Praise the Lord for His Mercy as it is what keeps me smiling so much. I am thankful to the Lord for His mighty blessings. It is something how the enemy will get you to thinking negative during a moment of disappointment.
My hubby and I were trying to go away for a 4 day long weekend. We were looking to go to NYC so he can visit his family AND we were going alone. My aunt and sister agreed to watch our son over the 4 days, so all we had to do was get the funds together along with my hubby getting the days off. Yet it all did not work that way as of this writing
Yet when it appeared that the trip was going to be cancelled, I was given into the disappointment of not going. I was disappointed because I wanted to spend time with my hubby alone away from our home. I wanted to go away, I wanted to relax, I wanted this and I wanted that. LOL Are you seeing where I am going….it were not about what God wanted for us. I did not even ask Him if we could go or should go before I got my hopes up.
So when it appeared that the finances were not coming through….I was just so disappointed. I was almost to the point of crying. Not because of the money or that stuff, but because I wanted what I wanted and I was not getting it. I kept telling myself why not Lord, I just want to know. It is not fair…I just want to go away with my husband. We did not have a honeymoon – this is not fair. My hubby was giving me words of encouragement and I am looking at him like aren’t you disappointed? Almost mad at him, well not really but you might know what I mean…in my mind I am saying “why am I upset and he is like – God’s will”! LOL Sometimes when I am upset – nope I do not want to hear the word – do not want to listen. I want to wallow in my disappointment.
Well that was the first big mistake! We have to stop ourselves from that because if not – we will fall even deeper into it. I know this as I speak it all the time. So I did what I always do…calling on the Lord and then talking it out. I was able to feel pretty okay until it was time for bed…so as I go to bed, I sing and pray, then read my word, I started feeling a little better – good enough to fall asleep. I am thankful for prayer as I was able to go to sleep, yes I was that disappointed. Yet, I hear my husband tell me it is going to be all right dear, all things work to our good. Yet I still did not really want to hear that. Still wallowing a little bit…but yet knowing that I had to break this mood. It was not a bad mood, just a silent mood. I was thinking to myself, thank you Lord for allowing me to write the good morning email earlier in the day for I do not know if I could have right now.
Yet I get up in the morning – there was praise but not like I normally am. I was dreading getting out the bed, husband is snoring away, I am tired and it hits me…no vacation….ugghhhhh…Steelers Day at work…okay do I have a Steelers shirt, not really caring if I do or not. Yes I live in Pittsburgh but I am not a Steelers fan…sorry not into football so I did not really feel like showing my support to anything today. The entire time I am walking through the house, I am talking to the Lord…asking for peace in my heart about this and to stop being disappointed over the trip.
As I was driving to work, I am telling the Lord…look I do not feel it but I am going to fake it until I feel better – I need you to intervene on me Lord and give me what I need to shake this mood. I need it gone Jesus! I call my husband as I felt the need to hear his calming voice…ugghhhhh he is still sleeping…small attitude sinks in…he is still sleeping and I am on my way to work…not fair Lord. Yet the Lord tells me to let it go…I realize I am being petty, so I let it go. I release what I am truly thinking to my hubby – how I am just tired, I just wanted a break, I just wanted to be with you alone, I need a break dear – just a break – why not….LOL You have to really know Merv – he is so calm that sometimes it is nerve-wracking…I have only seen him upset a couple of times – twice with me and once with his job. LOL I am telling you it is rare…I do not know what I expected but I got my calm husband. LOL He proceeds to give me a word from the Lord and I hear Him but did not allow it to penetrate my mind – but it did hit my heart. It started to soften up my heart even though I could not really feel it yet.
I came into work just doing my job, and wanted to check the WL4J social community as I like to see what is going on…my dear sister Anna had written a blog posting that was just so funny to me. It was really cute and funny, nothing about the Lord or anything – just life. Yet in reading it, the laughter lightened my heart and the peace returned. It was that split second that I stopped and just really let things go and laughed at another situation that was just so funny. Yet the Lord spoke to me through the story too…It took my mind away to laugh at that story - it made me think how my steps are ordered all things are under control of the Lord. Sometimes we know what to say when we are going through but we do not allow it to penetrate our hearts because the disappointment is too hard to get out not allowing Him to speak to us. My hubby was giving a good word to me this morning as he knew I was still upset and though I heard him - I did not really hear him. I heard him and the word started to get me ready to hear the Lord so I was able to read her story and let my thoughts on my wants to be gone. I just laughed and in the laughter the thoughts were able to change! Praise the Lord.
My steps are ordered by God - all things I do are done to His glory. He knows what best and though sometimes it is hard to walk this walk yet nothing worth having is easy to come by. I am a child of the Most High God so my steps are ordered and for whatever reason, He feels that this is the path that needs to be taken at this time - I know that I am blessed and I am standing in His words! For He is my faith and He is my Lord! I know that my steps are orders - my steps are ordered!!
I am in line with His word and right now I feel like shouting for the Lord has called me to live this life and despite what the enemy is trying to tell me - HE IS A LIAR FOR MY STEPS ARE ORDERED BY GOD - MY STEPS ARE ORDERED! Thank you Jesus!
See this is what we need to do when we are faced with disappointment, moments of despair, anger, depression and just every day unpleasantness, we need to remember the word of God, we need to know that no matter what we feel for that moment we can have joy – we just need to know to laugh and let it all go. It is in the Lord that we truly have our joy and it is in knowing Him that we will have peace. Sure we will have moments as you see that I did – but yet and still the joy that comes is so much worth the trials that brings it!
We need to trust in the Lord with all our heart, all our minds, all our souls for He is the only way to live. At one point of my morning I was saying repeatedly, I will trust in the Lord with all my heart, and lean not unto my own understanding – I will acknowledge His ways and He will direct my path. I will – I will Lord – I will hear your voice and silence my thoughts and concentrate on you for you are my Lord and Saviour and out of line with you is not where I want to be. In all things I have the victory because even though I wanted to go away, you have a reason for me to stay and in this I am going to be obedient for obedience is better than sacrifice. I am loved and I am blessed for the Lord God gives me rest in Him for His burden is light and His yoke is easy. I will trust in Him for all eternity for He is my all in all!
So this day let us all remember to have laughter in our disappointments for your steps are ordered by God.
We need to be careful of our own pleasure seeking and remember that we do not want to become a form of godliness. 2 Timothy 3:4-5 4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
In closing let me leave some scripture with you that I made reference to in my writings today – let us not be mistaken for it is the word of God that gets us through this life…
May something I said today encourage you in your walk in the Lord! God Bless!
