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“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
I want to start with this latest story I read in the newspaper because I can’t get it off my mind. I hope that we may share in conversation your thoughts about this. I also want to encourage you to think about self will when you’re reading this. The complexity of self will means sometimes our own choices lead us to heartbreak. Don’t resent this, but instead I hope by the end youll appreciate living a slow paced life.
Except for the story from the newspaper. The story has nothing to do with your self Will because it adds to how we feel when we experience the unimaginable. When I refer to owning your self Will, I meant from the subsequent events I share. If you personally know me, you’d think I have my life together. People are always asking me for advise on relationships, life plans, goals and finances; however, I also want to share my failures, which I call growth opportunities.
From practicing my self will, I ended meeting the wrong people. From rushing, I ended up emotionally exhausted. In my series on Decision Making Fatigue, I said OWN Your life choices. Sadly we are not the Greeks who had a period between school, so they could teach their kids life lessons. Imagine how valuable it would be if someone would sit you down for 1 or 3 years to explain to you how certain roads lead to pain?
And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
You mistakenly chose the abusive partner; heartbreak. This one is difficult because I’ve heard women say “It’s my turn as if they need to sacrifice their entire bodies to be with the man who’ll buy the whole mall.” Or you recklessly spend money leading to worry. How many of you have experienced those first hand? Only difference is Yahweh also says if we learn life’s lessons from Him, it would build endurance. That endurance would turn into a disciplined character and that character confidence in God. This is where you can practice a slow life by recognizing where you deliberately press on even when theres clear warning signs. Live a life that allows you to completely heal. Healing allows you to discern the voice of God’s from falsehoods.The story is in between the Astrix to avoid confusion.
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The Man Who’s Child Turned into a Mermaid is More than a Story about Desperation
I was reading a news article about a man who lost his son in South Africa. If this was the United States, an Amber Alert would have gone off. A high screeching siren accompanied with a message would have gone off for neighbouring places near where the boy was last seen. I remember always experiencing a wave of shock in my heart when I heard the sirens.
My phone would go off on it’s own around 2a.m. this was followed by a message saying a little boy has been taken in Edmond Oklahoma, and last seen In a Red Toyota. I remember this one vidily due to how intrusive it was to my sleep. I feel like it’s effective the sound stung to the walls prisoning me to act now. Go find the boy now! Unfortunately this didn’t happen in Eswatini.
Instead the father went to a spiritual medium. I’m not sure who he is, but many people in Eswatini mix spiritual beliefs. Some lies him first go to a pastor, a prophet, a spiritual medium and back to a pastor again. Like many cult members he was convinced by the medium in Mozambique. The medium said the boy has become a mermaid. She said the boy has been taken and will not come back once he’s become a mermaid. The father has spent over $4,500 to $5,200 USD searching for his son.
This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.
The father is asking for more money because he’s been told to prepare a pool for the son. He reminded me of all the people mislead into cult worship, falsehoods and scams. He reminded me of the Israelites who stuck to the old Egyptian ways of worship; seeking idols to make sense of fear, doubt, worry, heartbreak and devastation. He reminded me of how desperation makes you deaf to abusive lies and deceit. It’s easier to believe the words of wolves when your heart is broken and seeking.
When Life’s Experiences are Too Painful
There’s something at risk when desperation consumes every inch of your being. I’m not a parent, so I can’t say I understand where he’s coming from, but I understand desperation. I almost lost a loved one. No one imagines people telling you your love will die becauee you’re not here at the hospital.
Yet thats what they said. Apart from my own unimaginable moment, you still see countless stories on the newspaper and on social media. We live in a world where wives post their cheating husband’s online. Where angry men beat their wives for many to see. The devils job has become too easier because we war against each other live for everyone to see.
We slander each other on live social media. We seek other forms of breakthrough; money, houses, careers, marriages and idols. I loved love the movie The Breakthrough because it demonstrates the length of one breakthroughs. But I also found myself exhausted when I read another 12 years when by and the husband was still drinking. When you watch the movie you get to understand why he turned bad.
Adults most at risk of experiencing severe emotional stress and post-traumatic stress disorder include those with a history of: Exposure to other traumas, including severe accidents, abuse, assault, combat, or rescue work Chronic medical illness or psychological disorders Chronic poverty, homelessness, or discrimination Recent or subsequent major life stressors or emotional strain, such as single parenting
Why did he desert his family. He was heartbroken by the death he saw every day. Yet ironically we don’t pity a child who becomes an alcoholic? Why is that;he is someone’s child after all. What’s different about his cancer? Some people have a phycial cancer, and some an emotional cancer. Unfortunately when it happens in our own lives, we’re quick to post hate. Quick to punish, insult, kick and throw away. Who will cry for the boy child? Who will mourn the beaten daughter?
And if you want to judge, please may I remind you that your country may not believe in idols, but you’re still vulnerable to idols of the heart and eyes. That being the case, I’m still conflicted about affirmations. I belive certain aspects of affirmations are possible, but all I see is muddied practices. We don’t want to fully admit we’ve lingered too close to lies when you enjoy Christian posts saying “This is a sign.”
