Tag Archives: Jesus is Love

Walking with the Lord

Posted on by yolandaberry
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Every step you take, the Lord is with you whether it feels like it or not. He is there. In every setback, detour, or roadblock you face, the Lord is always working behind the scenes on your behalf.

In every victory, accomplishment, or goal achieved, the Lord manifests His glory upon your life. The Lord is calling you into a deeper relationship with Him so you can hear His voice clearly. You have to take time to step back, sit in the silence and listen.

There is beauty in the silence. There is rest in the silence. There is peace in the silence. There is instruction in the silence. There is strength in the silence.

Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up as eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable, He gives power to the weak And to those who have no might, He increases strength. Isaiah 40:28-29

Our connection with our source, Immanuel, Jehovah Ezer (the hand Our Helper) strengthens us when we are weak, comforts us when we are lonely, directs us when we are confused, protects us in danger and shields us from all attacks of the enemy. He is the Waymaker. He knows our path from the beginning to the very end.

Walk in Unity

As the Body of Christ, we are called to walk together in love and harmony. We are called to comfort each other in times of despair and grief. The challenges of life breeds conflicts of all sorts, but we’re given the tools to override and overtake the enemy by executing divine strategies and utilizing Godly wisdom led by the Holy Spirit.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all. Eph 4:4-6

Walk in Love

One of the most powerful emotions is love. The Lord provides unconditional love with never-ending mercy, grace and compassion. We cannot comprehend the magnitude of God’s love for us.

As a child of God, we are to provide the same compassion and agape love for others. When we look at the nature of a child, they model the same behavior of their parents, siblings, classmates and friends. They are influenced easily and absorb everything they are exposed to like a sponge. In result, they’re a product of their environment and therefore mirrors habits, actions, words and deeds based on their individual experiences in life.

Unfortunately, due to dysfunctional environments based in neglect, abuse or narcissistic qualities, a child may not have the proper role models to imitate. The sensitivity and innocence of a child is a reflection of how the Lord desires for us to live, work and play.

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Eph 5:1-2

Walk in Light

The darkness cannot hide in the light. As a child of God, we are to walk in light of goodness, righteousness and truth. (Eph 5:8) We are to practice the fruits of the Spirit in our daily lives which is love, joy, peace, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Unfortunately, we may not always hit the mark but we should constantly make an effort to walk according to the Spirit shining the light of Christ for the world to witness His love. Our Kingly assignment is to also expose the evil and corruption and implement change, order and justice.

Walk in Wisdom

As the world continues to change and grow darker, you’re to seek guidance, direction and understanding of the will of the Father. As a believer, you should continually seek the face of God for divine wisdom. It takes discipline and obedience to separate yourself from earthly desires, idolatry and worldly pursuits.

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Eph 5:15-16

It’s within the purging of all greed, impurities, jealousy, evil thoughts and wicked speaking and all emotional, mental or physical substances that has the ability to to shift judgements, character or lifestyle.

Everything that is poured out before the Lord will have the capacity to be filled with all spiritual abundance filling your heart with the goodness and joy of the Lord through thanksgiving and praise with adoration to the Most High.

Walk in Faith

Faith is a spiritual gift given by the Lord. All believers are given a measure of faith. We can learn to exercise out faith by tapping into the supernatural and focusing less on our natural experiences that we encounter on a daily basis.

When you develop your faith which is tested and developed under difficult conditions, situations or circumstances, you will lean on the Lord and not man for your needs. Whether it be increased strength, wisdom, courage, peace or monetary needs, you’re focused on God’s ability to provide and comfort you.

If you experience any type of doubt or fear, you’re leaning into the natural realm. When Peter walked on the water, he focused directly on Jesus but when he took his eyes off Jesus he began to sink. When you’re solely dependent on God, you will walk by faith and not by the tangible things of this world.

Walk in Authority

Our Father has given us the ability to walk over serpents and scorpions and not be harmed. When you grasp the capacity of God’s power working within you, you will experience God’s miraculous power that others may not understand. Walking in authority not only gives you power but confidence in the Lord.

Not by might, nor by power but by my spirit, saith the Lord.

Zech 4:6

There is power in your words and actions by His spirit. You have the capability to command every evil work of the enemy, situation or sin out of your life. It’s not a “name it or claim it” type of new age or prosperity gospel message. It is spiritually led by the Holy Spirit and the will of God.

Every promise in the Bible can be accessed by a believer. You have the authority to shift atmospheres, conditions, circumstances and situations through the power of the Holy Spirit according to the word and God’s purpose for your life.

As you continue communicating and connecting with Jehovah Shammah (the Lord is there), your path will be illuminated through every storm that you face.

With each step that you take, you will grow and develop spiritually exercising the fruits of the spirit and dwelling in the secret place of the Most High.

Additional Bible References

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not until your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. Prov 3:5-6

I am the way, the truth will and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

My sheep hear my voice,and I know them, and they follow me. And, I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. John 10:27-28

In Him, we move and have our being. Prov 3:5-6

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Rom 8:1

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Rom 8:5-8

For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Rom 8:24-25

But fornication and all uncleanliness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiest, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Eph 5:3-5

Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Eph 3:13

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.Gal 5:13

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. Gal 5:14-15

Beauty for Ashes: A Global Outcry for Justice and Equality

Posted on by yolandaberry
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The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever. Isaiah 40:8

Oh, Nation! Do you hear our voices? Do you hear the cries of the people? The people who are constantly shot and killed on the streets and in their homes of America? The people constantly under assault and persecution for the color of their skin? The people striped of their identity and vandalized of their basic human rights to live free on this earth?

Our cities are burning due to the blind eye for justice. For generations, we have been raped of our humanity and dignity. How long do we have to continue on the same cycle of racism, prejudice, bigotry, harassment, discrimination and ignorance?

Oh, stiff-necked nation, repent for the sins against humanity. Turn away from your idols. Change from your wicked ways, devices and weapons of destruction against the people of color. Have you not learned anything from past generations?

This racist spirit; this racist attitude is a condition of the heart. It is a learned behavior that is passed on like a contagious virus. It is a disease of the soul that has infected every political, educational, judicial, and economical system throughout the world.

Do you not understand there is a penalty? That there is a price to pay for injustice? That you are accountable and responsible for your actions or complacency?

Why did it take cities to burn across the nation to the arrest four white men for the death of an innocent man?

Your hands are bloody and unclean. Your hearts are like filthy rags. Your mind is like a cancer.

We are at a crossroad in America for justice. We can’t go back to insanity. The repetitious pattern of hatred has to be extinguished. The time is now!

This moment is a pivotal point in history. The embedded racial coding throughout American culture is exposed and guilty as charged. Do you realize that there are consequences of an unchanged heart filled with arrogance, greed, ignorance and disobedience?

Oh city of Babylon, judgement is upon you. Purge from your evil ways before it’s too late. Its midnight hour in America and in the world. Extreme measures of correction, action and resolution is the torch that will lead the way out of darkness. The wind of change is upon us.

Will we finally have beauty for ashes?

The message is simple. Love.

I Peter 4:8

And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

John 13:34

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Jer 50:23-25

How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord.

25 The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

Jer 50:26-29

Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.

27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple.

29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.

Jer 50:38

A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.

Jer 50:43

The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.

Jer 51:7-11

Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

10 The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.

11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.

Jer 51:17-18

Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

18 They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

Jer 51:43

43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.

Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

8 For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

Posted on by yolandaberry
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“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us. Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace we are saved.”Ephesians 2:4-5

Love is lacking or non-existent in our nation, communities and most importantly in our homes. Some may have felt it, yet abused it. Others long for it while others desperately search for it. Many may take it for granted while others never felt it or experienced it. But, unconditional love is something that can’t be forced.

How does a four letter word carry so much weight and complexity? It can drive someone over the edge or force another to change their personality, values or morals to please.

There are so many levels of love: Loving a parent, sibling or child as well as a husband or wife, partner and friend. We can also love our houses, cars, sports, electronic devices and other treasured possessions.

Love is a powerful emotion. It can wound us. Reject us. Control us. Destroy us. However, this is a human kind of love.

Pure, genuine love heals all wounds. It is forgiving. “Without love the most magnificent manifestations of gifts and the most heroic self-sacrifice means nothing. Love suffers long, having patience with imperfect people. Love is kind. Love does not envy since it is non-possessive and noncompetitive. Love actually wants and allows other people to get ahead. It wants the best for you. It does not parade itself. Love is self-sacrificing. Love is not puffed up or treats others arrogantly. It does not behave rudely, but displays courtesy. Love does not seek its own or demands precedence, rather it is unselfish.

Love is not provoked; it is not irritable or touchy, rough or hostile but is most graceful and merciful under life’s demands and pressures. Love thinks no evil and does not keep an account of wrong doings but instead it erases resentments. Love does not rejoice in iniquity finding satisfaction in the shortcomings of others and spreading gossip. Instead love rejoices in the truth, aggressively advertising the good in people. Love bears all things, defending and uplifting others in discouragement. It credits others with good intentions and is not suspicious Love hopes all things and never gives up on people, but continues in affirming their future and hope. Love endures all things, persevering and remaining loyal to the end.”  

We have the capacity to love because God lives within us. There is no other love on earth like God’s love. We can search for people or things to fill the void in our lives but we will continually come up short. We will never come to terms with being loved by God until we understand the capacity of God’s love for us.

Unfortunately, we often feel we are not good enough to be loved by people or by God. We live in condemnation, fear and judgment thinking that God could never love us. When things go wrong, we feel God is punishing us for our mistakes, behavior, thoughts and actions. We often blame God when things go wrong.

Some of Satan’s greatest weapons is the use of fear, doubt, shame, guilt, regret and confusion. He constantly taunts us of our faults, failures, weaknesses, circumstances and problems. The end result is a spiral of negative thoughts and emotions due to accepting defeat and failure. The devil is a liar.

The devil uses the same plots and schemes. He is not creative. Once you recognize his bag of tricks, you will understand how to defeat him through the Word of God.

God is forgiving. God loves us more than we will ever be able to comprehend. He loves us no less than He loves His Son. He actually waits for us to come to Him in prayer. God celebrates us!

Sometimes it is much easier to forgive others than ourselves. You will not have peace until you learn how to forgive. The guilt or shame can weigh you down and eventually destroy you. You must also learn to love yourself just as much as you love others.

Please don’t let shame or guilt rob you of believing that you’re in bondage. “Who the Son sets free, is free indeed.” John 8:36

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” Psalm 103:12.

The Lord will redeem your mistakes. Every evil thing that the enemy meant for your harm will be turned around for your good. Genesis 50:20.

Building a relationship with the Lord is not built on repentance only. It is based on worship and praise for who He is; not on what He can do or provide.

God understands you and knows your heart’s desires. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” (Jeremiah 1:5).

The Lord’s characteristics is of peace and not of harm. “For I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm; plans for a hope and a future.” Jer 29:11

You are deserving of God’s love. It is the reason He shed His blood on the cross so we may have eternal life. “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

His love does not have to bought, earned, manipulated or controlled. In 2014, let’s walk in love by first receiving and accepting God’s love as a prime example of His nature and honoring our bodies, minds, thoughts and actions by serving one another in love.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Romans 8:35.

“For I am fully persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor thing to come. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39