Release Dat!

Well it’s the last day of May and the last of our series: It’s Renewal Season! If you’re going to be renewed this season you’ve got to learn how to release some stuff so that God can revive, refresh, and restore your spirit! 

Photo Cred: Nigel Morgan

Sometimes we walk around with stuff that God didn’t intend for us to carry. We keep things bottled in that if someone just taps us we might explode. So my word to end this series is simple today: Girrrl Release Dat! 

-So what you’ve made some mistakes in your past - God has forgiven you and moved on and now it’s time for you to ‘Release Dat’! 

-You keep making excuses about what you can’t do based on some lie you tell yourself: 

Ex: I can’t start this business because I’m not business savvy, I wouldn’t know where to begin

LIES! - You are indeed business savvy, you don’t make it 20+, 25+,35+, 40+ years in life not knowing anything. ‘Release Dat’!  

-You’re still hurt by that family member or friend who wronged you. Your anger keeps you up at night and is literally causing you physical distress. Girrrl pray to God to remove it and then ‘Release Dat’!!

Whatever you are holding on to, whatever belief is holding you back, whatever hurt you are holding on to that you refuse to let go, whatever habit you are holding on to that is stunting your growth, it’s time to ‘Release Dat’! 

By now you’ve noticed that every time I write ‘Release Dat’ I bold it. That way when you skim this post and the main point will saturate your spirit! 

Give the ‘dat’ over to God. Let Him remove it and do away with it for you. There’s an old hymn (do churches still sing hymns?) we used to sing called ‘I Surrender All’: 

All to Jesus I surrender

All to Him I freely give

I will ever love and trust Him

In His presence daily live

Chorus: 

I surrender all

I surrender all

All to Thee my blessed Savior 

I surrender all

Girrrl do the work that you have to do and ‘Release Dat’! God wants you to be free, refreshed, restored and ready to live your life!  

Remember: 

You are worthy! You are exuberant! You are a unlimited! 

Renew. Refresh. Slay! 

Prepaid: An Inspirational Moment

**REPOST - I ran across this older post I wrote some time ago but it did indeed bless me today - I hope it blesses you too**

My younger cousin has a Boost Mobile cell phone. This company has built its brand on being a prepaid cell service provider. This means you prepay for your minutes each month and when the next month comes, if you don’t pay, it is okay you just won’t have any minutes to use. No contracts, no hassle I suppose but the best part is you never owe a bill. I’m sure Boost does not have a collections department because everything is prepaid!

When I think of this concept my mind begins to wander to Christ and how he prepaid the price for our sinful natures. There’s a popular Christian cliché that simply says “Jesus Paid it All”. The word ‘paid’ is a verb; it is the past participle of the word ‘pay’ which denotes that ‘paid’ is an action that has already taken place. Just as my cousin pays her Boost Mobile bill so she’ll have minutes to use, Jesus Paid It All way back on Calvary so that you and I might have ‘Minutes in Victory’,  ‘Minutes in Peace’, and ‘Minutes in Blessings’! 

He did all of this in advance!

When I think of God doing this in advance for us, my mind, body and soul begins to rejoice because I’m ‘paid in full’!!!

God of the Turn Around!!

Girrrl stop worrying and let your mind and spirit be renewed knowing this: God is the God of the turn around! (I’ll pause….while you shout!)

God specializes in turning things around! Trust me, I’m not telling what I heard but what I know! He has a special knack for putting His hands on the situation and making it work out for your good - oh yeah, He said that in His Word - “And we know all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). God can turn around your self-esteem, your depression, your finances, your motives, your heart and even the heart of others - He will make your enemy your footstool! There’s no limit to the depths God will go for His children so Girrrl - stop worrying! 

Worrying does not fuel your spirit rather, it completely deflates it. It gets you no where but headed to your freezer to kill a half of gallon of Breyers cookies and cream ice cream (so I’ve heard….) and now you holding together your summer capris with a safety pin - Girrrl Stop! 

Read Matthew 6:25-34 and make a vowel today to stop worrying - God is the God of the turn around, He will take care of you! Seek God and trust in His provision, He will turn it around!! 

You are worthy! You are fearfully and wonderfully made! 

You are greatness unleashed! 

Renew. Refresh. Slay! 

Girrrl Celebrate It!

Hey Girrrl Stop Nation! I know y'all out there making goals and stuff (#goaldiggers) but as we are focusing on renewal in the month of May I want to encourage you to celebrate the small wins! 

Every large goal requires smaller goals in order to reach them. You know you could say, “Lord, my goal is to not cuss folks out anymore” and then lo and behold Sister Lulabell at the church bring some craziness to you and you get to cussin’! But this time you only went ham for 30 seconds as opposed to your normal 15 minutes!! Well celebrate that - it’s an accomplishment! 

I’m a new believer in celebrating small wins because it gives that dose of encouragement you need to stay in the race and keep going! For every small win you know you’re that much closer to the main goal!  

-You may not have reached your 25 pound weight loss goal yet but you’re going to the gym 3-4 times a week on a regular basis - celebrate it! 

-You may not have paid off that credit card yet but you are now sticking to a budget for the first time in your life - celebrate it! 

-You may not have fully mastered not going nuts on your teenager for their smart aleck mouth but this week you mastered the 

‘you-got-3-seconds-to-get-out-of-my-sight’ look and poof! They disappeared into another room or another galaxy but who cares, you got some peace! - celebrate it! 

Celebrating those small wins will renew and fuel your spirit, causing you to feel absolutely amazing about yourself and keep you going even through tough situations!  

2 Chronicles 15:7 (NLT) - But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded

(MSG) - But it’s different for you: Be strong. Take heart. Payday is coming!

Remember: 

You are incredible! You are awesome! You are a winner! 

Renew. Refresh. Slay! 

Just Say No!

Girrrl it’s springtime which means a time to get renewed, refreshed and rejuvenated! Here in the northeast I think Summer may have kidnapped Spring (cuz it’s hot and I’m having to run my air already!) but nevertheless it’s that time of year to focus on you and renew your spirit! In the month of May I’ll be giving you some suggestions for renewal that will surely jumpstart you into a refreshing! If you’re already doing the suggested things then pass it on to another sister in Christ - don’t be stingy!! 

Saying yes to things that don’t fuel your spirit is a sure-fire way to be perpetually drained! Saying yes to things you do not want to do will leave you depleted. You know you didn’t want to chair that program but you said yes anyway! Girrrl you know, you didn’t feel like going to dinner for the 3rd night this week but you went anyway (and then you side-eyeing folks all the way through dessert!) This is not how God wants us to be: drained and depleted - I mean even He rested! 

When they ask you to go out to that event on Friday evening after you dun worked all week: "Girrrl, now you know I ain’t going!"

If you want to truly get renewed this renewal season you gotta learn to say NO to the things that don’t fuel your spirit! Just say NO!!! Your friends will be okay, your children will live and your church will still be standing after your ‘refreshing’! Mark 2:22 says, “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” Due to the process of fermentation, the old wineskins (bottles) don’t have the strength to hold the new wine causing a two-fold loss: the bottle and the wine (did somebody say: Moscato please!). 

When we run, run and run some more we become worn out and torn down. In that state we aren't of any use to anyone including ourselves. You have to learn to say NO to some stuff so that you are not in this constant state of “ran-downess” (yeah I made it up). Girrrl, if you start hearing the comment, “Ooh you look tired” (try to refrain from charging at this person and choking them with your freshly manicured hands!) then that may be an indicator that it’s renewal time! God is trying to do a new thing in you in a new season but he can’t put fresh wine in an old bottle (did somebody say: Red please!). Take the time to be renewed so that you are strong enough to continue your journey! 

Say NO to some stuff so you don’t become run down and you can leave room for the things that truly fuel your spirit! 

You are beautiful! You are unique! You are success embodied! 

Renew. Refresh. Slay!