One of my favorite scriptures comes from the book of Romans. In chapter 8 verses 38-39 we are informed that there is NOthing that can separate us from God’s love. Often times I am faced with having to apply this scripture to my own life. Many times I am successful and sometimes I’m not.

In those unsuccessful times I feel:

• I am not good enough for God
• I know he loves me but there are many more works that I must do to get back on his good side, or 
• I need to work hard and focus on being better so that God will be pleased with me and able to use me. 

I know I’m not the only one to have ever felt this way and I want to let you know that while you may truly feel like this, these feelings are in complete conflict with the word of God. If you are feeling unusable, unworthy, or unable and you are a believer of Jesus Christ and sure of your salvation then remember this…Because of Christ you ARE usable, worthy, and able right here, right now! I don’t care what you did last night, 5 mins ago, or what you are planning to do 3 hours from now, God loves you, has redeemed you, and set you apart for holy use…HIS holy use. If you want to be used then he will use you! Repent, turn to him, and let him work! It’s really that simple.

All of July I felt unworthy of my call, purpose, and interactions with others. Not only did God use his word to tell me that it’s not through my own strength and power but through his spirit that things are done but he proved it to me by using me in ways that I cannot take credit for (Zechariah 4:6). This was a blessing! It re-taught me something valuable, this whole ministry thing, Christian lifestyle, and walk with God is way bigger than me.

I fell deeper in love with my Heavenly Father because even though I did not feel like I should be used or could be used, he chose to use me regardless! Regardless of my mistakes, my hurt, my confusion, my discontent etc. And because of this it moved me out of the realm of condemnation and into the safe space of his grace and mercy! I was beating up on myself and all God wanted me to see was that Christ’s sacrifice was enough and it was time to move forward.

As I wrote in the post “It was enough”

Having to walk away from people that you love and care about…
Stepping away from an addiction…
Leaving a job, ministry, or school…

Whether healthy for you or not, walking away from some things and people can be a very difficult and overwhelming task. If you happen to be in a season of transition where you feel God calling you away from one thing and pointing you in another direction I want to encourage you. Keep reading ;)



1. It’s okay if you find it hard. It’s okay if it hurts. It’s okay if you’re sad.
When you have found security, peace, love, comfort, and happiness in certain people, places, and things walking away from that into the unknown is scary. “Where will I find this feeling again?” “How do I walk away?” “What if I’m not ready to deal with the reality outside of this?” “What if I don’t want to walk away?” are some of the questions you may ask.

The truth is it is hard to walk away from what’s known. It does hurt emotionally and sometimes physically to give up the security of what you know or were beginning to know so well. It can be sad and may take you through a momentary grieving and detoxification process.

But the reality is, if God is nudging you to move on and forward he will add some ease to the difficulty, he will replace the pain with comfort, and he will restore your strength through his joy!

Make a list of what you will miss about what or whom you are walking away from. Can God provide you with those items? (This provides some serious perspective) Truth is, everything that we are looking for in man, drugs, alcohol, shopping, food, money, our jobs, churches, etc has already been provided. God has already given us everything we need through him. You need peace? He is that! You want joy? He gives that! You need attention? That’s not going anywhere. You want validation? You find it all throughout the bible. Do you want security and stability? You’ll find it as you become grounded in his word! You want money? Well you have access to everything God has and what he gives is always better than money!

God can be our everlasting everything, we just need to sit back and receive it all from him knowing that trusting it to come from people, places, and things will only bring momentary satisfaction.

2. It’s okay to still want whatever it is.

Forbidden fruit is always more desirable. Adam and Eve struggled with it and so do we. But we do have freewill and must make a choice remembering that each decision comes with an outcome be it positive or negative. Stay in prayer, in your word, and keep your thoughts focused on how great God is and where he is taking you! Constantly thinking about what you need to walk away from keeps you there way longer!

