Hope Is

Hope is to trust in, wait for, look for, or desire something or someone; or to expect something beneficial in the future. When you put your hope in God, you are trusting Him in whatever you are waiting for.

But here's the key, if you're going to trust, it has to be in God and Him alone. The hope I am talking about it not a superficial hope, like "I hope it doesn't rain today." The hope I am referring to is profoundly deeper that requires faith, patience and endurance. Hope is having an eager expectation for God to do something. I have two questions for you today, what are you hoping for? And what are you doing to prepare for it? Faith without works is dead, so I encourage you to exercise your faith by 'expectantly' waiting for God's promises to be fulfilled in your life. When you are expecting someone or something, you are getting ready for their arrival. Get ready!

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits and in His word I put my hope. ~Psalm 130:5

 

Be Encouraged, Be Blessed!

Landy Perez-Feliciano ♥ 

 

The Bubble

Last weekend I was speaking to a youth group in South Florida (Port St. Lucie) and the theme was: Living Out the Word. I spoke under the topic of: Living out Word when you need a Word. The question was this:

HOW DO YOU LIVE OUT THE WORD WHEN YOU’RE IN NEED OF A WORD?

I want to share a little bit of what I spoke about. Maybe in a future post, I will get to the second part of the topic which was the study of The Shunammite Woman in 2 Kings 4:8-37 and it meshes well with what I will share today.

 

 

IPhone Bubble

There’s a feature that iPhones carry that allows you to see when someone is responding to a text you’ve sent out. It’s “the bubble with the 3 dots.” Know what I’m talking about? It’s actually called the “typing awareness indicator” but we all know it as (the bubble): the time between text messages or what I like to call it, the waiting period.

That little grey bubble can cause some serious anxiety.

I was reading an article from The New York Times and the title was: Bubbles Carry a Lot of Weight, the author was saying that this feature was causing too much anxiety “It’s giving monumental weight to matters of a text message.” The issue is not even the text messages, what gives people anxiety, it’s the “time between text messages”- it’s the waiting period. It’s waiting for THAT response, for that answer. She says her therapist ordered her to disable it on her phone because it was affecting her.

Maryam Abolfazli, a writer in Washington says this: “The three dots showed while someone is drafting a message in iMessage is quite possibly the most important source of eternal hope and ultimate letdown in our daily lives.”

Paul Dourish, a professor at the University of California says: “The awareness indicator as implemented on the iPhone is a curious beast- it conveys that something is being done, but it won’t say what.”

I don’t know if you’re following me, but just hang on for a minute.

As believers, many times the Holy Spirit conveys that something is being done in our lives but He will not reveal it to us just yet. We are in a bubble, in that waiting period.

And as I said, this can be a frustrating feature, why? Because all sorts of emotions can go into waiting for a response. Let’s say you send out a text message:

• You get happy when the bubble pops up because the other person is responding…But then the bubble takes a long time and you’re like.. Wow! Let me brace myself because I am about to read something deep but then what happens…

• The bubble disappears  and you’re left in a total and utter confusion (what happened? Weren’t you responding?) So at that point, we begin to get upset, sad, confused, and ignored. Then when you least expect it, all of a sudden the…

• Bubble comes back up, after 20 minutes, you're thinking, "there is hope", we are back on track now, the frustration turns into a sigh of relief … to only receive a ONE word: “K”… WOW! Really?!! All this for a “K”.. You couldn’t even type the full word, OKAY or OK, you type “K”. Or the response is: Yes, Cool, Good or even worse, the dreaded emoji (thumbs up!)

We’ve all been there, we can laugh about it because we can all relate, at one point or another, we’ve poured out our hearts to the Lord and cried out to Him as Jeremiah 33:3 says and we have not heard back. We can quote scriptures till we’re blue in the face but the real question is, how do you live the word when you need a word? And I would add.. when you're in the bubble?

Waiting on God can sometimes cause some serious anxiety because by nature we do not like to wait. We hate to wait in lines; we despise being stuck in traffic. Who has time to be patient and wait? We live in such a busy society that demands our time and attention but when God demands our time and attention, we can't comply. Oven cooked prayers do not result in microwavable answers. It doesn’t matter how long you have been praying, it’s all in God’s timing, not ours. Trust me, you will thank Him later, even if you don’t understand now. Delays are tough when you don’t know why they exist but if you could get a little insight, a  glimpse, a tip, some kind of information then the waiting process would be a lot easier to manage. Sometimes God reveals something, sometimes He reveals nothing.

