I am special to God. I am very near and dear to God just as Jehovah is near and dear to my heart.

Whenever I look at the sky above me, I think about the goodness of the Lord. The clouds remind me of His greatness and majesty. The sun reminds me that God is closer to us than we could even imagine.

“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.”~Nehemiah 9:6, ESV~

Even as I continue to look at the sky, I worship God. I worship God because He gave me abundant life. It is because of this abundant life that I walk in that I praise the Lord for providing me with eternal life. I walk in the abundant life and I walk in the eternal life.

To me, the abundant life is what God provides me here and now on this green earth. It reminds me of the life that Jesus lived while on this green earth. I walk in the abundant life because Jesus died for me so that I could have an abundant life on this green earth before the Lord calls me home.

The abundant life reminds me of what eternal life will be like when the Lord God calls me into Heaven, my eternal home away from my home on earth. I think about the abundant life as I worship God on this green earth in the present. I meditate on the abundant life as I praise the Lord for giving me the abundant life through His Son, Jesus Christ. It is because of these truths that I stand victorious at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ and praise the Lord for this magnificent sacrifice.

~”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”~John 3:16, NIV~

The abundant life is a clear reflection of eternal life as I meditate on this truth on this green earth. I am constantly reminded, as I continue to look up at the sky, that my home is not this green earth, but that it is in Heaven with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The hope that I have and speak of is found in His eternal life that He gave to me, as a gift, at the cross. This is the sign of hope. This is also a sign of eternal hope.

I thank God for giving me the abundant life through Christ Jesus so that I can walk in eternal life in Him. I stand in the confidence that I will walk in eternal life when God says to me, “The time is now to come home. Welcome home, my faithful daughter!,” into His arms. Bless the Lord for this amazing truth! I can’t wait until that day of eternal life, in the name of Jesus Christ! To God be the glory! Amen!

Are you ready? Are you ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Our bodies, which will not last forever, will be transformed by the hands of God the Father, and we will be given new bodies that will last forever.

~”But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”~1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, ESV~

The angels will sound the trumpet. Those who are children of God will hear the sound of the trumpet. Those who have passed away in Christ will rise and be given new bodies in Christ. They will be given perfect bodies.

Those who are children of God and alive still on the earth will be given new bodies too after hearing the trumpet. They will be given perfect bodies.

These perfect bodies will not only just be perfect bodies; they will be bodies like Jesus. In these perfect bodies, we will no longer cry, suffer, feel pain, angry, or other imperfect emotions because we will be just as Christ is in these perfect bodies.

As followers of Jesus, we have a reason to rejoice in the Lord for this day. Since we will be like Christ, we will have no reason to look back or behind at the past that is behind us. The earth will be old. Heaven will be a new place for all followers of Jesus to dwell. All old things will pass away and new things will have come!

~”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”~2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV~

All followers of Jesus will embrace the new and they will embrace Christ Jesus just as He is: with His nail-pierced hands and nail-pierced feet. Jesus died for all so that we could have the chance to get eternal life in Christ Jesus. Eternal life is our portion. Amen!

Do you believe in Jesus? Do you want this eternal life that I speak of to you? If so, pray this short prayer:

Dear God,

I know that I am a sinner. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I confess my sins to You as I put my trust in Jesus to lead me for the rest of the days of my life. Come into my heart as my Lord and Savior and lead me and guide me for the rest of my days.

In Jesus’ name,

amen!

**If you just prayed this short prayer, then you will be going to Heaven with Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Eternity and eternal life are your portion today and you can continue to walk in this truth today and share it with your loved ones!

I am at rest. I am at rest in the arms of the Lord.

I have moments of my life, where I am not energetic, and I need a place to rest. It is in these moments that I find rest in the Lord.

