I'm still a winner.

I am grateful, thankful, and blessed. I went to an Adobe Photoshop seminar on yesterday. It makes me almost sad to think that I almost missed out on this opportunity because I was concerned about money. What I learned at this conference was so worth the money spent. Much of the time that I was sitting in my seat I was worshipping God on the inside. He was there with me. I felt like I was going to explode from sheer excitement from being there and seeing how I could use the tips demonstrated to create my greeting cards. Wow...Jesus is amazing! I kept hearing in my spirit Israel Houghton's rendition of To God be the Glory. Goodness and mercy is following me everywhere that I go. Isn't it wonderful when you take steps and you know 'without a shadow of a doubt' that God was leading you in that direction after the fact. I know He orders our footsteps...I've been told that, I've told people that, and it's written in the Bible, but it ALWAYS excites me when I see that I was lead by Him. Its not hard to hear from Him, but I still want to be sure that I'm not just doing something that I really want to do. The fact is, I try to be wise with my money. I don't just spend just because I have it to spend and all the bills are paid for the month.

At the end of the conference they gave out door prizes. I was praying and believing that I was going to win a door prize. Thinking surely God is going to allow me to win a free training DVD. I've felt his presence during the conference...I'm a CHRISTIAN...I HAVE FAVOR...I kept waiting for them to call my name. It baffled me when they never did. What? I didn't win? But I'm a Christian and I have God's favor on my life. WHAT?

I'm still a winner. As my sister said to me referring to the results of my 4 year old nephew's first soccer game, "They are all winners." Now I get it. I'm still a winner!

Music that changes the atmosphere.

I was introduced to a wonderful worship artist last week. I went to our morning prayer service and arrived about ten minutes before the end. I know what you are thinking....I might as well have stayed home. But I'm thinking, "BETTER LATE THAN NEVER." Anyway, I heard two of the most beautiful songs playing. At that point I thought, I am so glad I did come. Grace Williams Fire Fall cd was playing Spirit Come & Don't Ever Let Go. I fell in love with these songs and downloaded them from Itunes as soon as I returned home. These songs bring a beautiful peace to the atmosphere. Listen & enjoy!

Taste Like Chicken!

Here is something funny that I experienced the other day. I was preparing to fry chicken and I seasoned the chicken with garlic powder & pepper. Since I thought that the garlic powder would be salty, I didn't add any salt. Normally I use seasoning salt and pepper on my chicken and then fry it. Well anyway, that was a mistake. The chicken came out nice and crispy, golden brown, just not salty enough for me. So the very next day I tried frying chicken again...this time I included the salt with my garlic powder & pepper combination. It came out fabulous...just writing about the results make my mouth water. So I'm eating the chicken going on and on...'Thank you God for this chicken...it is so good...You don't know what you are missing.' I thought that was pretty funny, telling God that He didn't know what he was missing by not having the privilege to eat some of my fried chicken. Then I thought, does God eat? I don't think so.

So the next morning, I am listening to my bible on CD and I'm listening to Leviticus 2...God has such a great since of humor. I laughed so hard when I heard God's instructions to Moses concerning the meat offering. King James version calls it a meat offering but the New King James version calls it a grain offering. God instructs Moses on how to prepare a meat offering, saying to season it with salt, etc. Here is the link for Leviticus 2. I am mostly referring to vs 7-9, 13. Anyways, I thought it was so funny because when the priest offered the meat offering on the altar, it went up before God as a sweet savour or a sweet smelling sacrifice. That was my equivalent to God eating chicken...lol. The smell of food is related to how it taste. It reminded me of my bragging and saying that God didn't know what He was missing when it came to eating my fried chicken.

After digging a little, I found that the meat referred to was not necessarily real 'meat', but any sustaining food. I still thought it was interesting. Check out this link to read more about it.

Leviticus was all about how to worship God. Our life, our worship, prayers, etc should all go up before the Almighty as a sweet savour. Something He will be pleased with. Something that He will go on and on bragging about how good it is to Him.

Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!

