I see people become so upset when they are lied to, yet you'll lie to yourself?  For instance; let's say you were fired from your job for being late all  the time and not performing as you should.  Your boss mentions it to you multiple times.  You become upset with your boss, instead of being honest with self.  You begin to rationalize with yourself, making your self believe an untruth.  When the truth is, your late and your not being productive at work.  See, most times we convince ourselves that we are the victim in a situation when in reality, we are lying to ourselves.  What is in you, that is preventing you from being honest with self?  Are you annoying? Are you mean?  Are you praying for a good man, yet you know your self your not a good woman and vice versa? 

I created a list, a truth list.  The list consisted of all of my flaws that I know in my heart of hearts that I need to work on and from what I've heard other people close to me complain about.(Keep in mind, you have to pray about what other people are speaking over you) I prayed over the list, and God showed me things that I needed to realize about myself that was hindering me from being elevated to the next level.....with God.  My attitude was DISGUSTING, the way I spoke to people and would have the nerve to become upset if someone spoke to me that way.  My non chalanat attitude concerning things that I could control.  When God spoke to me he used my current situation to explain what he was doing.  I work in commercial real estate.  We are always under construction.  HE asked me " When under construction, what is the one thing the owner will instruct the contractors to leave in place?  HE said, it's foundation.  The contractors will remove everything else, but they are careful not to touch it's foundation.  Our foundation was/is created by God-however; as we get older we aren't careful as to what we place within us. i.e. morals,values, people, things.  All we know is if it looks good, or feels good we want it.  Thus lying to ourselves when we see that our foundation can't support the things that aren't necessary in our lives.  Look at yourself.  What are you lying about?  It's one thing to have someone lie to you, but truly detrimental when we lie to oursleves.

Understand that life is about learning.  Each day, you should Thank God for another day to correct your wrongs of yesterday.  If there is something you could do better, do it.  Be honest with YOU!  You can't expect someone else to be honest with you, if you can't first be honest with self!

14The human spirit can endure in  sickness,but a crushed spirit who can bear?
Medicine can cure most illnessses-either fully or enough where you have some sort of relief.  A crushed spirit cannot be healed from medicine.  Have you ever encountered someone where it seems as if their sole purpose is to destroy your spirit?  The words they use, the way they look at you, the way they make you feel-is as  if they want to just crush your spirit.  Sadly, they too have a crushed spirit.  Hurt people, hurt people.  You have to ask God to deliver you from the evil that dwells inside of you.

 17In a lawsuit the first to speak  seems right,until someone comes forward and cross-examines.
It's not always about who speaks first, but it is always about who speaks truth.  Have you ever gotten into some trouble for something you didn't do?  And your parents or someone of authority questions you about what happened?  But each time you open your mouth, someone is cutting you off?  That is due to them wanting/needing to be heard first, hoping that the person of authority will have believe that they are right, but if  look at the above referenced  scripture, it teaches us that 

24One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,but there is a friend who sticks closer than a
brother.
When we meet someone new, and you have a lot of similarities between each of you- you begin to feel comfortable thinking, "I've just made a new friend" you begin doing everything together,going out to dinner, the kids meet and share a relationship by association, your mates meet and again develop relationships by association.  But then something happens-where you really need your friend and it seems that they are nowhere to be found.  What happens to the relationship, it becomes tainted.    The other side of this is, when you have a friend who is more than just a friend but is like a brother or sister.  I have several people like this.  I prayed for them-its as if God brought them to me, before I even realized I needed them.  They truly stick closer than a brother.  Its the loyalty, love, and true genuine relationship that holds us together


*Scriptures were taken from Proberbs 18*

Last night, my husband and I watched the movie 12 Years a Slave.   It was a great movie-not because the actors played their parts well(which they did), but the message of the movie(to me) was extremely powerful.  Here we have the main character, who was a free man, that was sought out by “artists” who told him they were marveled by his talents.  They had dinner, a few drinks and then Solomon woke up in a dark room with chains.  The next day, he’s beaten-and made to take a bath amongst other men and one young boy.  The young boy, begins to call out for his mother and Solomon calms him, reassuring him he would see his mother.  The mother enters the room the next day, and is held captive as well.  I’ll stop here, since I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone that has yet to see it.

A couple of things.  1.) Solomon was well-known due to his amazing talents, education, he was neatly dressed, prestigious, and wealthy-yet became a slave(physically). 2.)Elza, the young boy’s mother was also well off, educated, and while she began as a slave, she was quickly brought out(mentally).

  Where am I going? 

  Solomon was extremely educated, and was extremely capable of holding his own.  Being placed in that circumstance, could have made him crack and break-while those are all great attributes to have, there was something more that kept him together.  His FAITH, LOVE for his family and his HOPE that he would one day be free.  See, Solomon never had the slave mentality, he was  placed in an unfortunate situation, but mentally he refused to succumb to it.  Being enslaved is one thing in the physical sense, but a totally different when you become enslaved in your mind.  When you believe you are enslaved, your mind will begin to believe that this is who you are.  You begin speaking a certain way(only engaging in negative conversations, gossiping, etc.) you begin thinking a certain way(negatively, thoughts of defeat etc.) you begin behaving a certain way(negatively, doing things that bring shame etc.) See the trend.  Everything you do, will have some sort of negative impact.

  I know you’re wondering, how did you get all of that from this movie- God is everywhere and in everything if YOU allow him to be.  I am uncertain of where the author of the book , or the director of the movie is with their faith-BUT, I am certain where I am.  No matter what I do, I invite God in.  If I’m reading, watching a movie, cooking, baking, speaking etc.  I invite him in.
 
After watching the movie-God began speaking to me telling me that I needed to release everything that was in my heart to him, there were some things that was enslaving me still that I needed to release.  I prayed a powerful prayer and immediate began to feel a shift.  As I am typing, I am reminded of a beautiful song that my cousin used to sing in church.

  I’m free, praise the Lord, I’m free. I’m no longer bound.  There no more chains holding me.  My soul is resting, it’s such a blessing.  Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, I’m free.

    The scripture that comes to mind is one of my favorites.  Mark 9:17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. 
 
When God spoke to me last night, HE said.  I have so much for you, but I need you to release what’s in you first, so that when I fill you up-you’ll be able to take it all.  God is AWE-some. 

  What is enslaving you?  Is it a situation, a person, or just your way of thinking?  Whatever it is, release it.  Give it to God. Allow him to empty you of  YOU and fill you up with HIM.

  Free yourself, Love yourself, and TRUST GOD while doing it!

 

  Root the basic cause, source, or origin of something.

 

I had been struggling with some issues, that I couldn’t seem to shake.  I would think I was over it, and all of a sudden the “issue” would reappear. I started to become angry, wondering what was wrong and why it was recurring, for the life of me-I couldn’t seem to shake this problem.

I prayed, fasted and at first glance when God began talking(in HIS time) I thought, ok-REALLY?  All HE said was “ROOT”  Unsure of what HE(God) meant, I  began to pray more.  When he finally revealed to me, what he meant by ROOT.  I was in Awe.  God explained to me that in order to be healed, you must start at the root.  Often times, we only touch the surface of our problems.  Have you ever argued with someone, and to them it seems like your overreacting?   But to you, it feels like your attitude, or argument is warranted?  It could very well be warranted, however are you being honest about what your feeling for that particular situation or for another?   Here’s an example, I was angry with my daughter for not cleaning her room like I had asked her- I was “doing too much”  Now, don’t get me wrong-her room needed to be cleaned, but it didn’t warrant me coming down on her so hard.  Why was I mad? It had absolutely NOTHING to do with the room-but everything to do with something she had done a while ago, and I wasn’t quite over it.  You see, God needed me to see that when you only deal with things that are above the surface, your only allowing the leftovers to fall beneath the surface.  Follow?  Let’s say, you are having back problems.  You’ve tried all kinds of medications for your back, before seeking medical attention.  Once you make an appointment and visit your doctor, necessary steps are taken to find out the source of the problem- Get it?  Basically, in order to be healed you have to go to the source of the problem.  You can take all kinds of pills, for what you think the problem is, but you’ll never know for certain until you get to the root.

 

What are you facing in life, be it  your finances, job, home car etc.  that is recurring and you can’t seem to figure out WHY?  Look at the ROOT-Ask God to show you the error of your ways, and be receiving of what he shows you.  You have to be honest with self at all times.  If you’re not a good steward over your finances, ADMIT TO IT!  If you’re a cheater, ADMIT TO IT!  If you’re lazy, ADMIT TO IT!  Whatever the problem is, be honest with self, get to the root.    

 

 

Believe that God is with you, that he is guiding you every step of the way as you get to your root!  Once HE reveals the root of your problem, act on it! Ask him to help you overcome your circumstance/problem and receive his healing.