Because he made you wait longer

I am a mother and love all my children. I never once thought about what would happen if I couldn’t have children. I took it for granted that I would be a mother one day. I remember the one and only time in kindergarten my mother had to come to school immediately. I told my then five-year-old boyfriend that we were going to get married and have five babies but if any of them were boys that they needed to go straight to the garbage. Well, that statement sent an alarm off in my teacher, Ms. Steward. I didn’t even know what I had done wrong. However, my teacher knew something was off with my perspective with boys at five years old. I am happy, at least I understood it was important to be married because my parents were no longer married. However, the enemy was at work setting up his plan even then.

What psychologically would make me feel as though if I had a baby boy he was not as valuable as a girl to me at the tender age of five? I will tell you what. Looking back on my childhood, it was no secret my mom favored my brother over her three daughters. This manifested in diverse ways, for different reasons. But it wasn’t just the favoritism of my brother. It was also how my father managed us as his children, and he was a male once a boy.

We can look in the life of Jacob that worked 14 years for the love of his life and then when he marries her, God closes her womb, and she cannot have children. Years go by and Leah has child after child for him but not with the love of his life, Racheal. I absolutely don’t believe in having favorite children regardless of if they have the same parent or if they have a different parent from the other child. The scripture says,

Genesis 37: 3 Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he had been born to him when he was old. It was because he made you wait longer that your love for it, whatever it is, will be more. You will have a deeper appreciation because you will know if it wasn’t for God doing it, it would have never happened. I want to encourage some parents that are believing God for a child or children. Let us not forget Samson’s parents that were barren. Elizabeth and Sarah gave birth also in their older age. It is never too late for God. He is sovereign and in control. Know that he has collected every tear and recorded your faintest desires through your tears. It’s going to happen!!!

Although, I could have children without any fertility issues, the enemy was trying to crush me in my worth that would make me believe that I couldn’t trust a man. I had to let God heal me from my childhood and abandonment issues from being mishandled. The enemy didn’t want me to become a wife and a mother, but God has made me a wife and a mother and my greatest anointing’s will flow from these two positions. To every woman that has been crushed like me, know God is not done with you yet. Allow him to heal you and finish perfecting those things that concern you while he prepares you for marriage and motherhood.

Proverbs 27:14

Wait on the LORD: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

 

Adam, where are you?

We all know God is omnipresent and omniscient. The definition of omniscient means knows all. The definition of omnipresent means present everywhere at the same time. So, if God coexist in both dimensions and he has entered the garden many times to fellowship with Adam and Eve, why would he suddenly need to ask Adam where are you?

We can all assume that the question wasn’t for God to locate Adam. It was to bring Adam into a place of accountability and for him to give God a true account of where he was. God is still looking for men like Adam to come back into a place of vulnerability and accountability to allow themselves to be naked and not ashamed the way he created the original Adam.

Where was Adam spiritually? Where was Adam emotionally? Where was Adam mentally? Where was Adam with the assignment that God had given him in his purpose? Where was Adam with his accountability for the woman God gave him?

Adam went AWOL, absent without leave. He was still in the garden, but he had abdicated his position and godly authority because he submitted to something lesser. You are a man that is still in your home but emotionally, you have gone AWOL. You have decided the forbidden fruit of adultery, pornography, or fornication is better than living in the restraints of your calling and purpose.

God is still asking men the question today; Adam where are you?

God was looking for Adam and Eve to be accountable and remain naked and not ashamed. God desires for adults today to come back into a place of accountability in our relationships so he can restore the family and our rightful place of our dominion. Let’s see how this conversation begins.

 Genesis 3:9-10 But the LORD God called to Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so, I hid myself.”

 Stop hiding! They were hiding behind fig trees. Others are hiding behind a bottle of alcohol, sex, drugs or even work.

Adam, where are you?

11 And he said, who told thee that thou were naked? Hast, thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12 And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

So many men are still blaming the woman for their lack of accountability. How? Your spouse made you intentionally or unintentionally to feel unappreciated. Some men justify a vice as solace for the lack of disrespect they may feel and turn to a forbidden fruit that manifest in bread eaten in secret.

Adam, where are you?

13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. This vicious cycle continues to plague us today. They both took no responsibility for themselves, and the seed of the woman was left vulnerable. Our men are missing. Our women are left uncovered. Our children are left exposed. The enemy was given the right through the curse to bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. The seed of the woman was given the right to bruise his head, but the enemy is not just bruising the heel of the seed, he is crushing their heads too.

 The enemy is destroying our seed in abortions and so many are left in foster care. We must protect our children because little boys grow up to become men and little girls grow up to become women. However, if the little boy and girl remain crushed from childhood wounds, we will have a generation of adults struggling with arrested development. Thus, resulting in them not being able to manage the weight of their families because of the bruising of their heels and crushing of their head.

When the heel is bruised, it will affect their ability to walk and run in what God has called them too. God wants to heal our families, but it starts with being able to answer the question God asked in the garden before the curse, Adam where are you?

Many women are waiting on their Adam to step into their rightful place of dominion so they can take their place with him. When men get back in their rightful position with God, families will begin to heal. Coach David Burrus said in a podcast interview that when a man finds out who he is then his wife will appear. He said, I am Adam, so I’m here first because whoever I am is going to come out of me not to me. So to every Adam, you are looking for, YOU. The one that God is looking to appear first.

Be encouraged because God gave them a second chance when he gave them another seed, Seth and his son began to call upon the name of the Lord. God is going to give you another chance. Lord, let our men heal so our families can too, in Jesus’ name.

 Genesis 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.

The word on God's dating streets is: GROW

Sesame Street was one of the fondest memories I can remember watching and learning from my childhood. I learned so much. I remember how we had a divider in our home. It divided the living room from our dining room. I would jump on the table, over the couches and over the divider all while singing got to get to sesame street. I had made my own imaginary sesame street. Each week we would get a new word that was on the street. Many are in these dating streets and are listening for a word but are just like I was living in an imaginary place. Some are jumping from one relationship after another not allowing the word to divide between their soul and spirit to bring them to their desired street. They won’t wait on God to renew their strength and give them a word. That word is: Grow.

It’s time to grow. Some have stopped growing. Some have given up on love. Some are playing in these dating streets and getting hurt, disappointed, bitter and frustrated. God knows how to connect the dots and put the missing puzzle pieces together because he promised to lead us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake (psalm 23). Some have let go of mercy and truth’s hands in their relationships. He has given us the strategies in his word and how to order you and your partner’s steps to cause you to meet.

Well just like children as we grow, we must realize we don’t stop growing because we grow up naturally. Michelle Obama said in her book, Becoming, “That this is one of the most useless questions an adult could ask a child. What do you want to be when you grow up? As if growing up is finite. As if at some point you become something and that’s the end.”

I imagine in my own personal life how my purpose partner and my life will come together before the throne, and it is found in part in these scriptures.

In Psalm 85: 10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. 12 Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. 13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

In the inner beauty of the design of who God created us to be, we have never let go of mercy and truth’s hand. We will always bring them together in our lives, so they never let go of each other. Just like we will do with each other, and when we do, know that righteousness and peace are able to kiss each other in our lives.

We will understand that they need to be together, just like we do. I believe when people have a foundation established in mercy and truth in their individual lives, it gets the attention of heaven. It causes righteousness and peace to come together before the throne and kiss. Do you know how to get heaven’s attention to cause God to order your steps and bring you and your purpose partner together? We made righteousness look over the balcony of heaven, to see who was able to make them hold a kiss for so long?

See this is a kiss that will never end because you have degreed that our standard will be mercy and truth. They will be bound about our necks as ornaments and a plow in our hands. They will be the secret to our kiss as well of the story we will tell. This is the place we will forever live tucked safely in our minds between righteousness and peace. They are our keys to the kingdom for us to overcome. 

