Somewhere before the Promise

The promise is sometimes given after the storm and in the dark. We all are waiting on a promise. Maybe it is something the Lord has spoken over you since you were a child, maybe it’s a dream that you keep having in your heart, maybe it’s a place you long to go, maybe it’s a marriage you long to have or a baby that you can’t seem to bring to life. Although, these are all promises that we wait for, the transformative power isn’t so much in the promise, but the cultivating journey to get there.

The promise is sometimes why we wait. We stop doing what we should be doing or doing the things that we love in hoping that as we stop, our wait will bring the promise. We wait for the promise to come and then we will be happy. We wait for the promise to come and then we’ll change. We wait for the promise to come and then we’ll be better. But what if the promise wasn’t meant for that? What if the promise is just the moment after we realize that everything we ever needed was within us. To realize that Jesus is the one who gives us what we need before the promise. Yes, he will in fact keep his promises. Philippians 4:18-19, “I have received FULL PAYMENT and have MORE THAN ENOUGH. I am AMPLY SUPPLIED, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will supply all of your need according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus.”

Notice that this scripture states that THERE WAS FULL PAYMENT AND I HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH. These statements were made BEFORE the gifts that were AMPLY SUPPLIED. Your supply will come. God always provides for your needs through Christ Jesus. But you must understand that your value doesn’t lie in whether or not the promise ever comes. Your value lies in what was done for you already paid in full with death on a cross as the final stamp of approval.

We didn’t need the promise to value us. We are already valued by the promise maker. Whatever promise you’re waiting for, know that you don’t and must not be still in the waiting. You must keep putting one foot in front of the other allowing yourself to be changed and transformed by the renewing of your mind. Don’t just wait around. Don’t just settle. The promise will indubitably come, that is for certain. But in what presence you receive that promise is up to you.

Sometimes, God cares more about the attitude in which you receive the promise more than he cares about giving you the promise. Sometimes, our bad attitudes will ruin a promise that would have been a gift to our lives, but instead lead to ruin because we did not allow ourselves to be cultivated in the value that we have already received in Christ Jesus.

Let this revelation sink in your heart today to know that you are being PREPARED FOR A PROMISE THAT YOU ARE ALREADY VALUED WITHOUT!

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The Heroes in Your Life

“The Heroes in Your Life”

Who do you admire or look up to? In other words who are the heroes in your life? It’s fair to say, if we will admit it, most of us have at least one person we look up to for advice because trust or value their opinion. That special person knows exactly what to say and do to make us laugh, cry or ponder about a major decision. For some, it might be a parent or a grandparent, a coach, a trusted friend, an entertainer, an athlete, a pastor of a local church or a teacher. My “sher-o” or special person who I admired and looked up to was my grandmother.

She taught me everything; especially as it pertains to keeping my home loving and orderly. I spent countless hours watching my grandmother command the kitchen’s every detail. My grandmother had a very interestingly graceful way of making cooking appear fun and easy. While spending time in the kitchen with her, she’d mead the dough for rolls all while having a very simple or in depth conversation with me about whatever was on my mind. Our conversations sometimes would last for hours. I assisted her with the preparation and serving of grand meals for our entire family.

Perhaps for you, It might have been your elementary school teacher because she was nice and always smiled. How about your best friend in college? You may have watched him or her succeed at everything they attempted, or won national championships in the sport they dedicated their lives to.

Heroes are all around us. They are the people that we aspire to become. Our heroes are those special individuals who possess gifts and attributes that help us set our trajectory of how we hope our life will one day turn out.

The problem with this truth is we are looking at a man or a woman rather than our Father who is in heaven. When we replace His love or displace our love and affection to looking at a moral man or woman (or anything else for that matter!) we are allow those persons or things to rob us of our relationship with God, which is a form of idolatry. The word idolatry means: excess devotion to, or reverence of some person or thing. Reverence by definition means: tinged with awe.

Each of us are born with a basic desire to be loved and accepted. Problems arise when we look to another human being as an example or god of success. It is a perfectly natural desire to experience relationships and community. The problem comes in when we care more about our external relationships around us than we do our relationship with the Lord.

Placing a person, place, or thing in the driver’s seat, which can be viewed as a our hero has to be proceeded with caution. Reverence for anything over God in your life can easily become an idol. While, I must confess my grandmother was my “sher-o”, it was many years later and she had gone home to be with the Lord that I came full circle to understand nothing or no one can ever be place ahead of my Father who is in heaven.

The truth of the matter is we must continually guard our heart and motive behind who we desire to pattern our life after. Most importantly, we must always keep Christ at the forefront of our hearts never losing sight of him as our first love. John 8:32 says, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” This is a truth that we all need to be reminded of at times.

Having heroes in our life is NOT wrong. It’s about place value in heart and life. Psalm 3:2-6 states, “But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.” This is a reminder, our help comes from the Lord and He alone sustains us. He is our hero and He MUST be first in our lives.

