Maureen Y. Smith - Conquering the Seeds of Destruction

As we all have been approaching Easter Sunday/Resurrection Day this week, I wanted to reflect on the precious sacrifice that was made for all of mankind. Jesus Christ suffered a horrific death to pay for the sins of man. Because of his unconditional love, He saved us and allowed us to be restored back to a right relationship with God. He gives us the choice to accept Him as our Lord and Savior. Prayerfully, each person will accept Him and develop a personal relationship with Him because our spirit yearns to be back home with God. May we all praise and worship Him ALWAYS!

Receiving salvation is one of the greatest things on earth for each person to have. After you have repented of your sins, acknowledged that Jesus shed His blood, died, and resurrected, and you accept Him as your Lord and Savior, then you begin to live your life for Him. As you spend time with Him, you will develop a close and "personal" relationship with Him. As you seek Him daily, I pray that you choose to follow Him and do things according to His Will. Some days will be easy while other days will be difficult but you can make it if you keep trusting Him in everything.

When it comes to making sacrifices, there are times that some people just don't want to do that. They don't want to deprive themselves of things. Their mentality is to get whatever they can get at all costs with the mindset that it will also benefit them. God wants people to make sacrifices to help Him and to help others but He also states that "obedience is better than sacrifice." Regardless of how much sacrifice that you may do in your life, God still wants you to be obedient to Him. Which will you choose moving forward?

In order to walk in discernment, it will require you to not only spend time with God, but it will also be necessary that you are recognize His voice when He speaks to you. When you are consistently spending time with Him in His Word and you see how God is guiding you, you will be able to know what your next moves should be. If by chance things don't go in the way that you anticipated, please don't get discouraged. God is still with you and always has a plan for your good and His glory.

God gives each of us mercy, even when we don't deserve it. Although there is a goal to be obedient to Him, sometimes the selfish nature can get the best of you and you will do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it. If things start to spiral downward because of the desire to please self, it is then that you may seek God to ask Him for forgiveness and to have mercy over your life. He wants you to stay in obedience to Him consistently so that you can operate in His mercy on a continual basis. Will you make a commitment to Him?

One of the things that many people struggle with is their lack of healing from past hurts. There are times that people may think that they have healed from a difficult situation only to realize that there are some areas that they still need to work on. The situation that they experienced may be partially healed but not completely healed. As a result, they haven't let go of it nor have they forgiven themselves, the situation, or others involved. It becomes crucial to allow God into your heart and allow Him to get down to the deepest areas of your pain so that you can operate in healing completely.

One of the things that God gives you is the freedom to choose. As your relationship has developed, prayerfully you are choosing Him more in your life versus doing things your way. The choices that you make will dictate how the outcome will be on your situations, your decisions, and your life. Following God and trusting Him in everything continues to show who you represent and it will be God's Will being displayed in your life.

When people are trying to get ahead in life, you will see that they put the effort into it and work hard to reach their desired goals and dreams. Most of the time, they are able to achieve what they set out to accomplish. What happens if you see people putting the effort into a situation but they have hidden motives and agendas behind it? Their main goals are selfish in nature. Unfortunately, those types of situations can lead to destruction and pain which is why it is important to ask God to guide you every step of the way. He wants you to put the effort into accomplishing the plan He has for you.

How often do you trust others? Do you trust people completely or partially? Do you trust people when they have "proven" themselves to be trusted? Can you be trusted? One more to add...how much do you trust God? It is questions like these that will be discussed today. People have different reasons of why they trust and why they don't trust others or even God. In situations where they don't trust, many times it stems from a past hurt or a wrongdoing that took place. It will require healing, forgiveness, and learning the lesson to be learned in order to really move forward.

As you listen to today's podcast, prayerfully, it will cause you to reflect on how you show positivity to others. Although you may know the difference between good vs evil, does your actions display good or do you find yourself being more negative to the situations that come your way? I know certain things can affect you in different ways so it becomes important to seek God consistently so that He can help you through some of those rough days that may take you down a negative path.