Weigh the costs. Are you willing to forfeit your future even momentarily to stay where you are comfortable knowing that when God moves you from something he always has your best interest in mind? If the answer is yes, by all means remain stagnant. But if not I pray you gain the courage and boldness to move forward!

I don’t have a perfect formula for walking away from the things that have our hearts, spirits, minds, and/or flesh wrapped up. I struggle with it every time I have to! But I do know who to direct you to that does have the perfect answer for your individual need!

One thing I can appreciate about loving Jesus is that He is the one love I’ll never have to let go of.  So whenever I have to walk away from someone I love, something I crave, or feel I need to move forward I know that he will be there to assist me every step of the way loving me the same no matter how many steps back I stumble or leaps I take forward.

You see God knows our individual needs and situations and has the best blueprint on what to do next. Again I encourage you to pray and get in your word. Allow him space to speak to you in whatever manner you guys connect and then be obedient to what he is asking you to do.

Your obedience is better than sacrifice. If you have been led to move forward then you have to work on letting this go so you can get to that. Who knows, there may be a time in the future that God will allow your path to intertwine with someone or something again (IF IT’S HEALTHY, PUSHES YOU CLOSER TO GOD, AND IS IN HIS WILL FOR YOU). But then again it may not. My prayer is that you will be okay with either of those endings, standing firm on what God has called you to move forward from and in!

All my love!
Mel

The Holy Sprit is one of the greatest gifts received by believers of Christ. It’s a teacher, counselor, advocate, corrector, and can be a huge hug when you need one. As a corrector believers will often experience conviction that helps us to know when we are heading down a wrong road or about to make (or have already made) a wrong turn.

Sometimes conviction can be a difficult pill to swallow but it is a necessary part of our Salvation package. Without it we would only set ourselves apart from God. That is the opposite of being set apart for God’s use.

Conviction works immediately and should move one to repentance. If you continue to feel extreme guilt after you have repented (or turned from sin) that is coming from you not forgiving yourself or the enemy himself.

Understand this…the cross was enough! What Jesus did to save you, to wipe your sins away, to cause God to forget about all the yuck of yesterday, to cause God to see you without blemish, to cause God to hold not one fault over your head…it was enough.

There’s nothing else you can do to become more forgiven. Forgive yourself and rest in one of the benefits of Salvation: freedom from condemnation. (Romans 8:1)

Yes, I understand you hurt BUT you must stop wasting all your energy on people that have hurt you!

When someone cuts you deep it is very difficult to not have them or their actions on your mind. But this constant ruminating leads to negative thoughts that consume you and hinder your ability to walk in line with God's will! For this reason, you must let it go!

I'm not gonna encourage you with the whole hater spiel about how God will make your enemy your footstool etc etc. While this is word and truth I feel it's counterproductive for this post. Every time I hear people talk about dealing with people who hurt them, they are over consumed with how their enemies will pay for their actions and they negate introspection. In other words, they forget to look inwardly.

Over the last month I've probably cried enough for an entire nation because of how I've been treated and because of the false/negative words spoken over my life. 

(I know, I know get some thicker skin Melanie...sorry but I love people. I love them happy. I genuinely love interacting out of love. So when my good intentions or positive interactions receive hate in return it hurts. It’s a personality thing)

I cried out to God in anger, hurt, and confusion asking why they would treat me the way they did, why God would allow this to happen after all the sacrifices I made to serve him and him alone, and why it hurt so bad when I know I shouldn't have allowed it to negatively affect me the way it did. 

The answers to these three questions were simple:

1. The enemy uses ANYONE that’s willing to be used. So whether we've been friends for 16 years or not if he can use them to throw me off track then he will. If he can use them to throw you off, then he will. If he can use YOU to throw them off, then he will! That's why it's important to be slow to speak and think before acting. Always ask yourself, “Is it God using me right now or Satan?”  

2. This walk comes with a side of persecution. Serving God and his children does not exempt me from people talking about me, life being flipped upside down, or things not going my way. It is what it is! We have to be grateful that we have a God we can turn to for protection, support, and deliverance!

