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Sometimes you have to go down before you can go up:

Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. James 1:9-10

There are times when we as believers will have to go down before going up. The above scriptures talk about various circumstances as believers where one brother is in a humbling circumstance and how that person ought to rejoice because the next step will be for him to be exalted.

The other brother is rich and he should also rejoice because he will be made low. In this world that we live in, the humbling experience is often despised, while the season of richness and fulness is celebrated, but in the kingdom of God we ought to celebrate both circumstances because both circumstances are necessary. The humbling experience is necessary to produce the humility that we will need in our season of fullness. The richness is necessary to give us faith for something to look forward to while in our seasons of humbling circumstance. Both of these seasons are necessary as believers and produce the fruit of depending on and acknowledging God in every season whether up or down abounding or in abasement. Apostle Paul said that he learned how to live in both seasons and that is how through the process of humility and exaltation. Whatever season that we may be in our process in life, we can be sure that God is faithful to provide the strength and grace for us to go on to the next season.

I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:12
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

We have to become as children as Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 18 when they are debating among themselves who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God. Basically, Jesus interrupts their train of thought causing them not to focus on being the greatest as they understand, but being like a child who knows that he must depend on his parents for everything just as we must depend on the Lord the author and finisher of our faith. When we get lifted up in pride, and decide to go after vain-glory, and our perspectives shifts to that of the world and this carnal nature, that is when we can begin to rejoice knowing that God will allow humbling circumstances to come and shift our perspective to that of a child who looks up to his God who made him as children look to their parents who made them and are greater than them.

Even Jesus the head of the body of Christ humbled himself as a man finding himself in the fashion of a man although he was God in the flesh. Afterward, he was highly exalted above all that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow and every month confess that he is Lord (Philippians 2:5-9).

If you are in a humbling circumstance right now, get happy because God will next begin to exalt you. Sometimes, when God exalts us, it’s hard to remember the pain of the humbling experience that we had to go through to get there because God has done such a great work.

That’s how the Lord does. He gives us beauty for ashes and restores the joy of those who place their trust in him. So, be encouraged as you ride the waves of life going up and also going down.

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It’s easier said than done to refrain from our way of doing things trusting God, but the result is so worth it:

Giving up our way of doing things is easier said than done. We try over and over again to bring things to pass on our own ignoring the need to rest in God allowing his promises to simply come to pass. When we are do things according to our own understanding, we try, work, toil, and do various different things on our own to bring things to pass that are already given to us and promised to us.

When we choose to put our trust in the Lord though it doesn’t make any sense to us, God always comes through and provides.

Recently, I’ve been meditating on the story of Issac and Abraham when Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son. It took faith and a putting off of his own understanding to get his son of promise. We all know that Abraham was old approximately 99 when he had his child Issac. His natural situation along with his wife’s was pretty much dead. There would be no producing of a child without the supernatural intervention of God.

Similar to many of our situations: Some of our situations are dead. We have tried all types of things to produce God’s promise in our lives on our own to no avail. When we get tired of doing things our way and decide to rest in God’s covenant and just obey him even when it doesn’t make good sense, we can expect God to move on our behalf.

Abraham is a man in the Bible marked by faith. The Bible says when God first told Abraham about a child of promise, he believed. Abraham’s faith and trust grew more in the Lord and he was finally granted his son. Now that he had gotten that thing that he had so patiently waited on. It was time for a test. Abraham, “Do you still love me more than anything? Are you still willing to obey me more than anything now that you have gotten your promise?”

God tests Abraham asking him to sacrifice his son. Abraham again responds in faith knowing God’s character he trusts the Lord all the way saying that God will provide a sacrifice and my son and I will come back (Genesis 22:5). He gets everything ready to sacrifice his son and an angel from heaven yells stop, do not harm the boy. God says, “Now I know you still fear me (reverence me, hold me in high esteem) because you have not held back your son your only son.

That thing that was most precious to Abraham that he had believed God for, God wanted Abraham to not get so caught up in it that he would forget and no longer reverence the Lord. After God was able to see that Abraham was still willing to honor and obey God despite the promise he provided Abraham with more.

