GOSPEL ENCOURAGEMENT MUSIC SPOTLIGHT!! #1

Dear Friends,

Good Evening, Lovelies!!  I hope you all are enjoying your Sunday and are highly blessed!! A few moments ago I had an idea to start a new segment on this blog. It will be called Gospel Encouragement Music Spotlight. I will post a video of a song from a gospel artist to spotlight their music but also to encourage you guys out there!! I hope you guys enjoy it!!

This first Gospel Encouragement Music Spotlight is James Fortune & FIYA – Hold On (feat. Monica & Fred Hammond) (MUSIC VIDEO) (You can click on the link or look at the video below!) This song was in my spirit when I sat down to write so I thought maybe God wants to bless someone with it!

As you listen to this song, I want to encourage you guys to hold on and keep going! God is STILL on the Most High Thrown and STILL In Charge!! Don’t let your circumstances get you down! Place your eyes on the sky from with cometh your Help (Psalm 121:1)! God may not be there when you want Him but He’s always on time and He will NEVER let you fall from His Holy, Faithful, and Good Hands!! God the Father Loves You Dearly! Believe it!  Enjoy  the Gospel Encouragement! Until Next time Keep God first, Pray About everything, Laugh Out Loud, and Hold on!! God Bless!! Be Blessed!! Jesus Loves You!! SMILE! 🙂

It’s BOOK REVIEW Time!! :)

Dear Friends,

As always I hope you are doing well on this Sunday afternoon. Today, it’s time for another Book Review! Today I will be reviewing Love Your Life: Living Happy, Healthy, & Whole by Victoria Osteen.

This is my first time reading a  book by Victoria Osteen. And may I add, this is probably my favorite of all the Christian/ Inspirational books I have read thus far. This book is absolutely PHENOMENAL!! I know I always say I loved the book, and that’s true, but I LOVE this book!!  It has helped me in more ways  than one and I learned a whole lot!

This book is about 221 pages– so it’s about moderate length. It’s a really easy read. It has 11 chapters on how to love your life.

1. Understanding Your Influence
2. Living with Confidence
3. Embracing What’s Important
4. Keeping the Right Perspective
5. Making the Most of What You Have
6. Recovering Lost Opportunities
7. Overcoming Offenses
8. Enjoying Rich Relationships
9. Discovering What Others Need
10. Being a People Builder
11. Receiving Love

In each of these chapters Victoria Osteen gives insight to why each one is important and then tells you how to accomplish every one of them in your life  so you can Love Your Life and live a  Happy,  Healthy, & Whole life! She gives good tips that are powerful in your life and really works. This book really made me realize a lot of things in my life and about my life. But it also helped me with overcoming it which is why I really loved this book. It changed my perspective on a number of things. It has really been a blessing that God is using in my life as a tool in helping me to know Him better and get me to my God-given destiny! I thank God for this book!

I thought her book, writing style, and message would be the same as Joel Osteen! But it’s not! Victoria has her own unique writing style. Even though, the format is a lot like Joel Osteen’s. However, Victoria had an originality about her work. She is her own individual in how she bring across what she wants to say and what the Spirit is causing her to say. She has shared so much of her wisdom in this book to help us. And I’m thankful for the chance to read this book!

I want to encourage you all, if you haven’t read this book, go out and get it. Read this book, Enjoy it, and let God manifest His power through it in your life to help you like He has for me! Thank You, Jesus!! I promise this book will be a blessing to you or any one you know. It will help you advance to the next step in life and your relationship with God, as well as others, and to Love Your Life and Lead a Happy, Healthy, & Whole Life! Until Next Time, Keep God First, Pray about Everything, & Read this Book!! God Bless!! Stay Blessed!! SMILE– God Loves You! & Remember because of your faith in Christ, You are acceptable in God’s sight (Romans 5:1-11)!!  🙂 ❤

God is Love,

O, LORD! My Strength!

Many Blessings, DLaShawn

Easter 2013 :)

Dear Friends,

Happy Palm Sunday! I hope your guys are doing well and are blessed this Palm Sunday!! Well, since Easter is coming up next weekend, I thought I’ll do a post on the gift of Jesus and His precious sacrifice to the world!

Just this morning, I read Galatians 3 and was reminded why Jesus is so significant in God expressing His Love for us. 

I’m sure all of us at one time or another in our lives were extra careful and tried to obey every commandment of the Law. Some of us may still do. However, I’m sure we are also all aware that when Christ come, His death and resurrection freed us from the Law being in charge of us (Galatians 3:25). He reconciled us as God friends and now through Him, Jesus Christ, we can all receive eternal life just by mere belief in Him! Isn’t that amazing?!

Why is it then that we tried to obey every commandment of the Law to gain God’s approval when it is through faith that God is pleased with us? Whether it was the sense of not really understanding what Christ’ sacrifice meant or trying to earn something we can never earn, God’s grace and love… we must remind ourselves that “Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse… (Galatians 3:10)”. It’s a curse because who can really obey the entirety of the Law when we are mere human beings and are not perfect? No one. It’s a curse because now we have the resurrection of Christ who God lifted us up with Christ and freed us from bondage which is the Law. A curse because whoever tries to be saved through the Law and not faith, only sets themselves up for failure and rejects God’s gift of grace! 

The scripture says, “Now, it is clear that no one is put right with God by means of law, because the scripture says ‘Only the person who is put right with God through faith shall live’ “. When I read this verse, I’m reminded that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life & that no one goes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). I’m reminded that God loves us so much and wanted to bring us back to Him so much that He gave His Only Son for us– a people who didn’t deserve it! I’m reminded that Christ loves us so much that He gave His life for us willingly, a people who hated him and who were sinners, at the risk that  maybe we would never love Him. What Truer Friend, What Love!

As Easter Sunday  comes up this week, I’m reminded and want to remind you that the Law only tears us down but Christ Builds Us Up! I want to remind you that Christ didn’t die for nothing (Galatians 2:21). I’m not saying that the Law is to be ignored by any means!! In fact, we should all be aware of it and try our best to obey it.  It’s there to convict us and let us know when wrongdoing has been committed, a warning that let’s us know we need to repent before the LORD! But know that Christ died and God rose Him for us– we can now ask for forgiveness when we make a mistake and ask for His guidance and strength to do better! God did that for us through Christ because of Love!! Thank You, FATHER! And Thank You, LORD Jesus for taking our many sins upon your body and caring so much to reconcile us back to Our Father, the LORD God! The Law is also there to remind us of why Christ sacrifice for us is so significant of God’s love for us, why Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and why Easter is bigger than painted eggs and white furry bunnies! 

Easter is the time to consciously remember that, “But before the time for faith came, the Law kept us all locked up as prisoners until this coming faith should be revealed. And so the Law was in charge of us until Christ came, in order that we might then be put right with God through faith. Now that the time for faith is here, the Law is no longer in charge of us (Galatians 3:23-25)”.

“It is through faith that all of you are God’s children in union with Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26)”. Knowing this, this Easter let us all Praise God for the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let of Glorify God for His free Gift of Grace and give Honor to the LORD Jesus for His Sacrifice that saved wretches like us!!

Happy Easter!! I hope all of you enjoy it with humble heartfelt gratitude!!  Until Next Time, Keep God first, Pray about everything, and Thank Jesus for paying the price to be  and being your LORD & SAVIOR!! And if you haven’t accepted him as your Lord and Savior, PLEASE DO! Best decision you will EVER make!! God Bless!! Jesus Loves You!! SMILE big!! 😀

God is Love,

O, LORD! My Strength!

Many Blessings, DLaShawn

Follow Your Dreams!!… :)

Dear Friends, 

I hope all of you are doing well and having a great day! Today’s post I feel the need to speak on dreams and following them! So no longer beating around the bush, let’s get to it!

Recently, God has given me the strength to do something I was afraid of doing! I Thank Him for doing that! Because we all may know that fear that rise up inside of us when we are about to start out on an endeavor that we really want to do. Sometimes that fear is so strong that it paralyzes us. And shortly  we find ourselves making excuses. We tell ourselves , “well, maybe tomorrow or the next week.” But how many of us can testify that tomorrow can turn into next month or next year quickly? Or sadly, sometime we give up all together. Foolishly, we believe the enemy when he says that it’s just isn’t for us or that we don’t have what it takes, or maybe God never wanted you to do it in the first place. But the Devil is a LIAR!

It’s so frightening to think that fear is such a powerful thing and most of us may not realize or want to admit it but IT IS. Fear is a powerful thing. But God the Father, the creator of EVERYTHING, DIDN’T make you with a spirit of fear. He made us all WITH a spirit of power, love, and of a sound mind. Everything we ever need to accomplish a dream is right here inside of us– All we have to do is dig it up!

I once heard that God place dreams in our heart for a reason. The Bible tells us in Proverbs to “Lift our heads up in honest confidence”. Don’t let anyone or anything stop you from going after your dream and seeing God bring it to past!  If it’s a God-given dream, He placed it there for a reason! Go get it! Don’t be like me, don’t waste time and energy thinking about what if’s and wondering if God really has this for you to do. If everything is falling in to place, trust that God will never take you anywhere that He can’t keep you! We are all meant to soar! Don’t let the quote, “The graveyard is the richest place in the world because it’s filled of unaccomplished dreams” be true for you! No! Go get yours right now! Believe and Trust that God the Father is behind you or rather, IN FRONT OF YOU! And no matter how impossible a dream may look, know that if God is for you,  no one can dear be against you. Know that God has unlimited resources and nothing can stop you when it is God’s will you are doing!

I encourage all of you, any of you, who are fearful of the unknown to reach deep down inside yourself and grab a hold of those  seeds of greatness and destiny that God place in you before you was ever born, let them come to harvest, and use them to skip into your promiseland with joy. Remember, if God gave me the strength to accomplish one of my dreams, He can & will do the same for you! Things in life are scary. But with God there’s not need to be afraid. A pastor once said, “Fear eliminates God out of the picture”. Know that God is in your picture. Joshua 1:9, God say ” ‘Remember that I have commanded you be determined and confident! Do not be afraid or discouraged, for I, the LORD your God, AM WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO’ “. Know that God will ALWAYS BE in your picture. Don’t allow Almighty God to be eliminated out of your picture because you WILL NEVER be eliminated out of His (Romans 8:38-39)! Ask God to help you accomplish your dreams and His will for your life… even if you have to do it afraid!

Until next time, Keep God First, Pray About Everything, & Go after Your Dreams! You have seed of Greatness inside of you, Find them and Use them to your full advantage! Stay Blessed, God Bless!! Just Smile!! 🙂

God is Love,

O, LORD! My Strength!

-Many Blessing, Dlashawn

Avoidance of Harships…?? :/

Dear Friends, 

I hope everyone’s week has been well and now you are enjoying and relaxing on this lovely Sunday! For today’s post, I want to talk a little bit about hardships. Or rather… how sometimes it seems like first nature for us to try and avoid them.  

When the hardships and trails of life come, are you more likely to hide behind the rock and hope it sort of passes you by? Or are you more likey to stand firmly on top of the rock God placed you on and know that the LORD will make everything alright?  I asked this question because every one of us in life, no exceptions, are one of these people. Which one are you?

To be honest, up until now, I’ve been the person who hid behind the rock silently hoping that the winds of the storm will gently pass by.  And I’m not ashamed to admit it because I know I’m not the only person. Most of us in life doesn’t like the trails that come with life. No matter how much we know or don’t know that the trail was brought to us to help us and further strengthen us, we don’t like them! I suppose it’s just human nature. 

I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m guilty of worrying and fearing what’s next to come. Sometimes, when things have been going smoothly and it seems I’m on top, my mind wonders and bring negative thoughts. Things like, “Oh, things are going well, I must be about to go through something”. Or “What if this happen or what if that happens” seem to form in my mind. Although, I know that if I’m trusting in the LORD, He will work out everything for my good and whatever is going to happen is happening to push me forward and make me stronger. Still, I’m guilty of avoidance of hardships and maybe you are too!!

A wise man once said, “There are some things that God can build into your life only through suffering” (Blackaby).  And even Proverbs 20:30 say, “Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways”. If we know these things, that trails are just a testing of our faith (1 Peter 1:7), Why do we try to avoid hardships?

My reasoning and insight on the answer which I feel the Spirit has revealed to me is a dis-connect between our faith and trusting God whole-heartily. Because if we are really trusting God whole-heartily, then we will have the faith in Him to know that everything will be okay. However, when there is a dis-connect between our faith and trusting God whole-heartily, that is when fear has a chance to creep up in between that gap and began to wreck havoc on our lives and cause more problems than the problem itself could have ever caused!

This fear, this worrisome feeling, this weariness– It doesn’t have to be! Let me share something with you guys. One day the devil was trying to get to me, keep telling me, “What it this happens, what if this happens, you should be afraid, You don’t what that to happen, right?…”. In the midst of it all, before anxiety had a chance to sliver its way to my mind and heart, The God Almighty equipped me to change my perception! Something from deep within me blurted right back to that devil, “So what! None of that stuff is going to happen to me! And even if it does, so What?! I know God is on my side, Nothing formed against me can prosper, I know with Christ I am more than a conquer and nothing can harm me. And if by chance God brings me to it, I KNOW HE IS MORE THAN ABLE &WILL BRING ME THROUGH I! I know it well work out for my good!!” What happened? God Change my perception! What happened? God allowed me to response with Faith. What happened? I was learning to trust God and His leadership! 

I want to encourage you guys today, don’t avoid hardships, it’s inevitable! I heard a Preacher say, “Almighty God allows the devil to attack you because He’s making you stronger, more Christ-like. And HE KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT!!” I want you guys to know that God loves you and He doesn’t want to harm you. That if you will trust Him, depend on Him, and have absolute faith in Him, God wants to give you things and take you places you never dreamed of! Pastor Kerry Shook once said, “It isn’t your problem that’s your problem, it’s the perception of your problem– that’s your real problem.” But I want to let you know today that if you allow Almighty God to change your perception and how you look at hardships, you won’t try to avoid them.  You can go forward on your journey and step into your destiny in this life, if you will allow yourself to have faith and trust God and believe that whatever He brings you to, He will bring you through. And know that everything God allows in your life, it’s brought there to help you become the person God made you to be, to be more Christlike (Blackaby), to help you complete your God-given destiny! Don’t give the devil the chance to cause you to be anxious and fearful. Instead, respond to him in faith, knowing that God is with you and He has “made you secure on a high rock” (Psalm 27:5-6)!

Don’t be afraid! Stand firmly on the Word of God! It is true and Will Never Fail You! Have faith and Trust the Lord God whole-heartily! Until next time, Keep God First, Pray about everything, and Don’t worry! You will make it! Don’t Give up! Have faith! Jesus Loves You, He is Always with You! Remember to SMILE!! Be Blessed!! 🙂

God is Love,

O, LORD! My Strength!

Many Blessings, DLaShawn 

It’s BOOK REVIEW Time!! :)

Hello Friends,

Good Morning! I hope your 2013 has been going well! Today will be a simple and very short post. Today I will be reviewing the book entitled Hot: A Novel written by Laura L. Smith. 

This is my first time reading a book by Laura L. Smith. However, she is also written the novel Skinny. Therefore, you may be familiar with her writing. Hot: A Novel was aimed more to young adults but the book is still very interesting. She has a very clean and gentle way of writing! Everything is comprehensible– I like it! 

In this novel, high schooler Lindsey, the main character, is torn between living for and obeying God and her boyfriend, the irresistible Hockey jock Noah. Though Noah believes in God and going to just about every youth bible study just as Lindsey does, he has different views on sex. He believes that if two people love each other then it’s okay to have pre-marital sex. However, Lindsey disagrees. She believes that God made sex for the covenant of marriage for a reason.

She really loves Noah, wants to make him happy, and doesn’t want to loose him, but she also wants to obey and please God. Hot: the novel takes us on a roller coaster of emotions as Lindsey tries to ignore what “everyone else seems” to be doing and listen to God’s voice and obey Him. Which direction will Lindsey go? 

I encourage you all to go and get this book. It’s an easy read and definitely a page turner! Once you enter the world of Lindsey and her saga, you won’t want to put it down! If you are going through something similar to Lindsey, torn between staying pure and following the ways of the world, I definitely urge you to get this book. Mrs. Laura L. Smith breaks down why God wants us to wait until marriage like never before. Don’t wait! Don’t Question it! Just go and get the book and get the encouragement you need to live the life God made for you to live. God truly does blesses obedience! Until next time, Keep God first, Pray about all things, and Read this book! Make the decision to live for God! Be Bless!! Remember, SMILE!! 🙂 

God is Love,

O, LORD! My Strength!

Many Blessings, DLaShawn 

HAPPY NEW YEAR: 2013–Shackles Be Removed!

Dear Friends,

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and wishing you and your family many more fabulous ones. Today, since the new year is two days away, I want to share a New Years  post. Therefore, Let’s begin!

As we all know, usually the new year is marked with making resolutions and is the time to set goals to accomplish by the end of the year. It’s the time when everyone wants to start anew and straighten up a few things and strive to be a better person! That’s great! This year my list is going to be very long when ever I get around to writing it out. 🙂 However, one thing on my list I want to share and feel compelled to share with you is that in 2013, I’m striving to make it the year that I get work done for the Kingdom!

Yes! You heard me right. This year should be the year that, not just me, but us all should be concerned with the work of our Father like never before and get things done. This should be the year that we let go of fear, take back what the devil stole, and walk into our destiny– whatever that may be for you individually.  This should be the year that we win even more souls to Christ Jesus  for our Father. This year isn’t just the “we should” but the “We Are”!! We will get work done for the Kingdom by God’s holy grace and power!

I want to encourage you guys to make a list of all the things you will like to go for. As you write this list, add Get work done for the Kingdom also. I want you all not to just look at the list and forget about it two days later but consciously work to accomplish them and to pray to the Father to help you with them. Ask Him what He would like for you to do and how to spend the year.I understand that this is my goal and it may not be for you all but I felt it pressing in my spirit to share it and maybe it can help someone. I also understand that it may not be easy but most things you do for the Kingdom may not be. Even Paul says in Colossians 1:29, “To get this done I toil and struggle, using the mighty strength which Christ supplies and which is at work in me”. Therefore, you may toil, you may struggle but Christ will supply your strength and is at work in you and is always with you!

Don’t worry! No matter what happened in 2012, God can restore your broken pieces. We serve an awesome, limitless, and very able God! Wave your doubt away, it’s not over! If you repent, if your pray, God can forgive you and instruct you on how to move forward. Don’t allow any strongholds to hold you down. Pray to God and ask Him to remove any shackles holding you back and start praising Him because I assure you that if you Keep God first, Pray about everything, Keep a good attitude, and Worry about nothing- trusting God completely, God will make your 2013 BETTER THAN your 2012. Trust Him, Accept Christ, and Grew Closer to Him this year! Keep your head up, Don’t give up, and remember to SMILE!! HAPPY 2013…  Dreams Are Real and They Will Come True if you Believe God can bring them to pass and He will! God Bless! 🙂 ❤

God is Love,

O, LORD! My Strength!

Many Blessings, DLaShawn