A Character Rooted in God

Greetings my friends, in the name of Jesus!

My Sister, Inda, ends her signature line with a Michael Josephson quote, “The character that really counts for both time and eternity is character that has its roots in God.” I paused and smiled. I constantly remind myself and my children that the only thing we have is our reputation, our character, our name. The good news, however, is that we can have redemption through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. No matter how messed up our character has been, when God redeems us that character is then rooted in God! The way we live, the way we talk, the way we treat other, all rooted in God.

The Gospel of John paints this awesome picture for me of a woman whom we may say, “has been around the block a few times.” I am talking about the Samaritan woman whom met Jesus at the well. I shout hallelujah each time I study this story. You see, my friends, this woman had a reputation, she had five husbands and when Jesus met her, she was living in sin with another man. However, God is our redeemer and HE redeems us, no matter who we are, all we need to do is confess and believe. The Samaritan woman recognized Jesus as the Messiah and she immediately went back to the city to tell the men about this man, the Christ. Now, just imagine, I bet not only her former husbands, but even those who called her ugly names, even the elderly who scorned upon her came to see this man, the Christ.

Psalm 107:2 tell us to, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." That's exactly what the Samaritan woman did; she went immediately and told her city of this great man, the Christ. Glory. So, friends, it does not matter what character you have or have had, because when it is rooted in God that is all that matters! Glory, thank you Father for redemption.

My character is rooted in my God. My sins have been forgiven, my slate wiped clean, Jesus sees me for who I am, that is, a child of God! My character has its roots in God and that is what counts for both time and eternity.

Modification Of My Behavior

Greetings, my friends! I pray all is well. Each day is a new beginning.

I thank God for the chastising HE gives to me every now and then. He tells me it is time I modify my behavior. My pastor, Rev. Felix G. Williams, III had warned that sometimes a storm comes into our lives to correct our actions. He warned that sometimes our behavior needs to be modified and adjusted, and that is why we end up in a storm of correction. Rev. Williams gave another important warning. He said that one of the reasons we end up in storm of correction is because of the people we hang out with; people we hang on to; people we allow onto our "ships". I know it is really hard to let go of certain people in our lives, but until we realize it is because of them that we get in these storms of correction, we will continue to be whipped by God. Those such people may be our very own family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, hangout buddies, and our teammates.

I have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. I take heed to the lessons of my past experiences; I no longer get fool so easily by the "pleasant conditions" because I have a spirit of discernment and I try my hardest to not give way to pessimistic attitudes. In fact, the Spirit that lives within us helps us to move away from such attitudes and behaviors. Friends, discernment only comes by being obedient to the will of God, staying in the Word, and praying regularly and continually.

I am proud to say that in my small circle, I do have folk who can unlock the storm door on my behalf. They know how to pray and they intercede on my behalf. When they do, God hears them. I thank God for those such people who are in my life. The unknown author(s) of the Book of Hebrews, in Chapter 12:1, reminds me that "since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." In verse 2, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." I thank God for carrying the cross for me. As a gratitude to God, I am fixing my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith. I pray you will do the same, that is, if you are tired of being in storms of correction.

God bless.
Ta ta,
Therese from Belize

Yes, I Am A Believer!

My friends, greetings and peace to you all:

I thank God for being in my life. I believe in God with my whole heart, mind and soul, and I trust you do too. My friends, in these difficult times that we are facing, we need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died to save us from our sins. We must believe that God will come again to judge the living and the dead, and that the righteous will have a seat at God's table. For us to believe, we must have faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1). We must live our lives each and every day as if it is our last day on this earth because we just do not know when God will call us home.

My friends, there is no better time than now to start believing and trusting God with all your heart, mind and soul. Hebrews 11:6 tells me that without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is real and that He rewards those who truly want to find Him. That means we must believe that God has our backs in everything we say and do and in every situation that we encounter. He has our backs in good times and in bad times, even if the situation does not seem that way. We must believe in God with all our hearts mind and soul even when the devil is poking us to turn away from God. When we believe that God has the situation already taken care of or that HE will answer our prayers, that's faith.

One Wednesday's Bible study, my pastor, Rev. Dr. Felix Williams, taught us students that heaven is a place where we will live with God forever, but before we get there, there is a plan of salvation for us. Rev. Williams said that salvation requires FAITH.

FAITH is:
F - FORGIVENESS (we must ask God to forgive us of our sins)
A - AVAILABLE (salvation is available to all of us)
I - IMPOSSIBLE (it is impossible to do it on your own)
T - TURN (we need to turn away from our sins)
H - HEAVEN (a place prepared for us by God)

My friends, all we need is to have faith the size of a mustard seed, knowing that God will grant us His favor, God will answer our petitions. Keep believing in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God said to tell you that it will be all right. It is already done, in the name of Jesus.


