• Strife is a swindler

    Strife wants to waist our life away, deplete our bodies, dehydrate good emotions, eat at our life savings, deteriorate our marriage, and make us forget about the fact that God placed everything in His Son’s hands! We’ve got to realize fear and strife are tactics. Then we’ve got to PAUSE. Shift. Shake things up for the enemy. Interrupt his actions. Flip the script- Disagree with his discord. Quit consenting to his clashing, cheating, and scamming. If God put all the things in the Son’s hands, then we should too. Mentally, we need to see that our people, our dreams, and our things will be dealt with at the proper time.…

  • Mirandized Unto Him!

    (I have rights. You have rights. And in God- we have rights and commands…. Jesus’ disciples were threatened, beaten, mistreated, and imprisoned. At times, it seemed their rights weren’t considered but God found a way as He always does, to keep them full of purpose. As modern day disciples, I believe we can decide: Unto Him I am “mirandized.” Scriptures to study: Psalm 57:2, Matthew 28:18-20, Col. 3:16, Psalm 46:10, Jude 1:24, John 16:13.) *We have the right to be still. I don’t have to say a word in certain situations. All I need to do is live the part. When I know that He is God, I can be…

  • Sidestepping

    They act like they’re letting you run the race but they are really blocking your path. When we walk with Jesus, sometimes we wake up bad spirits that try to side-step us and get us derailed from the ordered steps of God. Stay aware of that. And intercede. We need to do our best not to allow bad spirits to agitate us into speaking down about other leaders, ministries, and programs. Let’s spread the good things they are doing and accomplishing. My husband says there is no church or ministry that has 100% success rate. Why bring out the failure, perceived misses, or “missteps?” I know no one who’s never…

  • A Blessed Hope

    His hope is like spiritual adrenaline. It’s pumping us with fuel to live out our purposes. He (God) could have just given us hope but He adds blessings and a future to it (Jer. 29:11). In a sense, hope is a future. It’s expecting something beyond today. Hope is a lifter. When we start to lose hope, we drift downward. God is so good that He can create “lift” out of your lowest low. (Ps. 3:3) But it shouldn’t always be us waiting on Him to stoop down. I think there has to be something in us that’s willing to reach up. There ought to be something in each of…

  • Hope has an answer

    Scripture: “Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy.” MSG version- 1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. NIV version- 1 Peter 3:15 HOPE HAS AN ANSWER! Observation: One year ago, I created The Monday Mentor facebook group to encourage people beyond the church walls. I thought…

  • A hopeful hue

    Do you ever get down about being different? When we stay “original”, we risk acceptance and likes. Are we suppose to fade into everyone else in the crowd…sounding, acting, and looking like the majority? I know we were made to be unique- not clones and copies but originals. I was made to be me. You were made to be you. We hear that all the time. I imagine the hue of hope is colorful, coming through each of us in variety of shades. The tones of our voices, the tint of our complexions, and the hues of our characteristics make up billions of ways hope can be colorfully displayed. God’s…

  • Breakthrough Hope

    What is it that we need…to be able to break through every single setback? The answer is a breakthrough hope. It is the kind of hope that keeps looking for the blessing. Have you given up on looking for your blessing? If you can lift both hands up in surrender, you can still hope to find what God has for you! In any circumstance you are in, He has provision for breakthrough. Through every bondage. Every defeat. Every desperation. Every setback. Events that make you lose progress or keep you from gaining ground…problems that delay or stop progress…an interruption in progress… Does any of this sound familiar? Let me just…

  • The God of Hope…

    NOTE TO SELF: THE GOD OF HOPE HAS PLENTY OF IT; THE GOD OF HOPE IS THE SUPPLIER OF MINE. He’s active and alert for every action and operation. God’s very existence and all that He lovingly does, is to keep hope living. It is to keep the fire burning, to keep our affections alive and to keep us passionate for the Christ. Don’t think for a minute that the Creator of all has lost all His creativity, energy, and excitement. Think Well. Think Strength. Think Healing. Think Safe. Connection. Communion. Life. Hope. Psalm 46:1 says “God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need Him.”…

  • Harvesting Hope

    NOTE TO SELF: STOP BEING SO RESTLESS. REST. PUT YOUR HOPE IN THE ONE WHO MADE THE SKY. Reflecting on the big Gatlinburg sky lift, I posted a picture in The Monday Mentor Facebook group of a young girl we met in line on our recent trip. We briefly discussed courage and shared a few laughs. Then the man at the control handle continued to repeat himself, hollering out: “Step up to the line! As the seat comes up behind you, sit down! Let it take you forward.” Once we got in our seats and ever so slowly headed back down the mountain, there were two things available to us:…

  • KEEP HOPE ALIVE

    Lately I’ve been telling everyone including myself, to keep hope alive. In the Fall, we see the word HARVEST a lot. There’s a huge harvest for us if we won’t give up or give in. It’ll find its way to us and we will live in it. That harvest is something I am counting on. What about you? Where are you right now? Start to plant seeds, cultivate good things and good belief systems. It will bring you a harvest you’re going to need in time.  In the last blog, 2 Tim. 4:5 encouraged us with a task to spread hope. Here’s an expanded version of it: “Keep your eye…