God is good!

It’s been a while, do you even remember me?  Us?  Ha-ha.  On behalf of us bloggers I apologize for letting life get in the way of sharing and connecting.  Well since the last time I shared God has tested me, life has disappointed me, and God has yet again surprised me with his graciousness and love.  God has spoken to me multiple times on my way to the office these past few weeks and I’ve told Him I was too busy…UGH who does that?  Who tells God they are too busy??  Could you imagine if He told us that when we prayed and reached out to Him?  “Eh, sorry Brandy I’m too busy to help you, ask again later”.  Wow!  Well He spoke to me again this morning and said  “Brandy, share what I’ve done for you lately, someone needs it.  Please share it”.  So here it is!  I hope who ever needs this reminder reads this today.

            On May 7^th my General Manager walked into my office, shut my door, and said “Brandy, we need to talk.”  Do to a mistake that was made on both he and I’s part the “powers that be” decided to let me go.  I immediately started crying, it was a complete shock to the system, I had worked for this company for 4 years.  Not only did I work for them I busted my butt, gave long hours, tears, and blood for that company and all because of a mistake that both he and I made they decided to let go of the low man on the totem pole…ie …me.  He sat and talked to me and he hated to do it but it had to be done.  So I walked out in tears that day, went home, ate ice cream, and cried.  Once I sucked it up some I called Carl.  He, as I, was flabbergasted and couldn’t believe this happened.  He was furious, I was just sad.  That company was a big part of my life and I grew up a lot there and to just have it gone in a split second was not fun!  So I filed for unemployment, and began looking for jobs (after the sugar coma wore off from the ice cream of course).  So when Carl got home he was yelling and frustrated and didn’t feel I deserved it.  I told him “honey, there is nothing I can do about it, we just need to move on”.  That night I prayed to God and all I said was “Lord please allow me to be strong and determined.  I need to focus on looking for a job and not worrying about money and bills.  Please remove that stress from me, I am giving it all to you.”  Period, end of discussion.  Ladies I never again prayed for my job loss, I never asked God to find me a job, to pay my bills, to relieve any stress.  I did it!  I completely handed something over to Him and didn’t think twice about it.  That was the first time I had ever done that and it was amazing.  When I thought about praying for it I would stop myself….”Lord, please be with Carl and I through this….never mind, You’ve got it….” And would then continue on with my other prayers (true story, I promise).  Well within 3 weeks of losing my job I had, not 1, not 2 but 3 job offers with 3 wonderful opportunities.  Now you want to talk about stress!!!!  I thought losing a job was stressful, having 3 opportunities is FAR more stressful lol.  It was bittersweet.  He provided yet again!  Well, last night I was telling this story to a friend and when I told her I never prayed for a job, money, bills or anything she stopped me and said “Brandy I prayed every night”.  I just froze and thought; wow he took that stress from me and laid it on the hearts of my friends and family.  They all knew I had lost my job and automatically, without me asking, prayed for me and my family.  Not only did God provide me with stress free job searching, he provided me with wonderful friends and family who took on that burden and prayed for me.  That feeling is BEAUTIFUL and wonderful! 

           

So please read this and realize that God is and always will provide.  You need to truly let go and let God.  You need to focus on your husband, kids, and yourself.  If you are constantly worried and stressed it effects not only you but the loved ones who surround you with love.  He wants to give it to Him, He wants us to focus on what is important.  Granted those jobs did NOT fall in my lap.  Over the period of 2 ½ weeks I applied for at least 150 jobs and reached out and networked with family, friends, and previous co-workers.  If you put in the effort He will provide the results!

            Ok, just one more example J.  This past week was an expensive week for Carl and I.  Our son’s car was in the shop for nearly a month and we got the car and the bill on Sunday…OUCH!  We also had to pay for all 3 of our kids sporting activities this past week, OUCH again.  Also, our sprinkler head busted and we had to pay for that repair as well.  So multiple unexpected expenses happened recently.  As well as normal bills, so we were a bit tight this weekend.  Since I have a new job direct deposit has not occurred yet and because of that we did not have the money needed for the weekend expenses with the kids (no, I don’t just mean the fun stuff).  Well, my check didn’t come Friday.  So I said a quick and simple prayer “Lord, please let my check come Saturday”.  (last time they mailed my check we didn’t’ get it until Monday).  Well, DONE!  Saturday came and my check appeared in the mail!  So Carl deposited the check and when hereturned I said “ you need to stop right now and thank God, because I prayed for this and He yet again provided”   Carl replied and said “it was after the bank closed so the funds won’t deposit until midnight Sunday night”.  I said “well , if I hadn’t received the check today, then I would have gotten it Monday night when I got home and wouldn’t have deposited it until after bank hours which means no funds until Tuesday, but He provided today so we will have funds on Monday!”.  Carl agreed and stopped to thank God right then and there.

