Hello my loves!! It is officially my FAVORITE season, FALL!! I love the smells, sounds, colors, and let’s not forget the fashion!! I am always excited when this season is approaching and I am always in anticipation of the AMAZING feeling it brings me. Can you feel my excitement??!! Kinda like the excitement of when you feel something is just for you. Imagine someone baking a cake just for you. Maybe someone bought a special gift just for you. Could it be that a person may feel that you were made just for them? Those things give us ALL the good feelings. This month we are going to talk about the relentless love of God and how it is specific to us individually. He loves us all in a unique way. Isn’t that amazing!! Let’s get into it!

In the Word, we have found that Jesus was a storyteller. You ever met someone that could tell a story so well? That was Jesus, He often used illustrations called parables to communicate to others. The parable we will focus on is found in Matthew 15:12-14 and Luke 15:3-7. I am going to use the scriptures in Luke from The Message version for reference. It says: “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.” This speaks of how God loves us. Even in moments or seasons that we stray away, He draws us back with His loving-kindness. It speaks to His joy of us coming back or someone coming into the knowledge of His goodness and being accepted into the kingdom.

Initially, you may say, sooo you gonna leave 99 sheep in the wilderness that were clearly following their master to look for one sheep that only had one job?? I thought the same thing at first glance, however we have all been that sheep, are that sheep, or sometimes think of being that sheep again. Following God is not always appealing or fun. If you think so, He apparently hasn’t asked you to do something you didn’t want to do. Maybe He hasn’t held you to a standard because of what He called you to do or steward, or asked you to sacrifice something. There are moments that I have wanted to leave the group and go do ratchet things! If you say you haven’t, meet me at the altar! But it all comes down to one thing, LOVE. The love He has JUST FOR ME! I cannot testify about what he has done for, with, and through you. However, I do know who He is in my life, and I am soooo grateful that he left the 99 for me!!

John 3:16 is a very popular passage. The New Living Translation says: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” This is how God loved the world, that part!! A pure, unfiltered love that is given to us if we believe, before we even had an opportunity to believe. A love that was specialized just for us, when He found us and brought us back to our family in the kingdom. Just like a good parent loves all of their children, but understands that they have different needs and cannot be loved the same way–God knows that some of us need more attention and care. Some of us may be more self-sufficient, but He still lets us know that He is there to guide us. He knows our needs before we do and knows how to give that customized care! Gives me chills!

But this love is not just for us to keep!! Nooooo, when we love someone or when someone loves us, we wanna tell EVERYBODY!!! This is how we must be with the love of God. This is how we keep drawing sheep. I will be the first to tell you that I am not called to be an Evangelist. I will nurture you when you come, but I am not usually the one to actually come get you! BUT, we can draw others with our personality, we can draw others when they see something in us and can’t put their finger on it, (which is the Holy Spirit in us), we can draw them by living our lives and showing the Fruit of the Spirit. No one said you had to be operating in all of them at all times, sis! We don’t have to be perfect to receive this love or to show it to someone else. Use what you have and what you know in this moment.

This was just a PSA to remind us of His unfailing, relentless, beautiful love for us and how we should always be willing to share that love with those that may not know Him as we do. Freely we give, freely we receive. It is so good to feel those moments where we know God is showing off with His love for us, but imagine how He feels when someone comes to know Him by how we love on them. We all can contribute to the call He has for all of our lives which is to minister to others and share the Good News of His word. He is His word.

Father, we thank you for your love, sacrifice, and commitment to love us when we feel we are unloveable. We thank you for lavishing us with love and celebration as your children. We ask that you give us the capacity to show that same love to others. Remind us of the grace you give us so that we are reminded to give that same grace to others. Forgive us for keeping that love and grace to ourselves and help us to share your Good News. Give us the wisdom to use our opportunities to glorify you. We will rejoice when we bring others into the knowledge of your love, grace, and mercy because we know how it impacts our lives. We love you, praise you, and adore you. Amen.

I’m baaaaccckkk! Hello lovelies! I am so happy to be back! I am recharged and I have some good stuff to share with you all! This month we are talking about wisdom! Anyone who knows me well understands my love for wisdom. I love listening to people who have good wisdom to share. I am always captivated by good words of wisdom, I take notes, and I am always praying that God would give me wisdom as I share with you all. I want to share a story about someone that was known as the wisest man to ever live. He penned a few books in the Bible, including most of Proverbs, which is known as the book of wisdom. It has been a while, so let’s have a little Bible study!!

