Tag: Love

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Faith Forgiveness God Still Heals God Still Speaks God's Love God's Promises God's Voice Healed Healing Intimacy With God Jesus Miracle Peace of God Prayer Presence of God Protection Redemption Restoration Salvation Testimony Uncategorized

The Best Free Gift

HI Faith Travelers!

It’s the last day of May 2025 and instead of giving you all a story, a testimony or a lesson I want to give all of you, across the now 83 countries that this blog reaches, an opportunity. It’s the best opportunity that anyone can take advantage of, especially if you haven’t in your life as of yet. This opportunity is the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Salvation is the saving or deliverance from sin and its consequences, through God’s grace and forgiveness given to us because of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. It’s not something you have to strive or work for. You merely have to receive it by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

8 For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; 9 not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].

Ephesians 2:8-9 AMP

Accepting the free gift of salvation doesn’t only save us from eternal damnation, it gives us eternal life. Meaning when we leave this earth after we pass on, we get the privilege to abide in the presence of God forever vs spending eternity in the midst of fire and brimstone in hell with satan. Sounds like an easy choice to make but I never want to assume that everyone has been presented with that opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Just 2 weeks ago my husband and I lost his mother and while it is a tremendous loss for us, we are grateful that we were able to make it in time to sit with her, pray over her, talk to her about Jesus and lead her in the salvation prayer because again we didn’t want to assume she had been presented with the opportunity. Even in moments when it was difficult for her to breathe she fought through repeating every single word of the salvation prayer. Even when my husband offered for her to communicate by tapping his hand, she wanted to say the prayer out loud. Nearly an hour after saying that prayer, my mother in love went to be with the Lord. While we were saddened, we knew according to Thessalonians 4:13 that we could weep and grieve with the hope and knowing that we will see her again when we get to heaven .

13 Now we do not want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life].

1 Thessalonians 4:13 AMP

The Bible says in Romans 10:9 that when you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him(Jesus) from the dead, you will be saved. Now if you would like to take advantage of this opportunity to receive salvation, I would like for you to join me in repeating this prayer that will change your life for the better.

9 because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in and confirming [his] salvation.

Romans 10:9-10 AMP

If you are ready to surrender your life to Jesus, Repeat This Prayer:

Dear God in Heaven,

I thank you for Jesus. I believe that Jesus Christ is your son. I believe Jesus died on the cross, paying the price for my sins. I believe you raised Him from the dead and He is alive right now. Dear Lord Jesus, come into my heart, come into my life, save me, forgive me, and make me brand new. I repent and turn away from sin. I surrender my life and choose to follow you for the rest of my days. According to the Bible, I am right now born again.

If you prayed that prayer, I want to congratulate you on making the best decision of your life!

I encourage you to join a Bible teaching church, if you are able to, and start studying God’s word. If you have further questions, please refer to the below links.

Did you receive Salvation today and want to know more about what’s next? Click Here The Faith Travels Blog Salvation Questionnaire!

To be a part of the movement, share your own faith story Here!

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Emotional Healing Faith God Still Heals God Still Speaks God's Love God's Voice Healed Healing Intimacy With God Jesus Miracle Obedience Peace of God Prayer Presence of God Protection Purpose Restoration Testimony Uncategorized

The Answer You’ve Been Looking For

HI Faith Travelers!         

I am sure today’s title has you wondering, what is she talking about?! The answer to what…and for what?!

Well it’s the answer to All of Your Problems!

So I’ve learned a few things over the last several years of my life; from my own experiences and from the experiences of others. One of the most important things I’ve learned is that everything you need is found in the presence of God. Where the presence of God is, an invitation of intimacy with Him begins. I’ll get into what that means shortly.

“Everything you need

is found

in MY presence.”

–From God to Me

Recently I have come across several friends and individuals, including myself, who have felt physically and mentally tired, drained, confused, emotional, frustrated, angry, anxious, heavy and down right burdened. If this is you, then you will want to keep reading. Why have they felt this way and what causes it? The answer is Life causes it! Some of us are taking things day by day and just trying to make it through the first 24 hours to get to the next 24 hours and then to the next and so on. Some days are great, others are intense, some days are joyful while others are beyond stressful. Why is that? Because Life is going to Life and then rinse and repeat. We have a real enemy(the devil aka satan) in this world who seeks to steal, kill and destroy (See John 10:10) and if you are living your life for Jesus Christ then the enemy seeks to not make it easy for you. The everyday life we live may be inconsistent but the one thing in our lives that isn’t inconsistent is God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever ( See Hebrews 13:8).

So how do we get in the presence of God to fix all of our problems? Well, the answer is we build a relationship with God and we become consistent with Him; in His word, in prayer and in communing with Him daily. Being consistent with God in turn creates intimacy with God. The word intimacy means close familiarity or friendship; closeness. It also means fellowship, communion, affection, understanding, sharing and togetherness.

