Amazing How He Loves Me

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,p neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39

God has me going through very painful processes simultaneously...divulging the secrets that came about as a result of being molested, preparing me for one of my lifelong dreams and building me back up all in the same swoop.  The secrets hurt because they remind me so much of being molested but more of the mistakes I made along the way...the poor choices I made...the people I allowed in my life and actually attempted to love because my mind was not right.  How distorted my vision was...what I saw and how I saw.  The lies I believed --  admitting them is hard.  But the restoration process is hard to because in acknowledging the lies, I must accept what God reveals as my new truth.  I must embrace it as my new reality, the new lens that I should see life through.  What's even more amazing about all of this is that every book I have read and am reading all reinforces these ideals.  As I sat here...I was overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed that someone could love me that much...so much to fix me...to heal me once and for all...to move me leaps and bounds in such a short amount of time to prepare me for those things that lie ahead.  I shouldn't be surprised because I prayed for all of this, but it is still overwhelming nonetheless.

I must admit the devil still tries to attack me because why not! hehe.  Why not force me back into the shroud of secrecy and shame and back into poor decision making, back into meaningless relationships...back to living beneath God's plan and purposes for my life.  Why not?  He has tried to get me to regress back into worrying when God has pulled proverbial rabbits out of His bosom to ensure I had everything I needed and more. The enemy tried to overwhelm me with thinking about meaningless things like the opinions of others at my choosing to share my story.  Being free and staying free is so valuable to me.  I have decided I want to be like Harriet Tubman and free others from their mental prisons, be it a result of molestation or self-deception.  As a truth seeker, light shiner, and wisdom imparter, I cannot stand by and do nothing...and again, all this makes me see how great God is and how much He loves me.  I still used to cry incessantly about being molested just two and a half years ago.  I used to cry about my relationship failures, wondering why I made the choices I did, questioning how I ended up being involved with people I normally wouldn't have...but God freed me.  And again, now, He's finishing it, gutting me out and at the same time filling in the holes with His truth.  This love God has for me...its very hard to accept because its causing me to feel pain and be comforted at the same time.  All I can say to describe this is amazing.  He is causing the wounded parts to die.  He is clearing away the gangrene and the necrosis.  Where the dead tissue was, He has now put a new heart, new cells...I'm laughing because I've been saying this daily.

What's so crazy (crazy is the only word I can use to describe it) is that I made affirmations with scriptures to bring this about!!!  God knew what I needed and He knew when I could handle it.  Isn't that amazing??? God only allows you to go through what you can handle at that moment.  I could not handle this last year.  I could not handle this at any point prior to now.  Because He loves me, He made sure the timing was right...that I had grown enough to be able to handle it.  Again, I'm overwhelmed.  I'm sorry if this reads strange...but I don't know what else to say...but thank you God.  Thank you for loving me.  Thank you for making sure that I was ready.  Thank you God for positioning me to go through this now.  Thank you for what's ahead.  Thank you for what is dead.  Thank you for newness.  Thank you for loving me.

21 Days To Freedom: Day 2

One of the neglected effects of being a survivor of molestation and sexual abuse is the mental, emotional, and physical disconnect with your body.  You develop low self esteem and resort to reacting to demonstrate a false perception of confidence.  

I personally was very critical and have moments when I still shame myself.  But not anymore.  Today, I decided enough is enough and told myself I love my body.  And as God would have it, I found a book for affirming love towards my body.  Sharing these secrets, as hard as it may be for me, is already working...

https://youtu.be/7LMl8XGXFc4

21 Days To Freedom: Day 1

Almost three years ago, God told me to share my story.  Since that time, He has performed intensive, delicate surgery to get me to a place to even be able to talk about it without crying and sharing it with complete strangers...talk about liberation!  When I first recorded a video about being molested, I cried the entire way through it.

Last night, after watching a poem given by a formerly homosexual man who was delivered from homosexuality, it helped me see how critical it is to our faith truly surrender everything to God, then to share our testimony and shine the light on the secrets and the darkness in our lives.  Keeping secrets to yourself and not at least sharing them with God  We must believe in the redemptive power of God, the delivering power of God, and the saving power of God.  Far too many of us put God in a box (me included) and do not give God the freedom to save us from ourselves.  We think that we are beyond saving and delivering so we continue to keep our junk hushed away when we would set free if we only turned it over to God.