I want to encourage you today, do not get discouraged if you find yourself STUCK inside the bubble! If you still have not seen anything; begin to PRAISE Him because God is up to something. That bubble indicates that something is happening. God is working it out! That bubble conveys that something is going on even if you don't know what's going on. Trust God in the bubble! It doesn’t matter what your present situation looks like, live out your life by believing what the Word says! Live out the Word!! Walk in total confidence and with the boldness God has given you to declare His promises. 

If you are in a bubble:

• Of uncertainty, continue to believe

• Where nothing happens, keep waiting (something is happening)

• Where everything is upside down and completely opposite of what God spoke to you. Keep pressing through, your bubble will soon pop and you will see manifested God’s Word over your life

The bubble is an uncomfortable place to be in but it is a necessary place to be in. Why does God keep us in the bubble?

1. So we can learn how to trust and whole-heartily rely on Him and Him alone. He is our only source.
2. To increase our faith. If you want to believe God in a deeper level, you have to go through deeper situations.
3. To develop us. Sometimes we simply need to grow up. We are not ready to receive YET what has been promised to us. He wants to develop us and get us ready. Sometimes we are too immature to handle the blessings. Take this time as training.

BUT THE QUESTION IS THIS:

How are you going to react inside the bubble? How you react inside the bubble will determine the outcome when get outside the bubble.

You may be in a BUBBLE of:

• God, I need a miracle
• God, I need healing
• God, I want a family
• God, I want to see my family serve you
• God, I need a job
• God, I want you to use me
• God, my business
• God, my ministry
• God, my future

Your reaction will determine God's action.

If you’ve been praying about something, start PRAISING and change your vocabulary to IT IS WELL! Speak Life. (Read the story of the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:8-37)

When you find yourself in the bubble, think of the three dots as: It. Is. Well. because God is up to something!
 

Be Encouraged, Be Blessed!
Landy Perez-Feliciano ♥

 

But.. what if?

Have you ever wanted something really bad and did everything the way you were supposed to; I mean you crossed all of your T’s and dotted all of your I’s, and nothing?  Have you thought about how you would feel or react if things simply didn’t go as planned? I often think about it, especially in this walk of faith that day to day we endure. Life is a journey with many peaks and valleys, highs and lows, good and bad. How do we maintain a steady and balanced state of mind when things simply do not go our way, when prayers are not answered, when we don’t receive what we want but receive what we did not expect? Let’s talk about the many “But.. what if’s” that surprises and confronts us. What should our reaction be?

But.. what if I’ve been praying day in and day out for a specific request and God doesn’t answer or simply “delays” his answer? How am I going to react? Will I stop praying because I didn’t get my answer when I wanted or how I wanted it? Have you thought about that?

But.. what if I’ve been declaring God’s healing power over my sick body and I do not receive healing? Am I going to stop declaring? Will I stop believing that God heals because He didn’t do it for me? Have you thought about that?

But.. what if my faith is SO big and I am believing for something BIG and I am wrapped around God’s promises to the point that my faith is not shaken. I know that I know that I know it will come to pass (next week). And it’s a month later and everything is still the same. Will my faith be shaken? Will I still believe and know that I know that it will happen? Or will I just give up? Have you thought about that?

 

And there are countless examples that I’m sure you can think of as well. The point here is this: What will your attitude be if what you are asking, declaring, and confessing with faith turns out to a big “but what if” moment in your life? It appears out of the blue to disrupt your smooth connection of faith and prayer with your Heavenly Father.  I am the first one to believe in prayer, having faith, in declaring God’s promises and all of those beautiful biblical affirmations. But it is important to understand that our prayers are channeled to the throne of God through this question: Is it God’s perfect will? Sometimes we will receive exactly what we want and ask for, because it was God’s perfect will at that particular moment. Many times, we will have to wait, wait, and wait a little longer to receive our blessing. The word of God says in Proverbs 10:22 that “The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it”. When God blesses, there will be no sorrow, confusion, bitterness, none of that. God’s blessings bring peace, love and joy. So many times, it is in God’s perfect will to answer that request but it's simply  not the right time. And that is why we must learn how to not only have faith but also, wait in the Lord for His perfect timing. You may be in God’s perfect will but be out of His perfect timing and that can be damaging to our lives.

