The Battle of Rising

A few days ago, I posted this story up on Facebook and I wanted to share it with you all here...

Oh my goodness...I just had a crazy dream. There was a big monstrous male creature coming after one of my family members. When it caught up with her it began to beat her and she fought back only to be beat down and left lying on the floor. So I grabbed something to beat it with. I remember having a hammer at one point. I remember praying and rebuking the thing as I hit it but when that didn't...seem to work I gave up on the prayer. I remember him saying he was coming after my family and it wasn't the women he wanted but yet in the dream we were the ones being beat down. By the time it seemed I'd lost against him, I just ran and screamed which woke me up.


Why am I sharing this long story...well as soon as I woke up I immediately began to pray and rebuke the enemy. And then I thought...why didn't I wake up sooner? Why didn't I keep fighting? Sometimes when I sleep and have a crazy dream, I wake up pretty swiftly and begin to pray because of recognizing the dream is not my reality. So after praying and thinking about this thing I said to myself, "wake up." And maybe that wasn't just for me but you too.

You will have moments when the enemy is fighting against you. There is a spiritual warfare out there. Satan wants to beat you down. And though you may suffer (even in times when the enemy's attacks aren't directly towards you yet they hit you) realize it's an opportunity for Christ to be glorified. Do not allow fear to contaminate your faith. As you may recall in the dream, I just gave up because prayer wasn't working the way I wanted it to. I wanted God to perform a miracle and make the monstrous thing go away instantly. In that moment it was almost like saying, "God, be a microwave oven!"

When we give up our faith we grab hold of fear and tuck tail and run. We must realize our trials and tribulations are not our destiny. Therefore it is not the reality God has called us to. WAKE UP the situation, those people, and that issue is only for a moment. That's not the reality God has for you.


Every time I have a bad dream I wake up and think, "God I'm so glad that's not my life." And even if it does mirror things I'm going through I can still say, "God, you are my weapon because this is not my final destination...I will wake up and arise from this."

The scripture I reviewed prior to going to sleep at 7 PM (I was tired lol) was, 2 Timothy 1:7 and I wish I would've grabbed a hold of it as my point of faith with God. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." I won't tell you you won't go through some rough times because you probably will. But will you trust God?

I've said all this to say, "Wake up, this is not your reality unless you believe and receive it as such." God is speaking to us all, "Wake up!"


When we are afraid, I pray that we will cling to the Rock.

"When I Am Afraid" by Laura Hackett

Beauty Reflected

This morning I had a dream...

There was a girl standing up naked while a guy painted a picture of her. In the midst of him painting, he began to have flirtatious conversation. She was undeniably captured by his words as he continued to paint the portrait of her flesh.

It was as if I was not present in the room. And while this girl did not recognize what was happening, beyond the skin, I saw the deeper part of who she was. I saw what she had not even recognized in her own self.

I saw a need for validation. A need for self-worth. A need for value. A need to be wanted. A need for identity.

Then all of a sudden my presence was recognized and I automatically began to speak words of life to the girl. Paraphrased it was something to the effect of, "Do you not see who you are? You don't need a painter, a man, anyone to tell you about the beauty that is you. If you want an image of what you look like then look your own self in the mirror and discover HER. When you look at that painting that this man created, it will be his interpretation of who you are. When you look in the mirror, it will be God's defined answer to who you are." I woke up from the dream and for some reason I kept talking to the girl as if she were in my room.

The point of sharing all of this is for someone to recognize beauty must be reflected by self through the eyes of God. Too many times we make attempts to determine our self-image by the image others tell us they visualize of us. Someone else's definition of who you are does not tell you who you are.

Your beauty is rooted in the Creator who made you, the God who breathed life into you and said there would be only one you placed on this Earth...never to be created or replicated again. When you look in the mirror at yourself you should see more than just a physical image. You should see your dreams, your ambitions, your personality, you should see everything that makes you so lovable and embraceable to the world. You should see why God loves you and why He created you. You should see your purpose.

Yes, all of that is bundled up into the face, the body, the smile that you look at in the mirror. No one else can validate that but YOU.

And this is not to say that your physical body doesn't have its own appeal because it should and it does. When I look in the mirror I love certain features I have. I love my nose, even though I've been told it looks like a pig nose. I love my eyes, despite folks that point out the sties I tend to get. I love my ears, although I've heard some say they stick out. I love my lips, regardless of others thinking I have an addiction to lip gloss. lol

I choose not to allow the opinions of others to determine the worth of what I see in my own mirror. If you noticed, everything I wrote that I love about me came first in that last paragraph. All other opinions are secondary. The world didn't create me, God did. So I appreciate, love, and respect what He's given me.

I have to say appreciate what He's given me because everything on my physical body isn't that gorgeous to me, but I thank God for it and I work to improve those things I would like to see differently. While I believe God blessed me with a pretty face, I still wear makeup sometimes to give it a wow factor. While I didn't like the look of my teeth because some of those jokas were crooked lol, God blessed me to get them straightened with braces. While I don't particularly like my feet, I praise God that I can walk and I throw some polish on them and wear cute shoes.

When you see your own self and know you look good the value of other people's perception of you, whether good or bad, will carry less weight in the mirror. 

REFLECT THE BEAUTY GOD HAS GIVEN YOU.

Check out this song Beautifully Made by Leah Smith

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Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

you formed me in my mother's womb.

I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking! 

      Body and soul, I am marvelously made! 

      I worship in adoration—what a creation! 

   You know me inside and out, 

      you know every bone in my body; 

   You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, 

      how I was sculpted from nothing into something. 

   Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; 

      all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared 

before I'd even lived one day.