Psalm 37:23-25 23The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. 24Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. 25I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
Matthew 6:32-34 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Proverbs 3:5-65Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Romans 12:1-31I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
1 Peter 1:7-9 7That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Philippians 4:6-86Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Psalm 30:4-6 4Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. 6And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
Matthew 11:29-30 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord for He is so worthy to be praise! I have just finished reading a sister in Christ blog where she reminds the sisters at WL4J to Pay Attention. She goes on to give her testimony in an uplifting way and since I have spoken to her several times, I can just hear her bubbly voice as I read it which made it even more on fire to me. As I read through her unique way of saying what she had been through, it just showed me even more how awesome God is and how we really do need to start our day with praise for the Lord, walk throughout our day praising the Lord and end our day with praising the Lord.
At work, I hear so many say that they go to church or I hear so many say that they believe in God but do not go to church, plus double the amount who run as soon as you say Jesus to them! We are so into whom we are and not even think about what God has done for us. It is something as some sisters will write to me with questions that I just assume we should know. I was shocked the first time I heard “how do you live for Jesus” from a sister who has been going to church for years, I was shocked when I heard “how to your pray – I do not think He hears me” from a woman who is 20 years my senior and has been in church since she was a little girl. Yet the more I walk and talk to the Lord, the more I am aware of how blessed I am and how much He wants us to reach out to others and speak the truth.
There are so many stories out there, so many things that need to be said. There is room for all of us to get our stories out there and there is room for us to share what we have. I am committing a section of the Women Living 4 Jesus website – just for that… (Yes Sister Anna – I know – I know – we will figure out where is the best place to put it on the site! LOL) I am committing a section on the site for testimonies of our sisters in Christ. So get out your pen and paper, or just open up the writing tool that you use on your computer and give us your story. Write up the story of your life, the blessings of the Lord, how He has blessed you in your life. How He has kept you in your life. Do you know that holding that story in AND not sharing it is not allowing the Lord to have the full glory of your blessing? For if you do not share it with the world, then how will they know how much He loves not just you but them for whatever He has done for you – He will do for others.
Do not allow the enemy to tell you that your testimony is not important or that God has not done anything extraordinary in your life to tell…the fact that you are alive is extraordinary enough to sing the praises of God. So it is time to tell the world, I would love to have tons of stories on the web site to share with sisters who visit and need a word of encouragement to keep pressing on – to keep standing in His word and to keep allowing His way to direct their lives. Do not wait, start it today – tell your story. Do not worry about grammar and all that jazz, we will get it cleaned up – I know several sisters who are really good at that and would love to do it for us. Just know that in all things give God the glory! Send your testimony/story to sisteralissalynne@comcast.net
Praise the Lord!!! My honesty today is letting go of all things is not easy but oh so worth it. As all of you know the other day I spoke on my husband and I talking – OH THE BLESSINGS OF HONESTY! I am just so refreshed and feel even freer to open up to him more. It is something what the honesty does for you and how the enemy tries to trick us into holding things back. In hearing what my hubby had to say has brought us closer as I see his point of view. Sure I did not see it when he first mentioned it, all I felt was my pain and hurt behind what he said. Yet as the day went on and the conversation flowed even more, I was able to see that it was not so bad, it was fixable on both our parts and it has been addressed. It is something as I thought about it on my way in, we have got to give God the glory in our lives and we have to hear Him when He is speaking to us. He had told me before to talk to my husband about the subject but I did not want to deal with it. I have a habit of ignoring things that I do not want to address, which I think most of us do.
I learned that ignoring things does not make it go away and you are better off talking about things when you are told to do so. LOL If I would have approached him, I am sure that the hurt/pain from the conversation would not have been there. I am still learning to trust the Lord. I hear Him but do not always follow what He tells me to do, which in turn sometimes makes it hard to trust others too. It is something how your life can place so many obstacles in your way but the Lord is right there bringing you out of it. I think that is one of the reasons why I love reading His word. I love reading the word of God and listening to it while at work, for I need it to feed me. I need the word of God to show me the areas that need cleaned out, to show me how to get rid of the junk and to allow more love in my heart.
Oh the glory of the Lord for I have come so far in Him already, there is so much less pain, so much less hurt, but yet there is still some left that hinders me from time to time. I had to smile as I talked to my hubby about that yesterday, as he was nudging me to tell him more of the story of me…I told him I was not ready, and his response was yes you are – just trust me. He was so right; so many times the Lord is saying the same thing to us. We are going through so much and yet the Lord is saying trust me – just reach out and trust me for when we trust Him…no harm will come to us. We will be just like I was with my husband…after we trust Him and truly listen to Him, we will see that it really was not that hard to tell the Lord and follow Him for He meant what He said…
Matthew 11:29-3029Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
I Peter 5:6-7 6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
When we are faced with the truth of ourselves sometimes we really do not want to deal with it even when the Lord says we are ready. We are quick to make excuses, yet the Lord still nudges us to open up more to Him. Praise the Lord for my hubby and his patience; even though he says he has none…you have to know that dealing with me is not always easy. (Right now reading this my hubby is saying – AMEN!! LOL) YET the Lord is in charge of my life and He is keeping me honest with myself more than ever before. I used to hide behind all kind of excuses because I did not want to deal with my own feelings – not the things I had done but how I felt about things. It was not easy to open up in the beginning to my husband and there are still areas that I have not only not opened up to him but not even to myself – or God – yet I feel the Lord working on me in those areas as He has sent His nudge to me and I hear Him and not ignoring Him this time.
As I lay in the arms of my hubby last night – I addressed a subject that was hard for me to do, and I felt free and comfortable for the fear of rejection was gone once the words came out of my mouth. It was not major but it was a step in the right direction as it will lead to more honesty within me, with my husband and eventually telling you! LOL I am thankful to the Lord for the growth that He has granted me and I am thankful to the Lord for the love He has bestowed upon me. It is a daily process but as I cast my cares and fear upon the Lord, the love, peace and joy fill my heart.
