Being Called

Greetings my friends:

In Paul's letter to the believers in Ephesus, he wrote to them telling them that Christ gave gifts to people, he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God's people. Christ gave those gifts to prepare God's holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger (Ephesians 4:11-12). My friends, remember I told you that I am re-dedicating my life to Christ? I don't know what is happening to me, but I tell you, God is getting ready to use me and I mean use me big time. There is no doubt about it. Thank you Lord. My friends, please pray for me as I keep praying about which direction God wants me to go. I have been ministering more and more, getting more boldly than ever before in spreading the good news of Jesus. I am, however, uncertain whether my true calling is for the preaching ministry, but I tell you, I am scared. One of my friends had prophesied that I will be a judge (my career goal is to become an attorney); an elder at my church had pulled me aside one Sunday at church and asked me if I were a minister, I told her no, I only speak about the God's goodness and mercy. My friends, I am just praying because I need to make the right decisions. I need to be obedient to God because I certainly do not want to feel His wrath and I certainly do not want to disappoint Him.

As you know, ministry can take on many forms, evangelizing is a ministry, helping the poor, feeding the homeless, whatever service you perform in the upkeep of God's kingdom is a ministry. Paul, in his first letter to Timothy instructed Timothy on some rules for men and women that Timothy must pass on to the church. Paul said that he does not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to listen quietly, because Adam was formed first and then Eve. You may recall, I have also told you Paul is my favorite apostle. I just love him. I am trying to sustain the same fire for Christ as he did, but some of his writings has certainly confused me. For example, staying single; and that women should not use braided hair, or gold, or pearls or expensive clothes. I can certainly understand about the gold, pearls, expensive clothes, but the braids? I grow up on braids! I cannot imagine not having some braids in my hair at least once a year! I do agree with Paul when he says women should learn by listening quietly and being ready to cooperate in everything. He says he does not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to listen quietly because Adam was formed first and then Eve. And Adam was not tricked, but the woman was tricked and became a sinner (1 Timothy 2:9-14). I don't have a problem with submission, I know that I must submit to my husband, to my pastor, to my church. I am certainly praying for a husband, I don't want to be single. I want to have a godly man in my life and in the lives of my children. Just as Paul encouraged Timothy, he has encouraged me to be an example to the believers with my words, my actions, my love, my faith, and my life. However, I must keep on praying and ask God for some more confirmations on what He wants me to do because Paul has me a bit confused. My understanding from Paul in this letter is that a woman should not teach, she should listen, however, her ministry is to do good deeds, which is right for women who say they worship God (1 Timothy 2:10).

My friends, whatever ministry God has laid upon your heart, please be obedient and do God's work. I will continue doing what I am doing as I pray for direction. When we serve, we get a joy that is unexplainable. When we give, God gives us 1o times more. We must continue to do God's work, we must teach more people so they can become believers and be a part of God's great kingdom. Keep on doing what you are doing, and, if you are one of those people who proclaim to be a follower, but is just a pew sitter, get up off your butt and start doing what God wants you to do. Stop making excuses, otherwise, when God comes and ask you what you did to help Him with His kingdom, what will your response be?? Oooohhh Lord, I went to church every Sunday, but I did not bother to invite my neighbors to hear the Word. You already know what God's answer will be!

Take care of yourself, please pray for me and I'll pray for you.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Renewing My Spirit

My friends, I do hope everyone is doing great and staying prayed up!

I am tickled when you e-mail me to ask why I didn't write, but you know if I don't get a message, I do not write. My friends, God has sent me a message that I need to get in His Word more, I need to dedicate more time to Him. I need to get rid of the clutter in my mind. My friends, to be totally honest with you, lately I have not been dedicating myself as I should to the Lord. I just have too much going on right now (of course, that's my excuse, but the devil is a liar). I don't know why I am thinking about things of tomorrow; things I have no control over. I know I should not be worrying, because I don't know what tomorrow holds. See, the devil is really poking me because he knows my mind is a bit weak right now. Lately, I have just been so exhausted. When I get home in the evenings, I can barely eat because all I want is to go to my bed and sleep. It's like my mind just totally shuts down when I get home. God will not use me in the state I am in right now mentally. I am of no use to you right. I need to take care of myself before I try to take care of you. I need to feed myself with the Word. In the name of Jesus, I declare victory over my life, I declare energy because I need to get in God's Word. Reading the Bible quickly and praying real quickly won't do it. God will not accept such bad behavior from me. Lord please forgive me. I just need to lay my burden down at the feet of Jesus. My friends, even those of us who pray regularly or teach the Word get tired sometimes. The good news is that I know exactly what I need to do. I need to get rid of the worry concerning my finances, my health, my future. I need to rid people out of my life who are burdening me with petty and foolish things. I need to rebuke the negativity when it comes my way. I need to renew my spirit in the Lord. I need to renew my faith in the Lord. I need to believe that God will take care of all my needs. He has done so many, many, many times before. This is just the devil attacking my mind, but he is a liar. I am a child of God and I will keep praising God no matter what.

I was doing some reading earlier this evening, and I came across an article from Caroline Alderson on Faithwriters.com. She wrote in her article that she had found herself being tired and depressed all the time. She wrote that she started getting back her energy and joy when she started getting into the Word more and more. She said she would read everything--the Bible, devotionals, religious articles, religious books, and she stopped the intake of coffee into her system. She wrote that ever since then, she has found much joy and energy. My friends, I tell you, God always show me the way; He always uses someone to confirm what I need to do. That's exactly what I will start to do. I will get in the Word more. Instead of reading the newspaper articles and trying to Google this one and that one, I will read more devotionals and I will dedicate more time to reading the Word. As for the coffee, ouch, that will be hard, but you know what, I will try. I will try and give up the coffee, give up caffeine all together.

If you notice too, the messages lately have many grammatical and spelling errors. I have been tired. I have written some of these blogs with my eyes closed, I am just being truthful with you. In trying to be obedient to God, I wrote the blog because God gave me the message, but I am telling you, my mind was tired, my eyes were closed, sleeping. No lie, I tell you. When you are tired, you make mistakes. I do not like to make mistakes. You can be assured that I will get in God's Word more; I will arm myself morning, noon and night. I will get rid of the clutter and the useless worry. I know and I believe God has taken care of all my worries and concerns. I know that God is my provider; He is my ruler; He is my refuge and my salvation; He is my Jehovah-Jireh; He is my all. I will stay encouraged because I know God is getting ready to use me big time. I will stay prayed up and in the Word because I know God is getting ready to send me some supernatural blessings. Thank you Lord.

My friends, please pray for me as I re-energize and get in God's Word more and more, each and every day. As David prayed to the Lord in Psalm 51:10-13, I pray:
"Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again.
Do not send me away from you or take your Holy Spirit away from me.
Give me back the joy of your salvation. Keep me strong by giving me
a willing spirit. Then I will teach your ways to those who do wrong
and sinners will turn back to you."

My friends, I ask for your prayers as I enter a new phase in my christian walk. I will get in the Word, I will re-dedicate myself to the Word. I turn my life over to God to give me rest.

Thank you Father.

God bless,
Ta ta
Therese from Belize

God Is Indeed A God Of Second Chances

Greetings, my friends:

God is all wonderful and His name is to be praised. I tell you how God works so wonderfully in our lives. I am a sports fanatic, I love all sports, but I especially love football, basketball, and tennis. Those are my favorite three sports that I love to watch both live and on TV and love to play! Hey, don't be surprised, I was once considered an athlete, back in da day; I was even an Assistant Coach of the girls basketball team when I taught at Gwen Liz High School in Belize! Anyway, so much about my sporting background. My message is about my God who is a forgiving God; my God who is a God of second chances; my God who is a God of many chances.

I read with amazement how Tony Dungy will act as a confidante and mentor to Michael Vick in his return to the NFL. Tony Dungy is a God's man, he is a man of God, he is committed to God and he speaks about God publicly. He is a well-respected man and coach. I just think it is so cool and attractive when we have athletes and coaches who love the Lord, who speak publicly about God's goodness! Michael Vick must thank God that he has been given a second chance in the NFL. It goes to show that when we have people of God praying for us, all things work out in our favor. God is a God of second chances, in fact, a God of many chances because truthfully, just like myself, Michael Vick has messed up several times before. God could have used anyone in Vick's life, but He chose a man who is Christ-like, a man who loves and serves the Lord, a man whose reflection shines with Christ-like ways. Thank you Father.

