Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Praise the Lord…today is a day of faith. I have to walk by faith today and not by sight. I have to stand in the promises of God and all that He has said He would do for me in my time of need. My soul is crying out to the Lord today. It is truly a blessing when we cry out to the Lord for His strength and His peace, as He will always provide. It can be as simple as just sitting here while I type this talking to you yet in essence, I am talking to Him or to the point of going out to my car and just crying out to Him.
I am thankful that today is in my writing that I will cry out as I am not in the mood to go to my car. (Smile) It is something how we can just call on His name and ask for a word from Him. The only place I know to go when I am like this is to His word, there is no need to call a sister, there is no need to write one either…all I had to do was go on line and type in Faith in the search of the bible and begin to read. I allowed the words that appeared before my eyes to soothe my soul.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
When we take the time to read His word and to come to build our relationship with Him, we will see that the words are soothing to our spirit; the words are a promise to us from Him. It is truly the love of the Lord in His words and His guidance for us all.
Here in the word of God, we will find our strength. As I read the following scripture, it reminds me what He does for me when I look to Him…
Psalm 31:23-24 23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. 24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
The word reminds me that God is truly there for me and shows me how He is still faithful to His word even when I am not…
Lamentations 3:22-24 22 It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
The words remind me also how I am to be about my faith, why my faith in Him is so important in this walk that I am in at this time…
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
As I read over those scriptures this morning, the word came screaming at me as I looked down on my computer at a reminder scripture that I have taped up, which was sent to me by my dear sister in Christ a few months ago that touched me then and touches me now…
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.
Praise the Lord for His word this and every single day of my life in Him! AMEN!!
The Truth for today is…Matthew 9:36-38 36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
This is me today…Sometimes I feel so much on me with all that I do. I take “breaks” just as the Lord says we should and I do when He tells me to do so. Yet sometimes it is the actual harvest period and no breaks are to be taken as you have to trust Him and keep moving forward in Him. It is not that aspect of the heaviness that I am feeling today.
It is the compassion that we have in our hearts that compiles us to keep moving and doing, it is the desire to be servants as the Lord has required us to do so. Yet sometimes I take out that measuring stick and try to measure myself against someone else and the Lord keeps reminding me this is not what He wants me to do. Sometimes the burden is to be dealt with alone in Him.
I am thankful today for the guidance of the Lord, the direction of the Lord and for things going in His time. My prayer today is that He sends workers to deal with His harvest and that those He has called to do the work will step forward and do the work that He has called them to do.
It is truly where I have to stay focused on Him and His plans for me, where I do not question why others are doing this or doing that, where I do not question what He has laid before me. It is when I think about the above verses along with all the faith verses I listed above that I keep moving straight on the path. It is funny though, I used to wonder why people did not respond to things or why it seemed no one read stuff I wrote. Hummmm…please that is not the case at all now…now it is Lord, here is all this work…send workers please. LOL I thank God for it though, please do not misunderstand me as I love what I do!
Last night it really dawned on me that the Saturday Fellowship with the kids is going to be Sister Alissa all by herself, so she is sending out a letter to the parents to encourage them to come on by and see what we are doing and participate on our outing days. I am actually looking forward to those days and praying that the Lord blesses us with a van eventually so that we can all ride together. I am just praying for the Lord to bless the entire way of things with Living Victorious and Women Living 4 Jesus Ministries. He has given so much already, it amazes me and I am thankful that it is growing at the pace it is because if it was any faster, I might be lost with tons of stuff to do and not enough time to do it all in.
I look at what He does for us and how He does it. As I was typing this up, the Lord sent an email to me that help calm me in the response that I was waiting for came in the manner that I was praying that it would come. The Lord is going to send forth those to do His will and we need not concern ourselves with that task that He has laid before others, but the task that He has laid before us. It is something as I know I am a woman who just likes to take charge, very rarely asking for help, yet every single time I ask the Lord for the help, He sends it!
Praise the Lord for the direction in Him and for calming my spirit and my thoughts this morning for me! May we always seek His direction in all things that we do!
God Bless and have an awesome day in the Lord!
Oh yes…do you receive the Good Morning Inspirational Messages? Well if you do not, you can check them out at http://goodmorninginspirations.blogspot.com, and you can also have them delivered to your personal email by sending an email to sisteralissalynne@comcast.net requesting to receive the Good Morning emails with the graphics each Monday to Friday! Praise the Lord for His blessings!
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
1 Corinthians 3:6-9 6I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 9For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
There are times during my walk, that I have to stop and just be real with who I am. I have said before in the past that self examination is not always fun yet it is necessary in our walk. We are to move according to the direction of the Lord and not our own will. It is truly what the Lord wants from us, to give our lives over completely.
Sometimes the enemy attacks us and sometimes we attack ourselves because we tend to be hard on ourselves. We tend to want things to go our way and sometimes we tend to lie to ourselves that we are on the right path when we know deep down inside that we are not on that path…this is NOT today’s truth. Today’s truth is about being on the path and the enemy trying to tell you that you are not on that path, that you are faking that walk in Jesus.