Righteousness has released Gods orders in our lives for the earth to yield her goodness and increase causing righteousness to become our guide and set us in the way of his steps. He promised that the steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord. This is how we will meet, and this is how God will cause others to meet their purpose partners.

There have been very painful situations in my life and the only way I was not destroyed by the enemy was to not let go of mercy and truth’s hand. I had to continue to grow so God could give me the favor I needed to overcome. So, as you are out here in these dating streets remember to not let bitterness, disappointment and heartbreak cause you to give up and stop you from operating in mercy and truth. Get on God’s Street called grow so you can get the attention of heaven and release that which is good into your lives.

Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: The LORD will give grace and glory: No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Dream again

During our captivity, God promised to turn it and not when we come out of it but while we are in it. God wants you to dream again! I can only imagine our slave ancestors and the days they must have wept for themselves, their children, and the men they loved. I can only imagine the songs they must have sung to encourage themselves while being abused, fearful and destroyed. Many of them were dreaming that one day, things would be different for their generations down the road. All of them did not turn from God because the slave masters twisted the scriptures. God collected their tears and is responding to their blood through our lives. They are our cloud of witnesses that are cheering us on now.

Their blood still has a voice today. I will prove it from Genesis 4:9-12 The LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He answered, “I do not know. Am I supposed to take care of my brother?” Then the LORD said, “Why have you done this terrible thing? Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground, like a voice calling for revenge. Our ancestor’s blood is still crying for revenge. It is still crying for restoration. It is still crying for vindication. It is still crying for restitution and God is going to give to us. If we will cry out to him in intercession for divine restoration. (Isiah 42:22)

As we have overcome generational bloodline curses, God is getting ready to release generational blessings. It is for those that allowed God in their captivity to turn it and they gave birth to a dream. You sowed your tears in a previous season. Now it is our time to enter our season of joy!

Just like God judged Cain, God is going to judge the spiritual enemies of our ancestors. This is the time that God is raising up people in the kingdom to become the answer generationally to their promises. You are the fulfillment of what they never received on the earth. God told Abraham his ancestors would be enslaved for four hundred years. In Genesis 15:16 Then in the fourth generation your descendants shall return here [to Canaan, the land of promise], for the wickedness and guilt of the Amorites is not yet complete (finished).”

I am the fourth generation from my late great grandfather, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. God turned my captivity almost twenty years ago amid my troubled marriage, but I too had to wait like Abraham. God has waited generations to do what he is about to reveal through you and me in this next season. It is the fullness of time. For some, you are still in the middle of your captivity and God is about to allow you to dream again!

God is turning it around NOW!!! It’s time to dream again!!!!

 

Psalm 126:1  When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.

The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Getting through the gutter

The word said David perceived he was King. There was no prophetic announcement this time. God was ready to establish him, and he had to recognize his time to be crowned had come. Do you recognize this is your time to take your kingdom? The first city King David went to conquer was Jerusalem. Let’s see what they said about King David in 2 Samuel 5:6-10 The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.

They were mocking King David by saying that he was so weak that he couldn’t even make it past their blind and lame. Have you ever been in a season in your life the enemy has challenged you mentally, financially, spiritually, physically or even possibly sexually that God can’t give you what he promised you? It’s the inner enemy that is usually bigger than the enemy outside that we must get passed in our hearts and minds. David had to figure out a way to conquer Jerusalem without destroying it.

What are you trying to conquer?

Pastor Keion Henderson shared something profound in a message called Attention to details. God wants you to know in order to conquer your spouse’s heart, you cannot destroy her or him to gain the respect and love you deserve.

Some people don’t even realize that they have violence in their borders in their relationship because they aren’t swinging physically on each other. No, you may not be beating them with your fist, but your words have cut like a knife. Your denial of affection is as cruel as solitary confinement. Your rejection has clipped their wings and thrown them into a cage and locked it where they were once soaring.

David knew he couldn’t do it alone. David told his crew, whoever goes through this gutter will be the chief captain. We know the enemy has told you it is easier to just destroy the relationship and walk away. God wants you to be willing to go through that gutter together and conquer that issue without allowing it to destroy your whole relationship. Promotion is on the other side of this in your relationship.

God gave King David a strategy to conquer Jerusalem. What is your Jerusalem? Sometimes as you humble yourself, it may feel dark, cold and you may feel like at times you are crawling through the gutter to save that relationship. You may not even be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. God wants you to know it is worth it. Jerusalem became the stronghold of King David, and it became the city of David. This relationship will become your stronghold. Your safe place.

The word says in Proverbs 16:32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that rules his spirit than he that taketh a city. Rule your spirit, be slow to anger and honor God in that relationship. Watch God establish you in your sphere of influence. God is going to cause you to overcome that weakness in your relationship if you are willing to not destroy it to get the love and respect you deserve and desire. Remember to humble yourself and submit to one another.

 

Your speech betrays you

I was talking to someone very dear to me yesterday. She reminded me that all her life she has felt like she had to look out for herself without anyone to assist her. I reminded her she had God too. Sometimes before we know he is there; we feel like it’s us doing it all by ourselves. I know she isn’t the only one that has felt this way. I want to encourage you that even Jesus our Lord and Savior needed someone. He needed twelve disciples that were not perfect but were perfect for their assignments.

An apostle is a sent one by God to establish something new. Apostles are pioneers and often builders of a pattern that has not been before. They deal with root issues and uproot systemic issues that come to threaten that pattern they are called to build and establish. Well, Jesus had twelve original apostles and the word says one was a devil. Jesus absolutely could not fulfill his destiny without Peter or Judas.

Who has God showed you is irreplaceable and invaluable to your destiny?

Jesus knew all along that Peter and Judas would betray him at his greatest time of need. Heaven was betting on them and so was Jesus. He absolutely needed Peter and Judas to accomplish his kingdom purposes. We need our Peter and our Judas. No one, absolutely No one could discern from Jesus that he would be betrayed based on his interactions with them. He poured into them and allowed them to grow together. The wheat was growing with the tare until it was harvest time. It wasn’t time yet for Jesus to die.

Some people have asked me as I share my testimony, why didn’t I leave because of the way my late ex-husband was treating me. God had me interceding when I wanted to walk away. I was so broken and at my lowest pregnant with my last son. I remember praying on my washroom floor at 20 years old. I was crying so hard in a fetus position crying my soul out. This prayer came out of nowhere. I asked the father to give me a husband that would love me like Jacob loved Racheal and it was the next part that blew my own mind. I told him I had some issues. These were issues at that time I wasn’t even aware of that had occurred through previous moments of trauma of being dropped emotionally and in other ways.

But God knew.

As I wept, I asked him to allow my future husband to wait on me until I could get myself together. I knew I had ALL of heaven’s attention. Heaven bowed that day to listen to me weep. I didn’t understand the magnitude of that prayer until almost 10 years later when I was pregnant. My late ex-husband let me know the only reason he didn’t leave was because I was pregnant. He shared after leaving that his late stepfather told him to wait at least until I had the baby. In one of my intense days of praying after he left, the Lord reminded me of that day I asked him to wait until I could get myself together. He didn’t love me like Jacob loved Racheal though. God saved my life. My late ex-husband was my Judas. He brought me to my cross into my purpose. God was teaching me how to love like him, to forgive all while preparing me to be the wife I needed to be although I was rejected by him.

The word says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Jesus was getting ready to be crucified and he was about to reveal somethings. Matthew 26:31–35. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Peter did something he didn’t realize he could do but God knew he was about to do. The word says in Jeremiah 9:17 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? The Lord knows it.