~”Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”~Matthew 11:28-30, ESV~

When I find rest, I find rest in Jesus. Jesus in my Rock. Jesus is my Salvation. Also, Jesus is my Rest. I rest in the Lord. Some of the ways that I find to rest in the Lord include reading a good book by a Christian author, praying, and going for walks in parks or nature parks. These outlets are positive outlets, where I can re-focus my thoughts from myself to the Lord as I use this time to care for myself. Resting in the Lord is self-care.

When I rest in the Lord, I stand in the confidence that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. I can go to my Heavenly Father, in these moments, and feel at peace and ease with Him and myself, inside out.

~”For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”~Romans 8:6, KJV~

Resting in the Lord gives me peace to my heart, my soul, my mind, and my entire body. This is so that when I go about the rest of the my day, I can focus on getting tasks done and on what the Lord wants me to accomplish for that day.

This requires me to die to my flesh and surrender it to the Lord so that He can mold me and make me into the woman of the King of kings and Lord of lords that He wants me to become. I must put my flesh aside always for this process because I am only a work in progress. God is continually fashioning me for His glory.

~”Your gates shall be open continually; day and night they shall not be shut, that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession.”~Isaiah 60:11, ESV~

I praise the Lord because He always puts my heart and mind at ease. I can rest in Him always, knowing that day and night, He blesses me with peace so that I can enter into His rest and claim His rest as my portion and sign of victory!

The rest of the Lord is my portion always. The rest of the Lord is my sure sign of victory in Christ Jesus. In Jesus, I have rest as my peace in the Lord as I pray and follow after this desire of the heart and mind of God: to enter into His rest. Amen.

I am growing. I am growing up in the Lord in this season.

As I grow in the Lord Jesus Christ in this season, I am becoming firm like an olive tree in a garden.

~”But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.”~Psalm 52:8, ESV~

For years, I have prayed to God for stability in my life. I have had the desire in my heart to make changes in my life that are pleasing to God and that honor Him with all of me. The reason is because I desire to serve the Lord God all of the days of my life.

As I have served God all of the days of my life, I have noticed the change that God is doing in my life. I am stepping out on faith and believing in God for these changes so that I can glorify God in all that I say and do for His kingdom.

One of these changes that I have made is saving money. I have prayed to God for years for Him to teach me how to save money. My mother nor my father did not teach me how to save money (I am not saying that they are bad parents for not teaching me how to save money. I am just saying that they did not teach me how to save and spend money wisely). I had to teach myself as well as learn from mistakes of the past to not spend money carelessly and to always tithe to my church.

For this year, I made a goal to myself to start tithing to my local church. I noticed that since I began to tithe to my local church that Godly change has been happening in my life. I am starting to save money more and spend less money more often that I have in the past. I am also noticing that my heart and my mind are at peace with my spirit, soul, and God as I made the commitment to tithe to my local church faithfully and wholeheartedly.

~”Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.“~2 Corinthians 9:7, ESV~

I am becoming a more sensible woman to the Lord. I am becoming a more practical person in the Word of God as a result of tithing to my local church. My finances are starting to fall into place miraculously because I have committed to tithing to the Lord every Sunday morning at my church. Praise the Lord!

Whenever I go to the store, I ask myself the question before purchasing an item, “Is this item necessary to buy right now and can it wait?” As I ask myself this question, I seek the Lord for discernment as I shop in the store for what is necessary to buy and what is not necessary to buy. God gives me the clarity that I need to make wise purchasing decisions.

I do not let the devil or my flesh lead me into temptation as I shop because I want to glorify God in my shopping and spending habits. It all starts with the thoughts and intentions of the heart and not giving up or giving into the devil, self, or sin. I thank God for giving me strong convictions to know when to say, “yes,” and, “no,” to buying items in the store.

I am still a work in progress and am not perfect. But, with Jesus by my side, I am confident that I can make wise spending choices and think clearly as I shop in the store and glorify God in all that I say and do for Him. Thank You Jesus! Hallelujah!

I am beautiful. I know that I am beautiful because of the way that the Lord God made me and fashioned me with His hands.