I can truly understand how people can get stressed out and want to eat every sweet thing in sight. I have never felt like doing that until yesterday and today. Usually when I used to get stressed out, I would just go to sleep. Was the problem gone? No, but that's what I did. Well, yesterday, I did what a lot of women do! That Chick-Fil-A milkshake and strawberry cheesecake hit the spot! The sad thing is that I actually felt guilty after I consumed all that stuff. I didn't feel guilty because I was worried about my weight [I can gain a pound or two]. It was because I used food to comfort myself because I was feeling anxious. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, not a cookies and creme milkshake with a slice of strawberry cheesecake! I ate it all in frustration and instantly knew that the Lord was not pleased. I don't know who I thought I was fooling. I was so irritated and instead of complaining, I chose to eat. Is that any better than complaining? Who was I fooling? Obviously myself. God knows us so well. He knows what we are thinking...He knows our thoughts before we even think them.  

I know that I am so close to fulfilling the dreams that God has put inside of me. God's favor allowed me to win a scholarship. I hit a few stumbling blocks when making arrangements to use the money. The Lord's blessings maketh rich and add no sorrow! "I SAID THE LORD'S BLESSINGS MAKETH RICH AND ADD NO SORROW," that is how my grandma would say it to get her point across. If God has blessed then leave it up to Him to work everything out in your favor. Oh, Taste and see that the Lord is GOOD; Blessed is the man who trusts in HIM! Psalm 34:8.

No matter what the sound is...

My brother called me bright and early at 7:30 this morning. He was telling me that he wanted to put some songs together to give to my mom for mother's day. He was in an accident last year and suffered a head injury. He proceeded to tell me about a song that he says helps him make it through the day. Lo and behold, its "Lord Its In Your Hands," by a quartet group, Ronica & The Mighty Blazing Stars. He said that it keeps his mind on God. The lesson for me was, no matter what the sound is, if it draws you to think on God's goodness, then the Lord is being glorified.

                                            

Messing up your crown & glory!

Since starting this blog, I have made it a point to spend time in worship. It is important to listen to music that takes you into heavenly worship. That might not be the quartet song that you grew up listening to. Especially for us southerners, quartet music like church is apart of our culture. I grew up listening to quartet music because my dad was and still is a gospel musician. I am not downing it but I believe it has its place just like all genres of music do.  

I have been saturating myself listening to Williams Murphy's The SOUND! I know this cd has been out for a while but I finally got it. Walmart had it for $9.88. My favorites are I Will Rejoice & Angel's Cry.  

                                       

Angel's Cry describes how the angels or "live creatures" as Revelation 4 says, cry..."Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come." Then the 24 elders fall down before the Lord and worship Him. They throw down the crowns that they are wearing. I am sure they are looking quite stylish wearing crowns on their heads. There is nothing raggedy about heaven...Its all splendor and glory. So it made me think about how no matter how cute we look with our hair done and wearing our Armani suits.

We still have to worship God! They didn't care about getting down & dirty and throwing down their glorious crowns. How do you feel about messing that hair up on Sunday that you just got done on Saturday? Can you stand to risk getting makeup on the $2000 Armani suit for our God? He is worthy to be praised! No matter what!

Rabboni, My Great Master!

I am so excited about Resurrection Sunday which is also on my birthday! I am not quite sure where all the Easter commercialism comes from.  I will have to check that out later. Today I was reading about when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus. I am referring to the account in John 20:10-18. She had been crying because she had looked in the tomb and he was not there. The angels asked her what she was crying about. She said "They have taken my Lord away and I don't know where they have put him." Then later Jesus, himself, asked her why she was crying. She thought he was the gardener and began to ask about the body. He called her name and at that point she realized that she was not speaking to the gardener but to Jesus, she said, 'Rabboni', which means master.

Rabboni is a form of the title, rabbi, that has three forms. The term rabbi was a title of respect placed on learned men like teachers, doctors, lawyers, which basically meant master. "Rab" meant 'master', "Rabbi" meant 'my master', and Rabbon or Rabboni meant 'great master or my great master, respectively'! So when she said Rabboni, she was saying LORD of LORDS. There is no one greater! She was not referring to him as a mere man using the title that she would use when speaking to a man. The bible says that even Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord in 1 Peter 3:6. Mary was speaking to Jesus with the greatest honor that the title held, RABBONI!  MY GREAT MASTER!

Trampling Snakes in Red Stilettos!

This blog is suppose to be about fashion, too.   Well today let's admire the beauty of shoes, particularly stilettos and boots! They should not only look good, but do what they were purchased to do, protect the bottom of your feet while you walk around.