The stage was being set for the perfect offense and pressure to cause Peters speech to betray him. It was undeniable that he had been with the Lord. His heart posture and the letter of God’s word was written in his heart. What is your heart posture concerning what God has revealed to you that you cannot deny? How will you respond when you are confronted with the truth? Will you respond like Peter did?

Matthew 29:69 Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”

70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.”

71 And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

72 But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!”

73 And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.”

74 Then he began to curse and swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!”

Maybe you are a man preparing for marriage and you are carrying a lot of weight. You are preparing for your future spouse and at times you are overwhelmed. You may be trying for her to see all you are doing like Jesus was telling his disciples. It was better for him to go so he could send the comforter and prepare a place for us. At times our mate can’t understand the pressure of you being you. Peter couldn’t understand Jesus’s path. But if you communicate and get an understanding it can avoid offense because your speech will betray you. How we respond when we are offended matters. Jesus uses it as an opportunity to reveal Peters heart to himself.

What has God recently showed you about your heart because of an offense?

John Bevere says, Offense is the bait of Satan. Peter was offended that they were associating him with Jesus. Who have you denied 3 times because of offense? There is hope for that relationship. Jesus told him before he did it, that he had prayed for him that the enemy would not be able to cause his faith to fail him.

There is restoration after betrayal when your speech betrays you.

Maybe you are a woman and you have been healed from past trauma and something in your relationship deeply triggered an old trauma? You were offended which triggered an offense in them. You shared your heart, and your relationship was affected causing you to be denied. Peter was able to be quickly restored because Jesus covered him in prayer before he told him it would happen. Can you see past Peter’s offense and cover your spouse? As a spouse can you hear the pain of their past and be compassionate without rejecting them but instead consider the cause of the trigger? Maybe you didn’t respond correctly to the offense like she didn’t because of pain. But Peter, can you consider the impact your actions had on her heart? There is nothing Jesus can’t heal. It didn’t change his purpose or his destiny. The word says with all your getting to get an understanding.

Peter was given an assignment from his betrayal. Jesus told him after he was restored to turn around and restore his brethren. Our commission is the same. We are to grow from every offense and take wisdom and impart it to others. Peter you are going to get everything God promised you.

Repairing the Breaches

I listened to a lot of messages because I love the wisdom of God and I know when I hear the unadulterated word. God is calling us to build the old waste places and repair the breaches. What does this mean in everyday practical living when you are in a relationship or marriage? Jada Edwards taught a message called Marriage on a Mission. This was one of the most practical messages on marriage I have heard in a long time. This was a microphone drop message for me. She said when you want to build intimacy in your marriage, you will cheer your spouse on when they are trying to love you in the way you want to be loved. She said you are not doing it to measure their efforts to see if they are doing an excellent job but because you have a marriage mission mindset. You are acknowledging the EFFORT they are making.

She said if you measure gratitude and encouragement on a scale from 1 to 10, that her husband is a nine and she is a negative four. She said she cannot say thank you enough to appreciate him. She said she really sucks at letting him know how much she appreciates him but tries hard. However, she said if she works hard on any given day to acknowledge his efforts, but she still may miss the two most important things he did, she shifts to a two. She said, if he wants intimacy, he will build a bridge to close that gap between the nine and the two. She said when it is about inspection, your spouse will say, I am over here, and you are still at two. She said, your spouse will always fail to meet the standard that you set for them but if you want intimacy, you will acknowledge how far they have started from.

This message reminded me of when I was previously married. My ex-late husband had already begun to pull away and I could feel the weight of our marriage, the new baby, and my other son now. Then suddenly, God decides to take me under his holy ghost knife. I was in spiritual surgery and grieving my childhood and the mother my mom was not to me, while God was requiring me to become the mother I needed to be with my children. This was so painful.

See, my late ex-husband had a good mom to her children. I was crying a lot but passed my test. My ex-late husband told me I acted like he was beating me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He slowly withdrew altogether from me, driving this cork of rejection deeper and deeper into my heart from my childhood. He told me to just get over it and just be a mother. He had no mercy at all on me. See I didn’t just want more kids, I wanted a family with a husband, and it felt like I just had a new baby and a lot of extra weight.

Sometimes your normal, is someone else’s miracle.

I was taking care of the children, but I was struggling emotionally without the support of my husband. I needed his encouragement and love. At that time, I was working at a place called The Women’s Treatment Center. It was an intervention facility for women on drugs and alcohol for them and their children: a last step before losing them. One morning I was attending a morning staff meeting. The medical director opens the agenda with stating, we want to honor the women in a unique way. She stated the women made it downstairs this week for breakfast with their kids on time. She then proceeds to ask, what should we do for them?

I had wings that day. I flew out of the meeting like Dash, Dash from the movie, The Incredibles. The weight of Gods glory fell on me so strong. I ran and balled in the bathroom. I was crying so hard. I said, God I am not on drugs and alcohol, and I am just as messed up emotionally as them. I was coming to work every day on time and taking the kids to school and was nurturing them. I couldn’t understand why I was going through all that with no honor. I heard God say, I am going to honor you. God was rebuilding those breaches since he wouldn’t share God’s love with me.

My late ex-husband would not build the old waste places and close the breaches in my heart but instead became an inspector. He was adding insult to my injuries. He would not acknowledge where I started from. I was not meeting his standards of a mother because I was weak to him. He did not see that weakness in his mother. Instead of building me up, he was crushing my efforts even more. He was not measuring my efforts and the fact that I was still taking care of the kids and going to work each day while he was cheating. He believed it was something I should just do without any gratitude and encouragement. He had absolutely no mercy on me emotionally or physically because he was comparing me to his mother. And on top pf all of this, he wouldn’t get a job to offer any financial support.

My mother was alive but lived like she was dead raising us and was not present emotionally. My dad’s mom struggled and allowed herself to be abused and her children. My great-grandmother struggled and at one point seriously considered killing herself and her four children. I wanted something different for my generations. I was pressing.

What areas is God calling you to raise up the foundation from many generations? What has your spouse told you was destroyed in their heart from a previous relationship or marriage that you can build a new foundation that was destroyed? Are you willing to repair the breaches? So many are missing building their love legacy and breaking generational curses by failing in the everyday acts of love and kindness in their relationships and marriage. You may ask yourself; how can I do this? It’s a decision.

The word says life and death are in the power of the tongue and they that love it will eat the fruit thereof. Are you repairing the breaches or destroying the paths? When we treat each other right, we not only make love deposits to each other, but others also are able to drink from that well.

David Burress said it like this: “The majority of men feel most loved when they feel heard, seen, valued and appreciated.” So, if your spouse needs you to do these things, understand you are building your foundation and restoring breaches in their hearts for generations to come. Let us break these curses so God can release his blessings in our relationships.

 

Isaiah 58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

Father May !?

Permission from me was not needed, 

Because our Heavenly Father preceded,

us through our tears we both interceded,

I was not an option,

I understood the admission,

because I was the decision. 

 

My heart is in His hand,

like a Spector, a royal diadem,

A weapon of war for Him,

extended on command,

Because your love was on demand,

for a response and a reaction,

Reducing me like a fraction,

to our lowest common denominator,

Our nominator.

As I bowed down,

To a king that was ready for his crown.

As He joined us by his spirit, power and might,

Taking all our wrongs and making them right,

Without my permission,

but in total submission,

Right from the start,

Your words penetrated and broke the hymn of my heart,

Suddenly in one moment our hearts were synced,

As our souls became linked. 

We both recognized and felt the release,

Of His grace, his love and his peace. 

You don’t need my permission,

you have His, because I understand the mission,

because I was never an option, I was always the decision. 