The whole ordeal ends with Abraham saying that God will provide. The reality is God will provide everything that he has promised us. That is his character and who he is. He keeps his word, but he wants more importantly to fellowship with us which can only be done when we reverence him. He wanted to make sure he still had Abraham’s heart after the gift had been given, and it was so.

When we are willing to let go from our way of doing things and rest in God following and trusting closely in him, we too will experience seeing God’s fulfilling of his promises in our lives and that along with a deeper intimacy and faith toward the Lord like Abraham.

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The Scarcity of Godly Men and Women and how it Hurts the Ability for Healthy Relationships:

There is a perceived scarcity of godly men and women due to many men and women of God being separated, but despite the perceived scarcity the providence and ability of God is much greater than any perceived scarcity.

My friend and I were talking this weekend about why guys sometimes operate the way that they do. I proposed the lack of teaching, guidance, and direction in the church for how a man is to pursue a woman as well as the perceived scarcity of mature Christian men and women. She agreed. She said that guys will pick girls like flowers and put them in a basket as he peeps the field for the best flowers. Either he finds a flower that he thinks is better or if not he goes back to his basket and picks one from there.

My response was that’s cool as long as he isn’t leading on every girl in his basket because the ones that aren’t chosen will have to deal with rejection, and fear of not being good enough or pretty enough. These are all distractions from being the confident woman that God desires for us to be.

This is just my take and I am not an expert just a young woman learning and growing. I feel that there has been within some circles a since of scarcity for mature Christian men and women of God. Therefore, when a guy who may be somewhat mature sees a beautiful mature woman of God, he feels he’s got to jump right on her locking her down before the next dude gets to her, but the problem with this is once the guy gets her interest and realizes he isn’t ready for such a big commitment, he freezes up and falls back.

This could be a good thing if the brother realized that he was moving on his own accord and not by the leading of God. In that sense, he has prevented some heartache, and yet caused some as well. However, with the grace and love of God, mutual respect and understanding communication this can be overcome.

This is why my take would be to just be friends as much as possible checking one another out, but keeping it to ourselves until we are serious and sure that we want to pursue a relationship that pleases and honors God. In this way the girls emotions are protected because the gentleman and woman together have set appropriate expectations. Also, it isn’t fair to just get with somebody because we feel they are the only man or woman of God out there. In that case, we may find ourselves settling for someone God doesn’t have for us, or ignoring serious issues to have someone.

This is why I love the below scripture that implies that there is a need to be full of good things to make a good decision instead of making a decision out of famine:

One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet. Proverbs 27:7

The person who makes the choice for a relationship out of famine or lack, may not make the best choice.

This is why I believe God is bringing me into more fellowship with appropriate and godly men as well as women to balance out the skewed perceptions that we so easily get by seeing negative men or women on a consistent basis. This also helps us to be more laid back and relaxed about God’s will concerning the spouse that he may have promised some of us because our faith becomes strengthened seeing that it is possible to have appropriate interactions with the opposite sex.

I pray that single believers including myself would become so full off of the love of God, healthy, pure, and non compromising relationships with the opposite sex preferably in group settings that a mate choice is not made out of desperation or famine, but the wisdom, providence, and divine leading of the Lord. This will prevent some of the emotional roller coasters and help us to protect our hearts while we wait for God’s best and despite what you have been through, you are worthy of God’s best. God made each one of us the answer to someone’s prayers and worthy to receive love.

Instead of viewing godly persons of the opposite sex as a scarcity, we should view them as a rarity meaning uncommon, highly-prized, and rare. Scarcity implies nearly non-existent or not enough, when rarity implies existence that is hidden due to it’s high value. That’s who we are.

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Are you willing to lose your life for God’s Best?

Are you willing to lose your life for God’s Best

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. Luke 9:24

What if we could hinder our own blessings by trying to do things our own way? What if singles could delay God’s best for them by trying to fabricate God’s best for them on their own? Worrying, not trusting God, but trusting only what we see. All of these things can be a hindrance to the working of the miraculous in our lives.