There are times during my walk that I feel so close to the Lord and nothing can go wrong, yet there are a few times when I feel so far away from Him. It is during those times I try to remember Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days being tempted and say that those times in my life are my temptation times. The enemy does not know who is going to heaven and who is not, so he is going to do whatever he can to get us off the mark.
One of the hardest parts of my walk is the walk itself of course. It is the daily walking in the Lord and knowing in my heart without a doubt that I am following His will for my life. From time to time, the enemy will come at me in a moment that I am “just going through the motions” and tell me that I am not real with the Lord and that I am not His child. Now let me explain a little bit more. I am not always so cheerful and bubbly about the Lord, sometimes I just have to encourage myself in the Lord until my mood changes. It is one of the reasons why I love to write to my sisters and talk to my sisters in Christ on the phone, because most times the Lord sends someone to me to talk to during this time to give an encouraging word. This strengthens my walk with the Lord and keeps my mind on Him. In speaking about Him aloud, eventually my mood will change and I will be right back to that happy and excited sister for Jesus.
Yet sometimes the Lord withholds that as my time to just encourage myself. Well it is also the time the enemy will come and tell me that my living is in vain, that I am not who the Lord says that I am. It is something how that happens, AND how sometimes I fall for that mess for a few minutes. I thank God for His Holy Spirit who reminds me that the enemy and the Lord can not dwell in me at the same time for I can not serve two masters, so when the praises goes up, the enemy will leave. Sure enough, even in my weak moments of praise, where my heart is not truly there 100%, the enemy will say to me that I am weak and a pitiful sight before the Lord.
Well I thank God for that because that makes me call on Jesus even more…who always hears my cries and answers me by providing that strong sense of Him in me to come forth and crush the enemy’s words with my cries of praise and strength in the Lord.
I can only speak for me, but I have learned to fight that mess with the fire of the Holy Spirit. It is something how the Lord will bring that to your spirit, how you are thankful for the blessings yet we do not take all that happens to us as a blessing. I am thankful to the Lord for allowing the enemy to do as he does because it makes me run to Jesus more and more. In running to the Lord, I receive my strength to keep moving forward so that I know that I am not a fake, that I am not a child of the enemy but I am a child of the Most High God…I am more than a conquer in Jesus and that in all things I have the victory because Jesus is in my life.
So as you sit there today, has the enemy ever tried to get you to think that you are not worthy, that you are faking it…if so what is your response? Are you doing what the Lord tells us to do anyhow or are you giving up? My prayer for you is that you continue to march forward my sisters and brothers…remain F.O.C.U.S.E.D on the Lord and know that no matter what comes your way…Jesus is with you and shall never leave you. Increase your praise, increase your prayers, increase your reading of the word and know that the Lord is there for you yet again this day! We are blessed sisters and brothers in the Lord…trust in the Lord and know that the devil is a liar!
Well until tomorrow,
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
Praise the Lord for the mighty Lord Himself. For His guidance and direction in my life, I thank the Lord for living in my right mind, and I mean knowing that I am in my right mind. There are so many who are NOT in their right mind but think that they are. It is truly not a good thing as a person to not be in our right minds for it is with our mind and heart that we serve the Lord. We are what we think:
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
Let us pray for those that are still lost in their minds and that they will hear the Lord speaking to them and to be on one accord with the Lord. We do not want anyone to perish and it is important that they too hear the calling of the Lord on their life for Jesus came to save us all, not just some of us, but all of us. We are to keep in His path and direction for our lives.
Okay, my truth for today is really personal…so just get ready…I have to release this as I have released it to the Lord, so it is time to get it off my mind completely and allow the Lord to deal with it. It is awesome how He does this for me and allows me to do this so that I release more unto Him. God is just that good. (Yes, I am stalling – LOL)
The truth of today is my intimate life with Merv…due to my illness there are days that we cannot be together in that sense and it is driving me nuts! I know it probably is bothering him but being the man that he is, he is not saying anything. Whenever I mention it, he just says that he understands and God will heal my body. Bless his heart. I know that if it bothers me, it has to bother him too.
