Do You Want to Be Blessed or Cursed?

When it comes to whether or not we want blessings or curses in our lives, the answer to that is really a no-brainer. I can't imagine anyone saying, "Yes, I want to be cursed!" No. We all want good things for ourselves, our family, and to have a wonderful life.

If this is true, WHY do we still choose to be cursed? I have been pondering that ever since the other day when I was reading Joyce Meyer's daily devotional on the WONDERFUL Bible app on my phone. She mentioned that Deuteronomy 28 describes a blessed life and a cursed life. The difference between the two is obedience to God. Read it and see the huge contrast between the two! The one who listens to the Lord is BEYOND blessed and life is good, prosperous, and abundant. Then, it goes on to say how difficult, disastrous, and calamity ridden a disobedient life is. It's a very bleak, distressing, and depressing picture! Seriously, take a moment and read it for yourself!

After I read it, it really got me to thinking about my own life. I had always tried so hard to please God and be a "good girl". The closer I walked with God, the better my life truly was and I can honestly say, those were always the happiest times. Any time I wandered astray, that's when I saw things in my life fall apart and bad things happen left and right. I've never saw it more plainly than in these last three years. I've always had my faith, but I'll admit that it was by a thread for a good while. I'll tell you what, I've never had a more heart breaking, miserable, lonely, depressing, and horrific time than when I was so lost and losing hope in the Lord. My worst moments of my life have been during these past three years when my faith was so weak. However, I have noticed that my life truly began to get better again due to the profound and simple choice I made on Easter Sunday of this year to rebuild my faith. That day, I was talking to the boyfriend I had at the time. Our relationship was very new; we were about two weeks into it (I think). Unfortunately, that was all the further it would go because he decided that he didn't want to renew his faith. I had told him that I was watching church online and asked if he was going anywhere or doing anything for Easter. That's when he told me he believed in God, yet wanted nothing to do with Him. It was a heartbreaking thing to hear; especially when that is not the kind of thing he had originally told me when we got together. He assured me that he wasn't going to change his mind on it, so I had to make the painful decision to let him go because I knew that being unequally yoked never works and that anyone who chooses anyone over God isn't worthy of Him (2 Corinthians 6:14, Matthew 10:37-38).

It was that choice that started changing my life all over again; this time, for the better. I started out by watching my brother's church online and committed to doing so each Sunday until I found a local church home. Later on, I started watching Blackhawk Ministries instead and was considering attending there (even though it's a 45 minute drive from where I am). I hadn't been to church in a long time and even though I tried a few churches, I hadn't found one in which I felt like it was "home". Yet, I knew it was important to find somewhere local, so I went to a few churches last summer. It's funny where you end up because the place where I finally felt like I belonged was the one that my parents' go to. I have went a couple times, but didn't feel like I connected (and mostly because I think I just didn't want to). However, I feel like God wanted me there because on the Sunday that I went back, it was due to the fact that I missed the service of another church. I was driving to it, but couldn't find a way to get there due to the road construction. It was like God was literally road blocking me lol. I didn't want to just give up and go home, so I figured I would surprise my parents and show up at theirs since it was about time for it to start anyways. Not only did I surprise them, but God surprised ME. The church was welcoming, the worship was full of heart (it always gets me teared up!), and the people there just have an attitude of servanthood (as evidenced by the testimonials they were having from the youth group that day; it really blessed me and melted my heart). The church is all about love, serving, prayer, ministry, and missions. It's so genuine and does EXACTLY the kind of things a church SHOULD do!

Over the next few weeks, I realized that I knew I belonged there. Not only that, but my kids love it there and they have a sign language interpreter in the service that my son loves to watch. I was also able to jump right in and start getting involved when I heard about the Steps of Faith Walk that they were going to have. I was very blessed to take part in it (she ended up getting well over 600 pairs of shoes to send to Africa!). I love getting connected with people that I already know, as well as getting to know new people. This church family makes it so easy! I am so grateful for them and look forward to getting to know them all more!

It is pretty obvious to me that Deuteronomy 28 is right on! I am seeing how blessed my life is again now that I have renewed my faith and started making choices for Him again. As you've read in my recent posts, He has blessed my children and I with a new house and so much more! I just can't even begin to tell you all the ways that he has provided for us and how wonderful my life is becoming more and more each day! I'm leaving the life full of curses and entering a life full of blessings when I choose Jesus!

In Joyce Meyer's devotional, she says: ""you can get free from one thing and go on to another thing and another thing and pretty soon, you'll start to realize that you have some real authority in Christ." I am definitely finding the bliss and freedom of working on all the things I need to work on in my life. I'm embracing each stage and step; learning, growing, and changing (even if it's uncomfortable, painful, or difficult). Joyce says, "Don't live your life without the thrill of growing and changing or you'll miss out on the good things God can do through you." Amen! She couldn't be more right about that! She also suggests to, "Take some time today to visualize the person you want to be and start pursuing God's freedom. Because one day at a time, you and God can do anything!" Amen to that too!

Grace and peace to you, my friends! Take it from me, it's a lot better to be blessed than cursed; and it's within YOUR power to decide which of the two you want to be! Your heart, attitude, and willingness to lay down your pride and be submissive to the Lord is what will bring forth transformation, renewal, and blessings into your life! So, if your life is a mess, full of stress and turmoil, etc. pause for a moment to think about whether your choices have invited curses on yourself due to issues of disobedience in some way/area to God. Do you have an addiction? Do you fear/worry to much instead of surrendering control and trusting God? Do you hold onto hate and unforgiveness? What's the condition of your heart? Be honest with yourself and then bring it before Him and make those issues right. Make a choice to be a better you and have a better life through obedience to Christ. There truly is blessing and freedom in abiding in Him! Be infused! God bless you!

