Has comparison been used to feed our flesh and kill our Spirit?

Well hello good people and the not so good too! I pray you all have been doing well. I have been doing pretty good & feeling better. If, I omit the tightness I've caused in my shoulder carrying an overweight bookbag inappropriately 🫠. But anywho, I wanted to stop through and talk about comparison and how it seems to be a tool used to feed our flesh and kill our spirit.

Dramatic, just a tad?! But please let me explain why. When we compare ourselves to others in person, on social media, at work, within our families or etc our flesh is definitely at the forefront. Our flesh feeds off of envy, jealously, pride, unrighteousness, drunkenness, emulations, idolatry, strife, adultery, fornication, wrath and etc. (Galatians 5:19-21) Comparison is a door that will tempt us to fall victim to such fleshly acts especially when we haven't done the inner daily work of dying to our flesh.

When we embody these things we miss the opportunity to inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore killing the chance our spirit has to truly live.

In the book of 2 Corinthians 10:12 Paul highlights how it is unwise to compare ourselves among ourselves. Yet daily there are people stuck in the social culture of comparison. If we focus on the race that God has intended for us. (1 Corinthians 9:24) We are sure to be too busy stewarding the purpose God has for our lives to have time to “compare” ourselves to what anyone else is or isn't doing.

We can't win our own race worried about the race of someone else. We fail to feed our spirit “good fruits” (Galatians 5:22-23) when we are operating in our flesh comparing ourselves with hatred, envy and strife in our hearts.

Whether we are aware or not comparison is a door that could lead us to spiritual darkness. Ask yourself what does light fellowship with darkness?

Whelp, got to go but I'll chat you later.

Love ya. Stay prayed up. Stay vigilant.

There is a home for You....

Hey beautiful people. Today I'm coming to you with a word from the heart. See I was moved by listening to a song Justin Bieber created 3 years ago. And I know, I know Justin Bieber is in the industry. Does not currently sing songs for the Lord. But hear me out.

The song was called “Lonely”. In it you can hear Justin pouring his soul out about “how he's been talking but no one is listening”. How he feels lonely etc etc. My soul cried out for him. For a few reasons.

1. He is expressing his loneliness even though he has “everything” by world standards

2. In his song he sounds so broken. Yet, crying out for help in his music.

It touched a piece of me something deep. In one part of his life since becoming “world” famous I recall him seeking a relationship with Christ. It overjoyed me. Because we are to celebrate when our brothers and sisters return home. Much like the parable of the lost son.

Can you imagine how overjoyed our father would be to have Justin come home, permanently? Can you also imagine how sad our father is when he sees us out in the world being mistreated, used, abused and he's equipped us with everything we need right at home?

After hearing Justin, I literally just wanted to hug him and tell him that I'll listen. That I'd sit with him and let him know that it's okay to let it all out and to let it all go. That there is nothing that has happened to him or that he has done that Jesus Christ can't clean up. Or make new again.

One thing God, Jesus Christ doesn't do is to leave us lonely. He has promised to comfort us. We as believers are to comfort others just as Christ has comforted us.

I know what it's like to feel lonely. I know what it's like to feel loved even when there is no one around to give it. I know what it's like to be embraced by a presence you can't see or explain. And I know I can give all praise, glory and honor to Jesus Christ even in the midst of my pain.

Justin I don't know if you'll ever read this but if you do. I want you to know you don't have to be lonely forever. When you’re ready and able you can come home. I know this might be three years behind and I know you're not yet free from the chains of the industry but you can cry out anytime you're ready!

Jesus wants to live in our hearts. He takes us as we are and cleans us up. And loves us right in our brokenness. You don't have to be broken but know in your weakness that's when Christ is strong! Maybe your name isn't Justin, maybe it's something else. The same applies to you. You don't have to be lonely. There is true love waiting to properly embrace you. That love is Jesus Christ. That love can be found in true believers. In the true embrace of a father's love. He's waiting on us to come home. Hopefully we'll find the strength before it's too late.

