~ Your Salvation ~

If you never accepted Jesus into your life as your personal Savior and you wish to have a relationship with him? You can ask him into your heart by praying a simple prayer similar to this:

“Jesus, I believe you died on the cross for my sins. I believe you rose 3 days later overcoming all evil. Please come into my life. I cannot do this life alone and I no longer want to. I am tired of living this life my way. Lord, please forgive me of my sins and wash me clean. I want to get to know you and live a different life with you by my side. Thank you for hearing my prayer and I believe our relationship starts now”.  Amen

STOP AND REMEMBER YOUR LIFE WILL NOT CHANGE INSTANTLY BECAUSE YOU SAID THIS PRAYER.

You spent a tremendous amount of time in life living how you wanted to live. Now, you must work with the Lord to undue your thinking, forgive yourself and change your perspective in your life and this friend, takes time. But if you have a desire to change and put in the work, you can be on your way to a victorious life. 

I have included a declaration prayer for you so that you can write it down and maybe carry it with you when life gets challenging. I did not have many resources available to me when I decided to live a different life in Christ and when adversity came about. I want you to have this prayer. Together we can seek the Lord. I suggest finding a local body church in your area and purposely start to surround yourself with like minds. You are no longer your past and you must choose to live life differently. This is the best day of your new life. Whoooooooo. :)

Remember, you have power and courage to change the way you think. You just have to remember you cannot do this alone. Jesus is the only one that can save you (Acts 4:12)

Declaration Prayer

I will not stop, give up, waver, or move until I see deliverance in this circumstance. I trust God at his word and I know that he is working it all out together for my good. God moves on his timing, not mine. While I wait I will do my best to enjoy my life. I will search for positive moments, serve others, and pray. I can join a local body church and speak to a pastor, join a support group, read the word of God and do positive things to occupy my mind with all things that are honorable, pure and good. I have positive options.

If I feel panic or fear about any situation I will pause, pray and be still in the Lord’s presence. I will try to seek wise spiritual counsel.  I will worship in music. But I will not give in to the enemy’s tactics as he tries to play with my emotions. I know that he is trying to hurt me and move me away from my Father. I declare that all strongholds that are not of the Lord will flee, move, banish for good in the name of Jesus.

I am blessed. I am of good cheer. I have authority. Peace is in me. I am favored of the Lord and this too shall pass. God is pushing back the darkness and I am no longer in bondage as Christ is my Savior. Christ died so I can have peace. Therefore, I will be still in God’s presence and give God a chance to move. I believe. 

God you’re good. Lord you’re gracious. You’re wonderful. You are my provider, my protector, my peace maker in this storm.  I surrender my thoughts, words and this situation to you.

Amen

In Christ,
Monique Smith

 

~ Will You RISE Above It? ~

Most stress comes because we have taken our eyes off of the Lord and we have given most of our attention to the circumstance in front of us. We forget that we do not have to go about any situation alone. Often times when we can step back and re-evaluate what is in front of us we can see that we have some options to go about the stress a different way. We just choose to do what is comfortable for us to do because we don’t want to suffer.

Life won’t really ever make any sense until you make a decision to approach it differently than you normally would. Ask yourself what is most important your way or a brand new approach to it?

No more stress, doubt, confusion, panic, anger, or bitterness…..Rise above this and let it go. God will work in out.

Questions to ask yourself in Panic?

·         Did you pray first? Have you asked God what he thought or for direction?

·         Did you search the word of God on this topic or something close to it? If so, write down your observation in your journal and pray for clarity.

·         Could you possibly be over reacting? 

·         Putting your emotions aside, what is really the issue?

·         Did you listen carefully? Are there more facts to consider?

·         Have you considered leaving the whole situation alone that is stressing you out? I am saying to not make a decision or react on anything. Have you sought a peaceful environment and gave it to the Lord?