Even though I am overweight ( I am currently on a weight-loss plan to lose weight by the end of 2020), I stand in the confidence that I am a beautiful woman of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

I have red hair and brown eyes. I have freckles on my arms. My height is 5’6″ and I am overweight, as stated earlier. God still sees me as beautiful because He fearfully and wonderfully decided to create me. I am a miracle of God!

~” For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.“~Psalm 139:13-14, ESV~

Over the years I gained weight for many reasons. One of those reasons is that my parents divorced. I lived with my mother, who has a mental illness, for several years until I finally went to live with my father many years later (around the age of nineteen years old) due to circumstances surrounding my mother’s mental illness. I gained weight as I let the spirit of gluttony take over me and I got very depressed and ate food to comfort me because I was not used to or accustomed to living with my father. It’s not that I don’t love my father because I love my father; I just wasn’t used to living with him at the time and this adjustment was very difficult for me.

Many years later (aged twenty-nine years old now), God allowed something to take place in my life that would change how I see my weight. One day, I took a walk outside of my townhouse and I fell on the ground. No, I did not trip. I fell due to my overweight figure and injured my left ankle. I am convicted by the Holy Spirit of God that He allowed this to happen to me so that I would die to the spirit of gluttony and crave healthy foods and exercise. Praise the Lord!

After this incident, I searched for a gym and found a personal trainer. I now exercise everyday and eat healthy foods everyday. My personal trainers sees to it that I eat healthy foods and keeps me accountable for the exercise as well so that I can strive to be the best woman of God that Jehovah made me and created me to become.

Even though it was painful for me to fall and and injure my left ankle, I thank and praise God that He allowed this to happen to me so that I would return to Him with my body, as a temple, for the King of kings and Lord of lords. Since I began this weight-loss journey, I have lost 14 lbs. I still have a long way to go (about 70-80 more lbs.), but by the strength of Christ that is on the inside of me, I know that I will win this battle against weight gain, in the name of Jesus Christ.

~”I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”~Philippians 4:13, KJV~

What is healing? What is healing to you? What is the healing power of God that is through Jesus Christ to you?

For me, healing can only be experienced through Jesus Christ. This healing that comes through Jesus Christ comes through prayer.

~”But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”~Matthew 6:6, ESV~

A couple of months ago, I created a prayer closet in my bedroom. This prayer closet is very healing and very therapeutic to my heart, to my mind, and to my soul as I pray several days a week in it.

I pray for the healing power of God to come through for me. I pray for the healing power of God to come through my family and friends. I pray for the healing power of God to come through for the world, especially during this time of the Coronavirus pandemic.

I am confident that as I pray to God that He will bless everyone, who I pray for, in my prayer closet. God will also bless me for being and remaining faithful in my prayer time to Him. This is because my prayers are done in secret. I do not speak or brag about my prayer requests all of the time to others because I do not want others to steal my blessings. I just want for these breakthroughs to come as they happen in the timing of God.

As I see these breakthroughs happen, I see the hand of God at work in the lives of those, who I pray for in my prayer closet. I see the hand of God at work in my friends’ lives, my family’s lives, and my own life. I see breakthroughs all around me and surrounding me and my loved ones.

I acknowledge that these breakthroughs that happen can only be the healing power of God that is working in the lives of my loved ones. I thank God for all of these breakthroughs because they are a witness of Jesus Christ and of the testimony of God’s faithfulness in and through me during this time and in His timing.

I see healing. I see the healing power of God that is through Jesus Christ all around me. I praise the Lord for His healing and claim it as dawn breaks.

~”Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.”~Isaiah 58:8, KJV~

Only God can heal my broken heart and use every piece of my broken heart to reflect of the goodness and grace of God in my life. I praise the Lord that He can use me and my broken condition to bring healing to the multitudes and those, who are reading this blog post, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Praise the Lord!

I claim the promises. I claim the promises of God as I walk in His victory in this season.