I was opening my email yesterday when there were two emails from Dr. Juanita Bynum website, which I receive her newsletter for. The Lord put her on my heart a few months ago and I have been receiving her newsletter ever since. It has opened my eyes to a lot of things but one thing it has done has given me compassion for her even though I strongly do not agree with the new direction she appears to be going, and I feel that some of her things are just not what God wants His people to do, yet if she says God is calling her to do this, I am not God and can not answer for her, but I know what the word of God says and it really bothers me that this sister would be headed in that direction. Yet God is able to bring things about. I am not trying to belittle her or her ministry, but I have always had a raised eyebrow when ministries are named after the person whom is the founder, if the ministry is to empower the people of God, if the ministry is to glorify God, why do we have to name it after us…when it is supposed to be all about Jesus, shouldn’t even the name of the ministry reflect Jesus too? Yet this is just my own thoughts and opinion on things and as we know that my thoughts do not even pay two cents let alone rent! LOL Yet as I watch her ministry change to the things of the world more and see less of Jesus on her web page, my heart aches for her, my spirit grieves for her and for all those whom look up to her for the Lord does not appear to be in it. As I said – appears not to be in it. So for those of us that feel the same way, let us join together and pray for her and her ministry to be what God has called it to be, I knew what I was going to see after reading countless emails from her ministry talking about revealing a new her – a new outlook and a new direction….I started praying then that my thoughts would be wrong but at last they were not. Our prayers are needed for this sister, not our down talking of her but to uplift her in the name of Jesus to be what God has called her to be. I used to get upset and talk about her as if she was nothing but the Lord showed me that we all are human and have faults.
After her public split with her husband, I was so hurt that they did get a divorce for as a woman of two divorces, I know what that can do and as a Christian wife, hell is going to have to freeze over before I do that one again. God is good and a lot of times I think we pick our spouses and wonder why it does not work out instead of allowing the Lord to pick our spouses. Now of course if he leaves you and divorces you, my thoughts are just a little different but as the word of God says…if they choose to dwell with you – do not put them out. (Read the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians Chapter 7 – so much information to post it all is just too much – but take the time to read the chapter!) God can fix anything; we just have to be willing to do what He asks us to do. Yet that is an entirely different blog! LOL Yet I must say one more thing….
Matthew 19:26But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Do not give up on your marriage for in doing that it is like you are giving up on God…UNLESS God is truly telling you to let go for whatever reason but be 100% sure that is what He is telling you as the Lord is clear in His word! Yet divorce and marriage is a whole other blog – lol – I did say that didn’t, I can’t help it – I have strong feelings about that. So forgive me as I go there….I have been married twice before Elder Merv, both times did not think the marriages would end, I did not try to end either marriage at all – I tried and tried to get them to stay. Yet they chose to leave me and to take on new lives with other women…so I did not stay bounded to them as they were no longer bounded to me – I know some do not view the scriptures as I do in this area, so please forgive me because it is strong in me especially after Elder Merv and I started courting.
It brought so much confusion into my heart as I spoke to others about it that I actually took it to God and left it there and my answers all came back and the peace in my heart I really enjoy my life even with the bumps so I know that the decision was the best as I have grown more than I ever thought possible. Praise the Lord…okay got that off me! LOL I will post this scripture though – 1 Corinthians 7:15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart.
A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. I will say this though – allow the Lord to speak to you and only you – do not concern yourself with things that others say or do, get in the word of God for you and hear what He is saying to you, for the truth of the word will come to you as the Lord sees for you to hear it. Yes I know some of you reading this do not agree with me, yet this is what the Lord told me to do! AMEN!
I said all of that to say – Pray for Sister Dr Juanita Bynum and that God’s will be done in her life and her ministry! AMEN!
Okay on that note – I think I shall end today’s Honesty Today and may we continue to live in the love of the Lord no matter what goes on in our lives for we know that all things will work out! AMEN!
God Bless and Have a great day!
Love your sister in Christ
Sister Alissa Lynne
Praise the Lord! First I wanted to say thank you to all those that sent email responses back to me. I thank God for the wonderful positive encouragement and the love that some have shown. I am thankful that I have my sisters looking out for me and my family in prayer. It is truly what the Lord wants from us.
I think I said the other day about scriptures that mean so much to me, yet they are singing loudly to me today so this is what I have to write today…
Here are some scriptures just singing in my head today….
Isaiah 61:1-3 1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
When we were looking for a new scripture to head up WL4J and what we stood for, a sister in Christ submitted this scripture and it has been with me ever since. It sings to me what we are to do as Christians, sure it was writing in the Old Testament but it sings to us this day for what the Lord has done for us and what we need to do for others. Yet, verse 3 touched me as I was determined to live in a life of praise in the Lord and putting on the garment of praise for the rest of my life! Let us all put on the garment of praise for the Lord this and every day!
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Awwwwww James 5:16….this scripture was one of the ones that has not left me for a few months now. It comes to mind every time I do not want to write something in the Honesty Today, but then the Lord speaks to me this scripture and I write it – most of those Honesty Today’s that this happens on – I get a huge response back from sisters. God is truly true to His word. We need to uplift the Lord as it will be a blessing always. Let us remember to break down those walls for in breaking down the walls, we can release things and be free in Jesus.
Isaiah 43:18-19 18Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
As I was going through the realization of changes in my life, a sister in Christ shared this scripture with me and I am telling you – it spoke volumes to me and still does. This is a daily scripture for me for I am changed in Jesus – that old Alissa is leaving and Sister Alissa Lynne is here to stay!
John 4: 23-24 23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
I have to praise the Lord in spirit and truth. As most of you know, I love to talk about the Lord, I love to tell of His goodness, I love to keep it real, and I love to praise the Lord. I believe that all of this is important to keeping my walk in the Lord on the right path. I know that I am looking forward to praising the Lord for all eternity. There is no better feeling than to praise the Lord with all that I have – in spirit and in truth. If you think of something that is better than this…then you have not experienced true worship and praise of the Lord. When we are in the presence of the Lord – there is nothing to compare it to – nothing can touch it. It is so awesome to be free in Jesus and to be able to praise Him all the time. I love the fact that sometimes the Lord is so ever present in my heart that I have to go outside and praise the Lord as the joy is over bubbling! Awesome God! I pray that you are able to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth!
Romans 8:28-39 28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Okay since coming to Christ, Romans 8 has stayed with me each and every day. There is so much in those scriptures that just keeps me moving forward in my life. When I do not understand something, when I am confused, when I feel alone, when I feel rejected…the above scriptures place it all back in line for me. God is just so awesome…NOTHING WILL SEPARATE US FROM HIS LOVE – we can not even do that, for even when we walk away from Him, His love for us is still there…we woke up that morning! AMEN!
Luke 10:17-20 17And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
When I was going through some things and could not figure out what was going on and when Ephesians 6:10-18 was not just hitting what I needed it to hit. I was studying Luke and this smack me in the face. Not only did Jesus send out men to spread the word (as I did not know that He has any other than the 12 spreading the word of God), but He gave them power and those of us that He grants us the power of the Holy Spirit (Which is a gift that we can all have for it is freely given to all those that ask for it), He blesses us because our names are written in Heaven.