My friends, we may not have the money, the fame, the prestige as Michael Vick does, but we must realize and know that our God loves us no matter who we are or what we have done in the past. When we ask God and others for forgiveness, our slate is wiped clean and God cheers us on as we begin to walk in the light. David sang praises to God in Psalms 32:1-2, David sang, "Happy are they whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned; happy is the person whom the Lord does not consider guilty." I thank God for men like Tony Dungy. This is a man who has stepped up to the plate to mentor a young black man who needs guidance. We need more Tony Dungy's in this world to mentor our young boys and our young men. This is exactly what Rev. Smith was preaching about when he said that we need more men who will step up to the plate and be a God's man. I can only pray that there will be more men like Tony Dungy stepping yup to the plate doing God's will.

Peace and love
Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Hi friends:

To God be the glory. I thank God for his loving arms around me. I am telling you, the best decision I have made in my life was when I surrendered my life completely to God. You see, whenever the devil sees that we are being blessed, that we are stepping with joy, he comes up in our personal space. My friends, that's what he did with me today, he had the audacity to come up in my personal space. What the devil forgets, my friends, is that when God is our protector, he can only linger around us for so long, then he gotta bounce outta there. Thank you Lord. You ever find yourself walking on cloud nine, singing praises to God, lifting up God, and then all of a sudden the devil attacks? Your attitude changes? You become limp? Well, I had such an experience today. I thank God for keeping me under his protection. I had to check myself real quick and realize that God has my back, I couldn't allow the devil to wreck my attitude of joy. I had to pray real hard to keep my attitude in check.

My friends, when the devil attacks us it is important to stay in an attitude of gratitude. I remembered a statement the late Bishop G.E. Patterson had made at one of his sermons back in 2006. He had said, "if you really want to be blessed, be in the attitude that will get you to the altitude." My friends, when the devil tries to attack us, we must remember to turn to God for help. We must depend on God. Psalm 37:5 says, depend on the Lord,trust him, and He will take care of you. When we rely on ourselves we are on a collision course. The devil has his way with us when we do things on our own. That is exactly how we wreck ourselves because we fall into the devil's hands of temptation; we say and do things that are of this world; we depend on our weak selves rather than asking the Lord to keep us in check.

My friends, it is also important that you have friends who believe in prayer. It is very important that you fellowship with other believers. I thank my friend today for keeping me encouraged when she saw my battle. I thank my sister for keeping me in check with God's Word. I thank her for agreeing with me that the devil is a liar. I remembered one of the study guides I worked on over the weekend. Minister Lucado was warning about guarding our attitude. He was saying that the devil works in such a way that he will not take you away from your ministry, but he will disillusion you in your ministry. That's exactly what the devil tried to do with me today, disillusioned me in my ministry, but I thank God that I am maturing spiritually, so I was able to check myself, I had the good sense to start praying and sweeping the devil out of my space and I turned to my fellow believers for prayers. Thank you Lord.

My friends, that is exactly why it is important to protect ourselves with the full armor of God, the helmet, the shield, the breastplate. The devil always shows us when we least expect him to, but we must always be on the alert and be ready to take action against him. We must check ourselves before we wreck ourselves.

I ask for continued prayer as I try to fulfill my ministry that God has instructed me to do. My friends, today I proved the devil a liar--he tried to shut me down, but he couldn't shut me up because I continued to pray and praise God and, in addition, I had extra God warriors! The devil is a liar.

God blessings,
Ta ta
Therese from Belize

Pass On This Message - God's Man

My friends:

What a beautiful day it is that the Lord has made!! Remember, I had told you that last year I did not attend my church's Men's Day because I was only interested in my own selfish purpose and God prevented me from attending that service. Well, I want to thank God for working in me and through me. I can say that since that time I have matured spiritually. Thank you Lord for your forgiveness, mercy, grace and deliverance. I only remembered about Men's Day when I received an e-mail asking the women to wear white in support of the men. Thank you Lord. Just so you know, I am on this quest for obedience; learning to leave everything up to the Lord. I am not "looking"; I am not "seeking"; I don't care which man comes or goes at my church. You know why? My Lord has told me He will send me my mate in the right time, but I still have some personal things to work out in my life. Whenever God is ready to bless me with a mate, He will send me that person. I don't need to look for him, he will come find me. Thank you Lord. I feel so merry, so peaceful, because I am learning to depend on the Lord for everything. I jump for joy because I am trusting the Lord for everything and I thank Him in everything I say and do. Thank you Lord.

I have been blessed by the message that came from Rev. Dr. Kevin Smith, the guest preacher, on Men's Day. Even though Rev. Smith's message was primarily for the men; it was a message that also applied to women, especially to single mothers and single women. So, my friends, I want to ask all of you to please forward this particular message on to your sons, your husbands, your brothers, your nephews, your grandfathers, or to your male friends (even if they attend church). We need to get the word out to men on how to be a man of God, especially when they have children.

Rev. Smith's message came from Ephesians 6:4, which says, "Fathers, do not make your children angry, but raise them with the training and teaching of the Lord." How can a father not provoke his children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Well, according to Rev. Smith, there are two things about such a father, about such a man, that is, God's man: one, he is committed to God; and two, he is committed to leading his family as a loving teacher. These are two statements that as women we must take into consideration, especially as single parents. The man whom we have around our children, whom we may want to marry or whom we have married should be the head of our household; that man should be one who puts God first, who praises God in everything he does and says.

Rev. Smith preached that there is no faithful, godly man who is NOT committed to God. A man who is committed to God should teach his family how to fear the Lord. He stated anything else falls short of God's standards. A faithful man, preached Rev. Smith, is a "Word man" and an obedient man. "Word man" means one who reads his Bible, one who studies the Bible, one who knows how to conduct devotions in his home. Here we go again with the word obedient. My friends, you see, in everything we say and do, we must be obedient to God. Obedience should be in every aspect of our lives. A godly man teaches his kids obedience to the Lord by living his life in obedience. How does he lives in obedience? He reads the Word, he practices what the Word says, he lives his life in such a way that his children will want to be like him; he loves his family, he teaches his children right from wrong. Thank you Lord.

A God's man:
*No. 1 priority is to give God glory;
*is willing to do the tough work;
*realizes it is not about him, but about God;
*is not a coward if he is committed to God;
*is his family's protector and provider;
*is the head of the home; is his children's mentor and role model;
*steps up to accept his role as a man and fulfill his responsibilities God has intended for him to fulfill
*is a good leader if he is a good follower, that is, he follows the teachings of God and then leads his family in abiding with God's Words.

My friends, we must have men in our lives and in the lives of our children who love the Lord. Even though I am divorced, my son is very close to his dad, so I pray continually for my son's father that while my son is in his care, he is setting an example for him that is pleasing to God. Women, remember, I had asked you to start praying for our men. I reiterate that same request, please, let us pray for the men in our lives and in the lives of our children that they may step up to the plate and be a man of God, be the man that God wants them to be, that is, a man who is committed and obedient to the Lord. Please, I ask you, please pray over the lives of men, whether you are married, divorced, or single, let us pray for men.

Peace and love
Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Habits Are Good

My dearest friends:

I am getting into the "habit" of saying something kind or try to do something kind for someone each and everyday. Usually when we refer to someone having a "habit", we are usually referring to something bad--habit of gossip, habit of eavesdropping, habit of smoking, habit of drinking, habit of overeating. I am pretty sure if I ask you to write a list, you can come up with a long list of "habits", most of them are behaviors that are not good. In Belize, we say someone has "bad habit" when they ask for something they knowingly do not want, but they just ask for ask sake. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, habit is "a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance." As Christians, we know that we should develop certain habits; habits such as praying often, reading the Bible regularly, helping others, encouraging others.

In my study for today, Minister Lucado discusses habits. He says that as Christians we must develop habits, and the habits that are worth having are: one, the habit of prayer; two, the habit of study; three, the habit of giving; and, four, the habit of fellowship. You notice, these are excellent habits we must develop as followers of Jesus Christ. How do we develop these habits? We develop these habits by repetition and performance. Pray regularly. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. Prayer is a very important part of our Christian walk. How can we profess to be Christians and not pray. We must pray giving thanks to God for all that He is and all that He has done for us. Study, as disciples, we must stay in the Word, how can we bring others to Christ if we do not know what the Word says? And, if someone asks us a question, we must be confident in answering, leading them to the scripture. We must study to keep our minds and hearts alert and in good form for Christ. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us that we must always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have. Giving. God loves a cheerful giver, as believers we must give to our neighbors and to our enemies. To whom much is given, much is expected. 2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us that each one should give as you have decided in your heart to give. You should not be sad when you give, and you should not give because you feel forced to give. God loves the person who gives happily. Fellowship. Fellowship requires practice and unity. We must come together with other believers in praising, worshipping and honoring God. Being around fellow believers will strengthen our walk with Christ. 1 John 1:7 tells us that if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other.

