True Life Tuesday Archives - My Journey to Refresh

When Spirit meets Soulmate

Happy Tuesday beautiful people! How are you? I’m sure by my cheesy smile you can tell I’m super excited, and if you know me well you probably know why. It is because autumn is FINALLY here! Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes, tan scarfs and thin sweaters here I come! The vibes of this season always tend to bring me great joy. When the color of trees change from forest green to almond brown, my heart can’t help but smile because the most wonderful time of the year is here. Stepping into this new season, my thoughts cannot help but revert back to my college years. You see, for many college students, it’s about that time, (if you are a college student reading this post, don’t act as if you don’t know 😉.) It’s time to get booed up with your selected choice of the season. Well, at least for me it was. Back in the day… I recall that being my main focus: finding Mr. Right, but for ALL the wrong reasons. At the ripe age of 17, I was free from my mom and away from religion. I believed if I took a 360 turn in my wardrobe, dropped a few pounds and dashed a little promiscuity here and there, I’d for sure get the boyfriend of my dreams. Sure enough, my life began to change, but not in a good way. Miss. Goody Two Shoes had gone bad. Two kickbacks and a blunt later, I stopped attending church and started to separate myself from Christ . I even began to hang out with people who I never thought I’d hang with just so I could be apart of the “in” crowd. During that time I began to deal with relationship issues from all arenas- friendships, guys, my parents and my family. I even began to question some of my religious beliefs and wondered if all I had been taught was a lie. I was truly confused and had no idea how I was going to make it through the rest of my college years. It literally took several flings, phony friendships, a wake up call from God and a Bible believing church in order to remind me I was worth more than a nice compliment and the front seat of a guys car. Now, that my friends is simply just a snippet of my story, but it is helps me to stay grounded in who God is, what He truly means to me and why it is important to stay committed to Him. Final Thoughts In my previous post, I Do, I Don’t Ummm, Maybe 🙄? I shared one of the main essentials I believe is necessary to have in order to prepare yourself for your future spouse. That necessity is to: Pray your future spouse has a relationship with God. However, I would like to add- on, before praying your future spouse has it all together with God, it’s time you pray YOU have it all together with God. Ask Him to reveal to you the areas in your life that need to be cleaned up. You’d be surprised at what He shares with you. Before you can make yourself one with another, it is important to make yourself one with God. By doing so, He will release the veils from your eyes and allow you to see the beautiful being He sees you as in the spirit. Once your spiritual being is revealed from the inside out, it will allow the eyes of your soul mate to fully see you for the first time as well. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:23-25

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The Secret Source Inside of You!

What’s up beautiful people?! Happy Tuesday and HELLOOOO Spring Break! My God it’s finally here! >>>> Side note: Mentioned in The Uncomfortable Truth , as a first grade teacher assistant always on the move, hopping around with 6 and 7-year-old know-it-alls, this week is truly a blessing. No classroom, no kids, no clock. Just me, myself and Abba. Ah what a dream come true! To jump start such phenomenal week, I attended the Jonathan McReynolds: Make More Room Tour with my best friend Maya! Talk about a blast! With a theatre full of young souls (old too 😉) crying out to make room for our Father to come in and take the place of our selfish ways (including mine) it truly encouraged me to keep pushing forward. Most importantly, reminding me who truly has the power in any case scenario: Jesus explains to us perfectly in Luke 10 verse 19 that He has provided us with AUTHORITY over every and any scheme attempted by the enemy. Which means anything the enemy tries to push towards you, you truly have the authority to push it back and declare “NOT TODAY SATAN.” Now, don’t get it twisted, the enemy is conniving and very deceitful, so hes not going to leave without a fight. Do know your emotions, feelings and mind will try to sike you out and if you’re not careful they’ll win (trust me I’m a working progress 🤔). However, as sons and daughters of the most high, our Father has blessed us with a source so strong that it has to live within us to make moves. That secret source, also apart of the trinity, is known as the Holy Spirit. Back Story After His Resurrection, before ascending to Heaven, Jesus shared with His disciples and loved ones, what would come to pass and what they should look for after He left. One of those resources being the Holy Spirit. John 16 verses 5 through 15 explains it well of how the Holy Spirit operates: “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate[a] won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now.13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’ John 16:5-15 NLT You see, the Holy Spirit, also known as the advocate, spirit of truth, and helper is with you and always ready to move on your behalf. His job is to guide you, tell you what is to come and listen to you with opening ears and a loving heart. It just takes us to keep still for a moment and receive what He wants to share with us. Final Thoughts When was the last time you had an encounter with the Holy Spirit? Was it at church on Sunday or a few weeks ago or maybe never? God does see us and yes He knows our heart, but He’s also waiting for us to stop messing around and get to moving. The movement I’m speaking of is faith. Because you know, without actions, it is dead. So this week I challenge you to make room for our Father and allow His Holy Spirit to engulf within you. Leave comments below and share if you’re led to do so! He has much to reveal to you. It’s time.

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A Sprinkle of Hope

Have you had your coming to Jesus moment yet? You know the time you decide you’re going to be “real” with God forreal forreal? Although you’ve already given your life to God by repeating the sinner’s prayer, you feel this sudden nudge in your body to announce to God you’re serious this time. If you have, no worries—we all have… it’s just something we don’t always admit. Well I’ll be one to say it is okay, however don’t be shocked when you find yourself standing in the prayer line once again. How can you be so sure, you might ask? We’ll I’ve been there, done that and I was seeking for that t-shirt for a long time. However it wasn’t until later in my life God revealed to me I had to truly trust Him in order to receive real salvation. You see when it comes to salvation and truly submitting yourself to God what you’re doing is giving your ENTIRE LIFE to God. Sounds easy right? Well for me it wasn’t and in all honesty I’m still learning and growing. I was just as Peter when he first met Jesus: suspicious, curious and willing. You see, when Peter first met Jesus in Luke 5:1-11, he was a simple fisherman trying to grab some fish for the evening. However, as the day turned into night, him and his crew was having no luck, so I can only imagine He was a little aggravated and ready to call it a night. But, at that very moment, Jesus stepped on Peter’s (also known as Simon) boat and told him to let down his net for a catch. Now, although Peter did complain about not catching any fish all night, he still made the decision to let down his net. And, low and behold fish began swimming in their nets like crazy. So, much so they their own boat began to break! Astonished by what had just taking place in his eyes, Peter fell down to his knees and repenting that he was a sinful man and Jesus should have nothing to do with him. Now, let’s pause right there. When Peter made that statement I could agree with him 100%. Simply because pretty much every day of my life I slip up. I may think something negative or handle a situation in a non-fitting way. And usually like Peter, I find myself crying my eyes out telling God to have nothing to do with me because I am a sinner. However in such calm and soothing way God meets me at my lowest state and every time it’s different. I may receive an enjoying text message, a phone call from a friend or a spiritual placed in my heart to visit. And sure enough after my encounter with God, I feel at peace and closer to my Father than ever before. So, do you want to know what happened after Peter repented? Well, in such loving and gentle way, Jesus responded in Luke 5:10, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” By reading the end of this story, even now, I am reminded that God is not set to harm us or put us in fleshly fear. Even in Peter’s negative mindset, a sprinkle of hope was there. Jesus noticed it and immediately acted upon it. So, my message to you tonight is it’s okay not to always have it right. Never think when you slip up God is going to push you to the curb and have nothing to do with you. Our God is love and He has an astonishing plan for you. You may not be able to see it at this very moment, but know it will come to pass. I mean look at the life of Peter. He screwed up in many situations walking right alongside Jesus … (hmmm can you relate?) But never did Jesus say pack your bags and get to stepping, no He’d correct him and showcased His reckless love for him. And sure enough our Father still does the same thing today. So the next time you are in a jam and feel like you’ve messed up severely with God. Be honest with God and let Him know how you’re feeling. Then, let those feelings go and expect a response from Him. I promise you He answers EVERYTIME.

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