3. It hurts because when you’ve prayed for a heart like that of our loving Father, anything returned in a negative manner will cause grief!

But it’s how we deal with that grief that is most important. 

For days I replayed the hurtful incidents including how I could have and probably should have dealt with these individuals in the moment. I thought about all the smart mouthed things I could have said and prayed to God basically just telling on them for what they did as if he didn’t already know.

I finally got sick of asking for God to help me forgive and move forward but going right back into these OBSESSIVE thoughts after saying Amen. I had to make some changes. 

So I did what Philippians 4:8-9 commands and focused on God things. This forced me to:

• Praise a little more
• Pray blessings over those who hurt me just a little more
• Look at myself and see where I blew things out of proportion
• Looked at myself and dealt with the areas (or began to deal with the areas) that were under attack. For example one thing was "seeking man's approval". If I'd be content with God's stamp of approval many of the things people said would have rolled off my shoulders. 

By looking inwardly God was able to show me where I needed to make changes. The greatest part was he let me know that I didn't have to do it alone. That it wasn't gonna be by my strength or power but by his Spirit…by his grace that he gifted to me (Zechariah 4:6).

It's all a process but may I encourage you woman of God...Stop focusing so much on how your enemy will become your footstool and how vengeance is the Lords. Because in all our hating and anger we may end up becoming that footstool and reaping the vengeance we hoped on someone else. You see the bible does apply to all of God's children. The blessings AND the curses…Even those super saints who give up moments of control to the devil will reap what they sow…We reap what we sow! 

So sow love. Sow praise. Sow understanding and compassion. Sow into yourself by looking deep at what those negative actions caused to rise up in you and deal with it. I'm certain that the lessons you learn will help you in your next season! 

Stop wasting your energy on the people who've hurt you and change your focus to God things. #GainPeace #GrowWhileYoureDoingIt

The devil has this clever way of making the child of God that has taken a couple of steps back feel that they are too far out of the way of saving or of God’s love. Although this is not true this is what he does for a living and he's good at it…the lies that is.  

I'm just here to remind you that set backs are not your end all be all when it comes to God. Here’s one thing that God knows about us that we often forget: We are humans and we make mistakes. Some mistakes we learn from immediately others take some time to overcome. Regardless they happen and God just wants for us to recuperate after the fact by returning to him! (no matter the situation)

The enemy will magnify your wrongs and make you forget about all that you're doing right. But remember you do not have to live in condemnation! Praise God for your successes and keep moving forward! (Romans 8:1-2)

The enemy will tell you, you have fallen too far off for God to still love, use, or care about you. Have you not read Romans 8:38-39. There's nothing that will separate you from God's love. God can use anybody he wants and trust me, he wants to use you!

The enemy will tell you that you have been away far too long and you don't have a right to come back. Have you not read the story of the prodigal son? (Luke 15:11-32)

The point? You're not too far off to come back to God. His arms are open to receive you right now! Flaws and all! The longer you wait the longer you put yourself in danger. Satan wants you out in the wilderness with no protection. There he can taunt you and do what he desires most steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). There you cannot complete your life's destiny! 

Come back into God's arms! He wants you now! No matter how far you have fallen off! It could be that you literally have turned from God and been out there actin up…or that you have allowed the eating disorder to take control once again…maybe you have allowed for that man to come back into your life even though every bit of the relationship deals with pain. I don’t know. Regardless God is saying “come home”!

You might be asking how? Just say "Lord I'm sorry for turning from you and [insert what you need to here] I want to come back to your arms where I'm safe! I want you to be my God again. In Jesus name! Amen"

It's all quite simple :) I'm glad that you're back in his will. I'm praying that as the process to become the called women of God he desires continues that you are able to stay on track and steadfast in your purpose. 

Need prayer? Contact us here!

God bless
Mel

I want to share something that I wrote in my journal earlier this week with you. If it’s for you then awesome! Apply it and watch God move in your life like never before! This is what came to my spirit after reading the following Scripture please allow it to change your life for the better!

