Ordered Steps

If you had asked me about my unusual walk with God a while back, I would probably not have given you the same response I am giving you now. I have to say I LOVE this prophetic walk. I guess now, I am old enough and somewhat surrendered enough (I still have my days). But I am more submitted now that I have been in the past.

I am now officially a Mary Kay consultant and I believe I’m to do this full-time. I am just starting out and my cousin got me into the business. I believe this is what I need to do in order to have the freedom that is needed for the call of God.

So today I had my day planned and a prophetic word from my Pastor and a dream my prayer partner shared, changed my entire day. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have God stop you every time you were about to do something you weren’t supposed to do. Or when God wanted you to do something different. Well today, in my case, God just wanted me to do something different. I am just loving this!

I want my steps to be ordered by God. Now some people are locked into jobs and they don’t have that freedom and that is okay. But even with that, you can still ask God to interrupt your day and lead you where he wants you to go, so that you can do what he wants you to do!

Psalm 37:23

New Life Version (NLV)

²³ The steps of a good man are led by the Lord. And He is happy in his way.

 

Love Series: Don’t Fall for the “Okie-Doke”

I’m sure that title got your attention. The phrase “okie-doke” is used in the urban community and it means: Believing a lie; falling for a scam; a con-game; untruths; fraud etc.

The other day I said I was going to share a series of reblogs, but actually I felt the one I shared was enough. It was the post about the Tiger Woods syndrome. The post speaks for itself. Well this post is along similar lines.

Single ladies, let’s not fall for the same old stuff from the past. Have you ever had things said to you time and time again and then the minute you starting believing, it turned out to be a lie? Well I have had that happen too many times for me to count.

Honestly, I am grateful for all I’ve gone through because I have learned some great lessons and now I kind of understand my recent dream. Had I not had that dream I would be falling for the “okie-doke” once again.  But not a chance this time. I have to go by what God has shown me now, until further notice.

I’ve also learned that there must be equal commitment in relationship, even if a friendship. Why does the woman have to “step out on faith” and the man does nothing? Ladies, all I have to say is, if God says BEWARE, please do that.

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by MARSHA BURNS:

Things are not as they seem.  Stop and discern the attitudes and motives that lie behind words and actions.  Do not put your trust in man, but trust only Me, for I am trustworthy and will never leave you nor forsake you.  Be assured that nothing is hidden from My sight, and I will bring everything hidden in darkness to the light.  Stand in a place of integrity before Me, says the Lord, for I am your place of safety, your holy habitation.

Psalm 139:23-24  Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Following God

A prophetic walk can sometimes be misunderstood. We are so conformed to this world and the ways of the world, that if we see anything that does not resemble the norm, we label it “not God”.

When I arrived in Florida it was just on the heels of being fired from my job as a church secretary (can you imagine that)? When I tell you it was for no reason, I am not trying to make myself look good. Unknown to me, the Pastor of the church had a pattern of firing his secretaries for nothing. This was told to me by one of the members. She was trying to console me after it happened. And just for the record the Pastor told me I was the best secretary he ever had. He tried to deny me my unemployment, but God showed me in a dream that I would get it after I arrived in Florida, and I did.

So, fired in New York and with every door closed, I arrived at my father’s house in Florida, by divine appointment. I eventually started working at a local Office Depot, determined to stay on that job, no matter what.  But God had something else in the plan. I had a desire to return to New York, so when I had a dream about the lights going dark over my cash register and I saw the number 10, I only accepted leaving the job because I was thinking I was going back to NY. God allowed me to think that way because I probably wouldn’t have left my job.

I knew the number 10 meant closure or an ending and with the light going out over the cash register, I knew God was telling me that season had ended. But right after I left, instead of going back to New York (I had a tentative offer), my father was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s and he started getting lost and confused and so there I was, assigned to stay home and watch my Dad. As a lot of you know, that assignment ended with his death last September.

I shared all that to say that what may have looked strange from the outside, was very much God’s path. God took me off the job, just to care for my Dad. He was no longer able to go to his appointments alone and keep up with his daily care, and then he wandered off many times, and so I had to keep watch day and night.

So, again, I heard the instruction of the Lord this week. All along God has been speaking, but there was a missing piece to the puzzle. But I see it clearly now. I must do something and then a choice must be made by someone else. What was so confusing to me before, is so very clear. All along, I was thinking that God was requiring more of me, but he showed me that he is indeed requiring equal commitment.

So after I take this next step of obedience, God said then the choice will be for someone else to make. Oh, it’s not as you may think. It’s going to be a lot easier for me then it will be for that other person. Partners have to go in 50/50. I am chuckling as I write this because it is funny how God moves.

If this message seems cryptic, it’s not meant to be. It’s just how God moves in the walk of a prophetic person. I will keep you updated as the journey continues.

John 2:1-5

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Woman,^[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

It’s a Journey

This travel blog photo’s source is TravelPod page: The Heart Of Australia

I must admit yesterday did not start out as a good day. But as the day progressed it got better and better. In my time of devotions God reminded me that I was on a journey. That reminded me how someone once referred to me as “Dora the Explorer” (lol) and you know when I think about it, they were right. If you don’t know who Dora is, she is a cartoon character and I think the the title is self-explanatory. I am an explorer and if you asked me how I felt about it a year ago, I would not have liked it but I am now just beginning to get a new appreciation for this journey God has me on.

I’ve shared how the Lord gave me two visions and one of them is about financial increase. Recently, I felt led to share the vision with my older brother and he was dumbfounded (in a good way). Sometimes we can forget just how fantastic the vision is, until we see it through the eyes of someone else. I now have a new excitement about this vision because of how excited my brother is. God is up to something big and it’s overwhelming and mind-boggling and it’s part of the reason God has me on this unorthodox journey.

The biggest problem most of us have with our journey is that we grow impatient and we think we must have things instantly. But it’s the world that we live in, that has programmed us that way.  In this day and age, for the most part if we need something, even if it’s out of our reach to purchase it with cash, most of us have some sort of credit that we can use, so we do not have to wait.  So, if my printer breaks down today, provided I have the money or credit, I can replace it TODAY. Years ago people saved and waited, but not anymore.

We must remember it’s not that way with God. Most of us are on a journey and although our journey’s are not the same, it may take us a little while to get to that destination. Just be patient and wait on him.

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling down and out. But by the evening God had given me yet another formula for how he is going to bring me out of what I am going through and I have to say by the evening I was dancing around my living room.

Whatever you do don’t get weary in the journey because there is light at the end of the tunnel. God will bring us through and then we will start a new journey. It really never ends.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁶ That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are^[a] being renewed every day.¹⁷ For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! ¹⁸ So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

Moving Forward

If you read my blog regularly, you know that I have been talking about a geographical move for a while now. What I realize is God was confirming it to my heart all along the way, but it had to take place at the right time. There have been a lot of emotional ups and downs concerning my willingness, but that was just because it wasn’t time yet. I’m very excited about this change. It’s going to be a new beginning.

I received some great news yesterday. My good friend had been planning to relocate as well and she was thinking about another city, but just recently God spoke clearly and confirmed that she should move to the same city I’m moving too!!! It’s amazing how this has all been strategically timed. Although I do know some people where I am moving, this friend is a very close friend and that will make my transistion even easier.

Now mind you all of this by faith, and a lot of people can’t understand that part, but that is okay. As I blog about the miracles, God is going to be exalted in how this is all done. I can actually see my provision on the horizon and that is exciting.

So what’s next on the agenda? Today, I have a pick up for all of the furniture that I am donating and then I’m going to take some items to the scrap metal place, to make some money. Next week, God willing, I will be on my way to the destination city, to “spy out the land” and see about jobs and places to live. The key is to keep moving forward. God is with me!

Some things that God tells us to do don’t always make sense in the natural, but that is what faith is about. It’s about truly stepping out and doing what God says when you can’t see how it is going to be done. If God is instructing you to go, just obey. And if you have truly heard from him, He will provide.

Hebrews 11:1

Amplified Bible (AMP)

11 Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, ^[a]the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

Clarification of the Vision

It’s important to have your own relationship with God. When you do, you can’t be manipulated to get out of His will. For my regular readers, you know that I had been contemplating a geographical move for a while. While I was taking care of my Dad I realized that it was not His will for me to leave, certainly not while my Dad was in my care.

But after my Dad passed away last year, it seemed that it would be an ideal time to relocate, which I had considered. But the truth is, something took place that let me know that I am right where I need to be for now. The thought of relocating was first introduced when someone sent me some articles that stated that when you follow God you lose your choice. At that point my mind was opened to making a move and it seemed that everything that came after that “confirmed” what God was saying.

I even told someone on several occasions that I would be relocating and mentioned it on this blog, but I regret that because God showed me that when we do that we create an expectation in that persons heart and then when it doesn’t happen, it affects THEIR faith.  So I sought the Lord and clarity came when I was watching a minister preach a message entitled “You’re the one, this is the place and now is the time”. I will never forget that message because in it, the minister prophetically  said “you don’t have to run up to Chicago either to see God’s promise come to pass” (I changed the city to protect the innocent, lol). Well that settled it for me. I knew God was telling me not to move at least not in that way.

Oh, there have been occasions where I thought about it again, but I always have to go back to the clarity God gave me. You see, when God’s REAL vision comes to pass, it’s won’t be done like it was done before. What was proposed to me, has happened many times before, but this time God is going to do it His way. And until He does, I will sit, prepare and wait patiently right here in Florida.

I saw recently why God wants it done this way and better to listen to Him, than please man (I really wanted to) and ultimately end up in a disaster Sometimes we want God will’s to be made convenient for US, and that is just not how it’s going to happen. It’s about God’s vision, not ours. Consider this: God wants to do this, but another way. Once you let go of the reigns of control, you’ll get it.

In October of last year, the Lord told me to join the church I”m attending. In the natural it would seem I was moving further away from God’s plan, but the Lord told me not so. That place was going to connect me to my destiny. Dare I do anything else and end up shipwrecked?

Acts 27:21-26

New Living Translation (NLT)

²¹ No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. ²² But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. ²³ For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, ²⁴ and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ ²⁵ So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said. ²⁶ But we will be shipwrecked on an island.”