My friends, let us develop the habits God wants us to have. Let us get into the habit of reading our Bibles for at lest 30 minutes each day, let us get into the habit of sharing our testimonies with one another; let us get into the habit of joining the company of other believers; let us get into the habit of giving and giving and giving.

God will bless you many times over when you give cheerfully.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Verdict: NOT GUILTY

Greetings All:

I do hope everyone is staying prayed up. My friends, this life is getting harder and harder, meaner and meaner, Satan is very busy, much more busier than he has ever been. You know why?? Jesus is on His way to rescue us. I don't know when that will be, but I know for a fact that Jesus will be returning soon, very soon. The Bible tells us, the day the Lord comes again will be a surprise, He will come like a thief that comes in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). However, my favorite apostle, Paul, reminds me that it will not be a surprise for me because I am no longer living in darkness. Thank you Lord. How many of us will be caught off guard? How many of us will pull the old shotgun? How many of us will be in the middle of something we had no business doing? How many of us will be with someone we had no business being with? Oh, I tell you. So, as your friend, I am telling you, we MUST be prepared for our Lord's coming.

Let me tell you how I have been preparing for my Lord: I had to let God in my life, simple as that, no ands or buts about it, I just had to let God be the ruler supreme in my life. I had to get serious about my life and about my Christian walk. My friends, I am so happy I have found my way out of darkness, which was only by the grace and mercy of God. Thank God.

As I was getting ready to get into the Word, the Lord took me first to Minister Max Lucado's devotional Bible study on Guilt. I said, "Lord, how ironic, just the other day the message was about how I got free of my bondage." Thank you Lord. Minister Lucado writes that sometimes our shame is private, for example, pushed over the edge by an abusive spouse; sometimes our shame is public, for example, branded by a divorce you didn't want. Wow. Now, you know this study was for me. Thank you Lord. Minister Lucado says whether it is private or public, shame is always painful, and unless you deal with it, it is permanent; unless you get help, the dawn will never come. Remember, I was just telling you that after many, many, many years of silence, I am finally healed because I sought true help, and you know I am not talking about the craziness I did by going to man; I am talking about going to God. I sought God's help. I was brought to my knees, I called out to Jesus.

Minister Lucado encourages us to take Christ with us to our canyon of shame. He encourages us to invite Christ to journey with us; he encourage us to let Him stand beside us as we retell the events of the darkest nights of our souls. My friends, you see, to get out of our darkness, we must talk to God, we must ask Jesus to intercede on our behalf, we must ask God to to release our bondage in Jesus' name, and to protect us. Minister Lucado says if we listen, and we listen carefully, we will hear God telling us "I don't judge you guilty.". Hallelujah. Minister Lucado says, God's message has two words for us, NOT GUILTY. Thank you Lord.

My friends, unless we deal with our guilt, we will remain in bondage. My friends, when we ask God for help, we must believe, we must stay still, we must listen, we must let God work in our lives, and we will be free. When we ask for God's help to release us from the bondage of shame, from the bondage of being labeled a divorcee, from the bondage of being a ho, from the bondage of being an adulterer, from the bondage of the abortion(s), from the bondage of prostitution; bondage of being a drug addict; bondage of being an alcoholic; bondage of low self esteem, bondage of heart brokenness, bondage of financial woes, whatever your bondage may be, we must believe, we must let God enter our lives; we must trust God, we must listen and hear God telling us our sins are forgiven. My friends, when our bondages have been released, we must let them go; we must leave those bondages at the feet of Jesus and leave it up to Him. When our bondages have been released, we are not guilty of those things we did in the past; God promises us that our finances will be restored, our family will be restored. My friends, the only label we have on us when God intervenes is that we are children of God. When we become children of God, we are Not Guilty.

You know the woman caught in adultery? No, not me, oops, no not you-- go to John 8:1-11. That woman I am talking about. I will let you know what verse 11 says: Jesus told that woman, the adulterer, "I also don't judge you guilty. You may go now, but don't sin anymore." My friends, whenever you are in doubt, or whenever some hater tries to make you feel guilty or shameful for things you have done, you just need to sincerely ask God for His forgiveness and know that He is a forgiving God and that because Christ died on the cross for our sins, we are redeemed. My friends, when God forgives us and we begin to live the life that God wants us to live, we are free. No one can judge us, no one can tell us we are guilty. When we come across haters and those who keeps reminding us of our past, we just need to slap them with John chapter 8:1-11.

My God has found me NOT GUILTY because I have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus!

Thank you Lord.

Be blessed,

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Breaking Free From Your Bondage

Hi my friends!

I was not prepared to write my blog for today, but I received a call from one of my sisters in Belize, and after talking to her, I have to write this blog, as a message came to me. Thank you Lord. God is just an awesome God how He uses people. He used my sister to call me tonight and somehow we got into the subject of one of my blogs where I touched on my issue of domestic violence which I experienced 18 years ago in Belize.

My friends, I am a woman who has been saved by God's good grace. I have been abused, used and misused, but I thank God for his tender loving kindness. I am proud to let you know that I have been healed by God. Again, this recovery has taken many, many, many years, but God has allowed me to get healed. Now, I know that my physical scars are beautiful to God. In fact, I can look at my scars and say thank you Lord.

Abuse is a terrible disease, and like any other diseases, it needs to be treated. My friends, I have been to psychologist, psychiatrist, obeah lady, I mean, I have been everywhere and no one could have helped me because after the abuse, I started abusing my own self. My friends, until I finally sought help (you know I am talking about the best healer, the best doctor, the best saver), I can testify faithfully that's when I began to feel and know that there is a true and living God who loves me. It is because of my Father's love for me, He intervened in my life; He treated my disease for me. All I had to do was call on His precious name. My Father took away the violence that was inflicted on me and by me; my God took away the many years of pain and hurt, the many years of silent suffering. My friends, until you are ready to get help from the Father, you will continue to suffer in silence. As women, we need to be liberated, we need to break free from the chains of bondage because if we continue to allow the bondage to keep us bound, we will not be free, we will keep living in hell, our lives will continue to be a mess.

My disease may be different from your disease, but you know what? We all have a disease, whether it is abortion, promiscuity, low self esteem, prostitution, depression, anxiety, shame, alcohol, drugs; we just need to break free of that disease. The only way we can break free is by asking God for help, asking God to intervene, calling on the name of Jesus. My friends, just as I have done, you need to ask God to heal you, deliver you from the bondage. When you are delivered, you feel a big weight lifted from off your shoulders. Believe me, when your disease has been treated by God, you will begin feeling great about yourself; you will be able to look in the mirror again and see how beautiful you are, how beautiful you look. You will be able to say, girl, you are foine!! See, my friends, I celebrate myself, I encourage myself because that's what God has done for me. That's what I am talking about!

Psalms 147:3 tells us that God heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. Thank you Lord. I can testify that the Lord has healed my broken heart, the Lord has healed my wounds. My friends, to help you with your bondage, remember David's praise to the Lord in Psalm 121. David testified, "...I look up to the hills, but where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth..." Verse 7 goes on, "...the Lord will protect you from all dangers, He will guard your life; the Lord will guard you both now and forever." Thank you Lord.

My friends, abuse is a terrible disease and you must seek help. You cannot be ashamed. It will eat you alive if you do not get help.

Lord, I pray that this message opens someone's heart and she will seek the help she needs. Thank you Father.

God's blessings over your life,
Ta ta
Therese from Belize


Some resources for you or a loved one:
*U.S. National Domestic Violence Hotline - 1800-799-7233
*Alcoholics Anonymous - 212-870-3400
*Narcotics Anonymous - 818-700-0700
*In Belize - Youth Enhancement Services - 203-0970

Beating A Dead Horse on Forgiveness and Obedience

Greetings my friends:

I know I have been repeating myself in some of these blogs, but I just need to make sure you are getting the message because I want you to know that every time I write I get confirmations on my messages from God. My friends, this web blog is all in obedience to Christ. I want to win souls for God, my job as a disciple is to let you know of the goodness of our God, whether you are saved or unsaved. My prayer is that when someone reads the blogs, she will leave with something new, something refreshing, something that turned on the light bulb in her head, but most importantly I pray that the blogs will have one person commit her life to Christ or rededicate her life to Christ, or maybe take the first step by attending a church service to hear about the good news of Jesus Christ! So, please bear with me as I share God's word.

I am currently reading a book by a bestselling Christian author, Elisabeth Elliot, The Music of His Promises-Listening to God with Love, Trust and Obedience. As I continued with the reading today, the next topic in the book, it is titled, The Secret of Understanding. Ms. Elliot, on this particular topic, wrote that obedience is the secret of spiritual insight. She says that it is not given to any but those who obey, for they are the only ones who love God. Wow, that's a powerful statement she made there. I can say "ouch". She says there is no love where there is no obedience; to choose to disobey is to choose darkness; she says no wonder we stumble. Wow. Thank you Lord.

