“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her .”
— Luke 1:45
Peace in any circumstance
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:6-7
We all go through tough times… no human can escape it! That’s just a part of our “humanness”. Could you imagine going through the times when you’re supposed to be in panic, in turmoil, upset, and worried, in peace?! Yea I couldn’t either! There’s this saying that Nigerians say…”problems no dey finish” and truly there are “problem’s” every where we look!!! That’s just how this world is designed! All you can do is change how you handle those problems… Some people just neglect them and let it pile up until they simply just can’t take it anymore (the longer you let it pile up, the harder it is to break free from worry and anxiety!!)
Back to that peace I was talking about…This kind of peace is not for sale! You simply just can’t buy it! It’s a free gift from God that comes out of a deep, close, unshakable relationship with Him! This type of peace leads to unfathomable joy!!!! How do you get this peace you ask?… You simply just turn your problems to God! It’s that simple! When you cast your burdens on God instead of keeping it for yourself, you have more time to worship Him!! God loves when we worship Him! He loves it when we give Him all our issues and just praise and thank Him for solving them for us! We were never meant to carry all the problems on our shoulders! God has promised us that He is always with us!
“This is how I fight my battles”
How many of you sang the song when reading the title of this blog. I was singing it right before I was prompted to write. We’re certainly in the midst of a Spiritual Warfare in every area, just look around you and you’ll see a lot of “strange” things happening. We are being prepared for something bigger than us. The devil is at war for our soul and God and His Army is winning! A lot of people are being deceived and think the enemy has won and is winning… but he’s not cause even he knows that his time is up and he’s trying to get as many people caught up as he possibly can. DON’T BE ONE OF THEM! So how do I fight my battles you may ask…
Seek God first! Before taking any steps in anything you do… pray about it! Sometimes you may not get the answer right away, other times it may not be what you want to hear, and many times it may be a go ahead you’re on the right path! But either way you know God always has your best interest at heart! Whatever answer you may get, just know it is for your greatest good. God will never stir you in the wrong direction… but Rae… How do I know if it’s God talking to me and not the devil deceiving me… You’ll know, God speaks to our heart, His voice is calming and soothing and there is usually a confirmation of some sort after He speaks to you. The devil is in your face and usually comes as some sort of distraction.
Know that God is in control! This is pretty much self explanatory… God is our creator and He created you and I for a purpose! Power and Might are in His Hands and He will do anything for you as long as you put Him first!
Depend solely on God! This is hard to do especially after being let down by so many people. But we have to remember that God is not man! He will never leave or forsake us! He wants us to trust that He can and will do ALL things for our greatest good!
Remember God is faithful and His promises are always true! This has saved me time and time again from things and people that don’t serve my purpose in God! God never fails, so why should He start now and with you?! He fights those who fight us, and keeps us safe during storms. We seem to forget that though especially when the storm is out of control, but you must make it a habit to tell yourself this when things don’t seem to be going right.
Worship God at all times! A lot of times when people hear Worship, they automatically think about singing church songs, listening to gospel music, being in church and putting your hands up during praise and worship… God doesn’t really care how you worship Him. He just wants you to create a time where its just you and Him. A time where you open your heart and let Him in. A time where you are able to hear Him speak and breathe life into your soul. He just wants ALL of you!
Thank God for His goodness in your life, for all He has done, all He is doing, and all He is about to do. You gotta have faith that God is doing whatever it is you’re asking Him to do! So whats a better way to bringing it to fruition other than thanking Him in advance for what you are seeking. Once you get yourself in that groove of already having what you’re seeking, the manifestation happens! All you really need is a mustard seed of faith.
Now I know many of you read this and are saying… well all this is easier said than done Rae. It’s hard at first but you have to keep practicing and doing. We all fall short time and time again. But you must never give up and give in to the devil’s tricks. He wants you to give up and that’s the thing about the free will God gives us… He wants to give us the choice to choose the outcome of our lives. The devil will throw everything and the kitchen sink to keep us from living our best lives with and in God.
How to act during the “storm”
So last week I posted about “storms”… this week I’ll tell you how to act during the storm… now these aren’t written in stone or anything like that, I’m just here giving my little 2 cents. These are just some of the things that I’ve learned over the years from reading, living, and surviving my own storms. So yea…
Don’t give up and go with the flow of how things are going.. work towards the things you’re wanting God to do for you regardless of how it may look (focus on your end result). Don’t lose your ambition because it seems to be getting harder. (Read Galatians 6:9)
Accept responsibility for your part of the problem (storm)… This is usually the hardest for people.. often times we blame others for what’s happening in our life and we refuse to see how we contributed to the problems… Our disobedience to God’s warnings usually gets us in theses situations. (Read Proverbs 28:13)
When things get unbearable and hard to handle, don’t throw away your values, don’t stop reading your Bible, don’t stop praying! That’s what the enemy wants you to do… he wants you to give up on God and make you think that God is not listening to you! This is the time your praise and prayers need to be the loudest! God is ALWAYS listening! (Read James 1:2)
Face the problem!! You will never solve a problem by ignoring it! Most times God does not and will not take you around the storm… He takes you through it! The only way to face the storm is head on… if you try to turn.. you will sink! God never said our storms would be easy… He said “I will be with you” and His words never go back to Him unfulfilled. He is with you and you will make it! (Read Isaiah 55:11)
Don’t lose hope! Remember that God is in control and He hasn’t left you even though you may not feel Him at the moment! He is still there waiting on you to call Him! He’s with you through the storm and He will help you get through it! He’s testing you to see if you’ll keep trusting Him no matter the circumstance. (Read Isaiah 41:10)
God will always and forever keep His promises, STAND ON THEM! He said that you will make it and things will truly get better. You may lose somethings and people along the way, but you will certainly make it! That is God’s promise to you, so stand on it.. accept it.. believe it! (Read Exodus 14:14, Isaiah 40:31, James 4:7)
“Storms”
It’s easy to behave and be strong in faith when we have no troubles and everything in our lives is calm, cool, and collective! It’s a different story when trials and tribulations come. These are the tests of life and these are times when it’s extremely important for us to stand firm and be careful about what we say. These difficult times tempt us to say and do all kinds of things that we would not do or say in “good times'“. We all know when Jesus was tempted by satan and He used The Words of God to defeat him (Matthew 4:3-11). If you’re like me, your’re probably thinking to yourself… well I’m not Jesus… and you’re absolutely right.. YOU’RE NOT! But you too can defeat the enemy with The Words of God. Don’t give place to the enemy by speaking words that enable him and his minions to have victory over your life! You cant defeat the enemy when you complain and feel sorry for yourself… you also can’t defeat them when you’re afraid and worry all the time! It’s time to lift up your shield of faith, wear the helmet of Salvation, and use the Sword (The Word of God) to swing at the enemy when they are trying to attack!
We have no idea how many storms we will face in life, how long they may last,or how difficult they may be… we just know they are inevitable! While some are easier than others and some just feel like they will never pass God always helps us get through them, we just gotta have faith. God has a plan in place for our deliverance from whatever we are facing. We just have to keep trusting in Him! God uses the storms of our life to stretch our faith and help us grow! I pray that God continues to grant you the wisdom, knowledge and understanding to pass through whatever it is you may be facing!
To keep this blog from being too long.. I’ll post another blog next week titled “How to Act during the storm”… now these are not set in stone guidelines or anything like that, these are just some of the things I’ve learned and use during my storms. I’ll give you one today… When things get unbearable and hard too handle, don’t throw away your values, don’t stop reading your Bible, don’t stop praying! That’s what the enemy wants you to do… he wants you to give up on God and make you think that God is not listening to you! This is the time your praise and prayers need to be the loudest! God is ALWAYS listening!
9 things life has taught me
God is Jehovah Jireh, He will ALWAYS provide
Don’t compare yourself to others.
God puts people in our lives at the right time.
God ALWAYS keeps His promises.
We should bless others (not just financially) whenever the opportunity arises. Your words of encouragement are blessings too!
Be the reason someone praises God!
God is still in the business or performing miracles!
Choose joy despite of what it may look like.
Jealousy and envy stunts your growth.
God prepares us for greatness
“But it is written, What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him”-1 Corinthians 2:9
When God is preparing us for greater things we tend to get uncomfortable. We meet people who are hard to deal with, things get out of our control, and we get all stressed out because we are being forced out of our comfort zone. What we don’t understand is that before we can reach our next level, we’re going to be put in uncomfortable situations and trust that God will get us through! Our greatest blessings come from the most uncomfortable places. For example, people who play professional soccer, don’t just walk up to any team and say they want to play on the team. It takes years and years of extensive training, both physical and mental to get to the level required to actually be on the team, let alone start! It’s God’s plan to bless you with great and new things, to elevate you in every area of your life! But in order for Him to do those things for you, you have to stop letting your emotions get the best of you. When you act out in anger, complain, and even get all bitter because things aren’t going your way, you will remain where you are until you master the little things. How are you hindering what God has in store for you? What are some areas in your life that can use some extensive and rigorous training?! Take an inventory of where you need to build strengths today and see what God begins to do in your life!
Give thanks to God despite of what you are currently facing. Change your attitude. God isn’t trying to harm you or make you lose faith in Him. He is trying to prepare you for whats to come. Remember, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at that day of Jesus Christ”-Philippians 1:6.
It’s not over!
“The Lord is my pillar, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.” -Psalm 18:2
It’s not over until God says it’s over! From your view it looks impossible, it’s a dead end and there just no way things are ever going to work out! That’s where you are wrong! God is working it all out! His Grace is more than enough for that very situation you may be going through right now. He is preparing hearts, moving people, opening doors, calling forth opportunities, fighting the enemy, and coming up on the scene like never before! God is not a man that He should lie! He wants you to have an abundant life in Him, but the question to you are you willing to leave your old self and things that stop you from getting His abundance behind?! Your season is near, but you have to let go of the things that no longer serve your highest self and God! The change has already been made in God, are you willing to drop everything you know and take that leap of faith into the unknown (God knows… you don’t… but you gotta trust His plan). He is saying to you today “I have opened up the store gates of heaven and I am preparing a blessing you won’t believe, trust in Me, hold on to Me, and draw your strength from Me! Keep looking up to Me, for I am where your help comes from! Get ready! Get prepared to receive the full manifestation of My glorious promise, praise Me and rejoice in Me because it’s all coming to you, all I’m asking you to do is let go of the worries, anxiety, and stress of this world. Let go of the things that don’t allow you to see and hear Me clearly or even feel Me. Let it go My Child, I promise it will all be worth it.”
Overcoming betrayal
I’ve been slandered, turned against, had things I shared in confidence told to people, smeared, lied on, belittled, kicked while I was down, not only by strangers but by family! I can’t say that I wasn’t hurt when it happened, oh I was (and it was deep!); but I knew it was God strengthening me for another phase in my life, because if your family does this to you and you overcome it, there is absolutely nothing anyone out there can possibly do to you that you can’t overcome!
I learned a lot from my experience!
You simply can’t trust everyone! You have to be careful, I mean really careful with sharing things with people who don’t put God first! There are a lot of people out there who pretend that they know God, but God does not know them! Discernment is key!!!
Jealousy is an ugly trait! It consumes people without them even knowing they have been engulfed by it! People will simply be jealous of you and even hate you for overcoming adversity (and boy did I have a lot of them, BUT GOD!)
You can’t treat people the way they treated you! You simply just remove yourself! Your silence is truly golden! You will definitely want to defend yourself because that is an innate response, but in my situation, I chose silence! If I would’ve talked I would’ve said some hurtful things and things that would have shifted the blame on me! I’ve learned that when dealing with people who are keen on destroying you, it’s just best to let them do all the talking, sooner or later, they eventually start eating their words and those around them will start seeing them for who they really are! LET GOD FIGHT FOR YOU!!!!
You can forgive people without ever trusting them again! Don’t be bitter, but don’t be a fool either! People think just because you’ve forgiven someone things go back to the way they were… they don’t! Unless the person or people have shown you they have changed (which in most cases they haven’t) your trusting them is foolish, and the Bible warns us about being foolish! Trust is not an automatic result of forgiveness!!! People need to prove themselves trustworthy!
These are just some of my experiences I wanted to share. It has made me stronger, wiser and more gracious. I’m definitely not perfect, but I’m not who I once was either! When you start to realize who you are and Whose you are, other people just don’t phase you any more! You just simply deal with them accordingly while trying not step out of character, although sometimes you will and that’s ok! God is a loving and Gracious God! He knows when we’ve had enough, and He knows how weak our flesh can be!
“Maturity is walking away from people and situations that threaten your peace of mind, self respect, values, and self worth”-unknown
Scriptures that help me through tough days
We have good days and not so good days, days that we feel like the world is on top of us and there is nothing we can do about it! I know I did, and sometimes still do! We all have those days where we want nothing to do but lay in bed all day, but can’t because duty calls! When I’m having one of those days, I simply open my Bible App (I read the ESV Version) and read or just write in my journal until I feel a bit better. I was flipping through my journal the other day and came across some scriptures I had written down with a little note on the side saying “having a tough day… read me”. I felt led to share a few of them with you all! I hope they help you as much as they helped me and still help me.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”- Philippians 4:6-7
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by His love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” -Zephaniah 3:17
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks it will be opened.”- Matthew 7:7-8
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. “- Jeremiah 29:11-14
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” -Philippians 4:13
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”- Proverbs 3:5-6
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the Mighty Hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.” -1 Peter 5:6-7
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” -Romans 8:26-27
Heart Transplant
When you get angry, do you say mean and hurtful things? Do you do things to intentionally hurt the person that hurt you? Do you bring up all the things the person has ever done to you when you’re mad at them? Do you become spiteful? If so, you need a heart transplant! Fortunately for you God specializes in them! God can give you a brand new heart and a brand new identity in Him!
Anger is an emotion we all experience and most times struggle with! I know I did! Don’t get me wrong I still get angry, I’m not a saint! But my anger does not cripple or control me as it once did! The bible says be angry but do not sin! Shoot, Jesus got angry and flipped the table when they got Him mad enough! So who am I not to be angry when someone pisses me off?! I simply just talk through it now, it definitely hasn’t been easy! My hubby and children sure know how to push my buttons lol… but it’s taken 4 years of intentional work and prayer for me to get this far. If I can do it, I know you can too!
If you’re going to get control of anger in your life, you must base your identity in Jesus! Now I know some of y’all may have rolled your eyes here lol, but hear me out! You have to understand that He loves you and He wants you to know that you are His, you are valuable and that His purpose and His plans for your life is far greater than you could ever imagine. If you build your identity on anything else you’ll struggle with insecurity and be angry with everyone and everything you come in contact with! I see and know a lot of people who have built their identity on everything but God, and are struggling with deep rooted anger!! Until you start feeling secure about yourself and Who’s you are, people are always going to control you and push your buttons. Who wants to give other people power and reign over their life?! Not I.. anger is stemmed from insecurity… the more insecure you are… the angrier you feel! That’s why there are so many angry people today… everyone is busy looking at other people’s lives (on social media) in comparison to their real lives and getting more and more insecure (but that’s not what this post is about).
Remember, when you get angry, your mouth just spews out what is in your heart. If what comes out your mouth is said to intentionally hurt the person you are angry with, that simply just reveals your heart is angry. Even when you’re angry, you must intentionally guard and watch the things you speak.
If you’re reading this and want to rid yourself of anger, ask God to forgive you, ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit, tell Him how badly you want to rid yourself of your insecurities and the anger that cripples you.
Focus on yourself!
“Why do you see the speck that is in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”-Matthew 7:3
Often times we as humans tend to look at other peoples shortcomings rather than tend to and fix the things going wrong with our lives. I guess it’s a lot easier to point out whats wrong with others because we don’t have to fix their problems… we simply just point them out and move on to the next person. Don’t get me wrong, I sometimes find myself doing this as well … I talk about others and look at their short comings so it makes mine seem much better than theirs. As I started to realize I did this I started taking more self inventory on my life and realized some of the things I needed to work on. Self inventory is not an easy task… I began to see things about myself I never really noticed! I was like damn, I really need to get my life together! I started to see that the more I focused on the things I needed to work on… the less time I spent looking at other people’s lives and mistakes! Self inventory allows us to take a deeper look at our self and see what it is that makes us look, feel, talk, and even act the way we do. Self inventory makes you comfortable enough with yourself that when other people begin to “tell you” what’s wrong with you, you’ve already assessed yourself so much that what they say doesn’t even bother you! It’s been working great for me and I pray that God continues to work in each and every one of us!
Signs God is shifting you to another season
You get signs of the upcoming shift for the next season.
When your relationship with God is constant, you will get a sign!! The signs may be subtle or in your face! You might have a dream, or catch something on TV or even social media that never caught your attention before.
You begin to make changes in yourself and lifestyle to prepare for the upcoming season.
Before you might wake up in the morning and the first thing you do is pick up your phone and check all your social media apps or even do a mental list of all the things you have to do that day. But now when you wake up, you spend a little quiet time with God and thank Him for giving you a chance at another day. Whatever it may be, you begin to do the opposite of what you use to do.
Your friendships, relationships, and connections will change.
You will begin to find yourself gravitating towards people outside of your comfort zone… not saying you get rid of all your old friends right away, but you wont spend as much time with them or even talk to them as much, and eventually they just kind of fade into the back ground. God will put people in your life who will help you and mold you while you are in that season. Be careful not to hold on too tightly to people because they can keep you in that season much longer than you’re supposed to be! When God says release… RELEASE!!!
God will send something or someone to confirm what He’s released to you.
He will always send a sign through a person, a post, a meme, a video, anything that will get you to see the confirmation that you are moving in the right direction. He knows us, and He knows we like to question whether or not what we are feeling is actually true! Pray about it and if it goes in line with His words, you know its from Him, because the devil most times will try to entice you, just to distract you and throw you off what God really has in store for you! That keeps you in a season longer too!!
Shifting into a New Season
Shift- To change the position of..
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
In order for this “shift” or change to happen, we must allow God to transform us personally and spiritually. Understand what I mean when I say “New Season”, a lot of times when people talk about new seasons, they just talk about good things happening in your life, people seeing it and rejoicing (sometime even become jealous of you) blah blah blah. New seasons aren’t always pleasant! They don’t always leave us feeling refreshed and recharged, sometimes we’re in a season so long that we think we will never get out of it alive because we’ve been beaten down and broken for so long! I know I’ve had my share of feeling that way in many levels of my seasons! I’m like “OK God.. I get it, You want me to learn… but how much more learning can I possibly learn… I’M TIRED!!!! GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!!”
The wilderness season, what I think is the hardest one! This is where God begins to “prune” and refine you; He begins to remove dead things from your life, remove things and people that don’t serve His purpose for your life, deliver you from past behaviors, sins, and bondage. This is a very painful season because those things God is removing from us was part of you! Things you have been so use to doing, acting, and feeling a certain way not realizing that those are the things that keep us away from God. This is also the hardest because you are forced to basically look at the parts of you, you despise so much! The parts of you, you see in others and you immediately can’t stand them!
The season of preparation is another season many shift into during this time, after you have passed the wilderness season (which may take some years depending how spiritually inclined you become during that time). In The preparation season God begins to prepare you for your new season. He fills you with The Holy Spirit, He gears you up with His Armor so when trials and tribulations come you are equipped to fight (Ephesians 6:11-18 describes the whole armor… Helmet of Salvation, Breastplate of Righteousness, Belt of Truth, Sword of The Spirit, Shield of Faith, Sandals of Peace) I won’t go too deep into that right now.
And Now for the season everyone talks about… The season of exposure! This is the season everyone sees God’s marvelous work in your life. The season we all pray to get to one day! The season that those who mocked you, those who were moved out of your life, those who don’t know God will come rejoice and celebrate with you and ask you what God you serve. The season that those you were once close with will either be happy for you or become jealous of you!!! I know you know this season!
Just like seasons go from fall to winter, winter to spring, spring to summer and so on… Our seasons change as well, so just because you are in the wilderness season now doesn’t mean you’ll stay there. As you grow in Christ your levels begin to change, you become more mature and He takes you to greater heights. The next level comes with a new level of wilderness , newer preparation, and newer exposure…. so DON’T GET COMFORTABLE! Always be ready for change!
Why Pray?
A little back story to how this blog came about… so right before I finally broke through the darkness I was in, when family left me, when friends left me, when people were laughing and mocking me for various reasons. A family member even went as far as telling people I was “going crazy”! Which, I knew I wasn’t but I guess she couldn’t understand what God was doing in my life during that time! They were so used to me acting and being a certain way, it became strange to them when I stopped acting and being who they thought I was! I’ll never forget what another family member told me after voicing her “concern” and I told her to pray for me… She said “I don’t believe in prayer, I believe in reality”. I instantly felt sorry for her because it was clear to me she was clueless to what the power of prayer can do! I ended up praying for her lol.
So why pray?
Every time you pray a measure of power is released from the spiritual to the natural.
Every time you pray you release more power!! You are putting everything in God’s Hands and are telling Him you give Him absolute control over your current and future situation.
When you don’t pray, you’re telling God you can do it all on your own and you don’t need Him for anything.
Scriptures
”Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”. -Hebrew 4:16
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us”-Ephesians 3:20
“Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer”- Psalm 4:1
“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers”- Psalm 39:12
“But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. Deliver me form the sinking mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters” -Psalm 69:13-14
So How do I pray?
Thank God for what He has done for you, what He is presently doing in your life right now and what He will be doing in the future. Give Him praises and adoration,,, He LOVES that!!!
Ask for forgiveness of your sins (sins that may cause your prayers to remain unanswered, sins that you’ve committed knowingly and unknowingly, sins that you might be finding it hard to get rid of and ask Him to help you get rid of those sins).
Ask for whatever it is your heart truly desires! Thank Him for answered prayers and end it with “In Jesus Name I Pray”
Now there is no set in stone way to pray… this is just how I learned and its been working for me ever since! Talk to God how you feel is right for you! Our relationship with Him is different! I sometimes just have a regular conversation with Him… it looks like I’m talking to myself so I guess that’s why they thought I was “going crazy” lol. I thank God for where I am right now, cause if it had not been for Him, I might’ve ended up being crazy for real!
Love, Live, Life
Love God.
Live according to the Word of God.
Have eternal Life.
Crazy how I got this tattoo 6 years ago and didn’t know the exact meaning of the words I had permanently engraved on my body. I decided to get the words Love,Live Life tattooed on my the upper left side of my chest for my 30th birthday. My initial intention was for it to be a daily reminder that I should love and live my life because life is way too short not to! It wasn’t until about a year later that I got the meaning to it! Love, Live,Life should be the things we as children of God strive to do until we are called back into God’s Hands.
The word love is defined as a variety of feelings, states, and attitudes that range from interpersonal affection. It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment. God loved us enough that He gave us His only Son who had no sin whatsoever to come die for our sin! Now that is love!!! How many people would you die for?! My children and my husband are the only ones I’d die for! lol and sometimes I question that! But God sent Jesus to die for EVERYONE! Including those who judged and persecuted Him. That’s love!!! So we must love God and strive to love others (including those who are difficult to love because they are the ones who need it the most). Now I don’t mean be all up in their face and put yourself in a position to get hurt. Love them from a distance, mean well for them, and pray for them as your heart sees fit! I’m still struggling with the love difficult people part, not saying that I’m mean to them or anything like that… I just distance myself from them with a sort of closed off attitude, but if I see they need my help with anything (although I may hesitate a bit) I will still help them out. I’m still praying for God to help me! I’m human! I’m far from being perfect!
To live is simply to remain alive. As God’s Children we must live according to His words and not listen to the enemies tricks and lies. Now I’m talking to myself when I say this too because I sometimes find myself dwelling and feeling sad because of the negative thoughts and feelings the devil (the father of lies) puts in my mind. We must remember that the devil was once an Angel of God so He knows the Word of God and he often manipulates it to condemn and make us feel bad. So we must learn how to use The Word of God to counter whatever lies he brings to our mind! He will have no choice to flee and when he tries to come back (which he will because he’s rather persistent) use God’s words again! The enemy doesn’t like when we use God’s words against him… he cant stand the truth!
Life is a state of living; existing. Simply put we must love God and live according to His Words to have eternal life. Where there’s life, there’s hope! So as long as we are alive we know we are getting another chance to get it right and get with God. I don’t know about you, but I want to make to heaven (the after life, paradise, Nirvana, whatever you choose to call it ) one day! I’m not perfect, and any day above ground is another chance God gives me to try to get it right!
-Originally written 9/25/15'; Revised 5/8/2021
Everyday God reveals something new to me, whether its things I need to change or things I need to let go of. I thank God for His gift of The Holy Spirit. I Thank God for Jesus!!!!! I know my flesh is weak but with Christ and in Christ I am being made strong!
“My Children, let us not love in word or tongue but in deed and truth”- 1 John 3:18
“Untitled”
I wrote this back in 2019
“Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation,and uphold me with a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12
I’m learning to ignore and overlook many things because I truly want happiness in my life. The easiest way to be miserable in life is to think that everybody is talking about you. Never allow anyone to steal your joy from you! What people say about me is none of my business as long as I continue staying true to myself because no matter what situation I find myself in, people will always talk so I might as well do what makes me happy and pleases God. Anyone that cant feel my pain has no right to judge me! Most of the people that talk about you behind your back are probably secretly wishing for a life like yours.
Never allow anyone to put you in a position of depression and self pity in life! They will end up holding it over your head and use that to control you! Remember, those who have no joy in their life will always find a way to remove happiness from other people’s life (energy vampires). Negative minds will never give you a positive life. When The Grace of God is on your life enemies are inevitable.
NEVER feel bad when old friends and family become new enemies! They got tired of pretending to love you. Allow yourself to grieve the loss and move on, your people will find you and eventually they will realize that they were the problem all along and not you. Keep standing out and shining your light. You don’t need to be accepted by anyone, you just need to accept yourself. Don’t beg for love, don’t beg for friendship, DON’T BEG PERIOD! Anything you accept through begging will require begging to maintain or retain! You do not have time for that, use that same energy to talk to God! He certainly doesn’t require you to beg for anything!
Some people will love you and some people will hate you, either way they are both in your favor. When they love you, you live peacefully and happily in hearts! When they hate you, you become a special guest in their head living painfully in their mind everyday and giving them sleepless nights all while you’re in your bed sleeping good every night!
Keep going! Don’t stop! The only time you should look back is with a thankful heart, because you see where God has brought you from compared to where you are right now!
Time does not heal all wounds
I know you all know that old saying “Time heals all wounds”… Well I’m here to tell you time definitely doesn’t heal all wounds, Only God has the healing power and through His son Jesus we too are able to receive that power! I know plenty and I mean plenty of older people (men and women) who are still just as angry and bitter today as they were years ago! Time hasn’t healed their souls. They are still out here pointing fingers and playing the blame game much louder today! So yea, time has not healed their tired and exhausted souls!
When I tell you Jesus has the healing power, believe me… He does!!! So if you have a broken heart and are looking for comfort instead of turning to that bottle of wine, that boy that’s no good for you, those drugs , or whatever your ‘“fix’ is that only give you temporary satisfaction, why not immerse yourself in presence of God! Now I’m not in anyway being judgmental! I too have been there! I too use turn to those temporary “fixes” that give me a brief period of relief ! It from all the pain, anger, and resentment I had bottled up inside.. until one day I just broke down and cried cause I couldn’t handle them any more, I cried to God to please just take it all away!! I cried to Him because I was tired of carrying all of that hurt! I got tired cause I started seeing myself using my hurt to affect my daughter and I DID NOT want her to suffer the same way I was suffering! It didn’t all go away in that one night I cried, but I started seeing the little changes in my life! I found myself going back to my old ways at times, but I caught myself, I asked God to forgive me and help me work on myself a bit harder! Those prayers worked!!!! and Psalm 147 was my go to!!! It wasn’t instantaneous, but THEY WORKED!!! I started noticing the small changes in my life, my confidence got a lot better, I even started to lose some people around me because we were no longer interested in the same things or had the same anger or resentment. People started telling me I changed, and asking me if I was “Ok”, lol! I’m like hell yea I’m Ok!!! lol But they couldn’t see or understand what was going on inside of me.
No one can heal a broken heart but The Lord! Other people’s words may encourage you and bring a little healing, but at the end of the day, it is God who has the healing power. Are you allowing yourself to get close enough to The Father to heal you? I promise you, there is nothing to hard or too impossible for Him to do! Take some time today to talk to Him and ask Him to heal your broken heart. God is able to restore your soul and give you the permanent healing and restoration your heart is longing for!
Raediate!
I’m not even sure where to begin with where the inspiration for the name for this podcast and website began! The thought of it came so fast, but the process seemed like it took FOREVER!!! It’s been a long time coming, so please bare with me as the page is going to keep changing as time goes on. I’ll post on many different topics (beauty, love, sex, marriage, motherhood, friendships, whatever you can think of I’m sure I will cover it), so I’ll be a little “all over the place” sometimes. But first let me tell you a little about myself. My name is Racheal “Rae” Ologbe, I am a wife, a mother of three beautiful children, a friend, a sister, a self proclaimed life coach, and most importantly the Daughter of a King who is not moved by the world! My journey to God and Spiritual Awakening started about 10 years ago, and its been one hell of a ride! I love God and Jesus, but I don’t consider myself in no way shape or form “Religious”. I just pretty much follow what the Holy Spirit (what I call my like to call my inner GPS) says. It hasn’t been easy following that still small voice, but I’m getting better with each passing day.
I don’t claim to be an expert on Spirituality or anything “life” I’m just here to share my story, how I got here, what has worked/ and not worked for me during my journey, and whatever the Holy Spirit lays on my heart to share, nothing is really off topic here! This is a judge free zone Ok! lol Cause God has already forgiven me for my past and Jesus paid my debt at the cross!
As I stated earlier my Awakening started about 10 years ago. It happened right after I tried to commit suicide. I had just failed out of Nursing School and I thought my life was over! I spoke a bit more in detail about it on a Podcast I did with my brother Lucas Mack, its linked in my episodes)… but yea, I had a near death experience that sparked my awakening! I saw myself going toward “The Light” and I heard a voice tell me it was not my time to go yet! I argued with the voice for a while and told Him that I don’t want to go back and by the time I knew it I was back in my room with some of my family members looking over me! Of course I was taken to hospital and was admitted there for some time… Those 3-5 days was actually the best sleep I had ever had since starting nursing school! lol.. That was what brought me a bit closer to God, I started going to church more during that time, surrounded myself with people I thought were good for me… and as always the “church” failed me… and I back slid… but not to the point of no return! Things happened along the way, both good and bad! Met a lot of people, read a lot of books, experienced a lot of moments where I felt that God had forgotten about me or wasn’t even answering my prayers! Fast forward to 2016 when I started hearing from God again. I met my husband. Started going to church again, even served in the church this time. That was when the bulk of my awakening occurred and I didn’t even realize it was happening! Stopped going to church all together in 2019, it was starting to put a strain on myself and my family. Then "Covid” happened in 2020 and it all started coming together, all the lessons over the past years were being laid out! I had time to sort through everything I had been through! I broke through the “darkness” and started seeing the light! So many wonderful things happened to me in 2020! I started seeing things and people for who they really are! I ended up meeting so many wonderful people (people that thought like me, spiritually in-tuned people, awakened people on Twitter). And now in 2021, I started my own website and podcast!!!!
If you’re ready to know more about my journey stay tuned! I’ll talk more about it in my podcasts, blog posts, I’ll even share some of my personal journal entries! I’m grateful to God for my life! I’m grateful to Him for allowing me to be here today! I’m grateful for the ups and downs of my life because without them I would not be who I am or where I am today! God has truly been wonderful to me! A lot of people thought and some people still think I am a lost cause! BUT GOD!!!!!!! God can use anyone for His Glory! I was no where near being a perfect soul, but I opened my heart to God and welcomed Him to come dwell in me! He had to do a lot (and is still doing) a lot of cleansing. I’m human! I MESS up!!! Thank God for Jesus!!! “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”-Psalm 73:26
