From the mind of a Joint-Heiress with Christ

     Lord, at this moment, I pray for whoever is reading this blog. I pray that you will bless them in every way and in every aspect of their lives. Surely goodness and mercy follows them all the days of their lives.  Lord, show them just how much you love them. Help them see that you are concerned about what concerns them. Show them that there is nothing too hard for you. Show them that your Word is true. Show them that Your promises are yes and amen. You still do miracles. You still do signs and wonders. You still do the impossible. You want to do those things in their lives. I know that someone is weary of doing well. Show them that they will reap if they do not faint. Give them the strength to keep trusting you. Give them the strength to rely on You with all their hearts. Restore the joy of their salvation. Show them your glory. God, show up in every way for them. Lord, you are in control, but you are activated by our faith. Help us to exercise that faith. God, y...

Isaiah 43:18-19, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (ESV)       God is showing me more and more that He is doing a work that is newer and greater in my life. I won’t speak for anyone else because I don’t know all about what you may be going through right now. I will say that if you are still here, God still has a purpose for your life. He still has BIG plans for you. When it is all said and done, He longs to give you a fresh start in some areas if not all. He wants to make all things new.       When we think of the new, we tend only to think of sinners becoming saints. Many times, God is doing something novel in the lives of those who already belong to Him. He wants to change our circumstances. He insists on changing our hearts. More than anything else, He desires to show us ever...

     As I've walked through my earthly existence, the Lord has shown me that He fights for me. He has been my deliverer. He has delivered me from the hand of the enemy. He has delivered me from destruction. In Exodus 17:15, it says, "And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-LORD-Is-My-Banner;" (NKJV) This translates to the title Jehovah-Nissi. God raised a banner for the children of Israel over the Amalekites in the battle they were fighting. He covered them. After that Moses noted the place God did it with an altar there. This was to remind the Israelites that God overcame their enemies for them. He delivered them just like He has often delivered me.       When I ponder my own life, I have to see God as my own personal redeemer. In so many ways, God has shown me. It started when I gave my life to Him. He delivered me from sin. No matter what anyone says, this is where true deliverance begins. Psalm 18:2 says,”The Lord is my rock and my fortre...

     One of the best qualities that exists in God is His patience.  The very first phrase is 1 Corinthians 13:4 is, “Love is patient.” (NIV) When I think about true love, I have to align my expectations with the Only True and wise God- with Jesus. He is the purest form of love. (1 John 4:8b) I think the most transcendent characteristic of the Lord is that He is patient. Not only is He patient, but He suffers long with us.       What is long suffering? From what I understand, it is made up of 2 different words in Greek that are long and temper. That in essence means, God has restraint even when He is upset.  He is not quick to retaliate or punish because of His displeasure. How many of us can say that we are like this? Psalm 103:8 describes it like this, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”(ESV)      When we look at the World around us we see that no one is patient. No one is willin...

As I have been digging a little bit deeper into the full character of God, I see that there is still so much more to unpack. The further I go, the wider the pathway of my perception becomes. It’s just like in Ephesians 3:14-20 when Pauls says that he was praying that the Church of Ephesus would basically be able to comprehend the “breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of God. It’s so extensive and demonstrative. God’s love is unmatched. I will never stop saying that.  One of the most endearing qualities that I have recognized more recently is the gentleness of God. I have always heard that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman. How do we define a gentleman? By definition, he is known to have nobility. He is seen as honorable, courteous, and chivalrous.  So allow me a few moments to look at the definition more clearly. First and foremost, God reigns Supreme. There is only One True and living God. Therein lies the nobility. Psalm 47:8 says, “God reigns over the nations; ...

Acceptance is something we all long for and hope for in some way, shape or form in this World. Every person on this Earth wants someone to look at them with genuine affection and love them completely. There have been times in my life that I felt like I couldn’t be myself entirely in certain situations. I felt like I couldn’t be my most real version of myself. I was unable to be the actual person I was without pretense because of a fear of rejection. I didn’t want to be judged harshly by my peers. It was in these spaces that I tended to measure man’s gauges of who I should be by how God might see me. The weight of feeling less than made me hide from Him. I know that you are thinking, “You can’t hide from God.” (Hebrew 4:13) You would absolutely be telling the truth. He sees all. He knows it all. He is God. At the same time, it is in our natural DNA (from my forefather Adam) to hide when we feel uncomfortable or vulnerable. I am not exempt from knowing these emotions all too well.  T...