At that time in my life I was trying to come to conclusions of what I was going though, did I want to continue seeing Elder Merv or did I want to just be me alone, along with the fact that I was dealing with my son acting up in school, with bills piling up and not even sure what I was going to do at all. Those scriptures just reminded me how the Lord gave us power over the enemy and we are to act accordingly for we are blessed to know that we were going to be with Him for all eternity. It motivated me to stand on the word of God.
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Jesus makes us free – Jesus is the way, the truth, the light and the life! It is just that reminder that keeps me honest with myself and all those around me. There is no other excuse or misunderstanding in these scriptures…I believe the word of God and I know that I am free in Jesus because He makes me free! AMEN!!
Colossians 3:9-17 9Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. 12Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Last Sunday, my pastor spoke on verse 11 but as I always do – I read the entire chapter and in my reading – praise the Lord for the encouragement and the truth. I am new in Jesus – all the things of the pass are gone and all things are to be done in His name and He is so worthy of our praises. His word is so important to our lives and the need for us to sing His praises will only bless our very being. May we all remember what He has done and just love Him because of the love He has shown us.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Peace and joy – peace – peace and peace some more. There is nothing like the peace of the Lord and how He will give us peace that passeth all understanding. God is good and awesome – we need to remember that when we need to feel peace – go to Jesus for the peace for this is one thing the world can not give to you.
Ephesians 1:3-14 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
His love for us is so beyond our comprehension yet it is felt in every second of our day if we allow our hearts to be filled with His love and allow us to feel it flowing in us.
Psalm 113:1-4 1Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. 2Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. 3From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD's name is to be praised. 4The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
I love to sing the praises of God and I have to say that I have grown to love the book of Psalms, for the praises that go forth to the Lord! David was truly blessed with words!
Revelation 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Enough said with that scripture – this is who Jesus is to me and to all of us that believe and for those that do not believe – they will come to know too one day!
Before I close out I needed to say that I am truly grateful to the Lord for His word, for His truth, for His guidance and protection, and for His love for me. I have struggled with allowing myself to be loved by those that love me but it is in the love of the Lord that I am shining and becoming a new creature in the Lord. It is awesome to feel the difference in my life due to His love. I am thankful to the Lord for all things…so with that said…..
Revelation 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Jude 1:24-25 24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Until tomorrow,
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
Psalm 19:13-14 13Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 14Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
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I am thankful to the Lord today for His guidance, His love, His patience, the Holy Spirit and my walk in the Lord. I promised to always be honest so here we go yet again. I have been going through some stuff and not really saying anything to anyone about it except for a few people.
It is one of those things that I say that sometimes we need to keep to ourselves because the enemy will attack you with it. Yet and still, I have spoken on it before, but still it gets worse. I am talking about my baby boy – my only child – the one who makes me smile with that cute and contagious smile of his. He is my sweetie and truly a blessing to my heart. Yet the tests are coming hard and strong with him and though he is still only eight years old – I wonder what it going on because he is only eight. These are the things that I see with my nephew who is 13 years old, not my eight year old son. The only aspect that we are missing is that girls are not an issue. YET!! I am not looking forward to that at all.
It appears that the effects of my ex husband is really hitting us in the area of his eating habits. I have been fighting for 8 years now, the eating habits of my son. His father would sneak food to him since he was about a little over a year old. Food has become a comfort for him in all aspects of his life, whether he is happy or sad, food is what he wants. Even though I am a big girl, food has does not comfort me as it used to but I also understand where my son is coming from. He has this lack of self control that is really starting to act up again or maybe I was blind to the full effects of it – not sure but I know one thing…something has to change.
My son comes home on Friday from school, we are sitting there talking and I am going over his paper work, I noticed on one of the forms that it was school report card day. Yet I did not get a report card. I asked my son did he get a report card, he said nope they did not give me a report card. Notice the words that I asked and the words he answered with. He did not lie, he was telling the truth – they did not give him one. But report cards went out, my son did not get a report card because he owes money for the lunches that he has put on charge that he should have never done. He takes a lunch every single day to school, and yet and still he decided after eating his lunch if it was a day they were serving what he wanted, he would get lunch on charge. Now we just went through this for last report card period and though they were sending home a credit slip, he was not giving them to me. Yet, this was not revealed until after I grilled him on Saturday about the report card. I did not grill him on Friday because I just emotionally did not want to deal with the huge lies that I knew were going to come out of his mouth.
BUT GOD….Friday night after picking up my husband from the bus stop near our house, I finished watching Left Behind 2 as I had watched Left Behind 1 as I have never seen them. So after watching the rest of 2, the Lord started ministering to my spirit. See I am dealing with the insurance stuff from my grandfather and really just been getting tired of dealing with all those people unable to give me a straight answer. My grandfather has two credit cards that have tons of free money on it. LOL No I did not spend it but it was a HUGE temptation and I was trying my hardest not to do so. After I made sure everything was cleared up with the credit card people, that his accounts were in order, I cut up the cards that Friday evening and with it went the temptation to use them. Praise the Lord, I was feeling good about that and thanking God for keeping me from making that terrible mistake and truly trusting the Lord for what He is doing for me. We, my hubby and I, were just praising and praying to the Lord until 3 AM. It was awesome and it was what I needed before I faced my child on Saturday morning. Yet the Lord had prepared me for this day and conversation with my son…I had spoken a couple days before with a sister in Christ about some of the same issues that I was having with my son as she was/did with her children. She gave me some awesome advice on how to handle it and praise the Lord – it helped me in talking with him that day. The Lord had given me the peace and understanding that I needed in talking to him.
I was so thankful to the Lord for giving me that as I listened to my son repeatedly lie to me and I never once yelled at him. I denied the lies to him and kept a strong but calm voice in talking with him. It was truly a blessing to me. I pray that my son heard all that I was saying to him. As I listened to him talk and tell me lie after lie, it was tearing my heart apart but the Lord would reach over and tell me in my ear, it is okay, he has to learn too. He is mine too. I just kept listening to him talk and talk and lie and lie. Oh how hurtful that was. I am watching him trying to buy any time he can of not getting into trouble, the more I listened to him the more the Lord told me to talk to him about self control. So that is what I did, explaining self control to him and I had a testimony to give to him about how I resisted using my grandfather’s credit cards and how the Lord blessed me with the money to get the thing that I wanted anyhow. So….after all that, Merv being and Elder (which by the way – I stand to be corrected – I have been calling my hubby Minister Merv for so long but he is really an Elder…LOL Forgive me dear and he just lets it go as I gave him the email address ministermerv LOL oh well, I am sure he will say that is what he is for we are all ministers unto one another to the glory of God…if that is not the exact words it is close – trust me! LOL), well anyhow Elder Merv was ministering to him and Jonathan has stated that he wants to give his life to God. He accepted Christ as his personal savior, so we are talking with him and teaching him what that all entails, yet and still helping him to come to a better understanding of what living saved means, what being saved is and the fact that he has to be baptized. LOL Well that is where his fear is right now, being baptized even though he saw me baptized, he is scared of it, but we know that God will work it out for him in their time. We let him know that he can come to Jesus all the way when he is ready, whenever he is ready.