God bless,
Therese from Belize

Holding My Head Up High

My dear friends!
I pray all is well with you. I am using my son's Archos Tablet PC to post this blog so please forgive me for any errors you may find. This gadget is so sensitive.

My friends, the devil has been attacking. I know that with Sisters Road To Freedom, Inc. getting off to a great start, the manuscript finished, my kids doing great, I knew it would just be a matter of time before the devil attacked. I was attacked this weekend, headon. I got ill, no computer, insecurities surfaced, and my past brought up. Yes, used against me. The devil is a liar. You see, for a minute I retreated, but I quickly gathered myself. Oh no, I am not a punk, I am not a wimp, I am a child of God. In the Gospel of John, 8:12, Jesus tells me that He is the light of the world and if I follow Him, I will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. My accuser had forgotten that God gives me His promise because I am following Him. I am not that old me. The old me was washed away when I gave my life to Christ.

What Satan did was to energize me in my walk with Christ. I will press forward, I will keep on doing the Lord's will. God has washed my sins away, who are you to judge me? This walk, on this nartow road is not for wimps. I am forgivenz you are forgiven, and I am walking with my head held high, knowing: I am redeemed!

God bless,
Therese from Belize

No Expiration Date On The Exchange

Friends, I pray all is well! I am giving God all the glory and honor for HE is worthy to be praised!

Are you one of those persons who do not like to participate in your office's Christmas gift exchange? Or are you that person who gets gifts from the kindness of your friends' hearts and wait until they leave to run to the stores to exchange those gifts? The same way, my friends, God wants us to do exchanges with Him. That's right, God wants us to exchange our hurts and our pains with Him; He wants us to exchange our fear for boldness; exchange our weeping for happiness; exchange our troubles for joy. God is looking for people who are tired of disappointments and discouragements; HE wants it all from you. He is waiting to exchange whatever you have to give to Him, He will take it and give you something good in return...love, joy, peace, happiness, favor, money, health.

Rev Tina Findley had told me that "Exchange" is God's way of taking our baggage away. That's right, you can exchange ALL your baggage with Christ. However, to make that exchange with God, we must put aside our pride, shame and fear and just take it to the Lord. We must let God take it away from us and we must believe and leave it all to God. We must, however, also change our attitudes. We must learn to trust in God and watch Him work in our lives. When we do this, we will live in excess. When we live in excess, we possess the spirit of God and we have freedom--freedom from all the excess baggage. When we live in excess, we are surrendering totally to God, working through every issue with God, not trying to do it on our own. Excess guarantees us God's blessings. (Rev.Tina Findley, 2009)

Friends, the really neat thing about this exchange with Christ is that it does not expire. There is no expiration date on exchanges with the Lord. No receipts of purchases are needed. I encourage you today to perform a self-exam; look for those things you have been hiding, get them out of hiding and exchange them with God. I can tell you that it feels so good to have excess weight taken off me. I have begun to feel so "light"! Friends, stop carrying around garbage with you, stop carrying around excess baggage, stop carrying around your worry and your hurt, and exchange those things with the Lord. He wants it all today!

Be blessed,
Therese from Belize

Who Are The Real Women?

My dear friends, I pray all is well.

Today, I thank God for the real women HE has placed in my life. You see, friends, real women have certain characteristics, they are anointed and gifted women, they are "real" as the word implies.

Senior Pastor Jon Weece of Southland Christian Church had indicated to his congregation that real women have four distinct characteristics:
1) Real Women follow Jesus. These women follow Jesus in their attitude and actions. Real women get other women together in prayer and fellowship. They pray steadfastly, they have faith, and they encourage other women.
Rev. Dr. Cecilia Williams-Bryant had said that God’s women will not substitute conference for action. God’s women must not sanitize sin just to satisfy our own discrepancies; God’s women are resilience, have vision and courage.

My friends, bottom line is that if we are truly God’s women, we must speak what God wants us to speak, we must speak with love, our action must be of love and out of love. We must be sincere in our actions and with our words, and we must encourage and inspire other women instead of trying to bring them down.

2) Real Women are modest. To be modest means that one is free from vanity or conceit. Women who are modest have inside beauty and they are mysterious. Women who are modest know how to evangelize and speak life over others.