Recently, I’ve been reading about Esther, one of my favorite persons from the Bible. I was passionately moved as I meditated on Chapter 5 when her uncle Mordecai shared the plot of Haman to destroy all of the Jewish people. She responded with the obvious at first saying, “Well if I go before the king unannounced everyone knows that it is the law for that person to be killed unless the King’s scepture is raised.”

Mordecai shared how she would not escape the sword just because she was the queen, and if necessary God would raise up deliverance from elsewhere to save his people, but she would perish. He shared what if God called you to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Her final response was for Mordecai to instruct the Jews to fast for 3 days and afterward she would approach the king and my favorite part, “If I Perish, I Perish.”

How lovely that at that point the queen Esther was willing to give up all that she had inherited the lavish life, the notoriety of the kingdom, and her very life if necessary. When she decided to give up her very life and the way that she was used to doing things for the sake of the kingdom of God and her fellow Jewish brothers and sisters, that is when she saw the hand of the miraculous.

She acknowledged God through fasting and prayer, went and approached the king in faith and God not only gave her favor with the King granting her request, but he exceeded her expectations. She was offered whatever she wanted up to half of the kingdom, she had Haman and his 10 sons hanged. A new bill was written for the Jews to defend themselves reversing what had happened. Instead of the Jews being in fear of everyone else, everyone became in fear of the Jews.

The point is there is a crisis in the land just as it was with Esther. Our crisis just looks different in this day and time. She was positioned by God specifically to bring remedy to that crisis. When she decided to consider more than herself being willing to give up her life if necessary, she got her life back and much more. If we are willing to do the same thing in our lives being faithful to where God has positioned us, we will see God’s best as well.

29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,

30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. Mark 10:29-30

What you sow is what you will reap. God sees our sacrifices for his kingdom and will reward us. There is no one who seeks God’s way of doing things diligently that God does not reward. Continue to put God first and his way of doing things and prepare to see God’s best in your life.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

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Do You Get Afraid Like Me when a Seemingly Appropriate Guy Approaches?

I wonder if anybody else out there gets afraid like I do when an appropriate man of God approaches. It is so weird because I am almost relieved when I hear that certain single men are engaged or getting married because it provides a clear boundary for me not to have to deal with a guy on a certain level. There are so many men who are saved and feel that all they have to do is approach a girl and she is supposed to be down. Well, I don’t do that. That’s just not what I am used to.

It seems like an oxymoron to have a desire for a husband and get afraid when an appropriate brother approaches, but I have discovered that I get afraid of this when I haven’t heard from God regarding a brother. I consider my brothers in the Lord who are genuine to be rare and precious, and I do not want to hurt them. I am afraid that if I allow my heart to get involved immediately and God later says he isn’t the one then I will hurt him or he will hurt me. I just want to avoid all of that drama.

Therefore, when I first meet a guy. I don’t give off immediate signs of being interested in him for more than friendship. I hold on to my heart guarding it carefully as I hope to get to know him, but this has also driven guys away who were afraid of rejection from me not being clear on what I wanted right away, but how could I intend to want more when I did not really know the guy nor hear God on the matter.

There are two many rules and pressures of what to do and what not to do. So much so, that it is easy to feel like I am not doing the right thing or going about things the right way and therefore I am loosing out. I had the question about this in my heart as I prayed tonight, and the scripture came to my mind that says God knows what we need even before we ask (Matthew 6:10).

God knows where I am at, and what I need. It doesn’t throw God for a loop with our insecurities, issues, or concerns of any kind. His promises will come to pass regardless, and we need not disqualify ourselves for not feeling as though we are doing everything perfect.

God knows that I am guarded when it comes to meeting men, and he is able to give me someone who can deal with me being guarded and actually be thankful that I am so guarded and unwilling to let just anyone in.

All my life, I have had to tell men no over and over again. I’ve prayed to God for an appropriate gentlemen that I can tell yes, but how will I know that the guy is safe to tell yes unless the Lord reveals it to me. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It’s just me wanting to hear God on the matter of who I choose to give my heart to. God has always dealt with me about various men, so if he could tell me no for many men surely he can tell me yes.

