Happy Father’s Day! I wrote this blog for all the kings out there that are father’s, husbands, and brothers. May the king in you arise with humility as your armor and a heart surrendered to God. The gentle hugs and whispers that builds up. The one who sees without the robes. He covers without request. Arise young man the time is now as the King prepares His remnant choose Him today. Your wife needs him, your children need him, and the world needs him. Take up your position watch the wall, draw the line, and dispatch the troops. Your adoption to sonship is ready for you, it’s waiting for you.
Will you accept it?
Will you arise?
Will you take your rightful place?
The nations await for the king on the inside of you to rise up. There is so much more in you king a man of honor, integrity, love and a heart surrendered. Arise, your time has come take up your post so your enemy’s scatter! May your enemies be placed in their rightful place in the lake of fire. May your sons be a blessing from generation to generation. May the love of the Father be your example.
Arise, shine for your light has come, the glory of the Lord rises upon you. Isaiah 60:1 NIV
The time has finally come Effort Ministries is launching a virtual vacation bible school – Effort VBS. I believe this seed was planted by the Lord about 8 years ago during a time of fasting and prayer. I added the vision to my vision board and kind of forgot about it. About 4 years later, I remembered about it and told a friend that I’ll start working on it over the summer. Out of the kindness of her heart she said can I sow a seed into this ministry and reluctantly I agreed. Hindsight is such a beautiful thing because who would have known that the seed she planted, and the thought of that conversation was the encouragement I needed to keep moving forward. My prayer is that my friend reaps a hundred-fold because she has no idea what that meant to me. Every time the enemy tried to tell me I wasn’t good enough, the Lord refreshed, encouraged and reminded me of who I am in Him. At the end of the day, Effort VBS doesn’t belong to me and Jesus can do whatever He wants with Effort Ministries. This is very new ground but I’m ecstatic because the seeds that will be planted in these children and families will last for eternity. Targeting the unchurched to an invitation that can be the starting point of a generational shift in their bloodline. The time has come no more waiting around let’s go out and make disciples. If you’re interested in supporting Effort Ministries, click hereyou’ll be directed to our fundraising PayPal account to accept donations.
Have you ever just been fed up? I mean really fed up to the point where you knew something had to change today? Let’s talk about it and if you’ve never gotten to this point hear me out.
I’m currently studying Revelation in the Bible, and it’s been really life changing, opening my eyes to the things that are to come. My first takeaway from the study of Revelation is there are only 2 choices we get to choose from, choose Jesus or choose God’s wrath toward unbelievers vs. choosing satan and his wrath toward believers. Just to make this clear there are only 2 kingdoms, no gray area your either on one side or the other it’s that simple. My second takeaway is how much God hates sin. Sin is sin whether you think its big or small it doesn’t matter God is Holy and hates sin. My third takeaway is that worship is on point in heaven there are so many verses in Revelation that can be used to worship God. My fourth takeaway is the imagery of the throne room the picture John places in my head just so beautiful. My fifth takeaway is the Grace of God and the opportunities He gives us to get it right. His grace is mind-blowing because of the depth of love He has for us. Fast forward to the end believers win and inhabitants of the earth will either spend eternity with Jesus serving God or get thrown into the lake of fire. That’s a high-level overview because I’m only on Chap 13 so there is still more to learn and more to come.
I provided some history because I now have a new passion and a new hatred for sin because of all the destruction it has caused my life and the lives of people especially those I know. I hate that sin even exists and I hate all the havoc the enemy cause in our lives because of sin. I’m sick of not seeing myself the way God sees me. I’m not able to forgive others for sins but I have a Savior that willing, and his name is Jesus. If you don’t know Jesus and check out this blog Steps to Salvation.
