Choose to love the Lord

Where is your heart toward the Lord? Can you truly say that you love Him or do you lightly say 'Mi love God' but with an insincere heart? Some people have an emotional feeling toward God. They acknowledge Him as creator and feel 'good' toward Him because they know He is sovereign and that He also gives blessings. However, a good feeling toward God does not mean that we love Him. God himself has told us what true love toward Him looks like. I want you to read John 14:15. Go ahead and read it right now before you continue reading this article. Do you realize that it is perhaps the number one verse that tells us how God knows if we truly love Him? The ultimate measure of our love for God is not in our feelings, it's in our obedience to what He has said. That is why we need to know what God has said.

God has given us His word, His commandments on how we should live and love. Think about how much we express our love to those around us - our family, friends and even associates or other close contacts. We try our best to do what pleases them. We choose to honor and love them as an expression of our love. In a similar manner, our demonstration of love to God should be grounded in our obedience to what His word tells us. His word is right because He is a good God and He can be trusted. Just as we don't want to disrespect and dishonor those around us, let us not dishonor God. I pray that today you will choose to truly love God by walking in obedience to His word and in His will.

Blessings always,

Shalom

Your sister in Christ,

Tenneil

Beyond Okay

Hi friends,

What state are you in now? Are you barely managing, doing okay or are you beyond okay with your life and its various happenings? To be okay is good but that’s basic. God wants you and I to be more and to live beyond okay. Beyond okay is the place of great contentment and enjoyment of life and all its seasons. Recently, I shared something with a friend that I desire to do in my own life, even as I wait for (and work towards) the fulfillment of God’s promises in various aspects of my life. I told her that my aim is to truly enjoy God and the season that I am in - to live in the fulness of God's love for me. Although things are okay, I want to be better and live a more fulfilled, anxiety-free and trusting life. Is that your desire as well? If yes, you must recognize though that your “better” is in the place of enjoying our heavenly Father. To enjoy Him is to delight in Him every single day. It is to be thankful for every moment, to see Him at work through every circumstance and to rejoice because of His love for you. God’s word tells us that when we delight ourselves in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4).

I’m fully aware that to be delightful is hard in difficult seasons or when you’re sick or when you are experiencing some other form of oppression. However, remember the pleasures, the joy and the solutions that we need come from delighting and rejoicing in Jehovah. So, whenever we get upset about something, become frustrated, feel worthless or uninspired or are worried about how things will pan out we should take our minds off those circumstances and exalt Him. If we can rejoice in Him while we are going through our challenges we will see His goodness in everything and we will definitely live beyond okay.

That’s one of my objectives for the remainder of this year - to simply enjoy God more and the seasons of my life that He continues to carry me through. I pray that you will also have the resolve to live beyond okay.

Feel free to add your comment below and also share this encouragement with someone else.

Shalom,

Tenneil

Your sister in Jesus Christ

DO NOT PARTNER WITH HELL!

Partnership is a very important thing. When two or more persons join together regarding any matter things can happen as they’ve purposed. You see, there is power in agreement and that is exactly what partnership is about. Agreement. It’s what a husband and wife do when they marry one another. It’s what business partners do when they choose to work together. It’s what leaders do when they decide to work together with those who follow them. Partnership is a natural part of our world because no one can do everything on their own. Even Jesus partnered with His disciples and continue to partner with us today.

One essential element for manifestation of God’s will in the earth is partnership. As followers of Christ, when we agree with God (through obedience to His word and voice), we essentially partner or enter into agreement with Him. This requires what I call direct or willing agreement on our part. Here's why, although God desires that we partner with Him daily concerning all aspects of our lives, He’ll never force us to. He waits for us to freely choose to do so.

One fact that many don’t realise is that whenever we are not in agreement with God, we are in partnership with the enemy of our soul - satan - whose only objective is to kill, steal and destroy us (John 10:10). He purposes every day to steal our joy, strength, blessings, peace and to shift us out of God’s will. Whenever we don’t agree with the truth of God’s word, we are automatically in agreement with the devil and he will not hesitate to destroy us.

That is why praying God’s word is so important. When we do, we are enforcing the agreement (covenant or contract) between us and God, which the enemy cannot derail. It’s what Jesus used against him in the wilderness (Matthew 4) and it is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). All we need to avoid partnering with hell is the word of God - to believe it, to live by it. So, whenever the devil shows up to divide our families or to infiltrate our dreams or to work through others to speak ungodly words concerning us, remember that you can partner with God! Believe and declare his word so that you can experience the blessing of partnership with Him and so that the devil will know that you are in agreement with God, not hell.

Shalom...

Your sister in Christ

Tenneil