New Year's Eve Message

May the Most High bless you abundantly in the year to come.

I pray that this message will encourage your soul!

Click the link below to hear/view the message.

Shalom!!!

Covenant Grace Ministries

Mental Health Monday

     Have you ever wondered why you don’t quite fit in with the crowd?  Once upon a time, I did.  But, not anymore!  If you are struggling to fit, consider this - you might never fit!  You are UNIQUELY you.

Psalm 139:14

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous - how well I know it.

NLT

  

It is vital to your mental health that you understand you might never fit in with the crowd.  For me, coming to terms with this realization that I may never fit in granted me the freedom to embrace me - the me that the Most High God has ordained me to be!

When you, my brothers and sisters, grab hold of this reality, you will begin to embrace your uniqueness and wear it like a badge of honor.  Understand that you just might be that one square peg in the midst of round openings - surrounded by a multitude of round pegs.  As you begin to accept your uniqueness, you can then stop shaving off layers of you - in a futile attempt to make your individually designed square structure become round.

Square pegs were never intended to fit inside round openings.  Neither were round pegs intended to fit inside square openings.  Many times, the parts that you are trying to discard are the very parts that make you uniquely you.  Consider this - the parts that you attempt to discard/shave off may be the parts that God needs for the kingdom! Shalom.

(1 Corinthians 12:12 - The human body has 

many parts, but the many parts make up one 

whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.) 

Covenant Grace Ministries 

What are your health goals for 2022?

 

Chances are, if you are serious about making changes, you have already considered what you plan to change.  If not, what are you waiting for?  The clock is ticking, and there are only a few days left in this year.  Let us all strive to move into 2022 minus old addictions and toxic habits.  (Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us… Hebrews 12:1)  If we are going to successfully abandon old addictions and habits, it is imperative that we formulate a plan!   Without a plan, you plan to fail.  (Where there is no vision, the people perish. Proverbs 29:18)

Your plan MAY include the following:

Do you plan to lose weight?

Do you plan to reduce your salt/sugar intake?

Do you want to include more fruits/vegetables in your diet?

Do you want to replace animal protein with plant-based protein?

Do you want to eliminate fried foods from your diet?

Do you want to reduce the amount of processed foods?

Do you want to start exercising? Or perhaps, you want to exercise more.

Whatever fitness/health goal(s)  you have for 2022 - remember you must plan.  Then, you must work your plan.  (Write the vision, and make it plain.  Habakkuk 2:2)

These are just a few tips to help you get started.

1. If your health goals include food related changes, you should already be restocking your pantry and revising your grocery list.  Now is a good time to stock up on things that you will need to successfully achieve your goals.  For example, if you plan to increase your water intake, start stocking up on bottled water or purchase a purifier for your faucet. 

2. Decide on a date to get started.  If you plan to enjoy a New Year’s feast, it would not be wise to set your starting date for January 1st.

3. Stick to your plan.  If you waver, it is not the end of the world.  Get up and keep moving forward.  Remember, a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again. (Proverbs 24:16)

Covenant Grace Ministries

It's Mental Health Monday!

It is disheartening when you share details with someone and that someone disregards or trivializes the details that were shared. For me, this has often been a test of whether that someone is really listening/paying attention. TOO often, disappointment follows when later conversations reveal that the someone was NOT listening. On this Mental Health Monday, before you “write that someone off” as someone who doesn’t care or who is just plain old selfish, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Did he/she really hear you?

2. Did they understand?

3. Were they preoccupied when you told them?

4. Is this a pattern with this person?

If “disregarding/trivializing” is a pattern for that someone, it may be time for you to STOP sharing information with that someone. Obviously, they don’t care or they don’t have a point of reference to sympathize with your emotions. Understanding who you can have conversations with during a critical time is crucial to your mental health. Remember, everyone needs someone who listens with open ears - never ignoring the details that are important to you, who responds with concern and an understanding heart, and who does a follow-up just to make sure that you’re okay.

On this Mental Health Monday, I pray that (going forward) this guides you in deciding who to share your cares, your concerns, your dreams and your painful dilemmas with! Remember, everybody is NOT listening and some people really don't care.

Covenant Grace Ministries

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Shalom!