Don't take your father's God's

Jacob decides enough is enough. He is about to sneak his family away from Laban. Laban his father-in-law was a ruthless man. He tricked him and he ended up with the wrong wife in the beginning. He ends up having to work 14 years instead of seven years for the love of his life, Rachel. Laban changes his wages unfairly ten separate times. Jacob was ready to go. He realized that if he did not go the way he did that Laban may take his daughters away from him or worse. Well, Laban pursues him, but God must give him a dream to let him know not to touch him.

If God protected Jacob, he would protect you too. People in your wife’s bloodline have been treacherous but God wants you to know he is in control.

They come face to face and Laban is looking for his idols, his God’s. Jacob tells him he can kill whoever has them if he finds them. Be careful about what you come to an agreement with. God is listening and so is the enemy. He is so confident that no one took them from his family. However, Jacob has no idea the love of his life has stolen the idols and is hiding them.

Jacob had been stuck in a tough situation that was only originally supposed to be a short hide out so his twin would not kill him. He ends up staying twenty years, but God made him a promise to bring him home. This was a prophetic promise not just a desire of Jacob’s.

What has God promised to do for you prophetically that you have been waiting for many years?

This was my challenge. God gave me the faith to ask him for the things my ancestors never received from multiple generations and even back to slavery. I had entered generation warfare. I was laboring like Jacob for what he wanted most. The word says, in Matthew 12:29 Or else how can one enter a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first binds the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. I was in the biggest war of my life in my previous marriage with many generational strongholds in operation and I was contending in faith fighting to bind them to spoil their house. I was fighting to come out of agreement with all the things many of my ancestors did not overcome. I wanted more than anything, everything God had for me and for my generations and those coming behind me and I was willing to suffer for it. For what are you willing to suffer?

Right before they reach the promise, his homeland, Racheal ends up dying in childbirth. Research says it was barely thirty-one miles from the promise. He was so close. God does not want you to fall short of his promises due to partial obedience. He wants you to receive everything he has for you and your generations now and to come. God wants you to enjoy the fullness of the dream he has given you to birth. I was broken but God was breaking my heart for my marriage and family, for the souls that were lost and for the wealth that was stolen generation after generation. It did not feel like God was with me in this hard place. God showed Jacob that he was with him in that place, but he did not know it. God wants you to know he is with you even though it may feel like you are stuck in a difficult situation.

God wants to know will you leave your father’s Gods behind to get what he has for you and your generations?

Do not just get the love of your life or whatever that is that you labored for and come short of receiving everything he has for you. It didn’t cost her then but it cost her later. He is still the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not take your father’s God’s with you. It is time to get your generational promises. It’s too costly.

 

33 So Laban looked in Jacob’s tent, in Leah’s tent, and in the tent where the two slave women stayed, but he did not find his idols. When he left Leah’s tent, he went into Rachel’s tent. 34 Rachel had hidden the idols inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Although Laban looked through us, the tents, he did not find them.

 

The dawning

You are being raised as an anomaly. You have been in the background for a season. God has been building you in secret. He has been purging you and causing you to be rooted and grounded in his love. He wanted to make sure you were ready. You are a record breaker. God is about to do something with you that no one else has done before. Mary was the only virgin that ever gave birth without ever having sex with a man. Moses was the only one that God spoke to from a burning bush. Elijah was the only one that was given a double portion of Elisha’s mantle. Elizabeth was the only one that got filled with the Holy spirit before Jesus’ birth, death or even his resurrection.  Esther was the only one who the King extended his specter to without being called into the court and not yet crowned Queen to be offered up to half the kingdom. John the Baptist was the greatest prophet to ever live.

Jonah was the only one that got swallowed by a whale and lived 3 days in its belly. Noah was the only man that found favor that was extended to his immediate family to survive the flood. Abraham was the only one God asked to offer his son up as a burnt offering. Sarah was the only woman that had a baby at ninety. Samson was the only man that could kill thousands of men with the jawbone of a donkey. Gideon was the only leader that defeated thousands with an army of only 300 men. King David was the only one that defeated a giant with a sling shot.

What has God called you to do that no one else has been called to do?

God is not just fulfilling my prophetic words. He is doing the same for you as well. Many are standing in their final season. My final season started on 3/18/18 and now I entered my finest hour last year. God is starting to send your destiny helpers and the others are coming that are called to your LIGHT. He is making us that light set upon a hill that cannot be hidden. All things are being made new! The new wine is coming, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! The camels are coming! I am standing in my dawn. You are standing in your dawn! The sun is coming up! You are on the brink of your tomorrow.  The sun is coming out!

Isiah 60:1-6

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. 2For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy dawning. 4Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. 5Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. 6The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.

Humiliated in my own eyes

There David was after years and years of running and hiding in caves and fighting battles and realizes he has discovered the secret of the blessing of God’s presence. God’s presence was with the ark of the covenant. David understood that to be blessed he needed God’s presence, and he was willing to be humiliated in his own eyes to get it. Have you ever had to go through something while others looked down on you and persecuted you for being willing to do it to get God’s blessing?

 God promised that if we trust him, we would never be brought to shame. David came back to bless his house but was greeted with disdain. As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter, Michal, watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

How many men have overcome their anger, fear of failures and many other secret battles and the women in their lives don’t see the battles and strength it took to get to this place of accomplishment? She saw one situation and didn’t judge righteously the weight of that moment. Be careful what you see as dishonorable that God counts honorable.

David leaped and danced. You had to endure a season of dishonor when you were being honorable. You fasted and sowed financial offerings when you were not appreciated.  You had to endure something that others felt was humiliating and would have never endured to make a situation right. You had to challenge a religious tradition, a generational curse attached to a giant or a system? You had to appear stripped like David and appear dishonorable before those that you should have been held in honor. You had to make a hard decision that caused you to be vulnerable and brought shame in your life, but you did it with honorable intentions.

 Are you willing to be humiliated in your own eyes to honor God and get the blessings he has for you?

 2 Sam 6:20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

21 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” 23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.”

David knew that it was God that had positioned him, and he wasn’t going to let his wife steal his moment of victory. He didn’t allow her to minimize him after all he had been through to get that place in God. We can not let the enemy through others make us feel like we should walk in shame when God has brought us into a season of victory. She counted him dancing out of his clothes as a weakness, but God saw it as honorable that he was willing to become transparent and vulnerable before the people even if he felt humiliated in his own eyes for God. God is challenging us to not allow the shame of our past, our battles or anyone in our lives to pull us out of this season of victory. To every David that has overcame and been willing to be humiliated in your own eyes to get what God said you could have, I want to say: Thank you. God is going to establish your throne forever like he did King David as you continue to acknowledge and stay a man after God’s own heart.

The picture that I took,

Does not fit in an album or a book,

It is much bigger. 

It lives in my heart and is framed by time and chance,

Defined more than by one moment or a circumstance,

It is protected by the love of God that covers blemishes and mistakes, 

Protected from ripes or breaks,

It is not subject to contortion,

or distortion.

This image was taken the moment you decided to say yes,

To Gods blessing and best.

Not to perfection, 

but to a new direction. 

It cast down imaginations and brought them captive in my mind,

And removed the crinkles and tears that the enemy tried to use to blind, 

Us,

With an image to capture the pain,

But It was developed without blemish or shame,

For the day you overcame,

you became,

The man that chose to love me and give me your last name. 

See this picture does not hang on a wall,

It has been restored and will soon be seen by all,

on display,

Like a fine piece of art that was once hidden and tucked away. 

In this picture, I see forgiveness and grace,

These are the lines that run through your face,

Not wrinkles of time, not sorrow from the tears in your eyes, 

from past mistakes that try to torment you with fears and lies,

But I see the love that defines your days,

because you allowed him to change your ways,

 and you continue to give him the praise. 