I realized last night that most of us do not think God can really deliver us, and as a result, live our lives bound and in bondage to our flesh and minds.  We live impaired lives because we never reach our full potentials.  But if we truly sought God for deliverance and for healing, He could give it to us.  Its that lingering doubt that we entertain and that we in turn allow to keep us crippled.  I have begun to walk and I don't want to be crippled anymore.  I hope you don't either.  Let's trust God for your deliverance and healing...for your liberation.  These videos aren't just about being molested, but anything you've kept a secret...be it a pornography addiction, alcohol and drug addiction, sex addiction, promiscuity...anything that you've allowed to lurk in the darkness.  Let's shine the Light of God.

Over the next 21 days, I will tell a secret.   Here is today's secret:

https://youtu.be/c4QaxCoDZog

Let's get free together!  Email me at lifeinspiredbygod@gmail.com so that I can pray in agreement with you.

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it

Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it

Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

http://lifeinspiredbygod.com

30 Before 30: Take Hold of It!

For the Scriptures tell us, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith."  Romans 4:3

So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham's. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. 17That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, "I have made you the father of many nations."d This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

18Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, "That's how many descendants you will have!"e 19And Abraham's faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah's womb.

20Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. 22And because of Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous. 23And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn't just for Abraham's benefit. It was recorded 24for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Romans 4:16-24

By faith Abraham believed God's word to be true and became known as the father of all nations.  This was when his then 65 year old wife was barren and he was 75 years old.  He held fast to God's instructions to leave home and that his offspring would be as numerous as the sand and the stars. Even with time and age being against him, somehow he believed and is considered a friend of God.  He lived to see the promise manifest in the birth of his son, but he did not see his offspring.

Sometimes, life wants us to give up and with how things can get at times, giving up is very easy to do.  Losing sight of your dreams is the rational thing to do.  Yet, our requirement is to stand in faith.  Our responsibility is to trust God.  We are to look to Abraham as an example.  He took hold of God's word to him and you should do the same.  

So today, take hold of God's word, and stand in faith!  You will have what God promised you!!

30 Before 30: Share Your Testimony!

They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives in the face of death.   Revelation 12:11

Okay I want you to get this: don't be afraid to share your testimony.  Don't be afraid to reveal what God has delivered you from.  Don't be afraid to follow that nudging in your heart to share a word.  Why? This verse here says that our testimony aids in defeating the enemy!  If you keep your mouth closed, you can't comfort others who may need to know what you are saying to apply it to their own situation. If you don't speak up, you could be withholding the very word that saves someone.  If you don't speak up, you could be keeping yourself in prison!  Speaking up and against the enemy by testifying about the goodness of God and how He kept you frees you!  Today and going forward, if you feel that prompting in your spirit to share your testimony, do it!! The life you save could be your own!!

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.  1 John 2:13

30 Before 30: Watch and Pray - Pay Attention to the Signs

If you got a new car, you would then begin to notice more cars like yours on the road.  In my prayer challenge Draw the Circle, one of the devotions elaborates on how this process actually works.  For the sake of not butchering it, you can google RAS, reticular activating system.  

So once we begin to tap into God and focus on seeking His will, if we are vigilant, we will see things that once seemed like a coincidence happening on a regular basis.  I no longer believe in coincidences.  There are no coincidences.  There are happenings that align with your prayers and if you are paying attention, you will see them.  Sometimes, you can't put them together until after its said and done, but God answers and God sends alerts along the way.  That person that randomly mentioned the company you're considering applying to with no knowledge of your application...a sign.  That billboard on the highway that randomly has a picture of what you just prayed for...a sign.  All those cars with license plates that refer to a place where you got alone with God...a sign.  As you pray and seek God, ask Him to remove the blinders from your eyes so that you can actually see the lights He's put along your path to guide you.  As you pray and believe, He will put them there for you to keep you moving forward.

30 Before 30: Focus and Concentrate

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Philippians 4:8

I was watching a cartoon with my niece Sunday morning, definitely cannot remember the name of the show haha.  Of course God finds the most unorthodox ways to speak to me! LOL.  But sure enough, there in the cartoon was a great lesson.  Two of the characters were so busy focused on separate things, one focused on how the other person would approach a problem, the other on getting strawberries, that they were not successful.  The one focused on how badly he wanted strawberries was not present in the moment of playing with his friend and missed out on having fun. The other was focused on how the rabbit would have tackled the problem of getting the strawberries to the point that he got scratched in the thicket and took some bumps; he wanted to surprise the rabbit with strawberries because of how much he liked them.  And of course it rang out loud and clear to me, whatever has your focus affects your concentration. Eventually, they both readjusted their focus and ultimately achieved their goals!

