Yesterday was a turning point in my life.

I got accepted into Liberty University’s Master of Arts (M.A.) online program in Pastoral Counseling! While I feel excited for this new turning point in my life, I give all of the glory to God for it, in the name of Jesus Christ.

You may be reading this blog post and wondering 2 things: 

1. Why a Pastoral Counseling degree?

2. Why another Master’s degree?

I have a couple of reasons that I hope will inspire you, especially for those who are struggling and battling mental illness, as I have. May my story plant that seed to inspire you to carry on, in Jesus’ name!

~”I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”~Philippians 1:3-6, NIV~

During my childhood, my Mom had a mental illness. I did not know that she had a mental illness nor did I know that she was battling mental illness because I was just a child. My Mom battles paranoid schizophrenia. I did not know that my Mom was battling paranoid schizophrenia until I reach adult hood many years later and my Dad explained to me exactly what the mental illness was that my Mom struggled with and I had a desire to help her. Keep in mind, my parents are divorced. 

Help her??!! You may be wondering WHY in the world I would want to help someone, who caused me a lot of grief and pain during my childhood years because of her mental illness. It is not because she is my Mom, but because I battle a mental illness too. I battle bi polar disorder and mild autism and can relate to her because I know what it is like to fight against the emotions of the flesh and self. Myself. And these feelings that come up in myself are thoughts of the enemy and ruler of sin, Satan. 

~”For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”~2 Corinthians 10:3-4, ESV~

I am salt and light to my Mom, who struggles with mental illness. She may feel ashamed and grieved because of what she struggles with, but I let her know that she is more than an over comer and a victor, in the name of Jesus Christ, of paranoid schizophrenia. I have told her that many times and my prayer for her is that one day, she will see and recognize that she is loved, cared for, and highly thought of by Jesus. Jesus loves my Mom. 

I know that just as Jesus loves my Mom that He loves me too. I want to be Jesus to my Mom and for her to know that she is loved by God, in Jesus’ name, and that He does not see her as a paranoid schizophrenic just as He does not see me as the one with bi polar disorder or mild autism. I want to be that living testimony for her and for others, who need to experience Jesus and who need the healing, help, and hope that is found in having a relationship with Jesus Christ.

That’s right, dear reader. I want every one, who is reading this blog post or who meets me to experience breakthroughs just as I have, in Jesus’ name. My desire is for that man or woman who needs to get well to have a double portion of the Spirit of God that is found at the well. My desire is for that child, who is an orphan struggling to find his or her identity to find it in the Lord. My desire is for any person, lost or saved, who struggles against or fights a mental illness to know how to overcome it and to be saved by the One who saved me: Jesus.

Jesus saved me with the help of my church when I was going through a rough time. I remember when I was struggling to get by financially and the root reason for that struggle was the mental illness that I struggled with, bi polar disorder. My church and Sunday School class pointed me to the resources I needed to get the help I needed from my psychiatrist and to get well, mentally, as they prayed for me to get well. I thank my Sunday School class for assisting me when I came back from the missions trip from Japan, because if it were not for them, then it would not be well with me and my soul, in the name of Jesus Christ. 

I would not have the peace of God that I have now if I did not get help, but most importantly, if I did not have my Sunday School class to help me. God bless them!

~”For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord.”~Jeremiah 30:17, ESV~

You see, dear reader, I desire for you and those who God allows me to meet to have a divine encounter with to experience the healing, help, and hope that is found in Jesus Christ because of my experience and the testimony of this story that I shared with you, in Jesus’ name.

I decided to get this M.A. degree in Pastoral Counseling so that I can

1. Allow my future clients to experience the healing, help, and hope that is found in a divine encounter with Jesus Christ.

2. So that I can fully operate in the purpose that God has for my life.

I invite you to pray for me, dear reader, now that you have read my testimony:

Dear God,

Thank You that the reader who read this blog post knows what healing, help, and hope that is found in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You that the reader, who opened up this blog post, is encouraged by my story, which is really Your story as I give You all of the glory of how You found me when I was hurting and needed help from You and my church family. Thank You that I will be taking classes for my M.A. degree in Pastoral Counseling this Summer 2018 and that this is all a part of Your purpose for me and the plans You have for my life. May each reader who reads this blog post and prayer be inspired as he or she learns how to receive healing, help, and hope, that is found in Jesus Christ. I pray that each reader knows that there is power, in the name of Jesus, just as I have found, and just as I have showed others, such as my Mom and others around me. May each reader know that Jesus is the only Key to the Answer to solve the problems of hurting and darkness in this dark world as You have allowed me to see with Your eyes, hear with Your ears, and touch with YOur hands. Bless each reader today as You bestow healing to those struggling with a mental or physical health condition. I give You all of the glory, the honor, and the praise.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen!

