Have you done an Examination?

Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind.” Psalms 26:2 (NIV)
 God has been dealing with me lately about examining the heart and I would like to share some things with you.

We all get busy and overwhelmed with the cares of this life, we go days and even weeks without taking time to examine ourselves and see where are hearts are. We often times spend so much time focused on the people around us that we forget to take a careful and contemplative look at ourselves.


The purpose of this post is to encourage you to take a look at your heart. The heart is that part of us that no one can see but God, it is that part of us that is so easy to hide. Lately, God has impressed upon me the need to take some time to ask him to search my heart and to make sure that my heart is in good condition (motives, desires, and sins).

God cares about our hearts and he wants our hearts to be pure.  Everything in our lives flow out of our hearts, every word we speak comes from our hearts. (”You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. Matthew 12:34). It is important that we examine our hearts.

 None of us are perfect and we all are here because of the grace and mercy of God. God is full of unconditional love for his children and it is safe for us to allow Him to face our “ugly spots”. He wants us to acknowledge and confess even small areas of sin in our lives. He wants us to allow Him to cleanse and refine our hearts. When we allow him to do this we can experience freedom in every area of our lives.

Remember to guard the most precious thing about you-your HEART.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
I love you and God loves you,

Kendra G.

Where is your Confidence?

I shared this with co-workers at work a while ago and I felt inclined to share this with you. I hope you are blessed by this.

        And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” 1 John 5:14-15

This verse can give us all confidence when we approach God because it reminds us that anytime we ask anything according to God’s will we already have whatever that we ask of him. The enemy wants us to believe that we have to beg and plead for something that already belongs to us. Healing, deliverance, blessing, peace and prosperity are all a part of God’s will for us, therefore when we ask God for those we already HAVE those things. He has already given them to us, we just have to receive it. I looked up some definitions for the main words in this passage and this is what I found:

Confidence- Full trust and certainty
Ask- to inquire of or request
Anything- to any degree or extent
According- agreeing or in harmony
Hear- to perceive or to apprehend

This scripture really encouraged me and hope it does the same for you. 

I love you and God loves you,

Kendra G 

Its a New Year, Are you still holding on to the Past?

Are you still holding on to the past?

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 

I am thankful that God has blessed us to see a New Year; I am excited about what God is going to do in our lives this year and the fresh start that he has given us. This is the year of INCREDIBLE OPPRUTUNITIES!
    
 I must admit that as I was reflecting on 2010 I began to see how in many areas of my life past issues held me back from receiving all that that God had for me and everything that he wanted to do through me. It is a trick of the enemy to make us dwell on the past and miss the new thing that God wants to do in us. Satan likes to put those little thoughts into our minds…..
“God can’t use you in that way.”  
 “You’ll never be good enough.”  
”After what you did?
I’ve had to learn a hard lesson……Don’t dwell on the past.   When you dwell on the past, it’s never really your past life, is it?  When you continually think about something, it becomes your world, your reality.  Satan knows this, and likes nothing better than to throw things up in our faces to discourage us, and to keep us from doing what we should be doing for God. This year I have made up in my mind to let go of the past and walk in the newness of life.

The purpose of this post is to encourage you as we began a new year to let go of anything from your past that can hinder you from being everything God has designed you to be. You will not be able to take hold of the incredible opportunities that God has for you until you release your past. Everything that God has for you will be ahead of you. Let go of that old mindset and those old habits that keep you stuck in the same place year after year. Do whatever it takes to the reach a new level in your life.

I want to encourage you to give your all to Christ and allow him to change every area of your life. I must tell you that there will be challenges along the way; the enemy will not make this easy for you. You will have to FIGHT to stay focused on what is ahead of you. Place your confidence in Christ and allow him to lead you into a new place in your life. Speak and declare victory over your life! This is your year and this is your season! I am so excited about God is going to do through you and I this year! Stay encouraged and keep your trust in God.

I love you and God loves you,

Kendra G.

Have you fallen for the GREATEST lie?

                 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1

This has been on my mind and I feel inclined to share this with you.

When the enemy deceived Eve he caused her to question God. He caused her to believe that God wanted to deny her something good, not provide her with something better. This is the same trick the enemy is using against us today. The enemy wants you to believe that you are "missing-out" on something in life.

The purpose of this post is to urge you to not believe the lie. Every command that the Lord gives us is for our own good. He knows us better than we know ourselves and he loves us. The reason why God says no sex before marriage is because he wants to protect us. He wants to give us true sexual fulfillment within marriage. Everything that he tells us to do is to ensure that we have the best life possible while on earth.

Please understand that God loves you and he wants the best for you. The enemy will make sin look good, but he is a liar. Please dont fall for the lie.

Endnote: I just want to share the things I wish someone would have shared with me years ago. I know I would have saved myself alot of pain. I am only here by the grace and love of God. I want to help you avoid the "pit-falls" Satan presents in this life. Believe and hold fast to every word of God. He has the BEST plan for your life.

I love you and God loves you,

Kendra G.                                     



Are you sharing Jesus with anyone?