Recently, I sought the Lord about a seemingly appropriate brother, and the Lord let me know that he would let me know at the appropriate time regarding him and he’d also give me peace. This is what I am in expectation of is peace from God concerning my husband who I will lay on the alter of prayer before God my heavenly father, who covers me and protects my heart as I look to him. So, no I cannot just immediately off the bat give a man my heart or hand unless I have heard from God. I can give him my prayerful consideration and friendship however, and I think that is fair.

I’d like to hear your thoughts. Please, feel free to comment below:

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You are Rare! You are Royal! You are Highly Valuable!

There are a few people that God has bought into my life that I wish to tell them the title of this blog that they are royal, rare, and highly valuable. I want to start with a few of my brothers out there. I’ve been seeing more young men of God holding it down living holy, and righteously and set apart for God’s glory. I see some bros who love God so much that they are afraid to approach a woman just any old type of way. Some of my bros are really fasting and praying and seeking God taking a woman’s heart seriously to guard and protect it like the delicate flower that it is.

These men are careful in their approach to women and dealings with women not leading us on, but pointing us to depend upon the Lord for any void that we may have. These bros are rare! It must be difficult for a man to know that he wants something or someone, but if the Lord says wait or don’t touch that man submits to God’s will denying himself. This is honorable. I just want to say that I appreciate that as a woman of God. To my bros out there being real for the Lord, Don’t ever feel ashamed or less than for being a man who goes against the culture of what a man is taught to be. I want to say that you will be rewarded in due time with all the desires of your heart. Watch and see how God rewards those who diligently seek after him. It’s in his word, he watches his word to perform it. Our God is faithful and you know this. Be encouraged! Don’t let anything discourage you.

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. Proverbs 12:4

For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 2 Corinthians 11:5

Our job as a women is to crown our husbands when they come. That means to bring honor to them. When people see us in the streets, business world, or wherever we are, We make our husbands look good. They say to themselves that’s so in so’s girl she bad!. Yep, that’s how it goes. Right now as singles, We get plenty of practice in honoring and glorifying our husbands through honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ, submitting to him while dying to our own will. We are rare women of God, who practice are lives in a way that honors and pleases God. Everyone will not understand this nor value this but we learn to value and understand ourselves. God has made us in a special way for a specific day and time. Like Esther we are women created for such a time as this to be delivers, intercessors, encouragers, teachers and mothers in our generation to many.

Even though the woman was created to be the glory of the man, yet we are not without one another. In other words, both men and women need each other (Corinthians 11:11i). I hold him down and have his back keeping him uplifted in my prayers and for me he does the same. Until one day we will be placed together by the one who holds the highest form of rarity, royalty, and honor our God, who has made us for his glory in his image and likeness to become one form of royalty, rarity, and honor unto God.

Both ladies and men who understand their purpose to glorify God and live according to that purpose are royal, rare, and highly valuable. Together we are a picture of God’s goodness, love, and grace.

The enemy wants the men and women of God to get discouraged and to get in our flesh forgetting who we are. He wants us to forget our value and worth, but we need to know that we are not an accident, but that God specifically crafted us to be the way that we are set apart and holy for his glory. Not fitting in to the world system nor with those in the church who have chosen to be worldly. We take on the identity of Christ being transformed into a reflection of God’s son through our obedience and growth by God’s grace.

Swag on ten as long as it is rooted in the confidence that comes from God. God’s word says:

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; 1 Peter2:9

i Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 1 Corinthians 11:11

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Stay the Course:

God keeps telling me to stay on course. It’s something how we can be so sure of what God has called us to do until we get around others and see something different and then want to try what we see others doing instead of staying the course that God has set for us. That is the main temptation when God has us in a waiting pattern for something that he has promised us. The temptation is to do what has worked or seemed to work for others instead of what God is leading us to do for ourselves.

God recently gave me a dream heralding the same meaning that he has been trying to entrench into my spirit which is to stay the course or path that God has given me. It’s not always easy when your path seems so unique, but the truth is even though my path is unique, there are several others who God has placed on the same path. One of the major ways that Satan distracts us from walking the path God has for us is through making us think that we are the only one. Not true, we are not the only ones.