God bless You, dear reader! May my story encourage you today! 🙂 ❤

~”And we know that all things work together for good to them that know God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”~Romans 8:28, KJV~

The time is now, in the name of Jesus Christ.

God’s timing is EVERYTHING. It always makes the difference in one’s life. I testify to that on this Birthday eve of my life. Tomorrow, I turn 27 years old. I will be a completely new person and a new creation in Him. The Spirit of God always has and always will live in me, even on this special day, in the name of Jesus Christ.

~”See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.”~Isaiah 65:17, NIV~

I choose to fix my mind on heavenly things and things above on this 27th year of my life. I choose to love Jesus more. I choose to love myself as I love Jesus and others around me. I choose to serve with all of my heart and to give to others as Jesus would starting today, in the name of Jesus Christ.

I choose to live righteously on this 27th year of my life. I choose to let God’s Spirit lead me on paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. I choose to be the example for my friends, my family, and loved ones, who God has put in my life. This year of 2018 is my year to shine His light and to be that bright light that God has so ordained of me, purposed me, and put me on this big earth to be, in the name of Jesus Christ.

I won’t give into fear. I won’t give up to that devil because he may be the ruler of this world, but Jesus already conquered him through his death on the cross and resurrection and because of that, I reign victorious with Him in the heavenlies and high places. I remember Jesus as I fix my gaze upon Him and God looks down upon me, as his special princess and beloved, on this special day. I contemplate this on this amazing truth and the power and victory that it allows me to live, even on my birthday and beyond it, in the name of Jesus Christ. 🙂

~”For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”~2 Timothy 1:7, KJV~

I reign in life with Jesus. Always and forever. I have reigned in life with Jesus before my birth. I have reigned in life with Jesus on the exact day of my birth, March 25, 1991. I have reigned in life with Jesus all of the days of my life, even today. From today, to tomorrow, to forever.

I reign with Abba. I reign with Jehovah. I reign with my Heavenly Daddy. I love Jesus and I praise Him, even on my birthday. 

I choose to love Jesus on my birthday and praise Him that He allowed me to be born, even on this special day of my birth of the 25 of March, 1991. I praise Him for my life. I praise Him that I am alive now. I praise Him for every breath I breathe and that He has chosen me, in His time, to be Jesus and to be that example for the world to see NOT because of me, but because of Him who sent me to be the example of Christ Jesus for the world to witness. 

You see, my beloved, this is why God’s timing is everything. God timed your birth just as he did with my birth. Now, I want to take the time to pray for you and that anyone, who has a birthday upcoming, soon, or whenever, that Jehovah Nissi will bless you richly on your day of birth, in Jesus’ name. Let us pray. 🙂 :

Dear God:

Thank you for your sons and daughters. Thank you that they are born and that you alone gave them life, in the name of Jesus Christ. Your Spirit breathed life upon every son and daughter of Your Kingdom, who is living today, and who opened up this blog post today. I praise You that You so intricately, fearfully, and wonderfully made every son and daughter into the image of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Let every breath of Your creation and those who chose to open up this blog post, after reading it, give You praise. May he or she glorify You and thank you a million times or more that he or she is alive today. May they honor their parents, who You ordained, to give them birth and to be their mothers and fathers, who grew them up in Godly ways. May each reader of this blog post be blessed today and divinely inspired to serve You as he or she seeks heavenly things above and Your kingdom, on their birthdays and beyond. I give You all of the glory, the honor, and the praise.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen!

God bless You, beloved. Stay at peace and count it all joy in Jesus today! 🙂

~”For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;  a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.~”Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, ESV~

I am diagnosed bi-polar and am mildly autistic. 

You can read this and think whatever mean and derogatory thoughts that you like. You can point fingers at me. You are even free to laugh at me, gossip, and say all manner of bad things behind my back about me. But, I have bi-polar disorder, am mildly autistic, and have overcome both of these mental health disorders, in the Name of Jesus Christ.

If you have been reading my last blog posts, I stated that I would share with you, dear reader, a little more in depth what exactly it is that I struggle with. Well, there is a time to share with you and the time is now, in Jesus’ Name.

~”For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the heaven: He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”~Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11, ESV~

When I was in elementary school many years ago, a medical doctor at Emory University diagnosed me as mildly autistic. My mom nor my dad did not take the time, as parents, to explain to me exactly what it was that I struggled with. I honor them as parents because the Bible states to honor them, but they never explained to me that I was mildly autistic nor that I was bi polar until I reached adulthood. Forgiveness has definitely been a process for me with my parents, but I honor them anyways and love them still because they were my parents and tried to do what was best for me without telling me the truth.

