Devotionals | JOURNEY With SPIRIT - "Joy Belynda Russaw"

"JOURNEY WITH SPIRIT"

- Joyce (JOY) Be Lynda Russaw

Serving God

God commands us to seek Him with diligence. When you seek Him, you must do so with faith. The kind of faith that is unwavering and strong. Seek Him knowing that He hears and answers all prayers. When you believe in God with certainty, and you call on Him, He honors your trust trust.

There are believers who attend worship service weekly, they believe it is their ticket to heaven. One day a week cannot be the limit of their praise. There can be no excuse for not reading or owning a Holy Book. If you own a Bible and it shows no wear, or it’s in the original wrapping having never been read, you have work to do. The life of a believer requires much more, it requires time spent in communion with the Father. It requires mission work. If you are selfish with time you spend with God, He will be selfish with His rewards.

Religion is ever unfolding. It separates us. Catholic, Muslim, Jew, Seven Day Adventist, Quaker, Baptist, Methodist, United Methodist, Mormons, African Methodist, Buddhism.... a never-ending list of groups with varying beliefs. Each group is entitled to practice what they believe without fear. But there is one commonality that binds us all together_ In God’s eye, we are all His children.

Seek God with diligence. Spend time in the quiet of His presence. There are many books used in religion, the Catechism, Koran... but there is but one book used in Christianity. If your faith requires your reading other books, do so. But there is one God.. and His story book should be read with your other books when you spend time in His presence.

Inviting Christ into your heart

Behold, He stands at the door of each beating heart and knocks. It is up to you what happens next. You can invite Him in and live in His light, or you can deny Him. Denying Him leads to the path of darkness. As complicated as life can be, it brings a sense of peace knowing that what you cannot handle, there is SOMEBODY who can. As children, we always knew that our parents or siblings would help us with the bully on the playground. When we had a need beyond our ability, we gave it over to our parents. We knew that love would direct their actions and they would come to the rescue. We had protection from the bad giants in the world and that took away our fear.

As you mature in the spirit, your understand the value of having faith in God. If you accept Jesus Christ.. you don’t have to worry about the bully, the devils and any weapons formed against you. Just as your family protected you, Our Father holds infinite powers of protection. He is more powerful than made-up superheroes, spider man, superman, and batman’s combined powers do not compare to what God can do.

If you have invited Him in and need guidance in how to be devoted, He left His Word to guide you down the right path. To guide you as you walk this path that is life, to give you strength and courage to protect yourself against the darkness in the world.

I don’t know about you, but I invited Him into my heart ages ago. Through it all, He has given me a peace that surpasses understanding. That is what I want that for you!!

Confronting Obstacles

Bless a thing and it will bless you. Curse it and it will curse you. When you bless a situation it has no power to hurt you, if it causes worry or stress, if you bless the situation from the heart, it will quietly fade away.

Often things occur and you don't know why? But as you continue the journey and months and years put distance between you and the event, you are enlightened with a better understanding of why.

Bless your troubles, then and ask God to move them out of the way. There is always pleasure in knowing GOD and having Faith, the two things needed for your 'journey with spirit.'

Attending Worship Service

I am guilty of being a pew member of my church. I have found that when I get involved in activities, some pretend Christians are afraid they will lose the spotlight, so I humbly enjoy the church services and leave. I do my missionary work in my community.

As complicated as life can be, we attend worship service to feed our soul, see and interact with members, and sing His praises. When our place of worship becomes a house of negative energy, people feel uncomfortable in that space. God cannot be the center of the service if you are focusing on your position and attire.

Though Jesus held His services outside, many lives were touched. No one felt left out and there was a word for every soul. There was energy that was positive...because JESUS was the focus of each gathering. When Jesus Christ is the focus, everything else is irrelevant. If you are not directly connected to the greatest power source in existence... it is time to re-connect. If you are connected to the source, continue to nurture that relationship. Jesus is the light of the world and in Jesus Christ, there lies an answer to your every want, desire or need.

Stay in His Light!!!

Trusting God

God is everywhere, but when you are faced with one of life's challenges, doubt creeps in. You fret. Uncertain if He knows your situation and will help. Having doubt is normal, especially when you realize that He watches over all of His children. Because you don't see Him, it is difficult to feel that He walks with you_ but He does.

When have an emergency and you pray. God hears. He always answers with the answer His wisdom guides Him to. It may not come right away, but He is always on time.

In times of trouble_ pray! When you pray_ be patient. God has an awesome responsibility, we need to understand delay has nothing to do with God, and everything to do with us.

The timing may not be right, there may be a lesson and length of time to your suffering for you to learn a specific lesson... many things factor into God’s timing in answering prayers. Respect His judgement, wisdom, and knowledge of your future, then trust that He will always be on time.

Don’t feel disillusioned when your prayer response is not immediate. Think of how we neglect God, yet He still loves us. During our busy day we tend to ignore God. We forget His existence, we ignore His commandments, we forget His ability to create miracles, and His love for His children. When you neglect God, how do you think He feels?

As Christians, we fall short of living the WORD, and we neglect God until we truly need help. We utter God’s law when it benefits us, and God knows what we are doing. That may be the reason you don’t feel His closeness because you are operating in the shade, using His word to promote a dark agenda. These are the times when God is not close because shade is of satan who is trying to infiltrate God’s light.

Our land has become a spiritual wasteland. How can we return our world and the earth to a healthy fruit bearer that is productive, positive and good?