I Am a Witness!

 I Am a Witness!

John 1 6-8 "There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light."

What was John's main message? John's theme of life- eternal life, comes up again and again. One could argue this is his main purpose to demonstrate Jesus as the source of eternal life. 
I wanted to know more about John the Baptist, so I read a little more about his background to find out he was the cousin of Jesus and he was around before Jesus. He was sent by God to be a witness to testify concerning the Light (Jesus) so that through the Light, man might be saved.  My question to myself is this. Am I supposed to be a witness to the Light? The Light is Jesus, the one and only Savior of the world. The light of my life, Jesus Christ, the one who saved me and gave me eternal life. I can definitely testify to who the Light is to me.
I realize that my testimony about the Light of my life might help someone searching and looking for light, or someone who is ready to come out of darkness to embrace real change. Someone whose willing to believe there is Someone greater than humanity, someone who can make a difference in their life, someone who can shed or dispel all the darkness and help give meaning and purpose to their life. 
There is Someone who is pure Light and pure Love. Jesus has made a difference in my life and He has kept me sane when I felt I was going insane. He has been my Comforter when I needed to feel comforted and consoled. He has been my Friend when so many times in my life I have felt friendless and alone. 
I too, am a witness to the Light. My Light, my Savior is like no one I have ever seen or encountered before. I have come to depend on Him more than anyone or anything else in this world. There will never be anyone greater than the Light- the Savior whose name is Jesus! For those of us who will believe in Him, He gives us the right to become children of God. I suggest you read the book of John in the New Testament and get to know the Savior for yourself; do it while you still have time. 

Tis the Season to be Thankful!

 Tis the Season to be Thankful!

Psalms 100:4 says, “Enter his gate with thanksgiving and his court with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.”

The next scripture goes on to say, "For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations." There are so many reason for me to show thanksgiving and gratitude from the generation before me, to my generation, to the generation coming after me. This season of celebrating the holiday, Thanksgiving, is everyday for me.   

Truthfully, every single day is the season to be thankful. When I look back over my life, I have to say, "Thank you Lord," every single day. My life is a gift and a blessing. I do not even know where to begin. As I write this piece, I feel joy and gratitude overtaking me. My heart is grateful- my eyes are tearful, as I think about the mountains God has gotten me over, and the valleys He has seen me through. I have been through a lot, and without Him I would not be here today. I am nothing without the Lord-He is my everything 

My personal relationship with the Lord goes something like this-He is my Father and my Friend. He is my Healer and my Hero. He is my Doctor and my Deliverer. He is my Provider and my daily Provision. He is my Peace and my Pacification. He is my Restorer and my Restoration. He is my Life and my Lifeline. God is the whole world to me. I can not help but enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His court with praise. He is faithful to me. I have not always known, nor understood how a God like this could love me so much. 

I was raised up in the church and have always been an active in the church. Not knowing any better, I felt I had to do things in church to earn God’s love and approval, so I volunteered for many years. I learned later in life that I did not have to work for His love or my blessings. God made a commitment to me and gave me His Grace; grace is free. 

When my babies were a few weeks old, and I could take them to church I knew I would need to leave them in the daycare for a couple of hours. I signed up to work daycare. There was a need for mothers to help care for all the babies, and I could not just leave them Sunday after Sunday without doing my part.

At my home church in Florence, Alabama, I song in the youth choir when I was not ushering. As a teenager, I only volunteered because I had to. My mom made that clear. But as a mother, I wanted to help in daycare and in children's' church to be there with my sons. After all, I was dropping them off in both departments. As the years passed, volunteering in church made me feel good and worthy of God’s love and faithfulness. I believed it was the main way to get something from Him. 

When I got older, I learned better and my motives changed. Today, I am thankful for all of those experiences and for God being with me in every area and phase of my life. I  had to experience life so I could learn, and grow in the different levels of  my life experiences. I am so happy that He is a patient and understanding Father, and also a Friend.

God is my Spiritual Teacher- I owe Him everything. I know I could never ever repay Him, but I can give Him thanksgiving more than once a year. I will give Him thanks and praise every single day. For everything, and so much more, I am forever thankful! 

Thanksgiving comes everyday. 

                                               

I want to share another one of my favorite songs, by: Cece Winans; it is an exhortation of praise and thanksgiving. I love this song! If this blog blessed you and you agree with it, please share it. 

https://youtu.be/9sE5kEnitqE

I am a Growing Woman

 I am a Growing Woman

Romans 12:2 says, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." 

I want to testify that I am a growing woman. I am learning to listen to my heart. I am  learning to be still. I am learning not to worry or carry around care. I want to grow out of my old way of thinking. I want to grow out of my old attitude. I want to grow up in the Lord. I want my mind to be transformed. I want to renew my mind whereas to be more like Christ.  I want to shed the old and embrace the new. Life is about change, nothing or no one stays the same. 

 Trusting in the Lord for me and many others is easier said than done. Trust, to me, has to be intentional and something I must continue to focus on. To say, "I trust the Lord" sounds good when I hear it. “I trust God; He is in control sounds biblically correct” when I hear it.  But do I really? I can say, emphatically- yes! I do now. Some years ago, not as much.  Life has been brutal and has taught me to trust God. Not because I did not want to or need to, but I had to trust Him. I just did not know how to get out of my own way. I had to get to know Him and believe in Him because life tried to crush me and rob my soul. I have been transformed, renewed, and approved! 

The scripture says God is Love- I say, know He is Love to me. I did not always have a relationship with the Lord. I learned that when you are in a close relationship with someone, you make time to get to know that person and spend time with that person, so you can grow and can comprehend, love and trust that person. Especially when all you begin to see is Grace wrapped up in pure authenticity.  

Trusting God is a daily conscientious decision. For me, it definitely requires personal reflection and honest interpretation of myself. Church people like me talk about trusting God so much until it sounds cliché.  It is the proper thing to say in a believer’s conversation. I had to allow myself to enter into the relationship phase with the Lord. I had to get alone with myself and examine my heart and soul so I could focus on our relationship. I had to abandon social media, especially Facebook. I had to do this for me and be as intentional about my quest for growth as possible.  I had to weigh the benefits of becoming a growing woman of God; I discovered there are loads of benefits,- and I want to experience them all. I like the woman I am becoming.

I am very connected to my Power Source; the more I read the scriptures the more I get- Him; the more I believed Him. I feel myself changing and growing in knowledge and wisdom. I can not place trust in my efforts to be a good person so I can grow in confidence. I realize that trusting God is a spiritual process that leads me to personal growth and confidence, at least it is for me- The Growing Woman.