Daniel 9:13 NIV
Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.

We all go through it! Many of us are going through it right now! Like really going through it! Yet we refuse to turn to God! We ignore his truths because we don’t want to be bound by what we see as rules (I guess because we prefer to be bound in sin and our situations) and/or you may feel unworthy to go to God because we mistake the church’s fickle attitude for how God views and treats us. We must remember that we serve a consistent and loving God that works with a “by any means necessary” mentality to get his children to return to him!

If you are in a disastrous season and you know that you aren’t living for God the way you have been called, see what happens when you repent (turn around) and give attention to his truth (the word/bible). Try it out for a few months and see how that goes.

Now I know there’s a difference between tragedies occurring, punishment, persecution etc. and not everything is happening because we are in the wrong. I dare not try to emulate Job’s friends and say that you are going through any of your storms or trials because of something you are doing wrong…BUT it’s time for you to examine your own heart. Maybe this season of blah is present because God is waiting for you to turn around so everything else in your life can too. Go to God! He’s waiting!

In Truth Study last Friday we continued our study on idolatry. Of course this brought up the topics of relationships and desire for marriage. One of our sisters was open enough to share her experience. She had allowed a particular man to come back in her life even though she knew it was an unhealthy relationship. Wrapped up in his charm, desire to feel loved, and the desire for marriage she is finding it hard to leave him and the expectations of what he can be behind. This led us to look at a scripture that ministered to us all as we have been in this situation at least once in our own lives. This is what I want to leave with you. 

This can be applied to romantic relationships, friendships, partnerships, family…RELATIONSHIPS period

Luke 11:24-26 NKJV
When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

Isn’t it just awesome that once you are getting your life in order and finally feeling free that the one person or thing that had you wrapped in “the bondage of them” comes back knocking on your door?! The scripture above tells us what will happen to us if we let that person or thing back in our lives! If God has delivered you and you have walked out please do not go back! You do not want to be worse off than you were the first or second…maybe even third time you did!

The desire to feel loved, held, and have attention must be found elsewhere preferably in Jesus Christ! If the Holy Spirit has been nudging you to leave a relationship then please take heed! And once you have walked out stay out! Yes, it is a rough road. You will miss them. You may cry. You may want to answer every text or call they send. You may hope you run into them. You may be angry if they are not chasing you. You may lose investors, comfort, or stability for a moment BUT you will find the peace, joy, and strength that you deserve. No need to look back! The past has shown you what it has to offer! You deserve better! God has better for you! (And I’m not simply referring to a better man) HE has a life planned that is meant to prosper you (Jeremiah 29:11)! So don’t worry about another romantic relationship (or friendship etc) forming. Seek HIS purpose and grow in who you are in this new season. Everything else will fall into place (Matthew 6:33).

Do not open the door to the past! It ain’t worth it!

Seeing as though THIS FRIDAY we are having Truth Study I thought I would recap what we covered in the last one for all of you! If by chance any of you beautiful ladies want to join us THIS FRIDAY from 6-8pm we would love to have you.Sign up here so that I know you are coming! That way you get the directions and there will be enough snacks for everyone!

Here are the main points we took away from our last study dealing with idolatry:

1. When we are experiencing discontent recognize what we are pursuing.
What we pursue and what we sacrifice for are important things to look at because they just might be serving as gods in our lives. Idols are insatiable, they always want more and are never satisfied. If we are feeling unsatisfied it’s a good time to ask God, am I pursuing the right things? With God, we can be content right where we are. It doesn’t mean we don’t desire more, but we are okay until God moves us forward.

2. Speak life over our situations and ourselves!
No down talking ourselves!!! We are ready for where God is taking us, he can supply all our needs, he has already supplied all our needs, we are great parents, employees, friends, and children of God, we are worthy, successful, favored by God…the list goes on.

3. Seek peace and pursue it
Always seek peace from God!!! The Holy Spirit lives inside us therefore we should always walk in freedom and peace! Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty! (2Corin 3:17)

4. Anything we ask for in Jesus name he will give us
God hears us! If we believe when we pray and ask for anything in Jesus name he will answer those prayers. I believe in the spirit realm God acts immediately! In many cases we have to respect the process and walk it out until we see the results in the natural! Our responsibility is to have faith!

• You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:14 NIV)
• If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22 NIV)

5. What happens when God goes silent?
He is always with us because he never leaves us or forsakes us but maybe, just maybe he has already given us all the answers and directions we need…move forward in obedience and God will continue to speak when you are ready to hear more.

I hope this will help someone through the remainder of this week! And I pray that we see you out this Friday! Sign up to come out and grow with us! 

After drinking 3 Venti White Chocolate Mochas it’s more than likely you’ll successfully pull an all-nighter or get through the workday but you’ll probably experience the shakes and eventually crash. During a drunken stupor one might experience a good time but have a hangover from hell the following morning. (Everyone has a testimony)

The same thing can happen in the spiritual realm! And while many of us know this, it doesn’t stop these crashes from sneaking up on us even if we feel prepared for them.

In the month of May my schedule and life was full of new opportunities, several spiritual highs, and several transitions related to forward movement in God. People, including myself, have been released from years of bondage, lives have turned to Christ in ways like never before, and the enemy has been losing his workers as they form these more intimate relationships with God. You would think that I’d be having the greatest praise party.

Nah, even though I pray daily and devote time to God everyday I moved into a realm of doubt, discouragement, and extreme fatigue. Like it didn’t matter how much I slept or how much I attempted to engage in energy giving exercises I could barely make it through the day without feeling like my body was going to give up on me. I was very aware that this attack on my physical body was spiritual but spent more time complaining about being fatigued than actually speaking against it. Earlier in the week I spent time reflecting and here is what God showed me!

1. God was added to my to do list

Although I didn’t realize it, God became an item on my to do list! My prayer time, devotion time, and meditation was simply to say I did it. Check, now we can move on to the next task for today. Being disconnected from God 

A few weeks ago I was playing around and allowed for a couple of words to come out of my mouth that were…let’s just say inappropriate. Now what I said wasn’t too much of a shocker to many in the room but surprised the mess out of one particular person. As soon as I said it all I could think was, “Lord please forgive me!” Matter of fact before I said it I knew I should have shut my mouth. Even though I had time to stop myself, I didn’t.  

THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM LIES.

I knew I shouldn’t have said it but I said it anyways! If you are feeling convicted or that you should not do something or say something then please listen! That’s the Holy Spirit saying “hold up homie, think about this first!” We never know what will negatively affect someone else’s walk with God! Although it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever said in my life it was something that could have gone without repeating. Days later this person was still telling people, “I can’t believe she said that!”

Even though this was not that big of a deal to some, it was something that could throw this person off in their budding walk with God and could prevent them from receiving from me in the future. What if 6 months down the line I have to counsel them on watching what comes out their mouth? My credibility just might be shot and now all they can think about is how hypocritical Christians are. (Now of course there are many positive ways to correct this if it did happen but that’s not the point! We wouldn’t have to put these strategies to use if we do what we’re supposed to do initially)

None of us are perfect. Many of us say and do things we shouldn’t and while we are all human at some point accountability must come into play, especially when conviction hits. If I am doing something to cause someone to look at God in a negative light or causing them to become confused about God’s expectations I am out of line and out of the will of God.

If you have doubt in your mind about you engaging in a certain behavior listen to it because if you don’t, you’re sinning off top. Don’t believe me…let me show you what God showed me: 

Romans 14:22-23 NLT
You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. 23 but if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.

This scripture can hit so many different angles! Whatever it brought up for you…follow your convictions in that area! ;) It’ll be worth it! Have a blessed rest of your week!

I’ll throw in this one as well: 
Proverbs 13:3 Message Version
Careful words make for a careful life; careless talk may ruin everything.