GoodBye Backslidden Condition

Hi, my name is Tasha and I’m a backslider! 

When I say backslider I don’t mean that I’m wilding out... I simply mean that I’m not living my life in a way that is of God.  I’m not reading my bible, going to church and or spending time with God like I should.  When this begins to happen I slowly begin seeing myself become more and more of the flesh and waaaayyy less of the spirit.  Meaning I curse more and I view things in “Tasha Translations” instead of in a positive light.  Don’t get me wrong, I still know that I’m blessed, but I allow small things to overshadow my blessings when it’s more me and less him.  So after a conversation with a good friend of mine and a text from my Uncle whom I love more than he’ll ever know…I woke up this morning and decided that today was the day that I would begin to get back on the right path.

I started my day by reading my ‘Mornings with Jesus’ book and the passage came from Matthew 25:21

  His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant!

You have been faithful with a few things;

I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!"  

When things happen to let me know my thoughts are in sync with God’s messages it makes me feel as though confirmation is being sent my way assuring me that I am making the right step. So here I am; AGAIN, ready to take that step in hopes of continuing down a never ending journey of self improvement. Don't be like me and keep overlooking the signs, when God doesn’t get your attention willingly he may force you to pay attention to him...and he always wins!

FAITH STEP: What has Jesus given to you: How can you be more faithful with those “things”?  Pick three of them and work on being more faithful this week.

Today my voices are asking you to join me in this faith step. Let’s say goodbye to the backslidden condition and have a faithful week!

Until Next Time…

God's Favor

My career plan in 2010 was to start working when the kids went back to school, stay on that job a year, then move on. I started working in August of that year, but before I knew it, a year was gone, I was still there, and I didn’t have any prospects for a new job. Honestly speaking, I was a little down in the dumps about still being there and not moving on. Because in my mind, my course there had ended, the job served its purpose and I was ready to move on.

On May 22, 2012 I wrote down my prayer “I pray for a job with great benefits, good understanding people, not far from home, more money, good working hours, not much overtime... I pray for a job that will allow me to utilize my current abilities as well as grow in other areas. A job that will challenge my mind and get me out of this current rut.  I am not an average person, therefore I want greatness to reflect in all areas of my life! Work, home, family, demeanor....” I prayed for a new beginning…a chance to meet new people at my new place in life.

In June I was offered a job, but I had prior engagements that were top priority for me at the time and my current employer agreed to wait for me an entire month. (good, understanding people *check*) When I turned in my notice one of my former co-workers told me “You don’t want to burn any bridges” and my response to him was “Some bridges need to burn to prevent you from trying to cross them again.” At the time I didn’t realize how powerful that statement was, the only thing that mattered to me was, in my heart I knew that my time there had come to an end and God agreed.

My travel time to work was once anything from 45 minutes-2 hours dependent on traffic; with the new job my travel time became 15-25 minutes dependent on traffic (not far from home *check*) Hurricane Isaac happened and we experienced damage to our home so we have been staying by my mom, the kids school was destroyed so their schools are now in alternative locations.

Jeremiah 29:11 reads For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Being that I got my job only a month before all of this happened, I am able to recognize God’s favor in my life. The toll that living on one side of town, working 5 towns over, and my kids being 3 towns back would have taken on my mind, body and spirit would have been tremendous.  God spared me from the exhaustion that would have happen to me had I still been working that job, but he also made sure that his timing was perfect so that I realized it was him working things out in my favor, not just “my plan” unfolding.  In a previous post entitled Restoration I wrote “Restoration happens when your willingness to live a Godly life and God’s timing collide…” I also wrote “We have to be at the point in our lives where we allow him to take away what we have in mind for ourselves…and allow his will to be done” and this is exactly what happened to me.

      Moral of the Story: Just because things don’t happen when you want them, doesn’t mean they won’t happen when God’s timing is right. In the bible there are many instances that God performs acts to make people aware that HE IS! “You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other”. I feel the reason God doesn’t allow things to happen when WE want them is because he wants his presence and power to be recognized and not overlooked! If things happen in our timing we may think it was a lone act when in all actuality it wasn’t.

