Transition Phase!

Ughhhhhhhh!!!! Life, life, life! So by God's grace, I am now a graduate student at Philadelphia Biblical University. God is so good to me because he has given me the desire of my heart which was his desire for my life. I am on a mission for the Lord to pursue a degree in Biblical Counseling to serve his people in a lost and dying world. Graduate Orientation is September 2nd and I am so excited!!!!! On the flip side people, I am struggling! I am currently staying with my father, and I am ready to go! My father is a Muslim, and I am constantly talked to in a harsh or demeaning way. I have some money saved up; however, it is not enough to pay rent consistently. I am trusting the Lord for a job, and I have been applying to jobs like crazy. I was told by a sister in Christ to take out some loans and don't work. She also says that God wants me to relax. That sounds really good, but I need some type of income. I am moving out of my father's house very soon because I am trusting the Lord to provide a place and a roommate. I am praying and trusting God that he will lead and direct me because I need some love and encouragement from the Saints. I praise God that I go to a Christian school because I am certain that I will find some believers to encourage me and labor alongside. I recently visited Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church and next Sunday I am going to Epiphany Fellowship. I am trusting the Lord to find a solid church I can serve in as well. I say all of this to say: Please pray for me Saints in regards to a job, where to live, and the encouragement and love I need from believers. Thank you so much!!

Lady in Waiting!!!!!!!!

Whooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! It is so hard to wait on the Lord but he is definitely helping me to hold tight to his word and promises. I recently had a group interview at Philadelphia Biblical University for the Christian counseling Master's Program. I was nervous going into it but the Lord strengthened me through his word and Holy Spirit. The day of the interview I read Psalm 62 along with John 15. Psalm 62 talks about finding rest in God and looking to him as your hope and your salvation. David tells his soul to rest in the heavenly Father and tells the people to trust in God at all times and pout out their hearts to him. I was so encouraged. I am called to be anxious about nothing but to present my request to God and he will give me the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 2:6-7). I have to rest in God and be confident that whatever he has for me is good and perfect. My dream amd desire is to be in Philly in graduate school preparing to serve the kingdom of God through counseling in an urban context, Why wouldn't God allow me to do that? Is that my own desire or is that a desire he has given me? Waiting for my acceptance or rejection letter is scary but I am confident that Philly and graduate school is where he wants me. Pray for me Saints because I am in the process of deciding exactly where to live,and I am in desperate need of a job. Until then, I will be waiting and resting in the Father.

Me and Brittany!!!!!!!!!

I met Brittany Freeman this summer working as an intern for Common Ground Montgomery, and she is absolutely amazing. She and I grew to know each other deeply and she is now one of my closest friends. The Lord brought us together by the power of his Holy Spirit, and her skin color is not like mine. Growing up as an unbeliever, I never imagined being close friends with a white girl. Now as a believer, I see people created in the image of God that happen to be different from me. I used to believe that I was inferior to white people because I was black, but in Christ we are all new creatures. There is neither Jew nor Greek nor male or female with Jesus. We are apart of one body made up of many members. I praise God for racial reconciliation!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Covenant Eyes by Trip Lee

Chorus: Look at dat, what you lookin at
Oooo she lookin good nah man I aint lookin back
Im watchin what I'm watchin, and yea this thang hard
But I'm watchin what I'm watchin we gotta be on guard
Look at dat, what you lookin at
Oooo she lookin good nah man I aint lookin back
Im watchin what I'm watchin, and yea this thang hard
But I'm watchin what I'm watchin we gotta be on guard

Last Verse: With every single glance man my sin tries to kill me
So I ain't givin in all my brothers gotta feel me
I'm free from my slavery you know that aint the real me
I belong to my God and I can't let no lust steal me
There's nothing I can gain the sister shouldn't move me
Cause my God is holy the epitome of beauty
Bought me with a price and I'm prayin He would rule me
My eyes belong to Him He's my King and Lord truly
As men who trust Jesus, we can't be cool wit all dat
So when my eyes start to trip, I tell em boys to fall back
So if you see me look away don't be surprised
Since I'm in love with my God, I got some covenant eyes

A covenant is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action.
To make a covenant with your eyes is to not look upon a man or a woman lustfully or to watch something that will cause you to fall into sin. In other words, you make a promise to refrain from an action that will cause you to sin. For example, not looking back at an attractive woman or not watching kissing or sex scenes in a movie.

When I heard this song for the very first time, I was convicted and blown away. I understand for the first time in my christian walk (I have been a believer for 3 years) what it means to make a covenant with your eyes. As a woman, I am not as visual as a man, but my mind can go to places it should not go. I can have an affair with a dude in my mind without him ever knowing it (yes, woman fantasize). I have lusted after dudes in my heart and took an extra look when I should have turned my head. God's standard for purity is so high that we have to be on guard as Trip Lee says in his song.

Matthew 5:27-30
²⁷"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'^e]">[e] ²⁸But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
³It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you should learn to control his own body^a]">[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;

1 Corinthians 6:18-20
¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. ¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

The media, magazines, and the culture promotes and encourages sexual immorality. Women wear clothes that cause men (christian and non-christian) to lust. Men have to walk with their heads down or close their eyes in order to stay pure. It is hard out here for both Christian men and women because the culture is anti-God. For those of us who are regenerated, we must fight to stay pure. For the ladies, we must turn our heads and not make up affairs in our hearts with different men. We must wait patiently on our heavenly Father to send a Godly man into our lives in his perfect timely. Some of us may never get married, and we have to be okay with that because Christ is ultimately all satisfying. Brothers, oh how I pray for you guys!!!!! Flesh is everywhere and women flaunt it so openly! Men, keep your eyes on our heavenly father and don't flirt with sin. My brothers and sisters, let's fight and make war against sin. Christian marriages are ending in divorce because of infidelity and women are wearing immodest clothes in the house of God. My prayer is that we would truly live in a way that is counter-cultural. People of God: Let's live as the bible calls us to live!!!!!! Yes, temptation is everywhere but the bible says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it". You do not have to give into temptation; however, if you do fall, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence knowing that our God is faithful and just to forgive us (Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 1:9).
LET'S MAKE A COVENANT WITH OUR EYES!!!!!!!!