the FLESH!!!!
We go around saying that sinners focus on the flesh. This is true. They have tunnel vision, per se. They can see nothing else but flesh; their spirit man is dead.
But sinners aren't the ones we need to run from. For our very lives, ya heard!
I speak of religious folks.
And there are religious folks in every denomination! So we can't point to one denomination or another and declare they reek of religiosity by association. No. We discern who they are after the Spirit. The Spirit of God will let us know who to cleave to and and who to run from!
Then Paul after sharing his testimony of how he was so religious, how God made him to know Jesus.
Was it from speaking in tongues? Or from dancing the aisles? Perhaps it was reading the Word more, being an advent studier of the Word....
Was it by associating with 'spiritual' folks? Or maybe becoming more active in the church? You know, an idle mind is the devil's......
NO!!!!
We don't get to know Christ in any of those ways!
How do we get to know Him?
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
We get to an intimate knowledge of who Jesus is when we DIE!!!!!
When our stinking, rotting, deplorable flesh dies to what it wants and craves and yields to the power of God!!!!!!
When we allow ourselves to suffer when we did no wrong w/o retaliation...that is when we are 'conformable to his death....'
Because if we die with Jesus, it is guaranteed that we will be raised up, just as Jesus was!!!!!!
This is why in the midst of my crucifixion, in the midst of my flesh being torn to shreds, in the midst of public humiliation and persecution, I can truly and honestly declare that, as the songwriter sings....
"Go ahead
Drive the nails in my hands
I will rise again
Ain't no power on earth can tie me down...
I will rise again
Just can't keep me in the ground!"
Yes, so I say come on! If this dying is what it is gonna take for me to go to my next level in God, then Go, ahead!!!
But be sure these two things....
One, I STILL love the Lord!!!!!!!
and, Two...
I WILL RISE AGAIN!!!!!!!
With the power and the authority of Almighty God in my hands!
And the devil is gonna regret he ever messed with me!
Cuz this is one who really, really LOVES her God!!!!!!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
God has called us unto peace...
~This is a very old blog of mine from over 6 years ago. Still true though...~
God has called us to peace…
1 Corinthians 7:39
The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.
I Corinthians 7:15
But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
The state of marriage today has gone awry. The plan of God regarding marriage was:
Genesis 2:21-25
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
The enemy has launched an all out attack on marriages. One of the enemies of marriage is domestic violence. Many in the church do not talk about it, pretend like it does not happen.
Here are some facts and statistics from the Black Church and Domestic Violence Institute:
Domestic violence is any forceful behavior one adult uses to control another. It can be physical (beating), verbal (threats), sexual (rape), economic (taking her money), and psychological (mind games).
90-95% of DV victims are women, many are active in their local church.
Nearly 2 in 3 female victims of violence were related to or knew their attacker.
75% of the visits to emergency rooms by battered women occur after separation
One-third of all female homicide victims are killed by husbands, ex-husbands, boyfriends or ex-boyfriends.
Abusive men who kill their partners serve an average of two-to-six year prison terms.
Almost 25% of pregnant women seeking prenatal care have been battered during pregnancy.
The March of Dimes reports that pregnant women are at particular risk of being battered by spouses. More babies are now being born with birth defects as a result of the mother being battered during pregnancy than from the combination of all the diseases for which we immunize pregnant women.
In a national survey of over 6,000 American families, 50% of the men who frequently assaulted their wives also frequently abused their children.
Domestic violence is a very real tragedy in the church today. We don’t want to talk about it.
We shout over it. We dance over it.
But what happens when we get home?
God hates divorce. He created marriage to be something beautiful. Something to show this world the relationship between the church and Himself. The Word of God says husbands ought to love their wives how? As Christ loved the Church!
And what did He do to prove His love?
He gave His Life for the Church!
Now, if Jesus gave His life for the Church, His Bride, then who do you think is behind husbands killing their wives?
Satan!
And nowhere in the Bible does it say a woman should stay with an abusive husband, or vice versa.
Wives abuse their husbands, too. Either way it is wrong!
God has called us to peace. That is especially for those suffering in abusive relationships or marriages. It is not God’s will that you remain in danger. B/c that is what you are, in danger! Yes, God sends His angels of protection.
