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  • 40 Ways to Spend 5 Minutes With God

    Have you ever had a time when life is happening, and you are struggling to get your time in with God? Of course, you can pray throughout the day, but there are days when it seems that getting more than five minutes of concentrated time with God is hard. Yes, we can say, "Make time, take the time, make spending time with God a priority, but there are times in your life when that's not even the issue. I want to offer you a resource, 40 Ways to Spend Five Minutes With God. This is an excellent resource, and I am all about being a resource and providing you with resources. We need to prioritize spending time with God, even if it's just five minutes. Five minutes can still bear fruit in your life. Enjoy! Don't forget to share this blog with someone and check out the RESOURCES.

  • Don't Let Satan Steal Your Identity

    “...you are not the person Satan says you are. You do not have to listen to that condemning voice in your head or those negative feelings in your emotions. Do not trust them. They are his lies. He would like nothing better than to get you to doubt yourself and the God who created you. Satan likes to hang identities on us that are not who we really are at all. For instance, he likes to call us Sinner Disappointment Failure Weakling Doubter Most of us have been all of these things at one time or another. But they do not define us. They are not who we are. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God instead sees us as Righteous Achiever Overcomer Strong Faithful” Quote from: Robby Dawkins, Identity Thief: Exposing Satan's Plan to Steal Your Purpose, Passion and Power In what area of your life is satan trying to steal your identity in Christ? It's not who satan says you are. It's who God says you are! Your identity is in Christ alone. God deeply loves you, and you can overcome satan's lies. You are more than a conqueror! No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39 Take some time to read the 100 Identity Truths; which one does God want you to know that needs to bear fruit in your life? Spend some time meditating on it, and may your life reflect the truth of God's Word about you! Don't forget to share this blog with someone and check out our RESOURCES.

  • Sunday Morning Inspiration- A Worship Song Worth Repeating!

    Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Psalm 95:1 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12 Let this song usher you into the presence of God. Speak The Name! Sing along with the Lyrics. This is a song you will want to sing!

  • Saturday Stress Buster- Spend some Time Coloring

    In coloring, there are no mistakes, just unique creations. Quote from Cleverpedia When was the last time you colored in a coloring book? I don't do it as often as I would like, but I enjoy coloring, and sometimes, when my grandchildren are coloring, I will color with them. Coloring slows down our minds and taps into our creative side. Being creative is a stress buster! So, go to the Dollar store and buy a coloring book and some crayons, or get you a plain piece of paper or maybe even draw a picture in your journal and then color it! It will help you to bust some stress! Print out the page below and color it! Enjoy! You should also check out this creative way to pray called Praying in Color. Share this blog with anyone who needs to bust some stress! Don't forget to check out our RESOURCES.

  • Pause and Let His Word Speak

    So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. Colossians 1:9-10 (NLT) Take a pause to just breathe - set a timer for 10 min. simply breathe Inhale and exhale Notice any tension or pain in your body.. ask the Lord to relax you or to heal that area. Notice your thoughts.... Release all that will distract you by simply saying silently or out loud "Lord, I releaseto you." When the ten min. is up sit silently until you are fully present at this moment. Then........ Read the scripture above 3x out loud or silently. As you enter into the weekend, consider these reflection questions: 1. As you read the scripture, what word or phrase speaks to you in this season of your life? 2. In what area(s) of your life are you seeking the knowledge of his will, spiritual wisdom, and understanding? 3. In what area(s) of your life are you bearing fruit in your attitude and actions? 4. In what area(s) of your life are you struggling to honor and please the Lord? 5. As you have spent time journaling, what is God speaking to you about what is on your heart based on the abovementioned scripture? 6. Write a prayer of response. Share this blog with others. Coming Soon, I will share my insights from the book of Job! Keep Checking back or subscribe today so that you won't miss out!

  • Must Read Articles

    I am so grateful for the people who are reading my blog posts. Today I am sharing some articles that were sent to me and some that I found while researching this topic to help those following my blog. I pray they are helpful. If you want to send me articles or resources that will be helpful to others, feel free to send them to me @ joycelyn@joycelynlewis.com When Your Pastor Lies To Your Face For Five Yours What Should I Do If I See Moral Failings in My Pastor? How To Recover From Spiritual Abuse Recognizing Warning Signs of Spiritual Abuse in the Church What are Signs of Spiritual Abuse, and How Can We Recognize them in the Church? Six Ways To Heal and Recover from Spiritual Abuse Should a Church or Christian Ministry Cover Up Abuse? Share this blog with others, and don't forget to check out the Resources.

  • It Is Finished! Be encouraged today!

    Take a pause and remember that it is finished! Share this with someone who needs to be encouraged today. And Don't forget to check out the Resources.

  • The Real Deal

    On July 4, 2023, one of the sweetest women I have ever known passed away unexpectedly. My friend and I decided to drop by her house so that I could offer my condolences to her daughter and grandson, as well as any other family members and friends. At the conclusion of our visit, I was led to pray with those who were present. Later that evening, my friend shared with me that when I finished praying, one of the gentlemen made a comment about me. He said, "She's the real deal." After the prayer, I heard a few remarks, but I didn't focus on them until after my friend told me about them. I am not sharing the comment to give myself any accolade; I am sharing it because it reminded me of what we as believers need to do whenever we are in one another's presence and the presence of spiritual leaders. On the surface, the gentleman's comment may appear to be an accolade, but that's not what it was; it was an assessment. 1 John 4:1 says, "Don't believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit, but we must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God." (NLT); Scripture also says, "Just as we can identify a tree by its fruit, we can identify people by their actions." (Matthew 7:20). The gentleman was right to test my spirit. He was right to check out my fruit and assess whether or not he discerned that I was the "real deal." My friend also told me that those who knew me confirmed I was "the real deal." This is also an excellent lesson; even when we "test" someone's spirit and inspect their fruit, we should not just go on what we assess. We must receive confirmation from others. We can be deceived and allow many things to get in the way of our assessment, whether good or bad. We all have had times when we thought we were discerning something bad about a person and discovered that we were wrong, and we've also had times when we thought we discerned something good about a person and realized we were wrong. We should always talk with trusted friends when discerning people's spirits to ensure that we are discerning accurately. The enemy can try and deceive us into believing that someone good is bad and that someone bad is good, so ask someone to help you discern rightly. This is what is required of the body of Christ. As believers, we should all pray that when we meet people, pray for people, preach, teach God's Word, encourage people, visit the sick, lead others, and witness to others that when we leave those encounters, someone will have assessed our spirits and inspected our fruit and say that we are the "real deal" because our "realness" is a testimony that our God is real! It's all for His Glory and His glory alone! Get Ready! Over the next few weeks, my blog posts will be related to the book of Job! Journey with me. Don't forget to share this blog with others and check out our RESOURCES.

  • Are You All Churched Out?

    I was having a conversation with a Pastor recently, and I was sharing with him about my recent resignation, and he said, "You know, I'm all churched out." Those words resonated with me because I had been speaking those words in my head twenty-four hours before our conversation, so I've been pondering what these words mean for my soul. I decided to go to Tamela Mann's song, Take Me To the King, because that song has resonated with many believers worldwide. In the song, she says she is "all churched out, hurt, and abused." This is how many of us have felt and feel after experiencing toxic church environments. We've gone to church, attended all of the weekly activities, served in various capacities, and tried to encourage and lift those we come in contact with; we've been committed to our church. We show up with a purpose, "to love God with all of our hearts, with all of our minds, with all of our strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves" (Luke 10:27, Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31). We don't do it perfectly but we try to serve and show up sincerely. Others seem to show up for a different purpose; to control, disempower and devalue our gifts and even sometimes our very personhood. Getting involved in the church seems more like being a part of a game that is being played instead of being about a gospel that needs to be proclaimed and reflected in our actions and our attitudes. So we become "all churched out," ready to tap out of the game called church. We long for some church communities to be about the gospel, evangelizing to unbelievers, offering hope and healing for our pain, and encouraging and inspiring us to be an expression of God's image in the world thru our gifts, calling, and talents. It seems there are hidden agendas, resulting in hurt and abuse instead of edification and encouragement. We become "all churched out." Our heart's are "torn in pieces, we feel far from God, and it seems our prayers are going unanswered. We don't want to show up and be fake or appear to be "going along to get along," so we become desperate for a Word from the King Himself. This is where the chorus fulfills Romans 8:28; All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. Being "all churched out" results in us running to the King instead of into the doors of a church. The church (the four-walled church) is a community that is filled with broken people, the spiritually mature and the spiritually immature, and those in positions who show up with their woundedness; the sharp edges of their brokenness sometimes cut us and make us bleed, but even when that happens, we can return to the King to ask Him to heal our wounds, to bind up our broken hearts, to set us free from harmful religiosity, the abuse of power and legalism. We must also ask that He heal the woundedness in others and those we consider our enemies (Matthew 5:43). We need to take our broken hearts before the throne of the King, gaze upon His glory, and reappraise our situation as an act of complete surrender. It is in the throne room that we receive a Word from our King; "..they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as an eagle, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint!" (Isaiah 40:31), Romans 5:3-5 says that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. Therefore we can glory in our sufferings because our suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope! Our hope in our King does not disappoint us because Christ died for us at the right time when we were powerless! He saved us! And He can save us from the games being played, the hidden agendas, the hurt, and the abuse of power in the four-walled church! Ephesians 5:27 says Christ loves the church (the people of God) so much that "he will present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless." One day, the church (the people of God) will be pain-free because the people will be saved completely from the power of sin! Until that happens, we need to allow God to work in our hearts so that we can bear the fruit that will produce a radiant church. We need to stay in the King's presence where He can heal the hurt and the abuse; then, we will no longer feel "all churched out,"; we will be able to continue to be the church while we are attending a church. Pause and listen to Tamela Mann sing Take Me To The King. Don't forget to check out our Resources Please share this blog and website with others.

  • Sometimes It's the Small Things That Protect Us from the Big Things

    On Wednesday, June 28th, I was driving to my hometown with my two grandchildren. About two and a half hours into my trip, something hit my windshield and put a small chip in the glass. This caused me to slow down and find an exit to check out the chip. As I was getting over into the far-right lane to take an exit, my “check tire pressure” notification came on, and I determined that one of my tires was going flat. Just as I pulled off onto the shoulder of the highway, just in front of the exit, I heard a pop. The blessing was that I was right in front of the exit sign, Exit 30, Bowling Green. I didn’t have to determine where I was, and no one had to try and find my location; I was praising God. I also contacted a towing company, and the tow truck arrived within 30 minutes. When we arrived at the Tire Discount store, a gentleman named Isaiah waited on me, and I immediately looked up what Isaiah meant, and it means “salvation of the Lord.” One of the other employees asked me, “Have you had a bad day?” I said, “Oh no, sir, this isn’t a bad day; this is a great day. I’m grateful that this happened in the daylight, I’m grateful that my grandchildren and I are safe, and I’m grateful that I was able to get a tow truck within 30 minutes; no, sir, this isn’t a bad day; it’s a great day.” He responded with a smile, “I like your attitude.” After the tow truck driver put my SUV in a parking space and handed me my receipt, I asked him what his name was, and he said, “Steve,” which means “victorious, garland, or crown” because a crown was given to competitors for victors to reward them for their success in a competition. We had to wait about an hour and a half for the tire to be repaired, but God had provided a Cici’s Pizza within a short walking distance with a game room to keep my grandchildren occupied while we were waiting. As I took some time to reflect on that day, what was brought to my remembrance was that the night before, when my grandson was saying his prayers, he asked God to “protect us” while we were traveling and about thirty minutes before we had our blow out, the words, “flat tire” came to my mind, so I prayed for protection over us and over the other cars. The small chip caused me to slow down, which ultimately protected us when the tire blew. Sometimes God will show you something small to protect you from something big, so we must pay attention. I also assumed that it was a rock that hit my windshield, and in the words of one of the deacons from my church, “I am thankful for the rock!” The rock who is my salvation and the rock who not only gives me victory over the adversary but He rewards me with the crown of life! I thank God for the rock! In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. 2 Corinthians 2:14 As you go throughout this day, do not discount the small things and the small nudges from the Spirit, they just might save you from being harmed. To God Be The Glory! Share this blog with someone and don't forget to check out our Resources

  • Sunday Morning Inspiration- Take two minutes to watch this!

    Watch this inspirational video by Motion Worship. And on that day, you will say, "Give thanks to the LORD; call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; make them remember that His name is exalted." Praise the LORD in song, for He has done glorious things; let this be known throughout the earth. Isaiah 12:4-5 Don't forget to share this Sunday Morning inspiration with someone and check out our Resources.

  • Saturday Stress Buster- Soak Your Feet

    Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me, and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG) Take some time today to soak your feet in warm or hot water. Pour in some Epsom salt and essential oils that can soothe your tired feet! Help your feet to bust some stress today! .......Just as it is written and forever remains written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” Romans 10:15b (AMP) Share this blog with anyone who needs to bust some stress! Don't forget to check out our RESOURCES.

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