Tag Archives: bible

“What God Is Calling You To Do Doesn’t Exist Yet”

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That’s a quote from a sermon I heard last year. Promising right? There’s something here in life that only you can do. You’re special. So live like you are.
Be salty. I love this scripture, Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”Don’t do the ordinary, do the extraordinary. Don’t be average, be above average. Don’t live how everyone else is living, live differently. Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Don’t want what everyone else wants, want better. If you are walking with the Holy Spirit, your desires should be those that come from the Holy Spirit. ‘Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.’ (Romans 8:5, check out Galatians 5:16-17 too)
You are called to be set apart. ‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.’ (Leviticus 20:26)
Be bold. Only God will give you the direction, the wisdom (James 1:5) and strength you need. ‘A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.’ (Proverbs 16:9)
How are you walking, in His will or your own? You’ll only be as great as you think you are or can be if you follow yourself. Follow God and he’ll make you greater, more successful and everything else than you would ever dream of.
Keep going, keep pushing, keep praying, keep praising!!
Love y’all,
Rinny

What Does It Mean To Be “Saved”?

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…to be “redeemed”, to be “bought by his blood”, to be “born again”? The list goes on, but I’ll stop there lol. Ever heard one of these phrases and wondered what it means?

Simply put, it means ALL of your sins are forgiven, they are erased and forgotten. You are a new person and everything of your past is gone (2 Corinthians 5:17). Even though there may be consequences of past wrong doings or mistakes, you never have to look back and be condemned by them. You don’t have to care about past wrongs or mistakes. You are cleansed, pure, holy and righteous because of God’s sacrifice and the righteousness of his son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:9). You are a new person.

So if you’re wondering what it takes to be “saved”. Start with believing 🙂 (Mark 16:16, Luke 8).

8 quick reasons I think you should believe:

1. All of your sins, past, present and future are forgiven. (Hebrews 8:12…but, this doesn’t mean you can go sin knowingly, not repent and keep “living for God”…you should still live a spiritually pure life Read Romans 8, flesh vs spirit, lovee this book!)

2. You are no longer living under law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14, check out Galatians!)

3. You are loved more than anyone here on earth could ever love you. Yes, including your parents, gf/bf, bff, wife/hubby 🙂 (1 John 4:7-11, Romans 8:35-39, Isaiah 49:15-16, John 3:16, 1 John 3:1, Psalm 52:8..God’s love for us is all throughout the Bible). God is longing to know you more and to show you His unwavering love. If you don’t know God, you will never know true love.

4. You don’t have to worry about anything. God is in control and has already taken care of it..will you submit to Him? (Philippians 4:6-7, Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28)

5. You can wake up everyday and walk in peace. No matter what you are going through, God is with you.
John 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (Deuteronomy 31:8, Psalm 29:11, Isaiah 26:3, 54:10, 1 Corinthians 14:33, Philippians 4:6-7)

6. You have nothing to fear because perfect love (God) hath no fear (1 John 4:18). You always have the victory as long as you trust and have faith in God despite the circumstances. (Check out the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegro in Daniel 1-3, also 1 Corinthians 10:13, Deuteronomy 20:4, Joshua 10:8)

7. You are free. Free from bitterness, unforgiveness, hate, etc. These things take time, but they are no longer your battle.
Psalm 34:4-7 I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; he saved me from all my troubles. (check out 2 Chronicles 20:15-17 too)

8. God has your back! Everything you need, He will provide. It may not be your timing, but He will come through.
1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (Luke 11:9-13, Matthew 6:25-34, James 1:6-8)

And I’ll leave you with this scripture:
Romans 10:9-11 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

Pretty awesome right? Life will be a lot easier, not easy, but easier if you trust in Him. Praying that 2015 will be a year of salvation, peace, freedom, joy, happiness, love, prosperity for everyone reading this.

Feel free to add your thoughts on being saved, would love to hear your comments!

With love,

Rinny

For Those Looking For Recognition, Validation…

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I saw a documentary last night on master art forger Landis. Dude was super talented! Watching his story made me want to cry though. Not only because his life went completely downhill after he got caught/exposed, but because what he did was driven by his desire to be seen, to be known, to make someone proud, to be somebody.

That was me a year and a half ago. I always wanted to be on top of my game, make a name for myself, make top 30 under 30 for my industry. But then I realized, there’s a much greater purpose to life, for my life. Achieving these things would be awesome and I’m not saying anything is wrong with being at the top of your game…we should aspire to such things, be ambitious. But, what are our motives behind wanting those things? Why do we set the goals that we set? Do we just want to be successful, fame, money?

Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:6-10 NLT)

It took me one experience to realize that the people (friends, managers, co-workers, etc.) you expect to support or appreciate you, won’t always do so. When these people don’t validate you, don’t support you, don’t give you your promotion, thank you, etc., what happens? Do you get discouraged, encouraged, quit, work less hard? Do you realize how it affects you? If we’re always working for recognition, to please others, will we ever have true peace?

As long as we work for and unto others, we will never be fulfilled or find joy in our work. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24 KJV). Pleasing God is what matters most. (Galatians 1:10)…but, please don’t take any of these scriptures out of context 🙂

Purpose. Wouldn’t you rather live a life of purpose instead of always searching for that something to fulfill you? If you don’t know what yours is, pray about it! We should work because we have purpose, not for recognition. You have a purpose that needs to be fulfilled, and only you can do it…with God of course, let Him lead you. It’s all for His glory.

Love y’all!

-Rinny

Sidenote: This has been sitting in my drafts for a while, gotta do better…I know!

Why is It So Hard to Believe God?

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I mean, the word says it. I believe God, I know that the Bible is truth, but even still it’s hard to look beyond where I am sometimes. To have faith and know that God is working it out. It’s God’s promise that he’ll never leave us nor forsake us. God has always kept his promises to us, he never fails.

So why is it so hard for believers (and non-believers) to believe God sometimes? To trust Him and His word and to walk in ALL of His promises? If we really, fully believed in the power we have through the Holy Spirit in us, we’d be unstoppable (in a good way). God loves you, He’s working on your behalf- And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose, Romans 8:28. If you know God, you’ll be alright.

Try to see the positive in the midst of everything because God’s promises are always true, He never fails. Always give praise, because He was, is and will always be our King.

Amen if you love Jesus 🙂

With love,

Rinny

Wake Up Black People

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Dear Black People,

Yes, black people. Wake up. What else does it take for us to wake up. We’re paying attention now, right? God is calling, He just wants us to say hi, to look up and recognize who He is. I heard a sermon last week on not looking at our circumstances, but instead, staying focused on God and know that He is in control. God is in control.

Are we done consuming ourselves with pop culture, talk about celebrities, who’s wearing what, who’s dating who, big booties, etc? Are we ready to go deeper, what does that even mean? Are we ready to grow?

If you know the story of the Israelites in the wilderness (read Exodus and Numbers) journeying to the promised land, then you know how they turned their face from God. That’s where I feel like we are as a people. Don’t get me wrong…ALL people are God’s people, but right now, black people specifically are stuck in a wilderness that we can’t get out of unless we turn our hearts and faces back to God. Just like man didn’t end slavery, no man will end what’s going on now. Until we realize that, we as a people will be stuck living in bondage to man. But, how can you know this truth if you don’t know the truth? “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?” (Psalm 118:4-9)

Jena 6, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Marlene Pinnock, Mike Brown (and tonnssss more) are bigger than us. So how do we really impact policy and make change happen? Rallies are nice, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, great…now in two weeks let’s see where we are when all the chatter dies down and media is covering something new. Same story, new day.

This is out of our control, but God IS in control. Who do we put our trust in? Can we trust Him? Can God be our leader? “Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them.” (Psalm 146:3-4, also see Isaiah 2:22)

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19). If you didn’t know, now you do…YOU are not of this world. For the hurting, despondent, hopeless black race in America, you are loved. Not loved by just anyone, your fam, friends (and me!), but by someone greater than all of us. God’s love is everything, and it’s all you need.

Can we trust God to show us His glory, His love, His faithfulness, His power, His grace when we are at our lowest, our weakest (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)? Can we all come together and pray and believe? Pray for the police (Matthew 5:44 says to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you) and pray for the young brothers especially. If we want to stop living in darkness, in fear (1 John 4:18…if you know God, true love, then you won’t know fear), in hurt and pain, turn to God and He will show you light, peace, truth, comfort, protection, forgiveness. You can’t do it, I can’t do it, no man can do it. Only God. Hit your knees fam. Pray, fast, read The Bible, believe. That’s all it takes.

To the promised land we go!

Here’s a powerful daily prayer for you: Psalm 23. Let this be your life. Read it, say it, believe it daily. Verse 4, so fitting – Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Peace and love y’all.
❤

Are You Trying To Please God? Stop.

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Hey hey, I posted a recap of last Friday’s young adult service on our Strictly Young People (SYP) blog.

Go check out the full recap there, but here’s an excerpt:

Yes to Friday’s message, for two main reasons: it’s something that everyone needs to hear, and it was a “been there, learned that” message for me. Guest pastor, Pastor Gary Wilkerson (David Wilkerson’s son) spoke on trying to please God. Sounds kind of funny, right? Can we ever please God?

Even though Pastor Gary’s son grew up in the church and knew who God was and had parents that loved him and loved God, he still felt like God had let him down in some areas of his life.

When we see that something is wrong in our lives, we try to fix it. We try to do extra to make God be pleased with us. But, that’s not what God is asking us to do. We are applying the wrong law to our problems. Making God promises, doing good deeds, acting more righteous, very little sinning one week, lots of bible reading and praying…and then you fail. (Or, maybe you don’t do these things at all.)

But, when sin dominates us, it rules over us and causes us to choose the wrong way. It may seem that sin is superior to the power of the savior, but nope, thank you Jesus. Check out the book of Romans, Pastor Gary called it the “key of liberty” and I think that is so true! There is so much truth about living in God’s freedom in the book of Romans.

You don’t have to try to earn His blessings, you already have them! He is looking for you, ready to pour into you and to give you life. Nothing you do has to be in your own effort.

Ok, enough here…go check out the SYP blog !

With love,

Rinny

You Have Nothing To Worry About :)

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God loves us soooooo much that he already made provisions for everything we go through, EVERY sin, mistake, problem. All He asks is that we believe and accept Him. He will do the rest (Hebrews 8:8-13), all we have to do is believe and accept it. He will give us the faith, the wisdom, the ability to overcome, to succeed, to change. What changes in us is that we do it unto Him, not for ourselves, to glorify “me”.

Matthew 6:25-34 tells us not to worry about our lives — Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

God already knows what you need before you even need it and he WILL take care of it. He has your best interest in mind, better than what you could ever dream of. But you can’t get there if you don’t believe He will give it to you. Pray for strength and understanding to lay everything down before God, “Ok God, I give it to you. It’s all yours, I need you to guide me, to do everything in, for and through me. Your will be done.” God says He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:8). He says come to me in prayer and supplication and I will hear you (Philippians 4:6, Ephesians 6:8). I have an expected end in mind for you, plans to give you a future, hope (Jeremiah 29:11)…plans to do something GREAT with your life if you just trust in me. He loves us more than our parents, friends, fam, etc and he WANTS to give us happiness, peace and the righteous desires of our hearts.

You feel me? If not, go read the Bible! lol 😉

Love y’all.

-Rinny

The Best Kept Relationship Secret

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Happy Valentine’s Day! Perfect day to post about relationship stuff 🙂

What do you look for in a guy? How do you know if he is the one? If you don’t date, how do you know what to look for?

I get these questions a loooot. The answer is simple. God. It may seem silly or weird to some of you but I 100% depend on God in that area of my life. He is way more seasoned than me and will never disappoint. I think God is the biggest kept secret to making any relationship work.

How can you tell if a guy is with you for the wrong reasons? Or why do girls turn crazy after a couple months of dating? Asked a few friends what they look for in their significant other, this is what I got: loves God, humor, good heart, determination, faith, patience, sex, humility and honesty. Deal breakers:  disrespect, arrogance , pride, no relationship with God, selfish…

Consider our lack of discernment, caused by so many things…feelings are one of them. Some might be obvious, but would you really be able to see any any of the above if you don’t have discernment? (Philippians 1:9-10)

I read this in a book once: think of your relationship with God and your future spouse as a triangle. God at the top point, you two at the two other points. As you get closer to God, you get closer to each other. Once God is done preparing you for each other, bam. It will happen in His timing. God’s timing is always the right timing even if it may not seem like it.

If you’re one of those peeps that thinks v-day is “single awareness day”…good. Now, go bask in your singleness 🙂 What better time to do everything God has called you to do as an individual. All your cares should be for things that belong to the Lord, how you can please Him..but when you’re married, you have to also care about “things of the world”, how you may please your spouse. 1 Corinthians 7:32-34. I hope you can see the awesomeness in being single.

If you’re in a relationship, *smiley with the ❤ eyes”, I am happy for you 🙂 I hope you’re enjoying this season in your life. You should be! If not, take a step back and think about it. Are you where God wants you to be right now? He’s got your back so just go to Him.

A few more thoughts:

1. Ask God to choose your spouse for you, to give you eyes and a heart only for the one that he wants you to be with. I’ll be happy with whomever God chooses for me, He can do a much better job than I can haha. Yes, there are manyyy choices and you can make it work with more than one person, but I think there is a special someone God has called for you to be with to accomplish a purpose in His kingdom here together.

2. Ask God for what you want but also ask God to help you only desire what He has in store for you. Pray for your future wifey/hubby.

3. Pray about any relationship you’re thinking about beginning, ask God for confirmation. Asking someone to be your gf should be a big deal. (And girls, you pray too.) God should get all the glory from your relationship.