10 Tips on How to Relax:

1.       Go for a walk around your block– talk to Jesus

2.       Pray, pause and breathe in and out (do this for 10 minutes in a quiet place)

3.       Draw, paint or write. Get creative. You can take up a new hobby… J

4.       Read the funnies in the newspaper - LAUGH

5.       Read a favorite book or watch a new TV series

6.       Get a mani/pedi

7.       Dance. Go to Zumba or turn up your favorite song and move

8.       Exercise for 20 minutes

9.       Write down some short term goals

10.   Do nothing and sit still on your favorite couch or chair while sipping on your favorite beverage (preferable non-alcoholic, alcohol brings confusion you need clarity)

In Christ, 

Monique Smith 

Prayer Starter: 
Lord, I am tired of doing things my way. Your ways are higher. Help me to rise above the circumstances that I face right now. I do know that all things work together for my good and you would never task me with something that was not for your glory. Help me to stand firm in my faith with holy anticipation. I trust you Father. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen 

 

~ Worry Pants ~

What is worry? Well, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary online, worry is when one allows difficulty or trouble to dwell in their mind. You know what I found out sisters? Worry is the catalyst to all other emotions that take you down a road that is not going to do you any good but give you heartache (panic, fear, confusion etc). It promises you a false sense of peace. Worry is of the devil and when we are sitting with our worry we are the most vulnerable to the enemy. He is having a fill day messing with us and our emotions.
As a believer, we are set apart as holy brethren (Hebrews 3:1) and we will experience ALL of the exact emotions as any other human EXCEPT we have a great hope. We have so much authority and do not have to be crippled with fear. We do not have to sit with our worry.

When I “feel” worry I do not have to react to it. I can choose to stay in the presence of the Lord and fight with him by my side. The other day I was really just in my worry pants. I was thinking about the strenuous relationship I have with my older son. How I am not happy in my job sometimes. I started to think about the safety of our younger son. The salvation of my kids. I started to think about my husband and how maybe he just does not love me. I mean I was so anxious. I put my worry pants on so tight they were sucking life right out of me that morning. Not to mention I was walking around with them and those pants did not even look cute (metaphorically speaking). No one told me that my pants of worry had me looking like a bag of mess. Not until I started reading about worry in the Bible was when I could see that I put on the wrong attire that morning. Instead of putting on the armor of God I put on my anxious floral blouse, my pants of worry and shoes of fear and tried to strut my stuff like I was something. But I was nothing...

Matthew 6:25 speaks to worry. It tells us not to worry about life because our Father in heaven takes care of our worries. Verse 27 asks us “can worry make you live longer”. If we think about it all worry does is make us rock back and forth in anxious thoughts telling us that we will get somewhere if we keep thinking on thoughts that cripple us. It is a bold face lie and it pushes us farther away from our Father. God is of peace NOT worry. When we refuse to be in peace we are asking for trouble. Sure, life is hard. Life just down right is not pretty at times. It can feel as if it has spit us out from the belly of a whale with no water to drink with absolutely no help. I think when we start to think like that we are in trouble. Life was given to us at a heavy price tag. Jesus came so that we can have and enjoy life (John 10:10).  If we sit down in the dumps stuck in worry we will think and behave according to that worry. Why not choose a different path when feelings of anxiety try to come about?

Today, I encourage you to do something different when worry tries to consume you. Look yourself in the mirror and say out loud “Lord, I am yours and I will stand on your hope. I will not worry. I will be bold and courageous”. Many have said it, but truly when worry comes send Jesus to answer. Why worry about something you have no control over?

In Christ,

Monique Smith

Prayer Starter:

Thank you Jesus for my salvation. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for loving me even when I cannot stand to love myself some days. I declare your peace over my life. Holy Spirit, come fill me. You are welcome to move in my heart. I declare renewed thoughts and a sound mind. I am yours so I will put on my armor of faith and not move from your presence at all costs. You love me and you are for me so I will focus on your truth. Amen

 

~ Stinky Attitude ~

Does life bore you, burn you out and leave you “feeling” hopeless? Do you think, feel and want too much? Raise your hand high because you are not alone. Our feelings can lie to us, really bad.  

I believe this happens because we are not focused on the Lord. We drift off to nowhere land and we are looking at other things in this world and wishing and hoping for more of this or that and not Jesus. You see, I believe Jesus is in the ordinary, he is in the mundane and routine IF we shift our perspectives.  May I share somethings with you?