Choose This Day

Life is all about choices. Our choices are directly related to our quality of life. Every decision we make impacts our life in some way or another.  According to Sam Silverstein, “Our choices affect our thoughts and our thoughts affect who we are”. It is because every choice is followed by a consequence. These consequences are a reflection of good or evil; positive or negative; healthy and / or unhealthy outcomes. In life, there will be those situations that are completely out of our hands. While we may not be able to control what happens, we CAN control how we react or respond to life’s most challenging situations. When we learn and teach our self how to accept the bitter with the sweet, it will make us stronger. The negative situations or circumstances we experience in our life either make us bitter, or make us better. It’s all comes down to: choices, perspectives and consequences. When we allow negative energy to fester, it intercepts the growth of a better version of ourselves. Whether it’s a negative relationship, loss of a love one, a bad church experience, job demotion or job loss disapproval, discontent and despair are real feelings, which is why God’s Word has to be our refuge. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. In other words, a change in perspective is the power to change the outcome.

God knew us before we were in our mother’s womb. He knew seasons would come that would stretch our faith. Bottom line bad things are going to happen in this life. As a matter of fact, Jesus warned us, but He also promised, “Take heart! For I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Moreover, while living on this earth we have the opportunity to live an abundant life HERE and NOW. The abundant life Jesus promised us is seeing goodness in every situation regardless of what it may look like. Our freedom can only be found in Christ it’s a place of love, joy, peace and contentment. It all comes down to your faith. What are you believing? Whose report are you going to believe? Our choices, perspectives and consequences are symptoms of a much bigger picture. Choose this day to acknowledge the fullness of our Lord. Our Creator wants only the best for us. We need only OBEY and BELIEVE by FAITH … we have whatever we ask. Remember, it is not in our timing we receive, but in His perfect timing. Brothers and sisters, we need only keep the main thing the main thing!

You are blessed to be a blessing … Agape.

A Matter of the Heart

“You, my brothers and sisters were called to be free. Do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather serve one another humbly in love” Gal. 5:15. Loving people through good times and bad times; means mastering the art of building up others! It has nothing to do with ethnicity or color! It’s a matter of the heart! In this dark broken world many are blind and can only see black or white particularly as it pertains to race, social class, privilege, gender, and other divisive categories. It’s so easy to get caught up in outward appearances. In truth, it all comes down to a matter of the heart. Our heart houses our true value.  In the midst of what’s now being called the “me too” movement, pro-police advocates, and anti-police/ anti-authority advocates, we are literally living in the generation of false prophets and people consumed by their own false sense of freedom versus the spirit of truth.

This evil false sense of reality has made God’s people powerless in their quest to set the captives free.  Our truth, we are world changers called to impact this world by walking in love and spreading the good news, which is the truth about Jesus; his birth, his crucifixion and his death. We need only look around us! The time is now for adjusting our thinking so we can see how we can best serve the people around us rather than our own selfish desires. Choosing to live by kingdom principals; selfless versus a selfish life opens our eyes to understanding God’s abundant grace and mercy for us as His children. We are then able to fully exercise our power and authority in the earth.

“Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship.” Romans 12:1. We live in a society where we are taught at a very early age to mask or hide our pain and suffering. In other words, displaying any sign of discomfort, pain or strife is perceived as weak, thus making it very difficult for us to know or understand what it means to be in touch with one’s true feelings. In truth, the skeletons in our closet keep us bound. It’s only when exposed and bought to the light that true freedom can be felt. Take a moment to think about a time when you or someone you loved kept what you both perceived to be a bad dreaded secret, just between the two of you. How did you feel? Did you ever get physically sick at the mere thought of the secret? The fact of the matter is as long as you kept that secret hidden or in the dark, nothing positive or negative became of it, but the instant that secret was uncovered, that’s when things changed. The real truth of the matter is God created us because He loves us and He wants a continual lifelong relationship with us.

He never intended for us to keep things hidden from Him. We are supposed to expose any thought or action that promotes a spirit of fear. This is why it is so vitally imperative we humble ourselves to loving and serving others.  Real freedom is truly liberating when we begin the journey of studying God’s word The Holy Bible, only then by taking the steps necessary for living a guilt-free and shameless life, which comes through faith in believing in the blood sacrifice of Jesus. Loving people in good times and bad times has everything to do with trusting the God spirit in us to share gifts and faults with one another. In the Holy Bible the book of James in chapter five verse sixteen states, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” When we realize we were created to have relationship with the Father and each other, it’s then that we begin to understand our purpose and destiny. “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” I Peter 4:8.