I have prayed for a healing and I pray for a change to my body that will allow me to do the things that I would love to do with my hubby. I think that is the hardest part, the fact that I cannot always do as I want to do. I get some serious muscle spasms as my legs are moved in different directions and all that jazz. Okay not trying to give you a mental picture, just trying to keep it real. Just because we are two big people does not mean we are not adventurous, actually I believe because we are big people we have to be adventurous with what we are doing. LOL
I was struggling with only being able to hang for awhile and then the legs start cramping…the good thing is prayer will get me through and the Lord will hold it off until we are completed, so to speak, yet the minute it is over, my legs and body are in spasms. Of course this was mentioned to the doctor and pretty much…oh well, that is what is going to happen. I am told take your time; get rest, and all that other stuff they tell you. LOL I do all that but yet and still, we are blessed to be intimate three times a week. If it were up to us, it would be at least 5 days a week, LOL. Okay some of you are going to say that is a lot, but remember we are newlyweds and we are still in our honeymoon period. Yet and still, I am a strong believer that if my hubby wants to be with me in that manner, it is my pleasure to pleasure him. I prefer that his dreams are filled with images of us and what we have done and not images of what he wishes we can do. He is a man and though he is a man of God, he is still made of flesh. I do not want to allow the enemy to put any thoughts in his head that may stick. The word of God says…
(KJV) 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. 4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. 5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
(Contemporary English version) 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 3Husbands and wives should be fair with each other about having sex. 4A wife belongs to her husband instead of to herself, and a husband belongs to his wife instead of to himself. 5So don't refuse sex to each other, unless you agree not to have sex for a little while, in order to spend time in prayer. Then Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
I believe that a lot of marital issues come from denying our husbands, what I mean is that we have a tendency to be too tired or too this, not wanting to please our hubby’s in this manner. We will do everything but that. I know that part of my problem in my second marriage was this very thing so I am very cautious in this marriage about that. I do not want to deny my hubby at all, ever. I think that opens the door to the enemy like there is no tomorrow. I know that the Lord is in my marriage because He brings these things to my mind and allows me to pray on them.
So the truth of today is that my marriage is going to be okay, I trust God to release the pain in my body and allow us to continue to walk in Him in ALL manners of our marriage. I trust the Lord and I know that I may have some bad days, yet the Lord is going to bring me through that too. Let us keep moving forward in Jesus and trusting Him for all things, even in the intimacy aspect of our marriages too. He will do all that He needs to do for us in all aspects of our lives!
Have an awesome and blessed day in the Lord!
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
Praise the Lord for all things! God is so good to us and in all things we are blessed in Him. It is truly awesome to be here yet again. I am a blessed child of God.
I am just on this wonderful walk with the Lord. Sure things seem to get out of whack sometimes or things do not seem like they should be, yet and still the Lord is moving our lives to be closer to Him. It is in Him we receive our growth and knowledge. I am just so thankful that the Lord is moving in my life and blessing me to see more of Him around me and to strive to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.
When we walk in the flesh, we make errors but when we walk in the Spirit – all things come together. It is not always easy to do but yet it is fulfilling when we do it. We just get so much more from life in this manner. God is so good to us and I am thankful for His love that He shows me.
The truth for today…Mistakes…
We all make mistakes, but when we make them, do we correct them by acknowledging that we made them. Well today, I was made aware of a mistake that I made. I posted previously that someone had taken my husband electronic bible, not so! Praise the Lord! My son found it this morning! We are truly thankful for that and the first thing I said was – Sorry Lord for accusing someone who was not guilty. I knew then that I had to come back and retract what I wrote in the other post! God is good and I can admit when I was wrong. Praise the Lord for showing me that we can really trust the couple that we have befriended. I never said a word to them about it and so thankful that I did not do so because that would have caused such a problem. I thank God for listening to the Holy Spirit and keeping my mouth shut about it. AMEN!
I shall continue to strive to walk with the Lord in all that I do and I shall always admit when I am wrong in my walk too. It is what keeps me walking with the Lord as I want to see Him one fine day! AMEN!!
Have an awesome day in the Lord and know that all things work together for the good of them that are the called according to His purpose.
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
Let’s just get right to it…we are seeing the failure of our economy and some of us are feeling it as we may have lost a job, or lost some serious money in the stock market, or even part of the major bank that was just closed and handed over to another financial institution, yet some of us are wondering how we are going to make it.
The Lord is our shepherd and we shall not want, He is the one who is the author of our lives. Instead of fretting and worrying, we need to drawl closer to the Lord. We have to look to Jesus for everything. I know that we look at this as a falling down and a purpose to get upset, but as Christians it should make us drawl closer to the Lord and truly get ready as the Lord is going to return…when we do not know but what we do know is the sign of the times. Praise the Lord for His mighty blessings.
In a time of chaos all around us, we can count on the Lord for all things and have peace in our hearts. His word says He will take care of us, His word says that we do not have to do without BUT we need to believe that, we need to have faith in it, and stand on His promises. If you are feeling like you are about to lose your mind…go to Jesus, talk to the Lord.
I can not do it for you, no one can….you NEED to go for yourself. So many times I have talked to sister after sister going through stuff and the first thing I ask is…Did you talk to Jesus? Most times they say, well yes or kind of, sometimes just plain no. We have to truly understand that it is the Lord who is there and going to answer your prayers. We have to also realize that sometimes we think that we are going through because the enemy is after us or that the Lord is testing us…sometimes we are going through so we empty all that we have unto the Lord.