Intimacy with God means closeness, familiarity, friendship, fellowship, communion and togetherness with God.

How do you become consistent with God to create intimacy with Him? Well let’s look at it like a marriage. When you marry someone and choose to spend the rest of your life with them; before you make that covenant before God and the courts you develop a relationship with that person. You spend time with them, you learn their likes and dislikes, you develop familiarity, friendship and closeness with that person and you learn the ins and outs of who that person is as a whole. That’s no different than what intimacy with God looks like. When we spend time with God in prayer or in His word, we learn His likes, dislikes and the promises He has made to and for us. When we truly seek God, we learn that the time with Him is never a one sided conversation because He certainly talks back, we just have to take the time to listen. This is what a relationship with God looks like.

What happens when we have intimacy with God? How do I begin to see God make a change with the problems I see in my everyday life? In Matthew 6:33, the word of God says “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” In the context of this section of the book of Matthew chapter 6, Jesus is telling us not to worry about our life. In not worrying about our life, He’s saying don’t worry about what we will eat, drink, wear or anything related to our everyday lives. He reminds us in this chapter to look at the birds and how the Lord makes sure they are fed; look at the flowers and the grass and how the Lord makes sure they grow and are taken care of. If we, being created in God’s image (See Genesis 1:27), are regarded higher than these things then how much more will God make sure we are taken care of. “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (See Matthew 6:32). Earlier in this same chapter, where Jesus is showing us how to pray, He also says “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (See Matthew 6:8). He is all knowing and all powerful so when you have intimacy with the all knowing & powerful God, just imagine how that will change your life for the better.

“…For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”

Matthew 6:8

The above may address those who don’t have a relationship with God or rather those that don’t exactly know how to have a relationship with Him but I also want to address those of you who have a relationship with God yet are lacking in intimacy with God. There are some of you out there who pray all the time and spend time in God’s word yet you still feel burdened, drained and overwhelmed as if you are carrying a weight that isn’t yours to carry. This was me and a few others I encountered recently. Some of us were so used to seeing God as just Lord and master, instruction giver, the One who shows us what to intercede for, yet we had somehow forgotten that God is our Father first and He wants us to come to Him as His child. Why? Because we spend our days trying to be the go to person for our families, the employee, the parent, the intercessor, the prayer warrior, the missionary, the minister and so many other roles we take on along with attempts to try to be everything to everyone, that we often forget that we are not and were never built for that. That’s why Jesus died for us, so that we wouldn’t have to carry those burdens.

If this is you, you may be lacking in intimacy with God and require some intimate time with the Father. What does that look like? Intentionally setting time for just you and God with no agenda, no prayer points and no distractions…Just you and God’s presence. Where it goes from there is up to you and Him. The only requirement is going to Him like a child in need of their Father, knowing everything will be taken care of, just as children often do. It can be a conversation about your day, how you feel about something or even just basking in the awe of His felt presence. Set this time with God consistently and watch a new facet of your relationship with God begin to unfold.

I made the change this year to set consistent intentional and intimate time with God with no agenda and in just the first two weeks my life changed drastically spiritually, mentally, emotionally, financially and even physically. Everything I need was and is found in the Presence of God. So, whether you have been walking with God for 2 days or 20+ years, we all need intimacy with Him. Take the first step and watch how time with Him gives you all the answers you’ve been looking for.

Until the next faith message…

To be a part of the movement, share your own faith story Here!

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Faith God Still Speaks God's Love God's Voice Healed Jesus Miracle Miracle Obedience Peace of God Prayer Protection Testimony Uncategorized

What’s Your Faith Reference Point?

HI Faith Travelers!

Happy Faith Friday!

Have you ever thought to yourself how you would exercise your faith in an unexpected situation of duress. A moment when you have more month than money and you need an instant miracle just to survive. Or even a circumstance where you are dealing with sickness in your body and the doctors don’t know what to do. These can be situations when you are really trying to grasp at the smallest mustard seed of faith (See Matthew 17:20) just to make it through. In these moments, you have to be able to recall your faith reference point. I know that sounds made up but I am going somewhere with this.

A reference point can be defined as an idea, fact, event, etc., that you already know, which helps you understand or make a judgement about another situation. Let’s reference the word of God for example. In Romans 10:17, the Bible states “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. That means God’s word helps us to grow and strengthen our faith because it reminds us of His promises. When we are ill, we know that Isaiah 53:5 states,” …by His (Jesus) stripes we are healed”. When we are in lack, God’s word reminds us that “…my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” as noted in Philippians 4:19. When we are in danger, we know that “No weapon formed against you shall prosper…” based on Isaiah 54:17. These are all reference points of God’s promises in His word. Our faith is the assurance of hope that these promises are evident and will be executed in our lives based on what we have read and believe. Well it is one thing to believe yet it’s another to experience God’s promise in your life to be a direct witness of what He promised. This stretches and strengthens our faith because we now have a faith reference point of what God has done in our lives, not just what He promised. Therefore a faith reference point helps us to know, understand and recall our faith in different circumstances based on a previous event where faith was executed. What does that mean?