I have spent so much time focused on the wrong things in the past.  God eventually showed me how much of a distraction they were to my doing His will.  So rather than have a "woe is me" mentality about it, I recognized that I could correct that issue going forward by adjusting my focus.  As I began to pray for a divine focus, God turned things around for me.  Of course I still have moments when the mind monkeys take over, but God is faithful because I became much more focused in looking to Him first.  This lesson touches so many things: 1) being so focused and consumed with getting a thing/person/place that we lose sight of God (inadvertently making that thing an idol), 2) being so focused on the problem that we make ourselves unavailable to seek out and receive the solution, and 3) trying to do things distracted and making detrimental mistakes.  If we would merely live by Matthew 6:33 and seek God and His kingdom first, we could rest in 1 John 5:14-15 -- knowing that since we are in His will, He will give us those things we seek because His will has become our will.  If we lived by Matthew 6:33 and focused on God, we could enter His rest and have peace that as we are led by Him we will get everywhere we need to go when we need to be there.  But this isn't a passive process, we have to renew our minds daily to focus and concentrate on God.

So today, if you have to do it over and over, confess the scripture above and believe that as you look to God and focus on things above, you will breakthrough!

30 Before 30: Snatch Off the BandAid!

I felt led to do this video about two months ago.  God finally released me to record it last night...I hope my testimony blesses you!

Marquita

https://youtu.be/mkfjWscDCPE

30 Before 30: God Worked It Out Better Than You Imagined

After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

12The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

Job 42:10-15

These six verses are a beautiful reminder that God is still working it out for you.  Literally every one of these I've written lately has been tied to a song, and today is no different.  Vashawn Mitchell's Turning It Around For Me is perfect and I heard it in my spirit as I began to write.  God turned around the evil that had befallen Job and increased him to be able to have greater than he had previously had: double all his material wealth, more sons and daughters, and the validation by God.  The song says, "sooner or later, it'll turn in my favor..." and like Job, I am a testament to that. 

After living in pain, living in doubt, fear, and insecurity for so long, God turned things around for me.  And I'm sure you have situations in your life that you can look back on and see the same.  So, sit here, and think about the situations that God has turned around: that bad relationship, the broken home you came from, the debt you used to be in, how you used to feel about yourself, that job you lost so you could a better one...even if you have to think smaller, you're alive, you woke up this morning, you can see, you can here you can smell when there are others who cannot and when the doctors said you wouldn't, you're successful when your teachers told you that you wouldn't amount to anything...God has turned something around for you. Think about it and I'm sure you can find something.  Then take that situation and use it as your basis of faith.  Trust that just as God worked it out for you before, He will work it out for you in this situation better than you could have imagined.

Start by thanking God for who He is and I am sure He will remind you of what He has done for you.  Usually all we need is a perspective adjustment, a correction of our vision, to see the truth and the goodness of God.

30 Before 30: Over it!

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.  Genesis 50:20

I often wonder how I would act if I had gone through the exact circumstances Joseph faced.  Actually I have, to an extent, faced betrayal by family and friends, abandonment, harassment, discouragement, and I have even inflicted suffering on myself with poor choices, but I can finally say I'm over it all now.  

This will be brief, but my goal is to encourage you to walk out your healing and get over it.  I'm reminded of Marvin Winans song, "I'm Over It Now."  I know this process to be true...one day as I was praying to walk in forgiveness, I finally realized the pain that used to be a prevalent reminder was gone.  I was not angry or hurting or upset about life or about the wrongs I had experienced.  I was free.  I was free to live, to walk in love, and to just be. Then I realized that those things I was holding on to had been allowed by God for some purpose that I didn't previously understand.  Now, on the other side, I recognize the mistakes I made and the things that happened to me were all to be a blessing to others.  It was to encourage them, uplift them and to guide them along their way with a word of advice, something I did not have.

I thank God that I'm over it now, and like Joseph I see the blessing in those things and I know that God will work it out to be a blessing to others in your case too.