But why stay in a burning building-wanting to see if He will do you like He did Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego-if God has provided a way of escape???
That is not wise.
Anyone in an abusive relationship should get out as soon as they can. Pray and ask God to give you wisdom on how to leave an abuser, who to get involved with the process, and where to go.
God did it for me. I just made up my mind that I wasn’t gonna let anyone abuse me. And when I saw how my oldest son reacted as a baby when he saw us fighting like that, it broke my heart and that look on his face gave me all the courage I needed to leave.
If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for your kids…
If you know anyone who is suffering like this, don’t be silent about it. Don’t say, ‘It is not my business. I can’t say anything.’ No. I would rather have someone be angry with me and I said something to save their lives then to not have said anything and be burying them way too young, like we did with my cousin over 15 years ago.
God loves you and wants you save you from that madness!
Seek to get out by His Hand of Mercy and Power!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Separation Safety Plan
Name:_______________________ Date:____________
Complaint #:___________ Officer: Net______________
The following steps represent my plan for increasing my safety and preparing in advance for the possibility for further violence. Although I do not have control over my partner's violence, I do have a choice about how to respond to him/her and how to best get myself and my children to safety.
Step 1:
Safety during a violent incident. Victims cannot always avoid violent incidents. In order to increase safety, battered victims may use a variety of strategies.
I can use some or all of the following strategies:
If I decide to leave, I will ___________________. (Practice how to get out safely. What doors, windows, elevators, stairwells or fire escapes would you use?)
I can keep my money and car keys ready and put them (place) _________________ in order to leave quickly.
I can tell _____________________about the violence and request they call the police if they hear suspicious noises coming from my house.
I can teach my children how to use the telephone to contact the police and the fire department.
I will use _______________________ as my code for my children or my friends so they can call for help.
If I have to leave my home, I will go _____________________ (Decide this even if you don't think there will be a next time).
If I cannot go to the location above, then I can go to___________________________or ______________________________.
I can also teach some of these strategies to some/all my children.
When I expect we are going to have an argument, I will try to move to a space that is lowest risk, such as ____________ ____________________. (Try to avoid arguments in the bathroom, garage, kitchen, near weapons or in rooms without access to an outside door).
I will use my judgment and intuition. If the situation is very serious, I can give my partner what he/she wants to calm him/her down. I have to protect myself until I/we are out of danger.
Step 2:
Safety when preparing to leave. Battered victims frequently leave the residence they share with the battering partner. Leaving must be done with a careful plan in order to increase safety. Batterers often strike back when they believe that a battered victim is leaving the relationship.
I can use some or all the following safety strategies:
I will leave money and an extra set of keys with _____________ so that I can leave quickly.
I will keep copies of important documents or keys at _______________________.
I will open a savings account by ______________, to increase my independence.
Other things I can do to increase my independence include:
The domestic violence program's hot line number is 297-8833 (Metro Police Domestic Violence -880-3000) and I can seek shelter by calling this hot line.
I can keep change for phone calls on me at all times. I under stand that if I use my telephone credit card, the following month the telephone bill will tell my batterer those numbers that I called after I left. To keep my telephone communications confidential, I must either use coins or I might get a friend to permit me to use their telephone credit card for a limited time when I first leave.
I will check with ____________________ and _____________ to see who would be able to let me stay with them or lend me some money.
I can leave extra clothes with _________________________.
I will sit down and review my safety plan every ______________ in order to plan the safest way to leave the residence. _____________ (domestic violence advocate or friend) has agreed to help me review this plan.
I will rehearse my escape plan and, as appropriate, practice it with my children.
Step 3:
Safety in my own residence. There are many things that a victim can do to increase her/his safety in their own residence. It may be impossible to do everything at once, but safety measures can be added step by step.
Safety measures I can use include:
I can change the locks on my doors and windows as soon as possible.
I can replace wooden doors with steel/metal doors.
I can install security systems including additional locks, window bars, poles to wedge against doors, an electronic system, etc.
I can purchase rope ladders to be used for escape from second floor windows.
