Tag: Protection

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Abide: Staying Connected to GOD in Difficult Seasons

Hi Faith Travelers!

Happy Good Friday & Holy Week!

At this point, I think I can still say Happy New Year, given you haven’t heard from me since December 2024 :-)…

It has taken me quite some time to write this particular post since the beginning of January because, honestly speaking, I have not been exempt from trials in this season. In fact, many I know have also been going through their own set of trials, almost daily, since the start of the new year. But I will say this…God’s word never said we would have a life absent of trials, it did however say that He(God) would be with us through them (See Psalms 23:4).

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Psalms 23:4

Many think when they surrender their life to God and receive the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, that means life miraculously becomes problem free. (* Hits buzzer*… “Wrong!”) Well, your life does get better because you receive eternal life. However, satan, as the little “g” god of this world, will still attempt to attack (See John 10:10) believers to discourage, scare or slow them down from walking in the fullness of who God called them to be and what He has called them to do to advance the Kingdom of God. This is why it is said that this world we live in is a battlefield not a playground. We have to make a daily decision to stand for and on God’s word that gives us the instructions on how to fight back against the attacks of the enemy(satan).

Speaking of trials, let’s talk about 2025. I am sure this has been a peculiar year, so far, for most but God remains faithful through it all no matter what it looks like around us. As we stepped into this new season and era at the beginning of 2025, there is one word that the Lord God keeps reminding me that we all need to take heed to. That word is…ABIDE.

Abide means to remain, continue, obey or dwell. With that said, in 2025 and beyond, we need to remain in the Lord, keeping our connection to Him while continuing to trust and draw closer to the true and living God in every situation like never before. We need to walk in obedience, following the Lord’s instructions quickly and intentionally. And we need to dwell with the Lord just as His word says in Psalms 91:1.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalms 91:1

Why abide, you ask? Because apart from the Lord, we can do nothing. No matter how much you think you know, no matter the number of degrees you possess, how clever or talented you are or even how powerful you think you are on this earth. Apart from Jesus Christ, you can do nothing (See John 15:5). This is why it is important to stay connected and abide in the Lord. Parably speaking, if He is the vine and we are the branches and we are disconnected from Him, that means we are disconnected from the life source; the source of life filled with love, truth, purpose, faith, trust and abundance.

So how do we Abide?…

I am going to share 3 key ways to abide in the Lord…

  1. Learn God’s Ways & Character through Prayer and time in His Word
    • Know that God loves you ( 1 John 4:12-16) and is waiting to hear from you, no matter the circumstance or baggage you are coming with in the moment
      • He leaves the 99 to go after the 1 (If you are that one, He’s waiting for you with open arms- Matthew 18:10-14)
    • Set intentional Daily Prayer time
      • Prayer is just communication with God as if you are talking to a friend or a loving Father. (Matthew 6:5-15)
      • This can be as long as you want or as short as time allows; as many times a day as you like
        • Quote: “I don’t ever pray any longer than twenty minutes, but I never go twenty minutes without praying. ” -Smiths Wigglesworth
        • Your prayer life is not measured in minutes. Prayer is a lifestyle.
      • Understand and trust that the Lord hears your prayers wherever you are, even if you are in the car on the way to work (1 John 5:14-15)
    • Read & Study God’s Word
      • Pray for understanding and God given revelation before reading and studying the word of God so that your interpretation is true & sound
      • If you are new to studying the word of God, start with the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)
  2. Grow your relationship with the Lord (See Previous Blog on Intimacy [Closeness] with God )
    • Spend time in God’s presence
      • Uninterrupted time with the Father (God)
      • This can include prayer, praise and worship or just quiet time listening to the Lord.
    • Have 2-way communication with the Lord
      • Listen twice as long as you pray
      • Write down what you believe the Lord is saying so you can refer back to it to strengthen your trust in hearing God clearly
    • Learn how God speaks to you
      • Through His Word, through dreams, visions, inward knowing, a feeling(“Something told me…”)
      • God is always speaking we just have to listen (John 14:26)
  3. Surrender to living your life for the Lord

When we abide in the Lord, He abides in us; leading, guiding, protecting, and ordering our steps to and through the purpose and plan He has for our lives. When we submit to abiding in the Lord, it doesn’t matter what is going on in the world or how bad things get because we have the God who created the universe on our side. Rest in knowing that.

Until the next faith lesson…

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

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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!

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Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice: Prevention Through Prayer Pt.2

Happy Faith Friday Faith Travelers!

Last week I shared a message on the power of prayer and how through prayer we can prevent Satan’s evil plans to steal, kill and destroy in our lives ( John 10:10).

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

John 10:10 NKJV

It was through the obedience of following the leading of the Holy Spirit ( John 14:26) that prompted me to pray in the middle of the night, unaware that my prayers were moving on behalf of my family,  saving my mom and grandmother from being hurt or killed in a house fire.

If it’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). He doesn’t warn one person and not warn others to pray and intercede to prevent evil situations. It doesn’t even have to be people or events connected to you for you to receive a prompt from the Lord to pray or intercede. The only requirement is to Listen. The more you spend time in God’s Word and in His presence the easier it is to know His voice when He is speaking ( John 10: 2-5, 27). If this topic is intriguing to you, don’t worry, we will discuss intercession and hearing the voice of God more in depth at a later date.

God can use anyone to pray on your behalf. Based on the story I’m about to share with you today, He used my mom. Little did my mom know that when she had the strong unction to start praying over her two children every day for two weeks, she was dispatching God’s army of angels to stop an attack on her own daughter.

In August 2004, I went about my normal daily routine. I left my grandmother’s house at 4am to pick up my mom and take her to work. I left her job a little after 5am with my younger brother in the car and went back to our grandmother’s house to nap and get ready for classes. I went to campus around 9am and stayed there until it was time to pick up my mom. I picked up my mom after 2:30pm and by 4pm I was headed to work at Best Buy, one of my many jobs. This day seemed like any other day as I got off around 10:45pm but on this particular day, I was unaware that I was being watched and followed. As I was driving home, I was on the phone with a friend with one wired earbud in my ear. I pulled up to my grandmother’s house a little after 11pm. a white Intrepid turned on our quite street around the same time and parked two houses down. As I whispered to myself while still on the phone, “I thought those people moved out of that house”, a guy with a white shirt, jean shorts and a dark colored ball cap on comes running out of that white car and up to my parked car placing his gun at my driver window while trying to open the locked door. I immediately went into what I now know was shock. I put both hands up and start saying ” OK OK OK OK OK” because that’s all I could get out of my mouth. My friend on the phone starts saying, “why do you keep saying OK whats wrong with you?”. The guy continued scrunching his face and mumbling something while tapping the gun on the window. My first response was to grab my purse and give it to him. I didn’t care…He could have it at this point!! I unlocked the door and as soon as I did that, the guy did a double take to his right as if he sees something or someone. Meanwhile, there is absolutely no one on my street. He taps the gun on the window again and does another double take that prompts him to run back to his car. In shock, with a full fight or flight response, I pulled out of the driveway and drove behind him laying on my horn trying to wake up the neighborhood. My friend in my ear yells, “what’s going on?!” I screamed, ” I just got held at gun point!” and then I hung up to call the police. I turned off another street after several seconds of my “not thinking clearly” car chase to go back to my house and wait for the police that pulled up shortly afterwards. They asked questions about what happened and I reenacted everything play by play. One of the officers threw me for a loop when they asked, “Are you sure he wanted your purse?”. Not thinking through the question, I replied ” Yes that’s what he wanted and I was about to open the door to give it to him”. Then I said, in my naive 20 year old thinking, “what else would he want?” The two officers looked at each other and said we may be dealing with a predator. They gave me their card and told me to keep a look out and be aware of my surroundings because the suspect may have been watching me for a period of 2 weeks.

I called my mom after the police left to tell her what happened, and her response was “What! Thank you Jesus! God had me praying for the past 2 weeks. I knew it was about my kids but I didn’t know which one so I covered you both in prayer.” Remember how long the police said the suspect might have been watching me…2 weeks! When I told my mom how the guy ran off, she said, “That’s because he probably saw your angels there ready to protect you.”

A few days later an unfortunate article in the newspaper came out stating a Savannah woman had been raped. The description of the guy and his car were the same and that let me know that the guy for certain didn’t want my purse. It was even said that the suspect was suspected to have an incurable STD at the time of his crimes. This guy did a lot of physical and mental damage to a number of women in Georgia and South Carolina while at large, but was fortunately arrested in 2005 and sentenced the following year.

While I am grateful for God’s protection from what could’ve been an even more traumatic series of events. I continue to pray for the healing of those women affected by his actions.

The next time you get a feeling or prompting to pray for someone or about something…Just do it. You never know what lives you can be saving because of it.

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.

1 Timothy 2:1 NLT

Until the next Faith testimony…