In this episode I share my testimony of how God provided for me when He called me to pursue ministry and change my major to Biblical & Theological Studies. That meant sacrificing thousands of dollars in scholarship money, and I truly did not know how God would make it work, but I trusted Him. This verse was the promise I held onto: "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you" (Matt 6:33). 

4 years later in the midst of the chaos that was 2020, God provided all my needs and beyond. In the span of 4 months I had a new apartment, full-time job, married the man of my dreams, and even got blessed with a new car. It was ALL GOD.

All this to say, Jesus commands us not to worry about finances, but rather trust God, you of little faith. Don't let fear hold you back from pursuing God's kingdom. God will provide for your needs; maybe not all your 'wants', but He will sustain your life.

When you are tempted to worry, speak Matthew 6:33 over yourself and remind yourself that God will provide for your needs.

How does God call us to love others? God wants us to love our enemies and go the second mile for them.

We can’t love others on our own strength. We have to humble ourselves and see people how God sees them. As women who are called to arise and shine, we are free to become all God has called us to be. That means if we’ve been unloving or selfish in the past, we have permission and freedom to decide today to be LOVING. Today is a new day of God’s mercies!

God loves you. More than any other person on the planet. He loves you in your darkest moments, and He loves you so much that He will not leave you there! If we don’t know that God loves us, we will go looking for that love somewhere else. We can’t give a love that we have not encountered. If we have not encountered God’s perfect love, we cannot love ourselves, much less our enemy.

How to love our enemies:

Christ came to do what we could not: live a sinless life and become the sacrifice for our sins to give us His righteousness as a GIFT. Jesus came to set us FREE from sin and condemnation and give us His heart and His righteousness. But we are not called to live lawlessly then or take advantage of His grace; Jesus sees the intentions of our heart. 

Scripture: Matthew 5:17-31

17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

21“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

27“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

31“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

You are the salt of the earth,  but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)

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

True rest is found in Jesus. Soul care is part of self care. Sabbath rest is a proclamation that we are not God. He is always at work, and we can trust Him with our burdens.  Resting is acknowledging that are strength is LIMITED, but His is UNLIMITED and that’s the truth our souls rest in. 

“And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬ 

His yoke is easy, how do we rest in Him?

1. Trust Him - pray, remind yourself of His promises to you

 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” * ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬ * 

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6-7

2. Rest your body - sleep, eat, repeat

"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” Psalm‬ ‭127‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Do you find yourself distracted by your to-do list? Even during prayer it can be difficult not to think about what we have to get done in the back of our head. It happens to me all the time! In this story, Martha is preoccupied with her never-ending to-do list so much so that she's distracted from the person she's hosting, the Son of God. God's wants a heart that prioritizes His presence over our busyness. God wants to be present with you and give you grace and mercy in your time of need. His greatest joy is being present with his sons and daughters!

How can we prioritize Him today?

1. Create a set routine and time for prayer and Bible reading. We make time for what's important to us.

2. Set aside all distractions (turn off your phone, put your lists away, turn off the TV, get alone).

"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42

I don’t know what the enemy tried in 2022, 2021 or 2020 to try to bring death in your life. I don’t know what diagnosis you faced, financial crisis, what happened in your family, your marriage, your children.  But what I do know is that as women we’ve been anointed to use our words to give birth to life, when everything looks dead around us. God has promised us that we would crush the head of the serpent!  

This is a message I preached to a women’s ministry in January on woman’s God-given anointing to give birth to life, like Eve. Every word we speak is pregnant with power, nurtures growth and gives birth to life or death around us. Let’s choose our words wisely and speak life. Our prayers grow and develop in darkness in our spiritual womb, and are birthed out of us and into the world. You have been anointed with divine purpose and power to call dead things back to life!  

*Little God wink story: I was actually pregnant when I preached this message and didn’t know yet in January 2022. 

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1:1-3‬ ‭HCSB

“I will put hostility between (the serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:15‬ ‭HCSB‬‬ 

“Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:20‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

When God calls us to something greater, many times our first reaction is “But how?” If we let it, fear can paralyze us from taking steps of faith toward God’s call & promises. 

"For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭1:37-38‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭1:45‬ ‭ESV‬‬

1. We get to choose, faith or fear? 

2. Sharing your testimony can break fear off of others. “If God did it for me, He can do it for you” 

3. Claim God’s word and His promises over your life 

4. Faith comes by hearing & hearing the word of God. Be careful what and who you give your ear to. 

5. The way to overcome fear is taking baby steps of faith d a i l y. 

I rebuke fear for the liar it is, and declare your word to walk by faith not by sight, daily.

Are you facing a trial? Whether you’re in a trial now or tomorrow, what if I told you that God wants to trade your loss for wholeness? That what the enemy planned to make you empty, God intends to make you WHOLE, lacking nothing. God’s ultimate purpose through our trial is our wholeness. I share 3 ways we can pursue the wholeness God has promised us through trials:

1. Be honest with God and ourselves - "Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." Ps. 62:8

2. Worship by giving God our broken spirit - "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." Ps. 51:17

3. Give thanks to God - "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." Ps. 107:1

Scripture: "Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." 

James 1:2-4

In this episode, I'm sharing my testimony of my journey through miscarriage and having faith in the valley. We had a miscarriage and lost our baby at 12 weeks on March 18, 2022.  As I mentioned, God truly works all things together for the good of those who love Him and while we may never know "why", we do know God gives purpose to our pain. While everyone's story is unique and different, my prayer is that my testimony encourages anyone who has experienced loss or is in the waiting. Having experienced both, I know the sweetness of God's comfort in the depths of my grief and disappointment, and I know this is not the end of our story as we expectantly wait for our rainbow baby.

In this season, these 4 truths have anchored my soul and I pray they encourage you, too:

“Do not remember the past events;

Isaiah 43:18-9