You changed the image that forever lives in my heart.

Of a man that I can trust and feel safe from sorrow, 

To share my tomorrow,

forever protected from being destroyed or ever ripped apart,

Because you are a man like David after God’s heart. ❤️

My Toy Story

In life Jesus told us we would have tribulations but to be of good cheer because he has overcome the world. We all have our share of heartbreaks and mistakes but all of us can remember a time in our childhood when we had a favorite toy. Sometimes our heartbreak becomes someone else’s heartbeat and you become the discarded one and the treasure for the next one. As we grow up and develop, we exchange those toys for people in our lives. I want to encourage others to create their own Toy Story and never forget “why” your person was once your favorite. In all the Toy Story movies, we can learn so much as adults from the imagination of a child.

When we stand at the altar, we make a pledge to death do us part. We are promising that no matter what comes or goes, for better or for worse, we will never quit on each other. Jesus tells us that there is no greater love than this that a man lay down his life for his friend. You are their favorite. You can see what they don’t see and that’s how you will see them. You make a commitment to grow together so you never outgrow each other and discard them for someone different. You put away childish things, grow up, and begin to think and understand and process things from an adult’s perspective and not a child. You listen to one another so you can protect your spouse and cover them in prayer from their blind spots when they can’t see.

You always prioritize your lover and make sure they are the smartest one in the room with you and never allow them to be caught off guard. You challenge them to reach beyond their comfort zones to reach new heights and depths in God in faith together. You never make them feel like they are nothing or less than who God said they are. You never come in agreement with Hell with the version of them you see but you pray and encourage them to become a better version of themselves. If they are struggling with a weakness help them get that monkey off their back. Never stop loving them because love never fails.

Don’t make them feel like they don’t have a voice in your life and never make them feel vulnerable and transparent that you are going to get a divorce. Instead, allow God to be glorified in your marriage and learn to have fun and rejoice in Christ facing every challenge. Jesus said he endured the cross, while despising the shame because of the joy set before him.

My Toy Story

Take me to Infinity and beyond and I’ll always make sure your BUZZ stays LIT,

I’ll be the one reminding you we can’t quit,

You’ll always know you’ve got a friend in me,

and you will never lose your sight and can’t see,

See,

You’ll never outgrow me and not want to play,

I’ll always be your favorite boo not your toy,

Because you will be my man and not my boy,

Your name will be tattooed on my heart and not my shoe,

I’ll pull your heart string and let you know you got a snake in your boot,

stay away from her because she’s cute.

And when others walk in the room,

I wont be consumed,

and lay down and pretend like i don’t know what to do,

and no matter who comes or goes,

God knows,

I’ll fix that tare in your arm so you can reach,

and

You’ll never sit on the shelf next to donkey while I preach,

I’ll be the one you can ride,

with and always by your side,

See we will always get passed that monkey,

Cause there is no day,

I pray,

That could make us not care,

Or be able to bare,

Or ever keep us from getting free,

We will always have our own toy story,

and everyday we will find another way to reveal his glory,

and no body will ever be able to steal your voice,

because ill be the one guarding you and we will never get a divorce,

never placed in a bag and given a way,

because I outgrew you on any given day,

because I’m going to get a man not a boy,

and this will be our story,

and God will always get the glory.

Coloring outside the lines

I have learned so much this last year watching my favorite relationship podcast, Dear Future Wifey. Culture teaches us we must have a certain amount of money. We must have a master’s or a PHD in this or that. We must be completely healed. We have to date this long. We must marry a high valued man or woman. Then after we get our person, we discard them like a badly colored picture outside the lines. We are failing in our relationships while investing all our time educated in jobs that are not rewarding and fulfilling. We are fighting political wars and causes that are not on the agenda of heaven. We are investing in things more than ourselves and each other. We must start growing and developing and fighting for our legacy, our families, when souls are the only thing, you can take to heaven with you.

As children one of the first things, we do is learn to color within the lines. I was the youngest of four children. I was the last to go to kindergarten. I was the last to learn what my siblings already knew and one of those things was how to color in the lines. One of the things I admired most about my sister that was a year older than me, was to watch her color. I couldn’t wait to learn how to color inside the lines. However, we live in a culture that to survive in our marriages and our relationships we will have to learn to color outside the lines better.

The American dream and in years past, people got married young. This can be seen as coloring inside the lines of the norms of society. They got married before the baby carriage came. We know that the culture has changed. We now have some two parent homes, and both are working full time to survive, and the kids are being raised by the nanny or the daycare. Our babies are away from us sometimes 10- 12 hours a day and the monotony starts over each day. The woman is working just as long hours as the husband and still required to cook, clean and be the loving homemaker. Now we have so many unwed single parents. Some women have a scarcity mentality and are settling for just having a piece of a man and are sharing him with multiple women. Back then the man worked, and the wife was a stay-at-home mom with the kids. They stayed together but now our families look like bad pictures colored outside the lines.

We need to be okay with our own journey. Will you date or don’t date? Can God put you on preserve and you believe at the right moment like Esther that God will bring you in the kingdom? Are you okay with an arranged marriage like Abraham did for Isaac?

Esther was a virgin. You may not be a natural virgin, or you might be, but you could be a spiritual virgin. Don’t allow culture to cancel your values and kingdom principles. Are you open to finding love in the DM’s? Are you open to finding love in dating apps? Or are you still waiting for that man to walk up to you and ask you for a date? How long will you wait to get engaged? How long will you wait on God to send the right man, or will you shoot your shot as a woman? Or have you given up on men as a woman altogether and have turned to another woman? How many children will you decide to have or not? Will you marry a man that has an education or not and you have a PHD? Will you be a stay-at-home mom or a preacher that travels the world and you are a stay-at-home dad? Will you work together and build the brand together?

Will you have a baby at a late age or adopt one? Everyone has a different coloring book with a different picture. The colors you choose and the way you color your picture is completely unique to your story.

We must be okay coloring outside the lines and what that may look like.

One of my favorite love stories is Jacob and Racheal. Jacob loved Racheal and was willing to work for her for fourteen years. He pressed past what culture would have called him today a simp. What is a simp? A simp is defined as a silly or foolish person. His father-in-law tricks him after slaving for her father and he ends up with the tender-eyed sister, Leah. Then he must work another seven years to get Racheal. Let us stop here everybody. The bible doesn’t say he got her after the verbal agreement. I am going to assume that he had to wait those additional 7 years, totaling 14 years after working twice as hard to get her. How many men today would commit to this type of growing and development to get the love of their life? This is coloring outside the lines.

So, I am encouraging everyone to allow God to create your picture, enjoy your journey and don’t be afraid if your picture appears that you colored outside the lines.

Pursue, overtake and recover all

King David took all the men to fight and left the women and children unprotected. While they were out fighting, the enemy came in to steal, kill and to destroy.

Were you doing everything you knew to do and the enemy still came in?

You may be asking how this relates to you. Well, you are a man that was fighting for your family. You were working two jobs, not making much but busting your butt. You were going back to school and trying to get ahead, but your wife left because you were not making enough money to support the family. You were fighting so hard physically that when it was time to fight emotionally, you were so weak, you did not have the strength to save that marriage and she left.

Get her and your children. For some, God is saying, it is not too late. I know it looks bad because all you see are the ashes. Give him the ashes and he will exchange them for his beauty like he is doing for me. God is a God of restoration and if you are willing to do the work, he will go before you and assist you.

Let us see what happened in King David’s story and his army. When David and his men reached Ziklag three days later, they discovered that the Amalekites had raided the desert hill country. They had attacked Ziklag in David’s absence, burned it, and carried away the women and all the other inhabitants whom David had left behind. None of them were killed, but they were taken captive and carried back toward Amalek.

