love, mercy joy

I keep reading this over and over because it's one of those verses nobody talks about, that you wonder if it's really in the Bible... Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness (Rom 4:4-5) This one is for all the people who think that once someone receives Jesus into their heart, they then begin the Christian journey of trying to be perfect, which they will never achieve until they die and go to heaven. "Congratulations, you made it to heaven (well, you'll get there...someday). Now all you have to do is quit smoking, drinking, having sex unmarried, and anything else that you currently find pleasure in, start going to church, Sundays and Wednesdays minimum, give away 10% of your already short paycheck, spend your Saturdays when you finally have time to breathe doing community service, join the choir or teach Sunday ...

I went to Art Basel in Wynwood by myself today. I learned a lot about me.   I learned that I still care a LOT about what other people think of me.   One way that comes out is that I still have insecurities about my fashion. I was feelin myself in my outfit but as I started walking down the street alone, I began imagining that I looked frumpy and dumb. I started wondering why did you wear that? Why did you put those pieces together? Why are you wearing such a dark lipstick?   I have always loved fashion, and when I was very small whatever I thought was beautiful, I wanted to wear. Which was almost everything. My mama loved to dress me up when I was a baby, because I would get so excited. Then she would go to yearly rummage sales at the nearby churches, and bring home bags and bags of clothes for all of us, and I loved everything she got. I was fascinated by it all, no matter the color, the style…although I did love me some shine and some ...

So...there are some things I have been thinking about a lot over these past few months. There are some truths that it seems like I know or at least understand in my mind, but they do not materialize in my life. Does that mean they haven't reached my heart? How do I get there? How does that kind of thing happen to you guys? You know the things that you're like "I'm gonna do better with this, this isn't going to happen again"...and then the next day the same thing happens again...and you think, 'I KNOW I know what to do, why am I not doing it?' Those are the things I want to talk about. Not teach, because I think teaching is for the masters. I just want to talk, and you are so welcome to share your thoughts, too. So here is a thing. Do you know that Jesus came to prove that we can actually live inside of a human body sinless? Yeah...I don't think that we are actually "sinners saved by grace." If you read Romans 1:4, it talks ab...

“A woman is not written in braille. You do not need to touch her to know her.” Who told you that you had to cheapen your worth, giving away your body, to feel valuable? Who told you they could put their own price tag on you? One of the the biggest lies of our current culture is that you gotta test the merchandise before you buy it. First of all, women are not merchandise (and neither are men), so this concept is repulsive to me. You are the living, breathing image of Almighty God. Do you know what that means? Would you go around attempting to convince God to “gimme some sugar” when you have no intentions of committing your life to him?  It’s funny, people think that because I’m a virgin, it’s “easy” for me to be pure. What a joke. Sex is spiritual and magical and all of that I’m sure, but it is entirely physical and hormonal as well. Sorry to ruin the mystery. You can’t tell me there is a grown person alive who has never been turned on, barring a health or mental...

I feel like the story of Rahab is one of the stories in the Bible that a lot of religious people try to ignore. Like, they kind of pretend she didn't exist, or if she did, they paint her in this glorious picture as some kind of special, holy prostitute. Because God wouldn't really use a whore, would he? “Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.” Rahab was a hooker. You get me? She got paid to have sex. Actively. Not, she used to be a bad girl but now she's redeemed. No, she was a working girl, and she worked hard for the money. I haven't thought about Rahab for years. I was one of those good little Christian girls who read that story and wrote it off as a "Bible" story so I didn't have to relate it to r...

I've found that people have a lot to say about being a virgin, and waiting for sex until marriage...and much of it comes from fear. Isn't that just like the enemy...to rob us of the very best God has for us by deception. By getting us to think about what we might be missing. A trick as old as the garden of Eden. "What if we're not compatible...what if I don't even  like  sex with him?!" "What if there's no chemistry?" "So we're supposed to learn over time but...what if  it never gets better?!" I'm almost 32 now so I get even more exciting questions...what if you never find him?? What if it's too late? Certain parts work best at certain ages...on and on lolol.  But hey, I have a question too.  What if  YOU'RE  all wrong?!  I recently have been hearing an interesting perspective--what is marriage anyway? It's an antiquated concept. Who should be allowed to tell me that I have to have a piece of paper ...

Everyone comes to a place in life where they have to face their fears. It's how we find out what we're made of. It's how we find out that we are actually strong, powerful, and capable. I believe that fear is actually someone . “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” ‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭10:4-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Itself  was translated from the Greek word "epairō" which means literally "to raise up or exalt oneself." Until we acknowledge that what we are facing is actually a someone , we cannot tell this someone  where to go. It's a someone who has no power over us, someone who was defeated...but we have to actually come to a point where we look it in the face and say "NO MORE." No more will you rob me of my destiny. No mo...