When we open our heart to be sensitive to others, we tap into synergy. This fuels or empowers us supernaturally to be able see and understand everything around us from a completely different perspective. This synergy of supernatural power is birthed out of our heart’s desire to buildup others during their darkest hour. I received my healing when began training myself to focus on giving away what I needed for myself: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In learning how to truly love others, simple acts of obedience and a selfless agenda has bought me joy beyond my wildest dreams. Young or old each of us yearns to be loved, this can only be accomplished or satisfied through our social, emotional and spiritual relationships with our Father in heaven and the people around us. Serving our neighbor is love personified and truly a matter of the heart and it is the ultimate “game changer”.

May Motivation

                        

Hello! My name is Yolanda Gallman. I am the founder of Truth Puzzle, Inc. and the author of the Ishmael Syndrome. For the month of May, I am free; available for speaking engagements!I would love to be invited to speak at your next men’s or women’s conference, workshop, recovery program, shelter, or any ministry you have with the mission of setting the captives free!

My heart is to provide a safe nonjudgmental place or space where men, women and youth can feel safe regardless of where their path in life has taken them. It does not matter who they are: single or married, fathers or mothers, depressed or anxious, abused or lost. It does not matter! What matters is the desire and willingness to be set FREE! I desire to help broken men and women and youth become whole again through teaching God’s Word in a uniquely unapologetic format; for the sole purpose of folks learning how to tap into their God given power. The unveiling of the Ishmael Syndrome is intentional! It’s a life of freedom fromaddiction, anxiety, oppression and thoughts of sucide .

I want to help all God’s people live victorious and empowered that is an awakened state of conscienceness to their TRUE identity and the-self worth, which God created in them. We were created to soar. “No weapon formed against us shall prosper. We are the heade not the tail … above not beneath and greater is He who lives is in us, then he who is in the world!” We no longer have to live our life defeated … it’s fraudlent.

If your organization, church community, men or women’s group, youth group,Devotional ,or small group would like to add more fuel for helping your members become inspired with a sense of worthiness, purpose and courage, contact me today! It is my heart’s desire to fellowship with you! I am just a phone call or email away … freedom and deliverance from the Ishmael Syndrome can be your’s today! Invite me today and guess what, I will show up!

In Christ’s Love,

Yolanda

 

Stay positive, Live intentional on Purpose

 

Caution: to yield positive results you must Make Your Light Contagious! 

 

Learning to live life with purpose has to be intentional! No one just wakes up and becomes successful without planning and actions follow intentional planning! Even if it’s just baby steps, once those steps are accomplished they produce fruit when executed properly. Just remember, in life nothing happens by accident. God allows us to go through pain not because He is cruel, He knows that our pain will become a path that lights the way for others who are stuck in the same pain we once experienced. What man meant for evil, the Lord will use for good. (reference Genesis 50:20)

When we train our mind and actions to be aligned with this truth, we literally change the course of our life and the lives of others. Intentional living means starting with the simplest of tasks such as: drinking more water, getting exercise, getting an ample amount of sleep, eating whole food, choosing our relationships VERY carefully, but most importantly realizing being alone is not a death sentence. Sometimes, it is better that we are alone than to be in the midst of the wrong company. If you find yourself constantly surrounded by negative people, it is just matter of time before that energy rubs off on you. There is an old saying, “birds of a feather flock together.” We can very easily become the people, we are surrounded by. Love everyone, but some people for the sake of our individual well-being, we will need to be loved at a distance. Learning how to create healthy boundaries will help you grow exponentially. Our Lord cares who we choose to share our life with . Sometimes, our garden of family and friends or the folks we are surrounded by stifle our grow. They represent the weeds choking out the nutrients or the life that sutain us. There will be times in our life when we will have to leave or uproot ourselves from toxic negative people and environments; to go to a garden of solitude where our Lord can pour living water into our spirit to prepare us for His purpose. As He prepares us, others from the garden of weeds and toxicity will see our growth and many of those people from our past will decide to come join us in the garden of life.

In order to move forward or move towards new goals, means being willing to let go of relationships and things that keep us stuck. Have you ever thought maybe to move from goal to goal you have to pass the test of letting go? Having to feel you have to have all the answers in every situation is a controlling spirit. You do not have to have all the answers, you just have to have one answer, Jesus. Living intentional is all about seeking and trusting God’s word. Every circumstance we encounter, pain, abuse, frustration, relationship(s), or friendship(s) He will lead us through, and He will equip you to LEAD, if you believe. All successful leaders had to learn how to lead and they learnt from their mistakes. Why not start today! Let the Lord lead you out of your mess as you take steps of intentional action in obedience to put yourself in a healthy space spiritually. Learning how to trust your gut feeling is often times under rated. Learning to trust in God’s truth is a matter of the heart.

Discover your destiny by training yourself to live intentional. Your peace is just one piece away. 

The Journey Begins with You

Thanks for joining me! Visit our website with all the details @ www.truthpuzzle.com

The greatest gift is not being afraid to question
~ Ruby Dee They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. ~Carl W. Buechner~

The Journey Begins