Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Passion Without Pursuit

What is passion without pursuit?

It is easier to have passion for something without pursuing it. But passion without pursuit is just emotion. Love is what it does! I love a clean house... I love the smell of cleaning products and I love the way things look when everything is in it's proper place. But, love is just an emotion if I don't actually get up and clean. I love a made bed, but if I don't make the bed, that emotion towards it does me no good.

What is loving God if we don't pursue Him? We can talk about God, post about God, quote the words of God or wear the Christian t-shirts, but how do we pursue him? Have you ever been in a one sided friendship or relationship... Like an acquaintance of yours is constantly telling people that she knows you, posting pictures y'all took together, telling everyone y'all are the closest of friends... but, you don't really know her like that so it just feels phony? Or a guy is telling you that he's interested in you, wants to build with you and he's crazy about you... but, he never makes an effort to communicate or spend time with you so it just feels phony?

How often do we do that with God...? OUCH! I know I could spend more time with God and pursue Him more by reading my Bible and praying more! Everybody's process is different... but, don't have passion without pursuit! God gives us both and God deserves both.

God is always with you, acknowledge His presence -- "God, that bird is beautiful, I see your work." - The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. - Ps. 19:1

God is always in you, acknowledge His power -- "God, they're getting on my nerves, but I will not go off on them today." - My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. - 2 Cor. 12:9

Those are just a few ways we can pursue God in our every day lives... thanks for reading!

Let's talk about prayer!

Lord, I hope that the person reading this gets excited about prayer and finds the strength, courage and desire to spend more time in prayer. In Jesus' name, AMEN!

Prayer is so important in the life of every believer. When we pray, we talk to God and God talks to us! Have you heard the saying 'Much prayer = much power and no prayer = no power'? I have and I think it's true. But, I know there are a lot of people who just don't know where to start.

I think of prayer as a conversation. I talk to God in a very conversational way... he's my very best friend and I talk to him like he is! Scripture gives us some information about the model prayer... Here's what Jesus said in Matthew 6:6-13

But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
‘Give us this day our daily bread.
‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’

I love that. That's always a great starting point... And sometimes when I don't know what to say to God, I just say the Lord's Prayer. But sometimes I want to go from there. We can talk to God and pray about His promises for our lives, our love for Him, the things that concern us, His plans for us, or whatever else we want to. Like I said earlier, He's my very best friend so I talk to Him about everything (traffic, money, marriage, work, friends, you name it!)

This week I found an AMAZING resource that I have been excited about telling the world about it. It's a book called Prayers! It is very generic. Not super fancy on the outside, but on the inside it is PACKED with different kinds of prayers. I started looking through it as soon as I got it and I fell in love. A few of the prayers that I have marked right now are 1) Prayer for Acknowledgment, Submission & Position, 2) Prayer for Your Divine Purpose, and 3) Prayer to Bind My Mind to the Will of God.

In this season, I'm praying about a lot and hoping for some things and I love having these prayers here to give me a guide or a starting point. I also love this book because I keep a prayer journal... so, I'm all about writing prayers down. There are several prayers throughout this book.

I know this could be a great help to so many people so I did some research on how I can spread the word about this Prayers book... it was put together by Christian Word Ministries and they aren't making anymore hardcopies of the book. HOWEVER, there are a few ways that you can get access to it:

You can can download a copy HERE.
You can download the Prayer ebook on your Kindle or Nook HERE; or
You can go to the Mobile Prayers website on your phone.

I am already in love. I love devotional style writings and books of prayer and I felt like getting my hands on this was just another push towards where God wants me to be. I HAD to share it with you all.

So here's what I need you to do... SHARE THIS POST!!! I want the whole world to have access to this book. I'm not getting anything for writing this, I just want to share a blessing with you!!!

Thanks for reading! I love you all!!!

Open Letter to My Single Self

Dear Single Self,

I remember thinking that a husband was going to make us happy and solve all of our problems... Don't get me wrong, Mr. Heard treats me like a Queen and brings me so much joy!!! But he can't make me happy. Happiness has always been my responsibility.  Seeking my peace, my joy, my happiness has been a job independent of anyone else! And when I realized that I was the captain of my own fate, my mental health, my future, my state of mind and headed in the direction of healthier decision making, happier disposition and altogether wholeness THAT is when he came back into my life.

I had gotten to the point where being single wasn't all that bad, I just desired companionship.  I had gotten to the point where friendships weren't necessary, I just appreciated community.  I had gotten to the point where I could tell myself no, I just wanted someone worthy of my yes.  THAT is when he came back into my life.

If you cannot say yes to yourself, work on yourself, forgive yourself, be patient with yourself, love yourself and choose yourself it does not matter who else does.  Until you find peace with God and peace with yourself, you'll search for satisfaction and be utterly disappointed when it doesn't come in the form of a long term relationship, promise ring, engagement ring or wedding!  

