The Lord Is On Our Side

The devil is sneaky. He comes at us in so many different ways that it’s hard to recognize him at times. Mainly, he works in our thoughts. He is the one that takes something small and creates a huge problem with it. It’s hard to always recognize him or his ways. That’s why it is so important for us to go to church and hear the word of God, read our Bibles through the week, and pray for understanding, guidance, and wisdom continually.

God knows what we go through. He knows our every problem— right down to our thoughts. And He wants to help us live a more joyful life. God doesn’t want us to live stressed out and always worried about something. Half the time, when I’m really feeling stressed is when I have created my own problems. Some of my greatest heartaches have never actually happened. They were just problems I created in my head. 

Talking to God about our problems is a wonderful way to gain a new perspective about them. Especially if we ask Him to help us see the situation as it is not as we believe it to be. Journaling is a great way to step back and look at our problems. When I take the time to write about my problems, then I’m able to see them much clearer. Most of the time, my situation is never as bad as it originally seemed. 

When I’m going through something challenging, I think, God will either help me to overcome my problem or He will help me to overcome my thoughts about it. Our God is mighty. There is no problem that is too big for Him to handle. When we cry out to Him, He will help us. It may not be in the way that we want for Him to help us, but it will be what is best for us. 

Sometimes we just need to step back and remember that we are a child of the King. We have favor with the Lord. His angels protect us, and His love surrounds us constantly. With the Lord on our side, we have nothing to fear. Nothing can separate us from Him.

Photo from Unsplash. Taken by Paul Morris at Glencoe, United Kingdom.

Love and blessings,

Candida

Do You Know The Lord?

What an honor it is to know the Lord and to be His child. Regardless of what we go through, nothing can ever separate us from Him. He knows our situation and He always has a plan to help us. We are more than conquers through Him. 

The reason we are still here is to tell others of the hope inside of us. Someone is in the same shape that we were in before the Lord came into our lives and put His word in our hearts. I remember that kind of hopelessness and feeling as if my life was meaningless. When God filled my heart, however, He replaced my fear with His peace, my hatred with His love, and my thoughts with His thoughts. He gave my life meaning and purpose.

Sometimes my mind still struggles to envision how wonderful Heaven will be. There will be no heartache, no pain, and no evil. For all eternity we will praise our Lord, and be in His amazing presence. Our soul will be joyful and so incredibly peaceful. 

God is a wonderful paymaster. He blesses me for serving Him and even teaches me how to do His work. Giving my heart to the Lord and deciding to live my life for Him was the best decision that I have ever made. What about you? Do you know the Lord?

Love and blessings, 

Candida

Who Is Watching You?

Sometimes it still amazes and at the same frightens me that I have two boys to raise. God entrusted me with them and I want to do what is best for them. Honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing. I discovered this realization when they first handed them to me in the hospital. Without an instruction manual or a plan, I left the hospital to figure it out. 

Since that day, I’ve been trying to figure it out. One thing I have learned is to pray without ceasing. God doesn’t expect us to figure it all out. He has the answers if we just go to Him and trust Him to help us. 

In order for me to help someone else grow in their life, I have to be willing to grow in my own life. I can’t just tell my children how to live, I need to show them. We have to be willing to lead by example. My parents didn’t sit me down and tell me how to live my life, but they constantly showed me. I watched my parents help those in need, and it made me want to help others as well. 

We can tell people all day long that we love them, but sometimes we need to show our love. God gave us numerous examples in the Bible. He showed us how to live our lives. 

Philippians 4:8-9 (KJV)

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

When we set out to be the best person that we can be we will touch other lives. People are watching us. What kind of message are we sending with our lives? I’ve heard so many times that we are either shining them a light or we are a stumbling block to them. I never want to stand in someone else’s way, so I constantly work on myself. 

God rewards our efforts. He wants us to grow and prosper and lead others to Him. Sometimes we have to stop and think about what is truly important in life. If I could decide my kid’s future, and they could be anything that I chose for them to be, I would want them to be a mighty soldier for my Lord. Because I know serving Him is what truly matters in this life and for Eternity. I also know that when we put God first in our lives, then He will bless every area of it. 

Serving God and helping others is what I want to pass down to my kids and their kids—and every generation to come. I want my legacy to be about serving God and others, so I make it a daily priority. What will your legacy be?

Love and blessings,

Candida

How to Overcome the Monday Morning Blues

Do you dread Monday morning? I used to dread it so bad that it made my stomach hurt on Sunday night. I always woke up in a bad mood and carried my bad mood until at lunch at least. Some weeks, if I’m being honest, I nurtured my bad mood until Friday. It made me miserable. 

Not being able to work for almost a year, changed my life. It taught me how precious life really is. So often we take things for granted. Working is a privilege denied to many. Once I changed my thoughts about working, then I was able to change my feelings as well. Now I look at Mondays as a new opportunity to make a difference. This day is precious. It will never come again. We shouldn’t wait until the conditions are perfect to have a good day. Today can be a good day if we chose for it to be. 

When I center my thoughts on the Lord and how I can serve Him, then I can make the most of my day. He can bless us in whatever state that we are in, wherever we are. We don’t have to wait until we get a new job, go on vacation, or the weekend comes to be happy and enjoy our day. 

Sometimes we just need to take a moment to count our blessings. Are things really as bad as we portray them to be? If they are then we need to make changes in our lives. Usually, the change starts within. When I worked on me and my thinking, then my life changed. It wasn’t my job that was the problem. It was me. 

I wasn’t getting enough sleep. I wasn’t doing anything to nurture my soul or fulfill my purpose. I wasn’t starting my day right. I wasn’t exercising or eating healthy. I was barely doing enough to get by, and my life reflected my choices. 