30 Before 30: I Wanna Say Thank You

And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 5:20

I know sometimes in life we all experience difficulty.  In the midst of those situations, the absolute last thing on your mind is thanking God.  So I encourage you today, to start approaching life from a place of gratitude and see your perspective change right before your eyes.

I began doing my gratitude/thankfulness jar back in January, as a challenge to myself.  God used my daily writing down things that I am grateful for to change who I am.  At one point, I had a victim mentality and felt like bad things were always happening to me.  I struggled to see the good in life.  I struggled to see how blessed I was because the lenses I saw life through were distorted.  And that is often the case for us all.  If we have experienced something bad, we see life through the hurt.  This is why it is critical for us to renew our minds.  It is essential for us pull and pluck the lies that have become overgrowth in our mind.  Those lies have tainted how we see the future and have become barriers to our living in the now with a positive outlook. In situations like this, it is critical to overcome the lies by resetting our minds.  Telling God thank you and counting our blessings is a great way to start.

Today, I encourage you to write down things you are thankful for, from the most minute to the big things.  Allow God to reshape and mold your mind and to tear down those strongholds and negative mindsets that are keeping you from His greatness.  

We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.  We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.  2 Corinthians 10:4-5

30 Before 30: Keep Moving Forward

But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.  Genesis 19:26

How many times have you looked back and said "I don't want to let go?"  Maybe never verbally said those words, but your actions speak loudly enough for you.  Your choosing to stay in a relationship God did not intend for you to be in, your being too afraid to apply for that job, your being too skeptical and not trying alternate treatments or getting a second opinion...these are often ways we say I don't want to let go and move forward.

But today I encourage you to look at Lot's wife.  Her refusing to let go cost a deadly price.  Don't let the past keep you stagnant and paralyzed there to the point that you cannot see the blessings that are in front of you.  The devil intended those things that happened to you for evil against you, to break you and to defeat you.  But you are more than a conqueror!  You have already received the victory in Jesus. You are a victor and in letting go and moving forward, you open your hands and heart for the blessing of the Lord to fall upon you.

~Marquita

30 Before 30: Pray and Trust God In You

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: 7We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it."
8His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
10When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" 11His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.  Genesis 37:5-11

If your voice is tuned to God's voice, many times along your journey, you will receive divine insights, inspired thoughts, visions, and dreams from God to direct you along the way. Sometimes they may seem far-fetched, strange and even hurtful but you must believe.  Even when others come to discourage you or to question your plans, you must keep believing that what God showed you will come to pass.

Here's the ever important why: if you only trust God as you see Him in others, you will ignore the voice in you and miss out on the opportunities that are promised for you along the way.  Yes God can get the message to you through others, but it is God's will to connect with each of us individually and have personal relationships with us. On the flip side, if you don't trust God and what He has shown or spoken to you, you abort the promises on your life.

I extend this to apply to an instruction or direction or revelation that God gives you.  Some people may have good intentions with their advice, and they may even pray, but only you are in the midst of that situation and only you can discern what God is having you do.  Get in the Bible for yourself, get in your prayer closet to get a word and peace for yourself, and then get wise counsel.  

With Joseph, had he listened to his brothers and even his father, he would have aborted his promotion.  If he would have turned his back on God after those that were supposed to loved him sold him into slavery, he would have aborted his purpose and everything he went through would have been in vain.

So today, pray and trust God in you to see you through it all!

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.  Genesis 50:20

Keep Your Peace!

I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid. John 14:27 NLT

Peace is an often neglected and ill-cherished gift from God.  Peace will keep you smiling when fires surround you and it will keep you calm, cool, and collected when you should be screaming.  Peace helps you to think rationally when you should be raising hell and it will protect you in the midst of frustration.  Peace is something so precious that we often don't give it it's due regard.  Once you have felt peace, you never want to let it go, but sadly, too often we have let our peace be stolen.

The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).  One of the things he loves to steal is our peace!  Why?  A worried, over-analyzing, incessant thinking you is one he can attack.  A questioning, doubting, anxious, insecure you is one he can manipulate.  A fearful, frightened and hopeless you is one he can destroy.  A confused, cloudy, dazed you is one whose dreams he can kill and ultimately if you give up, one whose future he can abort.

You have the responsibility to keep your peace.  I assure you it's not always a cakewalk; it is definitely a fight at times.  It requires you to keep throwing the word of God back at that situation.  It requires you to rise up and walk in your authority.  It commands that you protect it at all costs, meaning destroying the fiery darts, arrows and missiles the enemy threw at you.  It mandates that you get in the presence of God and listen for that still, small voice to get a word for yourself.  It insists that you profess the truth over your mind and life and even sometimes dictates that you get by yourself in the midst of your storm and fall on your face in submission and surrender to God's plan.

Keeping your peace is essential to keeping the faith during the battle.  Because we know we have already overcome in Christ, it is easy to keep your peace -- IF you trust God, that is.  Be aware, be vigilant and remain alert because it's your responsibility to remember that God's peace is with you always and it is your inheritance!

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."  John 16:33

30 Before 30: Don't Miss the Moment

I know I owe y'all like FIVE of these, haha, but I had high hopes and great intentions. If I don't send it out, know it will be on my blog. I know from personal experience (obviously in this case), life gets busy and sometimes very hectic.  We get caught up in our own things and the hustle and bustle of our own lives and before we know it, we have missed out on things. Often times than not, missing out on things is more deep than that.  We miss out when we allow our fear to keep us from taking that necessary step.  By choosing to walk in fear instead of faith, we miss the moment that could change the trajectory of our lives exponentially.

Still yet, because of being so busy and so internally focused, you miss out on a moment to be someone's shoulder to cry on.  Or you miss the turn on your way to your destination because you were distracted.  The key to being aware of these moments is walking in discernment and having your ear spiritually tuned to God's frequency.  God has made sure to have me in the right place at the right time on many occasions and I am grateful that He has used me to minister an in-time and on-time word to others.  I was only able to get to this place by eliminating distractions, both internal and external, so that I could hear God's voice more clearly.

Missing the moment is bigger than what I shared here.  Missing the moment can result in monumental losses; who better to illustrate this than the children of Israel.  12 spies were sent into Canaan and only 2 gave a positive witness.  The other 10 spies gave their account tainted with fear, which cost them their lives and the lives of the generation that believed them and grumbled against God.  Because of the fear of the other 10 spies, the children of Israel were severely punished (see Numbers 14).

Missing the moment can have detrimental impacts on you and those around you. If God is leading you to do something, you can be sure that it will bless that person; I experienced that recently and was greatly humbled by God's trusting me in that situation.  Also, missing the moment could cause you your life, your future, and the lives of those coming after you; so when God says go, you better get to moving!  The key to this is using discernment at all times.

So today, listen for God's still small voice and be sure to capture the moment, because it may never return!

Stay on Guard: The Attacks Based in Weariness

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray."  He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. "Abba,fFather," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Couldn't you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Mark 14:32-38 (emphasis added)

I have to say it again if I haven't said it enough.  I love God.  Here He is again sending me the word I taught on Wednesday.  I've been teaching on Reset and Wednesday I focused on praying without ceasing. This weekend I needed that reminder. 

We all have low points in our faith walk. Most times these crises in faith originate from an external stimulus that impacts a personal desire. Whether it's the death of a loved one, loss of a job, waiting what feels like an eternity for an answered prayer, or a health issue, these situations cause us to get weary of waiting and in turn make us vulnerable to attack. When these things happen, we begin to ask God why.  I personally don't believe there is anything wrong with asking God why, but I think it's in our choosing to stay there in anger/hurt/frustration while waiting for an answer instead of trusting in faith that He will answer and seeking to remain in His peace that opens the door for further attack.

I chose this passage above because in their weariness, the disciples did not pray and thus fell victim to various attacks, most notably Peter. In weariness we doubt God, we deny God and we disown God.  We question His loyalty to us, we question His word and we choose to side with the enemy. We don't recognize it as an attack because we are blinded by our the weight of our emotions and feelings. So we travel down that path until God intervenes or we turn away from God altogether.