What I am about to say is for my brothers and sister in Christ the time has come. It’s time to take back our households and tell the enemy that your spouse and children belongs to the Lord. “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15). Satan, back up and get out of my home, my finances, my marriage, my businesses, my ministry etc. Take deceit, division, chaos, and strife with you. You no longer have permission to operate here, I come out of agreement with you and your minions. Holy Spirit, I welcome your presence into these areas of my life bring peace, joy, provision, order etc. Ask the Holy Spirit how to pray specifically for your situation, for the individuals in home and guide you on how to anoint your home. Lord God Almighty who is strong and mighty with just one swoop of His right hand he could take anything or anyone out. With just one word from His mouth, it’s done. “Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!” (Psalm 74:11)
It’s time, the time is now. Reading Revelation has made me see that I don’t want anything to do with God’s wrath or have anyone that I know experience it. As I would say growing up in New York City you don’t want the smoke that coming in these last days with God’s judgement for those who have not accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. During the end time, I need the right mark as God’s child to be able to withstand what’s to come. I’ve since laid my life down at his feet in full surrender to do what He wants to accomplish here on earth through me. So, I urge you family the time is now to draw close. His presence is everything.
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.” (James 4:7-9)
About 13 years ago someone asked me a question while I waited for the train it wasn’t a long conversation it was very simple. Do you know Jesus? Would you like to know him? A simple invitation into my heart and that prayer put my life on a different trajectory. For we all have sinned and fall short of where God wants us to be. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NIV). But God in all his graciousness loved us before we could even truly love ourselves. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NIV). Loving us so much that He’s given us the gift of eternal life with Him. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NIV). So If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11). It’s that simple confess that you’re a sinner and believe that He died and was resurrected for you to be saved and your sins forgiven and once you’ve open your mouth and progress your faith you’ll be saved. If you’ve never professed faith welcome to the family. Heaven is having a huge celebration because you’ve come home. Next steps get into a local church, get baptized in water, read the bible and pray daily.
Welcome to 2025! I’m so glad to have the opportunity to write this post. So grateful that 2024 is behind me, but at the same time so much growth has happened during that time. I’m forever grateful for 2024. Now let talk about it.
Have you ever thought I know I should be doing something but I’m not because I’m not sure or are afraid to even attempt something new? I was there for way too long and that’s one of the reasons I decided to write about it. In 2024, the Lord had revealed to me that the spirit of fear was oppressing me. It had taken root as a child but I never really dealt with my childhood trauma, it was just there. As a Christian, the word reminds us that God has not given us a spirit of fear. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV). Also, being mindful that fear is a feeling so if you feel fear but can push through it and do the will of God then that’s the feeling. If you feel fear and it hinders you from moving forward in life to do the will of God. For example, turn down opportunities, quit because of how it might turn out, panic attacks etc. the list is long then its most likely the spirit of fear.
Here are some examples of things that I have done that in hindsight I see was the enemy hindering God’s will for my life. I stop writing and blogging because the results were not as I expected, and I did not feel like I was good enough. Also, I was afraid of what others might say. The thought of having to tell a demon to get out my house was terrifying. I would be so concerned about what might happen to my kids that it was hard to just be at peace. Peace has been robbed from me for most of my life. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27 NIV). Believers in Christ have the Holy Spirit and we should live with the fruits of the Spirit which one is peace.
Just to note I had no idea that the spirit of fear has taken such deep root because I lacked the knowledge and understanding of spiritual things. Let’s dive into how it started. My friend held a book study on Deliverance and Spiritual Warfare Manual: A Comprehensive Guide to Living Free by John Eckhardt and initially I didn’t see the need to learn but was intrigued. It was during this time that I realized I was really apart of a war. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). My walk with Jesus got real at this moment not even kidding because the enemy was throwing everything at me to get me back into agreement with him but NO not anymore. I knew too much and too much is at stake this is our destiny were talking about. Fast forward on how I got free, I could really sum this up in one verse “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). After reading the spiritual warfare book, I learned the importance of the authority I walk in as a believer and binding and loosing. Jesus says “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18). For weeks, I prayed I bind up fear and loose faith in the name of Jesus. Every time I would feel scared or fearful of anything I would do it over and over again. Then one day the Lord delivered me from the spirit of fear. I was able to hold conversations I would have never, do new things that used to be scary and take on additional responsibility that I would have said no to before.