This morning on my way to work I was driving worshipping my Father and it hit me. It hit me why I was feeling boredom, burnt out and just irritated. I think that is how the Holy Spirit works sometimes he just goes upside our heads and things just click. Ha! But you see I have been just irritated with work. The day to day was just irritating me. I must have wanted to quit like 6 times last week and I only work 5 days a week. My mind was on “making pretty things” at home and taking care of my home. In fact, many who truly know me know that I have wanted to stay at home and do full time coaching, work on writing my book or devising the proto type for my “ARU Bible Study Notebook” but bills need to be paid. There is so much I have WANTED to do BUT I cannot because I work 40 hours a week and drive 2 hours in traffic back and forth each week. Sooooooooo, in my complaining Jesus stops me. Here I am in the car and God says “Monique, you think, feel and want way too much. Why can’t you be satisfied with exactly where you are?” I just kind of sat there in silence totally hushed up and I had no answer. All I could think of was that I am an emotional basket case. As I sat there, I put on Joyce Meyer’s podcast and it was titled “having a patient attitude”. I thought to myself: Okay Lord, I know you are about to give it to me! Ha

Joyce talked about why I have no patience in her sermon. She said only “patience allows me to enjoy the present that I have”. She said the greatest gift God gives me is to enjoy the present moment. That was it there. I was not enjoying every single moment of my life which included working because my attitude towards it smelled real bad. If I cannot enjoy life right now I will never enjoy life in anything else that I do EVEN if God allows me to stay home and work on ministry related things. It is not what I am doing; it is something in my attitude that makes it pleasant or sour. So I sat there. Lord, my attitude does stink huh? The rest of my ride into work was really evaluating my attitude. I cannot be promoted if my attitude stinks. I prayed and asked God to help me with it. I asked him to search my heart and to convict me any time my attitude was just bad in regards to work.

God showed me through Joyce, while driving to work that I needed an attitude adjustment about work. I was not bored, burnt out or hopeless like the devil was trying to tell me I was. I had a wrong attitude about working and that can happen when I drift on over to me instead of staying with the Lord. I am not perfect and neither are you. I personally love how God works to show his precious children some things about their lives. I am glad he showed me about myself that morning. I want to grow and I want to become all that God needs me to be. In the past, I would have sat there all shameful instead I seen this as an opportunity for action to purposely shift my posture to His presence.

Today, I encourage you to work through some things with the Lord. Team up with him and start evaluating the things that are holding you back from a deeper relationship and walk with Him. We are made for more and we need to focus on the Lord and not ourselves. Who is with me?

In Christ,

Monique Smith

Prayer Starter:

Lord, I thank you that you are moving in my life. I thank you that you personally use others to speak life into me in a way that is gentle yet convicting. I desire more of you Father; help me to take my eyes off myself and the situations I come across and to set my eyes onto you and nothing else. You are my Rock and my Provider and I love what we share together. May I continue to grow in you. Amen

~ I DECLARE ~

Declaring out loud scripture, any prayers or positive promises of the Lord is crucial to not only your walk with the Lord but to living everyday life as a believer. What we face daily is a test that we must pass. God uses certain situations to help build our faith so that we can become stronger in Him. God designed us so that we will need him every moment of our days. All throughout scripture is proof of this. That is why studying God’s word helps us to communicate and understand who He is. When I declare and say out loud a promise, scripture or a good thing with my mouth each day I am storing much in eternity. Also, when I do this I please my Father. I show Him that I need him and trust in his promises for my life and of course the devil is having a hissy fit. When I am down with despair and full of no hope the devil is having a party as many of you know. We have got to start today! We have got to claim our identity in Christ and stand and not waver in good or bad. We were not made for any other way. When we do not do this we let our flesh win and we give God nothing to work with.

Do you not want to fulfill your true purpose here on this earth? Well, sisters you have got to stand and stop giving this enemy all the glory with your thoughts, decisions and or mouth. Let’s give the Lord something to work with today.

John 15:5 says that we are to abide in the Lord and he will abide in us. We will bear much fruit if we stay connected to him. Apart from the Lord, we are NOTHING! How encouraging is that verse?

Today, join in with me….I declare this: “I am a child of God. Something good will happen in and through me. God loves me and he would never leave me so I will not fear. I will think on thoughts that are of the Lord and serve others as if I am serving my Father”.

Will you let this declaration be your anthem today? Say this all day to yourself until fear, doubt, confusion or anything else negative leaves you.

In Christ,

Monique Smith

Prayer Starter:

Lord, you did not come down to this earth and die on the cross so that I could live a miserable life. You came to save me and give me a new life in you. Help me to use my mouth to declare your promises over my life. When I am down and in despair Holy Spirit convict me so that I can use the authority you have given me to speak victory. Jesus, thank you for your love, thank you that you are already working on my behalf. Thank you for new beginnings in you. Amen

~ He Will Equip You ~

Ever since I was young I knew I was different. I knew that I had a unique call on my life and that everything I went through was not in vain, there was bigger purpose. What that was truly I did not know. Getting pregnant and married young was indeed chaotic however God ALWAYS provided. I graduated high school early only to go on to start working at a decent company with a decent benefits package. There was much favor given to me then but did I see that? NOPE. Even when adversity in the marriage struck and it dissolved God still shined his face upon me. He gave me courage to go on. Courage to remarry.

These things I did not do by myself with sheer determination. There was a fire inside of me but at the time I just did not know what/who was my source was until I was older. As I got older and let Christ truly rule in my life I understood that this specific God designed purpose would come to fulfillment in due time. But of course there were/are things that I need to align myself up with. For instance, I need to hate the very sin I once loved. I need to start to renew my mind and understand my identity in Christ. I need to produce fruit and stop listening to the enemy and his plans. I need to love God’s people and not with a phony love. I need to love with compassion and do it purposely. I needed to totally live for the Lord whole heartedly. The only way all this was to happen was to let God be in the driver’s seat and I take His guidance second by second. I could no longer be average because I knew God set me apart. God is a loving God and will wait for us to get our acts together.

Throughout this process and of course even now I have many questions. But each time God comforted me in his word. Each time he made my path straight.

Hebrews 13:21 says God will equip me with everything for doing his will. Philippians 2:13 says that it is God who works in me to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. 2 Timothy 3:17 says that the servant of God is equipped. Over and over I am reminded that God will equip me and I do not have to worry nor focus on what this world reminds me of. I am to set my mind on above, trust the Lord and do life with excellence in the big and small. If I fall, I get right back up and hold God’s hand.

As believers, we are set apart. The old person we were has died and we are now a new creature in Christ. What holds us back is how we think and what we say about the situations in our lives and about ourselves. I know this first hand.

Today, I encourage you to seek the word of God like no other and find the peace that God so willingly has given you. God does not call you because you are qualified. He qualifies the called. He is waiting on you to see that he has his hand on you. Just because this process doesn’t look or feel pretty does not mean God is not working. You are His child. Tag team with your Father right now and step out to greatness in faith, trusting him. Remember God gives peace not disturbance. Do not block what God is trying to do within and for you.

In Christ,

Monique Smith

Prayer Starter:

Father, you love me. You are for me. You said in your word that you will NEVER forsake me. You died so that I may live. You have much to show me and the process will not be glorious sometimes. I do trust that you know what you are doing. I move out of the way right now so that you can fulfill your plans on my life. I am so sorry for standing in the way. Forgive me and help me to walk hand in hand with you through it all. I love you and thank you for your presence. Amen

~ Biblical Submission: Trusting the Lord in Marriage ~

The other day I was listening to a sermon on biblical submission and the pastor said something that stood out. She said “as a wife you are to submit unto your husband as you do to Jesus and if you do not then you have a trust problem”. I sat parked there for a little thinking that she was crazy first off. Is she saying I do not trust my husband?!?!? Because I love the Lord and I do not know what trust problem she thinks I have. Then I stood back and asked the Lord what is she talking about and why am I bothered by what she was saying. I heard many speak about biblical submission Lord and I have studied your word. So what is it Father? Boy was I in for a rude awakening.

 Ladies, I was bothered by it because she was right. My little rebellious self only submitted when it was convenient for me. Every time I “had something to say” when my husband made a final decision, suggestion or gave his guidance I showed him I did not trust him. I showed him that my way is more important because I just had to disagree. Did I do it all the time? No, but I did it and I recognized lately my part in some disagreements.  Bottom line is: I must trust my husband knows what is best for me and our home. He is the leader and accountable to the Lord. I am his helpmeet, NOT his God (Genesis 2:18). There is a way to go about some things and let’s just say I was going about some things WRONG.

Let’s look at Ephesians 5 though because here is where God shows us true submission, HIS way. I love reading in the CEV translation so that is where I will be okay?

In verse 21-22 it says “Honor Christ and put others first. A wife should put her husband FIRST, as she does the Lord” Verse 23 goes on to say that the husband is the HEAD of his wife just like Christ is the head and Savior of the church.

Jesus did not say honor yourself. He said honor others. In a marriage, who is that “other”? YOU’RE SPOUSE. I would always tell my husband GOD, you and the kids THAT is my priority. But you see every time I choose to honor myself by not letting my husband lead I showed him he is NOT my priority. I want to lead in the marriage and not my husband and that is the reality of what I would sometimes do. Why do I share this with you?

I share this with you because I want you to know YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We are not perfect BUT we can learn from what God reveals to us through his disciples. Letting our husbands lead does so much for our marriage and for truly honoring the Lord. We learn how to truly die to our ways in marriage. When our husbands lead and take direction from God EVEN when we “think” our way is better, they become who God has planned for them to become in our marriages. When we move out of the way and see the big picture we know that biblical submission has a much bigger purpose. We start to take our eyes off ourselves and put Christ first by putting our husband’s first in our homes. As our husband’s helpers, we are to encourage, edify and HELP not hinder. I am not saying we as wives have no voice. I am saying we take our position under our husband and trust him because we know God is leading him. We trust God. Our husbands value our input and they will listen to our suggestions but there is a fine balance to this approach.

Well, Monique God is not leading my husband! He is doing some real foul things, you say. Well, sis that is not up to you to worry about. Your job is to trust God. What he is doing is between him and the Lord. Let him do what he will do and you focus on being the helper in the marriage. You cannot change him ONLY God can. You can pray for his heart and ask God to work in him BUT you cannot keep frustrating yourself because he is not doing what you think a man of God should do. God honors that and he sees your obedience to his word. Remember Romans 8:28? God works ALL things together for our good for THOSE who love him. Stand on this scripture.

Today, I encourage you to trust the Lord. Trust that he knows what he is doing for you and your marriage. If things don’t look like you imagined they would keep pressing anyway. The Lord will NEVER forsake you. God restores, he heals and he turns things in your favors when you believe…J

In Christ,
Monique Smith

Prayer Starter:

Lord, forgive me for not taking my position under my husband. Thank you for showing me your way to love and put my husband and marriage first. Convict my heart, when I try to lead in my marriage. Give me wisdom and direction, Father. Help me to let go and give everything to you in my marriage. My goal is to honor you Lord. Show me how do to that in my marraige. I want to be a wife that demonstrates the fruits of your spirit, please help me. May I honor you in all I do especially in my marriage, Lord. Amen

~ Be THANKFUL & Keep Your Word ~

In Psalm 50:14-15 (CEV) God talks to us about want he truly wants out of us. He tells us that HE is the Most High God and the ONLY sacrifice he wants is for us to be thankful and to keep our word. I stop here at the verse because I wonder why this concept is very important to him. Hmmmm… perhaps can it be that we are to give up something? He goes on to say in verse 15 that we are to pray to him in times of trouble and he will rescue us and we will honor him. The true sacrifice that honors the Lord Ladies is a THANKFUL heart. He wants us to obey him and he will show us his power EVEN in times of trouble. We offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving…..

In the NIV translation of the Bible it says:

“sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me”

What is sacrifice anyhow? It is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the surrendering a possession as an offering to God or a divine supernatural figure. Well, God is my divine Supernatural Father figure so that definition I will take. J

I believe our feelings are a possession because I mean they do belong to us right? When we surrender the way we feel to God despite the situation and continue to thank Him in the midst of the storm we sacrifice thank offerings to Him.

Here is another example: In order for me to offer up a thank offering to God as a sacrifice I believe that would require me to give up something my flesh loves to do. My flesh LOVES to complain. When I wake up in the morning and I “feel” so tired mentally and physically I at times complain. I moan, pout and complain about how much I do not want to go to work and how I deserve to stay in bed longer with my hubby. But what am I really doing sisters? Who am I really giving praise too? It sure is not my Gracious Father…I am praising the enemy with my lips.

The one thing my flesh desires the most is to complain and remain there. I believe the enemy works through these desires. He wants me to stay there with an ungrateful heart because he knows I won’t give praise to my Father with my “defeated” feelings. He knows I will praise “his sly of a snake self” most likely by my moaning and complaining staying all in my fleshly desires. He is a sly snake I tell you. But sisters?!?!?!? We are smarting than him. God gave us authority.

God says “obey me daughter” fight pass your feelings and offer me a sacrifice of praise this morning. The enemy says “complain and pout you deserve to stay in the bed and not get up”. God wants us to keep our word which I believe is our faith in all situations and praise His Holy name no matter what. Be thankful through it all he says to us because I will save you. I am your God I go before you. You will honor me in the end.

We must train ourselves to be thankful no matter what and keep our word to our Father. God will provide a way out if we truly surrender our ways and truly depend on him. It truly is about HIM not us after all.

In Christ,

Monique Smith

Prayer Starter:

Jesus, thank you for your word and thank you so very much for showing us what REALLY matters to you. Our one true desire is to be more like you. Forgive us for complaining and moaning and not offering you praise with our lips. Help us Lord Jesus, to stand and fight against our flesh. We love you and honor your precious name. Amen

~ NO More Anxiety ~

Anxiety, doubt, loneliness and frustration, what do all these have in common? How about peace, joy, hope and courage, what do these have in common? I can tell you that one leaves you feeling drained and in despair and the other leaves you feeling energized, ready and vigilant. Why, why do these different emotions have the tendency to make us “feel” a certain way? Well, I believe it is because one is of Jesus and one is of the enemy. Let me explain…….

God made us with a variety of different emotions so that we can channel them for good and to glorify his kingdom but our focus is off when we are in an emotion that is not of him. God is of peace and would never want his child in despair so feeling anxious with doubt and of loneliness is not him sisters. We have a situation in front of us and it makes us feel uncomfortable so we panic. We choose chaos instead of peace. We think that God needs our help so we call everyone we know and start to speak defeat. Or we sit in a corner and entertain a anxious heart and think “I am an anxious person, I always been this way”. We don’t use our words to focus on the positive or have any faith we start giving life to every emotion under the sun. We give into anxiety instead of peace.

I think that what we miss it all when we think about emotion and feelings and we get too caught up in them (preaching to myself here). We think because we “feel” a certain way that we have to “act” in a certain manner than we just rely on our flesh to respond and it just is a mess. We fail to look to Jesus in the whole scenario. We fail to see why we are “this way” in the first place. We take no accountability. We start to think “oh, I am like my parents”. We start giving ourselves titles and speaking things into existence based off of one single feeling. We forget who we are in Christ just like that. Why, sisters?

We are human, that is why and we will fall short daily BUT we can call upon the name of Jesus and trust him in that exact moment. We are of flesh in a dark world where the enemy is very present. We are messy and sin is in our lives, we are not perfect and never will. But we do have dominion we can hone in on and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. As believers, we daily take up our cross and strive to be better remembering that God is at the center of everything we do. When we purposely shift our thoughts, emotions and responses to life’s trials we see the beauty (Jesus) in the pain and can choose peace, joy and hope, not ourselves in a situation. We can do this supernatural thing because sin is removed from us (doubt, fear, confusing etc) and God is now welcomed to be God.  

It is very possible that we can feel one way and listen to our spirit inside of us to do right despite our “emotion”. We will suffer and there is no way around that but we can choose different in our crazy emotions. What we need to understand is that through the hardship we face God is already working behind the scenes to bring forth something good in and through us but we cannot lose hope. We cannot lose our peace. We cannot lose our joy. We cannot get tired of thinking well and responding with faith or we block Jesus from working. We need to stand steadfast and trust God through it and talk back to our emotion and say “I will not stress, God is in control”, “I am not lonely, Jesus loves me”, “I will nor fear, that is not of the Lord", “I will not be anxious, God has me in the palm of his hand”. When you start to speak victory and faith situations change and we do as well. This takes practice.

 Remember like the word of God says in 1 Peter 5:8, "the enemy, the devil prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour". Sisters, he is ready to pounce on you. The enemy thinks he is smart when in actuality he really is not. We give him to much glory. The enemy forgets that we have authority over his tactics. But if we handle life with how we “feel” he will play and toy with our weak state and flesh. Soon we will work our self into a frenzy and loose our power over him. He will win in your thought life and you will respond not like the bold Christian you are. We cannot believe all the lies that he whispers in our ears and we can no longer give him glory with our emotions.

Sisters, we must be more than how we "feel". We can push pass emotions and choose to speak life, not death. We can respond with grace, not stubbornness. We can hope not be in despair with anxiety. We can sleep in total peace because God is with us and he will provide. We can love and serve instead of whining and complaining. Let’s grow. Let’s be more. Let’s not waver today. Let’s let peace, love, joy and courage be at the center of what we think, feel and do…..

In Christ,
Monique Smith

 Prayer Starter:

Thank you Father for this trial, I trust you. Thank you that you gave me a courageous spirit so that I can channel my emotions and thoughts in a healthy manner for your kingdom. Thank you for lovingly correcting me and giving me conviction in my heart. Thank you giving me freedom and helping me to walk in it. May I stand and be a light in this dark world by speaking victory even when I can't see it. Help me to push pass any emotions, thoughts or feelings that are not of you. I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. Amen  

~ A New Commitment ~

Often times we wonder why life is headed in a certain direction and we never stop to question ourselves why. We stumble and fall, which is normal, as we are not perfect but we do not learn from our mistakes. We keep doing the same and wanting different results. We say we are believers and say we love the Lord but want to fill our minds with filth. We want life to go smoothly every day and if it does not we throw a fit. Life with the Lord does not work in this fashion; I am here to burst your bubble. Whoever told you that life would be peachy each day lied. You cannot keep doing life the way you want to and expect favor.  We keep sinning and wonder why life is so bad for us. : /

I remember when I asked Christ into my heart at a young age I thought that I would be given special treatment, like I was exempt from pain. Life was so hard after I made the decision to live for the Lord, so I thought. I will tell you now that I look back in retrospect it was not hard, I made it hard. I wanted to praise Jesus Sunday and drink all throughout the week. I wanted to listen to R.Kelly talking about “sex me” and shout to the Lord that I love him Sunday. I wanted to do me and be spirit filled at the same time. When I did not see favor I was like “Jesus, what happened”.  I did not know how to put my flesh in order so I gave in to it EVERY second. God knew my heart and he knew I needed a revelation but he needed me to see that I needed him. Until that happened, I went around the same mountains over and over and over again.

Sisters, it is time to renew your commitment to the Lord. Whether you do not know Jesus at all or you do and are hiding, it is time for you and the Lord to be in right standing again. Time to take the shackles off your feet and truly dance!!!!!!

You want blessing, but your mouth is garbage. You want favor, but you won’t forgive who has hurt you. You want peace, but you want to be God. You want a Godly marriage, but are waiting on your husband to change and will not even respect him. You want purpose for your life, but refuse to even pick up the word of God to find out what God wants you to do. If you find it hard to read this, then it is because you are comfortable doing life your way. I know I could not read or listen to anything spiritual when I was so comfy in my cute little sin. I had an ugly attitude towards positive spirit filled people. Why? Because that was the stronghold Satan had on me.

Listen, you are a child of God and you were bought with a hefty price. Who you were before Christ is no longer, that person died and you are now a new creation. I come from a loving place to say, you cannot expect victory in your life and you still want to live how you want to. As a follower of Christ, you will be uncomfortable and you will daily have to die to yourself but living a righteous life is oh so worth it. I am not saying to have all these list of rules, that is religion. I ask saying to invest in your relationship with Christ and live a life pleasing to him. It is time!!!! It is time to go deeper with Jesus and commit to a life of excellence with him by your side, he is waiting for you. Jesus has so much he wants to teach you and show you but living how you want to will block it all. Same goes for what you think, say, read etc. It is time to kick your flesh to the curb and make a decision today to completely live for the Lord.  

My wrong thinking and negative words were holding me back from who I was to be, please do not let that happen to you. God will let us do our own thing because the life we have is choice driven. He is a gentleman and he will never push himself on us. But we have to seek him with all your hearts and pursue him because we no longer want to live life "our way". It is a choice. What will you choose?

Today I encourage you to ask yourself some hard questions even if those answers hurt and sting, write them out. Be truthful with yourself and take them to the Lord. Take a look at the answers and do something today to change it. If it is your lifestyle, repent now and get right with the Lord. If it is your thinking, renew your mind in his word and purposely seek what God says in his word. If it is your mouth, ask God to help you to hush and find all sermons and scripture you can on the tongue…If it is a person? give them to the Lord and work on you. You cannot control others and their actions. You are responsible for the development of your own soul so stop worrying about other people.  

It is my prayer that your soul is so convicted that you stop now and make your life right with Jesus. Give it all to him sis. He is the way, truth and the light. He will tag team with you and help you to live the life that he so willingly died for you to have.  

In Christ,

Monique Smith

 Prayer Starter:

Jesus, I no longer want to live my life the way I have been. I am tired, bruised and broken. I want you to please take control of me and change me. I am nothing without you and I want your presence in my life over anything else, Father. Please forgive me for all my sins and wash me clean. All strongholds that are not of you must flee now in the name of Jesus’. Today starts my new life with you. Amen