Taste and see that the Lord is good... Psalms 34:8

     Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Psalms 34:18

       One of my favorite fruits to eat in the summer time is watermelon. I love the taste, the texture and how refreshing it is. I think it's the best fruit to eat on a hot summer day.
       Since I know the taste of watermelon, I've become knowledgeable about what it does to me and how it's good for me and how it makes me feel. All this knowledge I've acquired not only through experience but through looking up the benefits of the fruit as well.
       Similarly, can we give the Lord God, our creator, the creator of heaven and earth, the same

Happy Love Day!

      Today some people are celebrating Valentine's Day. Receiving flowers, chocolates, poems and heartfelt sentiments are all part of this celebration. For some, Valentine's Day is a wonderful day to show their loved ones how they feel about them. For others, it may be depressing as they may not be in a relationship to receive gifts. For some, this day is just a regular day. There are others still who do not celebrate it. Some may even ask, "What is the craze all about?"
      The craze is about L-O-V-E.  Everyone wants to feel loved. In fact, it's a longing that every human feels at one point. God the author of creation, whom love resides and flows from, created us out of love. Therefore,

Motivational Monday - Look... God

Happy New Year! New Years Resolution - Trust in God

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

    Happy New Year to each and everyone of you! I pray that this year brings positive changes, spiritual maturity and growth, knowledge and understanding in the things of the Lord, blessings beyond measure and so much more!

    Every year that approaches, you will find that this is the time people want to make drastic changes in their lives. They have a bunch of goals and dreams they want to accomplish each year. But how many of us follow through with our goals? How many of us actually are successful in accomplishing these goals? Statistics show that we rarely accomplish all of these goals however we accomplish a few or some of them.

    This new year, 2014, I urge you to make resolutions concerning your relationship with the Lord. I urge you to

To obey is better than sacrifice 1 Samuel 15:22

Thought-provoking Thursday 
But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 1Samuel 15:22

        Samuel spoke those words to Saul after God had given him specific instructions to wipe out the Amalekites and everything that belong to them. What Saul did instead was spare the life of King Agag and he kept the best of the best for himself and the people. God rejected Saul as king from that point on and although Saul wanted Samuel to go worship with him, God had already rejected him.
        It's interesting that King Saul was rejected immediately after not following God's orders. Saul's heart was not in the right place. As king, he was more concerned with hearkening to the voices of the people instead of the voice of the Lord. By pleasing the people, he in turn disobeyed God.
       In life, serving God and living according to His word must

Let The Past Go, Look Toward Your Future

The past is the past, let's leave it there! As much as we would like to leave our past behind, the devil will always find a way to remind us of it. If it was up to him, we would be wallowing in our own self-pity, depressed and hopeless. But God. 

God has redeemed us of our sins and has cleansed us of our sins and past mistakes once we accepted Him as our Lord. None of us has made mistakes in the past. Although some may be more detrimental than others, mistakes are still mistakes.

       God does not look at our sins and use them against us. Only the devil does. In Psalms 103:12, it states, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." Can we fathom the distance from the east to the west? Or try to fathom the multitude of sins God has removed from us to make us brand new, cleanse us, and become the people He has called us to be?
      

 Let's walk into our destiny. Don't look behind, look forward because your future is more promising than what the Lord has in store for the devil. Be encouraged.

If this has motivated or inspired you, share this with a friend. God bless you!

Be strong and of good courage... Deuteronomy 31:16

Motivational Monday!

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

       The words of God will live forever and ever. What He said to His people then, He is saying to us now, if we would just follow Him.

      These words are repeated over and over when He was speaking to the Israelites because they needed encouragement, they needed to know that God was with them regardless of

In Life by Angie Flores

In life there are people that will hurt us and cause us pain,
but we must learn to forgive and forget and not hold grudges.

In life there are mistakes we will make,
but we must learn from our wrongs and grow from them.

In life there are regrets we will have to live with, 
but we must learn to leave the past behind and realize it is something we can't change.

In life there are people we will loose forever and can't have back,
but we must learn to let go & move on.

In life there are going to be obstacles that will cause interference,
but we must learn to overcome these challenges and grow stronger.

In life there are fears that will hold us back from what we want,
but we must learn to fight them with the courage from within.

God holds our lives in his hands. He holds the key to our future. 
Only he knows our fate. 

He see's everything and knows everything. 
Everything in life really does happen for a reason: "God's Reason".