To get to a place realizing that some of the feeling I’ve felt in my life were not really mine but were influenced by demonic forces drove me to become so angry of how I was being taken advantage of. This launched my freedom journey that I’ll share in future blogs. I share this because I don’t want anyone living in bondage because of the lies they’ve believed freedom is available and it’s up to you to choose whether you’ll take what’s rightfully yours.
If your being crippled by fear and don’t know why or what to do. The first step is accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior because He’s the only one that can free you for it. The ABC’s of salvation is easy Admit that you’re a sinner and need a savior. Believe that Jesus died and was resurrected on the third day to forgive you for your sins and lastly Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and invite Him into your heart. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Second step, renounce any lie you’ve ever believed from the spirit of fear and then command the spirit of fear to come out in Jesus name. Always remember that the person that delivers is Jesus Christ so give him all the praise and glory when he sets you free whether it is instantaneously, in a few day or weeks. My prayer is that you’ll be set free and fear will have to bow at the name of Jesus.
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). Until next time be blessed!
Have you ever wondered if the way you live impacts your ability to be saved by God? Are you irredeemable because you’ve gone too far and wide? Thinking God could never forgive your sins because they’re unforgivable. I’ll have to disagree with you because I too use to think this way before Jesus saved me from myself. I now see God differently not because of anything I’ve done but through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Growing up, I did not go to church, read the bible or have a religious upbringing. In the summer, my grandma would send my cousins and I across the street for Vacation Bible School. I thought it was just to get us from hanging around outside playing games. We hated every minute of it but I believe the Lord used Vacation Bible School to plant seeds into our soul. From that moment on I always thought church was about following rules dressing or acting a certain way. Knowing and memorizing the scripture and only being able to be around the church community. At the time, I was too young to understand. Those religious thoughts did follow me to adulthood until God showed up and showed me something different. The story on how I was randomly saved one day is available on the Saved by Grace blog.
Before I was saved, I use to think the things I’ve done were not forgivable and that God was always judging me and wanted to bring his wrath and judgement down on me because of my choices. Recently, I read 2 Chronicles 30: 17-20 NIV.
17 Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs[a] to the Lord. 18 Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone 19 who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” 20 And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
The people were not walking in the ways of the Lord and Hezekiah being the good king at that time, was restoring the people back to the ways of the Lord. This was the first Passover they had in a while. I immediately thought the people were not going to be able to be apart of Passover since most had not consecrated themselves. But Hezekiah prayed that the Lord would pardon those who sets their hearts on God but were not clean by sanctuary rules. And God in all his graciousness healed the people. He could have been angry and had the earth swallow them up but God pardoned the people and healed them. I could not help but notice His compassion toward us even though we mess up so many times. He is willing to forgive us. Also, that God changes his mind.
Throughout the Old Testament, I see God over and over again bringing judgement to His people because they refused to acknowledge and seek Him. God continually found ways to redeem His people, eventually sending His son Jesus down to earth to save us all. We are now all able to be saved. Romans 10:9-10 says
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
The Lord is just so beautiful, and I truly don’t know another like Him. I say all this to say that regardless of what you’ve done you’re not irredeemable or unforgivable there is nothing God can’t forgive unless you willingly decide to reject him and not accept Him as Lord and Savior. I don’t want that for anyone. Once we accept Him into our hearts as Lord and Savior and are baptized in water we receive the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all truth and from there is where my life started to change. Be blessed and have a great week!
I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love seeing other people in love, being in love and just the concept of being loved and loving someone. It’s just so beautiful. I recently saw Redeeming Love on Amazon Prime and I must say the production did a great job creating a visual image of what it may have been like for the minor prophet Hosea marrying a prostitute. It’s not the same but you can tell it was inspired by the minor prophet Hosea account. The thought of loving someone that’s incapable of loving you back breaks my heart. It also gives us an image of ourselves, all God does is love us and want us to love Him too. We’re incapable of love unless we know Christ because we are only able to love because he first loved us. “We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 NIV. Love only exists because we’re loved by our heavenly Father.
