Browsing Tag

prayer

Giants are Surfacing

Faith, life, Prayer, Purpose, Spiritual Warfare

The state of our world is unbelievable.

I never would’ve guessed that we’d be experiencing what we are today.

Just last week Wednesday, the company I work for announced that we would be testing the systems environment as we work from home Friday through Tuesday, but then on Friday things turned quickly and they announced that we’re mandated to work remotely at least until April 6th.

In a matter of days major events have been cancelled and schools have closed. As of today, restaurants and bars are closed in Illinois. When we log onto social media people are passing along jokes (especially about the shortage of toilet tissue), news articles, and scriptures that seem most fitting for the moment in the world of fear.

There’s no shortage of online debates and arguments of whether churches should follow suit and close. Text messages of supposed leaked governmental decisions and speculations of these events previously predicted are circulating all surrounding the Coronavirus epidemic.

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If we don’t step away from it all…

We will find ourselves as believers feeling afraid, panicked, and suckered into the intimidation schemes of the spirit of fear.

In the state of shock, we mindlessly head to news blogs and social media to be inundated with messages filled with the undercurrent of anxiety.

I have personally made the decision to limit the amount of exposure to all of this. No matter how spiritual we think we are, we’ll soon find ourselves subjected to the fear of uncertainty just like everyone else, rather than giving God His space to say what He wants to say.

We can recite scriptures, pray for it all to end, and assume the most spiritual thing to say, but at the end of the day, I think this should spark our curiosity to hear God’s perspective.

He is a living, moving, and intentional God, so…

What is God doing amid all the noise?

What qualities is He trying to bring out of His people during this time?

Which leaders is He looking for to stand up and speak His word over the situation?

What glory is He going to get?

 How is He going to turn it all around for the true believers that don’t just talk about God, but know Him enough to seek His face, His comfort, His voice, His direction, and His timing?

We don’t know how this will all end.

We don’t know if the chaos will dissipate over the next few months or if it will worsen. This crisis could cause major unemployment, unforeseeable deaths because of the influx of those visiting the hospitals, scarcity of necessitates beyond toiletries to even food and water. Next to scarcity is even more fear, panic and the resulting crime. We don’t know all the residual effects…

Here’s the thing though, giants are surfacing…

Recession, inflation, grief, depression and many more are trying to threaten us.

My stance is to seek God now rather than waiting for things to worsen.

Limit the amount of scare tactics you expose yourself to.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be taking a deep dive into the scriptures to face, fight, and annihilate the spirit of fear and all the masks fear puts on to disguise himself.

Join me on Instagram and Facebook for daily content as I dig into Psalms 91 and others, word by word, phrase by phrase, scripture by scripture to get the life and perspective that we should hold as believers.

Feel free to share any scripture that you find powerful and impactful during this time as well.

In addition to this, I’ll be practicing the art of quieting myself to tune in to heaven. I hope you’re doing the same.

May God bless you, keep you and protect you…

Love,

Natalia Shelton

The Feast of a Lifetime

Prayer

I’ve been digging in and savoring all the goodness of Proverbs today!

Ever since I developed an appetite for the Word of God, I’ve always had a special love for what the book of Proverbs imparts in my spirit.

Today, I meditated and studied chapter 9 which personifies wisdom as a lady, a queen. And she has an invitation to the feast of a lifetime (verses 1,2).

She built a house and set up beautiful pillars to beautify it.

What’s on the menu? Prepared roasted lamb and specially mixed wine all perfect for a huge feast.

She decorated the tables with fine décor and furnishings.

OMG! This feast sounds so amazing and I wouldn’t want to miss it for the world!

Proverbs 9:10 says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”.

This means that if we truly know God and respect Him for who He is, then we would’ve accepted Lady Wisdom’s invitation to dine at her table.

What do you believe it means to accept the invitation to dine with Lady Wisdom?

Well, The Word of God embodies His wisdom and to accept Wisdom’s call means to make the Word our prime choice of life, comfort, and direction.

God would be highly offended if we turned down the invitation and decided to dine somewhere else. The offense would be from God knowing how much thought, love, and life was prepared for us. Everything was set up so beautifully at that table, but for us to not count it worthy of our time, our presence, and our attention.

The world is full of many distractions that fight for our time, talent, and treasures. But to accept the invitation means to wean our appetites from the distractions that only draw us away from God. Accepting the invitation is to develop a healthy appetite for His Word and His presence.

Can I challenge you to sacrifice one thing that you’d normally spend time on to read through Proverbs 8 and 9 over the next week? I don’t mean knock it out as fast as you can, but slow down enough to meditate on it, takes notes, and pray for ways to apply what you absorb from the passages and then share with me the life, the nuggets of wisdom that you find to live by for the rest of your life.

Let’s grow deeper together.