            Two very different stories of trusting God to provide and He did just that.  But this blog is more about Him providing it is about the unbelievable feeling of not being stressed over these things and knowing God will get us through.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t a check for a million dollars in the mail (still waiting on that one, I gave it to God but he hasn’t felt the need to give that to me just yet”).  Please give the burden and the stress to Him, He will distribute accordingly and provide you with what is needed.

Lots of love, hugs, and prayers to you all!

xoxoxoxo

The Lord is My Strength

Ladies, I've been slacking! I've been so busy worrying about my new job, stressing about studying for class and preparing for projects that I've let God slip to the back burner once again. I know we all struggle with this same thing. We walk through life being pulled in a million different directions and feel tired and overwhelmed by life, but we have to make sure that we are still giving God some of our time and attention. I don’t know about you but I can tell a difference in my entire day if I study before I leave for work or if I don’t study at all. When I don’t study at all my attitude is bad, I’m easily stressed/anxious, and I have no peace. When I study before I leave for the day I feel empowered and like I’m ready to face whatever the world throws at me, like I actually have my armor on for the war I’m about to face.

I need God’s peace and strength to help me get through every single day. I know it’s hard to get back into a good habit when it’s been so long since you’ve studied, but give it a try! I promise the results will be well worth it. I think the biggest thing is staying in the mindset that you have to “find time” for everything else because you’ve MADE time for God. You’re putting him first! If your life is anything like mine you sometimes feel like you’re in over your head with all the things you have on your plate. Work, school, homework, church, any and everything! Like there is no time for rest and you’re trying to figure out what you can cut out so you can gain some of your sanity back! Lol! I’ve been feeling like this a lot lately and I realized that I prayed for the job I have, I prayed to be in school and I prayed to find a church home that I could be apart of, thank God for answered prayers huh?! Lol! The thing I need to be praying for most right now is his strength to get me through all of this. Not for all of this to go away or to be easier. I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me, I just have to pray for his strength! J

Here’s a scripture to help you throughout your long day!

Isaiah 40:28-31 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He NEVER grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary and young men stumble and fall, but those who TRUST in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.”

   

I hope this has helped you ladies this morning! Have a wonderful day!

Raynisia Nagel
A Woman After God's Own Heart

Are you walking by the Spirit or giving way to the flesh?

Good Evening Ladies,

Today was a very hard day for me, but I praise Jesus although it was hard I didn't go through it alone. Here lately my neighbors children have been very loud, so I would say that would make for about 1 to 2 hours of sleep before I get up and have to go to work. So Monday started off with only 1 hour of sleep and Jesus allowed me to awake and I certainly woke up praying. My prayer- Lord thank you for touching me this morning, but Lord you are going to have to take my place at work for me. I am sleepy and angry because of my sleepless night Father, and I don't want to dishonor you at work so Father please work through me. Of course there was more to it than that, but the Holy Spirit decided that my team members at work have been mistreated by co-works, customer's, & superiors. He told me to stop looking at myself and encourage someone else, so I stopped by the bakery and bought donuts and sausage rolls. Now if you should know anything about me, I believe that I own nothing but God owns it all-me included. So before I bought anything I asked God to confirm that I was hearing the Holy Spirit telling me to buy my co-workers breakfast because after all the funds God allow me to earn belongs to him. The earth is the Lords and the fullness there of. Which means everything and everyone belong to him.

I got to work and and set everything up and offered other supervisors and management breakfast as well. I let my teammates know as they strolled in- breakfast is ready and they could help themselves. a lot of them asked who bought this and what is it for? The Holy Spirit responded because I know our jobs are not easy but stay encouraged. Ladies- love covers a multitude of sins and when the world beats us down God want to use us to tell others to be encouraged. Today I went to work and I was told some bad news by management over attendance. I was so hurt that I got in my car and I told God- Lord I am hurt, you said that you would not allow me to be put to shame. Lord I feel like I have been put to shame, I come to work and I treat people the way you command me to with love but yet I feel hated and now I have been written up just for asking a customer not to be rude to me. Lord I am frustrated, hurt, and I know things are happening the way that they are because you are allowing them to. I know for sure you are in control, but Lord I don't know what you are doing but while you're doing what you're doing- please give me your peace- Amen.