How to Hear from God

Today has been one of those days where I wasn't sure what to blog. Sometimes, I almost worry a bit until I focus and remember that God ALWAYS gives me something. I don't have to be concerned about running out of content to post on here to help others because GOD is in charge. He always supplies me with something to share! Yet, sometimes I also get concerned that I won't hear Him even when He is speaking.

Today, I was absolutely wowed by a verse while listening to a sermon at Huntington Baptist Church today. It spoke to me about that very concern that I just mentioned. It wasn't something I didn't already know, but for some reason, it hit me in a fresh way:

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. - Isaiah 59:2

Iniquity. Sin. If we can't hear, if we feel separated from Him, it's because something isn't right in our hearts. We are holding something back from Him; our unconfessed sin. When Jesus was on the cross, He had the sin of the whole world on Himself and He had asked God why He had forsaken Him (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). God is holy. Sin can't stand in His presence. It becomes a barrier between Him and us. Until it's torn down by our confession, and the forgiveness through Christ's blood (1 John 1:9), we're going to continue to feel distant from God. We have to make it right! God wants to be near us. He'll draw near to us if we draw near to Him (James 4:8). He never leaves us or forsakes us (Deuteronomy 31:8). We're the ones that build up that wall and cause that distance by running away from Him and letting sin build up in our lives.

I've been struggling for a few years to feel God's presence like I used to (and yearn to). I keep praying for the wisdom to see and hear Him clearly and to be aware of the things that I need to do to accomplish that. I am a constant work in progress. I'm doing much better, but I still have a lot of work to do. I'm going to keep praying for God to sensitize me and to keep learning how to die to self more and more every day (Matthew 16:24-25).

I want God to hear me; and I want to hear from God. I don't want His face to be hidden from me. I want to SEEK IT! I want to connect with God, but building a wall of sin brick by brick is going to make it impossible unless it's torn down by confession and the blood of Jesus. Dear Lord, give me the strength I need to do whatever needs to be done!

Grace and peace to you, my friends! May we all have humble and open hearts to the Spirit of God; sensitized and never callused. Watch the video below. It's a powerful illustration of how God chips away at us and molds us into his masterpiece if we allow Him to work in us and remove the things that don't belong!
Be infused! God bless you!

Focus + Change = Transformation!

Changes; I've been making a LOT of them lately. I can't begin to list them all, but there have been lots of shifts in my life; both big and small. For the most part, it has all occurred due to a deliberate change of focus. I've been bettering my life physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Physically, my fitness and nutrition has improved since drinking Shakeology consistently and doing the Focus T25 workouts. Mentally and emotionally, I have been purposely thinking and acting in a positive manner and concentrating on the good things of God's Word. I've been feeding my spirit with God's messages (which has also included listening to Christian music again) to fuel me and reshape my heart and mind; which has led to the better spiritual condition I've been in. I've also been actively searching for a new "church home" (I haven't been plugged into a church for quite a while).

As I reflect over the past couple months, I see how I've been transforming so much! More and more, I feel like I am becoming the person I am meant to be. These past three years have been the craziest and hardest three years of my life. It has been all the more difficult because I allowed my faith to dwindle and have gotten away from the kind of person that I used to be. Now, I feel like I'm truly rebuilding and beginning again. I have refocused on what's most important: God and Kingdom work!

Kingdom work. That's the thing that's been standing out in my mind and heart the most recently. I've thought about it all the more since visiting the church that my parents attend. They have had testimonies (particularly from the youth) where they state their name and that they're a "Kingdom worker." Every time I have heard one of those testimonies, it inspires and fires me up inside to be the kind of servant that we are all called to be (and the kind I always used to be). I am truly blessed by the kind of huge heart this church has for loving and serving others! There is such a sweet spirit of servanthood, ministry, and outreach to both the local and global community! Tonight, for example, they are having a community block party! What a great opportunity to serve and have fellowship with the community! I am going to take the kids!

I couldn't end this blog without talking a bit about the message at church today which was all about axing the excess in our lives. It fit just perfectly with all the changes I'm making in my life right now. It serves as an encouragement and affirmation from God that I am headed in the right direction. Pastor Sprinkle talked about focus and cutting out the excess in our lives that distract us from God. Whether it's having too much emphasis on our stuff, our activities, entertainment, or whatever else, we need to take a moment to shift our attention back to where it needs to be. That's something that I've learned in my workouts too as I've been doing Focus T25. Never before have I been so concentrated and focused on what I was doing. When you remember just how intentional you have to be in what you do, you get so much more out of it! I have been applying that not just in my workouts, but in all those areas of my life that I mentioned. I am AMAZED at just how more content, happy, and purpose filled I feel now! Focus + change = transformation!! It's awesome!

Grace and peace to you, my friends!! If you have been wanting change in any area of your life, you CAN achieve it if you really focus on it! Cut out distractions, commit to making changes (even small ones, which can ultimately result in big ones!) and really concentrate on what you're doing! Eliminate all the excessive things in your life that need to be cut out so you can devote more time to the most important things. Think about the limits and boundaries you need to have and redirect your time and energy to the things that matter most! As you can see, I have been pouring a lot of time and energy into Infusion 413 because I have a passion for helping people and sharing things from my life/heart that I feel God will use to minister to others. That is why I use my writing talent to blog, post statuses to encourage, and want to interact with people so they know that their coach cares about them! "My name is Melissa and I'm a Kingdom worker!" How about you? Be infused! God bless you!