Source: Faith and Courage In Life, Inspirational Poem http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/faith-and-courage-in-life#ixzz2jwNczkhk 
#FamilyFriendPoems 

Truly let go of the pain from the past... Hurt people in turn Hurt people Part 2

"I couldn't have been healed from the abuse until I stop using it as an excuse for bad behavior." - Joyce Meyer.

       Joyce Meyers openly speaks about the abuse she experienced as a child. She usually talks about how that hurt and pain caused her future hurt and pain. It is evident that once you've been hurt, and you don't deal with it and heal from it, you will continue the cycle of pain and hurt. In fact, some people use the abuse experienced at a young age or at some time in their life as a free ticket to behave recklessly or engage in negative behavior. In truth, that usually tends to happen whether persons are conscious of it or not.
       When speaking to others and based on my own personal experience, you sometimes engage in those behaviors because something inside of you was taken from you and you feel lost. You may feel like your worth was diminished, you are not whole, not as you once were or how God made you. Something happened that negatively influenced your outlook on life. I know persons who turned to prostitution, homosexuality, drugs, and self-destructive behavior because of the hurt they experienced. On the other hand, I know others who have become motivational speakers, ministers and counselors in an attempt to help those around them who have been hurt and to also stop the cycle of pain and hurt.
        At the end of the day, the decision lies with you. You have the power to change things around for either good or bad. You decide. Yes you were hurt, but how long can you continue to blame someone for your actions? The truth is, you can only perpetuate that lie for so long. Let go and let God heal your pain and hurt. We believe that God's love has the ability to do that, the same way God's love healed us.
       None of us are perfect but God Almighty loves us regardless. "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8. He believes in us. Let's believe in ourselves also to change and become the person He intended us to be. Truly let go of the pain of the past.

Read more here in our part one of this "hurt people in turn hurt people" series.

If this has helped you in any way, share it with others and we welcome your feedback. God bless you.

Because I was abused... by Carmen Elgen- Hurt people in turn hurt people... Part 1

Because I was abused, I abused myself and others.
Because I was mistreated, I mistreated myself and others.
Because I wasn't loved, I didn't know how to love myself and others.
Because I had such a low self-esteem, no one could have convinced me of my worth.

Because I held everything inside, confiding in someone was not an option.
Because I experienced loss, it didn't matter whether you walked away or stayed.
Because my heart broke daily, I needed something to make the pain go away.
Because I felt violated, raped, and abandoned, I became numb.

Because I told you how I felt, doesn't give you the right to judge me.
Because you don't know how I feel, empathy is greatly needed on your part.
Because I open up to you, gives you a little insight.
Because I trust you not to use this against me and hurt me, then maybe this cycle can stop.


This poem was written by one of our contributors, Carmen Elgen. We can each identify with something said in this poem as none of us are immune to hurt. Stay tuned for more on our series on Hurt.

God bless you! Please share this with someone.

Walking in the Spirit / The fruits of the spirit Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23

      As followers of Christ, believers or Christians, there is a continual battle between our flesh and our spirit and Paul in his writings speaks of this candidly. In Galatians 5:17, Paul writes, "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." As followers of Christ, we cannot do what we want to do according to our flesh but we must now walk in the spirit.
      Why walk in the spirit? Well, walking in the flesh is walking in our sinful nature or being of this world. As believers, we know that we are in the world but not of the world. Furthermore, we cannot please God, our Heavenly Father, by walking in the flesh. In John 4:24 it states, "God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." We are called to leave our fleshly desires behind and strive towards a road that leads to God.
       Therefore, to walk this road that leads us to God, there are fruits that we must bear as believers. Fruits that will identify us not only as his followers but as walking in the spirit and not our flesh. These fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
       Each one of these fruits will be elaborated on here, on our blog and we have already started with kindness and not growing weary in well doing. Look out for more on this series.

God bless you! If this has been a blessing to you, share it with someone.

And let us not grow weary while doing good...Galatians 6:9

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Galatians 6:9

Good morning brothers in sisters in Christ! I just want to encourage you to continue to do well, continue to plant seeds of kindness in people's lives and to continue to do good. 

The scripture says to not get weary in well doing. God knows sometimes we will get tired and may not see the point in doing well that's why the scripture continues by saying that "for in due season we shall reap IF we do not lose heart." There is a condition under which we will reap our due rewards and that is if we do not lose heart. Therefore, we can not give up, get tired or feel