Furthermore, I must tell you that today I received additional confirmation of my messages on forgiveness and obedience. I received some notes from a friend concerning forgiveness because I was telling her about my previous message on hurt and forgiveness and that I was still in a bit of confusion as to whether disciples forgive but still feel hurt. My friends, I am experiencing the wonderful spirit of God in my life. I can tell you with all confidence that obedience and forgiveness go hand-in-hand. You cannot be obedient if you are not a forgiving person. As I read the notes, it says forgiveness is a matter of obedience, rather than feeling. Wow. Thank you Lord.

My friends, I tell you the honest truth, when you are obedient, God lets things happen, I mean great and awesome things; I mean unexplainable things, but you know that it can only be God. God brings people in our midst to help us in our Christian walk; God brings people in our lives for a reason, a season and a lifetime.

The notes led me to Romans 12:17-18, which says, If someone does wrong to you, do not pay him back by doing wrong to him... do your best to live in peace with everyone. Verse 19 says, My friends, do not try to punish others when they wrong you, but wait for God to punish them with his anger. These verses are telling us that we must forgive, we must let go, we must be obedient and let God taken care of the wrong doer. That's right, leave them to God, remember, God says, he will have them (your enemies) under your control and will make them your footstool.

My friends, in all seriousness and truth, obedience is the light of the world. We cannot choose to obey certain people and things and then choose to disobey certain people and things. It doesn't work that day. God would be pleased with us if we obey Him in all we say and do.

I pray that this message has some relevance to you.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Ask And It Shall Be Given Unto You

Hola mi amigos!

If you have been following my blogs, you know my blogs are about the power of prayer, the power of forgiveness and fruits we reap when we are obedient. Most of the scriptures are taken from the New Testament, Proverbs and the Books of Psalms.

Today, I would like you to briefly review some verses in 1 King. This book is a beautiful book, written, it is believed, by the Prophet Jeremiah. This book is about the power of prayer and being a faithful servant of God. In 1 Kings 3, King Solomon asked God to give him an obedient heart so he can rule the people in the right way and will know the difference between right and wrong. Solomon's prayer pleased God so very much that God blessed him with even much more than he asked for, God told Solomon, "I will give you wisdom and understanding that is greater than anyone had had in the past or will have in the future. I will also give you what you did not ask for: riches and honor." (1 Kings 3:9-13)

Wow, isn't God amazing? My friends, you best believe that when we pray and ask for God's help, He will provide that help and more. God will grant our every need, and to show us how special we are to Him, He will give us more than we ever asked for. I love these verses, they brought butterflies in my heart. God, I pray and I ask you to give me an obedient heart. I tell you, if we all could just ask God for an obedient heart, just imagine how beautiful this world would be, just imagine all the souls we would be winning over for God. However, the fact of the matter is that some of us have a hard time being obedient. Some of us have hardened our hearts against God. I can only ask God to have mercy.

Obedience, my friends, requires fellowship; obedience requires practice, practice, practice and more practice. To be obedient, we must do what King Solomon did, he prayed and asked God to give him and obedient heart. My friends, unpleasant things happen to us because of our disobedience. You ever wonder why you have not had a clean bill of health? You ever wonder why you have not been able to elevate to new positions? You ever wonder why your kids act the fool when you have taught them better? You ever wonder why there is disharmony in your home, at work, at school, at church? Obedience, my friends, obedience. Obedience brings blessings, obedience brings God's mercy and love and grace. Obedience opens doors and opens hearts.

When we are obedient, the Lord tells us that He will put our enemies under our control, He will make our enemies our footstool (Hebrews 1:13). I reflect on Luke 11:28 which tells us "...happy are those who hear the teaching of God and obey it." Obedience brings life, disobedience brings destruction and death. Which one do you choose? I know for me, I choose obedience. As I have told you before, I am tired of being whipped for my disobedience. When you disobey you make wrong choices, you make wrong decisions, you offend God, you disappoint God. Now that I am trying to live a life of obedience, I am happy, I am content, I am full of joy, I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I know as an obedient child of God, He has opened many doors for me, He has blessed me continually in every aspect of my life and I believe with all my heart that there are many doors that will continue to be opened. I am reaping the harvest God has promised me because I am being obedient. Thank you Lord.

I am closing with some of the lyrics from the Mary Mary song, It's The God In Me:

You're so fly; you're so high
Everybody 'round you trying to figure out why
You're so cool, you win all the time
Everywhere you go, man, you get a lot of shine
But what they don't know is when you go home
And get behind closed doors, man, you hit the floor
And what they can't see is you're on your knees
So the next time you get it, just tell 'em
It's the God in me; it's the God in me
It's the God in me; it's the God in me; it's the God in me.

It's the God in me,
Ta ta
Therese from Belize

Forgiveness as a Disciple

My friends:

Today, the devil got me good. I will not give him his due, but I will let him know today for him, tomorrow for me because I serve a great and wonderful God who brings joy to His children. You see, I was able to drop off my child at a basketball camp, but I was not able to attend church service. However, sometimes I believe things happen for a reason. Even though I did not get to attend church, I was still able to fellowship with a believer. For her, I am grateful. Again, the devil is a liar; he can bamboozle us, but we still have our mouths to praise God. Lord have mercy.

Well, today's message is about forgiveness as a disciple of Christ. I had a conversation with one of my friends over the weekend, and he was telling me how he forgave someone who had done him wrong, but he was still hurt about what happened. Of course, I had to ponder that statement, and, if you know me, I have been thinking about that statement because I was surely taken aback by it because this is someone who I thought is more spiritually mature than I am. As I ponder on why a spiritual person cannot let go of a hurt, I remembered there was a chapter concerning forgiveness and hurt when I was studying Pastor Rick Warren's, The Purpose Driven Life. God is truly an awesome and amazing God. He always sends some confirmation to me when I need help or when I need an answer about a matter that I am unsure of. Thank you Lord.

Pastor Warren wrote that whenever you are hurt by someone, you have a choice to make: Will I use my energy and emotions for retaliation or for resolution? He says you cannot do both. Pastor Warren indicated that in real fellowship people experience mercy. Fellowship is a place of grace, where mistakes aren't rubbed in but rubbed out. Fellowship happens when mercy wins over justice. It takes massive amounts of mercy and grace to create and maintain fellowship and God's mercy to us is the motivation for showing mercy to others (Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life).

My personal take on this is that it is not true forgiveness if you still have hurt and resentment toward that person or you cannot even approach that person to let him/her know that you have forgiven them, and to ask for their forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go. Let it go. Let it go. If you still have hurt, then how will you move forward? As a disciple of Christ, I believe our duty is to forgive, our duty is to approach someone who has hurt us, who has wronged us and let that person know that you have forgiven her/him and that you will be in prayer for them. As you know, several of my writings are my very own personal experiences and life situations. So, I am speaking from personal experience, my friends. It has taken me many, many, many years to forgive a few people in my life. I mean truly forgive them, where I am now at the point where they are always in my prayers.

My friends, in Paul's letter to the people of Colossae, he reminded them to put all evil things out of their lives: anger, bad tempter, doing or saying things to hurt others, and speaking evil words when you talk. In this new life in Christ, Paul urges us to show mercy to others, be kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Get along with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you. Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking (Colossians 3:8-15).

There cannot be any forgiveness if we are still holding on to hurt and we harbor resentment towards a person. As followers of Christ, we should want to be Christ-like in our thinking and our actions. I keep repeating myself in these blogs, but honestly, we will not move forward if we do not let go. We need to let it go, whatever and whomever it may be. We need to let it go. If it is hard to do, then get on your knees and ask God for help, ask God to please bring you mercy and grace. Ask God to give you the gift of forgiveness. My friends, you will not see your head way if you keep holding on to the past and things of the past and people of the past. What is Jesus had still carried the hurt from his Crucifixion? Jesus is hurting when His children display behavior of that of the world.

LET IT GO, LET IT GO, LET IT GO. As Bishop T.D. Jakes wrote in his poem, Let It Go, "...if you are holding on to past hurts and pain, let it go, let the past be the past, forget the former things, the battle is the Lord's..."

May God have mercy on us, may we have mercy on those who have hurt us and wronged us, but Lord, please forgive us for not wanting to let go.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Running the Race

My dearest friends:

I have not written for couple days as I was doing some work in ministry. I am glad to be back and I do hope that there will be something you can take away from today's message.

The author of the book of Hebrews writes that we have around us many people whose lives tell us what faith means, so let us run the race that is before us and never give up (Hebrews 12:1) Sometimes, it seems it is much easier to give up than to run the race, but that's what the devil wants us to believe. As followers, we know that we have no choice but to run the race that God wants us to run, because at the finish line we have salvation and heaven waiting on us. Hebrews 12:3 encourages us not to get tired and stop trying.