How are you different from when I used to sit with my fortune telling friend who said the same thing. She’d call me for a reading and say this is a sign. How are you different to the man paying mermaids $4,000 to $5,000 to get his son back? Deciet or lies, desperation is still desperation whether those lies are expressed through mediums or idols of the heart.
These are the questions that come to mind when I read stories like his. When I go on social media and a man’s child was about to die, but millions of comments didn’t mention Christ. He pleaded and told the story of his little ones illness. He went everywhere, but no one could save her. All of them mentioned the Universe. Who is the universe because the last I saw, the devil lives in the universe, so when you cast your prayers or affirmations to the universe who are you speaking to?
Adults most at risk for emotional stress include: Those who survived a previous disaster Those who lost a loved one or friend involved in a disaster Those who lack economic stability and/or knowledge of the English language Older adults that may lack mobility or independence
I am not God, so I can’t say that if he prayed to the true God, the child would have been saved. That’s a conversation for another day. I am still far from perfect. I suffer from deep seasons of overwhelming anxiety, and on those moments I struggle with faith. I struggle with the guilt that I do not have faith. I struggle with defeat.
However I’ve been at that place where affirmations lied and sounded believable, only to be taunted by the lies of the devil. The only One who brought me out from those lies was God, so how dobyou then explain desperation. I hope this series helps you see more of how your heart is complicated into order to give God a chance. Allow Him to show His goodness even when things are not as great as you’d planned.
After reading stories like people joining cults, drinking bleach and now te father, I’m motivated to ask questions in this series. My heart can’t rest when every day I see those same haunting lies declaring “This is a sign,” because faith is in believing without seeing. Also when I was younger I learned God speaks to us all differently, so how come all I need is a social media post to confirm the plans God has for me.
Why is there a different formula from the Bible; “Write yor dreams on a circle and it will come true.” Do you want me to list all the different affirmations available? These lies. I resent them, but now I’m also in pursuit of discovering is there some truth to affirmations? What did Jesus say about praying to God?
I ask this because His people were with Him everyday wanting to stone Jesus every time he did a miracle. If that’s the case are all these religious mixing a way to distort your views of Christ? They’re doing a great job because the more people try to simplify God as “This is a sign,” the harder it is to discern the word of God. By all means I ask you to fight if that’s the case. Fight to strip all away and stick to the basics. If the basics will save you from desperation and false practices then do it! Strip all these new Christian beliefs and start again in Eden. Start again in Luke. Start again in John. Start again in Roman’s. Start now.
In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles.
Even if you’re confuse, seeking or you’re full of faith, strip all these practices away. That’s what I’m doing. I want to strip all these practices, so when I try again at least I’m aware of a foundational way of seeking God’s face. So how do you achieve this; download the Bible new version app. Let’s both challenge each other to do a plan a month on the topic of Hearing Gods voice.
Let’s challenge each other to learn God’s voice the old way. No more gimics like “This post is for you.” No more tempting $10,000 payments or $2,000. God is not man that He should be bribed. For now continue reading about my experiences running down a rabbit hole of desperation to a road of realization.
End of Story
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My LustFul Adventure with Affirmations
When I was first sold the idea of affirmations, I could see the signs. I’m not even joking, but as you know when you get a feeling from affirmations, you just follow it. Yeah it’s exciting because it’s as loud as New Years fireworks; a lustful adventure. And if you for a second judge me, I hope your egregious self is enjoying the air conditioner because we’ve all idol worshipped something. Even if its pre-workout or puppies.
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
And I did just that; cry over pre-workout and followed a sign from affirmations. One Saturday after seeing signs I was about to meet my soulmate, I traveled to another town. Embarrassing isn’t it? Yet so many have been where I was; seeking for a Loud sign like the burning bush. Why is it that Moses gets to experience it, but me? So I traveled 2 hours to go meet this “Love of my life,” because a bunch of signs leading me there.
The word desperation is itself a child of Hope. Desperation, in fact, comes from de-spes which means lack of hope. Giving up on our hopes leads us to experience a quality of disconnection and meaninglessness that is far more frightening than any other painful experience we might go through.
The distance is similar to driving from Norman Oklahoma to Dallas Texas. I’m not proud of those moments now because of what I’ve come to learn from God; The one true Yahweh. I also learned how dangerous the idols of my heart are to my purpose. As a result I hope you see why mixing affirmations lessons today.
All Desperate Road only Leads to Pain
This is because it took going through several severe spiritual attacks before I crashed and realized something is wrong. The odd things is I went through 2 very terrifying spiritual attacks and instead of turning away from them, I believed something was wrong with me.
Isn’t that an addiction? There’s nothing good that comes out of addictions. The minute you believe there’s something wrong with you, you’re already lost. That’s how cults work, so I need to question affirmations. If you keep losing this sign, you’re also missing the glory of God.
So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message? Yes, they have: “The message has gone throughout the earth, and the words to all the world.”
Romans 10:17-18 NLT. This is why I believe God warns us to follow affirmations because they will lead you away from the governing Kingdom of God. The Bible is not limited, so why do you need these chants to seek out God’s blessing?
