Having Honest Motives Before God Part II A lot Christians worry constantly if they are living godly lives. They focus their attention on themselves. They try to live righteously in their own strength. Well, I can tell you, it's not possible! God did not design us to live in a self-focused manner and when we constantly try to get better on our own, be godly on our own, we are focusing all our attention - negative and positive - on ourselves, not the one who can actually change us. We are saved by grace through faith. Salvation is not based on our own works. We can never do enough or be good enough to become godly on our own. Righteousness comes from seeking God and allowing Holy Spirit to change us little by little. All we need to do is focus on Him. We need to focus our mind and heart on God, His Word, His will, and our motives will then become more righteous.  Instead of striving selfishly on becoming what we think God wants us to be, maybe we just focus on falling in love with th...

 Honest motives before God How can we be sure our motives are truly pure before God? When we come to Him in prayer, are our words rooted in selflessness—or driven by our own ambition? By practicing the following, we position ourselves for God to reveal what’s hidden within us, so we can release our own agendas and align with His purpose. 1. Ask God to purify our hearts.      a.  Before He creates a clean heart in us, He will first show us what is unclean in our hearts. Then we need to repent of that sin.     b. Once we truly repent, we need to fully receive the Lord's forgiveness for that impurity found in us.     c. Then we can c ry out to God to give us His motives. Psalms 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me." Psalms 139:23 "Search me, oh God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Philippians 2:13 "...Fo...

 Is God Calling His Women Out Of The World? In the past 6 months I have gone through a major dynamic shift in my life. For as long as I can remember, I've put my God-given identity on the back burner and forced a new identity influenced by the world. Every step I've taken in the last 20 years has been to build a career to make as much money as I can and gain high standing in the workforce. I've pushed myself to earn certifications and I've constantly pursued continued education in areas that I wasn't really interested in but knew it would gain me a nice paycheck. But I have been unhappy. I've been lost. The better I was doing in my career, the more hopeless I became. Eventually, I lost my true identity in the rat race.  My last job was horrible and after losing it, I tore myself apart trying to figure out what my next step was. Should I find another full time corporate job doing what I really didn't like? Or did God have something else for me? But if the lat...

What the Gospel of Jesus Christ Actually Is — and Why His Death Was Necessary The word “gospel” gets used so often that its meaning can become blurred. For some, it’s reduced to a motivational message. For others, it’s simply “Jesus loves you.” While both are true in their own way, neither captures the full weight, cost, or power of the Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not merely encouragement—it is a rescue mission. To understand it fully, we must look behind the scenes at why Jesus’ death was necessary and why He is called the Lamb. The Original Problem: Separation From God From the beginning, humanity was created for intimate relationship with God. Adam and Eve walked with Him freely—no shame, no fear, no separation. But sin changed everything. Sin is not just “bad behavior.” It is rebellion against God’s authority, a fracture in the relationship between Creator and creation. When sin entered the world, it brought with it spiritual death—separation from God’s presence. God is...

 Unmasking The Jezebel Spirit You’ve probably heard the phrase *“the spirit of Jezebel”* in Christian circles—but what does it really mean? Let’s break down who this spirit is, how it operates, and how to overcome its influence. Who (or What) Is the Spirit of Jezebel? The Jezebel spirit takes its name from the biblical Queen Jezebel, whose story in 1 & 2 Kings reveals a manipulative, idolatrous, and power-hungry ruler. Her name means *“unhusbanded”* or *“without submission,”* reflecting a spirit that refuses accountability or partnership. The Jezebel spirit is a high ranking spirit and has many spirits under its control. This spirit leads people into sin. All demonic spirits do this but the Jezebel spirit stands apart from them as this spirit is not as compulsive as lower demons but exhibits political cunning as well as patience in its schemes. It may wait years to calculate and make its moves.  This is not just a “female” issue—the Jezebel spirit can operate through men o...

 ...as they went, they were cleansed. In Luke 17:12-19 we read about 10 lepers healed by Jesus. The difference of this healing compared to many others we read about is that it was not an instantaneous healing.  In verse 14 it states that once Jesus saw the lepers, he said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." and that's it. He didn't touch them, He didn't say anything more than just that. And that verse wraps up by stating "And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. " This speaks volumes to me as someone who has become disheartened when I didn't get an immediate response to my prayer like I thought I should.  This is so dangerous for us as believers because it puts us in a position of demanding of God what we think He should do or how He should act.  And when He doesn't respond to us accordingly, we lose faith. When healing does not take place instantly our faith waivers and we sabotage our progressive healing. We need to stand...

The Gratitude Journal       This morning I decided to dig out my old gratitude journal and restart that habit.  I went back to the very beginning to see when I actually started this journal, because I certainly have not been faithful to it, and I saw that the very first entry was the day my husband got his desired job at his company. I scanned through a few more pages, reminiscing on everything I wrote out that I was grateful for each random day, until I finally got to today's page and started to fill it out. About five lines down I wrote I'm grateful for "God – obviously".  And then I stopped and thought about it. Why did I write that? Why did I feel the need to add 'obviously'.   Did I write that because I truly meant it or did I write that because I would have felt guilty for leaving God off my list?  Stopping and really thinking about it, am I truly grateful for God?  I realize that yes I can say and believe I am, but is that really ...

 In Luke 10:19 Jesus says: "Behold, I give you the authority to TRAMPLE on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy,  and nothing shall by any means hurt you.". I've read this scripture dozens of times but for some reason this time the word TRAMPLE stuck out to me so I decided to look up the definition. TRAMPLE: to tread heavily on, roughly, carelessly ; to DOMINEER HARSHLY OVER,  to CRUSH ... This verse displays the utter disgust that we should have for the enemy and it shows that we should not be lenient on them at all! To look disgustingly down on and crush... Too often, we as Christians find ourselves either running from the enemy or just trying to live life like the devil doesn't exist. Why have we become so complacent in this battle that we are more inclined to turn a blind eye and ignore the enemy as they ravage our families, our health, our relationships, our world??   We have become so numb to the fiery anger we should have towards S...

God Is In Control?? As Christians we have become comfortable using the phrase "God is in control". Yes, that brings us comfort and reminds us of a sovereign and Omni-present God that can bring us through a rough situation, but what does that tell non-believers about our God? A puppet master in the sky controlling everything we do, say, and think does not sound alluring. And with all the bad that happens in this world, saying that God is in control inadvertently puts the blame on Him when things go wrong.  What would be a better way to talk about God's sovereignty without giving the impression that He infringes upon our free will? What Does Controlling Mean? To be controlling means that a person attempts to conform another person to their own needs or desires through some form of manipulation, threat, or physical overpowering.  The Bible actually uses the words 'controlling' and 'manipulating' to describe the character of a demonic spirit. This spirit is th...

Spiritual Warfare: A Practical Guide - Part 3 In our last part on Spiritual warfare, we took an in depth look at the full armor of God and how to apply it daily. Below is a bonus thought to add even more fuel to your fire for God. Praise & Worship The Bible teaches us that the devil is  “a roaring lion, roaming around, seeking whom he may devour” . This is a daily thing. Especially if you want to be effective for God’s kingdom, you will have daily resistance, which is why putting on this armor daily is so important.  In addition to putting on the armor, the following will aid in success against the enemy.      I recently had dinner with a group of amazing women and picked their brains about what they do daily to stay close to God in the midst of their busyness. What was their daily training?  Full time mom of three, single mother working more than full time, recent empty nester working full time, and a full time working mother of two college kids and tw...