It means…

You know that God heals because you have a faith reference point of when He healed you from cancer.

You know God’s a provider because you have a faith reference point of when He provided rent money right before that eviction and grocery money before starvation when there was no way in sight to pay for either.

You know God’s a protector because you have a faith reference point from when He brought you out of a terrible car accident unharmed without a scratch.

You know God is faithful because you have a faith reference point from when God blessed you with that beautiful baby you and your spouse had been praying and believing for, for years, even when doctors said it wouldn’t happen based on test results.

Throughout this blog I have shared my faith reference points of God being a healer, miracle worker, peace giver, protector and restorer in my life. Today I want to share another faith story on God being a protector.

On October 1, 2017, my friend Shelly and I were enjoying our last day in Las Vegas after a weekend of sightseeing, shopping, bus tours, and an MJ Cirque du Soleil show. After a full day at the Grand Canyon we headed back to our hotel to grab our bags and prepare to head to the airport. I went into the lobby bathroom to wash off some of that Grand Canyon dust before our overnight flight. While I was at the sink next to a young lady, her boyfriend began to call for her from the hall. She was annoyed but I began to feel uneasy for some reason so I started to pack up my stuff to walk out. Before I realized, my friend Shelly ran into the bathroom yelling “Sheena we have to go! They’re shooting!” I didn’t realize it then but I went into shock as I heard the screams, shooting and people running into our hotel from the concert going on down the street. Little did we know there was a mass shooting going on at the Route 91 Harvest music festival, right down the street from the Tropicana Hotel we were staying in and across from the Mandalay Hotel where we were just the night before for the MJ show. Shelly and I ran into a bathroom stall and we could hear the screaming, running and those coming to hide in the bathroom. Shelly went into drill sergeant mode and stated we couldn’t stay in the stall because it wasn’t safe. We made our way out of the lobby bathroom and up to the mezzanine floor in a large storage closet with several others. As time passed the closet began to clear out until it was just us two in there. We began to pray. I said aloud, “Lord, I don’t know how you are going to do it but I know you are going to get us out of here and back home safely.” I had a faith reference point of when God protected me when I was held at gunpoint, years prior, so I knew God would somehow protect us. I messaged our pastor and another minister on social media so they could be praying and Shelly called her dad who spoke with someone at the front desk who said wherever we were in the hotel wasn’t safe and we needed to get to the Casino area because SWAT was on the way and that’s where they wanted everyone. We had already had this unction to move and as soon as we were about to, someone locked eyes with me from a crack in the doorway and out of fear locked us in from the outside. Once they realized we weren’t a threat from our screaming they let us out and told us to get somewhere safe. We left the closet and headed for the escalator to head down to the casino area and that’s when someone opened fire on the Mezzanine floor. We all screamed and ran while tons of people on that floor scattered. Shelly and I ran down the escalator, jumped over and hid under the bar where others were hiding. Shelly stated we couldn’t stay there in case someone wanted to shoot over the bar. We prayed as we came from the bar cover, making a run for the casino area. Once we’d made it, the SWAT team was coming in as we all had to put our hands up while they headed upstairs where someone had been shot.

Actual Footage of SWAT entering Tropicana Hotel after Vegas mass shooting
Source: Youtube Video by KPCC

After an hour or so passed everyone was directed to the back of the hotel while investigations were ongoing for the crime that had now happened in our hotel as well. We were directed to rooms and hallways until the lockdown was cleared. After 3AM, everyone was allowed to go back to their prospective rooms, hotels or leave the hotel all together. Shelly and I left the hotel and had to wave down multiple taxis until one agreed to take us to the airport.

Waiting in back of Tropicana Hotel during investigations after shooting
Vegas Strip Lockdown after Vegas mass shooting

Shelly and I made it back to Florida safe and sound. Shortly after a friend from the news station contacted me about doing a story on what happened and I used the opportunity to share faith in God and the power of prayer. Shelly and I also had the opportunity to share our testimony of God’s protection with our church.

Me on the Local News after 2017 Vegas mass shooting

When it comes to knowing that God is my protector and my refuge, this testimony is one of my faith reference points to always remind me that God is faithful and He is always with us. Take this opportunity to recall your faith reference points to keep you in remembrance of who God is, what He has done, and what He is more than capable of doing again and again.

Until the next faith testimony…

To be a part of the movement, share your own faith story Here!