Now I’m grateful for each day. I receive this Monday joyfully and hope that God will bless me to receive much more. When we change our thoughts and receive each day as a gift, then we are able to enjoy it. The devil is the one that wants us to put our blessings in the same category as our heartaches. Don’t allow him to do that to you. Enjoy this day, despite him and the obstacles he throws in your way. 

Love and blessings, 

Candida

How to Overcome Life’s Hardships

Life can be so hard! The enemy is relentless in his attack on us. He doesn’t stop. Sometimes I feel as if I can’t catch my breath. It’s one attack after another. During these times, I have a choice. I can give up and hold hands with the enemy, or I can draw closer to God. 

I love it when I draw closer to God. While my flesh might be suffering, all is well with my soul. My Lord can give me peace during the storm. The storm happens for a reason. Even though we don’t understand it, we can still embrace it and grow through it. Especially, if we become still and ask God what He wants us to learn from the experience. When we realize the trial is happening for us and not to us, then we are able to see it with a new perspective. 

Anyone can have faith when everything is going great in their life. To have unwavering faith, however, during the storm is different. It requires us to believe in things we can’t see or things we have never experienced before. That kind of faith requires us to believe with God all things are possible. God is bigger than any problem that we might encounter. He always knows the exact solution to help us overcome our heartaches. We just have to trust Him, and allow Him to lead us through the troubled waters.

Sometimes He makes the way for us so easy that we dismiss it. We want something hard to do because that’s what our mind expects. When I was so sick, some of my doctors thought my treatment would cost thousands of dollars and involve lots of specialists. However, all it took was a change in my diet. The sad part is that my doctor had mentioned the diet before, but I had dismissed it. 

On the other side of the struggle is the desires of our heart. The Lord will help us to acquire those things we have prayed for—if we trust Him and walk by faith. We can’t get to the next level if we continue to stand right where we are. God has great things for us, we just have to put our fears aside and follow Him. One step at a time, every single day.

Love and blessings,

Candida

Warning: I Was Addicted. Are You?

How many times a day does your phone beep or buzz? Are you constantly distracted by what other people are doing? 

This happened to me. Regardless of what I was doing, my phone was always buzzing. It would break my concentration when I was working, and distract me from doing what needed to be done. It was the first thing I grabbed each morning and the last thing I checked each night. Instead of me using my phone to help me, my phone was using me. 

The realization made me mad. How had the addiction sneaked up on me? I didn’t intend to become addicted to my phone, but it happened anyway. So I decided to break my addiction. 

I deleted Facebook and messenger off of my phone. The constant beeping from the notifications was so distracting for me. While I do still check Facebook, I limit my time to a few minutes a day. Reading other people’s rants make me feel bad. It brings me down. Therefore, I scroll with caution. The moment I see anything that irritates me, I turn it off. I’m in control! It no longer controls me.

Social media has a way of pulling us in. If we are not careful, it will dictate our lives. While it can be fine in moderation, we have to be the ones who moderate our time. For the next few days, notice how you feel when you spend time on social media. That is what I did. The results surprised me. I asked myself these questions: Does it make you feel good? What else could you be doing with your time?

I have replaced my excess social media time with more writing time. I also use the time to read or paint. Not only do I accomplish more each day, but I also I feel more peaceful. In an effort to connect with more people, I don’t want to disconnect from myself or my loved ones. 

Every once in a while, it is good for us to take some time to reflect on our lives. During that time, we need to be honest with ourselves. I like to ask myself this question: Are you where you want to be in your life? If my answer is no, then I evaluate why. I want to live my life as if I will have to give an account for it one day. My time is a precious gift from God, and I want to use it that way. 

Love and blessings, 

Candida 

Do You Stand Up For Yourself?

For a long time, I thought standing up for myself just meant standing up to other people or standing up for what I believed to be right. Recently, however, my thought was challenged. We are usually quick to stand up to other people or society, but how often do we stand up against our own enemy?

The real enemy lives in our mind. The same one who encouraged Eve to eat the apple in the garden of Eden talks to us every day. How many times a day are we encouraged to do something that goes against our hopes and dreams, and the life we want to live? 

Every morning, I am encouraged to snooze. Just ten more minutes, I always think. Then instead of reading my Bible and spending my time with God, the enemy encourages me to check my emails, Facebook messages, and notifications. If I’m not aware of what is happening, I will be distracted from what is important to me. According to my thoughts, I am always too sleepy or tired to exercise, and my body always needs sugar and potato chips. When it comes time to write, I suddenly need to clean my house. And I never feel worthy or good enough to write or do God’s work. 

Sometimes we just need to stop and evaluate our lives. Who is in control? Who is leading us every day? Are we listening to the voice of our enemy or the voice of our Lord?

The enemy is constantly putting distractions in our life. He wants us to sabotage ourselves because he can’t make us do anything. He might be able to encourage us to do it, but he can’t make us do it. We need to remember that. And when he becomes relentless in his temptations and distractions, then we need to tell the Lord on him and ask God to help us overcome him.

We are all stronger than our excuses and temptations. This is our life! Are we going to allow the enemy to take it from us or are we going to fight against him? The first step for me is recognizing him. Once I know it’s the enemy, then I can ask God to help me to defeat him. Standing up for ourselves, against the enemy, is not easy.  Sometimes it’s really hard. The more we do it, however, the easier it will become. Every time we stand against the enemy and defeat him, it sets up a stone of remembrance for us. Our enemy is not able to overcome our Lord. When our strength falters, His strength begins. He is the One who ultimately stands up for us. The first step, however, is ours. 

Today, we need to decide who are we are going to live for and then make our daily choices based on that decision. Yes, it will be hard. But it will also be so worth it. 

Love and blessings, 

Candida