I almost forgot, the other blessing staying over a year brought me was some friends that have changed my
life forever! God allowed me to meet them at a time when we could each compliment each others lives. How's that for favor?

So today my voices are praying that God continues to make his favor known in my life and that I continue to realize it and give him thanks, glory and honor! God loves when we share the greatness of his word and his great works and I love it when he shows off!!

…Until Next Time

  

I'm Not Lucky

I remember it as if it were yesterday; it was an email to an old friend that I ended with “Good Luck… No scratch that, I don’t believe in luck, Be Blessed!” It was one of many times my use of words and their importance was brought to my attention.  After that email, that sort of became my saying, but I never truly understood the power and truth in that statement until recently.    

Luck -success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions. The force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person’s life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities.

Blessed -of or enjoying happiness; specifically: enjoying the bliss of heaven. Pleasure, contentment or good fortune.

Those definitions really made me think. I remember saying  “I’m not lucky” “You’re so lucky” and “Good Luck”.  But the truth of the matter is, I’m not lucky! I’m not one of those people that just stumble upon fortunes or one of those people that know what to say to get ahead.  I’m the person that never gets a full refund, the one that buy things at full price and the next day it goes on sale, I’m the one that never seems to get a break when looking with the human eye.  

As I grow in Christ I’ve learned a new word called favor and favor is defined as an attitude of approval or liking.  A gracious, friendly, or obliging act that is freely granted. Something granted out of goodwill, rather than from justice or for compensation; a kind act.  So something I’ve realized about myself is I’m not lucky BUT I do have God’s favor and having God’s favor allows me to be blessed..which means I enjoy the bliss of heaven and have good fortune, contentment and pleasure. I may not be the lucky one that walks into great opportunities but I AM the one that God sets things aside for personally. I’m the one that God gives the knowledge and strength to endure any situation so that when the going gets tuff I don’t rely on luck to make it through. I’m the one that knows what God gives, no man can take away!  Which means.. what’s for me and given to me, by way of blessings and favor can NOT be taken by luck and happenstance.  The only thing that can alter my outcome is the way I choose to handle the situations that I’m faced with.

Life and death truly are in the power of the tongue; when I took luck out of my vocabulary and replaced it with blessed, I subconsciously took the restraints of luck off and replaced that with blessings, which released a whole new world full of possibilities. 

So today my voices are asking you to leave luck to people who don’t believe in free will and the ability to make one’s own decision. Leave luck to those who don’t believe in God’s favor and blessings.  Do you want your success or failure to be left up to chance? Do you want your circumstances to be dictated by things against your will and God’s desire for your life? 

Remember with God all roads lead to success, some just take longer dependent on the way you handle the situations your faced with.

Until Next Time…

Be Blessed

...Asking all them questions

In life, we as human beings question things often.  Why, when, how and who are just a few of the questions we ask. As we grow older these questions never really change, the circumstance and seriousness of the matter may, but we still question life. Eventually after having millions of questions and no answers we usually take those questions to God.  But, as our relationship with God matures, there are certain questions that we expect not to have to ask anymore.  Have you ever found yourself wondering why your still enduring some hardships now that you are trying to develop yourself in Christ? Have you ever found yourself asking God why, how, when or who? When heartache comes we often wonder why God would allow us to feel the way we do.

As I was reading I came across something that read  “God is more concerned about your character development than your comfort level.” When I read those words, it was as if the wind was instantly taken from within me.  What I’ve noticed through this journey is, revelations and confirmations come in the strangest forms.  God will get his message to you through many venues.  After reading, I had to thank God for answering my prayers and giving me the information needed to continue my walk with him.  There are times that I have questioned God,  but reading that made me understand that I have no right to question him in some things, because I’m the one that’s missing the point.   

Let me take a different approach.  If we are a child of God, that makes him our father, right?  What do we give our parents? What is it that most parents want? What gives them the most joy? First and foremost we MUST give our parents respect. Meaning we don’t question why they did something or when they’re going to do something (unless we are ready for the consequences). We should give God (our father) the same respect.  Some questions we should NOT ask, we should trust that whatever is happening is happening for a reason and we should know that his ultimate goal is our well being. And we should be aware that by questioning him we are not having faith in him and we will reap what we sow. Parents also want to feel proud of their children.  They love nothing more than having the assurance of knowing that when they are not around you show people respect, courtesy and compassion as you were taught. The same with God! Futhermore, parents love when you are successful and accomplish things.  It allows them to stick their chest out and feel proud and accomplished through you because you are theirs.  It’s the same with God!  When you react in the spirit its like showing him that you are capable of carrying yourself in a way that is pleasing to him.  And what do parents do when they’re proud of you? Yep. They reward you.. Same with God, hence a blessing!

There are times as a child of God we feel it should be easy sailing... but, Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, yet he was crucified! So remember you will never be above disappointment, hurt or pain. But you can rise above allowing any situation to overcome you. 

Today my Voices are encouraging you to give God something to be proud of! Show him growth, respect, and knowledge! When you fear someone you dont usually question them and we as Christians should possess the Fear of God, so STOP ASKING ALL THEM QUESTIONS!

Until Next Time…

Yield to God

Public speaking is not one of my strong points, well I cant really say that because it's not something that i've really done before. But recently I was asked to speak at a conference, my initial response was "Me? Really?" She was like of course you, so I told her let me pray on it and I’ll get back to her. I’ve never really spoke in church before…. As I was talking to God about speaking in church tears somehow filled my eyes and begin to fall on the floor and before I knew it I starting talking out loud and said "God take my hand and lead me, I’m ready to walk with you". After that I told Geralyn that I was going to do it. It was at that time that I was instantly filled with excitement to see where God wanted to lead me next. I had no idea what I would speak about but I knew that by me yielding to God that things would work out just fine. So I felt bad about second guessing Geralyn’s decision to have me speak… Because who am I to stand in the way of her yielding to God, I honestly feel that God used her to help me obtain an even closer relationship with him. Because when I called on him something happen and the spirit has been making great moves in my life ever since. To know that God has a calling on my life and he wants to use my voice and my experiences to spread his greatness is one of the greatest blessings that I could have been given.

Growing up I’ve always heard people say "God put it in my spirit" "God told me" or "God said" and I never really understood what they meant by that…in all honesty it was confusing to hear people say that. But after a lot of praying, soul searching, forgiving and acknowledgment I know exactly what those statements mean. Sometimes we take statements so literal that we fail to realize the underlying meaning and we miss out on things. We miss out on so many blessings by focusing on what we want and not what God has in store for us when we replace faith with hope; which are two completely different things. I have always viewed God as a loving parent… all you have to do is cry out for help and he will show up once you’ve learned your lesson and your ready to do things his way! He wont show up too early because maybe you wont learn your lesson, but he will show up! See that’s all it takes John 15:7 reads "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" How Awesome is that? When God restores he re-establishies in a way that is far better than what previously existed and all because we yielded to him.

　

Today my voices are saying, Remember How you React Today, Alters your Tomorrow so do not allow your reactions to be the factor that blocks your time of restoration…work on having them being the reason for your blessings!

Until Next Time...

Restoration cont....

A friend of mine once told me "its amazing how God can restore you to your destiny at any point in your life" "this is probably the destiny that God had planned for you a long time ago but instead of doing things his way you did them your way, and now that you are allowing his will to be done and he’s restoring you back to your rightful place" thanks to her I was driving home from work one day and Restoring the Years by Donald Lawrence came on…and on THAT day, after THAT conversation THAT song meant so much more to me.

The feeling that came over me while hearing that song made my soul cry with joy. Restoration means something miraculous! As the song was playing I could hear my friend’s words reigning in my mind…. Restoring is when your heading down the wrong path and God steps in and allows a detour that will lead you back to him, Restoring does not simply mean to replace something, it also means fixing something that was broken … it does not merely consist of restocking inventory with something better but it can also mean completely revamping inventory by changing packaging (the way you dress and how you are perceived by others) and the storage place (the company you keep).

Restoration happens when your willingness to live a Godly life and God’s timing collide…then and only then will we be prepared to handle the type of blessings that God’s wants to bestow upon us. We have to be at the point in our lives where we allow him to take away what we have in mind for ourselves…and allow his will to be done (whatever that may be). It means replacing our thoughts with his thoughts, yielding to him to help diminish the power of our flesh and build our spirit… But we must first desire more than just pain being replaced with joy we must desire a closer relationship with God because then and only then will we be restored with increase like in Job 42 when Job prayed for his friends and God blessed him with twice as much as he had before… Verse 12 begins by saying ‘So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning…

So today my voices are praying that we as people remember that it is time to take self out of the equation. My voices are praying for God's guidance and my willingness to follow, because I know only then will my life and God's timing collide causing my time of restoration.

Until Next Time...

Forgiveness

At work I like to use at least one of my breaks to walk briskly.  Today my friend and I were walking and talking as we normally do, but today I started sharing some things with her that I hadn’t talked about in a long time and it inspired me to write.

A few years ago my mom would always tell me “Tasha, you’re blocking your blessings by holding on to anger, resentment and pain.  You have to figure out a way to forgive or you’ll never be able to truly move on.” I remember this conversation as if it were yesterday.  I would just brush her off and say: “I know Ma, but I’m not ready yet.” I felt as if I needed the pain and anger to fuel me to keep going. It was as if the bitterness I had in my heart for those that I feel wronged me, kept me strong, determined and on the right path.  As time went on I did just that… I used all Ill will towardsme as fuel to overcome adversity, and depression.

One day I was headed to church having a talk with God (which is normal for me) my intentions were to pray a prayer for me to move on and open a new chapter of my life.  And out of no where, I began saying that I was ready to forgive everyone that hurt me and ready to move on with my life.  I can remember saying  “Lord, I’m tired of being angry, I want to let it all go and stop allowing my past to bring me to tears or rage at the mere thought of it.”  By this point I was in tears and literally crying my eyes out… but not from sadness, it was from relief.  It was like a weight was lifted immediately!  As soon as I spoke those words of forgiveness, the plan for my life changed.

So Today, My Voices are Remembering…Forgiveness is the Key that Unlocks the Door of Unimaginable Blessings!!

If you need the anger to fuel you, Fine…but once the fuel diminishes do not fill up again!  Release it and move on with love, understanding and wisdom!

…Until Next Time

Favor isn't Fair...

I woke this morning with so many thoughts running in my mind…as I often do.  This is something that happens to me a lot, my mind is always full of ideas, dreams, hopes & prayers.  I pushed the thoughts out of my mind as I always do, got up and  turned on some music.  As the music was playing a song came on that I’d never heard before and the title alone strolling across the T.V screen caught my attention “Favor ain’t Fair”.  Reading that title instantly brought my mind back to the racing thoughts and as I heard some of the lyrics in the background of my thoughts I couldn’t help but be thankful for my blessings.  There are many things in life that I still want to accomplish but I also have some things in my possession that people are currently praying for and others can only dream about.  Now don’t get me wrong, I am in no way saying that you should accept what you have and not strive for more...I’m saying, in the midst of striving for more, give thanks for what you have. 

At the time I wasn’t sure if it was the conviction of my blessings or just my need to be in the house of the lord that allowed me to get dress so fast and head to church.   When I got there I was a little disappointed because my pastor wasn’t preaching (however wrong some may think that is :-) ) and I instantly wish that I hadn’t gone.  But I stayed and as I sat in church, the minister really had some good points.  I now know how true the saying is about being in the right place at the right time.  I realized that you have to align your life with God’s divine destiny for you in order to receive the messages that he has pre-prepared for your life’s journey.  Listening to him preach made me arrive at a revelation of my own.  I decided that today would be the day that I start having a productive day, every day!  He made me realize that ‘Favor isn’t Fair, but it is Necessary’ because everyone isn’t capable of accomplishing what is desired by God, in the manner that he wants it done. It's funny because my Aunt and I had this same conversation, so I know that this is the first step in the right direction of my divine destiny.

I’m really excited about starting this blog and I can go on and on but I wont…I’ll save some for another day. Please come back daily to see what my inner voices may be saying.   Today my inner voice is screaming: Be Thankful for what you have, Pray for what you want, Wait for God’s answer & Work towards accomplishing what’s in God’s will for you!

Until next time…