This week has really been an eye opener for me...Have you ever had those moments where you were swallowed up in the flow of life that you just completely forgot who you were and the God you are serving?...(smh it happens) IT CAN HAPPEN! In transition with getting a new job and school I felt defeated this week...trying to figure out the unknown...doubting myself..pondering over questions like "Will I be able to do it? What about my girls? and the list goes on..And the thing is, when your mind gets so cluttered up with all these negative thoughts , concerns, and doubts.. Will people like me? Will I like them?......... ...Where is there room to even think about God's faithfulness? Where is there room to think about His promises?....What He says about you and your life? Our lives can literally be like this sometimes--Its like being in a boxing match, and your opponent keeps throwing blows at you and instead of using your tactics to fight back, your'e too busy thinking about how bad the punches hurt or how strong your opponent is...umm wake up Naomie (you)!!! You're in the fight too! What have you been learning? What has the Lord taught you? Better yet....what does His word say?..What has God promised you and why aren't you using it to fight back?!! Why you always feel down and defeated in your spirit is because you're allowing lies of the enemy, your own insecurities and the challenges of this world to defeat you! If you're tired, you need to wake up! If you're lazy, you need to get to work! If you're caught up, you need to snap out of it and apply what you've learned to your life AND KEEP DOING IT! Change will not come over night and thats what I had to tell myself the same. You have to work and trust God in the process! It's a daily fight. Guard your hearts with the Word ladies. That's the only way to experience God's power in us and our lives! Keep fighting! Keep trusting! Never stop believing and applying! WHO ARE YOU? You are HIS. Romans 8:17 You are LOVED. 1 John 4:19 You are WORTH IT. Luke 12:6-7 HE IS WITH YOU ALWAYS. Isaiah 41:10; Deuteronomy 31:8 HE CARES FOR YOU. 1 PETER 5:7 and much MORE ladies dig into the Word and FIGHT!!! This week has really been an eye opener for me...Have you ever had those moments where you were swallowed up in the flow of life that you just completely forgot who you were and the God you are serving?...(smh it happens) IT CAN HAPPEN! In transition with getting a new job and school I felt defeated this week...trying to figure out the unknown...doubting myself..pondering over questions like "Will I be able to do it? What about my girls? and the list goes on..And the thing is, when your mind gets so cluttered up with all these negative thoughts , concerns, and doubts.. Will people like me? Will I like them?.........
...Where is there room to even think about God's faithfulness? Where is there room to think about His promises?....What He says about you and your life? Our lives can literally be like this sometimes--Its like being in a boxing match, and your opponent keeps throwing blows at you and instead of using your tactics to fight back, your'e too busy thinking about how bad the punches hurt or how strong your opponent is...umm wake up Naomie (you)!!! You're in the fight too! What have you been learning? What has the Lord taught you? Better yet....what does His word say?..What has God promised you and why aren't you using it to fight back?!! Why you always feel down and defeated in your spirit is because you're allowing lies of the enemy, your own insecurities and the challenges of this world to defeat you! If you're tired, you need to wake up! If you're lazy, you need to get to work! If you're caught up, you need to snap out of it and apply what you've learned to your life AND KEEP DOING IT! Change will not come over night and thats what I had to tell myself the same. You have to work and trust God in the process! It's a daily fight. Guard your hearts with the Word ladies. That's the only way to experience God's power in us and our lives! Keep fighting! Keep trusting! Never stop believing and applying! WHO ARE YOU? You are HIS. Romans 8:17 You are LOVED. 1 John 4:19 You are WORTH IT. Luke 12:6-7 HE IS WITH YOU ALWAYS. Isaiah 41:10; Deuteronomy 31:8 HE CARES FOR YOU. 1 PETER 5:7 and much MORE ladies dig into the Word and FIGHT!!!
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To the young woman who is still struggling to find herself in the midst of a broken world...
He is working behind the scenes! Your life is a story written to draw you closer to the creator and author Himself--I always use to think there was something greater than me..watching my every move. Something in control of what was going on in my life but I didn't really know what or who it was. I would feel tugs and hear a still small voice telling me to go this way or that way, to do this or not do that but all the while I didn't pay attention. I heard about Jesus and Him being my Savior and I knew there was a god but I couldn't really relate to Him. He was still far away and yet I would still say "thank God" or pray before bed or before eating. It wasn't until after getting saved that God began to work and show Himself to be the one that had been there with me since the very beginning and even before "Naomie" would come into existence -- Jesus longs to reveal Himself to you. He wants you to know how valuable and precious you are to Him. He wants you to know He is there and has always been there. See, you have embedded in you the desire for acceptance, love, security, and belonging..Why is that? Why is it that you can't seem to fill those voids? Why is it that even when you are around people its hard for you to not feel alone...? It's hard for you to feel like you belong?..Why are you always finding yourself in difficult situations time after time? There is something greater than you out there..there is "someOne" who is knocking and wants to come in and take over--and believe it or not He's a gentleman--He'll take over only and ONLY when you let Him. He wants to be all you need and let me tell you..He's the only ONE who can satisfy your every desire..no man can do it, sex CAN'T do it, drugs can't do it, popularity NOR money CAN do it. ONLY HIM...and won't He do it!!!? Yes and oh so well! I am a testimony to the work ONLY Jesus can do. He is able to heal and restore the broken hearted. I was once someone who thought I needed to be someone else to feel accepted. I was someone who was so lost in not wanting to be alone..I let relationships define who I was. I let guys define who I was..but God is good y'all..Jesus took me out of that and let me know who I was..He took me out of the ashes and made me over. I don't know who I would be or where I would be if it wasn't for Him. He is my strength and purpose when I wake up each morning. When I'm ready to give out He is my lifter and my rock. He is my security when times get rough. My song when days are long and weary. Most of all...He is my first love cuz when I didn't love Him..when I cared nothing for Him..He still loved/s me..That is who Jesus is for me sis and He can be that for you. I want my girls to know that. I won't you to know that...Jesus is all you need and more. He is first and everything else falls after. You can look all over to find something/one like Him but as much as you try you will NEVER FIND IT. The song says "I searched all over, couldn't find nobody, I looked high and low, still couldn't find nobody..nobody greater..nobody greater..nobody greater than you" This letter is for you sis..stop searching..stop crying..stop...Jesus wants to come in. Invite Him in. Like a gentleman, He will tell you who you are. He will give you a sense of purpose. He will make you feel good and so much more ONLY WHEN YOU LET HIM!! Sincerely, Naomie St Louis, daughter of the KING I can't think about the many times I've failed to obey the Lord. The many times I've wanted to do my own thing and not involve Jesus in it. Times where I knew what I was doing was wrong but I did it anyway with the attitude "so what, this is how I feel." There are times where I'd wonder "could he still love me?" With all my flaws, mistakes, and weaknesses, can He possibly still love me? Sometimes it's hard to tell. In our minds we think...it's impossible to love someone who does even the smallest thing to harm us. How can He love us? It could be someone we know or may not know. Even the closest people to us. But Jesus despite those who despised Him and were with Him but later on betrayed Him still had love for them when He said on the cross, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Wow...that's amazing love!--yet tough. But Jesus is our example. He does truly and deeply love us. And He is our help to be who we are called to be for Him. HE wants us to love those we can't stand or don't know. He wants us to have the love He has for us for ourselves. He will equip us to do so when we learn to rely on Him. I say this every time only because it's easy to forget that we are NOT in this battle alone. This journey is you and Jesus (Holy Spirit in you) sis. He is your helper. He is your father. He is your lover and friend. It has been said that to love God, others and even to love yourself ..you must first see God and the way He Loves you. As much as I can, I make it my daily prayer to God, to help me see myself the way He sees me and not to see myself the way I DO-- in my insecurities, failures, and weaknesses. Now, there are days ladies where we will not feel like it or get too overwhelmed by the challenges of life that we get side-tracked, but it's up to us to "keep fighting the good fight".This is the walk of being a daughter for the kingdom til our Savior comes back and takes us home. There WILL be down days but we don't have to stay down. We can fight through those days reminding ourselves of what Jesus says about us so that we continue to walk in love of ourselves, Jesus and then to others around us. It'll flow out that way easier. Think about it this way: "If Jesus can love me even in my faults, flaws, and messed up ways, why can't I love me? Why can't I love someone else the same? He loves them too-- in their mess. We are all going through something that needs work in ourselves NOT JUST YOU. Jesus says "I have loved you with an everlasting love." Jer. 31:3 He loves you a BUNCH! He says it Himself! Believe it! Walk like it! He also says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind'.This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself' . All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.' Matt 22:37-40 It's a COMMANDMENT y'all!! The second greatest commandment that is!! And we are TOLD to love! Let's make it our aim each day! Let's pursue it! In this order: His love for us>>Our love for Him and ourselves>>Our love for others through Him Be encouraged sisters! ! Uggh! So I fought with the title of this blog post ladies. It got under my skin because so often, we get too comfortable and we prefer change to come to us --and that can be at our job, at school, in our relationships (marriage, friendships, courtships, with our kids)--We point fingers when we desire for things to be going better in our lives. Work may be frustrating, we can't stand to be around our coworkers. Our boss is a pain. There's always some type of drama at school whether it be with other students, or our teachers. Your marriage or courtship is beginning to take a left turn. You think you can change them but after all the huffing and puffing, you come to realize you CAN'T!! All you can really do is change yourself. Change won't really happen 'til you do something about it in you FIRST. Are you praying for them? Are you reflecting on the fact that it could be you making your husband or kids act that way? What are you going to do to change YOU? Are you finding ways to be an example where you are? It has to begin with you, if there has to be any change at all.
God had been dealing in me with this concept not only in my marriage but in everything else important in my life. My job, with ministry, my kids, ALL. And though I was pointing fingers, I had to humble myself and be willing to take the decision to change. I had to ask myself.."How badly do I want to see every area of my life get better?"--When it starts with you everything/one WILL change along with you. We individually ARE AGENTS OF CHANGE!!! Now, this change in you can't be done alone. Jesus says "I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5 Philippians 1:6 tells us "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally FINISHED on the day when Christ Jesus returns." So God will help us with the change. Just because He helped me understand I was the one to change, didn't mean He would leave me deserted on my own to do it. I have to rely on Him DAILY to do the work. When we are ready to point fingers, STOP, Get before God and reflect on what you can do or what you could have done to make the situation better..then DO whatever you need to do. Make the difference! Be the change and watch God act on your faith and obedience! So lately I've been devoting myself to improving my sewing skills. In the process, I started working on making a skirt a few days ago. It was all going pretty well at first 'til I reached the part where I had to add an elastic band to the top portion at the waist. Now the way I had pictured it in my mind...is NOT the way it turned out to be. It was difficult! I tried and tried and TRIED to see how I could sew it to attach well and even with the fabric---for those of you who do sew, you probably do know what I am talking about---FAILED. It was a pain! At one time, it was crooked. Another time, it seemed as though the elastic was sewn too tight. I was frustrated and ready to quit. I had too quickly stop what I was doing, sit back in my seat and just ponder if I would actually choose to do it again or just decide to quit and not dare to come back to it again. Then I remembered a devotion I had been meditating on during that time. It was found in Ecclesiastes 7:8 saying:
"Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride." Yes, you may have started--that's great. But completing what you started with patience is what makes the outcome sweet! Growing up, I was so use to starting and never finishing things that would be beneficial to me. When it wasn't working out the way I liked it to or I wasn't finding results quick enough.. I just said "forget this. Its too much work." But thank God He changes those things in our lives that don't make us productive. When we give our lives to Him, He places us in situations to go beyond ourselves. To go beyond our comfort. His ultimate plan is to refine us and mold us into whom He knows we can be. When we learn to rely on Him while in the process, He will give us wisdom, strength and patience to keep going. His word tells us to keep pushing 'til the end. Don't stop. Trust God to help you get through whatever is a challenge for you. When we hold on to the end, we will see the fruit of our labor!! Check out the results below!!! So often, we wake up each morning feeling like-- "Do I really have to go today?" Or while at work we think "I wish I had a better job or 'Are they even paying attention to the bard work I'm putting in? Do tbey even care? Can't I atleast get a thank you? We are constantly searching for approval from man it hurts. We want to feel like we are worth something. We want things to be easy and at our comfort. But as fallen people with imperfections, we will always have conflict among us. Things will not always go the way we want or expect. Man will always fail us. But we are reminded in Colossians 3:23:
--- "Work willingly at whatever you do as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."--- If Jesus means the world to you and more...do it all for Him. Do it because He loves you and says you're worth it because you belong to Him. Do it because He sacrificed Himself for you to be where you are today. I feel so relieved to know that I don't have to be enslaved to how man will treat me or what they will say or not say when Im doing what I know I should be doing with ALL OF ME-- not for them but for my first love Jesus. He deserves that. When no one else is paying attention , He IS keeping record and is so pleased. Since I was a little girl, I've always been into dressing up and trying to keep up with the latest trends or what my friends thought was "in"-- hairstyles, clothing, makeup, shoes, sneakers, etc. Always tried to be someone I wasn't just to be "accepted" or "good" by others. And now looking back, it took time to realize how much TIME I wasted trying to fix and be "in" and "good" on the outside. The inside--my heart--was neglected and malnourished. I tried to find my identity in those things only to find