My grandmother used to tell me all the time, it does not matter how ugly you are on the outside, what’s important is how beautiful your inside is. When your inside is beautiful it outshines the outside’s ugliness. Rev. Williams-Bryant said a God’s woman who is modest is free from oppression and does not oppress her neighbor and the environment; she practices prophetic intervention. Rev. Williams-Bryant said that prophetic intervention is an at-risk procedure but it will open the gates of heaven. I agree with Rev. Williams-Bryant. It is an at-risk procedure, but I will take that risk over and over and over and I will continue to declare and claim everything in the name of Jesus.

3) Real Women are content. Contented women are not jealous, not competitive, not prone to gossip, not materialistic, don’t hold grudges. Women who are content have a joy in them. Content women will walk away from situations that would cause them to question their integrity and character.
My friends, to be content is to know Thy Word. God's Word should be so planted in our hearts that no man, or woman, will be able to sway or persuade us to do the things of this world that we know are not pleasing in the sight of the Lord.

4) Real Women want to be romanced. Women want to be cuddled, held, kissed, listen to; learn about them from them; a woman’s well-being is fueled by conversation. Amen to this. In fact earlier I thought about the kind of marriage that I will have. My husband-to-be is very busy, he is a very busy fellow and so, since I humble myself as a real woman, I know that there will have to be some time for the two of us, just the two of us, watching a movie, singing together, dancing together, or just simply having chitchats about nothing!

Sisters, are you a real woman? If you are not, then get on board, give up the things of this world, be one with God and start doing what God wants you to do. Be a woman of God and intercede, pray, fast, read the Word, run this race and do not give up, lean unto the Lord for understanding; trust and depend on the Lord in all you say and do; believe in the power of prayer. Real women bring other women to the kingdom of God. Real women are not ashamed to speak of God's goodness and grace and mercy over their lives.

If you have been fence hopping, fence sitting, backsliding, and even just pretending, I pray that you get in agreement with God and become a real woman of God. It is easy to become a woman of God, all it takes is the forgiveness of your sins, and walking in the light, instead of darkness.



God bless,

Therese from Belize

Humble Servant For The Lord

Greetings, my friends, in the name of Jesus!


In Luke 1:48-49, "For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name." (KJV) My friends, holy is His name, His precious name, that name of Jesus Christ! I am blessed because God has done great things for me. I am blessed because I know God will continue to do great things for me, and I thank the Lord in advance.

I recall a class by Rev. Maxine Thomas, which was titled, "Series of Fortunate Events". Rev. Thomas directed her class from Luke 1, focusing on the pregnancies of Elizabeth and Mary. Rev. Thomas encouraged women that when we get pregnant in the Spirit, no one can take away that pregnancy. Sometimes we may be afraid to speak about the movement within us, but we must not be afraid because a true woman of God will understand and provide encouragement and support along the way for us. Rev. Thomas encouraged women to look for other women to encourage and inspire because it is just simple that we need to encourage one another. Rev. Thomas said many times we fail to accept another sister's divinity. I had pondered that statement for some time and all I could come up with is jealousy and envy as the root causes for such failure. To confirm my answer of why women do not support other women, I had the pleasure of sitting in on Dr. Ellen Marmon's class, The Hour of Purpose. Dr. Marmon, Assistant Professor of Christian Discipleship at Asbury Theological Seminary, referred us to Genesis 16:1-10 of Sarai and Hagar. Here we see jealousy and envy in its purest form. Dr. Marmon, however, reiterated,urged and encouraged us as women to provide support, commitment, time and energy to other women.

My friends, we see in the Scripture that Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus turned to Elizabeth (who was pregnant with John the Baptist) for support. Elizabeth did not become jealous of Mary when she came to visit her, knowing that Mary was pregnant with the child who would save the world, but instead Elizabeth became filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke life to Mary letting her know that God has blessed her, that is Mary, more than any other woman. Elizabeth was not jealous, in fact, she was happy with her pregnancy (Luke 1:39-45). As women, we must not be jealous of another woman, instead, we must support that woman in her pregnancy; in her divinity. In fact, we can look at Ruth and Naomi, Ruth became pregnant with Boaz's baby and Naomi took over that baby like he was her own (Ruth 4:16); look at Lois and Eunice, Timothy's grandmother and mother (2 Timothy 1:3-7); Martha and Mary (Luke 10); Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna worked together to help Jesus and His apostles (Luke 8). These are women who loved and supported each other because they all had two things in common; one, they were all humble women; and, two, they loved and served God with all their hearts.

My friends, don't you agree it is time for women to support other women? Do not forget that there was a woman who helped you along the way. Be a humble servant, a servant for the Lord.

Be blessed, be forgiving, be prayerful.
Therese from Belize