I can install smoke detectors and purchase fire extinguishers for each floor in my house/apartment.
I can install an outside lighting system that lights up when a person is coming close to my house.
I will teach my children how to use the telephone to make a collect call to me and to _______________(friend/minister/ other) in the event that my partner takes the children.
I will tell people who take care of my children which people have permission to pick up my children and that my partner is not permitted to do so. The people I will inform about pick-up permission include:
__________________________________________(school),________________________________________(day care staff),________________________________________(babysitter),___________________________________(Sunday school teacher),________________________________________(teacher),________________________________________(and),________________________________________(others),
I can inform ______________________________(neighbors), _______________________________________(pastor), and, _______________________________________(friend) that my partner no longer resides with me and they should call the police if he is observed near my residence.
Step 4:
Safety with an Order of Protection. Many battered victims obey protection orders, but one can never be sure which violent partner will obey and which will violate protection orders. I recognize that I may need to ask the police and the court to enforce my protection order.
The following are some steps that I can take to help the enforcement of my protection order:
I will keep my protection order _________________(location) (Always keep it on or near your person).
I will give my protection order to police departments in the communities where I usually visit family or friends, and in the community where I live.
There should be a county registry of protection orders that all police departments can call to confirm a protection order. I can check to make sure that my order is in registry. The telephone number for the county registry of protection order is _________________________________.
For further safety, if I often visit other counties in Louisiana, I might file my protection order with the court in those counties. I will register my protection order in the following counties:
___________________ and _________________ that I have a protection order in effect.
I can call the local domestic violence program if I am not sure about B, C, or D above or if I have some problem with my protection order.
I will inform my employer, my minister, my closest friend and _____________ and ____________that I have a protection order in effect.
If my partner destroys my protection order, I can get another copy from the Davidson County Courthouse by going to the Circuit Court Clerk's office on the 5th floor.
If my partner violates the protection order, I can call the police and report a violation, contact my attorney, call my advocate, and/or advise the court of the violation.
If the police do no help, I can contact my advocate or attorney and will file a complaint with the chief of the police department.
I can also file a private criminal compliant with the district justice in the jurisdiction where the violation occurred or with the district attorney. I can charge my battering partner with a violation of the Order of Protection and all the crimes that he/she commits in violating the order. I can call the domestic violence advocate to help me with this.
Step 5: Safety on the job and in public. Each battered victim must decide if and when he/she will tell others that their partner has battered them and that he/she may be at continued risk. Friends, family and co-workers can help to protect victims. Each victim should consider carefully which people to invite to help secure his/her safety.
I might do any or all of the following:
I can inform my boss, the security supervisor and ___________ at work of my situation.
I can ask ________________ to help screen my telephone calls at work.
When leaving work, I can _____________________________________ __________________________________________.
When driving home if problems occur, I can _______________________________ __________________________________.
If I use public transit, I can ________________________________________ _______________________________________.
I will go to different grocery stores and shopping malls to conduct my business and shop at hours that are different than those when residing with my battered partner.
I can use a different bank and take care of my banking at hours different from those I used when residing with my battered partner.
I can also __________________________________________.
Step 6:
Safety and drug or alcohol use. Most people in this culture use alcohol. Many use mood-altering drugs. Much of this use is legal and some is not. The legal outcomes of using illegal drugs can be very hard on a battered victim, may hurt his/her relationship with their children and put him/her at a disadvantage in other legal actions with the battering partner. Therefore, victims should carefully consider the potential cost of the use of illegal drugs. But beyond this, the use of any alcohol or other drug can reduce a victim's awareness and ability to act quickly to protect themselves from the battering partner. Furthermore, the use of alcohol or other drugs by the batterer may give him/her an excuse to use violence. Therefore, in the context of drug or alcohol use, a victim needs to make specific safety plans.
If drug or alcohol use has occurred in my relationship with the battering partner, I can enhance my safety by some or all of the following:
If I am going to use, I can do so in a safe place and with people who understand the risk of violence and are committed to my safety.
I can also ___________________________________________.
If my partner is using, I can _____________________________.
I might also _________________________________________.
To safeguard my children, I might ________________________ and ______________________________________________.
