All posts tagged: belief

The One We Serve: Faith for Our Labors

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I’ma tell you like Daddy told me, in everything you do give God the glory. Every opportunity you’re given, sing your song for TWO as you would for a THOUSAND…” ~JOANN ROSARIO The above quote is the opening verse from the song titled “Serve You Only,” by JoAnn Rosario. There is such wisdom in this quote, such encouragement that, to me, really puts life and actions in proper perspective. Sometimes, most of the time, we weigh the value of our efforts by the size of the audience or the applause we may or may not receive as a result of it. We allow the absence of accolades to force our minds into the abysmal depths of disbelief, thinking our work is for not. “No one will buy this painting. No one cares about this poem. Who is going to read this book? I shared the Gospel and no one accepted Christ as their Savior. Is my work in vain?” All of these thoughts, and we all have had them, lead me to the old saying, “If …

Handful of Hope: A Short Story & Encouragement

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She wanted to see if they could float so with faith she tossed them across the sackcloth that would be the sky and watched as her handful of hope like diamonds suspended themselves and twinkled as stars. She wasn’t the King Creator, nor His Glorious Son, but she was born of His Spirit, and thusly imbued with the authority and call to create. She was learning how to do so with a voice and song uniquely her own, a song she longed to sing to please only His ears. So she tossed up another handful of hope and watched it twinkle and grow in light until the inky darkness bled away yielding to the brilliance of life. The cold uncertainty that had once made her limbs stiff with immobility began to retreat as her being grew warm with the fire of expectation and joy. Handful after handful of hope and dreams and faith jettisoned from her vibrant fingertips and ate away at the dreadful nothing that sought to blanket her with fear. Laughter erupted from her …

Team Up! :How to Achieve Your Dream Pt 3

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Teamwork makes the dream work.” ~John C. Maxwell Everything God created was created to be most fruitful when it is connected with another. Why? Because there is such beauty and satisfaction to be had when triumph and victory are born from cooperation. When a man takes a wife, children are born. When a bee meets a flower, more flowers, bees, and honey are born as well as food for the world. When seed meets soil and is saturated with rain, new life is produced. Joy and appreciation from the works and gifts of others bless us with gratitude and the cultivation of a culture of encouragement. When we, dreamers and visionaries becoming creators, have taken the steps to: 1. Believe: Believe that we can achieve the dream that is inside of us. (See Believe You Can). 2. Simplify: Take your processes one step at a time without over-complicating each move you make. (See Keep it Simple). … we are on the path to productively multiplying our success which is found in our ability to properly align ourselves to …

Keep it Simple: How to Achieve Your Dream Part 2

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Everything in life should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.” ~Albert Einstein When it comes to doing anything, especially taking a dream and birthing it into the tangible, keeping things simple is a very crucial admonition to keep in mind. For most of us, our knee-jerk reaction to anything new is to overthink it. We begin to compare our ‘pearl’ with oyster farms of others who have similar dreams already up and running. We begin to add extra bells and whistles to our end products and we haven’t even actually ‘made’ them yet. We take precious ideas, born in a moment of genius, and think it from the mustard seed it began as, and transform it into craggy, dark mountains that we feel ill-equipped to climb. Yes, most dreams, especially those that will involve creative income, do come with seeming miles of information that needs to be learned. All of it is important, but none of it is necessary at the very beginning of the dream. What is important is to take the first step. …

The Art of Tireless Pursuit: The Expression of Faith in Creativity pt 3

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Faith is not only defined by giant leaps but is often reflected in the tiny steps.” ~Candice Coates A few years back, I was sitting in front of my television, watching some show on HGTV, eating a plate full of room temperature leftovers (good leftovers nonetheless,) when a thought popped in my head: You will never know where you are going if you never take a step.” ~Candice Coates The thought seemed simple enough, for, as I was watching HGTV, eating room temperature leftovers, I was also thinking about this creative platform, my writing career,  my art, and all the other things I had planned to do in that year which seemed to have been getting derailed from every angle. Truth be told, I am still thinking about all of these things. But when I first had these thoughts, I was thinking about my serial-blog-novel, ASCENSION GRAVEYARD. I will be honest, AG (for those of you who are just now tuning in, AG is my blog novel that I started writing in June of 2014…it …