To anyone out in the world lonely, lost, confused, not feeling “good enough”, abused, misused, etc etc there is a home for you with Jesus Christ. There is someone out there who will genuinely listen, embrace and care for you in your brokenness. To those of you who are in sticky situations I pray you keep holding on. I pray you continue to live to fight another day.

Love ya later. Remember, you can have a place at home with Jesus Christ. Come home!

Stay safe. Stay prayed up.

Hailey Bieber. . . Thank you for being a safe landing for a soul like Justin's. Thank you for being a helpmate to a soul that needs help and love. May you cover him in prayer. May you be the hedge around him and may Jesus Christ keep you as well.

Your Will won’t Cover that…..

Hey Beautiful people! Let’s talk about wills. Wills spiritually and wills in the natural.

In life, we live, we work, we enjoy, we cry, we lose, we learn, we grow! When we die, if we have properly prepared for our passing, we leave some “covering” for our families and loved ones from the labor we endured during our life. This will is a legal document that outlines how you would like your property and assets distributed amongst your loved ones. Wills help minimize the confusion and chaos amongst family members by assigning or designating things in advance. Due to wills being a legal document the family or loved ones have to abide by the will.

Hopefully that has provided you with a better understanding of a will in the natural sense. Now let’s look at wills in the spiritual sense.

In the KJV Bible Matthew 6:9-13, verse 10 states “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven!”

Our will, similar to that of the natural sense, are our desires or wants in life. The major difference is that our will in the spiritual sense will lead us to eternal life or death. Matthew 6:9-13 provides for us a way in which we should pray to our heavenly father who has adopted us and not given us the spirit of fear (Romans 8:15)! See when we choose to serve God, we are releasing the ways of the flesh and choosing to be of the Spirit. If the Spirit of God dwell in us we are of Christ (Romans 8:9-10). Therefore we are also “debtors” to the Spirit as well (Romans 8:12). We are giving up “our will” to take on the will of the Father (Matthew 26:39).

Heavy debt but it is one that ensures an eternal life! Remember now, we are members of the Heavenly Credit Union of Christ! Our perks are different.

In verse 12 of Matthew 6:9-13 it states “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” See our wills would have never been enough to “pay” for our sins. Matter of fact “our wills” were the exact reason we were unable to fulfill the law. Our natural state is one of sin (Romans 8:3). When we submit ourselves to the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) we are canceling our wills to purposefully pursue the will of our Father. It’s not easy, but there is purpose in it! There is life in it!

We are called to forgive those who “owe" or are “debtors” to us just as our Lord and Saviour sent his only begotten son to cancel our debts! Our sins, our natural nature (Romans 8:3) could have never cut it. We are to die to our flesh daily! We are to will ourselves to be righteous and walk in the ways of our Father. Jesus himself cried out three times to his father “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou will” (Matthew 26:39-44).

Even our father submitted his will to his Father’s will.

In Mark 14:33 it talks about how Jesus “began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy”. When I read the scripture surrounding that it highlights to me how purpose is heavy when it is God’s will for your life. “For my yoke is easy, but my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Don’t let that last scripture go over your head.

We can’t be a light living in darkness. Living in the flesh. Operating within our will for ourselves. I’ll let you sit with that.

Gotta go. I’ll be back soon. Stay prayed up. Stay vigilant.

Love ya later!

Who is Teaching You?

Hey beautiful people! Whew, do I have a word today…

This is truly just a check-in to see how you have been managing the keys to your freedoms in Christ. There are so many things that can keep us in bondage & oddly one of those things is the shepherd we choose to sit under or the teacher we choose to mentor us. Turn with me to Gal 2:4! (I like the ESV of this scripture)

This scripture highlights how there are those who pretend to be followers of Christ just to spy on true believers to take away the liberties that Christ has given them. Did you know that sitting under leadership that is tainted taints your access to the doors God has for you? See not only are there teachers, mentors and etc. pretending to be followers of Christ; their intent attached to it is devious in nature. They are doing so to intentionally keep their flocks in bondage. That makes them a danger to you! A danger to your walk! A danger to your destination! You are essentially a danger to yourself when you are unable to discern the leadership you sit under.