We had to place new rules in the house for Jonathan; he is not permitted in the kitchen without someone being in the kitchen with him. He is not permitted to even come downstairs unless one of us is already down there. Yet we lifted the no eating after 7 PM rule to help curb with late night sneaking downstairs to get something to eat. It is really something how being a parent is just something else. There is no perfect children even though sometimes when we listen to others we think we are doing something wrong with our children as they are always talking about how awesome their kids are, but no one really wants to admit that their child has issues, that their child is not the model child, yet here I am saying guess what I am not perfect and neither is my child. It is all in time of the Lord that we will have these things worked out in the Lord. My hubby said something that made much sense, it does not matter who it is, does not matter what age they are but to live our lives right we have to be saved and walking with the Lord! How true is that – so true – only through Jesus will we be made perfect.
It is something though, after that conversation with my son and talking with him, with my not getting made or upset, the Lord has blessed my talks with my son since then. I sent him to school today to bring home a new paper with the amount of money that he owes for his report card and we will see how that goes. I did not email his teacher as I wanted to let Jonathan know that he is responsible for his own actions…no one but him. We are going to be working on the self control things that are going on with him, but I know that God will work it out because my husband said he was the same way as a kid…Thank you Jesus for sending someone who walked those shoes and may he be a positive light to Jonathan and in direction that there is understanding and love administered all the time for it is all going to work out for our good for we are the called according to His purpose.
As I type this…that word keeps coming to my mind…does not matter what comes our way – whether it is good or bad or whether we want to deal with it or not – it is all going to work out for the good! None some of it but all of it…
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Yet as I put that in – the reminder of how we are more than conquerors in Jesus and how nothing – nothing will separate us from the love of the Lord.
Romans 8:37-39 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When I think about my weekend and I am asked how it was – it was a huge blessing with a few moments of wondering why but the Lord answered it all in His word and His direction for my life and that is how I strive to live!
Have a blessed day this and every day we are granted a new opportunity by opening starting our day with open eyes and the ability to praise the Lord with our minds, heart, body and soul!
Love you all,
Sister Alissa Lynne
Praise the Lord! The Lord does things in order, even when it does not make sense to us. It is still done in His order, we may reject it but yet and still He does it in order so that we will be able to move according to His will for our lives.
Yet, the steps of our lives are ordered before we are even born for we are predestined before the foundation of the world, so He knows what we need and what choices we are going to make. It is something though as I think about that – He knows I am going to do something against Him before I do and yet He still allows me to be presented with it. Praise the Lord!
I am a fan of the Matrix movies and there is a scene when Neo finds out that all he believed was not what he thought it was…I believe it is the last movie that he finds out that the prophecy was a lie, but what he did find out was – it is all choice. The only reason why they existed was because of choice. It was the choice for them to accept the fake world of the Matrix, or to choice to come out of bondage into the real world. Well that is how we kind of are in our lives now.
We can either choose to come out of the bondage of the enemy and live life by our choice in Jesus or remain in the world always lost and doing what everyone else is doing…never truly being an individual. It is our choices that make the difference in our walk with the Lord. We are blessed to have a choice, we can choice who to serve…
Joshua 24:14-15 14Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
It is our choice – just as Joshua states to the Israelites after yet again upsetting God with their lack of love for Him. I tell you – Jesus is truly the best blessing every for I would be dead if I live in Old Testament days! (LOL) It is really something when we think about that…take a moment to think about how it is your choice on whom you will serve because you can not serve both Jesus and the enemy…if you are not living for Jesus then you are living in the enemy. (You are not living for him – just living with him, the satan that is)
Yet all our steps are ordered by God…
Psalm 37:23-24 23The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. 24Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
Yet we have the choice too, we can choose to live for Him and have all things given unto us or we can choose to live for ourselves with that nasty outcome of hell.
I was talking to Sister Bev the other day and let me tell you, I started to think she was nuts. She was speaking a word on me that to me at that time I thought she was nuts! LOL I truly thought she was…I look at myself as a Sister in Christ, I am Sister Alissa Lynne – this is who I am – who happens to be the founder of Women Living 4 Jesus Ministries…she started speaking on me as some kind of leader! LOL I shut her down after a few moments….not completely because if you know Sister Bev – she is not shutting down easily LOL (A sister of like-mindedness) she had something to tell me so I had to shut up…yet and still the word went forth and the beginning of change was formed. I have never been comfortable in leadership positions. I was a supervisor for years and still did not like to be referred as that…I am just weird like that. (LOL my hubby is going to laugh as I am always saying he is weird and I just admitted that I am weird! LOL Oh well – I am being honest and I can be weird – not just peculiar but weird! LOL)
Anyhow as I listened to her and started thinking of the blessings of the Lord and the steps that He has given me to take and in my following His will instead of my will…here I am this day…HAPPY AND CONTENT! Praise the Lord! It is truly a blessing to be in His service. Sure there are days that I am not where I should be for that time but I know that in Jesus that I will get there. It is in Him that I know my joy comes from so I will get there…It is in Him that the pain left so the love will fill me. There are so many of us still holding on just not accepting the opportunities the Lord places before us to heal us in Him. I did it for a long time, but when I was truly tired of hurting the transformation started taking place because I poured it out to Him in all aspects of my life and the joy is here to stay – the happiness is here to stay and I am in Him forever! We have to remember what it was like when we had the joy and then do whatever we can to get it back.
