Trimming back the old!!

I wanted to share this revelation that I have had pretty much all week. God has been showing me this in different way and also shining blessings in my life!!

John 15:1-2 1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

I heard this verse on Monday and let it really sink into my life because of some events that have been taking place. I said God speak to me, well I opened up the flood gates when I asked. God reminded me that he does not tell us to be busy but he tells us to be fruitful, and if we keep on doing things in our life that we are comfortable (to look busy) to we need to examine if we are reaping fruit from it. Often we settle, we think that it is better to stay in routine, it is like we are tell God and others that He is not capable of giving us anything better. It clearly states in the verse above that he trims the branches back so we can be EVEN MORE fruitful!! So the bottom line is If we settle for what we have now, we are denying God the opportunity to bless us, do not break Gods heart that way. Let Him bless us with His best for us!! So ask yourself this question today cause I have been asking it all week, "Is the fear of change denying you blessings that God wants to give you?" This week I got rid of that fear and already I am seeing the blessings in my life!!! So allow God to trim back your branches that are not producing and let the ones that are producing, produce more!! God is not pushy so you will have to allow him to do this in your life!

I have found my path and I am running down it knocking things out that get in my way!!!!

Psalm 56:13 (The Message)
God, you did everything you promised, and I'm thanking you with all my heart. You pulled me from the brink of death,my feet from the cliff-edge of doom. Now I stroll at leisure with God in the sunlit fields of life.

After almost 2 weeks God has really pulled up out of a really dark place that I didn't even realize I was in and he has spiritually smacked me around too! Lets just say having God as your sparing partner is not always fun. I have been searching for that path to a sound mind and on Wednesday I found it!!!! and since I have had so many doors opened up! He did everything that he told me He was going to do before He did it and even though I didn't understand at all where he was talking me, I knew to trust in God completely. Even though this week I walked through the Valley of the shadow of death or what it felt like to me was the desert, I knew that God was going to show his light to me and he did in a BIG way!!!!!! I feel honored to have a King as my Father and now I know when God speaks to me a promise not to try to look into it so much, but just know that He will ALWAYS provide!!!!!! I am speaking this out that I am a new creation this week, I am out of the desert and will walk in the light of my father, and not in the lies of the enemy!!! (Rocky THEME SONG PLAYING!!!)I am a contender in this "world" but I know I am a champion in the Kingdom!!!

Ezekiel 37:1-14 (The Message)

Breath of Life

1-2 God grabbed me. God's Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun.
3 He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"
I said, "Master God, only you know that."
4 He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones: 'Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!'"
5-6 God, the Master, told the dry bones, "Watch this: I'm bringing the breath of life to you and you'll come to life. I'll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You'll come alive and you'll realize that I am God!"
7-8 I prophesied just as I'd been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.
9 He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, 'God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!'"
10 So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.
11 Then God said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they're saying: 'Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there's nothing left of us.'
12-14 "Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, 'God, the Master, says: I'll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I'll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you'll realize that I am God. I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live. Then I'll lead you straight back to your land and you'll realize that I am God. I've said it and I'll do it. God's Decree.'"

For the past week I have been feeling like dry bones, I know that God has me at this place though to teach me what I really need to be fighting for. I have been trying to prophesy over my own dry bones and guess what that doesn't work AT ALL!!!! I need to stop and let God do that instead of looking around and seeing myself laid out all over the place. Sometimes in life we try to hard to make everything right in our lives and we get so pulled apart and worn out that we end up like a pile of dry bones. I know God is working in my life and breathing back into it, my skin is growning back, my muscles are connecting again. Sometimes in life we have to be a broken mess for God to reach us, and it doesn't matter where we are in our lives. God gives us seasons in our life to help us grow, and it is funny when he decides to do it when we "think" everything is ok. This time I am seeing though it is God stretching me and not the enemy trying to get me down, which has been very hard for me to do in the past, I am not giving the enemy credit anymore!! I am standing up and realizing God wants me to grow and not stay stagnant!!! I know it will take sometime for my bones and muscles to be back in shape, but with God as my trainer I know that I will be back in tip top shape in no time!!!!!!!