~”Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”~Exodus 20:12, ESV~

~”For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will you Father forgive you your trespasses.”~Matthew 6:14-15, ESV~

For many years growing up, I did not have many friends. I thought that most people, who I knew from elementary school, middle school, or high school, were my friends, when they really were not and just acquaintances. I was mocked at times. Other times, laughed at. Most people I knew just ostracized themselves from me because of my mental health condition and what I struggled with.

I remember when I was in high school and I would tell the girls who I knew (who I thought were my friends), “Hi, how are you?” And they would just stare at me and sometimes even walk away. Forgiving people of my past has definitely been a struggle for me.

I even remember the good ol’ college years at Georgia College and State University. I got into an argument with 2 friends I knew and tried to reason with them and even be as open, vulnerable, and honest as all of Christian community is called to do and tell them that my mental health condition was part of the reason why the argument started, but they made the choice to leave me and not even talk out the matter with me. This broke my heart, since I knew them for five years. I have forgiven them and moved on, but the pain is still there and I reflect on it at times.

God sees, knows, and acknowledges each of these struggles that I have struggled with for many years because of my bi-polar and mildly autistic condition. This is something that I can’t help, but can alleviate with by taking medication. (Yes, I take medication for my medical condition. You can go ahead and laugh and mock me behind my back too for this).

God sees and He knows the many mountains that He has allowed for me to move because of my total reliance and dependence on Him. Even as I trust Him with this thorn called mental health that He has put on my side, this has allowed my relationship with the Lord God to grow tremendously over the years.

~”Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.”~Luke 22:42, ESV~

God is good. He is sovereign. I thank Him for using my mental health conditions to glorify Jesus all while spreading His Gospel and for being salt and light to others around me who need the truth of His Word to set them free from the mental strongholds and stigmas of mental health around them, in Jesus’ Name!

I now want to take the time to pray for you, dear reader and that you too will be strong and be courageous to open up about mental health conditions that you struggle with. There is no shame in the Gospel of Jesus Christ because opening up about something, like mental health conditions, sets you free from the strongholds and stigmas of mental health:

Dear God,

I thank You for the reader, who took the time to open up this blog post and read it. I pray that his or her soul was blessed today and that he or she can learn something that is pure and holy as You constantly renew and make that person’s soul more Christlike and less of this world. I pray that he or she realizes that he or she is more than an overcomer of mental health and that he or she is loved. Even though division and strife exist because of the stigma that mental health brings, Your love is what unifies and brings loved ones, from friends and family, together, because of what Your son, Jesus Christ, did on the cross. I thank You for what Your Son, Jesus Christ, did on the cross and that He overcame mental health conditions Because Jesus overcame mental health condition, I pray that every reader can take this truth away too: that he or she is more than an overcomer of mental health and that he or she will one day be totally free of it when in Heaven with Jesus Christ. I pray that readers worldwide will remember this truth. I give You all of the glory, the honor, and the praise.

In Jesus’  Name,

Amen!

God bless you, dear reader! ❤

I am a Renewed Daughter of Christ!

Behold the Majesty of God!

“Renew your mind.”~God

I went into a quiet place in my home to pray today and the Spirit of God gave me these instructions: “Renew your mind.”

~”I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your acceptable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”~Romans 12:1-2, KJV~

I prayed for one hour. One Hour. And let the hand of God renew my mind. His hand washed my mind clean with His blood as the gentleness of Jesus Christ ran through my veins, heart, mind, body, spirit, and soul. This state of mind brought me at peace with God and that surpassed all of my understanding of what was and is to come for my future and God’s plans for my life.

I thought about God’s plans for me now: I am a news editor of Atlanta Christian Voice. I am surrounded by a loving church family, and most importantly, I have my Heavenly Father and Abba Daddy to take care of me. I am blessed with so much right now! Praise God!

I also thought about God’s future plans and the promises He has made to me concerning my future: I am going to Togo for missions by the end of 2018, God is slowly healing and restoring my family ties as I witness of who Jesus is to my family, I plan to marry a Godly husband and have children of my own someday (this is a promise God has made to me in dreams and visions I have had as well as through those gifted in the gift of prophecy). 

God’s promises are written, set in stone, and true. True to Himself, Jesus, and His Spirit that moves in the firmament about the heavens and the earth. They are certain. They move me and they move me to follow Him more so that His hand can transform my mind, renew it, and bring me peace that surpasses my understanding of what is to come and is now, in Jesus’ Name. 

~”I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”~Ezekiel 37:26-28, ESV~

With all of my heart and with all of my soul, I let God’s words of bring affirmation and confirmation of His promises speak to me. I prayed and mediated through prayer during this holy hour. I let the Word of God renew and transform my mind by His grace, in the Name of Jesus Christ.

~”But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”~2 Peter 3:18, ESV~

I praise God that I am His child and that I am His and He is mine. I praise God that I am free because of the renewing power that His Spirit has on me, in Jesus’ Name. His Spirit can do many things. He can do anything. Anything that seems too hard for me to do, such as renewing my mind, can be done by the power of Christ.

Renewing my mind can be done ONLY through the cleansing power and blood of Jesus Christ. I praise God for this truth. I am free today because my mind is renewed and transformed today, in the Name of Jesus Christ.

So, I have a question for you, dear reader: Do you want to let the hand of God renew your mind in the blood of Jesus Christ?

I will pray for you now, dear reader, that you will let the blood of Jesus Christ renew your mind today:

Dear God,

Thank You for each reader, who is reading this blog and sharing it with the lost and saved around him or her. I thank You that today he or she is doing to take that next step and allow Your Spirit to transform his or her mind today. May Your hands sprinkle and wash white the sins of the minds of each reader today as he or she allows his or her mind to be transformed by Your Word and by Your blood. I speak Your Words and truth of affirmation over each reader today. I speak Your great love, which never separates us but draws us closer to you, in the Name of Jesus Christ. May it draw each reader nearer to you so that he or she can be ready to take that next step and say, “yes,” to allowing the power of Your Spirit transform their minds today. Do not let any plans of the enemy prevail against each reader nor hinder him or her from furthering his or her relationship with You. May You, Jesus, and the Spirit be glorified in heaven and on earth today. I give You all of the glory, the honor, and the praise.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen!

God bless you, dear reader! Be in peace with Father God and allow your mind to be still in His love today! ❤

“~Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them.”~Matthew 18:18-20, ESV~

I love me.

“What is wrong with you,” you might ask me for saying this to myself: “I love me. Yes, all of me. Me, I and, self, all three in one.”

I love me because Jesus sent His one and only begotten Son to die for me and my sins on the cross.

~”For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”~John 3:16, ESV~

After spending an entire week at work, I decided to go and get my nails painted at a nail salon. They look very beautiful because of the cherry blossom designs that are so intricately painted on my finger nails.

Even though God did not create nail polish, He did create hands. My hands, to be a blessing to the people around me: with His great love for the people.

The lives that God allows me to love are a reflection of myself. Self. Yes, self. I would not love self if I did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I would not love myself if I did not have Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I would not love myself if I did not love Jesus Christ. Period.

~”If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all the mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”~1 Corinthians 13:1-3, NIV~

Love. The perfect love that comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ starts with God and enters straight into the heart of myself: self. These hands that God gave me and blessed me with are to be a blessing for others as they enter into the Kingdom of God. Whether I give my best friend a hug, or high-five a child, or assist an elderly person, these hands are meant to work for the Kingdom of God that is in Christ Jesus!

People cannot know what the love of God is if you choose to not allow that same love to come from yourself. People cannot know what the love of God is if you choose to not love others as you would love yourself. You must LOVE, LOVE, and, LOVE more to the world so that those of the world can enter into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. THAT is the whole point of LOVE: to bring the lost into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ!

~”Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.”~1 Corinthians 13:4-10, NIV~

When one chooses to enter into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ out of pure and genuine love for God, then that is when when can experience not only the love of God, but love for self and grow. That follower of Christ can fully mature and reach the potential that he or she has in his or her relationship with Jesus Christ the more that he or she falls in love with himself or herself. This is how one reaches maturity. 

~”When I was a child, I talked like a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror: then shall we see face to face. Now I know in part; then shall I know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, love. But the greatest of these if love.”~1 Corinthians 13:11-13, NIV~

I can definitely say for myself that I have not reached full maturity in my growing relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, I will not reach that potential until I go to heaven to be with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This fact goes for other followers of Christ, who are reading this blog post. 
I leave this blog post to encourage you, dear reader, to keep on growing in your relationship with God. Keep on loving God. Keep on allowing Jesus Christ to transform your life. And keep on emitting the love of God that is in Christ Jesus to others (friends and family) around you. Don’t stop loving and be that witness of the love of God from self to the world around you today! Love yourself! 

I now want to end this blog post in a prayer for you, dear reader, as you walk in your relationship with the Lord and continue to love yourself today!:

Dear God,

Thank You for the reader, who took the time to open up this blog post and read it. Thank You that he or she is allowing the love of Christ to renew his or her mind as he or she transforms through the power of  Your Word. Thank You that he or she is in full acceptance of himself or herself as he or she continues to walk in full step with You today. May each reader take away the truths that are of Your Word and learn to love themselves today. May they accept that it is ok to love themselves because You first loved us, In Your precious and Holy Name. Do not let any of these readers sub come to lies or the enemy, because the enemy is a liar and a deceiver of self. Empower each reader to love himself or herself today and to give that same love that is in Your Word to those in and of this world. May each reader go forth in peace today. I give You all of the glory, the honor, and the praise.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen!

May God bless you and keep you in His love today. Stay encouraged! 🙂