This season, I have had to set boundaries with people and break away from ministries, that I thought were good for me, when in reality, they were not good for me. This process has not been easy, but God has given me wisdom and discernment to know what boundaries to set and how to set them in a way that does not harm others and myself.

~”And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.”~Acts 17:26, ESV~

There was a time of my life, where I was affiliated with two ministries that were not of God. While I choose to not go into the details of what types of ministries that these ministries were, I have made the choice to disband from these ministries so as to not harm or come in between my relationship with God.

These two ministries put themselves on a pedestal and above the Lord, and affected how I saw myself and how I saw God. I did not notice this until I listened to a sermon from my home church yesterday.

The pastor of my home church called out the sins of, “churches,” who put themselves first and not God first and in the center of their ministries. One of the things that he said, that I will never forget for this Independence Day message 2020 of my home church was that a pastor, preacher, teacher, or person with a calling from God on their lives cannot call things into existence because that is as if the person is taking the place of God and commanding Him to do things that are not for the best interest of humankind or that God sees as not sinful. This is because not everything is good for humans and what humans want sometimes is sinful, even when they do not see that what they want God to do for them is selfish and sinful.

~”I have the right to do anything,” you say–but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”–but not everything is constructive.”~1 Corinthians 10:23, NIV~

The Holy Spirit of God spoke to me after hearing this heartfelt and convicting message yesterday, and I made the decision to disband from these two ministries because they did not put God first and in the center of the ministry. I went into my prayer closet this morning and prayed to God to forgive me for allowing these two ministries to deceive me so that I could walk in freedom.

As I prayed, I could feel the grace of God extending His forgiveness towards me and freeing me. I thanked the Lord for freeing me from these two ministries that blocked me from truly seeing who God is after I heard this message from my home church pastor, which was meant for me from the Lord: gracious, merciful, compassionate, and forgiving me of my mistakes.

I am now free indeed, in the name of Jesus, from the approval of these two ministries. I am hopeful that over time, that my friends from my home church will see and witness the change that Jesus is doing in me and acknowledge it.

I normally don’t say this, but thank you for taking the time to read this blog post, from the beginning to the end. May the good Lord bless you and keep you as you let the Holy Spirit of God heal you from past ministry church hurt and walk forgiven and free. God bless you!

How do you see yourself? How do you see God? The way that God sees you is the same way that you should see yourself. God loves you. Therefore, you can love yourself in this same way that God loves you: as your Father.

~”So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”~Ephesians 3:17-19, ESV~

It is a desire of the heart of God to want you to be filled more of Him and less of yourself. One of the reasons that God sent Jesus to die for you is to know Him. God wants you to know Him through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

There was a time of my life that I did not love myself. This was because I did not see myself in the same way as God saw me: as His daughter.

God is Holy. God is Just. God is also Pure, Righteous, and Peace. God is also my Father: my Heavenly Father, who takes care of me and watches over me.

I had to come to a point in my life, where God allowed me to enter into a state of brokenness so that I could see Him as He is: my Father. The more that I saw God as not just my Lord, but as my Father, this caused me to see myself more clearly and with His and Heaven’s eyes.

It is also like how God made me in my mother’s womb. He created me. He made me. He fashioned me to be not just another girl to grow into a woman of the King. He made me to be His daughter. I am a daughter of the Lord, my Father.

~”I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”~Psalm 139:14, KJV~

Now, I see God as my Perfect Father. God is my Father. My earthly father may not be perfect, but God is Perfect and He will always love me unconditionally. I am not saying that I don’t love my earthly father, because I do, but my Perfect Father will and has always loved me past my sins and accepted me into His Kingdom: as His daughter.

As a daughter of the Lord, I know that my Perfect Father loves me. As a daughter of the Lord, I know that my Perfect Father sees me as cherished. As a daughter of the Lord, I know that my Perfect Father has forgiven me of my sins. I am loved. I am cherished. I am forgiven. I am free indeed.

~”So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”~John 8:36, NIV~

I enjoy taking walks in my neighborhood. I also enjoy taking walks in the park.