If you plan on watching, get your tissues ready and note that some scenes may be inappropriate. With it being Valentine’s Day, this is a romance film to watch with your significant other if you just want to spend some down time together skipping the long wait times at restaurants. I pray that your Valentine’s Day is filled with love, peace, and lots of romance. Be blessed and have a great day!
I know I’m late but Happy New Year! I hope you’ve had a great 2022 and if not I’m grateful you’re here today. “Today is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it” Psalm 118:24 NIV. Be encouraged that if you’re still here there is still work for you to do on this earth. The Lord has put a plan and a purpose in each of everyone of us. It’s up to us to seek Him to find out what He wants us to do.
How do you seek Him you ask? It’s fairly simple through prayer, opening the bible and reading it. That’s it just finding time in the day and dedicate it to spending time with God. I pray that have a great day! Be blessed.
Continued……the tour of the French and Dutch side was amazing and real life for me. There was evidence of poverty, but the people seem content. Based on the information provided to me from the tour guide I should have probably verified this before posting but 90% of the money on the island comes from tourism. All their grocery stores are owned by the Chinese and there is a lot of damaged property due to hurricane Irma. From my eyes, I though even with all that it was still beautiful, and the port was awesome one of my favorites (lots of stores and different varieties). I’ll visit again if the opportunity presents itself.
The next stop was St. Kitts, we did not get to tour too much of the island on our own because the port was small, and our excursion was for most of the port time. We did Jeep off roading in the mountains stopping at a local beach for 2 hours which was awesome. Lots of animals and beautiful views from the peaks of the mountain. Watching people playing in the water and snorkel at the beach was peaceful while I absorbed all the rays from the sun. A local placed a monkey on our heads without our permission and initially it was very scary. The monkey was calm and kissed my ear which helped me calm down a bit. I didn’t realize at the moment, that the monkey experience will be as memorable for both of us. Once back on the ship, we spent the rest of the day getting to know our dinner mates in the hot tub.
Our next stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico but everything was closed upon arrival which was not good because it was a short day. We found a tour guide at the port that offered us a tour of the island for $20 so we agreed. That was God’s favor because none of our dinner mate were able to see the island in that timeframe. We finished the tour by going shopping and buying our kids nice souvenirs.
Our final port was Turks & Caicos, honestly I can’t describe the beach there but please visit if the opportunity ever presents itself. It was absolutely beautiful, how can anyone see these things and deny God’s existence. He was present in the water, sand, people, marine life, sun and everywhere else. God is our Creator and has the best paintings that a canvas does no justice. Our excursion in Turks & Caicos was snorkeling, which was my attempt at being a supportive wife because my husband can swim, and I can’t. I almost did not go because I was nervous. After getting on the boat the peace of God rested on me and then something amazing happened. We saw a whale, it was so beautiful and came up out the water to meet us, it was so quick that I did not have enough time to snap a picture. Memorable, this was my first time ever seeing a whale, our dinner mates went whale watching and did not get to see any whales. If that is not God’s favor than I don’t know what is, apart of me felt like I did not deserve all this favor He was pouring out it was overwhelming. The time has come to get into the water and learning to breathe only through my mouth was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I was dressed to the tee facemask, flippers, life jacket and for extra precaution a noodle to stay afloat in the water. The water was a bit rough out there in the middle of the ocean, the color of the water is a blue I don’t think we’ve been able to duplicate anywhere else. The snorkeling spot was right beside a very deep drop off, after much encouragement I put my face in the water and saw Dory from Finding Nemo for the first time. I stepped out in faith and let go of the noodle and started snorkeling around not too far from the boat.