So David and his men arrived in the burned city and found their wives, daughters, and sons gone, taken captive by the Amalekite raiders. And when they saw this, they cried out and wept aloud until they could weep no more. David’s wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel, were among those carried off.

God wants you to know man of God, if you seek his face, get the strategy you need, he will give you the strength to pursue, overtake and recover all. Don’t give up on your family. For other men, God is challenging you to not give up on love and having a family just because that last relationship didn’t work out. It will be worth your pursuit. Get your family. Go start that family and be willing to begin again. May the Lord strengthen you in your pursuit. The Lord has gone before you into the enemy’s camp. I pray he gives you the strategies to ambush and catch the enemy off guard like he did for King David, his army and like he did for me. Ready, set, GO!

 

Pursue me

Overtake and recover all,

No matter how great or small,

the treasure,

Endeavor, 

to discover, 

Love me as my lover,

Protect me as a brother,

Let your love uncover,

the secret pearls, 

as we merge into each others worlds.

Uncover the places that I protected,

That God intercepted, 

And hid me in adversity,

Now revealing me in diversity.

Pursue me.

And recover,

Everything the enemy said we would never get,

Love me with no regret,

Bet.

All you have that we will last, 

Fast.

Cry.

Die.

Don’t ever lie.

We believe we will always win,

Always be my friend,

Pursue me.

Uncover, discover and recover all that God has secretly revealed, 

Let old wounds be healed,

Let mountains of defeat become plains,

Explore my reigns,

Talk to me,

Tell me you want to be,

My man,

That I can,

Be your wife,

Pursue me.

Let me be the love of your life.

Now and forever,

together.

Pursue me.

Trust me to be your lover, 

Trust I will cover,

You.

Let our souls become one as we live happily ever after, 

facing ever challenge, enduring the cross as we bask in his laughter.

More than Mr. Incredible

The Incredibles is one of my favorite animated movies. It is so much more than a kid’s movie. It is a family movie. We can learn so much from Bob and Helen as they live ordinary lives and yet they live managing the oxymoron that they are superheroes as Mr. Incredibles and Elastgirl. I like to see us all that love the Lord and that are called according to his purposes as superheroes’. We were sent to the earth to answer an emergency, a crisis. The father knew it would exist before time began, before he knit you in your mother’s womb. You were sent as the answer and yet you have been called to work a regular 9 to 5 job or maybe even have your own business. You cannot find joy or purpose in performing your everyday mundane duties. You know you have been called to more.

Sometimes you may feel like Bob. You believe you are held back by your wife and children from doing what you really want to pursue. I’ll never forget the day I stopped my ex-late husband, and I asked him perhaps his calling was to be a great father and a great husband. He told me he was bigger than that. See he wanted to be a famous musician and valued that more than he valued his family. He missed it.

Bob, you don’t have to choose between your family and your dream. You can have them both. While we are saving the world we must remember our families. I am older now but as I was much younger in the Lord, I received many, many prophetic words and all God was going to do for me and through me. I knew I was called to the frontlines unequivocally to do great exploits for the Lord. However, how would I get my superhero powers? It was in my marriage. The Lord let me know if I was not willing to lay my life down for my family first, then I would never lay it down for his kingdom purposes.

My favorite scene in the movie is as follows: The day of their wedding they are out saving the world and she tells Bob not to be late. He tells her he still has time. He ends up being late. Let us see how the scene plays out.

We come to learn that it’s their wedding night, as Helen is not impressed that he’s late; thinking that their last interaction was only playful banter. Bob leans in and mentions her needing to be more flexible, while she seriously tells him that he needs to be more than Mr. Incredible if they want their marriage to work.

Many need deliverance from the impostor syndrome. What is imposter syndrome? The Imposter syndrome is the condition of feeling anxious and not experiencing success internally, despite being high performing in external, objective ways. This condition often results in people feeling like "a fraud" or "a phony" and doubting their abilities. The world sees you in your superhero costume, but you really don’t believe you can be who they believe you are but your powers work for them, but you struggle in your personal life. You almost feel like two different people. Bob was Bob and Mr. Incredible. You are you and Mr. Incredible. But for his marriage to work he could not just be the hero to the world and just Bob to his family. He would need to find harmony and be okay being both just like many of us need to do.

God wants every Helen to know for your marriage to work, you will need to be more flexible like Elastgirl. To every man like Bob, you will need to be more than Mr. Incredible for your marriage to work and God will bring the harmony and unity to bind you together with his power. Be encouraged. Fear not! It is okay to be both. :)

 

Bonnie and Clyde sanctified

Bonnie and Clyde were outlaws. They were straight up gangsters and did not care. They were glorified by the media. I don’t admire them for their criminal acts, but I can’t lie, I loved the fact they were not punks! They did what they did with their whole hearts. So many live half-heartedly and never accomplish anything. They rode together and they died together in their crimes. It was hard for many to even catch them. They showed the world in failure the power of what two could do if they worked together. They had the world wondering what they were going to do next.

They were a couple that was an example of failure. The father wants to change this narrative in so many marriages. He said, if two gather in his name he would be in the mist. There is power in unity. Imagine what Bonnie and Clyde could have done if they had done it with Christ. They were a force to be reckoned with.

God has so much for us, but He wants us to do it his way together and get everything He has for us. There are generational blessings that the Father has waiting for us. He wants to make some of us examples of success of what He can do in the midst of incredible odds and difficult situations. Will you rise up and dare to get everything Christ has promised you? There is room at the cross for every Bonnie and Clyde. Become criminals to HELL and get ready to rob Satan back of everything he stole from you and your generations! For all those like me that have been believing for generational restoration, God is about to release divine restoration and increase. We gone ride until the wheels fall off!

Come on and take a ride,

I’ll be your Bonnie and you’ll be my Clyde,

We gone blow up,

Bang, bang, lite em up, we got something for y’all to post about, while drinking your morning cup, 

We gone always give ‘em something talk about,

If it ain’t our getting up, it’s going be our getting out.

We gone always keep em wondering which direction we gone take,

But don’t they know, we gone always keep it 1000, and never be fake,

Bang bang light ‘em up, here we come,

Don’t they know, they ain’t gone never be able to catch us on the run,

Unpredictable, unforgettable, unconventional, 

Unexplainable, unequivocal multidimensional,

Are only a few ways,

On some days,

They will chant to sing our praise.

Long live Bonnie and Clyde, 

Cause we both came to ride and to die, 

And when they see me, they gone see you,

We gone always leave ‘em wondering what we gone do.

We gone always keep it lit,

We gone ride to the wheels fall off and never quit.

 

Marie's Oscars

What is the purpose of the Oscars?

To recognize and celebrate all aspects of the film industry and the diverse, talented people who make movies. All our lives are played out as movies. Everybody in our lives at various times plays a different role and has a different script. For some, these people have auditioned, and you picked them and for some of us we have allowed God to pick the main characters and supporting actors.

Denzel Washington just made a comment at the Grammy Award this year that his mom taught him. He said after being nominated 9 times and finally winning, she taught him, “Man gives you an award, but God gives you your reward.” I want God’s reward not man’s award. I believe that we should honor people for their roles in our lives. I want to name a few of the movies in my life.

I want to start specifically with my most memorable roles in my life’s movie called, Overcoming on Broken Pieces was from 2000-2005. I had several key supporting actors that encouraged me and supported me emotionally and spiritually. I want to start by saying thank you as always to my mentor, Prophetess Pamela Jones-Kent. She prayed for me and reminded me of my “yes” to pick up my cross and to keep going when my heart was broken in my marriage. She got the Oscar as she watched over my life. She shared she trusted the Lord with my life and he promised her, I would never die lost. I want to thank Dr. Carolyn Champion for all the countless hours I sat in her chair as she reminded me how much God loved me, how pleased he was with me and where she saw me in my future. I want to thank God for my dear friend Sophie Williams that ate with me most days. She helped me get a bank account and a cell phone when my ex-late husband ruined our credit. I want to thank my brother, Herbert Poole who sent me CDs of worship that carried me during that season to the other side. I want to thank my longtime friend, Valerie G. Lowe from Charisma Magazine, for supporting me and allowing God to show her who I was beyond the pain and heartbreak. I am grateful that she stayed true to her assignment without any compromise. I also want to thank Apostle John Zartuche. He prophetically announced my exodus and apostolically declared my positioning at the canal of the Res Sea of my life to get across with my children before my husband walked out. I also must give special thanks to Apostle Donald Garner. Apostle Donald Garner’s prophetic ministry kept me alive like the raven that fed Elijah when my late ex-husband walked out.

My next movie was called, Forgive and Forget was from 2006-2016. This was a time I had to survive after my divorce and move on with the kids and accept my ex-late husband was slowly dying. I want to thank my cousin for the best supporting actor, Kina Miller. When I became a runaway bride, she stepped up to the plate to pay my rent for 4 months with additional funds as needed until I could find a new job. I want to thank Pastor Jamal Miller who stepped up to help me tremendously with my son, Linford Vaughn, III. I am grateful when I wanted to start my blog, Pastor Jamal taught me how to create and maintain it for the first six months as my administrator. I want to thank my spiritual father, Dr. Apostle Matthew Stevenson, III and his wife for their ministry. He got the Oscar for covering me so many times prophetically while announcing my next seasons and teaching me the power of consecration to guard my future. I want to honor and thank my late mom, Beverly Bares, for being an emotional support during one of the most challenging seasons of my life with me with my youngest son. I want to thank Dr. Carolyn Champion and my mentor, Pamela Jones-Kent that encouraged me as a single mom that God had not forgotten about me. They both told me people would fly from all over the world to attend my wedding one day. I thank God for my mentor, Pamela Jones-Kent for giving her the dream of my wedding and praying for it in 2013, when I wasn’t as focused as I needed to be.

My next movie was called, Broken and Beautiful was from 2016-2020. I became laser focused after the conception of my daughter and began to believe God for all the things I gave birth too in my previous marriage. My cousin, Monica Coffey, got the Oscar for best supportive actor. She was there from the beginning with my daughter. I want to thank Katina Daher for giving me a baby shower. I want to thank my supportive friend, Rikki Ray, who took her condominium off the market to make sure I felt supported with my baby girl with additional resources and comfort for one extra year. She also helped me and became an intricate part of helping me start my organization, Ruth’s Vineyard during this time. I want to thank my mentor, who prayed for me the morning of her birth. I want to thank Dr. Carolyn Champion that encouraged me during my pregnancy by sharing that God was going to turn her dad’s heart.

My next movie was called, The Dawning: All things new in 2020-2023. I want to thank Dr. Apostle Matthew Stevenson, III that prophetically declared my season on March 8, 2020. He got the Oscar again for this season of my life. He let everyone know if they did not know me, they would be sorry because of where God was taking me and about to do in my life. I want to thank my cousin, Monica Coffey, who moved in during the pandemic to assist me with my daughter. I want to thank my brother and his wife, Herbert, and Janeen Poole for allowing me to transition and get established when I sold my condominium and purchased my home in Houston, Texas. I also want to thank my brother and my sister-in-law, for all the days he fixed my car, something that broke in my home and other days they watched my daughter. I also want to thank my daughters’ godparents, Mr. LeRon and Wendy Bennet for their endless love and support towards us both. I also want to thank my cousin, Monica, for every plane ticket back to Chicago to visit family and friends, all the extra money and for all her visits when I needed her comfort the most to Houston.

I want to thank my cousin, Kina Miller, for all the money and the credit card to make sure I have everything I need while I am without a job. I also want to thank my dear friends Dr. Kim Mitchell, Audrey Carter, Rena Bryson, and Sophia Williams for their monetary gifts and love and support. Now, a special thanks goes to my friend Kim Cunningham. She found a program that paid my mortgage for the last 8 months and gave me money and has been an additional support to assist my extended family. I also want to thank my mother in the Lord, Sharon A. Frazier, my spiritual Naomi. She changed my life last year on 3/29/23 as she positioned me like Ruth. I am grateful for all the countless hours she calls to encourage me and just to let me share my heart. I also want to thank Apostle Donald Garner again for his prophetic ministry over this past year, declaring and confirming exactly where God is taking me. Last but not least, I want to thank my intercessor and former boss, Ingrid Dieudonne for all her prayers and believing in my dreams and where God is taking me next.

 May the Lord reward you all richly both now and in eternity in Jesus name.

God is connecting the dots

Steve Jobs said, “You cannot connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you must trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” Steve Jobs was the CEO of Apple and Pixar animation. He did a speech at Stanford University in 2005 and shared some profound truths he lived by. These truths helped him in hindsight to connect the dots from his past into his future.

God wants you to know he is about to make it all make sense. The divorce. The loss of the child. The reason you had to move. The heartbreak that you thought was the one. He shares how he dropped out of Reed college after 6 months or so but hung around for another 18 months before he completely quit. He goes on to pose a question. Why did he drop out? He said it started before he was even born.

It’s amazing that he is able to connect the first dot from birth. This is where it started for us all as well. He goes on to share that his biological mother was a young unwed graduate student and decided to put him up for adoption. She felt very strongly that he should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was set for Steve to be adopted by a lawyer and his wife. They decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl and changed their minds.

His parents that were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night that they had an unexpected baby boy and they asked did they want him. They said of course and his biological mother found out that his mother had never graduated from college and that his father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers and only relented a few months later when his parents promised he would go to college. This was his start.

What was your start? Were you placed for adoption because your parents were unwed? Were you placed for adoption because your mom just didn’t want any more children and you were unexpected? Where you conceived out of adultery and placed for adoption? Were you taken out of your family’s home because you were being neglected and abused? No matter what the circumstance, God is about to connect the dots for you.

Steve started college 17 years later as promised and he chose a college that was as expensive as Stanford. All his working-class parents’ savings were being spent for his education and after 6 months he couldn’t see the value in it anymore. Steve said he did not know what he wanted to do with his life but looking back it was one of the best decisions he made in his life.

What decisions did you make in your past that you can say like Steve that was one of the best decisions you made in my life? For me walking away from my oldest son’s father at 20 years old was one of the best decisions I made in my life at that time.

Steve stopped taking the classes he no longer was interested in and began to drop in on courses that did. He no longer had a dorm room nor a meal plan. He began to make small investments into his future of sacrifice still very much uncertain of his next career move. Can you look back at a season in your life and see where your seamless small investments are now paying off big time?

Steve goes on to share how he stumbled into a calligraphy course. He absolutely loved it and had no idea how it would ever have any significance in his life. It began to make sense ten years later when he started designing the first Macintosh computer with beautiful topography. Can you look back and see how something from your past has now become a stable in your life that is now huge and has changed the course of your destiny?

Steve connects the dots by saying if he had never dropped out of college, he would have never dropped in that class and the Macintosh and windows computers would never have had the beautiful topography he implemented into their designs.

If my ex-late husband had not left and our marriage had not ended in divorce, I wouldn’t have the ministry of reconciliation God is about to give me and my next husband for ministry. Some lessons we had to learn else they would have never led us to this moment without them. Get ready, God is about to connect the dots and you are about to clearly see the big picture. It was necessary.

Press towards the high prize

When we apply for a job, you apply with a detailed description of that job. In that description there are always minimum requirements attached. Matter a fact, some jobs won’t even allow you to apply without meeting them. God told us in his word in Romans12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Serving God comes with a minimum requirement. We are supposed to submit our bodies first.

The word tells us many are called but few are chosen. I believe that many are not chosen because God didn’t call them but because they have not answered when he called and have not prepared themselves to be chosen. I’ll take me for example. I’ve gotten many, many prophetic words. Some of these words were so huge in my young mind to conceive as I asked myself how I could possibly accomplish them.

Many in my family like Saul and David’s brothers were afraid of Goliath. However, God knew from David’s birth when others overlooked him that he was that man, all while he was taking care of the sheep. God trusted me with the dream for my family and generations. He allowed my heart to be broken in my marriage to bring me to my knees to face my family bloodline goliaths. What has God called you to defeat in your bloodline?

To others and his own father who didn’t even put him in the lineup, he was not their chosen one, but he was God’s. God wants you to know he knew when it was time for you to step up to the plate to kill your Goliath, you wouldn’t be afraid. You understand the assignment.

You may have even minimized yourself David. God chose you because you were obedient in the ordinary routine everyday things like David. He took that lunch to his brothers, and you didn’t feel like you were bigger than that. He has called you to be a great father and great husband and you didn’t feel like you were bigger than that. It was because when you were broken and crying, you encouraged others when no one else was watching in your DM’s.

David, it’s because you didn’t mind being humiliated in your own eyes to heal out loud so others could see how important it is to worship God. David, you understand that it was God that gave you this position and chose you not man. David, you killed your bear and lion when no one else was watching but you had heavens applause when you didn’t have the crowds. Now God is giving you a new stage for your Goliath. God wants you to do what David did, remember your “why” and that he is with you. You will defeat this enemy with its own sword. The wisdom that you gain while in the enemy’s camp, you will now use against the enemy to destroy his kingdom.

David didn’t count his life but instead understood that the cause was bigger and so was his God. You too have pressed into your high calling to receive your prize. You are forgetting those things which are behind you. You’re reaching for the things that are before you. God is a good father. He gives good gifts, but he doesn’t spoil his kids. God will have the final say. Get ready David, you are about to get the spoils of your wars and your prize with a big bow.

Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Your prize

You have found your prize, 

You have exclusively and uniquely pinned me with your eyes,

And with my love, I will make you rise,

With a stare.

With a thought,

I’m held hostage in your embrace and caught,

in your lair,

I’m rendered and surrendered helpless 

To your mental temple invasion,

because you forgot to factor into the equation,

That once you were in, you wanted to be all in, 

See you also came to conquer and to win,

To soar and to fly,

And I can’t lie.

It’s apparent and inherent,

that I am all yours for the taking,

Make No mistaking, 

You captured my heart with one word,

love.

With unspoken thoughts felt but unheard,

We meet in our dreams,

While we danced on sunbeams,

We lived here for years, in our prayers and tears,

Each day, I lay down to sleep,

I keep you close so I can feel your peace,

in my surrender and release,

to his will.

How can I feel,

you so near,

but you aren’t here, 

but 

One day we will never again be deprived

Or denied

We will nap on the moon and slide down rainbows,

Leave our room and dance on our tippy toes,

To the music we hear in our head,

All while lying in bed.


Forget me not

Come close, ladies! Listen Linda. Listen Linda. I want to tell you a secret Abigail taught me in the word. Abigail was a beast. Yes, she was. Let me tell you what she did. I am about to give you the hood version. David and his men were out in them streets and they basically was just doing their thing and decided we gone do this work and then we gone eat really good. So, David sent his home boys to go knock on Nabal’s door. They came back and told David home boy was crae crae and told them to go somewhere. David was like, let’s go. I got sumpin for all the ninjas. David said, I am about to kill everything that can piss on a wall.

Ladies, lean in. We need to ask God to teach us how to talk to the King in that man like Abigail did.

Now David was in beast mold but sista girl said, let me take a bow. Sometimes we are not the ones wrong, but we have to be willing to cover that man we are with even when he is wrong. She stood in the gap for her house and God brought deliverance swiftly. Abigail was married to a fool. His name meant fool, senseless.

Let’s read what home girl told King David. 23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,

24 And fell at his feet, and said, upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.

25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

26 Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.

28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.

29 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.

30 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;

31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then Forget me not.

David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:

33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with my own hand.

34 For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

Abigail PRESENTED herself. She said, HEY, when the Lord takes care of my situation, I want you to forget me not. Be encouraged and believe God has seen your intercession and how you have been standing in the gap. May the Lord grant us the anointing of Abigail to speak to the King inside of our man, so we are not forgotten. David went back and got that and made her one of his wives.

Forget me not

I reached up far enough this time and I grabbed a star,

I no longer have to wish and wonder where you are, 

You are right here in my face,

In my embrace, 

in the water that I drink,

In the thoughts that I think,

In the moments that make me stretch deeper,

In the steps that I take that are steeper,

In the air that I exhale, 

In the moments I will prevail,

Against everything that could ever stand in our way,

For I have already leaped over walls and ran through troops,

To fight for a love like yours that has me in loops,

Of forget me nots. 

God is calling me to be a stripper and you too

Leonard Ravenhill, said, Everyone wants to be clothed with power but no one wants to be stripped of self.

You may be saying this is not possible. How can you equate a stripper with a calling from God. First let us define the world’s definition of a stripper. A stripper is a person who earns money by taking off their clothes slowly and intimately. I had remarkably close relatives that were strippers. At this time in my life, I just had my first baby and was a struggling college student. I did not even have money for pampers. I remember the day I asked one of them would she give me money just for a bag of pampers and she said no but I will get you a show with us.

 

I turned it down immediately. I figured it out. I knew I was going to stay in school when she dropped out. I knew I wanted to finish school so I could give my son stability. I knew that was a temporary solution that would have taken me down a road further than I was willing to go. I am grateful that I did not become a stripper at that time, but God has called me to be a stripper now.

 

Let me explain. In the garden it says, Genesis 2:25 And the man and his wife were both naked and not ashamed. Since my youth, as young as I can remember, I have always lived like an open book. I am very transparent and willing to be vulnerable. Transparency is as necessary for me to exist as the air that I breathe. Regardless, that this was one of my most challenging seasons as a single mom and I also did not have the support I needed in so many areas of my life, I did not buckle. Now, as an adult and on the other side of my faith standing trial, I understand why God has called me to be a stripper in his kingdom. He originally created Adam and Eve to live in the garden naked and not ashamed. He is calling us to live the same way.

God wants you to be a stripper as well. He wants us to be transparent and vulnerable in our ability to come boldly to his throne of grace to obtain mercy in our time of need. He still wants us to live naked and unashamed. Naked and not ashamed about our weaknesses with Him. Naked and not ashamed about our pain. Naked and not ashamed about our childhood trauma. Naked and unashamed about our brokenness in our marriages and relationships.

Naked and unashamed about our brokenness in our humanity so he can take our weaknesses and empower us. When we come into deeper realms of intimacy with him, we will not be afraid to strip away the fear, the pride, the envy, the bitterness, the mistrust, the doubt, the anger, the adultery, the hatred. God wants you to take it off like a garment that we wear and hide behind like Adam and Eve did when they made fig trees to cover themselves. 

He wants to bring you into new levels of accountability and responsibility so he can bring you back into a place of dominion, power, and rest, but it will require a new level of healing through vulnerability and transparency. God wants to know will you strip yourself for him so he can make you whole and cloth you with his power?