Let’s talk about King Solomon. Solomon was the heir to King David, his father who was known as the man after God’s heart. A part of Solomon’s story, found in 1 Kings 3:5-15 intrigued me. As always, I want you to go check it out, but I will give you a brief synopsis. Solomon was asleep one night and God appeared to him in a dream asking “What do you want? Ask and I will give it to you.” Now, if God were to ask us that I am sure we would have a LIST of things ranging from a spouse, cars, homes, and coins. Not my guy Solomon. Solomon thanked God for his position as king and asked God for wisdom to lead the people to which he was assigned. He recognized that he was young and could not fully handle the task of his new position without wisdom. The Lord was pleased! He could have asked for anything in the world, but He asked for wisdom. He gave him a heart of understanding that no one ever had or will ever have. That’s pretty dope, right? But what exactly is wisdom? Glad you asked!

You know I love definitions. During my search, my favorite definition of wisdom found was “The capacity to have foreknowledge of something, to know the consequences (both positive and negative) of all the available course of actions, and to yield or take the options with the most advantage either for present or future implication.” Some synonyms for wisdom is discernment, common sense, and sound judgment. I personally describe it as knowledge that is applied. This is where we get crossed up like we are playing one on one with Steph Curry. How many of us have knowledge of what is right, but we just don’t apply that knowledge? Have your discerning red lights been flashing, but because it was something you wanted you ran the red light anyway? That causes accidents, confusion, and chaos, right? Honey, that has happened to me too, no shame here my friend! However, the truth that I know brings me back, even if I have a momentary lapse of judgment. Knowledge is basically intellect and facts, but wisdom points to your character and how you apply what you know. Sounds like wisdom is an action word to me!

A while back, a coworker left a note on my desk that had the scripture Proverbs 4:7 printed on it. That scripture in the New Living Translation says “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” I have no idea what he was trying to tell me in that moment, but I will always remember that scripture, and I try my best to apply that to my life now. Maybe he knew that I was going to need to depend on God’s wisdom for what God has called me to do. As I was looking at the different scriptures on wisdom, I found many benefits of this precious commodity. I found that wisdom brings honor, influence, security, and protection, and it is more precious than rubies. We should love it, honor it, and embrace it. Wisdom allows us to make the right decisions, use good judgment, discern things correctly, and counsel others as needed. When we use the knowledge that we have and the wisdom that God gives, we have a powerful tool to follow the path God has designed for us and be a light for others. So, is wisdom for an elite group of people? NOPE!

James 1:5 The Passion Translation says “And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and he will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures but he will overwhelm your failures with his generous grace.” Isn’t that refreshing!! All we have to do is ask! I ask often! I see my need for it, I value it, and I know that it will always yield great benefits. I don’t always agree, but I know that because I have asked, it is purely from God and He will never lead me astray. Solomon was known as the wisest man, but he had some moments where he left his wisdom down the street! He didn’t always apply it. God gives it when we ask, but it is completely up to us to apply it. We may ask for a spouse, but do we have the wisdom to choose well and steward that relationship the way God designed marriage? We may ask for money and wealth, but do we have the wisdom to sustain it? We ask for material things like homes and cars, but do we have the financial wisdom to make the right moves? If we walk in wisdom, everything else will naturally follow because we are applying our knowledge. Joyce Meyer says “Wisdom does now what it will be happy with later.” We ALL have to live in the decisions we make. Let’s make sound decisions so that our lives will be fulfilled.

Father, I pray that you would grant us YOUR wisdom. We thank you for this precious gift. We thank you for giving us the discernment to fully walk in this gift. We understand that if we seek first the kingdom of God and all righteousness, all things we need will be added. Help us to draw closer to you so that we can reap all of the beautiful benefits of your wisdom. We thank you that it is a protector, a keeper, a source of security, and a light to our paths as well as a light to others. Help us to use it wisely and share it with those who value our sacrifice to obtain it. As we grow in the knowledge of you and your beautiful ways, your wisdom, clarity, and discernment will naturally permeate our souls. We love you, praise you, and adore you. Amen!