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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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God’s Promise to You

Hey Faith Travelers!

Happy Faith Friday!

I know it’s been a while but I hope you all have been remaining Faith filled. God has had me focusing on a few different things in the past several months, but I promise you will still see these blog posts as the Holy Spirit leads me to write.

I have noticed that the enemy’s (Satan) tactics in this season include planting seeds of “Doubt” in an attempt to make you forget the promises that God has already made to you in His Word. Promises regarding your health & healing; Promises regarding your peace; Promises regarding your protection; Promises regarding provision, purpose, clarity and so much more.

Recently, I found myself in the midst of a struggle with doubting that God would come through for me regarding a matter. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you have seen how God has moved in my life and the lives of others in mighty and miraculous ways.  So why was I doubting?! One reason is because I’m human and we have to choose and fight daily to keep our minds stayed on Jesus (Isaiah 26:3), while remembering the benefits (Psalms 103: 2-3) of our salvation through Jesus Christ. If or when doubt tries to creep in, there’s no time for self condemnation (Romans 8:1); so if this happens, just refocus and remind yourself of what God says about you and your situation.

In the midst of my struggle with doubt, God whispered the scripture 2Corinthians 1:20 to me. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” Immediately, my thoughts were flooded with the promises of God from His Word.

” For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

2 Corinthians 1:20 NKJV

Let’s break down what this means…

The word “Yes” is a confirmation or an affirmative response.

The word “Amen” means “so be it”, meaning “certainly” or “it is so”.

Therefore when you think of any promise written in God’s word it is already Confirmed, Yes, through Jesus Christ and we therefore say “Amen” to God, as a reference that “it is so” and “certain”, for His glory.

For those of you in the midst of a storm that has you doubting God’s ability to do the impossible, here’s a reminder of His promises that are Yes and Amen.

YES, No weapon formed against you shall prosper, AMEN.

Isaiah 54:17

YES, All things work together for The good of those who love the Lord and are called to His purpose, AMEN.

Romans 8:28

YES, weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning, AMEN.

Psalm 30:5

YES, By Jesus stripes we are healed, AMEN.

Isaiah 53:5

YES, God is able to do exceedingly,abundantly above all we can ask or imagine, AMEN.

Ephesians 3:20

YES, you shall not die, but live to declare the works of the Lord, AMEN.

Psalms 118:17

YES, A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand but it shall NOT come near you, AMEN.

Psalms 91:7

YES, No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling, AMEN.

Psalms 91:10

YES, God has given you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over ALL the power of the enemy (satan) and nothing shall by any means hurt you, AMEN. 

Luke 10:19

YES, for God knows the thoughts that He thinks towards us, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope, AMEN.

Jeremiah 29:11

YES, for with God nothing will be impossible, AMEN.

Luke 1:37

Meditate on these promises, remind yourself who you are in Christ Jesus and never forget God’s promises are true.

Until the next faith message…

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

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Through The Storms of Life

HI Faith Travelers!

By a show of virtually raised hands, how many of you are going through a storm right now? Picture me raising my own hand right along with you.

A storm can be defined as a violent disturbance of the atmosphere; an uproar or controversy; a sudden attack; a direct assault.

If you think of this in the terms of things you may be going through, that violent disturbance of the atmosphere can be sickness in your body. That uproar and controversy can be friction with your family, marriage or relationship. The sudden attack can be on your finances while that direct assault can be blatant unfair treatment towards you at your place of employment. The storm can come in the form of many things, but it’s never about the storm itself, it’s about how you navigate THROUGH the storm. A quote by Charles R. Swindoll states, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” It’s more about how we respond versus what has actually happened to us.

“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”

Charles R. Swindoll

How do you respond to the storm? What’s your attitude, your heart posture; how are you standing in faith to get THROUGH to the other side? I put so much emphasis on the word “Through” because of the meaning and the sheer hope behind the word. Through means “moving in one side and out to the other side of. The other side meaning, healing after sickness, restoration and reconciliation after family or relationship rift, financial breakthrough after a financial drought and recompense after mistreatment.

What does that look like as it relates to the word of God? The bible states in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” This scripture lets us know even when the storms arise and look to be overwhelming, we must first and foremost, Trust God. Trust that whatever the situation is, it’s in no way shape or form bigger than the true and living God. Don’t lean on your own understanding of thinking this issue has the final say or that it won’t end in your favor, trust God who can direct your path through this storm, when you allow Him to by trusting Him over what it looks like. That means walking by faith and not by sight (See II Corinthians 5:7).

Trusting God also looks like Matthew 6:34 MSG where it reads, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes”. God is with you always so no matter the trials, circumstance, or situation, you can count on Him to help you walk through it to the other side.

Now that you are trusting God with that situation, your heart posture has to match by choosing joy and being at peace in the midst of the storm. James 1:2-4 NCV in God’s word says, My brothers and sisters, when you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience. Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do. Then you will be perfect and complete and will have everything you need. Once you decide to choose joy in the midst of the trials, God can then make it joy because of the act of your faith (See Matthew 17:20).

My husband shared this story with me about the time he was driving one of our church leaders out of town to a conference. As soon as he got on the highway ramp towards the destination it started pouring rain to the point he could hardly see the road. He could have pulled over to the side of the road but he knew that was dangerous and could have led to another car hitting them due to lack of visibility. He preservered through the drive and before he knew it he was on the other side of the storm where the sky was clear and sunny with a rainbow reminder of God’s promise (See Genesis 9:13-16). As he looked out the rear view mirror he could see the storm behind him where it was dark, cloudy and pouring rain but coming THROUGH the storm on the other side didn’t look like what he had been through.

On the other side of the storm

That’s what it’s like walking with God through storms and trials. When you trust Him, count it all joy and walk in faith with Him through it, He will bring you out on the other side of victory, where it won’t look like what you’ve been through.

Until the next Faith Story…

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