The same day (today) I went to church -Wednesday night bible study... HALLELUJAH. My pastor actually came out of the book of Galatians, but he asked us to turn back to the book of Romans starting at chapter 7. I started reading Romans 7:21-28, then I read chapter 8:1-17. The author of Romans is Paul and he is speaking about the Spirit and the Flesh waging war against one another and it is a constant battle. You have to read it for yourselves ladies, but I must tell you a couple of these scriptures, Romans 8:5-6, "Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. You see ladies, I was felt bad telling God that I felt like he let people put me to shame, I was frustrated with him, and I felt hurt by him. However, after hearing the word of God tonight God told me the flesh wants- what the flesh wants, but he is pleased with me. I have allowed the Spirit that is within me to have his way and not my flesh. You see the old Reda, she would have blamed the attendance lady and had a fit about being written up and being treated unfairly. The spirit told the attendance lady oh that's okay, I understand you are just doing as you're told. When God wants me back in school it will happen, and she leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. You know I didn't even realize at that moment she wasn't seeing me but she was seeing the Spirit within me. I am determined Lord to walk by the Spirit, which means Lord I give you reign over my life, for my life is not my own- to you I belong, I give myself to you. This is a Spiritual battle ladies we must stop allowing the flesh to have its way and train our minds on the word of God. This life is not about me it is about our Lord and Savior and I am already saved, but the question is...Is the attendance lady saved? Are those who are treating me unfairly saved? You ladies may be the only bible others see. Be blessed and bless others.

A Psalms a Day Will Keep the Devil Away

            I went to a conference this weekend called Women of Joy and had an absolute wonderful time!  I was invited by Mary and her daughters for a second time (I’m so privileged lol).  I joke but it is true, I’m very lucky and blessed to have been welcomed to their yearly Women of Faith trips, they have changed my life (the girls as well as the conferences). 

Well this trip, we went to Oklahoma City and in case you don’t watch the news much or if you don’t watch the weather in other parts of the country let me tell you a little about our weekend….baseball sized hail, tornados touching down about 6 miles from us, tornado alarms going off at 2:30am and storms…..so needless to say we ladies came to Jesus more than once this past weekend!!!!  OHH lordy the tornados were touching down all around us girls and it was nerve racking…of course you all know that was the devil right?  Stupid devil tried his hardest but there was still over 2,000 women who showed up all 3 days to this conference and around 30 were saved!  IN YO FACE DEVIL!!!  Heaven party of 30, Hell….30 people called and canceled there RSVP’s hahahahahahha…seriously I love it!

Ok, so moving on to something I learned.  Well, well scripture is a powerful thing.  To me it’s always been confusing, long, and hard to read much less remember any of it.  I’m like yeah, Johan and the Whale…oh that guy David and the giant Goliath.  Now when my pastor breaks it down, then I have an “OHHHHHH, that’s what they meant” moment, actually, I have those moments every Sunday J.  Well Pam Teebow (yes that Teebow) was at our conference this weekend and taught me how much memorizing prayer can help you in your everyday life.  That lady was spitting out prayer every 5 seconds.  She had probably all of Psalm memorized and by golly she had a Psalm for every situation.  She had one she recited to her elf and her kids when she was scared, hurt, and happy, for advise, everything!!!  I thought how awesome would it be to have Psalm tucked away in my back pocket when my friends call crying or upset to help them with their struggles….how could would it be to have that for my kids?  Kids go through so much at school, bad test grade, struggling in gym, in class, bullies, one day boyfriends and girlfriends I mean the list goes on and on and how wonderful would it be to quote the bible to them?  What a great parent and example I would be for them?  She taught us to be women of influence and what better way to influence? 

Well I decided this weekend that I would attempt that and try to start memorizing verses and I’ll start with the book of Psalms and for whatever reason I am going out of order J so the first is this:

Psalm 4: 1-3

                Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!  Many are they who rise up against me.  Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” But You, O Lord, are a “shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.”

