Do you recall all those old Saturday Karate flicks? Like the Five Deadly Venoms or Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee! There were always these intricate scenes with movements where they floated on air. Or even when they struck just at the right moment. Life does that sometimes! The iron strikes while hot🔥! You are on top of the world 🌎! Then all of a sudden you forget to bob instead of weave! That flykick lands at the top of your head and knocks you flat on your face!

That lack of control of a situation, a circumstance, job loss, cancer diagnosis, or your child with anxiety can suddenly makes you feel ill-equipped to fight to get the job done. Not only does God offer a hedge of protection but He provides us with a Weapon of His armor.

Ephesians 6:10-18 is the full set scriptures, but I am going to concentrate specifially beginning at verse 13, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

When I read this, immediately my imagination saw God executing the perfect roundhouse to every situation in my life! And as one of my sisters, Alicia reminded me, “There has never been a time that God hasn’t taken care of you! Since you were a little kid, through the good and bad or sad! You must remember that it’s above you now!”

What weapons are you choosing? Because God is karate kicking his way around heaven and earth 🌎 for me!

When I stepped into what God was calling me to do there was so much fear. Who would want to hear what God was sharing with me? There was also the internal battle of not feeling worthy to use my voice. It was then God began to show me, me from the inside out! I began to ask myself questions. What is your wound? What is that thing that hurts so deep on the inside that no one else can see it? It is the thing that causes you so much pain that you won’t release it even to God. What is it that you are ultimately afraid of? That your choices won’t be right. You could possibly make mistakes. That giving all of yourself to God requires you to give up everything that was considered your normal.

See there was a time when I sought internal validation from others! I had a relationship with abandonment due to a variety of circumstances in my life. 1 John 4:18 reads, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made in perfect love.” The revelation was I always searched for the Love of God. The complete acceptance of my identity! However, it was my identity in Christ and not man. The beauty of self-acceptance for all my flaws good and bad!  

What is your wound(fear)? And are you willing to release it today?

How many of us read nursery rhymes when we were young! Or watched the television shows from the Olden days! Brady Bunch was a favorite of mine. I remember my mom telling me, “Jatosha, Life can’t be resolved in thirty minutes!” Well those things are okay to review but we can’t live by them all the time in our personal lives. It seems like once you are shown true reality, then life becomes difficult. There are moments where deciphering your next movements can cause confusion, disarray, and turmoil.

Life can’t be answered in thirty minutes! It may take years to gain those answers! And that is okay! But when you feel that your world is crazy, or things are just not going right! Remember this verse, (John 14:27) “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.”

Seek God for your answers! Sit in quiet! Become aware of your surroundings because he is always speaking! You just must be open to listen!

Guess who slept in today! Yes that would be me! Literally this scripture was invading my dreams. (Matthew 11:28) Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

I needed sleep since I have been waking up earlier than normal for the past month.. Now Rest might look different for you! According to the dictionary, Rest means cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.

Take some time this weekend to Rest! Recharge yourself! Do something for yourself that only you enjoy! It will help you to move forward with the things you are being called to do!

Don’t SHIFT Alone!

When I woke up this morning, I heard clearly in my mind a large voice. The voice said, “You are not to do life alone!” For the most part, I know Genesis 2:18 is always looked at in the context of romantic relationships. However; the more I encounter life, the more I realize that WE need to do LIFE with people. We need to surround ourselves with Motivators, Encouragers, Protectors, Inspirers, and most of all CORRECTORS! Having someone to bounce around emotions, failures, and successes, but allowing the same person to constructively speak to you in love!

There was many a day where I was not able to receive that feedback! I would shut down! Retort back! Or simply become so defensive, that my body language would change. When we open ourselves to the LOVE of Christ, we begin to accept the good, the bad, and the ugly about ourselves. WE understand that complete perfection DOES NOT EXIST! We all have things we can work on and improve upon! We simply must be open to receive it! 

Today I charge you to look at the people around you! Do you have a circle that is helping you to SHIFT? And if so, are YOU open to all possibilities of those relationships?

BE OPEN! But Most of all don’t go at life by YOURSELF!

Faith and Trust Require Commitment

In our lives we spend our days searching for that next thing. It all depends on your stage of life. Whether you’re completing school, finding a new job, starting a new business venture, or entering in new relationships. When these events surface, we decide to complete the necessary goal. Brainstorming begins and we make decisions on business plans, needed classes, or opening our hearts.

Well those same concepts are necessary to increase our relationship with God. It requires commitment. It requires setting up time, writing down those ideas, or becoming vulnerable to the possibilities.  Well when we decide to lean on God, He expects that same commitment. We must believe that He will make a way. (Matthew 21: 21-22) “And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”  

See those mountains or molehills are the very things you must speak too. Stand in agreement that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be! Have Faith and Trust that Jesus will see you to the end! Because if He BRINGS you to it, He will bring you THROUGH it!

Today I took my daughter to take her driver’s permit test. Due to the pandemic, we had to wait over a month for the appointment. My daughter has been in transition. She deals with anxiety and needs to always remember utilizing her coping skills. She just finished high school and is literally only two-days-in working at a warehouse OVERNIGHT! Her first job! Whoohoo!

She has been studying a long time and was acing the practice tests! Well I wake her up this morning and she is cranky and irritable! She is complaining she is tired! Now when this appointment was originally made, there was no job.

So, we get to the motor vehicle department, low and behold the systems are down. Good Lord give us a break! This aggravated her even more! (Philippians 4:11, states, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Since she got a praying momma; we sit in the car and I begin to pray, because my schedule is interrupted as well! I began calling on God to be a circuit in technology and move through the electrical waves to get the systems up and running! I even asked for some prayer warriors to unite with me. Well within 45 minutes, the guard comes to the door and says, “The systems are back up!” Praise God! Thank you, Jesus!

At this point she had fell asleep in the car. She goes in to take the test! When she comes out I can tell by the look on her she did not pass!

Here is the lesson and next steps, I discussed with her! (Galatians 5:22-23) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” I explained to her, “Your body and mind must adjust to the new schedule and work you’re performing. You might have to learn to deal with things you can’t control which require acceptance and going with the flow! Or you can schedule the test on a Friday, her days off. You which will be able to be your best self! However, the one thing you will never be able to control is the world of any motor vehicle department in the United States.

Adjustments are necessary even when they don’t produce the results we desire!

When we are living life there will always be challenges. We all want our best life, Right? Well that doesn’t mean that things will be perfect. When accomplishing daily achievements, things may arise. Have you been holding onto those things? Do you have grudges embedded in your heart? Are they taking control of your life? I can honestly say, “That used to be me”! I was mad at the world, but was walking around smiling like everything was okay! I could easily pick out reminders of what someone was going to do or say before they did! Why because I saw that before!

It wasn’t until I began to cry out to God in my private time, because the weight was too heavy! I wanted progress but I kept myself stuck! Even though things were happening; and I was growing, I couldn’t really appreciate it because my soul was empty. Revenge was the precedence and somehow, I wanted to see them pay. (Psalm 34:17-18) reads, “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

God started sending the very things that were needed to assist me with letting go! He began showing me how he saw me instead of how I saw myself. He placed in my path, people that affirmed my unanswered questions. How do I know it was God, because I wasn’t sharing those things with anyone else! They were MY secrets held tightly in My heart! And I wasn’t going to release them for NOTHING! They were mine to hold on to and treasured because I needed them! Well reality is in order to SHIFT towards your destiny, those “THINGS” need release!

What are you RELEASING today?

SHIFTing is interchangeable. Meaning there are elements of all these concepts in everyday life. You will always have opportunities to Surrender, Heal, Invite, Faith, and Trust your focus in the Holy Spirit. There will be days where it all applies, or it may be complete focus on just one. Today, I want to look at Heal! I was reading one of my many daily devotionals and came across (Jeremiah 17:14) “Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved for you are the one I praise”.

As I read this verse, it was as if a flashback of life was presented before me. And I began thinking about places that I have healed and some I have not. As I began to weep, my body began to heat up and this unbelievable calm embraced my soul. Remembering all of my trials and tribulations! The times where anger and unforgiveness overtook my being. The people I believed wronged me! And then it hit me! The very thing that wronged me was I had not healed and forgiven myself.

You see, accountability is not just someone else holding you accountable. Sometimes it is you holding yourself accountable with how YOU TREAT YOU! The more you hold on to anything that does not “DUE” a service, the ability to move forward is lost.

I challenge you today to allow Healing to take place in your world: this could consist in your finances, career, church, relationships but most of all your soul.  

Life isn’t always about control! There is a complete difference from controlling something versus preparing for the circumstance. See sometimes in life; we want everything in order, and the second it goes awry, WE PANIC!

What if the change that ocurred is the set up for your destiny?

What if the current state of the world is pushing you outside of your comfort zone?

What if the SHIFT presented itself in that very moment to assist you with BIRTHING, the God-given desires that haunted you everyday of your life?

Did you get laid-off? Are you wondering where the next meal is coming from? Are you contemplating your next steps: writing that book,starting that business…..? Only you and God know the answer to that question. Could it be God sat you down to focus on what he has called you to do?

There are always moments where we want to move the way we see fit. What if God had other plans? If you are sitting in this very illusion and desire an answer, (Matthew 7:7) says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the doors will be opened to you. God promises that he will reveal, you just have to be open to see and listen.