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." 1 Peter 2:9

God has really been dealing with me lately on sharing the truth of His love and who He is. He has called us as Christians to be a light in a world that is dark. The truth of the matter is that we may be the only Jesus that someone may see. As I have been growing in my relationship with Christ I just feel obligated to tell someone about how great and awesome our God is. The transformation he has done in my life is too amazing to keep to myself.

The purpose of this post is to encourage you to share the love of Jesus Christ with someone. If you just sit back and take a look you will see that our world is hurting and looking for love in all the wrong places, When the only true love is found in Jesus Christ. I encourage you to allow your lifestyle to represent Jesus Christ and to do what you can to tell at least one person about him.

We serve a God who is more awesome than words can explain. This world is searching for an answer, the answer is found in Jesus Christ. Lets share this awesome God with a lost world.

Prayer: Jesus, We thank you because you are so awesome and amazing to us. Lord we ask that you remove all fear and guilt that would stop us from sharing your love with someone else. We ask that you provide opportunities to share our faith. Give us the courage and boldness to allow our lifestyles to represent you. Amen

I love you and God loves you,

Kendra G.

Are you serving God in your workplace?

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Colossians 3:23-24 NIV)

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1 NIV)

I must admit that last week the Holy Spirit really convicted me about something that I always overlooked in my Christian walk. On our jobs it is so easy for us to get caught up in the workplace "gossip" about our fellow co-workers or most often the authority figures that are in place. As I was listening to a Christian podcast on my cell phone God began to speak to me and show me what my role should be in my workplace and that my work is an assignment from God. This was challenging for me because I never thought my job(something I feel as temporary) could be considered as an assignment from God. God has shown me that we are to work as unto the Lord, meaning that in everything that we do we must do it as if we are doing it for God and not for the authority figures that are in place. He has also shown me that all authority is ordained by God and it is our job to submit to the authority even when we do not like their way of leading. I must admit that I have missed the mark in this area because I didn't treat my job as an assignment from God. I failed to realize how important this area of my life is to God.

The purpose of this post is to encourage you to look at your workplace in a different way, to put everything in perspective and see it as an assignment from God. Even if you do not have a job this same principle can be used in anything that you do. I am also a college student and I know that this principle applies to it as well. I am not saying that this will be easy becasuse the enemy will present every opprutunity he can to get you to compromise in anything that you do. He does NOT want you to live your life with the purpose that Christ created you for. I am going to be honest with you and tell you that this will be challenging and that you will have to "FIGHT" to be an example for Christ in all you do. This is a challenge that I have to face daily and I still have work to do in this area. We must remember that apart from Christ we are nothing and we cannot possibly do this without Him.We have to gain the strength from Him to do what he has called us to do. We must always remember that in our lives we are on a battlefield and that we are daily fighting a spiritual battle with a enemy that has already been defeated. Let's FIGHT to be a light at work, at school and even at home. Let's keep our heads up, our feet stable and FIGHT to be all that God wants us to be in every area of our lives! Remember the "JURY" has already spoken the "VERDICT" is in, the enemy is defeated and we "WIN"!

I really was not expecting to go in this direction with this post, but Christ has spoken and we as Christians are always winners. We just have to continue to fight for what is rightfully ours.

Prayer: Lord help me to be the person that you want me to be in every area of my life. I ask for forgiveness because I know that I have missed the mark on my job and at school. I ask that you give me the strength to do my job as if I am doing it for you. Help me to be a light for you in all I do. I cannot do this alone. Lord I need you. Lord I thank you because you are my everything. In Jesus name, Amen.

How are you using your words?

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit." (Proverbs 18:21 NKJV)

Lately God has been dealing with me intensely on the use of my words. I have learned that the words that I use are powerful and should be used carefully. I had never really thought about my words until recently and I would now like to share this important truth with you.

In my personal experience I have learned that in any situation that I face I have to make the choice rather to speak life or to speak death. Nobody can make this choice for me and this choice requires me to reach beyond how I feel or how the situation looks. I must admit that this has been especially challenging for me because it is so easy to go with my feelings and speak what I see. I have learned that when I do this I am damaging myself and adding further damage to the situation I am in. When I began to speak positive I feel peace in the midst of whatever I am going through even if the situation is still the same. When I began to speak the word of God over my life I see God beginning to work on my behalf. Words are extremely powerful!!

The purpose of this post is to inform you that the most powerful influence on your attitude and personality is what you say to yourself and believe about yourself. In life you will always have challenges and hardships but it is how you "SPEAK" during these times that determine how long you will be there. I know for a fact that I have been in situations alot longer then I had to because of the words of defeat that I spoke the during the difficulty. The words we speak are able to shape the course of our lives.

I want to encourage you today to speak words of life no matter what you are going through. As you speak words of life began to embrace the peace that will come in the midst of your storm. This will be extremely challenging at first because the situation may not go away immeadiately, but dont give up and continue to let your words transform your situation. Say to yourself, " I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ", " I am a winner", "God has a great plan for my life", " The devil has already been defeated" , " I CAN MAKE IT"

SPEAK LIFE!!

"Words are containers of power"-- Joyce Meyer

I love you and God loves you,

Kendra G.