I know in these hard economic times, it is hard not to give up because employers are not hiring, jobs are paying minimum wage or barely above minimum wage; bills are mounting; 150 people apply for the one position that is available, but as children of God we must believe that God will allow us to be successful. The race starts with believing that God will take care of us; having faith that God will open up doors for us; when we stumble or fall, we must realize that God wants us to get back up and keep moving. I truly believe as followers of Jesus that we must be in elevation; God doesn't want his children to be in despair; God does not want His children to be living from hand-to-mouth. As followers of Jesus, we must have faith, we must believe, we must apply ourselves, and then, we must pray and leave everything up to God to take care of for us.

If you are looking for a job, you must claim that job, you must believe that the job is yours to have, you must pray and ask God to help you as you run the race for the job, ask God to let you come out the victor of that race.

Life is a race; we can run it with Jesus by our side, or we can run it by ourselves with the devil by our side. You choose how you want to run your race; as for me, I know that I want God to be by my side in running this race called life.

My friends, let us run an honest race, let us run a race that God will be proud of us and at the finish line will tell us, "Good job, my faithful servant." I pray that God will bring peace, prosperity, joy, faith, hope, love, grace and mercy on to you.

Until we talk again,
Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Yes, there is hope!

My friends:

I had to dig deep for today's message because I have truly been exhausted, just absolutely exhausted, so I pray that today's message will be a blessing to some one's heart.

As I prepared to write today's message, the spirit took me to 2 Corinthians, chapter 4 verses 16-18, where Paul tells us that even though our physical body is becoming older and weaker, our spirit inside us is made new every day. Now, that gives me hope. As I get into the word of God, I find myself really liking Paul more and more. I respect Paul. I want to be like Paul. I pray that God uses me the same way he used Paul. However, I will be honest with you and let you know that Paul confused me a bit about the marriage thing in Corinthians. I will discuss that another day when the topic is about relationships and marriage.

I know I am getting older in age, my hair may be getting a stray strand of gray here and there, my stomach may be getting heavier, my thighs may be touching together just a bit, but praise be to God,I know that my spirit inside of me is fresh, young, and joyful. I have a hopeful spirit. Paul consoles me that the small problems I may be having right now on this earth are helping me to gain an eternal glory that is much greater than the troubles. Hallelujah. There is hope. That's what I am looking for, looking forward to, eternal glory. I know as a disciple, that being exhausted will not help me in my walk with Christ, I need to get revived and rejuvenated. I pray and I ask for your prayers that I may be delivered from this spirit of heaviness and exhaustion. I have hope that tonight I may be down, I may be in despair, but I know I serve a loving and awesome God, and that in the morning, I will have joy! Thank you Lord.

I reaffirm today and I am in agreement that I should get out, I can get out, I will get out. I am trusting God for an exodus, which will lead me to a season of exchange. My friends, I already know how mad the devil has been at me, so it is no surprise to me that he is attacking me in every way he can, but I declare in the name of Jesus that the devil is a liar; he is my footstool. I will continue to serve my God because I have hope that one day He will be back to take me to glory. I have hope that I will be able to carry out my purpose in life. I have hope that God will not put me in despair. Thank you Lord.

Blessings onto you!

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Call On The Name of Jesus

Hello my friends:

Everyday we are bombarded with obstacles and challenges that come our way. I don't know about you, but I know for me, especially as a single parent, my challenges are constant, my obstacles are constant. However, thanks be to God for his tender loving mercy, as I have found for myself that I just need to call on the name of Jesus. When I was in the world and these challenges and obstacles come my way, I would curse, I fussed, I worried, I got angry, I got upset, I got depressed, I did not sleep, I would eat every and anything; I would nag and nag and nag about everything and every who; I mean, I would just be a total mess; just a total mess. Oh, the devil was in his glory at what he was doing to me. Solomon, in Proverbs 15:30 says your happiness will show in your eyes, well, you would see the sadness and the restlessness in my eyes. There were no happiness in my brown eyes. Friends, I have found a true and faithful friend; and his name is Jesus. How I found out He is true and faithful? Well, I gave my life to Him completely. I have surrendered my life completely to Him. I trust Him in everything and anything.

You see my friends, I have experienced that when you start to truly get in the Word, when you get serious about being a follower of Jesus, you will find yourself, as I am now, just calling out the name of the Jesus; I find myself just thinking about Jesus; I find myself praying to Jesus. Oh, you know, the devil does not like me now, oh no, I am no longer his best friend, so you know, he always tries to find ways to get to me. But, I have news for him. As Nicole C. Mullen sings,
"..sometimes I am hiding away from the madness around me, like a child who is afraid of the dark, but when I call on Jesus, all things are possible, when I call on Jesus, mountains are gonna fall, 'cause He'll move heaven and earth to come rescue me when I call." (Nicole C. Mullen's, Call on Jesus) My friends, you best believe that's what Jesus will do, He will move heaven and earth to come help you. That's when the devil wraps his tail between his legs and run!! Philippians 4:13, my favorite Bible verse, tells me that I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. That's what God does for us, He strengthens us, but for us to get strengthened, we must obey, we must read the Bible, we must believe, we must have faith, me must take our obstacles and challenges to the Lord in prayer; we must leave our problems with God and let God take care of them, He will give us the strength to go on despite these obstacles and challenges.

Nicole sings, "call Him in the morning; in the afternoon time; late in the evening, He'll be there. When your heart is broken,and you feel discouraged, you can just remember that He said He'll be there..." My friends, you have to know that Jesus will be there for you, you just need to call on Him. Even though Jesus is watching everything that is going on here on earth, He delights when His children call on Him for help. You know, I am only speaking the truth and you can believe me when I tell you that Jesus will show up not a day late, or for that matter, a dollar short. He will show up just when you need Him to. Thank you Lord for your grace and your mercy and your tender loving kindness. Jesus is a true friend; He will not talk about us, He will not spread our business to others; He will not judge us. What He will do is heal us; He provides for us; He protects us; He keeps us sane; He brings happiness to us. The simple fact of the matter is that Jesus is the answer to all our obstacles and challenges. All we need to do is just call on Him. Remember, we must defeat the devil, and the only way to do that is to call on the name of Jesus. My friends, open your mouths and call on the name of Jesus. For those of us who love to chat on the cell, all you need to do is dial J-E-S-U-S and talk to Him.

May God give you deliverance and peace from whatever challenges and obstacles you are facing.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

The Power of Prayer

My beloved friends:

I bring greetings in the name of Jesus! I must tell you, I am feeling refreshed and rejuvenated because I constantly remind myself how grateful I am to be alive. My friends, I have been in many dangerous situations and places, sometimes I was able to walk away, sometimes again, things happened before I could walk away. The physical scar I have on my arm is a perfect example. Friends, for many, many, years I replayed that incident which occurred on a Sunday afternoon in my mind. I replayed the entire scene from the talk which turned into an the argument, argument turned into a physical fight, fight turned to getting the matches, from matches to screaming. It has taken me many, many, many years to heal from that incident, but thanks be to God, I am healed. I am forgiven, I have forgiven, and I thank God for grace. My friends, God has delivered me and you best believe I am not turning back to the ways of this world. The ways of this world are so cruel, mean, and evil; the ways of this world will drive a weak person to the point of a mental breakdown or even suicide if you are not strong enough to handle life's challenges.

Friends, you would be pleased to know that I am following the disciple, James' teaching. In James 1:2, he tells us that when you have many kinds of trouble, you should be full of joy. Yes, you read that correctly, when you have many kinds of trouble, you should be full of joy!! Why is that? I am glad you asked. James informs us that these troubles test our faith, and if we need wisdom we must ask. My friends, that is what I finally did, I asked God to grant me wisdom to make life decisions that are pleasing in God's eyes and pleasing to God's ears. James counsels us that when we ask, we must believe and not doubt. That's hard, right, to not doubt. What I have learned over the years is that we must believe, we must truly, truly believe. How can we say we love God and we don't believe Him enough to put our trust in Him?

Minister Lucado, in his Life Lessons, observed that God allows tough situations in our lives in order to refine us and bring us closer to him. That statement is definitely on point, because had it not been for the many tough and rough situations I have been in and been through, I may not have been a disciple of Christ today. For that, I am so grateful.

My friends, I am not ashamed to let you know that it is because of my many tough situations and my faith in Christ that today I can write that I am healed, that I am forgiven, that I am loved. Friends, I believe, I have absolutely no doubt that the Lord will take what I brought and make use of these things in our church. God is allowing me to use my life's experiences to bring the good news to people all over. The same applies to you. God will take your tough situation and turn them into joy, all you have to do is believe; accept that the Lord; and know that God will work it out for you.

We must continue to rejoice and praise His precious name. Friends, let us continue in our walk for Christ.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

As A Follow-up

Greetings my friends:

Wow, let me start off just to give a shout of praise to God. I just thank God for the confirmations He always sends to me. Thank you Lord.

Today, at church, my pastor's, Rev. Williams, III, sermon was titled, "It's Time to Deal With My Demons." You know, I was ready for the Word in dealing with my demons. Rev. Williams' sermon was from Luke 8:26-31. Friends, the crux of the message was that the devil shows up when Jesus steps in, but the devil can only do so much that God allows him to do. You see, after our greatest victory is when we see our greatest attack, confirms Rev. Williams.

According to Rev. Williams there are three things we must know when we are dealing with the devil. Those are, 1) know the power of the Lord's presence; 2) know the proximity of the Lord's presence; and 3) you must know that you can take the devil's authority away from him. How do we take away the devil's authority? I am glad you ask. Like I told you before, the devil does not like it when despite all our troubles we still glorify and magnify the name of the Lord. The devil does not like it when we call upon the name of Jesus when he is trying to shut us up. The devil does not like it when we keep on praising God despite the bad news we just received, or despite the set back that has just happened in our lives; or despite the telephone call we received from the doctor; or despite the visit we just received from a law enforcement officer; or despite the letter we received in the mail with bad news. The devil is a liar and we can continue to make a liar out of him when despite all our pain and struggles, we still worship and praise the Lord.

My friends, as we continue on our journey to get to heaven, please let us continue to pray, please let us continue to worship and praise God, please let us continue to read our Bibles, as it is rich with nourishment that we need to sustain our lives.

May God have mercy on us and may we live our lives in such a way that is pleasing to God.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Defeating the Devil

Hello my friends:

You know, the devil is always busy trying to find his target, either you or me. Sometimes we find that the more we are praying and the more God fills us with the Holy Spirit, the more the devil tries to insert himself in our lives. However, we must continue to pray. We know that the devil even tried to tempt Jesus for 40 days. When I read Luke Chapter 4, verses 1 to 13, I see how Jesus dealt with the devil. Jesus prayed and prayed, and he hit the devil with scriptures. The first time satan attempted to mess with Jesus was in verse 3, when he told Jesus if you are the Son of God, tell the rock to become bread. You see what Jesus did, he hit that fool with the Scripture; again the devil tried to tempt Jesus in verses 6 and 9. Each time he tried, Jesus was ready for him with the Scriptures. We see in verse 13 that the devil was defeated, he was burned with words from the Scripture. Verse 13, "after the devil had tempted Jesus in every way, he left him to wait until a better time."

My friends, we should try to emulate Jesus, whenever the devil tries to tempt us, we should do exactly what Jesus did, that is, answer the devil with words from the Bible. You see, the devil waits until we are filled with the Holy Spirit to try and mess with us. He tries to mess with us when we just receive a blessing, he tries to mess with us when we get a favor or a promotion from God. My friends, let us keep on the armor of God, let us quote those scriptures for the devil. The more we reference God in our answers to the devil and the more we keep on praising God, despite his every efforts to discourage us, he will give up and leave us alone. However, we must stay prayed up. We must study and stay in the Word because we know that he will come around again. How will you answer the devil with the Scriptures if you are not reading the Word? Please, let us get into the Word, morning, noon and night.

Let us keep on pressing and pushing and praying so that we are always ready when the devil comes knocking. Let us arm ourselves with the Lord. Let us hit the devil with our praises to God. Remember, stay in prayer, believe, and live your life in such a way that the devil will think twice when he tries to mess with you and your family.

Glory to God.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Women in Prayer

My friends:

God is a true and loving God and I thank Him for it! As a reminder to my previous blog, I just want to get in agreement with you that we are praying for miracles to happen in the lives of men, especially those in our children's lives.

As I review some of my journal entries from 2008, I came across a message from my pastor, the Rev. Dr. Felix G. Williams, III. Rev. Williams said that we must P-U-S-H. PUSH = Pray Until Something Happens. My friends, that's what we will do. We will keep on pushing and praying until something happens in the lives of men; we will push and pray until we see miracles perform in these men's lives. Rev. Williams reminded us that when we've had just about enough, we need to call on the name of Jesus. Jesus, help us, Jesus, please hear our cries; Jesus, please forgive us; Jesus, please help us; Jesus, have mercy on us. That's right, every time we pray, we need to call on the name of Jesus and we also need to end our prayer with, "In Jesus' Name". There is power in the name of Jesus. Again, I know I keep repeating myself, but my friends, it is truly important we keep hitting the devil with Bible verses; it is so important that we keep praising God in times of our troubles; it is super duper important that we pray. Prayer changes everything. I guarantee you that when you start praying for that man, pray believing, and pray asking God to bind up that specific thing that is a dark corner in his life, God will work it out for you. Thank you Lord.

My friends, as disciples, we need to stay in prayer. Prayer changes everything, but you must believe. Your heart must be open and receptive to God's word. You must be still and patient and let God work it out for you. Only God can perform that miracle.

Be blessed and be a blessing for someone today.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Time To Pray For Men

My dear friends:

I greet you with blessings from God above!

For some time now, I have been pondering on whether God will allow my fingers to write what I have been thinking about, praying about, and talking about to some of you. As I started my reading of the Word to see which direction God wanted me to go in for today's message, I got the confirmation for today's message.

Proverbs Chapter 24, verses 3-4 says "It takes wisdom to have a good family, and it takes understanding to make it strong. It takes knowledge to fill a home with rare and beautiful treasures." My friends, I want to be wise like Solomon, I want to have a good family, I want to proclaim "as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Wisdom brings understanding and patience and forgiveness and love. I certainly do not want to be an old fool. So, to be obedient in my walk with Christ, I need to ask you to start praying for men. As of today, if you haven't already been doing so, let us begin to pray in sincerity for the men in our lives and in the lives of our children. Let us ask God to intercede on behalf of men who are our husbands; our earthly fathers; our sons; our childrens' fathers; our grandfathers; our uncles; our male cousins; our nephews. My friends, please let us begin to pray in true form for men. You will agree with me that as women, we are so quick to beat them down, but slow to lift them up. We can cut them with the words like a sharp knife, but we find it hard to give them words of encouragement. I am guilty of doing the beat down of men, I am guilty, but I ask God for forgiveness; I ask God to please let me love, please let me forgive, please give me the courage to pray for men. I will tell you I have been trying for a few months now, with the encouragement of one of my sisters, to pray sincerely for all the men in my life. You see, I now know that it is not about me, but it is about God. I have a son who loves his daddy with all his heart and I realize that I must love this man as my brother in Christ if I proclaim to be a follower of Jesus and also because my son loves him. It is hard to pray for people who have beaten you down, but as true disciples, we must take example from Paul, who was a true servant of Jesus Christ. Paul had physical and emotional scars from being a true servant of Jesus, Paul was a servant who loved his friends and his enemies. In Paul's letter to the young preacher, Timothy, he wrote, "whoever does not care for his own relatives, especially his own family members, has turned against the faith and is worse than someone who does not believe in God." (1 Timothy 5:8) That is certainly a harsh statement from Paul. But, one of the things I admire about Paul is that he spoke the truth, he spoke the honest truth, he didn't had time to sugarcoat anything.

My friends, as of today, let us begin to start praying for the men in our lives, but especially for the men in our children's lives. In fact, just let us pray for all men, all over the world. I have brothers, my father, uncle, cousins, nephews all living in Belize, please just pray for them, please lift them up in your prayers. I will be praying for the men in your lives, you pray for the men in my life.

St. Francis of Assisi prayer has come to my mind. St. Francis prayed, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand;to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning, that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." My friends, if someone wasn't praying for us, where would we be today? Let us forget about ourselves for a moment and let us pray for the men whom we have been putting down with our words and actions. Friends, let us begin to speak positive things over these men lives; if they are living in darkness, let us get in agreement with one another and ask God to bind up that darkness, whatever it may be. Friends, call it out, call it out to the Lord in prayer, whatever it is, if he is abusing you with words, call his name and ask God to bind up his mouth; if he is cheating on you; ask the Lord to bind up that cheating behavior; ask God to open his heart and his mind; if he is using drugs; ask the Lord to bring an intervention; if he is drinking, ask God to bring an intervention; friends, whatever it is, just let us get in agreement and ask God to intervene on our behalf; ask God to bind up that darkness in Jesus' precious name.

Now, remember, as followers of Christ, we must pray, we must pray continually and believing that God will answer our prayers. God may not answer our prayers right away, but do not give up, keep praying, keep praying, morning, noon, and night. Pray in the car, pray while sitting on your porch, pray in the shower, pray on the toilet, pray, pray, pray. Whatever you do, pray. My friends, I cannot emphasize enough to you the importance of praying. I am a witness of what prayers can do, I am living witness, I had parents and sisters who prayed morning, noon and night for me, and I thank God for them because He has surely turned me around. Thank you Lord.

My friends, be blessed and know that God has everything under control; your prayer is already answered, but you must believe; when you take it to the Lord in prayer, you just leave it with God. Thank you Father, thank you Lord.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Are You A Fool?

Greetings:

My friends, I needed some guidance today; I needed some continued encouragement today, so what better book to turn to than the book of Proverbs! Proverbs provides wisdom and insight. Proverbs provides me with down-to-earth truth when I need it. Minister Lucado puts it so aptly, that time spent with Proverbs makes a heart wise. Proverbs is a book that when you read it, it turns on the lamps in the dark corners of life. The book of Proverbs turns on the lamp of patience when we are having trouble with an enemy; it flips on the switch of prudence when we are having trouble with greed; it sits under the light of trust when we are anxious about tomorrow (Max Lucado, Introduction, The Devotional Bible). These statements are just so beautiful.

The Lord directed me to Proverbs Chapter 26, verse 11, where it reads, A fool who repeats his foolishness is like a dog that goes back to what it has thrown up. Now, you know I wondered why God sent me to this very verse, but silly me, it is for me to get wisdom. God wants to continue to direct my path; God wants to make sure that I do not fall back in the same foolish ways. I can tell you that I do not want to be a fool who repeats her foolishness. To be called a fool hurts, doesn't it? But truth of the matter is that we are fools when we repeat the same foolishness. That is why it is very important for us to let God direct our path. I am not going back to that mess that made me dark (bad behavior, bad attitude, bad choices). I do not want to be like a dog that goes back to what it has thrown up. Yuckity, yuck, yuck. No way, Jose. Solomon's words are to encourage and motivate us in our walk with God.

I pray that you will not be a fool who is eating the same food that you have thrown up. In other words, please do not be a fool and repeat the same mistakes over that you have already made. Please do not be a fool and go back to those corners that make you dark, that is, alcohol, drugs, promiscuity, lying, cheating, jealousy, lust, foolishness, violence, anger, laziness, greed.

Remember, fools hate wisdom and self-control (Proverbs 1:7), but we know that when we have wisdom and self-control, we are blessed with the fruit of the spirit. My friends, let us pray to God to give us wisdom, knowledge and understanding so that we may live right and do what is right according to His word. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Friends, please get in the word, read, read, read the Bible. Read if only for 30 minutes, but please read. When we arm ourselves with the Word and when we declare wisdom over our lives, the devil gets mad. Let us prove to the devil how much of a fool he is. Let us give glory and honor to God by acting and thinking in wisdom.

Until then,
Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Be Encouraged

Friends, greetings!

What a mighty God we serve. Today I read that one of my favorite football players, Steve McNair, was found dead. For a minute his death hit me as I thought about what a great quarterback he was; I thought about his wife and kids, but then the spirit reminded me, tomorrow is not promised, and whatever we do in the dark will come out in the light (sooner or later). My friends, I do hope you are seeing the pattern here, God does not care who you are, where you are from, when He is ready to take you, He will.

George Huff's single, Don't Let Go, has been helping me to stay encouraged. I play it every chance I get. It is a beautiful song, I tell you. George sings, "Be encouraged, my brother, be encouraged, my sister; just hold on; God will work it out for you; don't let go." In these times, we need to be encouraged, we need to stay encouraged, we need to encourage our brother and sister. Just as Paul prayed for the Thessalonians in his second letter that God encourage them and strengthen them in every good thing they do and say, I pray that you stay encouraged. I am asking you to pray for me that I can stay encouraged. Please pray for me and I will pray for you.

Paul in his encouragement letter wrote that God loves us, and through His grace, He gave us a good hope and encouragement that continues forever (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17). Friends, because we know that God loves us and He has given us grace, we should not give up no matter how bleak the circumstances may be. I know, from experience, that it is not easy to stay encouraged, but God is our provider and our redeemer. God will work it out for us. Friends, as George sings, don't worry, don't worry, everything is going to be all right, hold on, hold on, God will work it out. God supplies all our needs. All we need to do is ask. Ask and it shall be given unto you. Friends, don't let go, be encouraged.

I pray that you be encouraged; I pray that I be encouraged. Friends, we will not let go because we know when the devil is trying to get to us, we fight back with the good book. We open those pages and read. While reading, we open our mouths and we praise God. Prayer is our answer. Let us pray; let us pray believing and asking God for encouragement as we continue on this life's journey. The devil does not appreciate it when we praise our God.

God is truly wonderful. There were many times I wanted to give up, many times, I got discouraged, but God always sends someone or something to keep me encouraged. That's the favor of God over my life now. Thank you Lord.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Oh How We Forget

Blessings my friends:

You know we serve an awesome and great God!

Why is it that when some of us become followers of Jesus we tend to forget where we used to be in life? We tend to forget all the mistakes we made? Or we tend to forget the people we have hurt along the way? It irritates me to no end when people try to judge me for the things I did in my past that I already know God has forgiven me for. Do you get judged by people even though you know that God has forgiven you for your mistakes? We need to start schooling these people who judge us based on our past. We need to take them to the 8th chapter in the book of John. The disciple told of the story where the woman who had committed adultery was taken before Jesus to be stoned to death. See, the Pharisees were even trying to trick Jesus so they can get him arrested. But, oh what a wondrous God we serve! Jesus' reply to these Pharisees were "anyone here who has never sinned can throw the first stone at her." (John 8:7) You know, that shut them up so quickly. That's what they get for trying to act like they have never sinned. My friends, as far as God is concerned, a sin is a sin, no matter.

Friends, please do not judge people because of their past mistakes or who they used to be or who they used to do, or what they used to do. Would you like it if someone judges you for something you did way back in the day? Would you want that "dark" behavior to come to the light? Then what? See, judge no one, leave the judging up to God. God is the only judge that we should fear. We may not like what someone has done or is still doing, however, the christian thing for us to do is to forgive and pray for that person. Pray, pray, pray. Pray asking God to bind up that behavior, or to bind up whatever darkness needs to be bounded up. That's what we need to do as disciples of God.

The answer Jesus gave those Pharisees were so shocking to them, that they had to lap their tails between their legs and go about their way. Thank you Lord. Friends, if you are in that situation where someone tries to embarrass you because of something you have done, you just ask them, are you that perfect that you have never committed a sin? I bet you they will shut their mouths real quickly. As long as we confess with our mouth, God will forgive us. Jesus told the woman to go on about her way and do not sin anymore (Luke 8:10). As my pastor says, we are not defined by our past, however, our past is what defines us. We can use our past as our testimony; it is our blessing. It is because of our past that we now have favor. Remember, favor, what God has given us that we do not deserve. How many of us who act so holier than thou have favor? I betcha you don't. Don't judge me, only God can do that.

Stay blessed, keep reading the good book.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Living For God

Friends, greetings in Jesus' name:

Peter, the apostle, took me back to when I used to run the streets in Belize; when I used to go club hopping every weekend. But, thanks be to God, that was all back in the day when I was living a life of darkness. My life is an indication of how God good is; how He can use our darkness and turn it into light. To God be the glory that I am forgiven, I am a changed woman. I am woman who has been given mercy for her transgressions. Thank you Lord. I know that many people do not believe that I am no longer the party woman, Ms. "Solid Gold", but I do party for the Lord. Instead of club hopping, I have my own party for the Lord. I worship God in the morning time, I worship God in the noon time, I worship God in the evening time. I worship God all the time. I sing songs of praise and worship to my Lord. Yes, I said sing. I am not blessed with a singing voice, but I can tell you the Lord loves to hear me sing because He is just so awesome!! I dance for the Lord like David danced for the Lord. When I was living in darkness, I danced to Lieutenant Stitchie and Papa Saan, but look how Lieutenant Stitchie, Papa Saan and I now sing and dance to the Lord! Oh how marvelous when God forgives wretches!

When you get filled with the Holy Spirit, you are filled with joy. When you have joy, you just praise God just because. You don't need an excuse. You are just so happy that even when trials come, you still have a smile on your face. No one would know that you are going through some trial. God is wonderful and He is full of mercy. 1 Peter 4:2 says, "Strengthen yourselves so that you will live here on earth doing what God wants, not the evil things people want." Yes, Lord, I will praise you for the rest of my days. I do not care what people want, I know what I want and that is to praise and love my Lord and Savior.

Peter encouraged us to live such good lives that people will see the good things we do and will give glory on the day when Christ comes again (1 Peter 12). Oh what a day of rejoicing that will be, when we all see Jesus, we will sing and shout for victory! My friends, as Peter advised us, let us strengthen ourselves with the Word of God. Let us strengthen ourselves by doing what God wants us to do; that is, living right; witnessing and testifying of God's goodness and mercy and grace; help each other; love each other; forgive each other; and spread kindness to all mankind.

Please get in God's Word and pray asking God for continued strength as we continue our walk with Him, bringing others along the way with us.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Timidity to Boldness

Greetings my friends:

To God be the glory. As I mature in my spiritual life, I am getting a more clearer picture of the various men and women in the Bible and their respective roles. For instance, Timothy. Timothy was a young minister, who loves God. However, in his early ministry, Timothy had many challenges as he was charged with leading the church in Ephesus. To encourage Timothy to share his testimonies and spread the good news of Jesus Christ, Paul wrote several letters to him to keep him encouraged and to help him get bold in carrying out the work of the Lord. Of particular interest and importance to me, was Paul's second letter just before his death, which is found in 2 Timothy. Paul advised Timothy, "God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid, but a spirit of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed to tell people about our Lord Jesus, and do not be ashamed of me, in prison for the Lord." (2 Timothy 1:7-8). As Timothy's mentor, Paul wanted to be sure that God's good news would continue to be spread through the young minister.

Friends, we all have our testimonies, but what good if we do not share them with others? Okay, you are saying, well, I am timid, I am afraid of what people will think or say about me. That's okay, but remember what Paul told Timothy, God has not given us a spirit of timidity. My suggestion to you, and it has worked for me, is to pray. Pray and ask God to give you boldness. Pray and ask God for courage and confidence to share your story of how good He has been to you. God's goodness will only continue to spread if we turn our timidity into boldness and courageousness. As disciples, we must not be ashamed of God or ashamed to share our testimonies; otherwise, when we go before God on Judgment Day, He will be ashamed of us. Oh no, no, no. I certainly do not want that. I want God to say, "well done, my child." Thank you Lord.

Just as Paul encouraged Timothy to continue sharing the good news of the gospel, I am encouraging you to please continue to share the good news of Jesus. If you think are too shy and timid, just begin with the simple truth of the goodness of God; what He has done for you; how He has blessed you; how He has given you favor when you didn't even deserve it; how He released you from the addiction of sex, of drugs, of alcohol. That's how God's goodness will continue to spread throughout the world.

I cannot stress enough how important it is, my friends, to share the good news of Jesus Christ. I sincerely encourage you today to share your testimony with someone. I have found that God always allow us to share at the right place and at right time and with the right person. You will see that you showed up right on time and with the right message. Someone has been waiting to hear your testimony, please share it. Remember, the devil gets mad when we use our mouths to glorify God.

I pray that you will be encouraged and I pray that you will be bold to share God's good news. The same way Paul mentored Timothy, I have a younger sibling who has been my mentor since I was a young woman. We need to keep each other encouraged and we need to mentor other women, but we must be courageous and brave.

May God give you boldness to share His good news.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

"The List"

Hello my dear friends:

For many months now I have been wanting to watch the Tyler Perry movie, "Why Did I Get Married?". I know there was a good reason for my wanting to see that movie. As it just so happens, one of the sessions I attended at the women's conference was "Why Did I Get Married?", and on the Sunday following that conference, my pastor touched on the very same subject matter. See, both the minister who taught the session and my pastor thought that everyone had seen the movie. I thought to myself, oh oh, que lastima. My translation, "what a pity"! I may be the only black woman that did not see that movie.

Today's blog, after watching the movie, takes me back to when I was married. I remember that one of the activities we did when we were trying to make the marriage work was to make a list. Good idea you think? We divided our writing sheet in two, Side A - Things I Do Not Like About You; Side B - Things I Do Like About You. For me, there were about three things on the side of the dislike; on the like side, I had several. Good, right???? Surprise----this exercise immediately turned into a painful experience when my ex-husband was going through his Side A, his dislikes about me. I thought, "wow, I never knew he still held so much of my past against me and I didn't even know he had ill feelings about certain things I did and say." At that juncture in the marriage, I was not thinking anything scriptural, spiritual or biblical, I just wanted my husband to stay with me; I was just trying to do whatever was necessary to save the family. Okay,you get the picture. My entire focus was on my husband, I had quickly forgotten that God was the true ruler of my home; I had quickly forgotten that I needed to take my problems to the Lord in prayer. I had quickly forgotten how much the Lord had blessed me; I had totally forgotten about the goodness of God. See, if I had had the good sense, I would have studied 1 Corinthians 13:5, which says "Love does not count up wrongs that have been done." Thank you Lord, thank you. When we are in panic mode, we discount God, we try to deal with things on our own, but I can tell you from experience, doing things on our own does NOT work.

Minister and Christian author, Max Lucado, in his Life Lessons series wrote that God is the one that wants our lists. God wants us to leave the list at the cross. Minister Lucado stressed that we are commanded, not urged, commanded to keep no list of wrongs. Friends, you and I know, and as Minister Lucado admitted, it is not easy to bite our tongues; it is hard to not keep lists; it is easy to snarl lips and growl at people we don't like, but God wants our lists.

Paul in Colossians 3:13 wrote, "If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you." Again, easy to read and easy to say, but so hard to do, right? At the end of the lesson, Don't Keep a List of Wrongs, Minister Lucado posed the question, Who do you need to forgive before bitterness consumes you? Friends, if we want to be honest with ourselves, we don't even have to ponder the question for too long; we know of that someone who comes to each of our minds right away. However, my friends, I have good news that will help us in our journey to get rid of our lists. That is, we need to remember that we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13)!! That's it. That is how we can start to get rid of our lists and start forgiving and loving each other!!! We need to affirm over our lives that we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us.

Minister Lucado is absolutely right when he asked if we really want to keep a list. Do we really want to catalog all our mistreatments? Do we really want to growl and snap our way through life? My friends, let us no longer wait, let us forgive ourselves and let us forgive that person whom has done us wrong. Most importantly, let us get rid of that list of wrongs we have been holding on to for so long. Take it to the Lord and leave it at the cross. Release it, in Jesus' name. We must remember that our Lord Jesus was crucified, he was beaten and nailed to the cross. Jesus did it all because He loves us and we are to take our every pain, anger, anxiety, bitterness, sickness, wickedness, darkness to Him in prayer. Take it and leave it at the cross because Jesus has already paid the price on our behalf. Be thankful and grateful, my friends. Thank you Lord. Please let me release my lists and leave them at the cross. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Have a spirit-filled day!

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

The Story of Ruth (and Naomi)

My friends:

Last night the Lord directed me to the Old Testament books of Ruth and Esther. I had previously read both Ruth and Esther a couple times, but this time reading both books gave me a clearer and more meaningful understanding of these two beautiful young women.

Today, I will only touch on the short, but beautiful story of Ruth. The gist of the book is that after the death of Naomi's husband and two sons in the land of Moab, Naomi decided to return to her original home, the land of Judah. However, she insisted that both of her daughters-in-law returned to their mothers' houses. Of the two young women, one was determined that she would stick it out with Naomi, her name was Ruth. Ruth's true beauty and love for her mother-in-law came out when she was crying to Naomi, telling her, "Where you go, I will go. Where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. And where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried." Ruth 1:16-17 are just two powerful verses. These two verses point out to us the loyalty between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the love and respect this young woman had for an older, well-respected woman. Most of all, however, it points out how much influence the older woman had on the younger woman. Naomi was a woman of God, who loved God and Ruth wanted to follow in her mother-in-law's footsteps. Those two verses really touched me, brought me to tears. Do you think if Naomi was an evil mother-in-law Ruth would have wanted to go with her?? No way. Naomi even addressed Ruth as her "daughter". Now, that is something to desire, having a mother-in-law who loves and respects you so much as to address you as her "daughter".

As God's 5th commandment says " Honor thy father and thy mother so your days may be long." I take that commandment to heart. We must love, respect and cherish our mothers and fathers, our elders. The story of Ruth teaches us about loyalty and true friendship between mother/daughter/mother-in-law/daughter-in-law. I pray that when the Lord sends my husband, I will have that type of relationship with his mother. If you don't have a relationship with your mother-in-law or daughter-in-law, do so now. Put your pride aside and work things out. Please start to respect each other.

Please read the book of Ruth to help you in your relationship with your daughter-in-law or mother-in-law. Read the book of Ruth if you are in the same boat as I am, single/divorced, or if you are a widow, and you are sincerely asking God to send you a husband. This book is truly inspiring and it has given me more courage and hope to trust in the Lord that He has a husband lined up for me. I just pray my true beauty will shine the same way Ruth's true beauty was shone.

I hope this blog has been a blessing to your heart.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize