He Knows The Plans

A mentor of mine posted this picture of this AMAZING bible scripture. And it seriously just stirred something up in me like I had never seen it before. Then I thought, what a great topic to expound on.  The highlighted scripture says, "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."  The Amplified Bible interprets this scripture as... "For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome." This is a bold statement. It assures us that all is well.  It solidifies that God, our Father has us in mind. It confirms that our worries should be minimal when it comes to our lives. In the first few words, He states...."for I know the plans". That should be enough, right?

The fact that God knows, even when we don't. But more often times than not, that is never good enough for us. I can admit, many times its not usually good enough for me. Well, let me clarify. Its usually enough when reading, however not enough in action.  So my question is, when is THIS WORD going to be enough? God's promises are good! You can take them to the bank!  He said that His word shall not return unto Him void, and He means that! So again, why is it soooooo difficult to let go and trust Him?  For me it is hard. I am having a difficult patch as we speak.  From the health of family members to things in my own personal life. Sometimes it is just hard. But what I've learned  is when I stop looking at the natural circumstance and use my faith, the evidence of things not seen, walk by faith and not by sight, things are always better than they are, mainly because God has already handled the issue. For me, most of the times when I am discouraged it is because I am refusing to change my perspective. When I decide to view things from God's perspective, it is impossible for negativity to be in it.  And that is the honest to God TRUTH. Yet again, I know....
This. Is. Hard.

But we have to keep pressing through. Even when tears are rolling down my face, and my heart is on fire, I will still utter, God is faithful and He is able. Because of this Word.  He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all I can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in me. Because of this Word. My flesh may be in pain because of things I do not understand, but I will not let the enemy steal my praise. Because of this Word. And though I may not feel good during the praise, it is still lifted and sincere. And that's what matters most, and helps me in it all. I hope my words can give others some comfort during their time of discouragement, stress or difficulties. I know how real it is. I am hoping they will give more comfort for myself. I know how real it is. But the main point is God's word is and should be the end all, because His promises are Yes and Amen. It is a journey, but we will get there. How do I know?  Because the latter of the verse also confirms that there will be a future and there will be hope. And one thing I do know, is I believe His word.

~Jeremiah 29:11

~Isaiah 55:11
~Ephesians 3:20
~2 Corinthians 5:7
~2 Corinthians 1:20

In Everything Give Thanks...

Sometimes we tend to focus more on what we don't have versus what we do have. It is the general "is the glass half full or half empty" argument. Your opinion on whether the glass is half full or half empty is based on your perception. Whether you view and weigh the substance in the glass as abundance or lack. Many times our struggles aren't really birthed from the situation itself, yet they are birthed by our processing of that situation. What we don't realize is there are blessings all around us, if we just pay attention. Truth be told, when we keep our eyes on Christ, what we feel we may be lacking won't ever be personified. The Lord woke you up this morning. The Lord woke you up this morning in your right mind. The Lord gave you the strength to get out of bed. I can go on and on. We also have our own personal individual blessings that no one can give thanks for but our own selves. Don't short change God in worship, because He did not short change you in blessings. In all things, give thanks. We serve a God that is faithful and everlasting. His mercy endures forever!!! I challenge you to stop and take 10 seconds and just worship... saying thank you Lord for all you've done for me. I have a saying, "If He never blessed me again, I would still be blessed beyond my highest dreams." But the ultimate goodness of it all is, HE AINT DONE BLESSING ME!!! AND NEITHER IS HE DONE BLESSING YOU!!! Thank you Lord. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 17"Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." ~Habakkuk 3:17-18 NKJV

The 23rd Psalm Explained

I received this jewel below in an email a while back, not exactly sure who to credit for it, but I felt it was so necessary to share. And just as the email included, I too pray this day that what is revealed to you after reading this will open the eyes of your understanding, or at least let you look at this in a different light. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Lord is my Shepherd - That is Relationship! I shall not want - That is Supply! He maketh me to lie down in green pastures - That is Rest! He leadeth me beside the still waters - That is Refreshment! He restoreth my soul - That is Healing! He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness - That is Guidance! For His name sake - That is Purpose! Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death - That is Testing! I will fear no evil - That is Protection! For thou art with me - That is Faithfulness! Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me - That is Discipline! Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies - That is Hope! Thou annointest my head with oil - That is Consecration! My cup runneth over - That is Abundance! Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life - That is Blessing! And I dwell in the house of the Lord - That is Security! Forever - That is Eternity! Let's Face It... The Lord is crazy about you. What is most valuable is not what we have in our lives, but who we have in our lives.

YES...

ONE DAY, I will write again.

God IS.

Love, Crys...

The Virtual Glam Squad

I wrote this article last year when I was freelancing for a teen girl's magazine. The article was specifically for the prom issue, but by (alleged) human error it was not published. Did not find out until after prom season so I wanted to share it for this years prom season, because the subject matter and God's word are still relevant.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I hear it’s that time of the year again, prom season! Oh the memories I have from my high school junior and senior years over the excitement of going to the prom. What colors should I wear, what dress, what hair style, what shoes? So many things, so little time to do them. Oh indeed the to-do list can go on and on. I believe going to the prom is the most important time in a young woman’s social life and it is enclosed by so much femininity. We finally have a time to let the genetic makeup of what makes us the special gender we are just come to the forefront and shine. The finished product can easily showcase the outward grace of a woman. We have a real reason to just glam all out, and for some it can be the first time or only time. We think that reaping the fruits of a self created red carpet glam squad is the most important, but it’s not.

And then there is the other thing, who’s taking us? The other most important part of prom for most of us wasn’t just the dresses, or the jewelry, or if you were anything like me, the distinctive nail design I had to select for my manicure and pedicure…it was the date. Oh yes indeed, the most important part is and will always be the boys. And we all know, at that age, we just love us some boys! But it’s ok, its natural, and just the showing signs of becoming a woman, and eventually learning to love and support our men as the women in their lives. The nervousness from wanting to be asked by that special guy can just be overwhelming, or the excitement of this anticipated night finally being shared with your high school sweetheart seems so exhilarating. So yeah, now that you mention it, the boys are the most important. This is what we think when we think about it, but guess what, once again, it’s not.

Well now, don’t get me wrong because all these specifics are significant and of course we want them to be, as this night is to be cherished for decades. But the most important factor is not what we are wearing, nor who’s on our arm; but what we exemplify our character to be. So let’s get an understanding of what type of character God desires us to have according to His standards. Anytime I think about God’s desire for who I should be, I always think about the description of the “Virtuous Woman” in the book of Proverbs. The verse itself states, “A capable intelligent, and virtuous woman—who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.”(Proverbs 31:10 AMP) Other translations use the words “her price” or “her worth”. Basically, God specifically says that as women, our character should be worth a lot of money, wealthy or slangly put, just ballin. If we have something that is worth a lot of money, if it is lost, stolen or given away by accident, we are left with a depletion in our net worth or accounts. And if it’s near and dear to us we feel the anguish and harsh reality that what we once had is now gone. Or if and when the value of a material item we own falls, sometimes we couldn’t even give it away if we tried once the value has been downgraded. Sadly we as women really over exaggerate the jewelry reference because we do know jewelry (hey, I’m guilty too)! While that part is crucial also, we still sometimes skip over or fail to correctly interpret the most important word in the topic…virtuous.

The word virtuous has many definitions, but the few I like are “morally excellent”, “upright”, and “pure”. And because these traits signify that our worth is priced higher than jewels, with knowing jewelry the way we do, we now know that this means how we carry ourselves does hold way more weight than the jewelry, the dress, the date and the whole polished look we have for our special night. Therefore, ultimately it is the most important. So let’s fast forward a little bit, and talk about the prom night…"night", uh-huh. Yes, after all the bells and whistles of the evening have faded there is still attention to be given, and it’s just you and your date, or so you think. See, the thing is, it really isn’t just you and your date and it never is, because we are never alone. The Holy Spirit is always with us because He resides in us, within our hearts and spirits, therefore within our bodies. And the word specifically says, “Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit, Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a gift] from God? You are not your own; You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 AMP). There is that word “price” again. Ladies, seriously, you are really worth way more than you think to God. He paid a lot for you, and honoring him with our bodies keeps our price, worth, and value through the roof. By not doing so seriously downgrades the net worth of our character and our internal accounts are left depleted.

Therefore, take on His thoughts of your worthiness and make them your own. Cater to His wants and do so by honoring Him first and foremost with your body. This pleases God, does not grieve or sadden Him (Ephesians 4:30), and it makes Him proud to call us the “Goddesses” we are. So on your special night, remember and listen to God’s view of the type of woman He has already said you are. When or if you get the advances to go beyond the activities of prom night itself - ahem, yall KNOW what I’m talkin bout-, turn up that value, worth and preciousness that shines from your inner and outer jewels, smile and politely decline. Allow God to be your virtuous glam squad, because through His consultations the finished product will be, you guessed it, always worth far above rubies, pearls, or even for your special occasion, the best set of pretty prom jewels you can find.

“Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting], but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised!”
~Proverbs 31:30(AMP)

You ARE ALREADY Loved

One thing in life we as humans desire the most is to be loved and loved genuinely. We pursue personal relationships hoping that its "the one", and pray that our desires of feeling the love we hear expressed in our favorite secular love songs will manifest in those relationships. But I have a secret to share....well its not really a secret in general, just a secret that the enemy has tried and is often successful of keeping the sincere understanding from us. The secret is God IS Love.

Like I said, not a secret at all, but we have been deceived with understanding the detailed significance of that completely, because time after time we go on serious pursuits to "find" love. We stay in situations that are not healthy for us, because we think it's love. We deal with people and issues that they bring us because we are trying to stay true to what we believe is love. We go back to situations, or try to go back to situations after we have come to the conclusion that this isn't love, hoping that love will have mercy on us and miraculously show up through the hearts of wrong people because we decided to turn around and try it one more time. To be loved, is all we want. To "want" to be loved. STOP!

Psalms 23 starts off with..."The Lord is my Shepard, I shall NOT WANT." Exactly. What are we wanting for? Why are we wanting? And most importantly don't we know that we don't have to want? And going even further, we don't have to "want" love! Why? You guessed it...God is love. Sooooo not a secret though. But let me share the REAL secret. What the true secret is, is that the origin of dissatisfaction, unfulfilled expectations and feelings of sadness or loneliness is the same: a raging hunger for what you cannot see and do not fully know: GOD. Simply put, a true burning desire to be loved is nothing more than hard core evidence of the absence of a sincere intimate relationship with the one, true God. Hmph, tell the truth and SHAME the devil!

What your heart is seeking is not per se "love", yet your heart is seeking and yearning for an intimate relationship with God because GOD IS LOVE. God already loves you. God can't help but love you because that is what He is. LOVE. Therefore God already loves you, yes, let it soak in...you are already loved. He loves you so much he gave His life for you. But not only that, He is seriously concerned about every detail of your life, large or small. If Jesus gave His life for you and for me, why would He not provide lesser things that are for our benefit? He has already done the ultimate task, anything less than that is really a given. He cares about the things you care about, the things I care about no matter how small we think they are. He loves you. He loves you right where you are, He loves me right where I am, He loves us unconditionally right where we are. He is burdened with your burdens, He is burdened with my burdens...He is severely burdened with our burdens. No question or doubt about it, He truly cares for us. He LOVES us.

He is always there ready to lead us on the path we should go. He didn't just love us in sacrifice, but He loves us in our daily life, our struggles, our fears and our mistakes. Jesus loves you more than you can ever imagine. He loves you. He can love you. He will love you. Matter of fact, truth be told(about to shame that devil again)...He does, can and will love you BETTER than any man, woman or child ever could. So remember to not only reflect on our love for Him because of what He has done, but also His amazing love for us....BECAUSE!... of what He has done. God IS love and is ready to love you, unconditionally. So if you are ready to be loved, and loved the way you have dreamed, don't seek people, seek GOD. Don't go back to people, go back to God. Don't run after people, run after God. Don't give your heart to people, give it to God. Open your heart now so you can receive the love you've always desired, because He is waiting for you to willingly accept all the love He has specifically reserved for your soul....God IS Love. Receive it, because it is yours.

The Two When I Say "I Am a Christian" Poems

There was a poem circulating on the internet, that was alleged to have been written by Maya Angelou titled "When I Say I am a Christian". The poem has been proven to not be the work of Dr. Angelou, and the author of this particular piece is unknown. Nevertheless, it has been identified to have been based on the original poem, When I say "I am a Christian" written by Carol Wimmer in 1988. It is unfortunate that someone would take Mrs. Wimmer's original version and revise it without giving her proper credit. However, I personally find both versions very heartfelt, specific and earnestly essential to what I have found Christian living to be. I will share both versions as they both speak on the essence of what being a Christian truly is.

When I say "I Am a Christian"
by: Carol Wimmer

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not shouting, “I’ve been saved!”
I’m whispering, “I get lost!
That’s why I chose this way”

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I don’t speak with human pride
I’m confessing that I stumble -
needing God to be my guide

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not trying to be strong
I’m professing that I’m weak
and pray for strength to carry on

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not bragging of success
I’m admitting that I’ve failed
and cannot ever pay the debt

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I don’t think I know it all
I submit to my confusion
asking humbly to be taught

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not claiming to be perfect
My flaws are far too visible
but God believes I’m worth it

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartache
which is why I seek His name

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I do not wish to judge
I have no authority
I only know I’m loved

Copyright 1988 Carol Wimmer


"When I say I Am a Christian"
Revision...editing author unknown

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin."
I'm whispering "I was lost,"
Now I'm found and forgiven.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need CHRIST to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
and need HIS strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain,
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
who received God's good grace, somehow.

Author Unknown...Circa 2006