I say stay on guard and that means to step beyond your mind and pay attention to your thoughts. It's easy to go with the flow of your thoughts, but if you want the victory, you have to rise above your thoughts and choose God's truth. Hold on to what He promised you, even if you have to choose to keep reminding God of His promise to you for your own sake. This is why having scripture that corresponds to your requests is critical. You can fight the enemy back in this attack and reclaim your peace. So today, stay on guard and remain alert!  Keeping the word in your heart and mind will help you, but ultimately trusting in God will cause you to win every time.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! (‭Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭3‬ NLT)

30 Before 30: Lean On Me

God has really been using songs and movie titles to minister to me lately. I'm at my cousin's house and we were listening to praise and worship music. Lean On Me by Kirk Franklin came on and it directly spoke to my spirit for the assignment we have as members of the body of Christ. We have the assignment to comfort others, to offer a shoulder to those suffering and in pain. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 2 Corinthians 1:4 This scripture has encouraged me in my own struggles and now on the other side, I can be there for others. I can provide a shoulder, a word of encouragement and exhortation, and just be there to pour out God's healing oil for them to be healed. I have seen and read it so much that I know it to be true; when God wants to bless us, He sends people. Why not recognize when He is sending you to be a blessing to someone else? You have the responsibility to both help and allow God to help you in your time of need. Today, I encourage you to be the shoulder for someone to lean on. Allow God's love to shine through you and allow your light to cast out the darkness the enemy has tried to send on them. God did it for you so be willing to be used to do it for someone else!

30 Before 30: I Need You and You Need Me, There's No "I" in We

Thursday 06/04:

I've definitely had points of walking alone.  But God reminded me last night while I was praying  that He hears my prayers and recognizes my need for like-minded people.  As I talked to one of the people He has called me to pray for right now, I was reminded of how people can share similar experiences and its in talking about them to that person that you thank God for getting you through and past it.  I saw how good God is and how He sends who you need when you need them.

This one will be brief, but I just want you to know you need other people.  God created us for relationship and we are all part of the same body.  Its a blessing to have relationships with others who have a like mind, who can mutually encourage and uplift you.  I'm grateful for that answered prayer --  that God would send me spiritual friends with kindred spirits and like minds.  Trust God to fulfill all your needs, and when He sends people in your life, recognize that He is meeting a need you may have through that person, whether the relationship is seasonal or for a lifetime.  Discern the need and reap the harvest of the blessing God has sent.

Marquita

30 Before 30: Seeing it From A Panoramic View

Yesterday was a year since I began working for my current company.  Last night as I began to pray with my sister/prayer partner, it hit me, wow it's been a year!  And I was filled with praise and worship for God.  It was a reason for celebration!  So I just began to list the reasons why I needed to celebrate.  And as I'm writing this it reminds me of Joseph's own plight.  My old job was not all the way hell, but it had a lot of people who claimed to be men and women of God who in turn tried to do everything to stop God's light within me from shining.  From harassment, racism, sexism, and a jealous spirit, I went through possibly everything a person could go through at work and survived all by God's grace.  I specifically thanked Him for these areas of breakthrough:

1. God moved me from a place of persecution and being overlooked to a place where I could grow comfortably and safely.  
2. God elevated me in ways and taught me to be a woman of integrity at all times
3. God put me around people who are invested in my growth and success.
4. God accelerated the times so to speak; things that would have taken me probably 20 years at my old job only took 9 months.
5. In being here, at this particular company, in this particular building, God gave me inspiration and clarity about my own future plans.
6. I finally got the promotion that I had been waiting for, and it was better than I could have ever imagined.
7. God gave me peace in my work environment and most of all, confidence in myself and the gifts He has given me.

I titled today's 30 Before 30 "Seeing it from a Panoramic View" because like Joseph, I recognize that by my testimony, others who are in the midst of difficult work environments can press in faith.  If I would have seen the middle I would have ran away and buckled in fear.  Fortunately, the cliche stands true, God did not put more on me than I could bear and because of His grace and mercy on me, and His equipping me with everything I needed, I got to the other side and I am able to look back.

I'm reminded of a story my home church pastor told once during a sermon.  He spoke of a father and a daughter who were driving together.  Suddenly a storm came up, to the point that it was raining so hard, the daughter, who was driving, could barely see ahead of her.  She saw cars pulling over to the side of the road and she asked her father, "daddy, should I pull over?"  To her he replied, "keep moving forward.  Keep driving."  She kept driving, but she saw more and more cars pulling over.  Again she asked, "should I pull over?"  Her daddy said, "no, keep moving forward."  The rain really began to come down on her and she was going up a hill.  Again she asked, "should I pull over?"  Her daddy responded, "keep moving forward. Just trust me."  Finally, she saw the clouds break ahead and before she knew it she was out of the storm.  Her daddy then said, "now pull over."  The daughter pulls over.  She asked him, "why are we stopping now?"   The father tells her, "Let's get out of the car."  So they do, and he says, "now look at what you have come through.  All those cars are still in the storm because they gave up in the midst to wait it out, but because you kept moving forward, you are on the other side, to safety."