So many times I hear sisters talk about how they are lost in a sea of hurt, pain, insecurities, stress, fear and downtrodden by the things of this world, sometimes of their own doing and sometimes just the way life goes. We can not sit around and wait for our husband to change before we change, we can not sit around waiting for our kids to get right before we get right dealing with them, we can not sit around waiting for the Lord to send our husbands, and we truly can not sit on our butts waiting for our lives to change for the better in Jesus. This life we have is work, we need to get up and do some exercising – we need to exercise our mouth in praising the Lord, we need to exercise our minds by praying to Him, we need to exercise our eyes to read His word, we need to exercise our arms and hug our neighbors with the love of the Lord – we need to exercise our faith and trust the steps that He lays before us to take…we need to exercise our trust in Him by following all that He tells us to do even if we do not understand it at the time He is telling us. We have to exercise all of this so that we will know His voice and will for us!
Honesty Today – Okay the seriousness of today is done…I am in such a good mood…when we surround ourselves with the things of the Lord and with friends of such; the Lord will bless us to be in perfect peace. I was blessed to talk for a couple of hours last night with Sister Anna – which was only to be a few minutes conversation but then again with her and me it is never that way! I have been having some conversations with sisters via email today and just listening to some gospel music to uplift my mind in Jesus. It is awesome – I could not trade this life for anything else – even when my son is acting up and I do not understand it…the Lord sends me someone who understands what we (my family) are going through and sure enough a solution or a suggestion is given that really is going to help us get where we need to be in Jesus. I can do all things in Jesus! AMEN!!
I have the last scheduled workshop tonight with a couple of sisters and this class should be interesting…not that the other ones were not but this one is just with some of my ‘close” sisters in Christ that I talk to on a pretty regular basis. So I know that we will be learning this evening…it will not be just me talking this is for sure! I thank God for all that He is doing in my life.
I am excited because I look over my life and I see where I am in Jesus and man the enemy wanted to kill me and still does but I found safety in Jesus. I still have to finish the fourth book but so excited about it too, just waiting on the rest of the words to come to me. I have written three books already and this will be number four. I am thankful to the Lord for the things that He has in store for my family, WL4J and myself! AMEN!!
I am excited because we have a meeting place to use if we need it right near my house, so after we get some of the stuff we need to get done – it will be time to send out official notices about workshops and things to different churches and organizations! AMEN! I am so excited too – God is just going to move us where He wants to move us – for our steps are ordered by God!
Well until tomorrow,
God Bless and have an awesome day in the Lord!
Love you all!
Your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
Praise the Lord…yesterday I had a conversation with my husband about the differences between us and just talking as we always do. We are both different styles as I am all talkative and open about most subjects without even thinking; my hubby is the complete opposite with his thoughts.
One thing I have learned is that I am an emotional creature, most women are, yet my hubby is not as most men are not. I had to state to him yesterday that he is just going to have to get used to me asking what he is thinking and feeling about something until we get used to each other. He has always been this way but being in the same house it is a little different.
At first I thought, why can’t he be like me? LOL Yet, I am sure he was wondering why does she not know that I am excited about and not. Then it started to dawn on me as we were talking, we have to come to an understanding with each other about how we respond to things and react to them differently, we have to come to understand each other more.
I think for me I thought if we are talking all the time some things are just going to fall into place – MY WAY! LOL Yet this is not how life goes, we are both set in our ways and it is an adjustment that is actually kind of fun to go through. We are learning more and understanding more about each other and Lord knows that it is work, man is it work, but the Lord is blessing so us to grow and it is such a joy in my heart!
Sometimes I wonder why God is so good to me, even through all my pain and hurt, He blessed me and kept me. It is blessings to have the Lord direct my life in the manner that He is. I think back on the days of such turmoil, pain, hurt, anger, and just plain looseness in this world, how blessed I am to come out of it.
I look at the difference in my husband’s walk and my walk in the Lord and how no matter what life you have lived – Jesus is still there. My husband grew up in a saved household, coming to Christ at the age of 13. He did his own thing for awhile and was even married prior to me, yet and still the Lord has blessed him in his walk with Jesus. He has pretty much lived a sheltered life from some things in this world and sometimes things amaze him that people do what they do. But he has had his own share of turmoil, the breakup of his first marriage that just almost destroyed him on ever thinking anyone would love him, a job loss that left him in what we call an economy struggle, well he was one of the first ones hit with that 10 years ago. Yet God kept him during that time. His relationship with the Lord got stronger and he was blessed with such moving songs from the Lord that I can not wait for the world to hear them. He can talk witness to a complete stranger with such ease and comfort that I get envious (in a good way) He has been standing on the word of God since he was 13 years old, even when he did not realize he was. To me this is the blessing that I want for my son…to grow in the Lord under parents who are saved and to be exposed to the word of God so that he too will stand on the words when he comes to a point of needing them.
For just as the word says to train them so that when they stray they will come back, Jesus did just that with my hubby. He was playing for the church and playing with the girls at the same time. LOL yet the Lord showed him mercy and grace. It is in this I see how the Lord will keep you in your life even if you are not wild, even if you are not going through a physical or mental trauma, no matter what you are going through, the Lord will keep you IF YOU WANT HIM TOO!
I look at my life and see all that trauma and hurt – yet I look at his life and see all that hurt and trauma too. Just because his walk was not like my walk, does not mean that he did not have struggles, does not mean that he did not hurt, does not mean he does not need love. So many times I would dismiss the stories of those that have not walk like me until the Lord started showing me that just like there are different levels of people, there are different levels of pain, hurt, and turmoil for each of us. All we have to do is reach out to those that we meet and we will see it in them.
It is rare that I meet a sister or brother in Christ that I can not relate to because of all that I have been through in my life and I used to look down on my situation and circumstances as now I hold my head up and say BUT GOD! See no matter what happens in our lives…we all have a BUT GOD!! For if it was not for Him – where would we be? We need to understand that in Jesus we have all we need.
We need to talk with Him; we need to read His word. We need to commit ourselves to reading his word, to praying to Him and to living our lives Holy in Him. We have to remember that we all have thoughts, we all have opinions, and we all have the opportunity to serve the Lord in a manner that is pleasing Him. We may not always agree on the same thing but we can agree enough to help each other. It is not about us but about Jesus and all of us being on one accord in Him.
It is time for us to come to an understanding together about it each other. We have to remember that even if we do not agree, we can still love each other in the manner that Jesus loves us. Let us continue to look to the Lord for our direction and even if you do not understand why someone is the way that they are – try to understand that it is okay not to know and love them any how!
God bless and have a great and powerful day in the Lord!
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
Praise the Lord…the blessings of Jesus. Do you know that your life is a blessing of Jesus? Do you know that waking up this morning was a blessing no matter what state you find yourself in – you are blessed! I am a mood of blessings today. So many times we are quick to think material things when we think blessings and there is nothing wrong with those kinds of blessings as I want them too, but the Lord has blessed me to know that there is so much more than that to our lives.