In the dream, I was walking to a specific destination on a bridge and I was almost there so much so that I could literally see my destination in front of me, but there were a few other people who came up from behind me and launched in front of me or at least seemed to launch in front of me, but when I focused in on what they were doing, they had crossed over a broken boundary rail that was separating those walking on the bridge that we were on from the water and ice beneath.

Those who had launched in front of me risked their lives of falling into the water and ice scaling and climbing the side of the bridge to get to the destination first. These were people who walked in their flesh and tried to make things happen on their own. They were still scaling on the side of the bridge as I watched and they appeared closer to the destination than I was, but their struggle was greater to make it there because of all of the additional acrobatics they put themselves through.

I thought to myself in the dream maybe I could get there quicker if I leaped ahead and jumped over the railing, but inside I knew that was not the way. I moved closer toward the edge where the broke down railing was and held on to the railing, but it was not as stable as it should have been.

In the meantime, a girl came up along side me and greeted me. I greeted her back and shared that I wasn’t really comfortable jumping the railing like the others. At that point, fish that looked beautiful almost like crystal-colored jumped out of the water toward me. Someone yelled those are Piranhas and at least three of them were near my clothing. I shook them off as I screamed and awakened.

Basically, that dream was a picture of how I had been feeling inside like I had been walking the path that God had for me, but others seemed to get to what I am believing God for quicker through their own means instead of doing things the way that God set out for them to do it. I was on a sure foundation and path through going about believing God his way. Sometimes doing things the way that God has given to you seems slow or like things will never change. Sometimes, we are tempted to move ahead of God because others seem so successful, but that isn’t what God is calling us to do.

I believe the young girl who came up beside me in the dream to greet me was a young lady sent to encourage me and who I was supposed to encourage and be an example to. Had I gone and did things in another way I would have confused her and myself and risked not reaching my destination at all or working much harder than God intended to get there. In the dream, my thoughts were to just keep on walking the way that I knew because I was so close to my destination and if I just continued to walk I was sure to get there. The piranhas in the dream were an attack of the enemy to get me discouraged and off track. Just as I shook them off in the dream, it’s the very same way that I need to shake off the discouragement of my flesh in real life staying focused on the path that God has set for me.

I found myself comparing my life to others in ways that seemed innocent thinking why don’t I have anyone to date or why don’t I have an intimate and close godly guy friend? Truthfully though, I don’t want to just date around. I don’t have time for that, and I know that isn’t the path that God has called me to. He has called me to be a specific woman about how I use my time to be constructive and build the kingdom of God and in doing so, The Lord is going to bless me with the appropriate gentlemen that I am to be with. God knows I am a 110% person often times and thus, it may be easy for me to lose focus with a godly brotha as my close friend who is mature and attractive. All snap!

Therefore, I have to fight those urges and nudges that seek my attention to get me distracted and off course. I have to realize that sometimes God says no now, so that he can say yes later to what he has been preparing me for all this time and that is his promise. If we stay on course we will find ourselves at the doorstep to the promises that God has placed in our lives and forget all of the pain and misunderstanding that we had to endure on the way there. Trust God, don’t look at others and stay on course.

I Consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

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Despite recent events taken place in Baltimore having been disheartening, We cannot lose hope:

Despite recent events taken place in Baltimore having been disheartening, We cannot lose hope. Anytime, a group of people are dealing with authority that is perceived to be unjust or unfair there is the temptation to lose hope, become disparaging and take matters into one’s own hands.

Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they will not become disheartened. Colossians 3:21 (NET)

Fathers represent authority. Normally, in a household once you go to your father after you have already talked to your mom the final decision rested with your father for whatever was up for question. After his word; there was no more word or anything else to be said about the subject. What the father said went and it was the end of the story. If the father was unfair, the children would be provoked to anger and become disheartened.

To become disheartened means to lose heart or to lose hope. Unfortunately, what is going on is a lot of young African American men and women are losing hope in the possibility of justice in this Country. When the authority figures who naturally we expect to be able to trust betray that trust over and over again and get off as if nothing ever happened it causes people to become disheartened to lose that hope and ask themselves what then can be done for justice.