No one can EVER work for the love of God. God loves you because it’s in His nature to love all His children. I never met the soulmate. Actually it was a really embarrassing story, but I’ll save it for another day. Oh and this concludes partially how I got yelled at my 5 men. I’m partially joking, but all men did yell at me. I was devasted; so none of yall are prince charming?
Pursue Healing While Going SLOW toward your Life Plan
Instead they were men desperately screaming at a woman (me) for babies while I say across the table waiting on the frogs to turn into prince charming. It was a war between an outward cry from screaming men and inward desperation expresses by my widened eyes. I’m never a silent person when yelled at, but I was intrigued why I kept finding myself there. By the 5th man, I was like “Okay you can take off important costume and reveal the frog because that’s who you are” I mean who screams at someone you met 3 days ago? A desperate heart; that’s who screams at another person.
And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Unfortunately, now 2 desperate people were screaming at each other; he overtly screamed at me. And I screamed from within because I wanted a soulmate not a man seeking a surrogate. Essentially this reveals the talks behind my dating serious. Probably need to change those titles to; “Stop being desperate and go heal before dating.” And please take down any picture of me on surrogate websites. Thank you.
and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness.
Then there is the most crucial point; affirmations left me frantically creating room for the devil to lie. I started believing that God ripped away so many blessings because He secretly wants to punish me, yet that is very wrong. That’s what affirmations say right; maybe you’re too desperate, so you need to go. I agree wholeheartedly here; let go of false practices.
Being Mislead by False Practices
They also say you’re chasing after the wrong thing, so go back and try again. And for someone Like me who saw snow for the first time and decided to run in a shirt and joggers, best believe I was relentlessly determined to go through that spiritual warfare. Moments like this make me understand the person who spends $4,000 to $5,000 or drinks bleach for a cult wearing sheep clothing. How did we miss him? The answer is you can’t blame society because the feelings starts when he’s alone. When everyone forgets. Remember in Part 1 I said how quickly people get annoyed with your feelings?
Hope is the last to die because it is one of the main constituents of the human species. Losing it means disappearing from life even if we are still breathing.
I was very wrong about it too because when you lack knowledge on how to equip yourself, you’re guaranteeing more pain than growth and breakthroughs. At the time I believed the attacks were trying to stop me from my goals; today I understand it differently.
The vulnerability of the human heart is a risk to self. When you’re crying out for help and turn to both Jesus and other things like “This is a sign,” you’re opening yourself to a painful tug of war game between spiritual beliefs.
No matter How Lost You Feel, Choose God, and Try The Basics of His Kingdom
It’s a nasty one because the way I see it affirmations give you what you want NOW without having true or intrinsic change. They’re also a distraction. I know now that when there’s a big shift happening in your life, affirmations come running like that nasty coworker who only helps you on the job just to take ALL your credit. Yet it’s worse than that. I believe the Jews were waiting on God when He was right in their faces. I see John 10:10 a little different because of this. A lack of knowledge and allowing these false practices to flood all over th internet kills hope. Your hope is the most lethal weapon to a breakthrough, and it’s the most wanted. So how do you protect it?
Remember when I told you there were moments as a child when I watched adults protect a reputation over me? Well I hadn’t healed from those moments. Instead I picked up very broken beliefs to understand people’s behaviors. For example I struggle trusting poeple, so I developed a stronger sense of independence. Ironically most world views praise the strong and independent type. Thats why I say the career girl is exactky the same as the alchoholic; what lead them to that life plan. I believed at the time I was mature for moving on from watching adults protect a stalker.
I mean what 10 year old can explain why she was not protected with such ease? Even when the situation became life threatening. I believed I was mature because I reasoned saying well in Africa maybe we don’t have something for stalkers, so that why they didn’t protect me. God comes to heal and give us peace for these broken moments. Unfortunately these broken moments are vulnerable to lies.
It’s Okay to not have all the answer to Life. Thats God’s place for Our Lives
I was completely wrong because that doesn’t explain why there is a death sentence for serial killers in my country. Yet broken beliefs helped me make sense of things no one was trying to help me see. I get it: people are uncomfortable with such moments. Except for Mrs Wessels (pronounced Vessels). She understood what I was experiencing, so she gave me room to come to her office and just be a child for once.
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
To stop being strong as a child and just be a child. She is very precious to my heart for those moments. Now what if no one was there for you? What about my friend who ate flour to survive. Yes people used to take her for sports tournaments, but how many adults could pick up this child is eating flour? How many people have someone to look in their eyes saying “I see you,” like what Mrs Wessels did for me? Whatever you’re going in life, it’s going to be difficult to heal if you’ve got broken trauma-led beliefs controlling you.
Nonetheless affirmations were like a sweet and poisonous honey to my soul because they gave me quick answers to many things. Affirmations don’t wound you like Pastor T.D.Jakes says. They don’t put you through the fire of growth, so you can come out purified like Jesus will do in your life. Affirmations don’t test you by putting you in those same spaces where people disappointed you, and ask you to forgive.
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Black Couture is a Christ-centered health & wellness blog continuing the era of unique beauty, health & fitness lifestyle inspiration of every day women.
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