All or Nothing!

Matthew 9:20-22

20Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." 22Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.

This morning at 2am God answered a question I have been seeking for the answer to and though the question in personal, the answer was "It is all or nothing Jen!!" All I could think about at that time was poker, you take risk and sometimes you put all that you have in or you hold on to what we have because it is "safe" for us. Well needless to say I wanted to stomp my feet like alittle girl and cry. The reason for this fit is because this answer could change a major area of my life. Reading in Matthew the passage above REALLY made me think about my problem. The woman that was subject to bleeding, thought all she needed to do was touch Jesus's cloak to be healed, and what he said to her is what got to me was, "It is your faith that has healed you" WOW so I am now trying to see how I can apply this all or nothing attitude to the situation at hand, and know that I have the faith that it will not make a huge change in my life!!! I have the faith that God is in this situation with me and he is guiding me, just as he has been guiding me through it all along but sometimes it takes a spiritual smack in the head to make us realize that God always has our best interest at heart , and he has what is in our hearts in his hands!

The way you know you have a boy when........ (Isaacism)

So on Fridays I go into work an hour later so that means alittle more sleep for Isaac and I in the morning, well this morning I woke up right before he did and I peeked in on him squriming and moving around. Since he didn't see me and wasn't fully awake I went and let the dog out and came back and checked on him. I say good morning buddy and he turns over sticks his finger in the air and says, " Here mom I just pulled a big booger out!" LOL as I proceeded to take it off his finger I said, "Well good morning to you too honey!!"

Listen to the Music!!! You may just be suprised!!

I love the fact that God has an amazing sense of humor, cause he knows that is what I can relate to!!! It doesn't surprise me that he has been answering the specific prayers I have been praying with music, dreams, and people that I would never believe would ever say some of the things I have heard (good things). I have to sit back and laugh though, cause I can sit and pray and pray and pray and N O T H I N G!!! I feel like sometimes I need a megaphone to make my prayers louder. Well that is how it has been for me for the past 2 months looking for answers, so finally I said God I am not going to let this bother me anymore, and I know you have your hand in this situation and I know it is about your timing. Well wouldn't you know within a week I have heard 3 songs that have related to my issues, I was talking to my dad (my dad here on earth) yesterday, and he said something that would of never in a million years would of come out of his mouth, and then I had a dream last night to sum some other things up. It makes me laugh and appreciate his sense of humor because I LOVE MUSIC!!!! and what I have learned God will use the things and people we love to talk to us sometimes!!!!!Well I am sure glad God knows how I work and what really will speak to me. Just remember sometimes we want God to speak to us directly, but sometimes he wants us to sit back and enjoy the music :)

In the search of a Path!!!!

A sound mind. I don't know about you, but I sure would like to have sound mind. Did you know that a sound mind is a promise of God? Something that surely is in the will of God for us. Now, let me tell you, the world we live in is trying its best to give you an unsound mind--but God through His word says different.....

"For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2Timothy 1:7)

So many things of the world tell us we are doing things wrong when we feel deep down we know they are right, I have learned over the last couple of days that, when those occasions arise and we find ourselves questioning is this Gods voice either A. Speaking to me through someone or B. Are the things that I am hearing really from God.? It gets to the point where we just wanna say SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and sometimes we can, but other times it is better for us to stop and really listen. The feeling of hearing every ones opinions and trying to feel like you have to make everything right gets tiring!! and you feel like all you can hear is noise and you never have a sound mind. Well I am here to tell you if you have the fear of God in your heart, you learn to sit back and not fear what everyone else is thinking. Also there are things in our lives we want answers to and we want them badly, and the enemy knows that you are seeking God for those answers and will swoop in and pollute your brain with confusion, and one thing that I have learned in the past 8 months that God does not hold the spirit of confusion, the situation or person that you are letting control you and making your mind unsound holds the spirit of confusion! We also have to realize that the spirit of fear (fear of the worldly things) is what causes us to have a unsound mind, so if we learn to fear God and trust in him with everything in our lives who else to we have to fear when God has our back??? God has laid out a path for us to follow to receive the sound mind He promises. The two steps that lead to your sound mind are by power and love.
Power. Get power. Well it makes perfect sense that if we can have God's power, we certainly won't have fear any longer--and will be well on our way to a sound mind. Love. Did you know that love is a commandment? Love gives results. God is love-(1John 4:8)--and His power works through love--and specifically for the results we are looking for. Wow! If you have the mind of Christ how can you not have a sound mind? But you have to know this You have to get it clear and strong in you Jesus has all power that His love casts out all fear. So when you are in Christ living in His love you have His mind and that is a sound mind! But look again The Bible says we can't say we love God and hate our brother. Sometimes we have to forgive some people in our lives that we really would rather not and I know it's tough, but you gotta just think of the sound mind that the Lord has for you! It does take time for this to happen and it will happen as long as ou are willing to let it!!!!

Don't Be Deceived By a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing......

Genesis 3:4-5

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

God gave me a word, and it is from the old children's story of Don't be deceived by a wolf in sheep's clothing. Looking back when Eve was deceived by the serpent, it is almost the same moral. Relating this to the world today it still sticks so true, and it sticks true to some things that are happening in my life. There are things that seem like they are good like the little sheep in the story thinking that the wolf was his mother and he followed it into the woods, and well we know the rest of the story the little sheep goes bye bye :( Well this can hold true to the way the enemy can put some things in front of you that you think is ok, and think that it is God instead. These things can be things like friendships and situations in life. We can stay in the rut of our life that we are used to and be deceived into following the wolf into the forrest or we can get out of our rut and run into open pastures with our heard (God and his angels)

God is my wart Medication!!!!!!!!

Philippians 4:6-7 (The Message)

6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Well lately I have been dealing with things that the enemy has been throwing my way, and well I thought that I had been dealing with them and letting them bounce off my rubbery Jesus Jacket. Well Guess what??? That's not the case, I have been trying the whole I'm rubber you're glue prayer (just an expression not really how I pray), but that has not worked. So today I have been totally asking God for guidance and he has given me this verse twice!! I got it once for my teaching tomorrow, and then I went to look something else up and BAM there it was in my face again!!! So I took the time to read it and it was almost like God saying, "Hello McFly!!" He is telling me he hears my cries and knows what is going on in my life. Sometimes we can tend to shake our fist at God and say, "it's clear as day to me, why aren't you doing anything to speed the process up?" Then when you don't hear from God you start to become a Worry Wart, and no over the counter (quick fix) will help you. You need to wait upon the Lord and let him take care of the warts in your life. God is like the meds you go and get from a doctor or like cryotherapy, even though they may take awhile to work and get into your system, the warts are usually gone for good! But if you use the ones you get from the store which are usually a band aid type deal they are a quick fix yes, but the warts usually come back. So if we worry about the things that God has a remedy for and we try to handle things on our own then, what's going to happen are these things that we worry about will pop back up like the warts you covered with a medicated band aid. So many time we fail to see that we cover our heart with a band aid instead of letting God truly heal, and when a band aid starts to get old the side roll down or it falls off. That allows germs (words of the enemy) work back into your heart, so what this means is that before we try to self medicate ourselves we need to spiritually medicate ourselves instead with the Word of God. So with this said I am going to let God remove the wart that has been on my mind for a few days, because I am not the doctor He is!!!!

Isaacism!!!!

So Isaac went camping last weekend, as I was getting him prepared to experience this amazing adventure (cause it was super cool for a 5 year old) I told him that he wouldn't be home until after church on Sunday, and at that point he looked at me very concerned and said in a very like are you serious voice. "Mom then how am I gonna praise God then?" Alright everyone say "AWE......." I love him SO much he is the best kid around!!!! I told him he could praise God in the woods cause he is always listening! He then say to me, "you're the best mom ever!"

Entitlement V.S. Being Worthy

Entitlement- a guarantee of access to benefits or rights or by agreement through law. It also refers in a more casual sense to someones belief that one is deserving of some particular reward or benefit.

Worthy- 1.Having worth, merit, or value; useful or valuable 2. Honorable; admirable 3. Having sufficient worth deserving

Matthew 10:38

And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

I have been battling in my head last week this topic. I have heard teachings on entitlement not to long ago and it impacted my life, but for the last week entitlement has been creeping back in and I began to pray and God revealed to me be worthy, you are worthy He made me really think and has been speaking VERY LOUDLY about it to me all week and really didn't know where to begin with this topic that God was speaking into my life. Lately I have been really feeling down about wanting someone in my life and wanting a family. I know that it has A LOT to do with Isaac's constant questions of when I am going to get married and have a baby, and even telling who he wants me to marry and that he wants a baby sister. Then finding out that my ex husband's girlfriend is 4 months pregnant and they have been telling Isaac that they have been married since he moved in with her, and since our divorce was just final last month well all know that's not possible. It just makes me think I am entitled to a family of my own!!!! I have been shaking my fist and stomping my feet and throwing a temper tantrum in front of God. Saying if they are doing what they are doing in sin why isn't God blessing me with the desires of my heart? I am entitled to what I have my dreams set on, but at this point God convicted me of my words and said to me, " My daughter yes I know the desires of your heart, but listen to me you are not entitled to them, but you are worthy of them." He went on to speak to me and say, "You are worthy of a Godly man and a Godly family, and with my timing you will have these things of worth, but if you try to rush my timing then you will end up in ruins! OUCH!!!! yes I got a spiritual left hook from God and to be honest with you it took the wind out of me. I know what's right, but sometimes I fall back into worldly thinking like we all do, and it lets the enemy creepy back in and sit on your shoulder and tell you lies, and if we don't recognize it, it will take a hold of us and not let go. I don;t know about you but I don't want the weight of the enemy sitting on my shoulder. So I will continue to pray and know that I am worthy of my fathers love and timing, and what he decides for my life. Because if I am not picking up my cross daily it is showing my God that I am not worthy. If I continue to follow the ways of the Lord and have my cross on my back God will give me the desires of my heart. Last night I went and saw Joyce Meyer and she said something that confirmed my week long revelation:

"ENTER IN THE REST OF GOD AND LET YOUR SOUL GO ON VACATION!!!! "

and you can't change the things that irritate you, so all you can do is pray and sit down!!!!

Well guess what I am going on vacation and know that I am worthy and my God will take care of it all!!!!!!

Confessions of a Godly Wife!!

This year I am claiming that I am a Godly wife even though there is no boyfriend or husband in sight, God is teaching me to rely in him as my husband in this time. There is no time like the present to start confessing the things you want to be, and with this being the love month (thanks Hallmark!!) I am using this time to get close to my God, and have him be my Valentine right now. I am doing this because I know that God has an AMAZING man waiting for me just around the corner, in his timing and guess what? That timing is perfect!!!!!!!!!!! So I am speaking all of this forward in faith!!!

I confess that I am a supportive wife who demonstrates love in the way I approach my husband. He doesn’t see me as a nagging, complaining wife, but as a friend to confide in and to look to for strength. God is able to speak to my husband without my interference. I trust God to speak to him. I trust God to deal with my heart and help me take on a supportive role in our home.

I confess that I live a powerful, godly and chaste life before my husband. Therefore I am a constant encouragement to him. He seeks my advice. He wants my help. He desires to know what I believe is right regarding decisions affecting our family and our relationship. God’s Spirit is changing me and making me the kind of wife that He wants me to be. I declare this by faith, in Jesus’ name.

I confess that the beautifying of my spirit is a high priority in my life. I don’t make the mistake of putting all my time and effort into improving my outward appearance while forgetting to invest in my spirit. I’ve made a decision that my spirit is beautiful. I’m becoming more godly and beautiful all the time. I have an inward beauty that far outshines everything that I could ever do to improve the appearance of my outward man.

I confess I am a source of stability and power. I am a source of peace in my home. I don’t give in to anger. I don’t fly into a rage and say things that I will later regret. My husband and my children depend on me to be a tower of strength even in the midst of turmoil because I am so stable. I help bring stability to my husband, to my children and to the general atmosphere in my home. Instead of being a contributor to strife, conflict and turmoil, God uses me to bring peace and tranquility to all those who are near me. I release my faith now, in Jesus' name.

Isaacism from June

So as you all know my son comes up with things that crack me up DAILY!!! So the other day we were in the pool and Isaac tells me, "Mama I'm Black," I then said "Isaac no you're not." He said, "well someone at school called me black, and my daddy is black" I responded, "honey your dad is puerto rican and I am irish so that makes you irish and puerto rican." Isaac says, "nope I'm black." After telling him about 3 times that he is irish and pueto rican he looks at me very seriously and shouts , " I AM NOT PUERTO RICAN I AM CHRISTIAN!!!!!!" Needless to say I didn't argue anymore with him after that!

Don't Call a Taxi!

Philippians 3:12-14
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Near The Goal!!!!
I have come to see that when you're in a race (I did a 5K and a 10K last year, not running but speed walking) it is not the start that hurts or even the miles you walk down a long stretch, it is when you see the end (the goal) in sight. When the goal is spotted is when the heart, nevrves, courage, and muscles are strained beyond anything you can think of and you feel like you're almost at your breaking point. Now at this point you can stop and call a taxi and have them take you home, or you can take a look back and see how much you have acommplished and press forward to make it to your goal. The last week has been so up and down for me and instead of hailing down a taxi and saying 'Vinny (Yes I named the taxi driver) take me back to where I started" (and that would be one HUGE mistake), I chose to press into God even more. I know that my new season is just around the bend and all I have to do is continue to cry out to God with all that I have, I have been training way to long to give up this race and I know that God is right beside be cheering me into victory!! So with this in mind I continue to press into God and reach for the goal, and jump over road blocks and dash past red light if I have to, just to reach the goal that is in sight. Even if my goal is in the distance and I feel like my 10K has turned into a 20K I know that God has a good reason for his timing, and I may be cry out to him that it hurts, but I know that the pain will subside and I will have a nice pretty prize in my hands!!
Today I will walk (or speed walk) to my vicorty!!!!

A day in the life of a single mom

For about the last year Isaac has been asking when I was going to get a new husband, and I always tell him,"honey when God thinks it is a good time he will bring me one." I know this all stems from him seen his dad with someone since he left, so I think in Isaac's little brian he thinks I need to be with someone too. I ensure him that I am ok, and I am taking this time to be with him and for us to do things. He has told me in the past that he needs to sleep in my bed until I get a husband. I know that Isaac needs a GOOD father figure in his life, yes his dad in his life, but he really needs someone to show him the way! So keep in mind that I said before that he has been asking me when God is going to bring me a husband, well the other night we were chilling out on the couch and he looks at me and asks me, "Mom when is God going to bring me a new dad?" That really took me back, I told him just to pray about it an God will bring someone into our life. I also ask Isaac you have a daddy, he said I know, but I want someone to take me fishing and do things like that. So for you single moms out there know that there is someone out there for all of us, and your children will look up to you and know when they are older that you did everything with them in mind. We always have to keep our head up, and push on even when it looks hard there is always a reward at the end of the race, and my next blog will expail what I mean by that.