To you I say, keep moving forward!  You will soon be able to see the full plan, if you trust God to unveil it to you.

~Marquita

30 Before 30: Never Be Bound Again

There is a song on Embracing the Next Dimension by Bishop Paul S. Morton and Full Gospel Fellowship entitled "Never Be Bound Again"... if you know me, you know I love music I can connect with.  I love this song with everything within me.  Here are the lyrics.  I want you to read them aloud as many times as you need to get free:

I will never be,

bound again.

I've got my liberty,

I'm finally free

...

Chains are gone, got a new song,

I'm finally free

This was on my heart today to share because so many are bound in many different ways.  Victim mentality; demonic attack, oppression and possession; generational curses; negative mindsets; bitterness and unforgiveness...name it, they have it and suffer from the bondage caused by these things.  I want to remind you today that the bible tells us, 

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

2 Corinthians 3:17 KJV

This verse plainly states that wherever God is, there is freedom.  God's spirit abides within all of us if we believe.  We are told that our bodies are the temples of God and that the kingdom of God is within us.  So why continue to listen to the lies of the devil telling you that you are not free and will never be free?  Why continue to listen to the lies from those around you that you will never succeed and that you will always be a failure?  Why listen to the lies that say you will always be a victim and that everyone is out to get you?  You do not have to stay where you are.  You can rise above where you are if you would only believe and walk in the freedom God gave you.  As a person delivered from a victim mentality, I know that prison.  I know that pain.  I know always seeking freedom and feeling hopeless.  But I can testify that God delivered me; God changed how I saw myself and by confessing scripture to overcome the lies the devil had planted in my mind, I emerged from that mental prison and am now living the best days of my life.  You can live your best days too if you will choose to believe God and not the lies of the enemy.  Attack those lies now by finding scripture that affirms the truth of God's word.  Jesus came to set the captives (US!) free, to heal the brokenhearted(US!!), and to free the prisoners(US!!!) from darkness (Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18).  If you believe in Jesus, then walk in the freedom He gave you!!!  Be free!  BE free.  BE FREE!

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  Galatians 5:1

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.  Galatians 5:13

30 Before 30: Loving You So You Can Love Them

This weekend I did something I never did before.  I had a professional photo shoot all by myself.  And I loved every minute of it.  I had to embrace myself and allow the camera to take what it saw.  

I used to be so critical of myself because of my scars and this stubborn pudge I've been fighting to get rid of (short of lipo).  The stretch marks bother me more than the surgery scar, but now I recognize they are my war wounds: I survived and won the battle against my spirit that the devil waged when he attacked my body.  In college when I got sick, I was on really high doses of steroids and I literally felt my skin ripping to accommodate the weight gain.  For a long time I was depressed, crying incessantly every night because I did not recognize who I saw in the mirror.  I felt like a stranger in my body.  I tell this story sometimes and every time I am reminded of how much God loves us.  I was in KMart in Atlanta looking for a table I think for my apartment.  I was on an aisle and this little baby walked by and stopped and told his momma how pretty I was.  I broke down and cried right there because I could not see what he saw.  My insecurities were deeper than just that moment but that was the turning point  and I prayed that God would teach me to love me in spite.  I decided I would love me and learn to accept me and the hand I was dealt.

As I continued my journey to self-love, it included my dealing with codependency and putting it to death once and for all.  It included me relinquishing control and becoming the Serenity prayer.  It included me letting go of these grandiose plans I had for how life should be.  It included me confronting the past and crying, being angry and getting the evil it created within my heart out of me.  It culminated Saturday with my shoot where I had to look at what the camera saw, not the staged posed I create on my camera, but the real me.  And while I won't share those pictures with anyone because it was a gift to myself as a reminder of the beauty that is this body I live in, it freed me.  

I have been stressing to people to love themselves so they can adequately love others.  Loving you means fighting for your healing.  Loving you means wanting to know and embody of who God created you to be.  Loving you means accepting your past happened and allowing it to stay there but for the occasional reflection and to celebrate from whence you've come.  Loving you means seeking God with all of you.  Try loving you today so you can love them!