All that you need is within you.

This is a crazy season of my life. I feel like I'm living my fairy tale. I'm about to marry a handsome man of God that cooks like a master chef, prays like the pope, preaches like the bishop, kisses like a prince, teaches like the professor, and loves me like Christ loves the church.  We both share a love for ministry, family and education.  We are on the same page and headed in the same direction.  We have relocated to Houston, Texas where he is a Senior Chaplain at one of the local hospitals and I am a Teacher in the children's ministry of the largest church in America.  We're living the dream.

But, we didn't arrive to this season without seeking, sacrificing and surrendering..

1)  The Seeking  -- "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." - Matthew 6:33

When you put God first and make Him the priority, everything else works out. Ultimately when we seek other things and other people first, it's because we're trusting in our own plan, our own timing and our own ideas about our future. But when you put God first, trust him, serve him, and obey him, you'll begin to trust his plan, his timing, and his ideas about your future.

I began to just seek God and pursue his plans for my life. And this year has been a record year.  I started seeking God and got ordained, became youth pastor at my home church, reconnected with, dated, got engaged to and will marry my dream man all in one calendar year... Starting with one prayer at a time, "God what do you want me to do? Where do you want me to go? How can I pursue you better?  How can I spend more time with you?"

But when you start seeking God, you have to understand that he's going to be found by you.  And when you seek him and find him, he's going to show you some things about yourself you don't want to see and you'll discover some things about people that you don't want to know... then you have to embrace the sacrificing. 

2) The Sacrificing --  "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." - Hebrews 12:1

When you start seeking God, you realize what things you've been putting before him. When I really started seeking God harder, I realized that I idolized and idealized love and relationships too much. I had been seeking a man more than I was seeking God. I idolized success and material gain too much. I had to cut some people off, cut some subscriptions off, cut some thinking off. I had to walk away from anything that was going to get more glory than God: people, places or things. I had to lay aside every weight and every sin that was going to keep pulling me back and holding me down because I knew that God had something for me. I know that's hard to do. But, it takes one decision at a time. You make one better decision, one choice, one day at a time, one step at a time. Babies learn to walk by crawling. So crawl if you have to in the opposite direction of the thing(s) you know hold you back!!!

3) The Surrendering --  "Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee." - James 4:7I feel like this scripture is so cliche. But it's true.  When you submit to God and surrender to his plan, and resist the devil, he really will flee.  Stop answering that persons calls. Don't let them keep coming into your house messing up your peace.  Stop engaging in the drama.  Stop posting petty stuff online.  If you resist the devil, he really will flee.  Embrace all that God has for you and stop giving the devil room to get in on your relationships, your mindset, your hope, your faith.  

So many times we open up doors for the devil to play us.  Just resist him.  Blocked numbers can't call you!  Submit yourself to God, his plan for your life, his love for you and watch your life change.  

You can be in a totally different place 6 months from now... The goal is healthiness, wholeness, happiness, peace, tranquility... all of those things are intangible, irreplaceable and priceless but you have to be willing to SEEK, SACRIFICE & SURRENDER!!! 

Love,

Soon to be Married Self aka @RevMrsHeard

Comparison Day

Some people call this Valentine’s Day! Some people jokingly call it Single’s Awareness Day! But, if we’re not careful it will become “Comparison Day” where we spend more time wishing for what we see than appreciating what is right before our eyes. It is so easy to get caught up in comparing ourselves with other people… We compare our friends to other peoples’ friends. We compare our car to others’ car. We compare our house. Our relationship. Our marriage. Our job. Our hair. Our clothes. Our ________ (you fill in the blank). You name it and we compare it! (Especially as women!!!) We compare what we see… but we don’t compare the struggle to get what we see. You don’t know what they had to go through (or still have to go through) to get and keep what they have!

Comparison so often leads us to discontentment and discouragement… especially when we look around at what other people have and we make THEIR LIVES THE STANDARD by which we choose to live! But, the truth of the matter is that life is NOT one size fits all…. People in the world can measure what fits their life by looking at each other, but, in the body of Christ, we must fix our eyes on Jesus! Jesus is the standard. Jesus determines what fits our life and what fits our future! When we are pressured to meet other’s expectations, we have to keep in mind that we are governed by a wholeeee nother set of standards. Say to them, “one size fits y’all…” but not ALL!!!

Galatians 1:10 says, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

No more comparison. Happy Valentine’s Day!!! Xoxo.

RLB

"The World is Ever Changing..."

I have fond memories of the song “Order My Steps.” As a youth praise dancer, we used to dance to this song. And I remember that the Mass Choir would sing it often… and Ms. Ojetta would flawlessly hit every note every time. One of my favorite lines of this song came to mind today in my quiet time when I starting meditating on Hebrews 13:8 that says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” My favorite line in that whole song is “The world is ever changing, but YOU are still the same!”