Our lives are a blessing as we are given opportunities every single day to pass the love of the Lord to all those that we meet. Yet so many of us do not do this, so many of us are scared or afraid of what others will do or not do, some of us are not sharing the love because we do not know how, or think we can do so, some of us are so bitter that as soon as Jesus tries to love us we reject it so we have no love in our hearts. Yet He still loves us. As I think about the love of the Lord nothing but joy takes over my heart, it is the love of Him that brings me to such peace in Him. He has such a wonderful way of Him.
As my sister was saying to me earlier today, order of our steps is what Jesus does. I started thinking about that when she said it along with the love of Jesus – what an awesome combination…our steps ordered by the Lord in Love! What a way to live our lives!!! We are blessed to know Him and to have Him care so much to direct us to a better life in Him.
When I look over my life and all the mess that I endured in my life with all the silliness of the men, the stupid decisions that I made and just my lack of luster for my life, I see how blessed I truly am. It was not all in vain as I move forward in the Lord and see how those things have prepared me for this time in my life. It made me start wondering if these steps were ordered too…yet the scriptures that ring in my head takes on such a stronger meaning than when it did when I was first saved… (A sister in Christ and I were talking about some of these scriptures on Sunday after church, so she may smile when she reads this! Praise the Lord for all that He does for us. I love ya Sister L!)
Proverbs 3:5-65Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Luke 18:27And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
When I came to Jesus these scriptures were what kept me in Him when I did not understand why my momma “left” me when I needed her the most. It was the hardest part of her passing was when she went on to glory. I was mad at God for a minute because I needed her with me but it was in this scripture that I kept thinking to myself that there was a reason for her going on.
Yet even now I have to turn to these scriptures as I am ready to walk away from it all…when I have moments of wanting to walk out my front door and leave it all behind. When the moments of being a wife, a mother, a leader, a sister, a co-worker, a woman, and just who I am get to be overbearing…when I get tired of saying the same thing over for the millionth time to my husband, my son, my coworkers, my siblings, my family members, my sisters and brothers in Christ, and to myself…it is then that the Lord reminds me who I am in Him and who He is to me. It is those scriptures that always come to my mind first because it is in Him that I have to turn too.
So many of us get to that point and just let it go…the struggle is hard…the walk is long…sometimes feels like the blessings are not coming fast enough, sometimes we feel like He is not hearing us, sometimes if feels like He has left us and we are so ready to throw the towel in…we are tired of waiting for our blessings that His word says that we are to get. We believe we are doing what we should be doing in Him and yet nothing is happening for us…things are going in the opposite of what we think they should be going, it is then that we need to cling even closer to the Lord and look to Him. Sometimes it is just a lesson to be learned, sometimes it is a test to endure and sometimes it is our poor decisions that make us end up where we are but it is truly in Jesus that we will survive.
It is when I get to moments like this that I call on Jesus and He blesses me with comfort in His word. He gives me visions and helps me to focus on Him and less on me. When we look at all those scriptures…they hold so much more meaning to us then when we first read them….
Proverbs 3:5-65Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Luke 18:27And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
One thing that sticks out to me in Proverbs, Romans and Philippians verses is the word ALL, it does not say part or half way…they all say ALL!! I think when we stop and really allow the words to minister to us we will have an understanding that He is talking to us about all things in our lives not just some of it but all of our life aspects. Yet the best one is the fact that the things that are impossible for us are possible with God! So no matter what comes our way it is possible with God – it is all in God! It is all possible in Jesus.
So when I have moments of wanting to leave Merv, Jonathan and WL4J behind me and just tell the world to go away and leave me alone, the Lord blesses me to know that He has a plan for my life, that He has my steps ordered in Him and that there is nothing too hard for God for all things are possible in Him! AMEN!
My Honesty Today is a vision that I had of WL4J…It is a blessing to be in the service of the Lord and there is a place for all of us in His kingdom if we just accept Him 100% into our hearts. Sure you will have moments of doubt, mistrust and failure within the task of the day but you know what – God is with you and though you may have doubt, mistrust and feel like a failure – remember that there is no failure in Jesus for we have the victory in all things! It is in Him that we receive our strength and guidance – keep leaning on Him.
Praise the Lord – the Lord has blessed me with a dream of WL4J – a building full of sisters, women, children and men coming for services and help – coming to be a blessing and be blessed. There are facilities for the children to learn and play, there are places for sisters in the middle of trying to come out of situations to be able to be comfortable, there are places for the men to come and meet to talk, places for the women to come and meet. There are places to give food, to give services and to give the word of God, as it is in Jesus that we can do all things. The goal is to empower all those that we meet with the things that they need to make this life a shining place for them to live.
The Lord has given me a spirit of helping, encouraging, uplifting and empowering others…not just with words but with the things they need to do. We have sisters all over the US that are in need of help that are not sure where to turn, churches are not always doing what they used to do, some churches help but do not have all the resources or the know how, some churches only help their congregation, and some churches even only help those that are overseas but yet we see the US failing more and more in helping our people. It is in this the Lord has spoken to me about reaching out to those in need here in the US and relying on Him for the direction.
I have been feeling the change for awhile now and the vision is getting clearer and stronger. I met the sister yesterday and the Lord spoke really loud…it is time to take the lessons to the street, it is time to offer things live in a place where we can do so. I am thanking God and not even worried about the cost for the Lord has blessed us with so much already! Praise His name…may we (WL4J) reach the potential the Lord has for us and the only reason why we will not is because we stopped – not Him! AMEN!! So please lift up WL4J up in prayer for the will of the Lord to always be done. He is sending us even more into the streets and may we have all that we need and when we do not may we rely on the direction of the Lord for all things. Praise the Lord – we are moving forward! AMEN!! Watch out for the grants will be coming soon! AMEN!!
There is a building with our name on it somewhere in the US…it maybe here in Pittsburgh but then again it may not – but there is a building here in the US with more to come! AMEN! Let us lift up the name of Jesus and reach out to our fellow sisters and brothers in Christ spreading His love and His words to all those we meet! Obama said that this is the time for change and I do not know if he truly knows that it is truly time for a change…it is time for those that love the Lord to say so and show the love of the Lord to all those that we meet…we do not need to rely on anyone but Jesus to make this life a better place in Jesus!! AMEN!!!!
Well until tomorrow,
God Bless and keep marching forward in Jesus!
