The Perfect Match

The Perfect Match

“So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel [as his wife], but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.”

-Genesis 29:20 NIV

You might be wondering if God has made your perfect match. It seems like the months and years get longer of being ‘single’ and feeling alone. I know so many people of all ages from their 20s to 60s praying God can just drop down their perfect match. They go on date after date, may even sleep with person after person, and have dealt with heartbreak after heartbreak. What I like to call that is looking for love in all the WRONG places.

We all desire love but sometimes we get caught up in settling for lust. We love finding a partner who is physically fit, has a good education, decent morals, and possibly even a Christian. That sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Now what happens if you find all of that and it still doesn’t work out? This must mean you’re meant to stay alone and unhappy. This must mean that everything satan is whispering in your ear about your imperfections are true. Trusting God is a lot less work than trying to change yourself in order to compensate based off of comparisons to others.

It could also just mean this—God is love. (1 John: 4:8) He IS love. The scripture doesn’t state that God is like love, or can remind you of love, it says that He IS love. That means to find love, real love, it comes through Him. Therefore, wouldn’t it make sense to go Him to fulfill the desires of your heart?

In Philippians 4:6 it tells us, “Be anxious about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”. Tell God what you need. Make your petition known. He wants you to come to Him about everything in every area of your life so He can help you. Don’t let the enemy talk you into thinking there’s something wrong with you or that you do not deserve your perfect half. He wants you to feel defeated and abandoned, but God has better plans for you; plans to prosper.

These plans might not be in the timing you expect but He’s never promised that. God’s timing is perfect. Never too early, and never too late. The Word tells us there’s a specific time for everything. (Ecclesiastes 3:1) Maybe you’re where you need to be and God is still busy working on building your partner up for you. Don’t be discouraged if what you’re looking for doesn’t come in your timing. Instead, go to God, explain to Him the desires of your heart, and be encouraged that He’s got it all under control.

Fill' er Up!

Fill’er Up!

“As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks,

So my soul pants [longingly] for You, O God.”

-Psalm 42:1 AMP

Imagine you were wandering in a desert and desperately needed a glass of water. Why do you think the psalmist chose this picture to illustrate his longing for God?

Your physical body is a real thing. You bang into something, your flesh bruises. Place your hand out in front of you. You see it, correct? That is your physical body. Along with the physical, you have a spirit. That is what differentiates what’s right and what’s wrong. When you die, your physical bones and flesh stay on this earth and separates from your spirit, which either goes to heaven or hell.

Now let’s get back to the Psalm. If you’ve ever been extremely dehydrated then you would know after awhile you grow weak, tired, discouraged, and you just want to collapse somewhere because of exhaustion. You may even suffer from a migraine or other symptoms that make your body not feel right. You need to drink! You need to fill your body up with water so you can continue to function and operate comfortably. When you drink after being dehydrated it almost feels like a wilting flower coming back to life. You get your strength back. The headache disappears and you feel like you can go about your day with the proper energy to take on what’s ahead. You feel rejuvenated.

Well here's the thing—your spirit is exactly the same way. It needs to be filled! Ask yourself:

·      Am I growing more easily discouraged these days?

·      Am I growing more easily irritated these days?

When you don’t fill your spirit up with the Word, with the reminder of God’s promises, it’s easier to feel discouraged. It’s easier to get tired and run down to the point of just wanting to give up. Your spirit is dehydrated & you need to cater to it the same way you do to your physical body.

It just so happens that we notice the result of things that happen to our physical body quicker than our spirit. However both are real, extremely important, and can easily be affected. When players go out to play football, they wear protective gear in order to protect themselves. It’s harder to go about your day when you’re sore and beat up, possibly injured. It’s not impossible, but why choose the struggle when you can go about feeling rejuvenated?

Our spirit has protective gear as well; it’s the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). It’s not impossible to get through life without protecting it. However, why choose the struggle of feeling defeated, not good enough, worthless, confused, lost, and the list goes on? If you feed your spirit and protect it daily, you will notice a significant difference as you remember to walk in Christ. You will take on every task with victory!

Your Life Holds Value

Your Life Holds Value

"Suicide what kinda talk is that? I've been talking to God for so long and when I look at my life, I guess He talkin back."- Kanye West

I've been the person harming myself in hopes to no longer be here. I've been the person who felt as though I wasn't good enough. I've been the people pleaser who felt I let everyone else down. I was at a loss for my purpose. I thought it was some kind of punishment that God created me just for me to sit here and be unhappy. I could go on and on but my point is- just know, I've hit rock bottom. I'm not telling you my life was rough or that I had it hard and here’s a list of my complaints. I'm telling you within myself I found nothing.

Depression comes in different forms in different people and it's a serious fight against our spiritual being. The enemy wants you to give up. He wants to steal your joy, he wants to kill your faith, and he wants to ultimately destroy you and the possibility of your relationship with God. Now that doesn’t mean if you’re battling against symptoms of depression you’re any less spiritual than the next person. The Word says that our fight is not against those on this earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness (Ephesians 6:12). This does not mean your faith is weak. This simply means you’re under attack and its up to you to make a choice and fight back!