It was one of the most liberating things I’ve done in a long time. It’s even encouraged me to get swimming lessons this summer at my local YMCA. Once we got back to shore, we decided to visit a local restaurant on the beach and the food was suppose to be good. The beach was just so warm and soothing to my mind, body and soul that I did not want to leave. I could have stayed in Turks and Caicos and worked from home looking at the beach every day. The thought of leaving that port and the trip ending soon was such a sad moment for me because its been a long time since I’ve felt so much at peace and had so much fun. I decided going forward to take better care of my wellbeing especially my mind and let my hair down more often. We spent the rest of the days with our dinner mates getting to know them and planning our next cruise together as a group. I’m really looking forward to it. We won a bottle of champagne by participating in a marriage contest which was so out of our comfort zone. The thought that we were able to go on this trip and pay cash for everything, have an amazing time, meet some awesome people, receive awesome customer service, feel safe and comforted in the arms of the Lord was blissful.
This trip changed my perspective on how much God loves, protects, guides, favors, and thinks through all the details ahead of time. In complete awe of his goodness. It reminds me of his word. Psalm 139:2 “You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar”. Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”. May the stories of our lives be read from the book of life and may God’s will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. We made it back home safely and I was so grateful for the entire experience. I pray that if you are in need of rest and peace that you seek the Source. It’s truly the only place real peace comes from, regardless of your situation. May the peace of God that surpasses all understanding rest on your heart and mind in Jesus name. Have a blessed week.
Is it just me or is it amazing when we can see with our own eyes God’s favor, His splendor and His protection in real time? After a year of planning, my husband and I had the opportunity to get away for our ten year wedding anniversary. Upon my return I shared some of my personal experience with my husband and he suggested that I write about it. My husband perspective was different than mine so, I’ve been working on what to say with words for a few months now. It takes time for me to gather my thoughts together. As I type these words in my local Starbucks, I’m overwhelmed just knowing that He is here helping me craft these words for you.
Anyway, on to the recap of my vacation, First, we were able to get a rental very last minute to drive to the port. My husband wanted to be fancy with a convertible, but upon arrival none were available. I’m very thankful for that please don’t share that with him. The thought of being hit in the face with wind and other things on the Florida highways I’ll pass. They substituted the convertible with an SUV without having to pay anything additional. We got to the port with plenty of time surprisingly very little traffic which is unheard of most days. We boarded our cruise ship safely; our room was clean and to our surprise had 2 bathrooms. That night at dinner we met our dinner mates having no idea we’ll meet up with the same couples every night they are all awesome. It was evident that His favor was present. Everything up to this point was great, just seeing the sun rising and sitting in quiet in the middle of the ocean is just so beautiful. Looking up at the stars at night, my words do the images in my head no justice. I could not help but see God in everything. His peace was over in abundance. We spent the first few days at sea and ported on the 4th day with the first stop being St. Maarten, the Dutch side. We booked an excursion ahead if time that tours both the French and Dutch side in the land and sea.
Before it was time for the excursion, we decided to explore the island and do some shopping. We got some coconut water, bought some gifts for our family and got plenty of steps in. During our walk, we arrived at the local courthouse and while taking selfie’s a guy asks if we just arrived on the cruise ship. He says he asked because they just opened a new hotel and are looking for Americans to advertise the new hotel in the state. Then he hands us a flyer for a chance to win $500 and other prizes all we’ll need to do is scratch off this postcard to see if we won. I start scratching and it looks like I’m about to win and he says no that one is not working well and gives me a new one. I knew from when this man approached us something was off. Long story short, we didn’t win the scratch off but he then invites us to visit the hotel, claiming there is a car waiting on the next street to take us there and back. Too many red flags and the thought of the movie Taken. My husband being the awesome person he is says sorry we must get back to our ship for an excursion, stopping all conversation with him and we walk away.
I’m so grateful, so grateful for God’s protection and the fact that we weren’t born yesterday. Bring raised in the inner city does have its perks. Stay tuned for part 2, this Thursday 6/9.
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