A Lesson From God

I want to start this out by saying I NEVER desire to place my opinions upon anyone.  When I am trying to learn something new I go directly to the source - God.  Over some years I've heard many religious leaders teach on "Fearing God" and let me tell you they succeeded.  I was so afraid of God I wanted nothing to do with Him.  Jesus, I loved and adored, but I stayed my distance from God based on what I was taught.

Since 2008 I've been learning God's Truth.  Each day I humbly ask God to teach me himself and he has.  I wanted to know the truth about fearing God and the following is what HE recently taught me.

The Fear of God:
   What it is NOT: God does NOT desire us to be afraid of Him.  When you are afraid of something or someone what happens?  You try to avoid that person or situation at any cost.  He does not EVER want us to avoid or run from Him.  His heart yearns for us to RUN to him every day of our lives.

   What it SHOULD BE:  We should respect God so much for what He did for us that NOTHING within us will allow us to sin or cause harm to anyone, especially God.  Our love for God should be so great that the very thought of hurting or dishonoring God should break our hearts and STOP us dead in our tracks.  What we should be afraid of is hurting Our Father or doing anything that could take us out of His Hedge of Protection.

God promises he'll never abandon nor fail us, so we can rest assure on this.  God will NEVER leave you and He is QUICK to forgive.  Gos is NOT a bully waiting to pick on you each time you mess up.  He's NOT plotting to destroy your life the moment you make a wrong choice.  God is the absolute opposite of a bully!  He's loving and kind.  He's merciful and generous.  He's fair and forgiving.

If you have God in your life or you want God in your life the ONLY thing you should be fearing is stepping outside of His will for you.  If you are not sure what God's will for your life is I lovingly suggest you ASK Him.  I promise He WILL answer you!

Life Lesson From God [6.25.12]

Photo by Princess Charlie (daughter)

"If you have life; you have purpose," --Caroline Myss

Revelation: each day God fills us with His nature and goodness (peace, joy, love, mercy, kindness and wisdom).  We do not have to ask for these things, for God gives them to us freely everyday.  But, we can activate them in our lives by believing, relying and depending on God to lead us through each one.  Depend on his ability and strength alone and you'll never go wrong.

Lord, I Refuse: *to turn away from the bible
*to be lead astray
*to mistreat and manipulate others
*to live my life in fear and unbelief

Lord, I Choose: *to uplift my family Your way

*to follow Jesus and obey His every word

*to love and inspire others

*to believe your EVERY word

Father, I'm Grateful:

-Miracles and restoration are taking place today for millions of Your children

-You hear the cries of ALL who are hurt and lost

-The Blood of Jesus is upon the heads of ALL God's beloved children

-Your love conquers all evil and sin

-Laughter and joy will invade the hearts and homes of ALL

Seeing God in Everything

Last night while watching "Our America w/Lisa Ling" one of the nuns she interviewed stated that we will never be able to be in one designated place at all times to be in God's presence.  But we can choose to be in His presence right where we are.  I choose to do this every single day and recently (during prayer) I asked God and he explained what being in his presence means.

It means: being conscious that God is with you wherever you are, loving those you don't even know and fully understanding just how deep His love is for you.

You are in God's Presence:

*when you are alone praying
*when you walk and see trees standing majestic and strong
*during praise and worship
*when you hear children laughing
*when you see clouds floating by and they seem to say "look at me"
*when unexpected blessings fall before you
*when you pass a beautiful garden and it commands your attention
*even in your sleep
*when someone expresses love towards you
*when you express your love toward others

Father, I'm Grateful:

*You love us in ways no one will ever match
*You'll never leave nor fail us
*Your goodness & mercy will follow us all the days of our lives
*You are the creator of Heaven, Earth, Me & All Children of God
*Miracles will take place in the lives of those who need them today
*For every soul that will be won over to the kingdom of God
*For Jesus and his phenomenal and unfailing love

Heavenly Cooking Ideas [6.9.12]

Food prices are constantly being hiked up making it hard for families to afford the luxury of grocery shopping.  We use to buy mac-n-cheese, flavored rice boxes and tons of pasta side.  But money doesn't grow on trees so I've been toying with ideas of making my own flavored rices and pasta sides.

Last night I made BBQ Chicken, but had no idea what I'd make to go with it.  That's when God placed a brilliant idea in my head!  I made a garlic and Parmesan herb butter sauce, poured it over spaghetti and Wam-O we had a fabulous addition to our meal!

Garlic & Parmesan Herb Butter Sauce:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (we used no calorie Olivio spray butter)

1/2 TBSP Chopped Garlic

1/2 TSP Onion Powder

1 1/2 TSP Parmesan & Herb (by McCormick)  

*Feel free to use just Parmesan

Directions:

In a small sauce pot add butter, garlic, onion powder and Parmesan & Herb

Stir on low heat for 5 to 7 minutes

Once pasta has cooked add sauce, stir and serve

Shrimp Etoufee [6.7.12]

Shrimp Etouffee with Garlic Bread

I'm from New Orleans, so naturally when my family requested shrimp etouffee for dinner I just had to oblige.
I hope you'll give this dish a try, because it is indeed a winner in my book!!  Now, I use to make this with Tony Chachere's.  All the ingredients come in a box and all you add is your shrimp.  But I recently decided to try this dish from scratch and with God's help it was a big success in our home!

Ingredients Needed:

2 lbs shrimp (serves up to 5)                                1/4 cp flour with 1/2 cp water mixed
2 cups rice (cooked separately)                            1 TBSP minced Garlic
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1/3 cup tomato sauce (I used mushroom flavor by Ragu)
1 stick of butter (I used no calorie spray butter)

Directions:

In large skillet add shrimp, garlic, onion, bell pepper and butter
Add seasonings (I used onion powder, Cajun seasoning, and chili powder)
  -I eyeball all my seasonings
 -Let cook until shrimp start to turn pink, then
Add tomato sauce and flour/water mixture (the mixture helps thicken sauce)
Cook until you reach desired consistency (I cooked an additional 15 min)

I served this over rice and with garlic bread made with hoagie rolls, butter and garlic