Step 7:
Safety and my emotional health. The experience of being battered and verbally degraded by partners is usually exhausting and emotionally draining. The process of building a new life for myself takes much courage and incredible energy.
To conserve my emotional energy and resources and to avoid hard emotional times, I can do some of the following:
If I feel down and ready to return to a potentially abusive situation, I can _____________________________________________.
When I have to communicate with my partner in person or by telephone, I can ____________________________________.
I can try to use "I can . . . " statements with myself and to be assertive with others.
I can tell myself - "_____________________________________ ______________________________" whenever I feel others are trying to control or abuse me.
I can read ____________________________to help me feel stronger.
I can call ___________________, ___________________ and _________________as other resources to be of support of me.
Other things I can do to help me feel stronger are __________________________, and _______________________________.
I can attend workshops and support groups at the domestic violence program or _________________________, or _____ _______________to gain support and strengthen my relationship with other people.
Step 8:
Items to take when leaving. When victims leave partners, it is important to take certain items with them. Beyond this, victims sometimes give an extra copy of papers and an extra set of clothing to a friend just in case they have to leave quickly.
Money : Even if I have never worked, I can legally take 1/2 of the funds in the checking and savings accounts as Louisiana is a community property state. If I don't take any money from the accounts, he/she can legally take all money and/or close the account and I may not get my share until the court rules on it if ever.
These items might be placed in one location, so that if we have to leave in a hurry, I can grab them quickly.
When I leave, I should have:
Identification for myself
Children's birth certificate
My birth certificate
Social security cards
School and vaccination records
Money
Checkbook, ATM (Automatic Tellers Machine) card
Credit cards
Keys - house/car/office
Driver's license and registration
Medication
Welfare identification, work permits, Green card
Passport(s), Divorce papers
Medical records - for all family members
Lease/rental agreement, house deed, mortgage payment book
Bank books, Insurance papers
Small saleable objects
Address book
Pictures, jewelry
Children's favorite toys and/or blankets
Items of special sentimental value
Telephone numbers I need to know:
Police department - home - 911
Metro Domestic Violence Division - _______________________
District Attorney General's Office -_______________________
Police department - school _____________________________
Police department - work ______________________________
Battered victims program -______________________________
County registry of protection orders ______________________
Work number________________________________________
Supervisor's home number_____________________________
Minister____________________________________________
Other______________________________________________
I will keep this document in a safe place and out of the reach of my potential attacker.
Review date:_________________________
IF YOU NEED HELP IN FILLING OUT THIS PLAN YOU MAY ASK METRO POLICE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DIVISION DETECTIVES, COUNSELORS, YMCA SHELTER WORKER, THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S VICTIM WITNESS OFFICE PERSONNEL OR A CLOSE AND TRUSTED FRIEND.
Can I just go to a friend’s house?
It is always best to go to a shelter as a safe haven because your abuser won’t know where you are. If you go to a relative’s or friend’s house, they will follow you and could possibly harm them.(Remember the Carto family in Mary Poppins.)
In a battered woman shelter, the staff does their best to accommodate all incoming women and children. You may get your own room and bathroom, as well as meals, counseling, legal advice, transportation, toiletries and housing assistance.
They will explain what your options are in this situation. They will motivate you to go on with your life, heal from this trauma, and encourage you that you can make it. You can live LIFE without your abuser!
If you keep up your end of the bargain, as far as sticking to the plan carved out when you are admitted to the shelter, stay focused, and pray, God will see you through and give you favor across the board. With the courts, with housing assistance, with just about anything you and the kids would need.
Remember, NO weapon formed against you shall prosper! Just as Rahab let down the spies with the red cord and they escaped in the book of Joshua, God has a way of escape for you! You are worth SO much more than being abused. Than allowing your kids to see you abused. Get out and let God heal you and your family and watch Him move in your life!
God Bless!
Min. W. Russ
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Why do I love Jesus?
I guess you are wondering 'Why do she love Jesus so?'
The Word of God says to whom much is given much is required.
Much grace and mercy God has given me. Much forgiveness and much of that blood Jesus shed at Calvary had to be used to wash me and purge me from sin and iniquity in my life.