For me, the park is very calming and relaxing to my nerves and body. It is a form of self-care in that as I walk in my neighborhood, I am experiencing breakthrough after breakthrough and victory after victory in my nature walks with the Lord. I call these walks victory walks.

~”For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”~Ephesians 2:10, ESV~

These victory walks with Jesus are very powerful because every time that I walk, I see the hand of God working in my life in mysterious and miraculous ways. God has already prepared me to walk in this anointing that falls upon me every time that I walk these victory walks with my Lord and Savior.

I picture myself holding the hands of Jesus every time that I walk these victory walks with the Lord. It is as if when God holds tight to me, that I hold on to Him and He guides me down those paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. I will not fear anything during these victory walks.

~”Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”~Psalm 119:105, ESV~

~”Even though I walk through the darkest valley,I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”~Psalm 23:4, ESV~

Throughout these victory walks, I can feel the presence of the Lord. I can feel the presence of Jehovah as I walk down the narrow paths, the dark paths, and even in the lit up paths that have the sun shining down on them. I have no fear. I am unafraid of the enemy and his tactics.

During these victory walks, the Lord removes from me unclean spirits and replaces them with the fruits of His Holy Spirit. I receive the fruits of the Holy Spirit of God as I walk down the paths of righteousness that God has called me to walk in, for His name and glory’s sake.

I become more joyful during these victory walks. I gain a sense of peace with God and with myself as I walk out on faith and do these victory walks. I believe that God has the power to heal me: His healing is already beginning to surge, from the inside out of me, in the name of Jesus Christ.

I cannot wait to see the work that God does in me, right now, over the course of the next few years, and for years to come. The hands of God bless me. I decree, declare, and receive the blessings of the Lord over my life and continue to do these victory walks for God, in the name of Jesus Christ.

~”The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”~Proverbs 10:22, KJV~

I just completed my online classes for the Summer term for Liberty University online! Currently, I am a Master of Arts student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program with the university.

In past posts (for Sarah’s Spiritual Walk and Atlanta Christian Voice), I have shared how artwork has had an impact on my life, from a selfcare standpoint and as a future counselor. I am now going to talk about how nature (particularly flowers), have had an impact on me, from a selfcare standpoint and as a future counselor.

~”The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.”~Song of Solomon, 2:12, ESV~

One of the main reasons that I like flowers is because they are representative of the character and nature of God. God made flowers to reflect Him just as He created people to reflect Him and His image. Flowers of all kinds (whether they be tulips, daisies, sunflowers, etc.), all glorify who God is, as our Creator.

All flowers glorify the Lord, as the Creator, because each shade of the colors of every flower represents the beauty of God. God makes all things beautiful and in His image. Because God made flowers in His image, they are a direct reflection of His creation because they show that God is the Creator of all things, including flowers.

I remember taking a morning walk on a Sunday a couple of weeks ago. I took many pictures of several flowers and admired them. Oh, how beautiful the petals of each flower were that I saw! Oh, how gorgeous the stems and leaves of the flowers that I saw that day! These were the images that I saw and that I marveled, as God’s creation, as I blessed the Lord for making and creating these flowers.

~”Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”~Psalm 103:1-2, ESV~

As my mouth blesses the Lord, I thank Him for the flowers. As my mouth blesses the Lord, I praise Him that He chose to include flowers as a part of His magnificent creation. As my mouth blesses the Lord, I worship God for who He is, as my Lord and Savior, and fall at His feet. I anoint Jesus’ feet with oil and flowers, in His holy name.

As I imagine myself anointing Jesus’ feet with oil and flowers, I think to myself of how my Lord and Savior anoints my feet with oil and flowers. This is simply because He loves me. Jesus places flowers, of all kinds at my feet, to show me His grace: tulips, daisies, sunflowers, and many other kinds of flowers.

Thinking of the grace of God that He shows me day by day is majestic. It is wondrous and goes beyond space and time. It is altogether beautiful. Altogether lovely. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!