Are you without a job today? Get more into the word of God as you are looking for a job. Instead of sitting around watching television, turn it off and talk to the Lord. Why not open the bible and do some serious studying of His word. Turn off the world and listen to the Lord. Maybe the reason why you are going through what you are going through is because you are not hearing what He has been trying to tell you for months! We are quick to say we want to serve the Lord but when given the opportunity to do so, we prefer to worry about our circumstances instead of reaching out to this dying world. If you reach out to another, watch what God does for you…you are more into helping someone else and forgetting about your situation which gives the Lord control over your situation and then it is fixed.
We need to see what God has for us right in front of our faces…yet another opportunity to serve Him by serving others. For those that are waiting on the Lord…check out the Encouragement Hour from WL4J last night…He has a message for you. The show is located at www.talkshoe.com/tc/11529
My truth for today is…
No worries…Last night before doing the Encouragement Hour, the Lord laid on my heart the song “Yes” by Shekinah Glory. As I listened to that song, the Holy Spirit took over and I began to praise the Lord and really just shout unto the glory of the Lord. Now I know that we all do not mean the same thing when we say praise and shout…so let me tell you for me that mean I am loud and giving all honor to Him. I know that any one walking past my house heard me saying Hallelujah – Worthy is the Lamb – Glory! I am not one to be quiet when it comes to praising God. My style is to let the whole world know how good He is to me. As I am praising the Lord, He is speaking to my heart, He is telling me to just move forward right where He wants me to be.
We, WL4J and Living Victorious Ministries are stepping out on faith in the Lord. We are about to venture into a bigger place of trusting God and reaching this dying world. I have been a little nervous about it, yet I know that it was what God wanted. I have wanted to move out of my house but the Lord said NO, I did not really want to accept it because even though I wanted to be there for the neighbors, I did not want to be in the neighborhood. Yet the Lord said that I need to be in the neighborhood, I did not want to hear it. As I was praising the Lord last night, He spoke to me telling me to ready my heart to do more for Him, for to whom much is given, much is required.
We were blessed to receive crafts for the children on Saturdays and still have more coming. The Lord said to me, do not wait until you are blessed with a bigger place to do what I have laid on your heart to do. I just thought to myself…okay Lord, your will not mine. So we are going to offer GED information to those in need, we are offering computer skills training, literacy help, job searching skills, along with job interview skills all for free. We know that God has a plan with us and this neighborhood, so we are going to reach out to all that we meet. We are also going to do things with the children such as arts and crafts, along with different outings and pizza parties. We know that God is able to provide as He does not provide a vision without a provision.
As we have been approached by people wanting to help, we are making a list of items that we need to accomplish this work that God has before us. When Minister Merv, the Board of Directors of WL4J and myself are done with the list of items, we will be posting it on our websites for those that feel lead to donate to the ministry the items that we need, they can do so.
This is a HUGE step for me and I trust the Lord to bless this entire situation. So keep a look out for the WL4J & LV Ministries – Wish List!
Have a wonderful and blessed day!
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
Isaiah 55:11-12 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
John 14:1-3 1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Praise the Lord for God is truly worthy of all praises. It is in Him that we receive all that we need. It is truly awesome to walk according to His word and know that no matter what comes my way, He is there for me.
Let me get to the meat of the truth this day…attacks from the enemy. I have written about my doubt that I have sometimes, so let me tell you why I doubt sometimes. It is the attack of the enemy, just plain and simple. I will have thoughts come in my mind and depending on how I react to them; other things are presented to me. I used to wonder why the enemy even bothers doing this stuff to me when I have resisted some of his advances, why not move onto other people.
Despite all that is going on, no matter how many times Jesus comes to my rescue, the enemy does not know if I am truly going to hear “Well done my good and faithful servant.” How could he know this as he is not god, even though he wants to be. He can not know what my life outcome is going to be; only God knows where I am going to be. The enemy only knows that he has to keep on me JUST IN CASE, I can be changed to his ways and forget the Lord for all eternity. He knows that I am precious in the sight of the Lord; he knows that I am striving to live for the Lord and HE HATES ME FOR IT! He hates me because he knows that I will have for he has lost it for all eternity, so since he has lost it for all eternity, he wants me to join him to spite the Lord. He could careless about me, he has a vengeance against God for no longer being in heaven able to live life in that environment or to take over that environment, so he hates me and wants me to go to hell with him.
When I stop to think about that, all that doubt I have is gone. It is gone because I know that God has greater things in store for me. Sure Jesus will bless us with new cars, new houses and things of material flesh desires, but He blesses me with something that no one else can…peace, joy, love, patience, understanding, wisdom, knowledge, compassion just to name a few. God is good.
It is some thing how sometimes I get weary and feel like giving up, to walk away from the Lord forever because this is just too dang on hard, yet the Lord will strengthen me in His words, by sending encouraging messages from others, by having me encourage a sister who is in a bad situation, and even send a word through an unsaved person.