In James 1:25, we are reminded that we should be doers of the word and not just hearers. This is vital because it provides guidance on how to check the leadership we are under, as well as provides us with direction on how we can also check our walk as we grow in our knowledge of the word.

Having leadership that walks what they talk is important. It helps us to trust that they are feeding us from a plate they would also digest. I’m not sure about you, but for me, I won’t eat anyone’s food who won’t eat what they are serving. We need to be able to sit-down and eat together. When God provided us with the word, we were given the recipe book to success in life. The word gives us guidance on how we can secure a good meal. If your leadership is providing you food that has been prepared differently from the guidance of the word, they might not be serving you from Christ recipe book. They might need to be addressed by the elders of the church. They might need to mature in their understanding of the word. You might need to find a new teacher. But in all of these options grace should be given while still being mindful that your freedom is in the mix.

We have to test the spirit (1 John 4:1). Our leadership is not absent from that. There is a proper order in which we should go about it and it should be used appropriately because it impacts the body as a whole (Ref 1 Tim for more context). We can’t remain free if we allow ourselves to be tied up in false doctrine.

Stay prayed up. Stay vigilant. Your keys are yours to properly steward. In Christ, we are free indeed (John 8:36). You matter to him. Don’t allow just anybody to teach you falsely.

Gotta dash. I’ll talk to you soon.

Are you Spiritually Entangled?

What’s good, good people? How you doing? How you been?

Look it’s been a little while since we’ve had to deal with the topics of “entanglements” and boy was it a time when the world was dealing with it in the “famous people” world. There were soo many jokes flying from every direction and the entanglers had no rest! (Yes, I just made that word up. I’m pretty good at doing that by the way.) There were webs of all kinds coming out and about. But let’s talk about something serious real quick.

Did you know that you can be spiritually entangled? Do you even know what that is? Let me break it down for you real quick.

Have you heard of the saying “when you know better you do better?” Or the saying that talks about a dog returning to it’s vomit? Well, that is quite similar to being spiritually entangled! You know in Christ we were freed from the bondage of our sins thru his death on the cross. Yet, there are those who know this and still choose to entertain their past sins/bondage. The word tells us in 2 Peter 2:18-21 that people use swelling words of vanity to allure through the flesh. They promise liberty while they themselves are servants of corruption. Which are people who are bound by the same things which they have overcome. Verse 20 in the KJV states “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.”

This sounds similar to another scripture in the word in Matthew 12:44-45 where the demons return to an empty house with 7times the amount that were originally there. Could you imagine being free from a thing just to return to it on your own accord after knowing that there is better for you? The word in 2 Peter 2:21 tells us that it is better to have NOT known the way of righteousness than to have known it and to turn from it!

When we know better, we need to do better. Or we are bound to get entangled in situations we could have easily avoided.

Don’t be spider-man be a Holy Man or Woman of God. Cheesy, I know haha but I bet it’ll stick with you.

Anywho, gotta run. Love ya later!

Oh, Do Better! Let’s clean up the webs we’ve woven and strive to walk the narrow path. Righteousness is the right way to go!

Compensated in Life or Death?

Hey, hey, hey, good people!

Have you checked your savings account lately? Is it full or is it empty?

Are you struggling to maintain or thriving in the midst of ever growing expenses of life?

Saving up can be difficult for some. I know I can give a testimony on that for myself. In real time haha. Did you know that you could have a saving account with the Heavenly Credit Union of Christ? I’m sure you didn’t but ugh let me tell you some of the perks of being a member.

