John 3:16
“16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (KJV).

When you read the above verse what do you think or what do you feel? For me when I read this verse, I get a good feeling knowing that God loves us a lot to give his only son. That is a lot of love. This means his love for us is unchangeable and we must be grateful for this. When you think of love people tend to think of happiness, a strong affection for another coming from personal ties, and assurance of affection. Love is important in everyone's life…it is essential from the beginning to the end. God’s love for us does not mean he will always give us what we are longing for, nothing will come easy for us. But God’s love for us is when he gives us what he believes we need and is beneficial for us.
We sometimes misconstrue God’s love for us because he does not give us what we are asking for. This may often confuse some and can be interpreted as if he does not love us, which could not be further from the truth. When times are hard it seems, he is not there for us when we feel we need him the most. We must always remember God's love is unlike no other and of our love. God’s love goes deeper. His love teaches us and molds us from the inside out making us go through things to help restore and rebuild what has been broken. He is making us stronger and developing us into what we are meant to be. You must see yourself as God’s beloved child who he is constructing to a better person.
Continue to worship and pray. Do not take God's way of loving us wrong. But know he has never forgotten you, his love for you runs deeper than you may know and can only imagine. He will provide you with all that you need if you believe in love, he has for you. God’s love is real. Be blessed

The Verse Matthew 7:24-27 says: (24) Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: (25) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. (26) And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: (27) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it (KJV).

Throughout my life I know I have lived it basically for the world. My main priority was what others thought of me along with family and co-workers. I focused more on material things more so than anything. This had turned into great exhaustion for me because I was always trying to develop my life based on other people’s thoughts while living for the world. These were things that I knew were impossible for me to accomplish. I found myself stuck in a position that I was longing to leave but instead of praying to God for change I just focused on other ways to get the promotion. I did not believe that it was utterly possible to get out of that position. It was then when I thought something has got to give, because I may not be going about this the right way. Shortly after this revelation a client came into my office one day and she told me this is not for me and that God was preparing me for something greater, but it was up to me to decide which way I was going to make this change.
Hearing this made me think about the song by Jekalyn Carr called – “Greater Is Coming”, when I thought of this song I thought of the words she would speak in the beginning and they stuck out like a needle in a haystack. “An olive has to go through three stages, for its oil to run: It has to go through the shaking, the beating, and the pressing. And just like the olive, some of you may have felt like you go through the shaking, the beating and the pressing. You've went through all of that for your oil to flow. Now, your greater is coming” (Jekayln Carr). Listening to this song made me think there are stages in my life that I must go through for me to reach where he wants me to be. I have been through some shaking, pressing, and sometimes it felt like a beating, but listening to these words it is nothing but God telling me that I have to go through it to get to it, and my greater is coming. I was attending church, but I was not grasping God's words as I should; I felt as if His words were not reaching me. After carefully pondering over this and thinking about what that client said to me while listening to that song, I knew there was something missing. That something, was me needing more of His word, while developing a true understanding of them. I started reading my bible and picking out verses that I was familiar with to further study them. I was reluctant at first because I felt I did not understand what I was reading, but I did the studying anyway and thank GOD I did. The more I read His word the more I had the feeling of God’s presence. At that moment, I heard God clearly tell me to stop running from Him. To stop focusing on the way of the world when I should be focusing on His word. Although I am still on my journey of getting closer to God, I am going to continue to study His word and reach my “Greater” that is coming.
Looking at Matthew 7:24-27; If we try to focus on what the world has to offer us, like the house on the sand, then things will be unstable and will collapse. This imperfect world is full of sin, and a foundation built on the world will only disappoint us and set us up for failure. We cannot survive on what the world can offer us. However, we can survive on what Jesus can offer us as long as we trust in His word because He is the solid rock in which we should stand on to build our foundation. Problems will come into our lives, but if our focus is on God’s word, His solid rock, we will be able to get through it.
Who or what will you have your focus on? GOD or the World.

Every relationship that is not moving you toward purpose is weighing you down.  Like, maybe you’re dating somebody who’s insecure and you’re always wasting time trying to explain yourself because your boo thinks you have an ulterior motive. When you try to say something constructive to help them, they think you’re coming at them because you’re jealous of them. But that’s not it at all. Is all this helping either one of you, really? Who is around you that’s slowing you down? In Hebrews, this whole idea is set in the scene of a footrace in a big stadium, with a finish line at the end of the track. “Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”  (Read Hebrews 12:1)  I hope you have a GREAT DAY...I LOVE YOU

“Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass”. Psalm 37:5 (KJV)

Our world has been turned upside down when the current health crisis came into the picture in February 2020 causing us to transform into the new norm. Many have lost their jobs, the closing of schools have forced parents to teach their children from home and some are having problems finding daycare. Also, churches are having to close due to this crisis. This causes stress and worrying among many. Sometimes our stress and worrying comes from a feeling of helplessness making some feel defeated. Stress and worrying will take over our world if we let it. Stress eventually messes up the most important aspect of our life and that is our relationship with God, causing us to lose sight of God’s grace, mercy, and providence. Too many times we fall short and lose focus on God when we are trying to meet all of our goals, be pleasing to others, and manage our finances. When faced with worry and stress, God wants us to focus on him and the missions he has for us to fulfill.
For a while I would find myself stressed out and worried about things by not turning to God to help me through it, it wasn’t until when I read the verse Isaiah 58:11, “And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not”. I thought about this verse and felt that God was telling me he will lead me always and would keep me like a garden that was watered well, and like spring waters that will never end.
We have to learn to lean on God for everything we do because he will provide all our needs. Instead of looking and drowning into a sea of worry and being stressed out, we must focus on God’s words to help us to find comfort and guidance.