 

Be Spirit Lead

 

 Most High God, we come humbly before your throne thanking you that things are as well as they are. Forgive us of our sins, and renew our spirits. We love YOU. We know that you are an able God. We come to you - because we stand in the midst of confusion and trouble - evil is all around. Lord, we don’t know how, we don’t know when, we don’t know where. But, Lord, YOU know. During this season, grace us to trust the process - knowing that all things work together for the good for those who love YOU and are called according to YOUR purpose.

In the name of Yeshua,

Amen.

Shabbat Shalom!

 Shabbat Shalom!

1 Give doctors the honor they deserve, for the Lord gave them their work to do.[a] 

2 Their skill came from the Most High, and kings reward them for it. 

3 Their knowledge gives them a position of importance, and powerful people hold them in high regard.

4 The Lord created medicines from the earth, and a sensible person will not hesitate to use them.

Sirach 38:1-4

GNT

Covenant Grace Ministries

Shabbat Shalom!

 

 BEWARE!

    BE careful that you do NOT entertain demons.  Demonic activity is running rampant, and the enemy has unleashed his cohorts throughout the land.  He disguises his handiwork so that it looks innocent - even to the believer.  Remember, that the Most High is not the author of fear.  Nor has he given man the spirit of fear.  Anything that causes fear and terror to overwhelm you is NOT of GOD!  As believers, we must be mindful as to NOT give place to the devil.  

Oftentimes, during this season, people spend great effort inviting demons into their homes, their lives and into their spirits.  However, most people fail to drive those demons out.  Please understand me - whenever you invite them in and fail to drive them out, those same demons become ever so comfortable and they begin to make your environment their environment.  As a matter of fact, they “set up camp” right there in your environment.  They become so comfortable that they send for their cohorts and begin to establish permanent residence right there - with you!  The dark world of the occult is NOT to be played with.  That includes Halloween, seances, ouija boards, soothsayers, warlocks, witches, voodoo and the like.

Children of the Most High - when we know better, the Most High God expects us to do better!

Leviticus 19:31

“Do not turn to those who are mediums or to soothsayers. Do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am Adonai your God. 

(Tree of Life Version)

Covenant Grace Ministries

No JUSTICE, No PEACE

“Double Standards and Hypocrisy in America”

It angers me and disheartens my spirit to see the LACK of coverage and attention given to people of color whose whereabouts are unknown in America.  The major news outlets have given and are continuing to give meticulous detailed coverage on the Gabby Petito/Brian Laundrie case.  On the contrary, MANY people knew nothing about Jelani Day (an African American graduate student at Illinois State University) until his body was discovered floating on the Illinois River.  Even now, his case has NOT received the same publicity and coverage.  We must open our eyes!  This is one of the very reasons that more and more people do not care to salute the flag nor pledge allegiance - to the flag. That one phrase in the pledge that states, “…with liberty and justice for all” certainly has NOT applied to ALL people - especially people of color.  My heart hurts for the family of Mr. Jelani Day and all of the other families whose cases have received little or no coverage.  It saddens me to see the continual struggle of our people - knowing that OUR ancestors poured out their blood, their sweat, their tears and even their lives to build the America that we see today.  There is NO JUSTICE and NO PEACE for our people!

Many of us had to learn and recite the preamble when we were in school.  Just in case you’ve forgotten it, this is how it reads:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

 

The hypocrisy of it all - “they” want our truth to be UNTOLD, but their truth to BE TOLD!

            

Covenant Grace Ministries

Mental Health Monday

 It’s Mental Health Monday!

Mental Health is often overlooked and even ignored- especially in many minority households. We must get in the practice of maintaining mental health just as we do our physical health.

Philippians 2:5 reminds us - "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus".

I pray that whatever is troubling your mind tonight will cease it’s stronghold over your thoughts. I pray that the Most High will give you a permanent solution to that reoccurring problem and that you will experience sound sleep so that you will awaken with rejuvenation in both your body and your spirit.

In the name of Yeshua, Amen .

Stop It!

                                                                hmm…

  Oftentimes, it bothers us to know that someone has a problem with us when we have done nothing to them.  If you are anything like me, you can spend countless moments trying to figure out what it is/was that caused that person to display what is perceived as rejection.  As I thought about this, I had to come to grips with the fact that in many cases I’ll never know the reason.  Neither will you.

If we really knew why certain people had a problem with us - we would probably be surprised!  Sometimes, people have issues with us that have more to do with who we remind them of than anything that we have ever said or anything that we have ever done to them. 

The issues that “they” have with us may have nothing to do with us, per se.  The issues that “they” have are more about who and what we represent. 

Sometimes, the reason “they” have issues with us is because …. 

• We remind them of that person who tried to destroy them.

• We remind them of the person who rejected them.

• We remind them of the person who walked off and left them.

• We remind them of the person who stole their lover.

• We remind them of their moma who dropped them and left them scarred for life.

• We remind them of their daddy who abandoned the family.

• We remind them of their abusers and their accusers.

• We remind them of somebody who humiliated them and broke their spirit.

• We remind them of that person who out-achieved them in what they used to be the best in... hmm

• We remind them ……

What I’m saying is that (many times), people have unresolved issues that they attempt to resolve by disliking or rejecting someone else.  They attempt to dim the lights of others just so that they can shine. Stop trying to get their acceptance and approval.  Work on you and keep it moving!

Covenant Grace Ministries

Shabbat Shalom!

 

 

"When The Past Comes Behind You" (video - Click on the link.)

"When The Past Comes Behind You"

Silent Sufferers 

MEMO: As I awakened on this morning, the Most High dropped this in my spirit.

Be mindful of how you respond to others. There are people in our midst who are suffering in silence. They may look good, they may dress well and they may behave accordingly. But, behind closed doors, they are fragile emotional wrecks. One wrong word, one unkind or thoughtless act could cause them to break. Everything is not always the way it appears. Therefore, when you pray, remember those who daily suffer in silence.

Unspoken Communication is Still Language!

Language is defined by Google as the principal method of human communication, consisting of words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing, or gesture. Unspoken language is language that is expressed or understood without being directly stated.

With that being said, we must understand that more often than not, people choose to convey their NEGATIVE attitudes and thoughts through nonverbal/unspoken actions and communication.  They choose to  communicate to you exactly how they feel about you; not by what they choose to say, but often by what they choose NOT to say.   Sometimes, it is done in a very demeaning, spiteful way.  Other times, it is done in a more crafty, subtle way.

The nonverbal/unspoken approaches may include (but not limited to) rejection, omission, excluding and ignoring.  Please understand me, rejection, omission, excluding and ignoring are expressive, powerful forms of nonverbal communication.   It is often easy for adults to recognize this behavior in children; sometimes, we identify this behavior as a form of bullying.  But, it is a bit more difficult to recognize this same behavior in adults.

The Takeaway

Be selective in what you choose to dismiss.  Sometimes, the  nonverbal/unspoken actions and communication of others are very INTENTIONAL and they are designed to kill, to steal and to destroy.  That’s right!  They are designed to kill your spirit, to steal your peace and to destroy your confidence and your self-esteem.  This is a ploy of the enemy.  John 10:10 reminds us that the thief cometh to kill, to steal and to destroy.  Therefore, you MUST allow your inner man to evaluate this ploy.  Do those nonverbal/unspoken actions and communications kill, do they steal, or do they destroy?  The Most High will guide your evaluation as you determine if the nonverbal/unspoken actions and communications by others are designed to kill, to steal and to destroy.  When your spirit is in tune with HIS SPIRIT, the Most High will NOT allow the wool to be pulled over your eyes.  You will be able to try the spirit by the spirit! 

Until next time - Shalom.

Covenant Grace Ministries

   

 May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Covenant Grace Ministries

 

Watermelon Juice Review

 The summertime favorite fruit, watermelon, is not only hydrating and refreshing; but, it is also high in potassium and vitamin C.  Watermelon may even be beneficial in boosting metabolism and aiding in weight loss.  For additional watermelon benefits, check out watermelon .  Some studies even claim that drinking watermelon juice may aid in reducing belly fat.  

Recently, I tried two brands of watermelon juice - TSAMMA and Wonder Melon.  Here is my review.   I will use a (1-10) rating scale with 1 for not so good and 10 for exceptional.  

TSAMMA was my least favorite.  I purchased a 12 ounce bottle from Publix.  Not all grocery chains sell this brand.  Check the store locator on the TSAMMA website for availability in your area.

  

Wonder Melon (Watermelon Lemon Cayenne)  is quite tasty, especially if you're a fan of cayenne.  For me, the heat from the cayenne is highly detectable. 

Wonder Melon (Watermelon Cucumber Basil) is my favorite among the three.  It was both hydrating and refreshing.