The other day I was in an up stance of no longer wanting to live in our house, I wanted to move and do other things. I am tired of the neighborhood and just do not want to be there. The kids are not listening to their parents; the parents are not caring what their kids are doing. Their kids are rubbing off on my child and the struggle was on. I wanted to move. As I was expressing my wanting to move, my brother said to me…Lee but if you leave those kids, they will be worse because you started to show that you cared and now just like everyone else you are leaving them. Ugghhhhh….okay Lord I hear you! LOL So we are not moving from the area, maybe from the street but not the area. I thank God for sending the words that I needed to hear, I knew it but I did not hear Him speaking it to me. I know that when it is time, Jesus will let me know it is time to go. It is truly something to see how the Lord is moving things and changing the way things are in our house. We just have to keep in Him
So as I was thinking of the path that lies ahead of me, my walk is not in vain, my steps are ordered by God. I can not run or hide from His direction for me. I have to keep moving in Him determined to be what He wants me to be and determined to remain focused on the center of my life and that is Jesus.
It is hard sometimes as I open myself up to all that the Lord has said I should do and expose who I am in Jesus but in my latest lesson in Biblical Counseling, it stated how we are so used to sitting and not moving, and not being there to care for each others souls. Well how can we say we love Jesus and not care for each others souls? One aspect that I love about this class is that he emphasizes how we are not to try to “fix” things for people but to encourage them to come closer to the Lord for He is the author of our lives.
I started thinking about that aspect…Jesus is the way the truth and the light, so He is the author of my life, He knows the beginning and the ending of my life. He knows me better than I know Him and myself. I started thinking about that and how His word goes forth and does not come back voided. The enemy is not going to quit yet…he will on the day of Judgment, but until then he is not going to quit, so I must not quit either. No matter what he tries to get me to think about my walk in the Lord, it is not right for he is a liar and there is no truth in him. As the word says that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light…so if that is Jesus…the enemy is the wrong way, a liar and darkness for all eternity! I do not want that life, so I shall move according to the word of God and stay focused on Jesus.
Have a wonderful and blessed day – may you stand for the Lord this and every day!
God Bless
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
James 1:22-2522 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
In yesterday’s Real Truth, I told you of doubt, it had been over my head for so long that I was not even sure what I was going to do about the work that I had before me, yet I knew to keep focused and I knew to take it to the Lord. I am thankful to the Lord for my church home as we are not big in numbers (yet) but we are strong in the Lord. We are true worshippers of Jesus and it is in this place I get more strength and word to keep moving forward in the Lord. I wrote a blog the other day that I am making part of my motto for the rest of this year…
F.O.C.U.S.E.D = Faithful, Occupied, Committed, Unified, Steadfast, Encouraged, and Determined. The women who delivered the message that day with these letters and theme for our Women’s Day have impacted not just my day but my life for all eternity. It has really shown me where I need to be and what I need to let go of and focus on. I am thankful to the Lord for not missing that service. As I am now focused on what God has for me!
So let’s take it just a few steps further as I feel you need to know this too. I have always believed that my entire life is a preparation for something else I just was never sure what it was. When I was not saved, I still knew to talk to the Lord and I would find myself looking up to the sky asking Him why does He keep saving me time after time. I would thank Him but not thank Him in the manner that I should do so. I never thought much of myself so the doubting started there. Yet when I came to Jesus…still I would doubt things, not sure what to do in this walk with the Lord. I would do things unsure of what I was doing and yet watch the Lord bless it. I could not figure it out.
The Lord reminded me:
I John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
1 Corinthians 3:13-15 13Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Colossians 3:17,23,24 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. 23And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
My entire outlook this past week was changed just in His word; by listening to the sisters speak on being focused and hearing God’s word tell me that I had to do this as this is what He calls us to do. The thing about it is that I actually love doing the things of the Lord, it is when my flesh is crying out to do things of the old, such as hiding in my house or just shutting down that I find myself sometimes doubting my walk with the Lord. It is truly the enemy attempting to mess with me, yet sometimes I am blinded by my own desires.
So this is where the focus needs to come in and I am truly thankful to the Lord for showing me yet again how to focus on Him. It is in His word that we get what we need and I am thankful that I can hear Him speaking to me via His word.
So today in the Real Truth of Alissa Lynne…let me share with you our family prayer requests along with what our dreams in Jesus are and some of what He has already told us. Please join us in prayer that the will of God is always done and that all things work to His glory in our lives for that is what we are living for in this life. AMEN!
Psalm 37:24-26 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
Our Prayer Requests
· A bigger house so that we can have room to live, we currently live in a two bedroom townhouse and all of our stuff is just everywhere no matter how much we try to organize it. Just a lot of things for a little house, we know that God will bless, there is a need for us to do something soon.
· Direction in how to handle our son’s after school coverage. Jonathan gets off the school bus at 4 PM, but I do not get home until 5 PM. The issue is that we are a little uneasy about the woman who we thought originally would be watching him during this time, may the Lord speak to us on this matter as Minister Merv will be starting work in the next week or so.
· Our church home, El Bethel Temple, that we will be what God has called us to be for our church home by working in the Ministry of Helps to our church and not be a hindrance but a blessing.
· Minister Merv has the desire to produce his own music and his own gospel CD, our prayer is for the financing of this adventure
· Sister Alissa has a desire to be home with Jonathan and to do ministry work full time with WL4J and Living Victorious, if it is the Lord’s will, may that door is open to this mission.
· Minister Merv and Sister Alissa would like to adopt more children in the later future (2 to 3 yrs from now), may the Lord have His way in that entire situation as Sister Alissa has adopted before and knows the stress of this process and what it can do to a person during that time, but we are believing God for smooth sailing.
· To have the body of Christ take a stand against homelessness, hunger, nakedness, poverty and give from within themselves to all those in need without thinking of what their needs/wants are because the Lord says He will supply our very need/want
Our Dreams/Visions
· Minister Merv has been prophesied to about having his own church family and building, may the Lord’s will be done in His timing not our own
· Minister Merv makes several gospel music CD or is involved in the music aspect of the gospel as he truly is blessed with songs of praise and worship, ministering to those in need of hearing the truth of God
· A facility to be able to do more outreach with the children of the different surrounding neighborhoods and to reach the teenagers as well as the younger children, to be able to offer to them activities to help keep them “out of trouble” and provide them with the motivation to do well in school and in life
· An additional vehicle, van to be able to transport others to church with us and to take the children on outings
· WL4J Ministries to offer more assistance to women in need and to minister to women as the Lord instructs us
· To offer shelter, clothing, food, financial and most of all spiritual help to all those in need
· We would like to meet the needs of all those people that come to us for assistance, to not have to turn anyone away because we can not help, we can not save the world, but Jesus can!
· To continue to offer training with computer skills, literacy skills, GED help, babysitting assistance, workshops, free books, bibles and all those things that we currently do for free to all those in need
· To never have to “solicit” for donations, but the money come as God touches others to help
We truly want to show the love of the Lord every where we go.
We truly believe that God provides the vision AND the provisions – so please join us in prayer that the Lord’s will is done not ours! AMEN!
Proverbs 3:3-7 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Let me just get straight to the Real Truth of Alissa today…I know that the time must be coming that the Lord is going to move me in some manner. I know this because my prayer life has changed and the things that are coming at me in the negative are stronger. I know that the enemy is trying to deter me, yet the Lord keeps reminding me who I belong to. It is really something how the Lord is there for us. He will keep us in His way and will IF we allow Him to do so.
I was sitting around last week trying to decide if I was going to continue to do the WL4J radio show, pursue the non-profit status for the organization and even thought of not writing much any more. I was very tired last Thursday and just did not want to really do the Encouragement Hour, but yet I pressed on. It was one of the best shows I have done along with guess what….live listeners! God sent listeners. You have to understand that most times when I do the Encouragement Hour, there are no callers or listeners besides Minister Merv and myself. Sometimes my dear sister in Christ listens in, but most times it is just Minister Merv and I. Minister Merv is starting a new job, so it will be just me.
I was having yet another pity party for me. It was not that I did not want to do what I was doing; I just felt like maybe I was not doing what He wanted me to do. So I prayed and asked the Lord to bless what was going on in the word that He wanted me to do. Well the prayers of a righteous man availth much. As the Lord started showing me things and sending a word to me via others and the Holy Spirit.
He had me stop and start looking at some numbers…
27 children have attended our Saturday Christian Activities hour
102 Hits on the Real Truth of Alissa Lynne
293 Hits on Good Morning Blog Site
257 Hits thus far for the month of Sept for Living Victorious site
585 times someone has read my articles – posted on different article sites
860 Hits for the month of August for Women Living 4 Jesus Web site
45 Readers of Good Morning Email
207 Wl4J Newsletter Subscribers
115 Radio Show downloads in August – 5 shows done in August
Women Living 4 Jesus Social Community – Month of August
479 visits
126 unique visitors
2944 Page views
After getting all that information…I cried out to the Lord in repentance. He reminded me that all those visits are just from sending out an email to my friends that I know! The only thing that was “advertised” was the WL4J Social Community on Ning. The rest of everything else is just by word of mouth.
The Lord reminded me of the countless hours spent talking with sisters, praying with sisters, sending out the books and just ministering to all those that I meet. The Lord reminded me of the visions that I had, the visions Minister Merv has. He reminded me how we had no money for some stuff for the children as a snack for their get together and the Lord provided it for us. He has shown me how time and time again, He is blessing and yet here I am acting in doubt. Yet and still He loves me.
The Lord sent a word from several people encouraging us to continue to do what we are doing with the children and with the adult bible study for the Lord is going to bless and we shall be moved to a new facility to do what is needed to be done. He sent my unsaved loved one with encouragement to keep doing what we are doing. I was thinking of moving closer to my grandfather but it would make the drive to church longer and pretty much cut off the fellowship in our current neighborhood, and my own brother said to me…Lee – you would have to start all over again and those kids would feel abandoned, they do not need that strike again. I knew what he was saying but out of my fleshy need to have better and to what I wanted to do, I wanted to move.
So I said all that to say…I am not doubting this day…I do not need to “pump” myself up today or even encourage myself today for the Lord showed me what He is doing in our lives. Minister Merv and I have been praying on the things for WL4J and Living Victorious Ministries – God is blessing as He is giving us what to do and we are preparing the information and the programs as we know that He will provide the finances. It is really something to feel that coming in and to know that He is blessing. He sent several people to tell us that the money is on the way; He has given comfort when I started to wonder why do all of this. He has shown that I may not understand but He does.
I shall be putting together Part II of doubting for tomorrow as I want to share with you the vision that the Lord has given us so that you may join us in prayer that His will be done and that Minister Merv and myself are good stewards over the tasks that He has given unto us.
Until tomorrow…remember you may find yourself doubting but look to the Lord for your understanding not yourself.
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
Watch – Work – Blessed – Glory of Jesus
Matthew 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Matthew 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
As I sit here this morning and just reflect on the message that was delivered this weekend to those of us that were in attendance in my home church, it has me just reflecting on the fact that the Lord is truly blessing us regardless of what we think and regardless of where we stand in Him. In His awesome ways, He keeps us all, henceforth why we are blessed with new grace and mercy each day. Yet and still when I talk to some, I can see that they are not to that point in their walk as of yet.
There are so many still relying on their own things and things of others to survive this life in the Lord. Yet when we are faithful over the tasks that the Lord has for us to do, we are blessed with more things in Him. Not just the aspect of money and earthly things for when you think of it, those are flesh desires, but in the aspect of our spiritual walk with the Lord. We receive more of Jesus when we are doing His will in our lives. We are blessed with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. (Galatians 5:22-23)
We need to hold onto the Lord for we do not know when He is coming back, continue to do the work of the Lord, growing daily in Jesus so that when He returns we can rejoice in His glory!
Today’s Truth…parenting…my greatest concern is that I scar my child for life. It is always on the forefront of my mind, so much so that I believe one of the reasons why the “problems” that I have with Jonathan are there, that it is because of my concerns for not messing up.
Yes most parents have these thoughts, but when you know that one of the reasons you react to things the way that you do is because your mother made a huge decision in her life that changed your life forever, it can be in the forefront in your mind to make sure you do not do the same. I am learning slowly that it does not matter how extremely careful I am, he is going to experience unpleasant things in our relationship.
My son is at that age where he is really starting to “test” me and the boundaries that lie ahead of him, because for the first time in his life he has really had some solid boundaries to not cross. When his dad and I were together, there were boundaries that were in place only when I was home. If I was not home, he got to do whatever he wanted to do, so there was the beginning stages of division. After his father left for about a year and half, I pretty much had no boundaries with him as I was trying to get myself together and really did not pay that much attention to what he should and should not be doing. Well, then he started school…then the reality of life kicked me right in the middle of the butt. I have to say that if it had not been for the mercy of the good Lord, HE would not be here today! LOL
I grew up in an environment that was not a great one for building self esteem and confidence. So I am trying to provide that environment in my home, yet there is just one thing that you have to understand in doing that, you have to know your child. My son was taking advantage of some situations and it took Minister Merv coming to be with us to change that.
I have seen improvement in Jonathan that makes me smile, yet we still have a long way to go as it was apparent last night after my 7 year old son decided to tell me what he was not going to do and have such a huge attitude that it cost him a butt beating. He has sense changed his mind on that subject, but yet and still I was thrown for a loop. Minister Merv offered to do that spanking, but it was a mother & son situation that needed to be handled. I had seen the respect for Merv increase while the respect for mom decrease…well we can not have that. Minister Merv is going to start working in the next week and that means mommy and Jonathan will be spending more time without Dad around to discipline and I refuse to be one of those “wait until your dad gets home” mothers. I want my son to know that we (Merv and myself) are working together on this, and Jonathan is truly trying to play us against each other and losing miserably at that task – praise God for it.
It was and sometimes is hard to give over control of the discipline to Merv as I am so used to doing it and being alone, yet I pray to continue to be able to let these things go when they need to be let go for Dad to handle. It is a new experience for all of us yet the Lord is truly blessing us to move forward in it all.
Well that is all for today, Have a wonderful and awesome day in the Lord!
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
Praise the Lord….Yesterday our church had its annual Women’s Day. It truly was a blessing. The theme of the day was FOCUSED Women of God! The title itself was awesome but the words that went forth truly blessed me. For each letter represented a word related to being focused, each sister spoke on one of the letters.
F=Faithful
O=Occupied
C=Committed
U=Unified
S=Steadfast
E=Encouraged
D=Determined
It was truly awesome to hear each sister give their message, all done separately with different styles yet and still on one accord…how to remain focused. As I listened to each sister, I thought of my own walk in the Lord and if I am focused and following through on things. It was truly a blessing to think of the words and how encouraging it is to know that God is moving in all of us.
Each word was a quality, trait, or action that we need to do to keep ourselves focused, as you look over the words that make up the word Focused…take the time today to see if you are focused to remain in the Lord as you should be. Are you faithful to the Lord as He is surely faithful to you? Are you occupying your time with things of the Lord to keep you on the right path? Are you unified with the Lord in all that you do in your life? Are you steadfast in your relationship with the Lord, trusting in Him to do all things for you and holding on until He does? Are you encouraging yourself and others to keep moving forward in Jesus? Yet my favorite word in all of it is…determined. Are you determined to be faithful, occupied, unified, steadfast, and encouraged to keep on this walk in life with the Lord? For saying you are determined is nothing without the actions to go with it! AMEN! It was a blessing to hear each sister give their words on each one. So my question to you today is are you F.O.C.U.S.E.D today? If not, take the time to speak to the Lord so that you will be focused on Him in all that He does in our lives!
The truth for today…I LOVE MY LIFE! Okay, every now and then I think I need to just put it out there, though I go through things, though sometimes things bother me like there is no tomorrow, I LOVE MY LIFE! I LOVE MY LIFE IN JESUS!! I am thanking God for being able to say that. This blog is my keep it real blog, you have no idea how hard that can be at times, just pouring myself out for the whole world to see. It is hard to admit my areas of weakness and my areas that need much more work on them, yet and still the Lord has blessed me to keep plugging away with my laptop in front of me. We all have a path to walk and I love the path I am on. Sure things are coming at us, but the Lord is blessing us anyhow. There is so much going on in the background of my life…we are behind on so much stuff yet the Lord is keeping us. Yet the Lord allows me to have joy in my heart for Him despite what the enemy has to bring to me. I am trusting in Jesus and though I have moments of doubt…as long as I keep thinking of what He has told me to do and do it, I am happy. Praise the Lord for all that He does.
I get tired, I get worn and my flesh cries out to slow down and sit down…but my spirit says Keep Moving Forward! I love it. We had our neighborhood bible study for the kids on Saturday. I love it. The little ones who are 3 and 4 years old come in and I read stories and they color. We sing a song and we just have a great time. I only have them for ½ hour as that is how long they can pay attention without getting into things, so I send them on their merry way…full of cookies and juice! The next group is the 6 to 10 year olds who I have for 45 minutes. We are going over different things in the bible, and talking with them. They can get a little wild with all these things not of God but we have laid down ground rules for them. I have to say that it is awesome to hear my son answer the questions as he knows most of the answers and to see all the children remembering things that I have taught them the week before. Mind you, my son is the only one who goes to church on a regular basis. Then here comes the 10 year olds and up, most of them are 13 year old, and this group is something else. They are starting to like each other and I have to say that it is something to watch them interact with each other. This group is one that is more talking about what is going on with them and then I am giving them a word to help keep them focused on things. I just love it.
I never thought I would be the one to talk with the kids like I do; I used to say that I could not do it, and I still can’t as God is doing it. There are so many children out there that need us to step up and talk to them. Minister Merv reaches out to the hardcore kids and once he does, I bring them in the house and let them express themselves. It is a chance to let go and let them be who they are without fear of being mistreated. It is something as they come in wanting to color and stuff, which just reminds me that despite it all, they are still just kids.
We are looking to do so much more with the children by doing crafts and things with them. I asked my older kids what they wanted to do as I knew with the 10 and younger kids we were going to do crafts with them. They had a bunch of ideas of things to do and I am praying to God to provide the money for us to do it with them. I would like to see us do things with them as many of them do not get opportunities to go places and do things. I know that the Lord will bless us to do so because it is bringing the kids to want to know more about Jesus.
We are going to be getting WL4J Ministries nonprofit status as soon as the Lord blesses us with the $750.00 to file for it, this I know will help with the ministry that we have here since Living Victorious Ministries is a sub division of WL4J ministries. I am excited because I know that the Lord will move this family to be what He wants us to be. We are hearing so much from the Lord now and I know that in all things He will answer our prayers and keep us where we need to be in Him.
I look at what we are doing with Living Victorious Ministries here in our neighborhood, as it sponsors the bible studies and fellowship time with the children. WL4J Ministries is starting its outreach in the neighborhood with letting women and men know that we are available for assistance in tutoring and things of that sort. We will also be hosting some women fellowships along with men fellowships right here in our home with our neighbors. God is good and things are going to get so much better despite what the enemy tries to tell us. I am praising His name for He is blessing us right now! AMEN!
So all of that to say that I love my life, I am married to a wonderful man of God, my son is doing better in school and everyday living, sure we have moments when I want to smack Minister Merv or I look at my child and say Who Is This, but the Lord still blesses and we are moving forward together as a family….who could ask for anything more.
So enjoy your life despite all that is going on and remain focused while you are!
Have a blessed day and may you continue to live for the Lord in the manner that He calls you to!
Love your sister in Christ,
Sister Alissa Lynne
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