So because Jesus paid so dear a price for me, I must repay Him by giving Him my ALL.
When you think about it, when you really love Jesus, you cannot help but give your ALL to Him.
ALL can mean your will, your desires, your emotions, your ambitions, your dreams, your will, your talents, your body, your home, your car, your job, your whatever!
Are you willing to give God your ALL today?
So many of us, I was there, are content on giving God a portion of themselves.
"I will come to church on Sunday, but I work hard. So I gotta play hard. I gotta hang out at the clubs and get my dance on."
"I believe in God. I am a good person. I do good things. But it doesn't take all that to love God. She is fanatical."
"I have been in church for decades. After awhile that passion dies, that zeal dries up. Just she wait and see. I wanna see what kinda worship she is gonna give God at 80!"
Well, in Psalms 71, the Word talks of an old person whom everyone else had pretty much given up on. Folks were saying David was washed up and wrinkled. He had nothing else to give to the work of God.
Time, age, and sin had taken a lot out of David. But the one thing that was in tact was that heart after God. See, David, the little shepard boy who was promoted to Kingship because he loved God as a boy was now an old man. He had seen a lot in his time. He had failed God a few times. He had some mighty victories as well.
But he could say, 'I have been young, and now I am old. I have never seen the righteous forsaken or His seed begging bread.'
He could also say that God was for him. Many thought him to be a prodigy, a wonder. All those battles, all those failures, all that family dysfunction (son raping daughter, son killing other son, adultery, putting the minstry before his family, murder, deception and abuse of authority, etc.).
Yes, God still loved David. Honored His Word and Promise by David, and left him a legacy to be godly proud of.
I know that once a new convert is born again, there is a fire, a zeal, that is fiery and passionate.
But somewhere down the line, the cares of life, the flesh, this world, the trials and tribulations takes it tolls and the fire , the passion goes out of the most important relationship we have, that with the Lord Jesus Christ.
But just as a marriage is to be kept alive by maintenance and work, so must we work at our communion with God.
There is nothing that brings passion and fire like praying through!!!!!!
It is my desire to start prayer meeting at church early in the morning...perhaps when I get a vehicle and of course, if the Pastor agrees!
I know the key to the lock on the souls and the harvest in these last days is prayer!
WE must pray!
I must pray!
It is in prayer that I long to worship Him. And I fall in love with Jesus all over again. His Presence is so sweet! So intoxicating!!!!!
As much as I love to smell a man with Polo cologne, even that doesn't compare to the fragrance of the Holy Ghost when is His Presence enters a room!
Ever been in His Presence and it was so powerful and thick until you can smell the glory cloud coming, like you smell the rain cloud before it gets to you??????
My God!!!!! What a glorious aroma!!!!!
I am addicted to that smell, much like the kids get high on liquid paper or aerosol!
Much like the rockstar will do anything for a rock...
Just as the alcoholic can't get the crust outta his eyes good and he runs to the corner store to buy a swig of whiskey...
I am hooked on the Presence of God!!!!!!
And I love Him SOOOOO much!
Why???
Because He first loved me!!!!!!!!!
Love, His Baby Girl, Wenona
The Word of God says to whom much is given much is required.
Much grace and mercy God has given me. Much forgiveness and much of that blood Jesus shed at Calvary had to be used to wash me and purge me from sin and iniquity in my life.
So because Jesus paid so dear a price for me, I must repay Him by giving Him my ALL.
When you think about it, when you really love Jesus, you cannot help but give your ALL to Him.
ALL can mean your will, your desires, your emotions, your ambitions, your dreams, your will, your talents, your body, your home, your car, your job, your whatever!
Are you willing to give God your ALL today?
So many of us, I was there, are content on giving God a portion of themselves.
"I will come to church on Sunday, but I work hard. So I gotta play hard. I gotta hang out at the clubs and get my dance on."
"I believe in God. I am a good person. I do good things. But it doesn't take all that to love God. She is fanatical."
"I have been in church for decades. After awhile that passion dies, that zeal dries up. Just she wait and see. I wanna see what kinda worship she is gonna give God at 80!"
