A Good Woman

A good woman is proud of herself.

She respects herself and others.

She is aware of who she is.

She neither seeks definition from the person she is with, nor does she expect them to read her mind.

She is quite capable of articulating her needs.

A good woman is hopeful.

She is strong enough to make all her dreams come true.

She knows love, therefore she gives love.

She recognizes that her love has great value and must be reciprocated.

If her love is taken for granted, it soon disappears.

A good woman has a dash of inspiration, and a dabble of endurance.

She knows that she will, at times, have to inspire others to reach the potential God gave them.

A good woman knows her past, understands her present and moves toward the future!

A good woman knows God.

She knows that with God the world is her playground, but without God she will just be played.

A good woman does not live in fear of the future because of her past.

Instead, she understands that her life experiences are merely lessons, meant to bring her closer

to self knowledge and unconditional self love.

TRUST

A friend of mine sent these song lyrics to me...how fitting they are for my life!

TRUST ME

Crystal Lewis

close your eyes take a step itʼs ok i know where weʼre going
donʼt fret iʼve
been before through these valleys down these long and dangerous roads yet dark
as they seem
trust me though you canʼt see you can trust me the way may be
steep you can trust me let me lead...trust me
open your eyes but donʼt let
go of my hand let your tears give way to smiles see the joy inside the trial
donʼt worry youʼre safe with me around rest assured iʼm on your side i wonʼt
let you hit the ground but close as it seems..
itʼs true that whatʼs in
front of you isnʼt always clear but you must believe it in your heart that iʼm
here - iʼm here!

Hope Now

So, lately I have been thinking about Hope Now...the song. Here are some of the Lyrics...

If everything comes down to love

Then just what am I afraid of

When I call out Your name

Something inside awakes in my soul

How quickly I forget I'm Yours

(PRE-CHORUS)

I'm not my own

I've been carried by You

All my life

(CHORUS)

Everything rides on hope now

Everything rides on faith somehow

When the world has broken me down

Your love sets me free

That is how I have been feeling here lately, that everything rides on hope now, everything rides on faith somehow....

When everything has been moved away, taken from my grips, my only choice is to ride it on hope and faith, right?

I was thinking about that movie Indecent Proposal, in the beginning of the movie the two characters went and was trying to get funding to build their dream home. Their funding was denied, so they took all of their savings to Vegas and put it all on the table. They placed all their bets on the roulette wheel landing on their color.

Isn't that how we walk in our faith walk sometimes, we go before the Lord and we ask him to grant us this one wish and we were are denied, or even just delayed (for HIS timing) we take our resources and try to turn it into what we want on our own!

But God wants us to place all our bets on Him, put everything we have on HIM!!
All of our hope, rest it into His hands! Honestly, how can he place something in our hands if they are already full of the things we don't want to let go?

So, cast all of your lots on HOPE!!

The Master's Hand

Sometimes I feel as if I am drowning. Everytime I find a solid ground it turns to quick sand. Leaving me grasping for only the Master's Hand.

Years ago I prayed that I would follow the Lord where ever He wanted to take me. I prayed that I would grasp hold of His hand and follow, whether I could see the next stepping stone or not, I would trust Him, blindly! Funny, when our hearts line up with our words He honors those.

So for the last couple of years, I have been following, blindly. Sometimes feeling..well, frankly forsaken.

But I know that I am not forsaken. As I said before everytime I reach for something other than His hand, he removes my "crutches", leaving me with only one option, Him. He is always there! He answers my cry, when I cry out to Him. Being dependent is a very vulnerable feeling, but My Lord, makes me vulnerable to HIM! Which is what makes me STRONG! Doing things on my own doesn't make me STRONG, that makes me resourceful, but real strength comes from letting go!!

He told me once that I would be as a tree planted by the waters, and I would spread out my roots by the river, and although the heat comes, I will continue to bear fruit!
I am not drowning, I am planting, ...these waters that I am treading through are for the strengthing of the roots!