Things are always changing. Attitudes. Gas prices. Emotions. Friendships. Relationships. Dress sizes. Hair styles.

Always changing… and while those changes may not be that serious, sometimes change can be. Change like a diagnosis. A verdict. A foreclosure. A job loss. Or the loss of a loved one… These changes can be easy for some and traumatic for others. But, I stand encouraged and hoping to encourage you that even as things around us change, Jesus Christ is the same and He will not change. One song writer says, “There is no shadow of turning with thee.”

If Jesus doesn’t change, then

1) His love is unfailing – He will never get tired of loving you!
2) His faithfulness is unwavering – there’s nothing that would change God’s commitment to love and pursue His children!
3) His promises are unending – credit decisions expire, store sales will end, but God’s promises never do… if He said it, He’ll do it! There’s no expiration date on God’s promises. J

We can remain confident in God’s love, faithfulness and promises to keep us as we ride the waves of life.

Ricki

Blessed Art Thou Among Women

Today, I was reading Luke 1 and I was encouraged by Mary’s encounter with the Angel. She was in a very peculiar situation but the angel visited her and said, “Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:28).

I know it’s not Christmas season, but I think we can all be encouraged by this passage 365 days of the year... God thought enough of Mary to send an angel to her with a message. Despite the persecution she would face for being unwed and pregnant, despite what people would say about how God was using her, despite how she may have felt about it, three things were certain for her and are certain for us today:

1. You are highly favored.

2. The Lord IS with you.

3. You are blessed among women.

Sometimes God’s blessings look funny to other people. Sometimes God wants to use us to do things that we’d rather NOT do… But, there’s no place we’d really rather be than in His will for our lives.

I challenge you today to let Him bless you today. And don’t worry about what anybody has to say about it.

Forever yours in Christ,

Minister Ricki

December’s Don’t-Do List

As we move into the holiday season AND transition into 2018, here are some things that you MUST NOT DO!!! Please govern yourselves accordingly...

1) Don’t compare your life to others... This is the wonderful time of year where we find friends are getting booed up, engaged, making pregnancy announcements, going on exciting adventures, and buying or getting fancy gifts for the Holidays. Meanwhile, we’re still trying to figure out what’s the next step, who is the boo, whether or not this is the one, or why there is none… THAT’S FINE! Don’t compare your life to others’ this holiday season. What God has for you is yours so celebrate them while it’s their turn… because your time is coming in due season! And comparison breeds contempt.

2) Don’t be discouraged about what didn’t happen in 2017… It is okay to be disappointed. We make plans and set goals for the purpose of reaching them. But, for whatever reason that doesn’t always happen. And it is easy for that disappointment from a situation to turn into discouragement about where you are in life. But be encouraged, all things work together for the good of them that love Him and are the called according to His purpose. It will all work out... even if it didn't work out how you planned.

3) Don’t be angry about what did happen in 2017… We’ve all been there. And a lot of us are STILL there. While there are some things that we wanted to happen that didn’t, there are also things that did happen that we didn’t plan or want to! But, we’re going to leave that anger, that hurt, that bitterness, that guilt, that frustration... allll that right in 2017 where it belongs. That break up, that unwise purchase, that opportunity you passed up, that loss, that mistake, that accident, that bad decision. Yep, we're leaving it. Do not allow anger to become weight you care into the new year.

4) Don’t dig yourself into debt trying to keep up with the Jones’s… Jesus Christ, (the savior of the world), and His birth is the reason for the Christmas season. While it is nice to spend time with family and loved ones, our society has made it so that much of this season is commercialism. Don’t spend money you don’t have on people who are not even being celebrated on December 25^th. I’m not saying don’t buy any gifts. I’m not saying you shouldn’t receive gifts. But, don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself and go into debt trying to impress anybody—family included.

5) Don’t take unapproved baggage into 2018… if you have ever been on a plane, you know for a fact that while you can take luggage to your destination, there are weight restrictions that apply! You can usually check one bag in, but it can’t be over a certain weight AND extra check bags will probably cost you. You can usually take one carryon bag and one personal item on the flight and those, too, have size and weight restrictions. Imagine a flight where passengers were given was no limit to what they could bring… that plane would probably to weighed down and not able to leave the tarmac. If you remember nothing else, remember this: just because you think you need it, if God has said leave it, LEAVE IT‼! The restrictions are for your protection. The more baggage you take into this next season, the more you will be weighed down, slowing down your take off—DELAYING your destiny! And honey, ain’t nobody got time to be delayed from reaching their purpose‼! Especially not due to overloaded baggage.

Happy December!

PS: It's been a while since I've posted. Bear with me. I still love ya!