Well, in Psalms 71, the Word talks of an old person whom everyone else had pretty much given up on. Folks were saying David was washed up and wrinkled. He had nothing else to give to the work of God.
Time, age, and sin had taken a lot out of David. But the one thing that was in tact was that heart after God. See, David, the little shepard boy who was promoted to Kingship because he loved God as a boy was now an old man. He had seen a lot in his time. He had failed God a few times. He had some mighty victories as well.
But he could say, 'I have been young, and now I am old. I have never seen the righteous forsaken or His seed begging bread.'
He could also say that God was for him. Many thought him to be a prodigy, a wonder. All those battles, all those failures, all that family dysfunction (son raping daughter, son killing other son, adultery, putting the minstry before his family, murder, deception and abuse of authority, etc.).
Yes, God still loved David. Honored His Word and Promise by David, and left him a legacy to be godly proud of.
I know that once a new convert is born again, there is a fire, a zeal, that is fiery and passionate.
But somewhere down the line, the cares of life, the flesh, this world, the trials and tribulations takes it tolls and the fire , the passion goes out of the most important relationship we have, that with the Lord Jesus Christ.
But just as a marriage is to be kept alive by maintenance and work, so must we work at our communion with God.
There is nothing that brings passion and fire like praying through!!!!!!
It is my desire to start prayer meeting at church early in the morning...perhaps when I get a vehicle and of course, if the Pastor agrees!
I know the key to the lock on the souls and the harvest in these last days is prayer!
WE must pray!
I must pray!
It is in prayer that I long to worship Him. And I fall in love with Jesus all over again. His Presence is so sweet! So intoxicating!!!!!
As much as I love to smell a man with Polo cologne, even that doesn't compare to the fragrance of the Holy Ghost when is His Presence enters a room!
Ever been in His Presence and it was so powerful and thick until you can smell the glory cloud coming, like you smell the rain cloud before it gets to you??????
My God!!!!! What a glorious aroma!!!!!
I am addicted to that smell, much like the kids get high on liquid paper or aerosol!
Much like the rockstar will do anything for a rock...
Just as the alcoholic can't get the crust outta his eyes good and he runs to the corner store to buy a swig of whiskey...
I am hooked on the Presence of God!!!!!!
And I love Him SOOOOO much!
Why???
Because He first loved me!!!!!!!!!
Love, His Baby Girl, Wenona
How I love You...
This following song was birthed out of my spirit man tonite as I was contemplating and meditating on God. There is no one walking the face of God's green earth that makes me sing like that but JESUS!!!!!!
All my life I had been looking for that Perfect Love, that One True Love that will love me for me. That will desire me for me. Stretch marks and all. Baggage and all. Slightly overweight and all. Gravity setting in and all.
But....in the midst of my maturing, God has put a YES down in my soul. An assurance that I cannot leave Him. He loves me TOO much!!!!
And I love Jesus because He first loved me!!!!!!!!!!
So as I sat at the computer posting, the Lord dropped that song in my spirit. I hope one day to share it on a stage in front of thousands as God promised.
But I already feel like the world is my audience...I am in the Presence of a King!!!!!!
And HE is the whole world to ME!!!!!!!!!
I Love you, Jesus!!!!!!
Love, Your Baby Girl.....
This following song was birthed out of my spirit man tonite as I was contemplating and meditating on God. There is no one walking the face of God's green earth that makes me sing like that but JESUS!!!!!!
All my life I had been looking for that Perfect Love, that One True Love that will love me for me. That will desire me for me. Stretch marks and all. Baggage and all. Slightly overweight and all. Gravity setting in and all.
But....in the midst of my maturing, God has put a YES down in my soul. An assurance that I cannot leave Him. He loves me TOO much!!!!
And I love Jesus because He first loved me!!!!!!!!!!
So as I sat at the computer posting, the Lord dropped that song in my spirit. I hope one day to share it on a stage in front of thousands as God promised.
But I already feel like the world is my audience...I am in the Presence of a King!!!!!!
And HE is the whole world to ME!!!!!!!!!
I Love you, Jesus!!!!!!
Love, Your Baby Girl.....
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Saturday, March 12, 2005
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