A Heart Filled: Faith for Creatives

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You have filled my heart with great joy…” ~PSALM 4:7 To put our trusting faith in the Lord, not only for salvation but as an act of creative worship, is not only one of the greatest gifts we can give to ourselves but it is a great gift that we can give to our Heavenly Father. Creative worship is the greatest way to say, “Father, I trust you with who I am in you, and the plan you have authored for me.” Faith is the root of our covenant with Him. Faith is what creates in us clean hearts and blesses us to be His righteousness (2 CORINTHIANS 5:21). Faith is what makes us a blessing to our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is faith that so pleases His heart. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. ~HEBREWS 11:6 Psalm 4 beautifully highlights the dance between our trusting in the …

Dressed for the Appointment: Hope for the Promises to Come

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Urgent Message of Hope from December 26, 2012, ON TIME FOR December 2016:  Four years ago I was led to write a short message reminding many of my friends on Facebook to keep holding on to the Word of Faith and promise that Yeshua Jesus had given unto them. Now, four years and two days later, I am urged to do it again. The Lord laid this question upon my heart that only you can answer for yourself, really, and here it is. “Are you dressed and are you ready for the open door?” It is easy to be given a dream and a prophetic vision for your future/destiny/purpose, but it is a whole other thing to not only hold on to it but to be prepared for it at all times. With many of the trails that we face, especially within the last year, it is easy to lose hope in the dream, allowing it to be transformed into the elusive ‘carrot on a stick’ dangling just out of your reach. “Then Pharaoh sent and called …

The Message of Christ’s Ambassadors : The Cry of God’s Heart

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So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,[c] so that we could be made right with God through Christ. ~ II Corinthians 5:20-21 Ambassador. An ambassador is a person who is sent by a country, government, kingdom to represent the cause of said country, government or kingdom. This person is commissioned to stand for and speak, not his or her on thoughts or opinions, but those of the one who sent him. Those of us who have accepted the free gift of salvation, given only through the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua Jesus have taken up the mantel of Ambassadors for Christ. But what is it that Yeshua Jesus, the God of all Creation, has commissioned us as His ambassadors to say to the world? “Come back to God.” II Corinthians 5:14-21 outlines the transformation that we have from being wicked to righteous of no work of our …

From Fire & Ashes: A Poem & Word of Faith

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Oh sweet fire Oh sweet fire Burning from embers Kissed by gales of rushing wind Charred black my loveliness Til all seems lost And I must start again Bring forth new life, Oh sweet fire From death spring fertile ground In the wake of your scorching pyres Is where my future will abound Oh sweet fire ~Candice Coates From Fire & Ashes: A Word of Faith & Encouragement Fire rips through the hilly countryside, leaving devastation in its wake. All seems lost. Hope is suffocated in the thick choking smoke that rises from the ashes of what used to be treasures and dreams.  And when the orange and black fades, giving way to sunlight, nothing can be heard but mocking silence. The fire has one and all is lost. …Or is it? If you live long enough, if you haven’t already, you will drink of your fair share of disappointment. Something will come and snatch the proverbial rug from beneath your feet and leave you on your back winded. None of us are  immune to it. …

Good Good Father: Musical Interlude

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He is a Good GOOD FATHER! And we are loved by Him. His ways may not make sense as we face various struggles, pains, disappointments and trials, but Messiah Yeshua Jesus assured us in His Word that His thoughts for us ARE good and for us to be blessed. (Isaiah 55, focus on verses 8-13) (Jeremiah 29:11) This day was the first time I heard this song. To His glory, it came on the cuffs of a prayer I was praying as I face various struggles and pains of my own life. What has blessed my soul most in hearing this song is the fact that these are the very words He has been speaking to me since my growing pains began. It is easy, in the face of confusion, to think we are not loved. But God’s word is true and doesn’t change. He never leaves us nor forsakes us and He loves us completely. I am loved by Him, as you are loved by Him. I take comfort in that, like a child with …