I think that will be the perfect one to start with so that I can say that to myself as well as my kiddos when they feel the world is against them.  I hope that verse helps out one or all of you ladies this evening.

Keep your heads up and your hearts praying!  You are special and He has not forgotten about you.  He has a plan for you!

The Helmet of Salvation

Good Morning All,

We have almost reached our last piece of armor that we need to grab for this battle. However, we have come such a long way in this battle there is no turning back now. We are going to take advantage of what we have learned thus far and leave the people around us perplexed by our new attitudes. Do you all remember the pieces of armor that we have covered so far? If not let me just write them out for you but again it's important that you get in the word for yourselves.

1. Put on the Belt of Truth

2. Put on the Breastplate of Righteousness

3. Put on the Shoes of The Gospel of Peace

4. Take up the Shield of Faith

5. Take up the Helmet of Salvation

This is where we left off the Helmet of Salvation. If you would like to see what the Roman soldier armor looks like find the last post about the Shield of Faith and scroll to the bottom and see the pic. Let me just start right off by saying that majority of us either love sports or someone we know love sports. We often say that football is as American as eating apple pie. Who ever came up with that phrase has to be a male though because dessert for me will always out rank sports LOL. I bring the subject of sports up because if you think about it- fighting is a sport as well and in battle that is all we do is fight. However, in this sports battle we are actually fighting for our lives. Some of us get wounded and have to be stitched back up but then we get right back on the battle field. I also brought football up because what does the player wear to protect his head when playing the game- you got it a helmet. Without this gear for ice hockey & football, we are looking at some irreversible damage to the head. That is partly why Paul gives the illustration about the helmet.

If you don't have your helmet on in this battle most likely you are coming out wounded or dead. If you are reading this post you have been on the battle field rather you like it or not. You have been wounded but God blessed you get back up again. Now God needs you and me to take up our helmets and put them on. In other words if the devil got your mind he got you period. The bible states, "As a man thinks so is he." Have anyone ever told you something negative about you, and you couldn't shake what he/she were saying about you, it just stayed on your mind day and night? You in turn started to believe that persons negative report. Well if you're stating that you never have-let me be the first to raise my hand and say I have. I believed the negative report when I was told you'll never make it without me, you need to lose weight, you need to cut your hair, and the list goes on. I don't blame that person because the devil has to use somebody and it may be the person you're sleeping right next to, or even a family member. But once I learned what Jesus had to say about my value and who I am in him, I choose to believe his report. If Jesus would give up his life for mine, and God would allow him to and then Jesus turned around and sent the Holy Spirit back for me. That states to me what scripture say about God is true, "Let everyone else be a lie and God the truth. So to my ex-husband if you are reading this, I forgive you for the negative words but I choose to believe God's report about me.

God don't take bad and negative things about me to himself, my sins grieves him. However, our enemy the devil is always giving bad reports to God about us. I just need you to remember the enemy may be a roaring loin seeking whom he may devour but God is in control and devil can't do anything without God's permission. So all you may hear instead of a roar is a meow. We must have the right mind-set to be in this battle that is why we need our helmets on they protect what we think and how we respond to to negative situations. You and I must dive into the word of God and learn his ways, his thoughts about any and all matters, and meditate on the good things he say about us. Ladies there is so much on the helmet of salvation and I have not got started on salvation, so we have another date for the helmet of salvation. But that does not mean that you cannot start practicing now- learning what God has to say about you and walk it out based on his report. Be blessed and bless others....

A Rewritten Story

Good Morning Ladies! This week has been crazy busy for me and for all of you I bet, so please forgive us in advance for the delay in posts this week!! :)

Today I wanted to talk about your rewritten story, which is the sermon that was shared on Easter Sunday. Mark 14:32-40

^"32They came at length to a garden called Gethsemane.

Jesus: Stay here. I’m going a little farther to pray and to think.

³³He took Peter, James, and John with Him; and as they left the larger group behind, He became distressed and filled with sorrow.

Jesus: ³⁴My heart is so heavy; I feel as if I could die. Wait here for Me, and stay awake to keep watch.

³⁵He walked on a little farther. Then He threw Himself on the ground and prayed for deliverance from what was about to come.

Jesus: ³⁶Abba, Father, I know that anything is possible for You. Please take this cup away so I don’t have to drink from it. But whatever happens, let Your will be done—not Mine.