4. Stay pure. Y’all know what I mean here. If you’re not married, you have not entered a covenant relationship with each other…you don’t “belong” to each other yet. 1 Corinthians 7:2-4  You are a holy vessel, do you want to defile the things of God? 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 I know this is much easier said than done, but the strength to overcome temptation only lies in the Holy Spirit.  He loves us so much that He already forgave us and gave us this power to overcome when he died on the cross.

Love you all lots! God loves you so much more. Happy days 🙂

❤ Rinny

A Life Changing Message

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“This is going to be a life changing message.” That’s kind of how last week’s Friday night young adult service began. *sigh* (confession) Sometimes when I hear that I’m like, is it really though??

Good news, it was a powerful message…and so I’m sharing 🙂

The Power of The Word

You can’t win at life if you’re not reading the Bible! We’re in a daily battle…with ourselves, spiritually and with the world. Are you equipped to fight?

In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus went head to head with Lucifer and was tempted three times. Check out the scriptures, “it is written…” Jesus said that each time he defeated the devil. This is a prototype for us. We have to use the word of God to fight and win…and sometimes, just to make it through.

Some of you might not understand this at all, what is meant by “fight the enemy” or being in a “daily battle”. Take a sec and think about your day yesterday, were you tempted to do anything you know you shouldn’t do (lie, cheat, fight, drugs, sex, etc.)? These are just some of the daily battles we have to overcome. Obviously, we experience much bigger battles in life too. So, how do we win?  

Jesus used the word from the book of Deuteronomy to defeat Lucifer, and even Lucifer used the word to tempt Jesus (Matthew 4:6). If Jesus needed the word, how much more do we need the word?

The pastor said a few other things that really got my attention:

– He never met a person who prays for 30 min and reads the word for 30 min daily who can’t defeat their problems

– If you get one thing down, reading the Bible, you’ll self correct several other things. (The word is life, it’s how you win.)

– Only study the truth so you can identify the junk, no matter where it’s coming from (sometimes people preach but they don’t preach the truth…you need to be spiritually strong enough to discern this)

– Other people can’t fight your battles for you (yes others can pray, give advice, etc, but if you are not in the word, it’s gonna be tough!)

Let God turn your Bible into a weapon. He loves you soo deeply and he always wants you to win. He’s patiently waiting for you.

Here’s a challenge for you: start reading the Bible daily. Even if you start with just a few scriptures, a chapter…it counts, just be consistent. Every book in the Bible is meaningful (even if it’s not making sense lol). Are you hurting, looking for purpose, struggling with something? You have the BIGGEST help from your Father up above. Can you know God’s voice if you don’t know Him, his word?

If you’ve fallen away from your faith, if you need strength, even if you don’t believe…just try it and see what happens. I want that W, that victory for all of us (Matthew 3:17)

With lots of lovee ❤

Rinny

P.S. Thanks to our guest speaker, Pastor Tim Dilena of Brooklyn Tabernacle, for the awesome word. http://www.brooklyntabernacle.org/

Questions, thoughts? Feel free to comment! 🙂

Having A Rough Day?

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I always say that I LOVE it when my mom writes me and my sibs emails because she writes the best emails ever. This one in particular I have to share because it’s amazing might I say…and I think someone will take something away from this.

From the heart of my mommy:

Subject: It’s me!

I went out shopping today and I was tired when I came home, but refreshingly so, and when I took a deep breath, it actually felt so good. The problem was that I couldn’t pass a single person who I was drawn to without sharing something on this level.

Having a rough day? Place your hand over your heart. Feel that? That’s called purpose. You’re alive for a reason. Don’t give up. I went through a phase in life, wondering if I was ever going to find a purpose in life. What helped me was following my heart. Although, it didn’t always lead me to sunshine, it did always teach me a lesson along the way. Finding your purpose in life doesn’t happen over night, it’s a life-long journey.

So hang in there, and if you continue to believe that you’re here for a reason, then eventually you’ll understand your purpose in life. Look forward to how good that will feel and that will help you feel great today.

Knowing that you all know this, share at your own pace and from your own encouraged heart.

Andrea shared something with me yesterday…I thought I was aware of all the simple things.  She said that we live our lives comparing it to what we see and hear around us. We sometimes desire these things that are right for others and think they should be right for us now too.  We should learn to be happy for being our own wonderful selves, and more wonderful things will follow.

This totally hit home for me yesterday. Just want to add a scripture for ya, Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Also, check out John 15:16. God has a plan for you. Don’t forget your purpose 🙂

With lots of love,

❤ Rinny