The natural reaction is to express one’s own anger and discontent through lashing out. While I understand the emotions and concern, I do not condone it because it is unproductive in bringing justice and it can actually incur harm on persons involved making matters worse rather than better.

There are a few examples in the Bible of authority that had ill intention toward it’s citizens, but I will only write about one example here. The example is Herod who had authority as King over the jurisdiction of where Jesus’ parents resided. The Bible is clear in communicating that King Herod sought after the child Jesus to kill him (Matthew 2:13-15). However, Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father was warned in a dream to go into Egypt until the Herod died that sought the child’s life.

In the above case, we see that even though the authority of that time was corrupt, God still intervened in the situation leading and guiding Jesus’ parents to care for the child. We learn from this story to trust the providence of God realizing that even though various authorities may be corrupt and provoke some to become disheartened, we are never without hope because there is always higher authority available who judges righteously and fairly.

Second, we see that the child’s life was sought because he was special and unique. He was the Son of God sent with a purpose to save all man-kind. We have to realize our worth as African-American men and women. There is something in African-American men that people who aren’t familiar with become afraid and intimidated by and thus target African-American men unfairly in many cases.

However, African-Americans have many gifts that make us a special and unique people. All you have to do is pay attention to the major trends in media and you will see that African-Americans are emulated in almost everything that we do from hip-hop, to dance, to fashion, to poetry, rap, and various other things. These are the things that kept us happy and full of joy during slavery when we were owned and priced at a value by someone else, but not only our gifts to entertain and uplift one another through the various arts, but the core thing that kept us strong was our relationship with God.

The old negro spirituals gave us hope and kept the thought of a higher authority out there looking after us, who would deliver us when the time came. African-Americans also have direct connections to the blood-line of David and thus the lineage of Jesus Christ through King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Black was so beautiful in the 1970s that White folks got perms to fit in. One of the most unique parts about us is the fact that we are still here in America despite our many years of struggle. We have been able to endure in this country due to our endurance and our relationship with God which brought us through slavery, Jim Crow, and many other disparities. Knowing our own worth and value outside of what others perceive is crucial to not losing hope.

When a person doesn’t know their worth and they lose hope; they are liable to do anything placing their own selves in harm’s way. What if Joseph and Mary had not of followed the providence of God and said instead they were going to go and tear up King Herod’s kingdom? What do you think would have happened? They would have made themselves targets for know reason and been destroyed, but they followed and trusted in the providence of God and their lives were spared as well as Jesus’ life when Herod had all of the children 2 years and younger who were male killed.

Lastly, we have to understand that just because we may not see immediate retribution, it doesn’t mean that retribution is not coming.

Because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:20

Sometimes when things happen that are so gut-wrenching as with the Freddie Gray situation; there is a natural reaction to want immediate revenge by any means necessary, but this is not the best way to go about things. Rioting, attacking police officers, and unruly behavior only lead to more confusion and pain. The problem that originally occurred is not fixed, and only more grief is realized. Surely, the victims in each case of injustice lives are worth more than a fit of anger. This is not God’s will at all.

What we may think is justice is not nearly as much as the justice that God desires to give. God’s justice will get to the root of the problem and God’s justice also deals with the hearts of men. The whole premise of non-violence is rooted in dealing with the heart of men, but this is another subject.

What if the justice that God has in mind is similar to that of what occurred before with laws changing, people being convicted, regulated, and held accountable which would in turn prevent future episodes and others will be able to live in peace? Let’s think long-term and not short-term.

Lashing out only brings short-term gratification while fighting for justice in an appropriate manner brings long lasting gratification. We have examples throughout our history of what worked before. We need to follow those examples when responding to the gut-wrenching events that take place in society that have occurred with some police officers and Black men and women. Whatever you do don’t lose hope.

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My Responsibility as a single woman is to put my trust in the Lord:

Sometimes, I think how I go back and forth questioning myself and my worth because I don’t have a guy to go out with and hang out with all the time like others around me. It can make you feel left out and sort of doubt yourself when everyone is dating except you. When I start to feel weird in that sense, I just talk to God about how I feel, and ask him to cover me in his love.

Recently, I was sitting in church on Sunday after having felt that way the night before. I was thinking about how cool my pastor is who was preaching on the movie Furious 7, but tied it to the Word of God as usual.

I thought about how years ago before I began to go to my current church. My prayer partner and I were praying on the phone and she was prophesying about me being at a church where I thought the pastor was real cool! Well, the Lord brought that to pass. God used that small thing to remind me that he has always led me concerning my life and the things that I’ve needed and desired.

When I left my old church, I had prayed to God about where to go next, and the Lord let me know that the church that I would go to would be having a prayer event. I continued to visit friends and family’s churches looking for a church where the Word of God was taught in an uncompromising manner and they were serious about God, and when I visited my current church they had everything that I was looking for plus the confirmation of the prayer event.

The church was preparing for their Labor Day prayer event at that time. I knew then that was the church for me. Just how God led me to the right church and in countless other areas of my life, he was reminding me that he was strong enough to lead me to the spouse that I desired.

It was as if God was saying haven’t I always led you? Have I steered you wrong yet? Haven’t you followed me all this time? What makes you think that I cannot lead you when it comes to your husband? You have to get your faith up in that area and trust me.

Unfortunately, as human beings sometimes our human nature can cause our faith to go up and down based on what is going on around us, but if we continue to keep our eyes on Jesus and our trust in him, we will see all that we are believing him for come to pass.

I’m reading now in Nehemiah Chapter 8. It is showing how the children of Israel are returning to the Lord out of exile. They had lost their identity in what was going on around them taking on the culture of the other nations that were around them instead of being who God called them to be.

If we are not careful, we will do like the children of Israel and allow ourselves to become something other than what God intended for watching others around us; instead of keeping our eyes on Christ.

He is our leader and the one who is capable of getting us to our promised land whatever that promised land may be that we are believing God for. Our responsibility is not to worry nor try to figure things out on our own, but to trust in the Lord.

When we trust in the Lord, God’s peace becomes the trade-in for giving God our worries and anxieties[i]. When we are trusting in the Lord, we no longer move out of our anxiety or fear but we give those worries to the Lord trusting that he will exalt us in due season[ii].

When we trust in the Lord, we as women do not take on the male role as far as trying to force a relationship, but we give it to God and trust that he will put us together with our spouse at the appropriate time, and we will not have to force it nor manipulate it. All we will have to do is be ourselves in Christ as we watch God work.

The Children of Israel in Nehemiah chapters 8 & 9 are returning to the Lord, and as they are doing so they are remembering their history with God and their identity which is tied to who God is.

They are recounting how God was with their fathers in the wilderness leading them with a cloud by day and fire by night. They recalled how God called Abraham to move from the land of Ur into a land that he did not know based on a promise that a nation would come from him and have their own land. That nation was the children of Israel in Nehemiah who were reminiscing on their history in God.

That history basically shows that God is trustworthy. Therefore, with God being trustworthy we are to continue to put our trust in him. I have a history with the Lord. All of us who are in Christ have a history with the Lord. Allow, the Lord in your season of singleness, to remind you of your history with him and the things that he has done, and shown you and bought to pass. Allow him to remind you how he has led you and your family in various ways being faithful. These things will encourage you as you wait on the Lord with your trust in him.

Like the children of Israel we don’t have to get off track, and find ourselves making our way back to the Lord to find our identity in Christ again after making a choice that God did not ordain to try and fit in with everyone else. We can continue to trust in the Lord and allow him to work things together on our behalf.

He will begin to cover you in his love and affirmation filling every void. Lastly, the Lord confirmed what he had spoken to me at church. Later, two songs on my Pandora came on that really ministered to me because they reminded me of things that God had recently said. More specifically, Smokey Norful, “In The Middle.” That song talks about how through various things we have gone through, God has always been in the middle of them, and the other one is Kari Jobe, “Beloved.” Beloved is a song that reminds me that I am loved by God and worth him taking the time to speak to me to re-affirm me and continue to cover me allowing me to rest in him as I trust in him. Enjoy the two songs below:

[i] Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

[ii] Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

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