Well, the most important perk is the gift of eternal life. Yep, huge right? Shoot, I think so! I don’t know too many other banks offering that type of membership. I did hear over at the Fiery Gates Bank that you don’t even get to question them about the possibility of eternal life! All they have to offer is death and high interest on their credit cards and loan services. You’d be so tied down with life and debt that you will be overjoyed with the death fund by the time you have spent all your time on earth. They don’t even check your credit before they give you a card because they aren’t interested in protecting their bank. They’re interested in cashing out on your soul.

See at the Heavenly Credit Union of Christ they help you clean up your credit, free you from debt & the bondage of corruption to help you become fruitful members of society. They gift you eternal life! Gifts are free! I enjoy a good free gift. I’m not sure about you but I ain’t shamed to admit it.

See our word tells us in Romans 6:17-23, that God freed us from sin. When we chose to obey from our hearts the doctrine which was delivered unto us (his word) we became servants of righteousness! When we were freed of sin and became servants of God our fruit became unto holiness and everlasting life was a by product of our work. However, when we choose to stay in sin or the bondage of corruption we are paid in death!

Not sure about you but for me and my house we gone invest at the Heavenly Credit Union of Christ! We choose to have life and to have it more abundantly (John 10:10)!

Which membership will you choose?

Love ya later.

Why the Inner elevates the Outside…

What’s up beautiful people?! I hope all has been well your way; All has been well my way. Some minor bumps here and there but nothing that has killed the shine. Today I wanted to come and speak to you about “Why the Inner elevates the Outside..”!

When we walk with Christ Jesus, we are representatives of who he is & what he represents. In society there is huge emphasis on our appearance. So much so that most people jump to follow the trends even if it’s detrimental to their health. People want to be seen, heard and held highly! Yet, most people don’t realize that not only is their thirst to follow trends detrimental to their health it is also detrimental to their spirits unbeknownst to them.

Everyone wants to look nice and presentable because “when you look good you feel good”. How often do you check your spirit before you prepare to leave out for the day? I’m not only talking about reading your devotionals or your word. I’m talking about truly checking your spirit in the mirror? Our word tells us that we should not judge according to appearance (John 7:24), nor should we stress to appear religious in our dress to be seen of men (Matthew 23:5), and that we should be mindful not to dress to attract attention (Mark 12:38).

Yet, all across the globe we have people who wake up and literally take pride in all of these things as believers in Christ Jesus. It is sadly easy to do when we don’t recall that not only do we need to look in the mirror and make sure we are presentable before leaving our homes. We need to make sure that the home we house the spirit of Christ in is well dressed as well. I have been guilty of failing to check the home of my spirit before leaving out at times. (The fruit of those days has not always been ripe. If I do say so myself.) On those days I tend to take a moment and pause! Go within and try to clean house. People will try you for no reason some days & when we have not properly dressed our spirit for the day we tend to fall in traps set by unclean spirits housed in the people we have to interact with. (Typically, you will find that it is an individual who is more concerned with their outer image than their inner appearance.)

We are to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and to make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14). Christ resides on the inside of us and we do him and ourselves a disservice when we put more emphasis on our outer appearance than how we are dressed on the inside. When we dress to be seen or to gain attention from man we are feeding the lust of our flesh and tempting someone else’s flesh in the process. Looking good and looking presentable are not necessarily the same thing in today’s society. Where so many people are half naked because of the industry trends and believe themselves to “look good” even though they are far from presentable by Christ standards.

We are called to dress modestly (1 Tim 2:9) & to dress to please God, not to attract attention (1 Pt 3:1-5). When we put more emphasis on how we are dressed inwardly we are fully equipped to tackle the day. We are prepared to shine from within throughout the day. And who can kill a light that God gives? Nobody!!

Love you later.

Extended Warranty

So you made your mind up to stand on the Solid Rock that is Jesus Christ. I’m sure you have been enjoying the spoils of getting to know the awesome God that we serve. You’ve heard all about the joy, love, blessings and all the things that comes with being a believer of Jesus Christ. For some of you, you may have even began to experience some turbulence that comes along with following Christ.