I would like to propose that in this New Year, only 9 days new we really think about this. This is the time where we are still pretty fresh and excited about the New Year and we are on cloud 9 with our resolutions. Our prayer lives is in full speed and we believe for anything and everything good to happen to us. And I am all for that! I’m actually one of those people! Lol But let’s take a moment to think about the “But.. what if’s” . This will relieve us from many heart breaks, frustration and even anger toward life-and God.

When the “But.. what if’s” pop up, simply say THANK YOU! Thank you Lord because things didn’t happen the way I expected, they happened exactly the way you wanted them to happen. Then what? Then keep doing what you were doing. Your biggest mistake will be to simply give up. Continue praying, continue believing, and continue giving thanks because if it didn’t happen when you wanted, it will happen God wants. His timing is impeccable – and His clock is always on point, literally! If He didn’t answer a prayer when you wanted, do not give up!! He’s working on something bigger and even better.. Just wait a little longer! Do not get caught up in the moment; open your eyes to God's vision. And you will see what God sees, for we only see the  puzzle piece but He sees the whole picture.

Be Encouraged, Be Blessed!

Landy Perez-Feliciano ♥

 

 

Photo Credit: www.photographymojo.com 

Let it cook!

I'm so  happy to introduce my friend, Justin Moore as my guest blogger for today. He is a young man that is doing great things in the music industry and impacting a lot of lives through his passion for music and God. He has a great word that I believe will bless your life today!! Thank you Justin for blessing us with this word!!

 

 

Being the bachelor that I am I often eat out and consume an abnormally large amount of TV dinners. Considering the fact that I cannot cook that well, the microwave is one of my best friends. In fact, the other day I was RUSHING to get ready and leave the house for a gig and in my haste I was attempting to cook and get ready at the same  time.  I decided to “cook” a.k.a. warm up, a yummy chicken pot pie by Marie Calendar; YUMMY!! I grabbed it out the freezer and flipped it over to look at the directions; microwave time was like 5 minutes and the oven time was like 45 minutes. Contemplating on what decision to make, I looked at the clock and realized  I had a MAXIMUM of one hour before heading out. I was a bit stressed because I still had to shower, iron my clothes, load up my musical equipment, get dressed, and gas up my truck… Yea! A lot to do but then I thought to myself, if I put this meal in the microwave, the chicken will be super chewy and rubbery. The crust would be soggy and moist, making it a less than enjoyable experience. The oven; however, tends to cook the meat slower and very thoroughly, making it juicier. This process makes the crust crispy, crunchy, and golden brown; just perfect!! YUMMY!! At that moment, I decided that I would put the meal in the oven and be patient enough to wait because I wanted it to be delicious and enjoy my dinner! 

 

 

God wants our blessings to be delicious and just right so that we can enjoy its excellence. Because we live in such a "microwaveable ' society, we expect God to have the same mentality and “pan out” our lives in such a way. In the day and age we live, today in 2013 there are phones that can send videos and pictures across the world in a matter of seconds. You can scour the internet through thousands of databases in a fraction of a second with a Google search. And in the microwave you can cook things in a fraction of the amount of time that it would take on a conventional stove. So, what am I trying to say? It’s safe to say that we are in an age where we expect things instantly.

Well, unfortunately success does not work that way nor does God work that way. Now of course, you have your exceptions, there are rappers who get multimillion dollar deals overnight and you have some people who have been lucky enough to hit it big with the lotto.. But for the other 7 billion plus people on the planet, things probably will not pan out "overnight ". Success is a journey not a destination. It’s a process not a place. I think so many of us have the idea that success will happen quickly and if it doesn't, we tend to get discouraged.

The bible tells us that the race is not given to the swift or the strong but to the one that endures till the end. We have to remember that God is Omniscient so He knows exactly what we need and when we need it, in HIS own timing. Often times He will withhold a blessing because we have not yet developed the character that it would take to maintain such an endowment and that we would more than likely squander away such good fortune. He is the Author and Finisher of our Faith. God knows where we are and what we can handle. Be patient and persevere! Trust in HIM. God will always honor His word. 

Justin A. Moore

Record Producer, Musician, Songwriter
Reality TV co-star Mary Mary

For more information on Justin,
visit him at: Twitter.com/justinamoore