Following God’s Direction…It’s a Process

Hello Ladies,

As you know from the last blog, I'm facing my fears, getting out of my comfort zone, and pressing on toward the purpose God has for my life.

Let me tell you, following God’s direction has not been easy….it’s a process. The process can be a painful one at times, when God has to refine the areas of your life that were so comfortable, which were holding you back from moving forward toward your purpose. The process can be a joyful one at times, when you are seeing the hand of God working in your life and blessing you in every aspect of your life. You can probably relate when I say been there, done that, and still going through it!

How do I follow God's direction? By trusting in the Lord with all my heart, not depending on my own understanding, seeking HIS will in all I do and know HE will show me which path to take (Proverbs 3:5-6).

I found this picture of a woman praying (see picture above) because prayer is very important to me in following God’s direction. I want to do so many things, but through prayer and fasting with purpose, God provides me the direction that I should go in my life.

How to have effective prayer life? By asking, seeking, and knocking. The bible says “…keep on asking, and you will receive what you are asking for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9-10). I have to say asking, seeking, and knocking does not happen overnight, it is a process. Honestly, it is still a process for me.

Besides prayer and fasting, I thank God for leaving us the Holy Spirit and the Bible (the word of God) for us to follow and receive direction for our lives.
• The Bible says regarding the Holy Spirit “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall everything I have told you.” (John 14:26).
• The Bible says regarding the Bible “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Timothy 3:16).

My prayer to all of you is no matter where you are in the process; always remember that you are not alone. We are women of purpose! We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! (Philippians 4:13).



God Bless until next time!

Yours Always,
Maria Guzman

Tovah is up tomorrow!





Siguiendo la dirección de Dios…es un proceso.



Hola Mujeres,

Como ustedes lo saben desde mi último blog, enfrentando a mis temores, saliendo de mi zona de comodidad, y presionando hacia el propósito que Dios tiene para mi vida.

Déjeme decirle, siguiendo la dirección de Dios no ha sido fácil ... es un proceso. El proceso puede ser a veces doloroso, cuando Dios ha precisando los ámbitos de su vida que estaban tan cómodo, que te detiene de avanzar hacia su propósito. El proceso puede ser a veces una alegría, cuando estás viendo la mano de Dios obrando en su vida y la bendición en cada aspecto de su vida. ¡Usted probablemente puede referirse cuando digo e estado allí, hecho eso, y todavía estoy pasando!

¿Cómo puedo seguir la dirección de Dios? Al confiar en el Señor con todo mi corazón, no en función de mi propio conocimiento, buscando su voluntad en todo lo que hago y sé que me mostrará el camino a seguir (Proverbios 3:5-6).

He encontrado esta foto de una mujer orando (ver foto arriba), porque la oración es muy importante para mí en siguiendo la dirección de Dios. Quiero hacer tantas cosas, pero a través de la oración y el ayunando con un propósito, Dios me da la dirección que debería ir en mi vida.

¿Cómo tener una vida de oración eficaz? Al preguntar, buscar y llamar. La Biblia dice: "... seguir preguntando, y usted recibirá lo que usted está pidiendo. Seguir buscando, y encontrarás. Sigue tocando, y la puerta se abrirá para usted. "(Lucas 11:9-10). Tengo que decir que pedir, buscar y llamar, no ocurrirá de un día, es un proceso. Honestamente, es todavía un proceso para mí.

Además de la oración y el ayuno, doy gracias a Dios por habernos dejado el Espíritu Santo y la Biblia (la palabra de Dios) para que lo sigamos y recibir dirección para nuestras vidas.
• La Biblia dice sobre el Espíritu Santo "Mas el Consolador, el Espíritu Santo, a quien el Padre enviará en mi nombre, él os enseñará todas las cosas. Y Él te hará recordar todo lo que he dicho. "(Juan 14:26)
• La Biblia dice en relación con la Biblia "Toda la Escritura es inspirada por Dios y es útil para enseñarnos lo que es verdad y para darnos cuenta de lo que está mal en nuestras vidas. Corrige nosotros cuando estamos mal y nos enseña a hacer lo correcto. "(2 Timoteo 3:16).

Mi oración a todos ustedes no importa dónde usted está en el proceso, siempre recuerde que usted no está sola. ¡Somos mujeres de propósito! ¡Podemos hacer todas las cosas en Cristo que nos fortalece! (Filipenses 4:13).


Dios te bendiga siempre,
María Guzmán

Be Quick and Slow

James tells us to be “quick to listen and slow to speak” and for good reason—but what if we were to try being “Quick” to trust God and “Slow” to embrace sin? How would that change our lives?

I’m sure most of us would like to think that being quick to embrace sin does not apply to us? But in most cases it does. The reason I say that is because unlike God we seem to categorize sin. We’ve been brainwashed to think there is such a thing is a little sin versus big sin. We can look at others and say, “Well at least I don’t so that!” and think we’re okay. But sisters I must tell you, as far as God is concerned—sin is sin! And when we embrace it, the path it puts us on is death. Sin always leads to the death of something, and many times the death of someone.