Love,

Natalia

Part II: Tips on Handling Fights in Marriage

Marriage, Prayer

Why is handling fights in marriage carefully a Destined Initiative? Because marriage can make or break you… You want to reach your destiny with your marriage in one piece. Let’s be honest, divorce can set you back in quite a few ways. More importantly, marriage is sacred in God’s eyes, so it should be cherished even when it doesn’t feel good. The context of marriage can feel like a boxing ring, but we have to remember that our spouses are not the enemy (always, lol). You’ve undoubtedly second guessed your marriage at points in time, but you’re married now, so you have to roll with the punches and learn to love, respect, and forgive unconditionally. Check out these additional 5 tips on handling fights in marriage. (See the first 5 tips here)

1.Keep negative people out of your marital business. Misery loves company, so if you’re talking about your marriage with someone who’s miserable, bitter, hopeless, and not even trying to make things better, you can bet that the conversation will consist of endless spousal bashing with no hopes of a better day ahead.

There’s a difference between someone stating the truth in love and concern and being plain disrespectful. You don’t need that negativity in your head, so don’t even let them sow those seeds of discord. Quickly run away from anyone that talks negatively about your spouse after you’ve tactfully put them in their place! Your spouse is your other half, so any ill spoken words against them are spoken over you too!

Venting is a relieving exercise, but we have to condition ourselves to vent to God first because everyone shouldn’t know your business and it can become the hot gossip topic really quickly.

Be very cautious of getting advice regarding your marriage from people who aren’t skilled in resolving marital issues. Some people are not objective and mature enough to give you sound advice. They may be biased toward either of you and pass judgment and hold grudges beyond the forgiveness that takes place between you and your spouse.

The person that you discuss your marital issues with should be spiritually minded and willing to withhold from giving you advice if they don’t have anything constructive to say. They should encourage you to pray, pray with you and/or give a recommendation to someone that may be able to help you.

I learned quickly that everyone’s “good” advice caused entirely too much confusion. Talk to Jesus about everything first and if you’re still having a hard time managing the issue, seek wise counsel with someone who’d handle the issues with understanding and approach your marriage as a precious jewel that needs to be preserved.

2.Seek wise counsel. You don’t have to run for counsel for each argument you have. Please don’t burden people with every fight. Your line of communication to God should be in full operation, so technically, you should be able to resolve most of your marital problems between the two of you, but seek counsel if things seem to be breaking down faster than you can build them up. Get help if you notice any of the following situations:

  • You’re arguing uncontrollably every single day
  • You’re constantly arguing in front of your children or people outside your marriage
  • Your marital issues are drastically affecting your life and responsibilities outside of the home
  • There is physical, sexual, or extreme verbal abuse

If at all possible, try to be aligned on the decision to get counseling and who to get it from.

3.Meditate & believe that God will get glory somehow. As you wait on God to give you a resolution, remember that all things work to the good of those that love God and are called according to his purpose. Winning in marriage is a matter of real love. Maybe marriage is unbearable because either of you have an issue with love in general. Do you really love God with all your heart, mind, and soul? If so, obedience will follow and we’re supposed to love and forgive unconditionally. If your spouse is not a believer, then you have to be a light and win them with godly love. We have to be ministers to our spouses first before anyone else because happiness starts at home.

4.Cover your spouse no matter what. Covering your spouse is essentially covering your future together. During marital wars you may very well wish destruction, the wrath of God, or even death on your spouse. (Hey, I’m just being honest), but at the end of the day, you have a responsibility to cover your spouse’s imperfections with love, protect their reputation at all times, because once the resolution comes, you’ll want to move forward in life, but it’ll be hard to do that if you’ve vented your marital issues on social media or told the whole wide world that your spouse is a rotten egg. People won’t be as forgiving as you are and it’ll seem like they can remember your marital issues more than you can. Essentially, conflicts should boil down to bumps (or huge potholes) in the road that make you stronger and more experienced. Conflicts are opportunities to draw you closer to each other. Makeups seal the deal and they feel like honeymoons! Hey, who doesn’t like makeups?!

5.Bite the bullet! There will be plenty of times when you’ll have to take the beating for the team. You’ll have to eat that good old humble pie, admit when you’re wrong and apologize even when you didn’t intentionally mean to offend. A major goal of marriage is to make it to the end together as better people. When you stand your ground to prove that you’re right or hold a grudge unforgivably, it may send the message that you care more about being right than about the marriage as a whole.

Jesus is the perfect model of this kind of commitment. He made the decision to take on death for us, so that we could reconcile with him, be in relationship with him, and enjoy the benefits from being united with him as the holy bridegroom. This is LOVE. Sometimes it seems like marriage is full of suffering, denying yourself to pick up a cross and follow Jesus to honor the sacredness of marriage. Remember though, that those that suffer for the sake of obeying God and sticking to his standard of life, will reign with him in eternity. God will give you strength to endure to the end.

I’d love your feedback and/or grace us with some tips that you’d like to share.