I define depression, as what the world tells us is wrong with us when they gave it to us in the first place. Let me explain, depression normally comes from the affliction of this world. It may be our finances that are our main focus of depression & not having enough money to get the things wanted to live in this world. It may be that we lost someone dear to our hearts and even though we will see them again, they’re no longer in this world with us. It may be not being happy with ourselves in comparison of what we see in others of the world. In actuality the world is not always a fun place to be in the middle of. It was created to be, but because of Adam’s disobedience, we were born sinners into the world. Praise God that once we accept Jesus into our hearts we are no longer children of the world, but instead children of God. He never said the journey would be easy. However, He did promise He would never leave us to get through it alone. (Deuteronomy 31:8)

That’s not always easy to remember with the distractions of the world around us. Being born-again doesn’t mean you’re attack proof. It does not mean that satan will not attempt to feed you with thoughts that can condemn you. It does not mean that satan has given up on trying to defeat you. Most importantly, it does not mean that it is not okay to not be okay.

There was something off with me. I felt out of place in the midst of people who I knew loved me such as my family and friends. There’s even times I had to remind myself how much God loved me but even though I know He did, it still felt like I was down here fighting my own battles alone. That feeling can be overwhelming. It can make you feel so many things that you can almost subconsciously make the decision to go numb.  For me I grew so numb it became concerning and that’s when harming myself came into play just so I could feel something. There were even times where I felt everything at once, and due to overwhelming thoughts, wanted to punish myself with physical pain. Everyone will not relate to this. Some may even read my honesty and think I’m a nut case. However, I’m not sharing this in the hopes of gaining approval from others. I’m sharing this because someone, even if only one person, may relate to this. If you’re reading this and it’s reaching you, I promise you, your life holds value!

God has not left us. It is not a joy for Him to see His children hurting. He is holding on tighter than ever before but we cannot give up and let go. Mankind likes to diagnose depression, and then prescribe medications and ways for you to think. However, I submit that you can get through this without any of that. Just as everyday you may have to take that prescription, I want you to make the decision everyday to set that time aside for God. It may take a little longer than swallowing a glass of water, but it will leave you with more long-term fulfillment. (Proverbs 12:25)

             When your spirit is being attacked you need more than a physical medication. You need to spiritually attack back. Even in the midst of the tears, if your eyes are too flooded to read the Word turn on some worship music. Even if your thoughts are telling you to give up, that you’re not good enough, that it won’t get any better. Stand Firm! Defeat those thoughts by speaking out loud to remind satan of his place and to claim your victory!

Through all that you have gotten through, you are still here! You are more than a conqueror! You are not forgotten! You can do all things through Christ! He will provide for your needs! You are victorious! You have purpose! You are valued! You are chosen! You are royalty! You are a Child of the Most High! You are loved!

That is why we never give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. We have small troubles for a while now, but these troubles are helping us gain an eternal glory. That eternal glory is much greater than our troubles. So we think about what we cannot see, not what we see. What we see lasts only a short time, and what we cannot see will last forever.

-2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ERV

For those who can relate to this article but do not have a relationship with God, please know He doesn’t want you to be alone. Jesus came & died just to have a relationship with you. It’s up to you to receive Him. Refer to ‘Invitation From God’ on the “BOSS Ministries” app.

Let The Church Say 'Amen' - Part 2

Let The Church Say 'Amen': Part 2

I have friends that come and tell me they go to church, or at least they try to. They find it hard because every time they go they don’t feel a connection. They don’t have this eye-opening Sunday experience and this is the exact reason that I am writing this. I remember having to explain to someone what church was like before their first time going and it broke my heart simply because, Gods relationship is never as difficult.

There are tons of churches in the world, just like there are tons of buildings. When you go for a job interview and you have NO idea about the employer, it’s definitely harder to do well when they’re talking to you about the job at hand. You can fake it for awhile and smile but realistically you know nothing that’s going on and you just hope all goes well so you can get out of there. It’s like walking into a blind spot but you know you’re supposed to be there because… it’s a job.

That’s very similar when it comes to going to church and not having a relationship with Christ. You sit and listen to people go on and on about a man you really don’t know much about. But you know you’re supposed to be there because, after all…it’s church. This is why God doesn’t seek your Sunday attendance. He wants a relationship with you. He wants you to know Him so that situations in your life will make more sense. No one said life would simply be easier. However, just like that job interview, when you went in and knew nothing it may have been overwhelming. God doesn’t want you to be overwhelmed with the life He has given you. He wants to guide you through but He can’t do that unless you seek Him first. You can go to church 20 times a week but you won’t feel a connection because you’re not connected. And quite frankly, you don’t get connected through the action of going to church. The decision you make when you allow God into your heart connects you.

When you enter into a friendship with somebody you don’t just greet him or her for the first time and let them follow you around until you need them. Now correct me if I’m wrong, maybe you do but that’s odd, and quite frankly not very appreciative. They aren’t there just to be used at your beckon call. You call them friend because of a divine connection. God calls us His friend [John 15:15], which means He doesn’t just want to be a fly on the wall of our lives. He doesn’t want you to only recognize Him on Sundays and confuse Him for a genie when we need Him. He wants to be involved!

He wants you to talk to Him about your problems so He can walk you through them. He wants you to tell Him your needs because He wants to meet them [Philippians 4:19]. He wants you on your happiest day to be reminded that He loves you. He wants this with you everyday, not just the day the world makes you believe He cares.

The purpose of church was designed for the fellowship. A way of friendly associating, especially with people who share the same interest. What I want everyone to understand is that this fellowship with others should be a time of encouragement and strength as you gather together with people who love God. Let me be clear, that God’s love for you is beyond a church experience. His love is unconditional and more powerful than one can comprehend. Therefore, don’t beat yourself up if you miss a week of church or if you never attended at all. God is not mad at you, He does not look down on you for it, and most important His arms are always welcoming of you. Always.

Let The Church Say 'Amen' - Part 1

Let the Church Say ‘Amen’: Part 1

This is my experience of ‘Church’:

An hour and a half service that includes announcements that you probably heard last week. Somehow a lot changes in a day, but not much happens in a week apparently…at least at church. Praise and worship that’s scheduled for 15 minutes turns out to be a half hour because sister Brown can’t hear herself in the monitors enough and the drummer didn’t arrive on time.  Don’t worry if you missed any of the announcements from earlier. The pastor is about to get up and cover a few again because it seems that we all missed the first memo about how much it’s going to take to fix up the back parking lot for the church picnic coming up. He need not mention needing money for the new robes for the choir. And with all the new members coming in we should most definitely give towards the need of expanding the church. Yes, you may see empty seats around you every week, but that’s just temporary. Now hold on before you tuck that wallet away, it’s almost time for the offering right after they accept donations for next week’s speaker. Back to the new members, let’s all just take a break and greet everyone around us as if we weren’t just talking to them in the main lobby. We may even smile and shake a hand with a stranger who we’ll never see again. Isn’t that exciting? After all that is said and done, we understand that you might have missed that entire half hour of worship due to trying to talk yourself into coming in the first place. So, lets do it again!

Now don’t you dare think the pastor would come up and have the nerve to teach before his wife had the chance to greet the congregation, knowing full well she’d rather not. This gives you all a chance to critique her new outfit, talk about the latest gossip you have on her, and give her a smile feedback of fakeness. Finally we can enjoy the pastor come and give us an encouraging story about his week prior, building our faith just enough to walk out feeling motivated. God is good! But it’s not over. And then? He finally starts the sermon for the day. Oh no, of course he wouldn’t leave you with just that 25-minute testimony. After all, we know you spent your precious time in a work-filled week to wake up early and spend your whole day hearing about his. Never would he let you go without the full on details. It appeared to be a message, however you might have not been able to hear it as well as you’d like due to your stomach growling at you in regret. Now before you go and bump into the hurdles of people who like to stay longer for extra God points, we have just a few more announcements! These are basically to make sure you come prepared next week to give.  Whoops! To all of our newcomers, the ones we fake met when we were greeting the people we already knew? Yes you! Don’t forget to spend another 20 of your minutes filling out this paperwork we have for you so we can give you more announcements on paper! All we need from you is your first name, last name, address, date of birth, social security #, the church you last attended, why you stopped & how you heard about us? Once you’re done with that SAT we’ll give you a nice packet in hopes that you come again next week and bring a friend with you to make the time go by faster. Just make sure to inform your friend:

Depending on which Sunday it is, brace yourself- it could be Baby Dedication Sunday, communion Sunday, the 3^rd of the month (which means nothing but its still titled “3^rd Sunday of the month”).

Make sure you have on Sundays best because who are YOU to be too good to dress up for the Lord? You said you speak to Him everyday? And He knows what you look like? Doesn’t matter- put your heels on. God knows what you look like but Pastor Paul is going to think you weren’t raised right. Put the nice socks on your baby too, with the frill!

Now go on and get yourself something to eat because during that time today will probably be when you will be the most appreciative of God Himself! And hey good news for you for coming today-- 2 more heaven points have been added to your chart! Yayy!

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And this is why I hate religion, and have lost all hope for organized church.

Now please don’t get me wrong, NOT ALL CHURCHES are like this. I’m not trying to be a spokesperson for “church” or even bash its existence, because it’s needed. However, I’m over the idea of what the world thinks it’s supposed to be. The world, which let me be clear satan is the god of, has people thinking God is seeking your religion. Everything that I just mentioned above has nothing to do with your relationship with God and that is what He craves the most! He wants to know you but more importantly He wants you to know Him.

These magazines, these newsstands we keep up with about our favorite celebrity help us understand who they are on the surface. We know Will Smith has a wife, a few kids, been in an abundance of movies, etc. However we may not know about his personal goals or which ones meant the most to him when he reached them. No matter what research we do, unless we personally know Will Smith and spend time with him, all we can do is appreciate the idea of him on the surface.

God doesn’t want that surface appreciation. He doesn’t simply want you to just know what others think about Him and how He’s been involved in their life. He wants to be involved in yours! God doesn’t tally how many times you made it to church in a week, or month, or if you made it for the special holidays. He doesn’t judge you based on your attendance at mass. It’s so much deeper than that.

Despite what many think, Gods favorite day is not Sunday. His favorite days are the days you choose to seek Him, spend time with Him, and grow in your relationship with Him.

The ‘Church’ is often looked at as a representative of Christ, that of which the people in it should be. However, the worst part is that many churches have lost the focus for the heart of the people. All while that is the main focus God has. They instead look at the business of it all & the numbers that come with it. They lose sight of the judgment and condemnation that stems from the ‘church attitude’, and what breaks my heart the most, is that this is how God is being represented to the world.

It doesn’t matter whether you show out for God every Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It matters whether you show up and open the door He’s been knocking on [Revelation 3:20].

Knock-Knock!

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock."

-Revelation 3:20

I always try to keep it real and as personal as I can with all of my BOSS’s despite the judgment that may come along with it. I wasn’t always a fan of God. #YeahIsaidIt. At one point in my life, I actually thought I was an atheist. Then I realized it wasn’t that I was an atheist because I believe God existed. However, I just didn’t want to choose Him. This stage was around 9^th grade for me.

What most people don’t know is that I went to 9^th grade twice. I went through a school transfer and at the time I could care less about my grade so if I remember correctly, I failed about two classes. With the transferring of schools, the school I was going to wasn’t having it and I had to repeat the entire grade over again. Not my proudest moment because I’m hard on myself and I was always an A+/B student growing up. However, I was so frustrated with God that I could have cared less where my life was taking me because it’s not like He was anywhere to be found (or so I believed at the time).

One of my main challenges at the time was that I had an ego and didn’t know about it. God? So people wanted me to believe that this man they never saw had so much power that He created ME and knows MY beginning and end before I do? All these continuous bad things that occur in my life…if God was real then why would any of these negative things happen? Most of all, what was His point in creating me, just to have me live on this earth unhappy? Even on the days that I did feel happy I thought it was because of an accomplishment based on myself, not because He had anything to do with it. I started getting bullied about my weight, about my hair because no one wanted to believe it was real. I had girls threaten me, wanting to fight me without even knowing my name. Where was God then?

My parents spent a lot of my childhood at church. From when I was a baby they were ministering across the country and helping to change people’s lives. However, I didn’t see people’s lives changing for the better at the time, just mine not mattering to others. I grew resentful. I didn’t just only grow resentful towards my parents; I especially grew resentful towards God. My parents were so hung up on Him that I felt forgotten about. So why would I choose Him? Shoot, I was thinking…what has He done for me lately?

I started carrying a switchblade. I even thought about joining the Bloods simply because I wanted to belong. Now for those of you who know me personally, I can only imagine your faces right now. But yes, this is how deep it was. I lost myself in trying to create who I thought I wanted to be. I’m not even really sure what made me give in. It could have honestly been prayers from other people (because I know my mother was interceding every day). I even remember having an argument with my mother in our kitchen and I said, “Why do you always talk about God? This is why I don’t talk to you because not everything has to be about Him”. I could tell it genuinely hurt her feelings because she probably never realized she related most things to Him. However, that’s all she knew. I didn’t understand that then but I most definitely do now. But anyway, back to my breakthrough…

Like I said, I don’t exactly know what it was but there’s one day I remember like yesterday. I got caught sneaking out to go to a basketball game after my parents told me not to but they went to church that night. I took it upon myself, even though I just beat having a fever, to walk outside at night, by myself, to go to the game anyway. When they got home and they found out (my sister snitched) they let me have it! I was fed up because who were they to tell me what to do when they weren’t there for me when I needed them. Now don’t get me wrong my parents would tell me they loved me everyday and if they could they would lay the world at my feet. I knew that but I didn’t see that so I made myself believe otherwise. You know how people in their hearts know God is real but don’t want to believe that so they make themselves believe otherwise? Yeah, it was exactly like that.

I didn’t really know much about God and religion and how to pray. But I listened to other people well enough that I pretty much had the gist. Most people ended there prayers “In Jesus’ name” and I vaguely remembered my mom saying something in reference to a scripture that “if we ask in His name, we will receive” [John 14:13]. So I came to God on what I thought was my last straw and said “look Sir apparently you created me and want what’s best for me or at least that’s what I’m told so with all due respect, if you could just prove that somehow that would be great because I can’t see you and I sure don’t feel you…in Jesus’ name I guess, Amen.” I didn’t have the confidence to know He heard me but I asked in His name so all I could do was what I knew. I truly didn’t even know the full context of the verse yet but I figured let’s give God a shot since I felt I had nothing to lose anyway.

There were chains on my heart I didn’t understand or even realize at first. They were chains of bitterness, lack of forgiveness, anger, and I could go on but my point is these chains were keeping me from opening up to anyone better yet a man I didn’t see. You may have seen in another post of mine that I said my mother tried to convince me to start writing [to God]. Again, my ego got in the way because I didn’t like just talking out loud, I felt stupid. I didn’t even take up writing at first because it didn’t make sense on how God would “hear” what I’m “writing” and it made me feel stupid again. Until…I started realizing it wasn’t going null and void.

It’s not like I saw the clouds break and a huge light was shining up me. People expect all types of physical changes like that because that’s how “religion” is made out to look. However, the changes I noticed were small. I started to enjoy my time writing to God because at least even if I wasn’t sure if he saw/heard any of it, at least I was getting it out of my system. Slowly it changed that when my mom spoke about God, I didn’t get as angry as much. I started seeing my parents as humans doing the best they could and began to appreciate them for it. I realized these chains started breaking slowly but surely, and I wasn’t mad at it.

I was already happy with the changes God was making in my life from my simple prayers, that I started yearning for His comfort. I didn’t have to physically see Him there to know that he was paying attention because He was showing me. I decided to make Him the Lord & Savior of my life and He continued to prove to me that it was the best decision of my life. I started becoming myself with Him through being able to write comfortably and it gave me the confidence to start speaking to Him out loud without feeling dumb. My relationship with Him became the most valuable because as I spoke, He proved that He was listening through His actions in my life. I never had to give Him an ultimatum or threaten Him to grant my wishes because He wanted to the whole time. I just had to ask Him to come into my life and make His presence known because He was present the whole time, I just never made the choice to acknowledge Him.

So I say all this to say- 

Don’t hate Him because He’ not there, accept Him because He is!

‘Easter’: What Is The Deeper Meaning?

‘Easter’: What Is The Deeper Meaning?

Easter, as the world seems to believe, is the celebration of when a bunny rabbit comes into your town with a surprise treasure hunt for eggs filled with candy. The true meaning behind it is a lot heavier for the world to want to focus on. However, it is more exciting than the temporary candy!

Now don’t get me wrong, when I was younger one of my favorite memories was my parents hiding eggs around the house for my siblings and I to find. I still to this day never understood how my older brother always found more than me. I figured with being the smaller one I’d find more in the smaller spots, overestimating myself. Anyway back to the point. My parents never tried to make us feel excluded from the fun activities especially because this was never a holiday that glorified the schemes of the devil (i.e. Halloween). So they would allow us to do treasure hunts and decorate eggs because it was a great bonding experience for all members of the family. However, the one thing they made clear, was in the midst of all the activity, we ought to remember the TRUE meaning of what we were in fact celebrating.

You may have already read a blog of mine where I discussed God sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross and shed His blood for our sins (John 3:16). Due to great movies like the Passion, and the pendants people like to wear, even members OF the world have heard about that. However, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross did a myriad of deeper things that many people overlook. I don’t at all want this to be boring or repetitive lessons so bear with me, and I promise this will mean much more to you than the peeps on sale at the grocery store.

Jesus came so that we may know and understand God in a more personal way. Since we are descendants of Adam and Eve, Adam’s disobedience caused us to be born sinners. This created a separation or distance between God and us. The Bible tells us, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”-Isaiah 53:6 (NIV) and it also states that, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”-Romans 6:23 (NIV) What does this mean? It means that we are no surprise to God and knowing we were sinners, He still loves us so much that He came up with a way for us to restore our relationship with Him and live an eternal life in right standing through Christ.

Hopefully this shed more light on the understanding of His death and its purpose. Now on Easter, also known as Resurrection Sunday, we remember His death but celebrate that powerful, life-altering moment when Jesus rose from the dead. In the New Testament, after the Romans crucified Jesus, He was anointed and buried in a tomb but God raised Him from the dead and He appeared to many people over a span of forty days (1 Corinthians 15:6) before He ascended into heaven, to sit at the right hand of God. This means some of the greatest news of all-- JESUS LIVES and He is with us always.

Jesus’ parting words to His disciples were, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”- Matthew 28:19-20 (NRSV)

Jesus defeated the power of sin and death. If God could raise Jesus from the dead, then we, too, have reason to hope that we will be raised to live eternally in God's presence.

Equally as important, we have been given the priceless gift of salvation. When we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we enter into a relationship with Him. That relationship allows the power of the entire Godhead to become front and center in our lives. We are translated out of darkness into His marvelous light. We are no longer victims of this worlds system. We are more than conquerors! We are children of the Most High God. This is why we rejoice each and every Resurrection Day.

On this Resurrection Day, in the midst of spending time with your loved ones, I encourage you to remember one thing. Remember Who loves you the most. Who loves you so much they sacrificed their life in order to enter into relationship with you. Who is seated at the right hand of God and continues to love you so much that He has promised to be with you always. Our God has Risen is alive today!

If you want to join the celebration, feel free to accept “An Invitation From God” located in the About B.O.S.S Ministries on the app.

Hey God....are You there?

I’m Talking To God, But Where Is He?

Numerous people, believers and non believers, often to say they cry out to God or they give Him a chance but never hear back. The first thing I think to ask is, do you have a relationship with Him?

We all have someone in our life that we have gotten to know and who have gotten to know us so well that we can hear their voices in the back of our head. It may be when you’re away at school and you’re doing something you know your mother wouldn’t be proud of, you can hear her say “now you know that’s not correct”. You may be able to imagine the face she’s giving you too. It could even be a best friend that you spend so much time with its like you’ve morphed together. Whatever relationship it may be, you’ve become so familiar with the person’s behavior and characteristics, they don’t even have to be around for you to predict what they would say or do and reenact just how. You’ve invested time in particular relationships in your life, which is why you know certain people more than others. Now if you never talked to your mother, how would you be able to distinguish her voice?

God hears you no matter what. He knows all. However, how would you like Him to work miracles in your life when you never invited Him into it? If you have no relationship with God it makes it pretty difficult when you expect to see Him moving in your life. Imagine that someone came up to you and asked you to pick up their kids from daycare. If you don’t personally know this person, that favor most likely isn’t going to happen. Yet, if your sister asked you to pick up her kids, it would be no problem (or you would at least think about it). Relationship matters.

When it comes to God, do you really know Him? Do you have a relationship with him that warrants your prayers being answered? Or is God pretty much a distant concept in your life?  If God is distant and you’re not sure how to begin a relationship with Him, please refer to: "Good Deeds= Heaven Gates"

For those who do know God, have a relationship with Him, and rely on him, Jesus says, “Stay joined together with me, and follow my teachings. If you do this, you can ask for anything you want, and it will be given to you”- John 15:7 {ERV}

The promise’s God has for His children are more than generous. The more we spend time with Him and communicate with Him, the more we will be able to distinguish when He has answered.

Good Deeds = Heavens Gates

My Good Deeds Will Get Me Into Heaven…Right?

God not only created you, He loves you with an unconditional love and wants you to know Him and spend eternity with Him. “Yes, God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him would not be lost and have eternal life“-John 3:16 (ERV) Jesus came so that we could know and understand God in a more personal way. 

People of the world tend to believe that if they DO enough good works, then God will be proud and that is their way into heaven. They don’t actually pay attention to the relationship that is crucially needed in order to bridge the gap between God and us. You see, being as though we are descendants from Adam and Eve, caused by Adam’s disobedience we were born sinners, which caused a feeling of separation or distance between God and us. For an unbeliever, it’s easy to sense that separation which is why you try to do good deeds in hopes to earn Gods acceptance. It’s like adopting a moral philosophy but our good deeds and efforts are insufficient to cover up our sin. The Bible tells us, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”-Isaiah 53:6 (NIV) and it also states that, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”-Romans 6:23 (NIV) What does this mean? It means that we are no surprise to God and knowing we were sinners, He still loves us so much that He came up with a way for us to form a relationship with Him and live an eternal life. However, He also gifted us with the will to choose because who wants to be in a relationship when there is forced love? He wants us to believe in Him enough to make the decisions for ourselves.

We deserve to pay for our own sin and deal with the result- death. God, out of His love for us, sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place. Jesus was crucified for blasphemy in identifying Himself as equal to God, which He is. On the cross, Jesus took all of our sin on Himself and completely, fully paid for it. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made live in the Spirit.”-1 Peter 3:18 (NIV) ”He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy…”- Titus 3:5 (NIV) Therefore, because of Jesus’ death on the cross, our sin doesn’t have to separate us from God any longer. We can choose to come into direct relationship with Him!

Not only did Jesus die for us, He rose again, proving beyond doubt that he can rightfully promise eternal life, that He is the Son of God and the only means by which we can know God. (1 Corinthians 15:3-6 NIV) that is why Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except THROUGH me.”- John 14:6 (NIV) It was Jesus’ love for us and faith in God that caused him to endure the cross and now He invites us to come to Him, that we might be in a personal relationship with God. However, simply just knowing Jesus did this is not enough, we need to welcome Him into our lives.

We must individually accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It cannot be something done for us through someone else. If you bought yourself a ticket to a concert it should be pretty easy to get in. However, just because you bought yourself a ticket, doesn’t mean your friend, who doesn’t have one, gets to go. It’s not a VIP lounge where you can invite your friends or a BOGO 50% promotion. This gift is exclusively for you if you choose to respond to the invitation. Jesus said, “…..I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).”- John 10:10 (AMP) Accepting Jesus means believing that Jesus is the Son of God, who He claimed to be, the inviting him to guide and direct your life. The precise words you use to commit yourself to God are not important just as long as you ask Him into your life and believe in your heart. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved [born-again]. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)

If you are unsure of what to pray, here’s some assistance putting it into words:

“God, I want to know you. I want you to come into my life. Thank you for sending your only Son to die on cross for my sins, so that I could be fully accepted by you. Only you can give me the power to change and become the person you created me to be. Thank you for forgiving me and giving me eternal life with you. I give my life to you, please do with it as you wish. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

If you sincerely asked God into your life just now, then He has come into your life as He promised. What follows is a lifelong journey of change and growth as you get to know God better through reading His Word and interactions such as prayer and worship. The promises to His children have unleashed on you for choosing to make Him your Heavenly Father. Welcome to the Kingdom!

The more you invest time in your relationship with God, the more you will understand Him and be able to distinguish when He is spending time on you. God will never leave you in your times of need. He will never forsake you because of your sin. You are now covered by the blood of Jesus and His mercy endures forever!

“I’m standing at the door and I’m knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in.”- Revelation 3:20 

How will you respond to Gods invitation?

My Testimony (2013)

I’ve always wondered why are people so against believing in God? What is the harm? What would they lose out of it? Is it not cool? I have no problem asking believers questions like that. My problem is when I get responses like “I believe in Him, I’m just not religious” or “I don’t like thinking that someone has control over me or being wrong on if He is real”. My response is never coming from a judgmental place but in fact an understanding. I’ve been there; I understand those thoughts, that mindset. Therefore, I am not going to preach, I’m not going to speak on how foolish that sounds because we’ve all might have played the fool at some point, in numerous situations in our life. Instead I’d rather share my story:

I’m an overall blessed person. Big family, nice house, great parents who I know love me, and the amount of things I have (i.e. clothes, cars, game systems, etc.) are what some may consider borderline sinful in the indulgence sense. I won’t sit here and lie as if I have the hardest life to live, many people have worse living situations than me, that is recognized. I can sit and brag as if I deserved everything I have, as if I built the roof over my head to keep the rain from caving it in. However, I know, and I’m pretty sure you know yourself that that would be false. So you ask yourself, “Okay Christany what is the point of this story? It seems like you have a pretty lucky life to me so what do you need God for?” Keep reading…

There are at least 4 important key parts to a human being that effect their behavior in life. Your physical, emotional, mental, & spiritual state of being. 2 out of 4, in my opinion, are NOT as easy to manipulate into how you want them to appear to the public eye. Those two are physical and mental. You can get the newest pair of Jordan’s, the rarest form of gold, the shampoo with the most suds, and you will still be inside the same physical body you were born in. You can be someone who has 15 academic degrees on the wall that come from book smarts while common sense may not be an asset you choose to be a braggart about. I’m not saying mentally and physically you cant grow and change but they are very matter of fact “you have what you see” factors. 

The emotional dimension of your life you cant study for, you cant throw some jewelry on and make look pretty. It is quite in fact unpredictable, and what some might label a “rollercoaster”. There are the good emotions that bring you happiness and peace and other emotions that make you feel sad and maybe even overwhelmed. You can’t predict when your about to experience a loss in your life or even gain. Some people choose to handle their emotions by not addressing them, maybe placing them aside to not have to deal with as if nothing has happened. I’ve heard those people be considered “strong” because they can be offended and seem fine with it until years later when the situation may get brought back to their remembrance and they hold it against someone else. Others can choose to indulge in their emotions rather than ignore them. They choose to base their actions off of the current emotion they might be feeling, for example going through a break up and eating bowls of ice cream and cake while reminding themselves how much that person may have hurt them. You can wake up on the wrong side of the bed or the right side of the bed and you can choose to let it effect your entire day. The main point is emotions are uncontrollable and most times unpredictable, whether good or bad. 

It seems for me that a lot of memories that stick out in my life have been memories of loss. Throughout my academic career, before college even came into play, I’ve attended 9 schools. My parents wanted what as best for me and they didn’t quit until they got it. However, I didn’t see that then, I saw the numerous amounts of relationships I lost due to environmental differences. Mentally I was growing but emotionally, hit after hit of putting effort into relationships that didn’t last, I was breaking. 

I lost my godmother when I was 3 years old. I wish I was able to get more time with her but I still miss her from the memories I was fortunate to have experienced. However, I was only 3 so the pain of loss didn’t have as much impact on me that I can remember. I went through losing the relationship I had with my sister when I was 10. That I can remember clear as day and was also a hard experience for me. However, the loss that impacted me to want to end the cycle of all these negative emotions I was going through was when I lost my grandfather the same year at 10 years old. That was by far the 1^st hardest year/hurt for me and watching the others around me hurt, made me feel helpless. I needed something in my life to be different; I needed to know that something in my life would be constant. I grew up with a bunch of God talk. Everyone around me seemed to mention God at some point, whether it was my siblings or friends of the family, and the list goes. Now at this point I was just sick and tired of feeling like I couldn’t do anything, of feeling like I was the only one who wasn’t rejoicing over something. So I sat down with my mom and that same day I made the decision to ask God to be my Lord and Savior in my life. Now you’re ready for it right? The story of a huge change, a miraculous difference, smiling from ear to ear. Here’s the catch: nothing happened. I still felt those same emotions, I still went from loss after loss from hurt after hurt, formed relationships with people I felt I learned nothing from. I went through my high school years feeling like I was worse off than how I was and I grew bitter. I was angry with myself, God, and everyone around me. I rebelled way passed my character in school and at home, at church. I literally felt like I was fighting everyone and everything by myself, with no one to rely on or depend on because all they would and could do was hurt me. 

I pained the people around me during this time in my life and I didn’t care because most of what I saw was the pain that I was experiencing. In the midst of all this, I knew people were praying for me and I didn’t care about that either. I didn’t want to hear, see, or know anything about God because I asked Him to be my Lord and Savior and I felt like He never showed up. It was as if I was going through more trials after asking Him than before. The biggest relationship that was affected was between my mother and me. For those of you who have met my mother, you can see Gods light shine through her and I wanted nothing to do with it. In my heart and my mind I just cut her off, she was just there, another someone who didn’t know me and would eventually hurt me. She knew some of the things I was doing, the times I would sneak back in the house, she’d see the scars on my wrist and as much as it hurt her, she loved me anyway. I’d wake up and she’d give me a scripture, I’d go to school and she would pray for me, I’d ignore her when she spoke but she kept on talking. She would still hug me and tell me she loved me when I wouldn’t say it back, she would still take me out to eat when I wouldn’t say a word to her but stare down at my food. I may have hated it at the time but I realized she was my first real example of Gods love. She was constant, never changing, she never wavered, and she continued to love me passed my decisions and flaws. Most importantly, she never made me feel condemned. 

When I told you I asked God to be the Lord and Savior in my life that day, that’s just what I did. I asked Him but I never allowed Him to be until I was actually ready to accept Him to have that role in my life. He showed up but I just refused to recognize Him. As I felt He was the farthest, He was actually the closest ready to save me from myself. You can ask somebody to pass you a glass of water, but if you keep pushing it away once they hand it to you, how do you expect to receive that glass? You have to reach out and take it. 

See these relationships we hold dear to us, our boyfriends or girlfriends, our best friends, our family members, they are important people but no human being is perfect. We cant put our faith in them and then be upset when they fail our expectations. You may have been friends with someone since birth and when they hurt you, you were devastated. You may have been in a relationship where you knew beyond the shadow of the doubt that they were the right one for you and they ended up with someone else. You may have woken up yesterday and found out a loved one passed away at an early age. All or none of these situations may be something you have had to go through or currently going through. 

Here is my question for you: are you tired yet? Are you tired of depending on things and people when they end up being unpredictable? Are you sick of feeling the same hurt not having any control in what to do about it? You have an option. So what are you so afraid it? If I’m telling you that there is someone who will never fail you, never forsake you, who will ALWAYS love you. Why would you choose to pass up a relationship to have with them? Is it because your ego is too big to relinquish the control in your life? Well despite what you may think, some of you have already relinquished that control to situations your in, circumstances, people, and emotions. All of which are unpredictable. 

I got tired, I got weak, I felt broken, I was torn. That was all until I chose to change where I placed my faith. I wanted to have a reliable relationship. Not a relationship where I felt I wasn’t good enough, or that anything I did may have changed how things stand. I needed a relationship where they stood with me the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

If you’re feeling physically, mentally, and/or emotionally weak and frustrated, do not give up! You still have a chance to be strong spiritually. I’m not writing this as a devout Christian looking down on you. I’m not writing this in a tone of judgment, to condemn you, to tell you what is right or what is wrong. I am writing this because I want anyone who is reading this, who is relating to this, to know they aren’t the only ones who have hurt. You may be the only one who is hurting from the situation you’re in but it’s nothing God will not let you depend on Him for if you choose to. If you choose to accept God into your life, not just as someone who is there in the distance, but actually reach out and have a relationship with Him, you will see Him work in your life. Try it, for your sake, not for me, but because you want a change in your life. 

Honestly if you can continue going through the hurt you may experience everyday with the people in your life, what is the harm in trusting someone who is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (psalm 34:18). A person that when you’re at your weakest will not kick you while your down or add on to the pressure but rather gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak (Isaiah 40:29).

I pray today that whoever comes across reading part of my journey I chose to share will see that everyone has a story to tell. I had mine, and cannot imagine what yours entails. I pray that if you choose to work on your spiritual state of being, you begin to notices changes and be more confident with your mental and physical state. I pray that you realize you do not have to live based on the roller coaster of your emotions, but in fact the promises that God has kept for you once you seek Him. 

He does not count your good works, or keep records of your sins to condemn you with. He does not have a reward system that He is judging you by but rather a gift He wants you to accept, and that is His salvation. Give is a try…

This is how:

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For this is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.- Romans 10:9-10