Tag Archives: jesus

For Those Looking For Recognition, Validation…

Posted on by
4

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!

25th Birthday…Finally Decided What To Do!

Posted on by
1

I’m turning 25 on August 26th. So close! Yes, I’m getting old haha. At first I was super excited and planning this big party and told a bunch of friends to save the date, but a couple of weeks ago I just thought about how birthday celebrations are all about “ME”. This week, my little sister said the same thing and not too long after, my mom said something similar. Sooo, this confirmed my feelings, my loss of excitement in planning this big party. I still want to celebrate, but in a different way…and I’ve finally figured it out.

I’m spending the next 25 days helping others. 25 people in 25 days. Whether it’s prayer, apt hunting, helping with a job stuff, cover letter/resume, talking, connecting peeps…anything, let me know. I only hope/ask that 25 of y’all don’t ask me to do something with monetary value though (I know time is money lol but I mean buy me this/that, dinner, lunch, etc) because I want this to be deeper than that. #25daysforothers

Side note y’all, I feel like 25 is legit grown up age! I had some pretty aggressive goals to achieve by 25, but I’m not there yet. Socially, I’m great (so thankful for my fam and friends). Spiritually growing (I lovee Jesus!), financially and professionally…not anywhere near where I’d like to be lol. For everyone who feels me, stay encouraged — Proverbs 21:5, Proverbs 14:23, 2 Peter 1:10. Cheers to learning patience and what diligence really means.

One more thing…I love celebrating birthdays and I don’t think there is anything wrong with it, I usually do something every year. This is just where I am for my 25th : )

Rinny

Are You Trying To Please God? Stop.

Posted on by
Reply

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 :)

Posted on by
Reply

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

What Jesus’ Death Really Means

Posted on by
Reply

Easter eggs and bunnies right? Easter just passed and that’s what flooded so many retail stores. Anyone know where the bunny and eggs thing came from? Fun maybe, but it almost overshadows what Jesus’ death and resurrection really means for us.

God loved us so much that He gave us His son so we can be forgiven of ALL our sins (Romans 5:8). An innocent man, Jesus, died for us so that we:

– Can be made pure, cleansed of all our past, present and future wrongs. You are made new in Him. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 If you have already asked for forgiveness and acknowledged Jesus as your personal savior, never look back. You have soo much ahead of you!
– Can have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16 (I love 1 John 5:13-14 too.)
– Love. Love yourself and love others. We love because He first loved us.1 John 4:19 (2 Timothy 1:7)
– Live in peace, joy and happiness. All of these things come from above, not from anything in this world.
– Have something to stand on, depend on someone other than ourselves. (Hebrews 8:8-13, Ephesians 1:11, Psalm 138:8). Have faith!
– Live in light. Ephesians 5:8-9 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth). — God has overcome all powers of darkness and evil. We are not bound to any of them because of Him. If you are struggling in darkness, turn to God.
– Live in FREEDOM. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Galatians 5:1 (Ephesians 3:12, Psalm 116:8). Live in victory, God made us conquerers. We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:35-37

Love y’all and Jesus loves you more 🙂

Life Is A Gift

Posted on by
Reply

Anybody realize how crazy this world we live in is? While I was still in India/Dubai (promise I’ll finish blogging about the trip soon), I read about a shooting at LAX. I was talking to my sis and parents about it and just thought how ridiculous that was. I returned to NY on a Wednesday and never thought I would experience something similar on a Saturday night, tonight.

Tonight I realized how much I take my life for granted. It really is a gift!

What a precious gift. I’m more thankful for his grace and mercy towards us. I’m sharing this story just to show how amazing God is. A group of us went out to celebrate our friends’ 24th and 25th birthdays. We were a pretty big group.

Most of the group went skating while a few of us decided not to skate and chill in the warmth at a coffee shop in the park (Bryant Park), including me. I was on the edge about skating. I reallyy wanted to, but I sprained my ankle about a month ago and thought it wasn’t the best idea for my first real physical activity (besides walking) since injury to be ice skating. Really though, this was nothing but God that kept me off the ice tonight.

After about an hour ish of being at the park, we heard three loud noises. These didn’t really sound like gun shots, but we realized they were after seeing people running and hearing screams. We all got up and ran. The six of us that were sitting, chillin got to a safe place and tried to get in touch with our friends on the ice. Worried about them, we couldn’t do anything but pray. Finally, we got in touch and heard that all of them were safe, no harm, no injuries. Praise and thanks to the most high only!

Several of my friends were just feet away from one of the young men that was shot on the ice. Nothing but God’s grace that saved them. Just as we started our night with praise, our night ended in praise. Thank you Father for life.

Besides reflecting on God’s grace and protection, this experience made me question how I’m living. If this night were my last, would God be pleased with me? Would I hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant,” at the gates of Heaven? Would you?

Living life to the fullest isn’t YOLO as the world says it, but YOLO for eternity. You only have one shot at eternity and that’s while you’re here on earth living.

With love,

Rinny

The Best Kept Relationship Secret

Posted on by
4

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

Life Is A Race. Run It To Win It!

Posted on by
Reply

Life is a race and we’re all running it to win it.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

How can you win if you don’t train properly? Different sports and positions require different types of training: strength training, endurance training, sprints, healthy diet, stretching…you get what I mean. Different workouts, different equipment for each of these things…it’s just like life. The various seasons of life brings you different lessons, the trials, the happiness.  Each experience you go through is for a reason. Even when you don’t realize it, you’re taking away something from every experience: wisdom, discernment, faith, forgiveness, etc. I just hope you’re learning the right things from everything you go through lol 🙂 Your workout IS life.

God wants to strengthen you with the tools to keep running faster and stronger. Train with the word daily and I think you’ll have a good chance of winning. Equip yourself with the right tools and you’ll have an even better chance of making it to the finish line strong. What are these tools? Besides the word and praying and having a relationship with Jesus and knowing Him for yourself, a few things that I think are important are:

– A clean heart and pure spirit, one that is forgiving and giving

– Surrounding yourself with good spiritual (God following, loving, fearing) leaders and friends, people that will hold you accountable. Ones who will encourage you as needed and discourage you in your wrong ways. You need peeps that keep it real!

– Give thanks, have faith, love, be positive

– Discipline. Staying focused on God. Lay aside your fleshly desires, resist temptations (esp ones that you’ll regret later). You can do it! — Matthew 6:33, 1 Corinthians 10:13

– Healthy diet: Stay hungry and thirsty for the word. Feed your spirit with truth and life, the Bible.

– Strength training: Trials you go through (fights with family, friends, career issues, death, relationships)

– Endurance/sprints: You’re never in it alone. First you have Jesus. Then, these leaders/friends mentioned above (and fam of course) are there to help you.

Of course there is a lot more, these are just a few that are top of mind for me. What do you think is most important? As you run this race called life, don’t forget to stay in your lane. You are only purposed to run your race, God has not called nor equipped you to run someone else’s. We all play different positions 🙂 Our goal shouldn’t be to beat each other, instead it’s to beat the negative influences, the bad, the wickedness that’s all around us.

What is winning? For me, it’s eternal life and living in His will, not by my own strength but through God and glorifying His kingdom. The sacrifices we make now are so little when we compare them to the everlasting blessings we are storing up.

Lots of love yall!

❤ Rinny

Having A Rough Day?

Posted on by
Reply

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

Late Night Thinking…

Posted on by
Reply

Group think! Why do groups of young girls, teens, young ladies, grown women tend to choose someone to dislike, bring down, shoot down together?  I’m not sure I’ll ever fully understand…

This is so random but it was on my mind as I was getting ready for bed some time ago. I mentor a middle school girl who is smart, at the top of her class, well spoken, athletic, hard worker…etc. She’s focused and has set goals, her passions are so clear, its admirable. The stories she’s told me always shock me…girls want to fight her.

My advice to her: When you stand for something, are confident, won’t compromise your values or who you are for others, people feel threatened, annoyed, they want you to conform. You exhibit what they wish they had in them.

Speaking from experience, I’ve seen girls act crazy on other girls for no reason. None. And it never ceases to shock me. And I know people will say, “Well it’s not them, it’s her…why do people always have a problem with her?” Wrong. Look at the people saying that, usually they are intimidated, immature, feel inferior, want attention…one and/or all of the above.

Just remember,  everything happens for a reason. God put em in your life for a season and took em out for a reason. I’ve got a few stories of my own. Teaches you character, lessons learned, wisdom and knowledge gained. Don’t cling to things that aren’t meant to be. You won’t miss that “friendship” one bit.

If you walk with God, who can be against you? Romans 8:31 (I love Romans 8:28-31!) I think this goes for guys/men too even though its not always as blatant.

Y’all know I love open discussions soo share your thoughts 🙂