     One of the most amazing qualities you will ever see is someone is kindness. They move through the World differently. They want to do whatever it takes to help and lift others without the thought of personal gain. Kindness is a selfless characteristic. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) It is no wonder that it is from God, Himself. I watch those videos some times on Youtube or Instagram where a person will give money to help a random stranger that they asked for help from initially. Usually, the people that were asked to assist need it more than the person who is creating the video. It is amazing though how kindness breaks down walls and barriers otherwise set between the most unlikely of friends.       I noticed how contagious kindness can be. People will start to help someone in a dire situation and those around will get in there to do the same. It becomes good all the way around. When I find myself meditating on this notio...

     No matter what, God shows up. He's loyal, dependable, steadfast and true. There's never a time that God hasn't come through. I will say that there have been times He hasn't come through the way I wanted Him to, but He has been there all the time. In previous blogs I've covered His love, grace, goodness and mercy so now I branch over into His faithfulness. If I'm being honest, all I want to do is break down the height, length, depth, and width of God's love. (Ephesians 3:18-19)      For me, consistency is everything. Despite this being a simple concept of doing what you say you will do, very few people follow through. These days people don’t know how to keep their word. There is no such thing as integrity. I can attest in my life  personally,  that I haven’t found this quality in many places. People will tell you that they will always be there, but when life gets tough or things look better elsewhere, they will abandon you. God isn’t like this...

     I've covered goodness, love and even grace in previous blogs, it's mercy's turn. My first thought when I started this was, "I love how goodness and mercy follows me all the days of my life". Psalm 23:6 says, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.” (NKJV) I didn't realize it, but they've been chasing me since I was born again. Actually they were chasing me before I knew my own name.  Fact of the matter is, I've read that verse so many times before yet never was not able to quantify it properly. Since I couldn't wrap my heart around what my head already knew, I found myself going in circles chasing after them in my own strength. Reality is, all I had to do was turn around and see them right behind me. That's a mind blowing thought. So everyday in every way and everywhere I go I'm blessed because of the goodness and mercy of God; especially the mercy of G...

    Life comes at us hard. As a believer I knew I was a target for Satan. I have known that my entire life. I know that spiritual warfare is real. That feeling of being overtaken has been one of the hardest things to overcome. The truth is that I wondered if I was good enough to receive the goodness of God. What are His expectations of me? If I made a mistake would God’s love, grace, favor or mercy be pulled away? I fully believe that the Church, on a grand level, hasn't done the best job of showing the Father in a light other than foreboding. We tend to only sell fear rather than tenderheartedness. I bought into that idea that God cannot love the unlovable. I believe that He cannot give grace to the broken. I thought He cannot give good things to those who don’t deserve it. The problem with this theology is that in my determination to do everything right and well, I missed the chance to let God give me the best gifts I could have ever imagined.       ...

What is grace? The Oxford dictionary defines it in 3 different ways: 1. simple elegance or refinement of movement. 2. courteous goodwill. 3. do honor or credit to (someone or something) by one's presence.      I think it is safe to say that this definition cannot really explain God’s grace in its entirety. So I went over to Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology and found a better explanation. It says,”The word "grace" in biblical parlance can, like forgiveness, repentance, regeneration, and salvation, mean something as broad as describing the whole of God's activity toward man or as narrow as describing one segment of that activity. An accurate, common definition describes grace as the unmerited favor of God toward man.” This just means we cannot earn it through the things we do. Our works, even the righteous ones, to garner approval are like filthy rags to God. (Isaiah 64:6) I have to admit this made me want to dig even deeper to comprehend the measure ...

"Though Our Feelings Come And Go God's Love Does Not"  quote by C.S. Lewis.      His love is enough. In keeping with my journey on the love of God, I see that His love for me is EVERYTHING. As I dig deeper into who Christ is to me, I am learning that I have to lean in more to the love He gives. Ever been on a rollercoaster and out of fear you tense up? After you go on a few times you realize it wasn’t as bad as you anticipated so you start to lean into the dips, turns, and curves. Letting God have control and trust His love this way is like the roller coaster experience. Life comes fast. There are curves, twists, bends, turns, highs and lows, but leaning in allows me to receive the fullness of God’s love.       There are so many layers to this subject. If I am honest, I have trouble trusting myself to discern who God is using to show me His love. I have a habit of disconnecting myself emotionally so I don’t get hurt. I utilize the idea that I am g...