Some of us are gossips in the worst way. A gossip is one who kills people’s reputation by using her tongue in a sinful way. A gossip is one who is not trustworthy and destroys friendships. A gossip is one who embraces sin. See, sin is sin and it does cause death. And when we are talking about our Pastor or their family, we don’t see that as sin. When we are sharing a confidence after we said we wouldn’t we don’t think that is a big deal. Reason being, the categorization of sin as “little sin” or “big sin”. But our gossiping tongue, which can cause confusion among the saints, is something God hates. Hate is a strong word, but that’s what it says in Proverbs. So, now when you look at it from His perspective then you begin to see there is no such thing as a “little sin” after all. All sin, according to God’s word leads to death.

Often in the course of a day we are faced with making the split decision whether or not to trust God or embrace sin? At our workplace we can choose taking the low road (trusting God) or letting people know we are tired of their stuff (embracing sin). At home we can hold our peace with our husband (trusting God) or try to manipulate (embrace sin) the situation and him. We give up on family members (not trusting God) thinking they will never change. When caught in a sticky situation we can lie (not trusting God and embrace sin) versus tell the truth. It is just a part of everyday life being faced with satiations where we really don’t have time to think about our response.

Yet, if we pray to be one who is quick to trust God, when faced with the decision to “trust God” or embrace sin” we will more than likely, quickly choose to “Trust God!”

Father make us quick to trust You and slow to embrace sin. Help us to display your character and be a light unto this world for our Messiah. In Yeshua’s (Jesus) name—Amen!

Sisters I have a deadline before me that I am working hard to meet. So the rest of this week the blogs will be reruns from last year and sisters from the beginning of the Kitchen Table. I pray you will be blessed by what you read. God willing I will be back next Monday!



Love & Hugs
Ponnie

Maria Guzman will be up tomorrow!!! English and Español

Lord, Help My Unbelief

There was a man whose son was processed by an unclean spirit, which made him do all sorts of things. He brought him before Yeshua (Jesus) to be healed and after the father answered the Lord’s question of how long the child had suffered with this, their conversation went something like this…Yeshua said to him. “If you can believe all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord I believe; help my unbelief!” Read Mark 9:14:29

Personally I think we would all fair well to incorporate into our daily prayers, “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief!” We all struggle with some level or form of unbelief in our lives.

The truth is none of us really knows how deep our faith is until tested. It is easy to say, “I know that God loves and cares for me” until your husband leaves you for another woman or man. It’s not hard to say, “I trust you Lord” while you are getting a paycheck each week—but, when you lose your job and end up living in a shelter or your car, it is a different story. It is easy to feel that God is a caring and loving God, until the unexpected loss of a child. There are so many things in this life that can sake our faith, if only for a minute. But most of us struggle on a daily bases to “believe” something!

How often do we lose sleep after the monthly bills come in? How much time to we spend worrying about past due notices or our children? Have you ever faced the possibility of eviction? Trust me, it is not pretty. The thought of living in a shelter is not something most would want to do, but to come to the place of acceptance that if that is where you have to go—and it must be okay with God is huge. I’ve lived many years and the one thing it has taken me almost a lifetime to know without a doubt…is that God’s ways are not my ways. His plans are not my plans. And truthfully most of the time, I don’t have a clue and all I can do is my best to believe God’s Word. So when things are looking askew I often find myself asking God to help me in my unbelief!

When I agreed to not have an abortion (at age 40 and unmarried) and have my baby (Tovah), I had no idea how things would play out. And trust me; it has all been a great surprise to me. I was a manger for a large retail chain, making good money. I had worked hard all my life and was just starting to see some of the fruits of my labor. But then with one poor decision with man and one right decision for God it all seemed to go south. I had to give up that good paying job, couldn’t pay my rent, etc. There is much more to the story but we don’t have time, so I’m going to do a “reader’s digest” version. Life was never the same once Tovah was born, we lived in subsidized housing for several years, I worked part-time for a few years and then we started homeschooling. I was also involved in inner city missions. Financially I never recovered. It seemed that I was always one step away from being poor. And some days it seemed as though I was poor.

Today, I know that He used these years to build up my trust and faith in Him. He used many scenarios (some I would have like to have skipped) to build my character and use me to help Tovah be the young woman that she has become. I’m not sure I would have been able to assist her and instill the laws of God the same way if I were working long hours and she was in the “before and after” school programs on top of a long school day, or home alone as a teen? Only God knows and He chose to do things differently then I would have thought.

Tovah will be going off to college in a few months and I have no monies saved for retirement. There are times “self” wants to fret and worry about that, but I must remind “self” that God has always been faithful to me and I must continue to “believe”! But on those days I find it hard to remember, I cry out, “Lord, I believe, but help me in my unbelief!”

Sisters, if you are finding yourselves in a place of “unbelief” don’t continue to stay there. Get into your Bibles and read! Pray! Remember the things that God has already done for you! Talk to someone who has a greater faith than yours, so they can encourage you. I’ve found that those with great faith in God, have experienced some hard times walking with Him and they have a great testimony for us.

Lord, we believe, but help us with our unbelief!



Love & Hugs
Ponnie

See you Monday!!!

Procrastinators Unite…….Tomorrow

pro•cras•ti•nate: To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness. To postpone or delay needlessly

Let’s face it, we all procrastinate. Whether it’s that big English paper due at the end of the week, or that presentation your boss wants by Monday. We’ve all gone through the process of putting a task off until later, especially if that task is unappealing to us. Being a teenager I deal with procrastination on a daily basis. I’ve often found myself in trouble for waiting until the last minute to do a chore, or not finishing a paper until the night before it’s due. Procrastination is something that everyone struggles with, not just teenagers, and it can be difficult to overcome.

I like to think of procrastination as a form of the “empty self.” The “empty self” is when we only focus on things that make us happy, and not on the world around us. It’s like thinking “I’m not gonna do that thing right now because it makes me happier to do it later,” or “Why should I do that now when I can do it in 2 hours? Is it that much of a difference?” (I’m guilty of thinking this way sometimes) This thought process becomes a never ending cycle of things getting done late or not getting done at all.

I actually find myself procrastinating right now as I am writing this blog. Rather than typing I was playing solitaire and checking on Facebook. Procrastination is like a thief, in that it always steals something away from us. My mom has a saying, “Procrastination will always rob you blind.” When we put something off until tomorrow, we are taking a huge risk because tomorrow brings its own set of problems and other things that need to be done. The next day is not guaranteed to any of us, and procrastination in itself is a big gamble.

A synonym for procrastination is laziness. What prevents us from doing things at a certain time? It is often because we are too lazy or comfortable to extend ourselves out of our comfort zone and get up off our butts and do it! Proverbs 10:4 says “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” Procrastination and laziness will rob us of the wealth that God wants to supply us with, and will also deem us as irresponsible in His eyes. I don’t think that any of us wants God to think that we are irresponsible and cannot be trusted with the blessings that He has planned for us.

The thing is we can’t conquer procrastination by ourselves. But we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Isaiah 41: 10 says “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” God knows the flaws that we all have to overcome, and He is there to help us every step of the way. I hope that this has encouraged you to begin to fight to overcome the spirit of procrastination, and any other bad habits that you may need to take care of to make 2010 a better and productive year for you. I’m working on it!


Until next time,

Peace Out!
Tovah


Ponnie's up tomorrow!

The World We Live In

If you live in the USA or have internet access then I’m pretty sure you have not been able to escape our latest media frenzy centered on actor Charlie Sheen. In times like these I have to stop watching my local news for a few days, because they too jump on the ban wagon. You have to all but keep the TV, radio, and internet off if you want to escape what has now become a daily outpouring of his latest rants or problems. This type of goings on only magnifies the world we live in—a world that shows little or no compassion (or mercy) for a human being who without a doubt is emotionally and maybe even physically in trouble. It is a world that feeds off the spiral downfall of another human being. It is all about ratings and money. It is the epitome of a world of people who are lovers of themselves and not of God.

Charlie Sheen has a mother and father who love him dearly and they have to watch this in living color so to speak. How heartbreaking this must be for them. As a parent, I can’t even imagine seeing my child going through hell (whether they know it or not) in such a public forum. The sad truth about this all is, he’s not the first and probably will not be the last to experience this. But I wonder what we the Saints of God are doing about it?

Living in a world where people are haters of God and lovers of themselves has maybe desensitized us to some extent. I would love to have access to the “water cooler” conversations about Charlie Sheen, just to see how many of my brothers and sisters in the Lord are gossiping about him. I’m sure it’s the talk of the day at most barber shops and beauty salons. What about phone conversations amongst ourselves?

How many of us are praying for Charlie and his family? (He has 5 children.) Or are we just caught up in the media hype and judgment? His father Martin Sheen has been fighting for his son’s life for years, because of his drug addiction. He even went after the people who were enabling him a few years back. So, this has been on going for years but with the love and support of his family Charlie had gotten himself together for awhile, but as the old saying goes, “He seems to have fallen off the wagon!” And pretty hard I must say.

Do you ever wonder how is it that the evil folks of this world seem to have no trouble getting to people like Charlie Sheen, Anna Nicole Smith, Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Amy Winehouse and Christina Aguilera? Why is it we as Believers are not as determined in reaching them before their demise? Why did we watch Anna Nicole Smith’s spiral downfall, which eventually lead to her untimely death at the age of 39, as if it were just a TV show? I must confess, I talked about her and never prayed for her.

There are many things we can do as Believers to invoke change in this world and one of the biggest is “prayer”. We live in a world of sin that is calming the lives of so many and this should not be. Why? Because our Messiah died on the Cross so that all could have the opportunity to be saved. His precious Blood has covered the sins of Charlie Sheen and all who are like him.

Let’s pull ourselves away from the mainstream or as the Bible tells us, “Not be part of this world,” and pray for those in the spotlight who we see are in trouble. Let us be the light of this crazy world we live in. So, the next time someone wants to talk to you about the latest escapades of Charlie Sheen, let your response be, “We really need to be interceding on his behalf. For it is obvious, he needs the Lord!”



Love & Hugs
Ponnie

Tovah's up tomorrow!