I was discussing with my pastor a dream that I recently had about a snake. I am a dreamer so when I dreamed about a snake a few weeks ago, I thought, 'uh oh...what is this about?'  I know that snakes represent the enemy so I immediately began to pray.  My pastor mentioned the scripture Luke 10:18 Behold, I give unto you power to tread upon serpents & scorpions and all the powers of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  She explained to me that the word tread also meant to hit with your fist or a hammer.

                                               

Well, I hadn't heard it explained in that capacity before but I was grateful that she mentioned it because its one of my favorite scriptures.  We do have power to tread/trample upon snakes/serpents and ALL the powers of the ENEMY and nothing is going to hurt us.  Of course we must recognize that our power comes from the Lord, Jesus Christ! 

As we spend time with the Lord, we grow to understand the authority that we have to do great exploits in His name.  There is boldness when we pray because we know who is backing us up! Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.  The Lord is greater than any circumstance that comes against us to throw us off our game.

So how are you treading on those snakes?  Are you using stilettos, boots, or hammer toes? Whatever you are using, it definitely has the capacity to get the job done.  I prefer the stilettos myself, but no matter what, you have the authority & power to eliminate that enemy coming against you.

Perhaps you prefer to just hit one time with a single blow or strike, like a scorpion might sting. I think a stiletto with a nice sharp heel should do the job. You shouldn't get too messy with that!  Or maybe you are the type who wants to be a little more violent and hit with repeated blows.  Get those boots out and stomp the crap out of that snake!!    

    

Seated at the Right Hand of God

Ok, so I am up and feeling a little sleepy but excited at the same time. I guess that must be how toddlers are that are fighting sleep. Tired but don't want to go to bed. I have been listening to Seated at the Right Hand of God by Tye Tribbett all night long. Normally when I go to sleep listening to something, its just loud enough not to keep me awake but that wasn't the case this time.  I had the volume too high.  I love this song because it makes me think about dancing with the Lord.  I am working on an animation to this song.  Here is what I see when I listen to it....There is a girl dancing with Jesus in outer space...They are dancing across the earth. They are dancing among the stars.  Then He takes her to heaven and its like a huge pep rally/concert going on.  Everybody is worshipping and praising the Lord. Its loud, like a roaring crowd. Almost like those Michael Jackson concerts in other countries where the people faint because they got to touch Michael Jackson's hand.  Instead, the people are fainting because of the awesomeness of God! Its like they can't get enough of shouting and dancing and cheering....Everybody is so excited about worshipping Jesus!  Its so loud and crowded but nobody is complaining about the music being too loud...nobody's standing around watching everybody else. EVERYBODY is celebrating the Lord!  The people are almost in a competitive attitude trying to dance, step, praise with so much passion but nobody is trying to outdo anyone else because its all about giving glory to the Lord! Different groups come out and just dance before God!  There is all types of dancing going on, tapping, break dancing, you name it...it was being done to celebrate God! They are praising and worshipping as hard as they can, trying to outdo themselves. They have flags, banners, everything they can use to celebrate God....There are some moments when all they do is bow! Remember in the Lion King when Mufasa presents Simba to all the animals on Pride Rock?  All the animals bow to Simba.  The tall giraffes are bowed just as low as the smaller animals...That's how that heavenly worship and praise is...they are bowing and its not hard for them to do it...They can't help it...they want to do it.  They are all cheerleaders in the sense that they are cheering but its not to pump anyone up....they are all cheerleaders for Jesus! 

I was thinking about You today!

I went to bed last night listening to one of my bible CDs.  I listened to Paul describe his experience when he went to the third heaven.  I found it kind of funny that he kept saying, "...whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, God knows."  I thought to myself, 'now, that is a worship experience!'  In the beginning my idea of worship was some ethereal experience with slow music playing and everybody is dressed in white floating around.  I don't know, maybe it can be like that.  Ha ha, but it can also be me riding along in my car talking to God.  Worship is about spending time with God.  It's a lifestyle.  We don't necessarily have to be singing in church to do that. Worship goes so far beyond a song.  It has a way of allowing God to invade our personal space. He doesn't have to be restricted to church on sunday morning or wednesday night.  Actually that would be kind of sad if the only way that we could worship God was corporately.  It's an individual thing first.  Spending time with God is a necessity.  That is what we were created to do. He is suppose to be the air that we breathe.  Spending time with Him is not suppose to be a hard thing to do.   I used to get caught up in thinking, 'this is the way to do it', and when I didn't have time to do it that particular way, I ended not spending time with God at all.

It kind of reminds me of how when you meet someone new you go through all the changes to try to impress that person.  Then after the newness wears off, you just spend time with them. The guys stop bringing flowers or a special gift every time they go see the ladies.  They just go see them.  Just spend time with God.  That is a whole lot more than singing a pretty song; it's prayer, Bible reading, and meditating on what you read.  It's just being in communication so that you are open to hear what He has to say to you.  It's as simple as laying on your bed at night and thinking about Him.   How easy is that...that is what David did.  He would lay on his bed day and night thinking about God and His word.  I have been trying to do that lately before I go to sleep.  Just think about God.  Not about what you might be in need of, but just think about God.  For example, I had a friend that told me that he was thinking about me one day.  I asked him what he was thinking.  He said, "I was wondering how you were feeling today, if you were having a good day.  How you felt about our last conversation..." Yada, yada, yada... I won't bore you with the details.  The point is he was wondering what I was thinking about.  Check out Psalm 63:6, I love the way the God's Word Translation says it: As I lie on my bed, I remember you.  Through the long hours of the night, I think about you. WOW...let's just think about God!  What is He thinking about?  How does He feel today?

Grandma's peach preserves.

The Lord preserves us. When I think about preserves, I think about how my grandmother would "can" peaches.  We were from the south so someone was always coming through with fresh fruit and vegetables from their gardens. Whenever my grandmother got a few bushels of peaches, she would always put some aside to be preserved. My sisters and I always hated that she did that. We always wanted to eat all of the peaches.  After she preserved them, they always seemed to sit on a special table in the kitchen for years until she felt like opening them for us to eat.  I don't know how but those peaches tasted just as fresh and good as if she had just "canned" them.  

As I read through out the scriptures I see how the Lord preserves his people. Check out Psalm 41:2a The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth... When we trust the Lord, He is able to preserve us. We don't have to spend precious time worrying about insignificant things that really won't matter after some time has passed anyway. Worrying makes you look old and haggard, not preserved at all. Although my grandmothers peaches would sit for years, they never tasted rancid. They tasted just like the peaches that you purchase in the grocery store. Canned fruit should never taste bad because it has gone through the preservation process.

Worship gives us the opportunity to have an audience with God. If we are worshipping, then worry should never be apart of our lives.  Think about it...you are spending time with GOD! What on earth, under the earth, or above the earth could make us worry so much that we forget who our God is!  He is great, Almighty, El Shaddai!  If He can't take care of the situation, then the situation can't possibly be taken care of.

Worshipping God will give you a supernatural glow that is visible. Continuing to practice the presence of God is going to allow His glory to rest on you and people will see it. Remember when Moses came down from the mount in Exodus 34:35a And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone... His face had such a glow that the people were afraid and Moses had to walk around with a veil over his face.  People will definitely note when you have been spending time with God.  Some people may not understand what it is about your appearance. They may just call it beauty or attraction, but that is not the case.  It's the glory of God on you that people will be attracted to.

Wednesday, 2-25-09

I went to an awesome prayer summit this past weekend.  Since Monday I have been spending more time trying to get into the presence of God. Going to prayer conferences only whet your appetite and make you desire to experience more of God.  That is exactly what it did for me. Tonight I was on my way home from bible study and felt led to pray for a person. I don't even know this man's name but I know his wife. God laid them on my heart because they are definitely going through some trying times right now. When we spend time in worship its like our spiritual antennas go up and we pick up what is going on in the spirit. While praying for this man, I was actually praying a prayer of agreement with his wife for him to be reconciled to God. I certainly hope that the next time I go through any trying experiences God will put me on some one's heart to pray for me. 

OK, here we go. Is my mic on? Can everyone see me okay? Well, this is my blog about creating a lifestyle of worship that makes you beautiful. I have just started my own business, Statuesque Image Consulting. I want to help women to look & feel good about them selves. I can only help so much on the outside, but God Himself, has to do the work on the inside. So I will be talking about fashion & beauty tips and also the beauty benefits of worshiping God!

I believed I was called into the ministry in 2002. I initially knew that I was called to do wonderful things for God but didn't know how exactly. I did know that it would be through a creative route because He made me to be an extremely creative person. I like that about God. I think He really likes to make people creative because that is an amazing attribute of Him. When you think about it, we all have attributes that are like HIM. So for all of you who say, "I don't have a gift or talent...that is BULL CRAP! You do have one. You just haven't tapped into it yet. The first thing you need to do is spend some intimate time with God. In other words...Worship!