In those instances it is hard sometimes to stand firmly and secure….IF you allowed the situation to knock you off of your solid foundation in Christ. (Sometimes that sadly happens. But you can live to fight another day.) However, I’m here to encourage you and inform you about the Extended Warranty that we have in Christ. The road we’re about to travel on is not the typical terrain. This extended warranty I’m talking about does provide coverage just in an abstract way. When we pick up our bibles and turn the page to Judges 3:1-2 contemporary English version. We read about a God that allows your enemies to stay just so that you can be taught how to fight in war.

Can you imagine going thru trial after trial after trial just to realize God was training you this entire time? You are looking at the situation as if you are being punished. When in actuality your father is training you! Equipping you for the journey up ahead.

Life could be beating you down! However, we serve a God that has guaranteed to not leave us comfortless (John 14:18). We have to keep our faith and our focus on him. Once we master the lesson, we are on to the next one. Just know that even in the midst of trials you are covered. Don’t give up. The covering is still there. Sometimes we have to take the path less traveled for a reward not easily obtained.

Sent out 2 by 2

Whew! Life be lif-ing !

But God is so good. More than good.

God is a provider, a comforter, a protector, a friend, a help, a father. We are living in a generation that is running from love. Choosing perversion over righteousness and all the other things that God instructs us not to do. However, even in the midst of all these things God knew that we(humans) needed one another. He knew that having someone to support you, feed into you and encourage you in the midst of trials, test and tribulations is important. God holds all these roles and responsibilities when it comes to his care and love for us; yet, he still, saw fit that we were in need of somebody.

When we look at the disciples and their call to go out into the earth and preach. They were sent out 2 by 2! Meaning they were not alone. They had somebody. When we look at Elijah and Elisha…they had each other. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m putting down in this blog. This is not about relationship. This is about support ! Which in some capacity we all are in need of.

Yes, we have God who is beyond qualified to perform the roles I have listed earlier in this blog. Yes, God gives us exactly what we need. With or without the physical support! But could you imagine how the disciples could have felt being sent out into the world to get attacked and talked down on for spreading LOVE and God’s message.? (I know I definitely can.) Now imagine the disciples spreading the word of God while absorbing hate from the world dolo. (means alone. solo. single.) I’m sure anyone having to tackle on all of the hate this world is capable of giving would be ready to tap out.

Sometimes we don’t realize that we are the key to someone else’s problem. Sometimes, we do; just as Christ knew he was the key to salvation for so many people. Yet, and still he tarried on. He did so with the aide of his disciples, followers and those who opposed him. (We can not forget the haters/opposition! They matter even if it’s solely because we’re called to love our enemies.)

Everyday is going to be a challenge while building and establishing our foundation. Just know life is no match for the help we have in Jesus. For the help we find in others. !

Gotta run. Love ya later.

But what about your Foundation?

Hey, hey, hey good people!

I pray you have had a joyous week that was prosperous and productive. How do those keys feel in your hands? I pray they have a little weight to them. You know folks believe the “good stuff” holds weight. Today I want to discuss the importance of our foundations. I realized that in the last blog we discussed choosing which door we would walk through without even checking the foundation that the door was standing on.

So hopefully you chose the door that would lead to life. Which means you are intentionally choosing to die to your old self and consciously choosing to build your new self in Christ. If you’re still on the fence concerning where you will build I pray at the end of this blog you will have better clarity on the foundation on which you will stand.

I will be referencing scripture from Matthew 7:24-27.

In this chunk of scripture we see Jesus speaking and he is highlighting the importance of not only building our house upon a rock but the wisdom that comes with it. In vs 24 Jesus states that the person who hears his sayings and doeth them has built his house on a rock and is likened to a wise man. He then follows it thru in vs 25 by highlighting that even the storms that are bound to come will have no impact on the house that was built upon the rock. For it will be able to withstand the storm.

Now there are some folks who willingly choose to build their house upon the sand. If you were like me…I’m sure you read that and thought “who would choose sand to build their house on?” Sadly, you’d be surprised. Some of your favorite world known prophets, pastors, bishops, preachers, gospel artist, politicians, entertainers and the likes have built their house upon the sand. You’re probably looking like….”the folks living in mansions, with excessive wealth and nice cars?” YEP, them folks.

See when you choose to build your house upon the sand and the storm hits you are unable to withstand the blows it delivers. When you read vs 26-27, you see that those who hear Jesus sayings and still chose not do them are likened to foolish men; Who suffer great falls!

Jesus provided us with everything that we need to build a strong foundation. Yet he leaves us with the choice concerning the foundation we will build upon. The two options we have are the rock or sand. Choosing wisely is detrimental in this current climate of the world. I don’t want any of us, myself included, to do all of this work to build and establish a beautiful house. Just to realize it was built on the wrong foundation.

See we can believe or even appear as if we are doing the works of Christ just to realize that on that great day where we are to meet him that he never even knew us. (Mt 7:23) That’s the sinking sand! The great fall.

I pray ye chose to build your house on a solid rock. Where the storms of life can’t break you. Where the storm isn’t even significant when it passes through. You’ll have to check out Episode 03 for that word.

Welp gotta run again! I’ll catch y’all later. Stay prayed up!

Love ya later.

So now that you have the keys…

So you made it back? I knew you were ready to elevate. So tell me…..what did you take away from Ephesians 4? Hopefully you were able to obtain some solid key information. You wrote it down in your journal right? If you need a new journal check out the shop and purchase you one of the Reflective journals or the Overflow Spiral Notebooks. Any-who, back to our conversation about the keys.

I’m going to wait for a few of you to share what you gathered here, then I’ll give you more concerning some key points I took away from Ephesians 4 concerning the major key : renewing our mind! I can give you what’s helped me but I can’t do the work for you. We all have to study to show ourselves approved. (2 Tim 2:15) Which is why I am encouraging you to take your notes as you study and share what you’ve learned. Believe me when I tell you, we will never be void of study when it comes to the word of God and navigating this life. Which excites me, cause that means we should always have plenty to talk about and plenty to work on.

Now that you have the keys. How have you applied them to your life? Have you seen any changes in your daily habits or interactions amongst your peers? Have you felt any different within yourself?

Next big thing for you to ponder on…which door will you choose to walk through? The door to life or destruction? Having the key is great but daily we must pick up our cross and die to our old selves to live in the new. Choosing your old self is choosing destruction. Life is found in the death of our past ways.

I have to run. But, I’ll be back after a little while.

Stay prayed up. Love ya later.

Let Me Give U the Keys Upfront

Hey y’all hey! Listen, if we’re going to kick this elevation thing off right. I have to give you the keys to the door upfront. I know, I know, most folks like to gate keep all the keys to your next opportunity but not here. See, I realize if you are here to tag along on this journey then you are desiring to be set free and to reach heights that only GOD can elevate us to.

In order for us to reach those heights though, the key is to renew our minds.

Yes, that’s it. We must renew our minds. In the Bible in Ephesians 4:23 it states “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;”.

See we can not elevate to new heights without first releasing the things of old we have become so accustom to holding on to. Trust me! It is by no means a simple task. You will be tested greatly, you will not only lose loved ones, friends and opportunities, your old self would have naturally jumped at, you will also eventually lose the desire for those things as well. Which is ultimately part of the goal in elevation.

If who you have been was getting the job done; I love that for you. For those of us who have looked in the mirror and realized who we have been is not who we wish to continue to be. Take some time and read through Ephesians 4. Grab a journal and a good pen and take down some notes on what you learned about renewing your mind and the attributes that signify your mind has been renewed.

Trust, I don’t get them right all the time but I do strive to daily. This journey we are on is one step at a time.

Step #1 : Elevate our mind.

Task to complete - Read Ephesians 4 take notes! I want to hear what you learned. If you need a journal check out our shop.