out I had a lot of work to do with who I was as a person. That begins with inside. I thank God though, that after accepting Christ as my Savior in high school, that God began to help me see that though there was nothing wrong with looking "good" on the outside--that it had to start with my heart. The inward appearance mattered more to Him and should matter to me too. When it comes to the outward appearance, how we carry ourselves, how we speak, and how we dress IS important. It defines what we represent. It let's others know what we stand for as individuals and what we believe to be true..especially about ourselves. But the inward appearance (the heart), is far more worth the reconstruction. When we think about the term "makeover" we think of our whole wardrobe (hair, shoes, clothes, etc.)..but the heart, the heart is what needs to be "madeover"...and it is in Christ that we have a new heart and are made new. The heart influences who we are in character as well as how we speak, how we dress, how we see ourselves and others around us. Luke 6:45 (ESV) says "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks". It is the heart that determines who a person truly is and will affect all that is around her. What we choose to nourish our heart with--whether good or bad-- will eventually flow out to the outward. Thank God ladies, we have our Father in heaven who has given us provision through His Word to meditate on day and night so that our new hearts are nourished with the truth about ourselves, about others around us and most importantly about God Himself and His plan in creating us. So now how we think begins to change, how we speak begins to change, how we see others begins to change, how we dress will definitely change, how we act will change. Deutoronomy 6:6 (NIV) says "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts". And so as it says, we must guard our hearts with the truth DAILY and also be sure that we are in connection with God throughout the day. I say that because though we do have the Word of God, we also have the LIVING GOD walking with us and in us to help us with the daily decisions we have to make. There are countless times where I've asked the Lord to help me choose my wardrobe, or to give me wisdom on how I should confront someone about something so I don't offend them or react rudely and He has definitely come through! So its meditating on His Word but also cultivating a relationship and staying connected with Him in order to please Him in all that we do. That's what we were created as His creation to do. So yes, the outward appearance is important but it MUST first start with our heart ladies, the inward man. That others may see Christ in us and through us, the inward man must be in full submission to Christ and His Word. Only then, will everyone including ourselves be able to see that true "makeover". There will be a difference. We won't have to try to be what we are not because we know who we are. We can be in style and look good not because we want to be "in" or accepted by man but because we know our worth and we want to look, act, our best for God, who is the best and deserves our best. Our heart is what we seek to make sure is in accordance with Him and His Word. Be encouraged ladies!
Hey Ladies! I'm back again with soo much God has been teaching me in this season of my life I'm ready to share with you all!
There are seasons in our lives where we will feel as if we have been deserted...and left alone. There is no one around to understand how we are feeling and what's going on in our lives. We speak to God about it, but no answer...we speak to those we love and at times we are comforted but we go right back to how we felt in the beginning. Our faith is being tested y'all. God loves to see how faithful His people are to Him. And He will--at times-- not respond so quickly. Things are blurry and there's so much going on that we need answers to, it becomes overwhelming and we're ready to shut everyone out including God and say "I QUIT"...BUT THOSE ARE THE MORE CRUCIAL MOMENTS...that moment when we are ready to throw in the towel is when we should be on our knees crying out to God more and more! Waiting...praying...trusting because despite how we feel...HE IS still there...see God LOVES to come at a time that we least expect it and blow us away with His faithfulness, love and awesomeness so that we are in awe and fall more and MORE in love with Him and who He is...So my sisters don't let go. That answer in whatever shape or form is coming..in due time...HIS TIME. Have faith and wait. Be obedient in whatever He tells you to do in this season and NEVER STOP PRAYING y'all...your blessing is coming! REMEMBER: YOU are HIS and HE WILL NEVER ABANDON WHAT BELONGS TO HIM.
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November 2020
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