After the Rain...: 2011

Friday, July 8, 2011

Living by Faith

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Living By Faith

I am in one of the largest transitions of my life right now. After years of praying, confessing, and believing God for the manifestation of His promises, I find myself on the brink of entering my promised land. After all of the struggles and turmoil and lessons learned and healing that had to take place, that seemingly unobtainable land of milk and honey is not only in eyesight, but also in reach out and touch it distance. I am both humbled and excited. Humbled that God would watch over me so carefully to make sure I got here. Humbled that when things were at their worst, He would not allow me to give up. Humbled that He cares more about me reaching my destiny than even I do. For here I am. I did not get here alone.

Living by faith and walking by faith is not for the faint at heart. I see so many people who really feel as if they are doing just that. It is in their blind spots just how much they depend on a job to pay the bills or look to others who have more resources than they when help is needed or even think that mere life choices are the reason they have advanced as far in their lives as they have. In truth, those things help, but even still, without God’s provision, even they would not exist….despite our best efforts.

Living by faith is like walking around blind and depending on someone to tell you each step to take just before you are to take it. There are times when your equilibrium is totally off and you find yourself just trying to get your balance. Almost as if there is no sense of direction. It is scary to be totally out of control and having to put the total control of your life in a being you can’t even see. Yet, He in all the ways we cannot ‘see’ Him, is more real than everything we can see. So we learn to be still and listen. If there is silence we stand still, just as the children of Israel did when He led them on their journey – guiding by a pillar of clouds by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). When neither moved, so were the people to stand still and wait.

While waiting on each direction can be slow, even maddening at times, it is a comfort to know that for all I cannot see, I am putting my trust in the one who sees all and who will protect me, if I just walk where He tells me to and avoid the things He tells me to.

And so, entering in, my job of waiting and stepping on demand has not come to an end, but has instead brought me to a higher place, a deeper place where I will need to follow Him even more closely. The Lord told me years ago that I could not obtain His promises for my life doing things my own way. I had to do it His way. I had to trust Him. I had to obey…..even when I had to fight my flesh to do it. And let me say that there were many times I had to obey as tears poured down my face because it hurt or challenged me in ways I was not ready to deal with. And yet, if He brought me to it, apparently I was more ready that I gave myself credit for. Even if I had to ask Him for the help and strength to obey, He honored the effort.

Let me encourage each of you who finds yourself at a crossroads of sorts, more than you want to be blessed, He stands waiting to bless you. More than you want your circumstances to change, He wants you to learn the lessons so that you can be elevated to the next place in Him. More than you want to enter in, it is His greatest desire to see you fulfill all that you were created to do. In this moment, I urge you to take a few moments to seek His face and see where you need to tweak some areas in your walk. Repent for those times when you have done things your own way. Commit to letting Him truly be Lord. Then go and possess your land. It’s there waiting on you.

Changing lives one word at a time....Tumika Patrice Cain

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Tumika Patrice Cain is an award-winning author, media personality, and motivational speaker. Through her imprint, Inkscriptions Publishing & Media Group, she provides high quality, affordable, mentor-based publishing services to indie authors, as well as inspired, empowering messages of hope and abundance through her media outlets. Her works can be found in many publications, including Fresh Lifestyle Magazine. To learn more about Tumika, her books, and her services visit the following websites. http://www.TumikaPatrice.com and http://www.InkscriptionsPMG.com

Laughter is GOOD Medicine

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Laughter is GOOD Medicine

After one of those days where I got into a pretty heated ‘discussion’ with my best friend, my two year old was difficult with a capital D, the events of the day didn’t go as planned and my car overheated, I find myself preparing dinner and chuckling. The sound of my own laughter in the empty kitchen almost startled me. There was such merriment in the midst of all of it and certainly a thankfulness for a God whose presence is so real in my life. What can I say? In the midst of folly, God grants grace and an abundance of mercy. In circumstances that could be dangerous, both myself and my child are fully protected and covered in the blood. Although the car overheated, it did so in front of my house after I was able to get my grocery shopping done and was not stranded at all. The sun continued to shine and all I could be was thankful. Thank you, God, that every need I have is already met.

We are presented with choices moment to moment, and while we may not be able to determine what will be allowed to cross our paths, we DO have the ability to choose our response. So I say, Yes, Lord. I will praise you in spite of. Yes, I will love you when things go wrong. Yes, I will look to you as my source when resources are needed. Yes, I will still let you reign as Lord and King in my life.

I will sleep well tonight knowing that He has me. Period. Enough said.

Changing lives one word at a time...Tumika Patrice Cain

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Monday, January 10, 2011

For God So Loved...

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For God So Loved...

I find myself in a most interesting place…looking at Christians through the eyes of one whose had a chance to step back. Now, I finally get it. I understand the hostility and anger that non-Christians feel and exhibit towards Christians….and I am a Christian. Why do we expect them to hear what we have to say when how we treat each other is deplorable? There was a character on Charlie Brown who when he spoke, the words came out sounding muffled and no one could understand what he was saying. This is how others view Christians. We are full of talk, but our lives do not match the words that come out of our mouths. Even God in His word warned us that it is not through our constant talking that will win anyone over…instead it is our character and love we show for one another that causes others to take notice and want to be a part of who we are. That is the defining difference.

Bragging about how much time you spend reading the Scriptures or singing praises unto the Lord does not make a person appear as holy as they might think. Instead, those very actions make them appear pious, judgmental and hypocritical, especially when in the next breath you stab your brother in the back, or allow yourself to be an instrument used of the devil to try and stop the plan of God for someone else’s life, or when you just barely out of your own sin, have the audacity to judge another who is still in bondage. Have you forgotten that quickly how far He’s brought you from?

Salvation was never meant to be a tool we could use to set ourselves apart from others as if we are somehow better than they. No, salvation was supposed to keep us in constant remembrance that we were not worthy and it was only through the loving sacrifice of a perfect savior that we even stood a chance. So how have we forgotten this? How do we look at others who have not received the blessed hope and condemn them or toot our noses up at them as if salvation was ‘for us four and no more’? We have so much more to learn.

It is not the person who is beaten down with a message of hell fire and damnation that typically comes into the kingdom of God. No, quite the contrary. It is the one who takes the time to remind someone who is downtrodden that Jesus does love them and that He has an amazing plan for their lives, whose heart becomes open to receive the gift of salvation that He gave to us all.

It’s time for a corporate heart check. If the words of a man are ringing louder in your ear than the voice of the Holy Spirit, it’s time to reevaluate. If receiving the abundant life that was promised is more important than having a relationship with the gift giver, it’s time to reflect. If the holiest person in your life is you, it’s time for some balance. If the words coming out of your mouth are meant to make others feel that you are somehow more holy than they, it’s time to repent and ask God to help you be humble.

Salvation is for everyone. Sometimes the only sermon that will ever be preached to someone is the way you live your life. People are always watching. And before words are carelessly and callously thrown around in the hopes of ‘putting someone in their place’, it’s time for a heart check. I am no exception to any of this.

For God so loved the world that He gave…. John 3:16

Changing lives one word at a time...Tumika Patrice Cain

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