Monthly Archives: February 2019

Weekly Devotions

is going to church NECESSARY?

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Often, I hear people say, “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian.” Is that true? Do you really need to “go to church” to be a Christian? Or can you just worship from home in your nice cozy covers? Or pray at home with your family?

Personally, I believe people say they “don’t need to go to church to be a Christian” because they just don’t want to go. If you don’t go to church every time the doors open, I am not calling you a terrible person. I just want to encourage you to rethink your priorities. Are you not going to church because you would rather do something else?

In some situations, “going to church” is not an option. Some people are unable to go to church because they don’t have transportation to get there, or maybe they work on Sundays or work odd hours or have parents that won’t take them. If you are sick or have the flu, please do not go to church. I encourage everyone to find a church and go there as much as you can; however, if you are unable to go, there are millions of online churches and livestream services. Just don’t use the excuse, “I can just watch it online” to avoid other people.

To answer your question, I am going to ask a question, “Why is the church there?” I live in South Carolina where there is a church building on every corner. One Sunday, my husband and I counted over 25 churches between our house and a 45 minute drive to the church we were attending (and those were just the ones we could see from the main road). Churches are everywhere, but why?

My #1 Reason for believers to go to church: “If we are truly “the Church (believers in Christ as a whole)” then we should desire to get together with other believers regularly. We are not meant to live life alone. It’s important to worship together, pray together, and encourage others in their walk with Christ. Do you desire to go to church?

Here are a few reasons why it IS IMPORTANT to go to church:

  1. The church is a place where people can gather together and worship God, the Creator and King.
  2. The church is meant to be a place where people encourage each other and build relationships to help them through life.
  3. Church should be a “safe haven” where people in need can turn to when they need assistance (spiritual, physical, or emotional). A homeless person or person in need should always be able to reach out to a local church for help.
  4. Church is not just a “hang out” for Christians. When a person becomes a Christian, other believers should gather with them and welcome them as family. The Bible says we are brothers and sisters in Christ. How often do you see or contact your brothers, sisters, family members, and friends? If we are all a spiritual family, don’t you think we should meet together?
  5. Church is a place for renewal and remembrance. Life is busy, and you are not intentional about making time for God, you will leave Him out. Making a commitment to attend church is a showing God that you are giving Him some of your time to devote yourself fully to worshiping and learning more about Him. How deep is your devotion to Christ?
    “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42
  6. The Bible tells us multiple times to ‘love one another’ ‘encourage” “teach” “disciple others” How can you do that with other believers if you never attend church?
  7. Yes, YOU are the church, not the building you go to; however, gathering in a house of worship is a great way to remind yourself that you are not in this fight alone.
  8. Your team is at your church, not on your couch or boat. Your “team” is your church family. I know that when I have a prayer need, I can depend on my church family to pray for me. So often people take their prayer requests to Facebook or other social media sites and expect every person that likes or throws up a prayer emoji to pray for them. Do you really think a prayer emoji counts as a prayer for your struggles? Praying with your church family is vital to the Christian life. Do you have a church family you can depend on to pray for you? If not, I encourage you to find a church, build relationships with other Christians, and serve God together. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
  9. Church builds community. A person that works alone cannot complete as much work as a person that has hundreds of people helping them out. When you go to church, you gain helpers to work beside you for the glory of God. Together, you can change the world. Imagine if there were empty churches everywhere and no one to lead Vacation Bible School? How many of you would not be saved? I know of a lot of people that were saved at VBS. Without churches that serve together and host VBS each year, how many children would never know about God? ”
    “ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” Colossians 3:16
  10. Going to church is a place where your Pastor and leaders can guide you through God’s word. The Bible is not always easy to understand, and Google does not have the answer for everything. Plus, if Google does have the answer for Biblical questions, how do you know which website to trust? It’s important to go to church to learn from others about your Heavenly Father.
    “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Romans 10:17
  11. You can’t sit still and expect God to move you. You have to take a step of faith and actually do something. Church is a great starting point.
  12. Why go to church? You need to. You may not always wake up on Sunday morning and want to get out bed to go to church, but you need to. God has a message just for you, but you can’t hear Him without letting Him speak to you.
    “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” 2 Timothy 4:2
  13. God equipped your Pastors, leaders, and teachers in your life for a reason. “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. ” Ephesians 4:11-13

I pray that this will encourage you to go to church next Sunday. If you already attend church on a regular basis, invite a friend next time. It’s time to introduce them to your spiritual family members.

May God bless you and show you His love and grace every day!

Weekly Devotions

break down your wall

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“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

In the next few weeks, I am going to go through each topic that was taken off the cross at Empowered Jesus Girl. First and foremost, I want you to remember that whatever you hung on the cross, YOU gave to Christ. That means, that the struggle you wrote down, you are no longer burdened to. Each day, I want you to wake up and remind yourself of the struggle that YOU gave to God. Don’t pick it back up or try to “fix” the struggle on your own; instead, leave it at the cross and let God lead you back into His everlasting arms.

If you were not at Empowered Jesus Girl, I want you to take time to meditate on one struggle that you are facing today. What’s holding you back from following God’s will? Is there something or someone that you are putting in front of your relationship with God? Maybe it’s anxiety? Fear? Anger? Arguing with a friend or family member? Friends that are leading you away from God? Materialism? Bitterness? Guilt? Shame? Whatever your struggle may be, give it to God. Imagine yourself nailing it to the cross and leaving it at His feet to take care of it Himself.

Believe it or not, He does not need your help. As a woman that likes to “fix” things or people myself, I find it hard to let go of things I feel like I can’t control. In all honesty, it is very hard for me to look at another person struggling and not want to “fix” them on my own terms. Over time, I have learned that I am not in control and I was never meant to “fix” anyone or anything. God is the One that is in control. When you have faith in Him, leaving your struggles at the cross, is the greatest relief you can obtain. But the hard part is, you truly have to leave it there. You can’t hold on to the tail of the struggle and continue to try to do everything on your own, you have to give it all to God and let Him do the work for you.

At the end of the night at Empowered Jesus Girl, I took down each tag from the cross and could feel the hurt, the pain, and the struggles that each of you are facing. For the one’s facing fear, I wanted to run to you and just remind you how fearless our God is.

To the one’s fighting depression, I wanted to tell you the battle is not over yet, never let the devil take away the joy God has given you.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

To the young lady that feels guilty over her sins and blames herself for situations that occurred in her family, I want you to know, it’s not your fault. It may seem like everything YOU did caused a ripple effect of bad situations, but in reality, people will fail you every day, but God never will. He is always with you.

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.” Psalm 118:1-18

To the one that is ashamed to say she is not on the right path and doesn’t know where she is going in her life, know that God has a plan for you. Just trust in Him and He will lead you.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

I could keep going on and on about each struggle that was left on the cross, but I’ll save those for another day. Today, I want to focus on the number one struggle that was posted on the cross, anxiety and depression.

There were young ladies 4th grade – adults that each posted their struggles on the cross that night. Out of all the 200+ ladies there, over half of them wrote “anxiety or depression” on their tag. The first one, was me.

You all know my battle with depression, and you know that it is still an off and on battle for me every day. I have good days and I have bad days, but on my worst days, I can look to God and know that He is still with me. He hears my cries when I am broken. He loves my smiles when I am joyous. He is never going to leave my side or stop fighting the battles I can’t do alone.

If you are suffering from anxiety or depression today, I want you to post scripture around your house, your room, or even just in the notes in your phone that will remind you of God’s goodness and grace. The best way to fight the devil is with the word of God. Pray in Jesus Name that the devil will stop knocking you down. The devil will attack you when you are weakest, but you are your strongest when you are in God’s word, surrounded by people that encourage you and lift you up in prayer. Don’t let the devil defeat you. Defeat him with God’s words, constant prayers and praise unto the Lord, and a never-ending love from Christ the Father.

Here are a few scriptures that you can write down, put in your phone, or post around you house as reminders God’s love. For Valentine’s Day, a lot of parents posted hearts on their kids doors each day writing down something that they loved about them. Why not take those hearts and write down things that your Father loves and does for you? Remind yourself daily of His love and you will find peace again.

May God bless you and show you His grace every day!

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:6-8

“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 5:13

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” Proverbs 12:25

Matthew 6:34 

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Joshua 1:9 

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

James 5:15 

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Romans 8:26 

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Jeremiah 29:11 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Isaiah 41:13 

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Matthew 11:28-30 

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Romans 12:12 

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Psalm 94:19 

When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

Hebrews 11:6 

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Romans 5:3-5 

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Psalm 118:1-18 

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. …

Proverbs 17:22 

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Psalm 34:18 

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Deuteronomy 31:8 

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Hebrews 11:1 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

John 10:10 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

James 1:2-4 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Matthew 11:28 

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

    Weekly Devotions

    Leave it at the cross

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    At the end of the night at Empowered Jesus Girl 2019, stood an old wooden cross covered with the sins and struggles each girl was facing.

    The altar was full, the tears were flowing, and sisters in Christ were kneeling together lifting each other up in prayers.

    What a powerful reminder of how we should be every day! Kneeling at the cross, laying down our struggles, giving God complete control, and lifting each other up.

    After the crowd left, the church was cleaned, and the room was left silent, I took down each tag off the cross and packed them away in a small box.

    When I came across the box the next day, I took each tag out and prayed over it. From anxiety & depression, to friends and family issues, shame and guilt, bitterness, selfishness & doubt, anger and fear, each tag was a cry out for help from the Lord. Each tag represented a girl that needed God to help her through her pain.

    Over 60 tags had anxiety, fear, or depression written on them. 30 said doubt, 23 shame, 42 friends/bad relationships. Many others with various struggles.

    Whatever your tag said, whatever is blocking you from following God’s will for your life, it’s time to let it go and give it to Him.

    Friday night, over 200 girls put their struggles on the cross and gave them to God, their path has been made clear, and they are working towards a closer walk with Christ.

    What’s holding you back? What do you need to nail to the cross?

    Make the decision today to follow God without distractions.

    Leave them at the cross and walk away with peace that only God can grant you!

    Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

    1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

    Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”

    May God Bless you and show you His grace every day!

    Weekly Devotions

    Empowered jesus girl is this friday!

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    We are so excited about Empowered Jesus Girl this year! We have over 200 girls signed up and a great line up of praise and worship, comedy, and a make-up tutorial by Stacy Simmons. I will be the speaker this year and I am so excited to see what God has in store for us! Taylor & Reid Hawkins will be leading praise and worship and we’ll be having FREE pizza and goodies from 6-7!

    Registration is open all week or you can register at the door! So far we have 242 girls signed up for this great event! Please pray for the team and the girls as we learn how to follow Christ with all that we are! God Bless!

    Go to WildernessGrace.org to register your group! For more info you can call me at 864-915-8094