³⁷He got up, went back to the three, and found them sleeping.

Jesus (waking Peter): Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you wait with Me for just an hour? ³⁸Stay awake, and pray that you aren’t led into a trial of your own. It’s true—even when the spirit is willing, the body can betray it.

³⁹He went away again, and prayed again the same prayer as before—pleading with God but surrendering to His will.

⁴⁰He came back and found the three asleep; and when He woke them, they didn’t know what to say to Him.

⁴¹After He had gone away and prayed for a third time, He returned to find them slumbering.

Jesus: Again? Still sleeping and getting a good rest? Well, that’s enough sleep. The time has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴²Get up now, and let’s go. The one who is going to betray Me is close by"

 

We are so much like Peter, James and John. God has given us chance after chance after chance and we just keep "falling alseep on him" when he needs us the most. Instead of Jesus getting angry in this story and leaving them he gives them another chance and then still takes them with him. I bet Peter, James and John felt like we do so much of the time, like we let God down so much that we dont' know how to recover from that. We don't know what to say to God anymore because we are afraid that he won't forgive us for our past mistakes, but it says in Jeremiah 31:34 "...For I will forgive their wrong doing and never again remember their sin." Once you ask God for forgiveness your sin is forgotten in his eyes. God wants to rewrite our lives ladies! He wants to use the things that we've been through that we aren't so proud of, to help someone else get through what they are going through. He wants us to let go of guilt, shame and fear and allow him to take over our lives so people can see us transformed. Are you allowing God to rewrite your story? Are you moving past your past mistakes and treating everyday like it's a new day? Every day is a chance for us to get it right ladies. Every moment! What we do matters to God.

 

I know this isn't as WONDERFUL as it was when I heard it on Easter Sunday, but I wanted to share a little bit of that message with you. We have to allow God to rewrite our lives and we have to stop falling asleep on the job. Living for God, sharing his love with others and telling others about him is our job. Are you doing this to the fullest? I know I need to remind myself of these things daily.

 

Have a wonderful day today ladies! Please stay encouraged! You're not alone in what you're going through. Help someone else today and everyday to know this too! :)

 

Raynisia Nagel

A Woman After God's Own Heart

Rest in Jesus Love and Trust in his Faithfulness

Hello Ladies,

You may be reading this in the morning, noon, or evening time but whenever you read it I ask you to stop right here for a quick moment. Please ask the Holy spirit to open your heart that you may receive what the Lord has to say to you in the situation that is going on in your life, your families lives, or your friends lives. Where I go to church I am in the prayer ministry and I absolutely love it. I love going before the Lord and praying on the behalf of others as well as myself. However, it still boggles my mind when some people say some things such as: I'm good, I don't need prayer, or not today. With that ladies let me ask you- do you know anyone who is sick, do you know anyone who is addicted to drugs, are you or someone you know having financial problems, or have you lost your home? Truly there is so much going on in our lives that I am sure someone you know is going through at least one or more of the above. You may even be going through your own personal Hades.

Let me give you some good news right now, God knows exactly where you are and he made you a promise that he would never leave nor forsake you. However, he has given us the power of prayer. How often do you pray? Do you only pray when you are going through difficult times, or do you pray without ceasing as the word of God tells us to do? Now don't get me wrong you don't want just anyone praying for you, especially if their life style is Hellish. I hope that you will be encouraged by knowing God knows all about your pain, and he wants you to rest in his love and trust in his faithfulness. You see before you ask him for a job, your family member to be freed from the addiction of drugs or whatever the case may be- he wants you to examine his character. If you and I would just examine the Lords character- we will see how much he truly loves us. If you woke up today that is part of his love, if your limbs work that is part of his love, if you have friends or family that tells you they love you- than Jesus surely loves you. Needless to say his is an unconditional love, and just as he loves you- he remains faithful even when we are not. I asked before how often do you pray, but what I should have asked is how often do you pray for others. I have come to realize that by praying for others God will automatically cover me. His word actually states if you obey my commands, you can ask for the desires of your heart and it shall be given. Let me just add we should never want anything that God does not want for us....it would not be to our benefit. The scriptures below has always encouraged me when the devil was attempting to destroy me*******what the devil did for evil God allowed for my good.

1. Philippians 4:15 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

2. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your path.

3. 1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

4. Psalms 92:2 It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening.