Nothing to Fear by Jose Florez

And He Said:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1:21

Praise the Lord Jesus, All the glory to HIM because without HIM I would have not been able to make it through that storm. All along he was with me during the time my mother ended up in the hospital with Covid.

I was suffering and I had so many fears. My heart was crushed (Psalm 34:18). My mother spent thirty days in the hospital and I was only able to speak to her twice. I didn’t know where I was headed, My life began to fall apart with one loss following another. I didn’t have time to fully recover from one wave of grief before another hit. I began to believe GOD turned away from me. I felt like I had fallen because I was so weak. I was so scared for my mom because she was not saved.

During those difficult times I remember hearing dark voices speak - "And you preach JESUS to everyone". I was so angry with GOD, I remember asking GOD, why He was allowing this. But there was no response.

I remembered the story of Job. He lost everything including his children and he continued to praise GOD. But as for me, I wasn’t there yet. I was angry and I was losing faith in HIM.

I remember the day my mother ended up in the hospital I went to sleep so early because I felt so weak. That day after falling asleep I woke up two hours later and sat on my bed and GOD spoke to me. "Go to your mother’s room and pray". After hearing GOD'S voice, everything started turning.

I began to cry and pour out my heart to HIM. I was filled so much happiness that I knew not only does GOD love me, HE also loved my mother and HE wanted her to be saved. I hoped that she was going to live - only if it was HIS will.

For thirty days the LORD woke me up to pray in mom’s room. On the thirtieth day she passed away. I know she is with JESUS.

During this journey GOD made me realize I was just thinking about myself. Since that time, HE has empowered my prayer life.

My mom was in the hospital at the same time my daughter was giving birth to twins (Noah & Jacob).

All the glory to GOD. I know HE is with me and you no matter the situation. Now I know that as long as we have faith, we have nothing to fear.

Isaiah 41:10

Being Still by Monica Sagastume

Being still is easier said than done.

Being so new in my relationship with Jesus, I still have challenges to overcome, and learned patterns that I have to break and chains that will be loosed. I'm referring to the “chains” that most worship songs talk about.

Pleasing humans and striving to avoid confrontations, was my way of living for a long time. I’m not perfect and it still happens. The difference now is that Jesus helped me realize who is in control of my life.

Through daily prayer and obedience, HE taught me who was in control of every step I take. He is in control of all the relationships in my life. HE is the one who gives me all the unconditional love and support I need.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalms 46:10. So as I continue my journey with Jesus and make mistakes, I'm reminded that the mistakes I made before brought me to the love of Jesus.

The mistakes brought me to the acknowledgment of the ONLY PROVIDER who deserves our praise, the only being who deserves to be pleased. Sometimes, gentle confrontations build a relationship God needs wants to grow in our lives, but gentle confrontations can also break the relationships that no longer serve HIS purpose for us.

What "chains" are you struggling with today? Be still and try not to rush. Know that HE is God. Let’s praise the Lord through all of our trials, all of our storms and HE WILL FILL OUR HEARTS. Let's be still and know that HE is God.

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” Philippians 4:4

God is good and HE will CONTINUE to provide for me and for you all that we need as we trust and know that HE IS GOD!

On the day I wrote this, God allowed me to see this view of stillness.

Be still and know that He is God!

Our Father by Nancy Soulemana

As a child in Catholic school, I memorized the Our Father. Every day we recited the Our Father for our teachers, just as we would say The Pledge of Allegiance. But the words held no value to me. It was something I memorized, just like my phone number or address.

The Our Father means so much more. According to Matthew 6 Jesus is teaching God’s people how to Pray. Matthew 6:9 says, “This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

When we pray, we acknowledge God is Holy. There is none like Him! We ask that His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. We thank Him for our daily provisions and to forgive our sins and of those who have sinned against us. We ask for protection against sin.

We again acknowledge His greatness again. This reminds me a lot of the sandwich effect. You start with good, serve up not so much in the middle, and end with good.

A lesson I learned in school came straight from Jesus Himself!

Jesus laid out the path for us to go directly to Our Father in prayer. As we pray, let it not be a ritual, let it be relational. Our Father hears us. Jeremiah 29:12 says, “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you”.

Our Father wants to hear from you. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Our Father wants to share with you.

Go to Him in prayer and He will reveal things to you. Just as you want to hear from a loved one by phone, text, or email. God wants to hear from you!