Still

Psalms 46:10 Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Wow, be still? Now there is a concept. I am not a still person. I am constantly in motion, from the time my feet hit the floor until my exhausted body finally falls into the bed. Even when I am in a state of relaxation, my mind is thinking of the 5,000 things just waiting for my attention. So, when I felt the Lord whispering this to me, ok, screaming this at me...I had to take a step back and say Ok, Lord what are you showing me. So, in my quest to know what the Lord is telling me in this time of my life this is what I found.

While be still, means to relax, withdraw...I find it interesting that is also means to let drop, abandon, relax, refrain, forsake and LET GO. Ok, so the Lord is telling me LET GO, honey and know, I am God, I am the True God and I will be exalted, He will be lifted up among the heathen, which means the nations, and all the earth. Ok, so it sounds so simple, right...but yet when you are a single mother with many responsibilities, letting go is not something you do. I think if I am not handling it or thinking about the next plan of action, it simply won't get done. And while there are things I need to take a concern to, God is telling me, Melissa, Let go, relax, rest in me, and KNOW I am your God and I am working this out for you!

Oh the peace of knowing that my God has concerns of every aspect of my life. Not just my life but of those that he calls his. So, whether you are a total control freak like me or whether you struggle with tending to one area of your life, hear the Lord when he says, child Let go, let me.

Now Faith

I was reading this scripture as I often do, because it is a great faith builder, and as often as it is read and quoted , I always see a different meaning hidden in there. This time, as reading it, I placed the emphasis on the NOW part. Using now as an adverb, it changes the whole perspective of the scripture. NOW FAITH...what is NOW faith, well it is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen.

What is substance...Strong's 5287 says that substance is: a setting or placing under thing put under, substructure, foundation that which has foundation, is firm that which has actual existence a substance, real being the substantial quality, nature, of a person or thing the steadfastness of mind, firmness, courage, resolution confidence, firm trust, assurance
And one step further to the evidence...Strong's 1650 says that evidence is: a proof, that by which a thing is proved or tested conviction

Wow, so now with a deeper understanding of the words used here, we see that Now Faith is the substructure, Firm foundation, actual existence, real being, steadfastness, firmness, assurance of things hoped for, and the proof of things not seen.

Reading on, the chapter discusses our forefathers in the Faith and how their faith was counted unto them as righteousness. I read how Noah, being moved by faith built the ark to save his family from the flood. I realized that Noah had NOW Faith, he believed, even before there was rain, that it was going to fall. He operated his NOW faith with building the ark. Preparing the ark and having everything ready when the rain came down. He began preparing for the evidence of something not seen years before the onset.

So in our faith walk, in our hopes, Let us put into action NOW Faith, preparing our ark, living our hopes as actual existence, with the steadfastness of mind, confidence, firm trust and assurance.

Live NOW for the evidence of things not seen!

Believe

I had a vision of Abraham walking up the hill with his son Isaac to offer him as a sacrifice to the Lord. Isaac, the PROMISE to Abraham from God. (Genesis 17:19) I envisioned Abraham and Isaac walking up the Hill to the mountain, where Abraham was going to offer up his son. When Isaac asked his father where the sacrificial lamb was, Abraham answered, God will provide himself a lamb. (Genesis 22:6-8). All the way to the top of the mountain, Abraham entrusted his son's life to God. He trusted God, with his son's life. Knowing all the way up the hill that God had a plan for Isaac, whether he had to go through with the sacrifice or not. Unwavering trust. He required no confirmation. The Lord didn't send him witnesses all the way up the mountain to remind him that God had a plan. The Lord didn't have to send Abraham dreams to remind him that He had a plan for Isaac. Abraham believed God. NOT just in Him, but believed His Words. So even up to the very last moment, even after Isaac was bound to the altar, and the sword was raised He believed God. Then in God's perfect timing He showed up. (Genesis 22:10-14) Following Abraham's obedience and trust in the Lord, God told Abraham his descendants would be as the stars in the Heaven and as the sands of the shores...and he and his descendants would be blessed beyond measure!!! Because Abraham believed God, God was able to bless him greater than he could ever imagine.. (Genesis 22: 15-18)

My point here is that if you feel the Lord has made you a promise...BELIEVE God, even if he asks you to place it on the sacrificial altar! You don't need 100 confirmations to make the Word of the Lord true...
The Word of the Lord is true

....BELIEVE IT