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
Praise the Lord and yes I am running late with today’s Honesty Today but things just go that way sometimes. LOL
Today we had to empty out my grandfather’s house, and it was not really fun but it was calming. As we took the last few things out of his house, well as they did for I did not move anything – the guys did, I was standing in his living room alone and just missed him so much. I thought here is the closing of the finale chapter of this part of my life. Yet there was still calmness and peace in what I was doing as the Lord knew what I needed.
Well after that, we (Jonathan, hubby and I) went out to eat at Bucco something or another – LOL A Italian restaurant in Robinson Township and had a great meal together. On our way home, there is a building that I pass every single day home from work that I am always saying that I am going to stop to see what they are. Most times it looks like they are closed BUT this time there was a sign in the window saying that it was open…so after wondering if I should turn around and go back to see, my husband said sure let’s go.
Well we did…it was meant for us to do so. We walk to the door and there was a young man cleaning the sidewalks, and I said to him that I have always driven past this place and wanted to know what it was. He said to me that he was located downstairs with the music studio but the woman who ran the upstairs was there. So we went inside to a little store front selling Christian items and she started showing us around her beautiful place. It is a Christian Resource Center that is a place to come and have meetings and to buy a few things. She started telling us her vision of her organization and it was like I knew that the Lord sent me there.
I had been looking for a place to hold workshops in person here in Pittsburgh that does not cost a lot of money and she is cheap. I have wanted to be able to network with people but because of my hours at work, I have not been able to do it as much as I liked…yet in talking with this sister, we would be able to help each other. It was just a blessing to be there and gave me such an extra boost to step out there on faith. Her testimony was just awesome to hear and a blessing to me.
Yet God was not done with us in that building…as downstairs was a music studio that we went to visit. As my husband was talking to the young man, you can see that they are just really getting started and though they have been in the business for awhile, there is not a big following for them. He is a very low rate because I think he wants to build up people using him. It was cute though as my husband wanted to hear some of his gospel recordings and I was silent as he played what he considered gospel…LOL Yet the Lord had us there for a reason. He was so reasonable that even if we did not like how the CD sounded, we could afford to swallow that price. The young man was very eager to please and I am sure that he would work well with my husband. Prayerfully Elder Merv will go into the studio soon and I will be permitted to let you hear a few seconds of his songs. LOL
Yet as we were leaving it started several conversations between my hubby and I that I think was needed. As most of you know, I have a strong urge to no longer work and to not only raise my son and take care of our home, but to also do more with WL4J (Women Living 4 Jesus) I have expressed this to my husband about a million times with the same answer EXCEPT today…I got the explanation of why we are waiting before I can move in that direction…it is all going to be in the timing of the Lord and I am thankful that I have a better explanation from my husband so that I will stop asking him. LOL Yet it was such a wonderful day in the Lord today and it is late but I am blessed!
I have to go to work for a little while longer but yet the money provides me the chance to do what I am blessed to do with WL4J. I see the blessings of the Lord in this manner as more sisters are coming to WL4J, as the Lord is sending workers in the ministry and even gift givers too…God is truly blessing. I believe that no matter what comes our way – God will bring it to be glorifying to Him if only we let it be. I am thankful this day for all that He is doing and all that is happening in my life.
Honesty today is I AM CONTENT AND HAPPY! I am so happy and content in my life and I am learning to NOT look for the shoe to fall and ruin it. I am learning to just allow the love of the Lord to flow. I am thankful to the Lord for His mighty blessings as I am just so dag on happy in my life and walk with Him. This does not mean I do not have moments or times when I get upset, angry or concerned – it just means that I know that I can rest in Him and when I let it go and go to Him…I remember that have content and happiness in Him and NOTHING AND NO ONE can take that away from me.
My prayer for all is that you come to Jesus with all that you have and give it over to Him for His yoke is easy and His burden is light!
Well it is late and I need to go to bed…
Have a blessed and wonderful evening in Jesus this day and every day you are blessed to see!
Until later on…
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
1 John 2:3-5 3And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Praise the Lord…the above scriptures was spoken by my pastor today as He gave us questions for thought in our walk in the Lord. Do you really know the Lord? Do you live for Jesus? Would you sacrifice it all for the Lord? How are you living? These were the main thoughts that I took from the sermon. First, just getting to church this morning was serious prayer. The roads were bad this morning and yet we went on to church. The number of people was small but the blessings of the Lord were big. Service was truly a blessing that the Lord moved and His presence was there. It truly showed that where two or three are gathered in His name – He will be in the midst of it! AMEN! We got out of service and the roads were clear! Praise the Lord for that! It is something how if you just step out there and trust in the Lord – He will meet your needs.
I have been in the blah blah – laid back mode for a few weeks, and it has been refreshing but the Lord is calling me out of that and into a place of doing even more His will. We have some great things coming up with WL4J and doing some workshops along with trying to get things together with grants and funding from the government. There are goals and plans that I have to start moving on and though it is a long road ahead…I know it is going to be a fun road. Yet I listened to my pastor today and started thinking even more on my relationship with eth Lord…do I know Jesus enough? Do I have a practical and intimate relationship with the Lord? When I say that I trust the Lord do I really trust the Lord? Do I call on Him for all things or just something? I started looking at my relationship with the Lord and what I am doing in trying to build my relationship with the Lord. It was yet more self evaluation and I thought…Lord this is the walk, I should always be looking to the Lord for all things and not taking it for granted in Him. I started thinking about what God has done in my life and my walk with Him and I started thinking about what I have done for Him. Hummmm…man my list was so short – it was like two seconds long while the Lord’s list lasted my entire life.
Thank you Jesus for your love, for your guidance and for showing me just how awesome you really are, as I listened to my pastor, I thought of my walk with Him and how I know that the Lord will always keep me. I strive to live for the Lord and though sometimes I think I am falling short of the glory of the Lord and that I am not doing as I should as I slip in Him, YET HE LOVES ME! THANK YOU JESUS FOR LOVING ME! I laugh as I think of my sisters Casandra and Bev who talk about being a hot mess…we are all hot messes and yet He loves us! What a blessing it is to serve Him – to live for Him and to know that in all things that God is keeping us!
Hummmmmm…..just thinking about the goodness of Jesus….thank you Lord, it is something to know that we are covered by Him in ALL THINGS! How great is God – He is awesome in all ways!
Okay – well the question for you today is inspired by what my pastor posed to us…Do you really know Jesus? What is your relationship with the Lord based on? How much do you work on building your relationship with the Lord? Do you talk to Him all the time, some of the time, only on Sundays, only when you need something or just when you feel like it? How often are you reading His word? How are you building up your relationship with the Lord?
Until tomorrow,
God Bless,
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
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