Yup, You were made to "Burn Bright!"

Psst… Let me let you in on a little secret of mine, a little something that keeps me inspired and motivated weekly. Every Sunday at 12:00 pm like clockwork for the past 5 years or longer, my phone sets off a reminder to me, and you know what that reminder says,.. “You are fearfully and wonderfully made!” (Psalms 139:14). That’s right I remind myself on a regular bases that God loves me and gives me daily mercy and grace, and that I am also fearfully and wonderfully made!

Did you know when God formed you in your mother’s womb, He didn’t just throw some bones, tissues and muscles together; He molded and fashioned you after His own heart, yes, you! Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Now let’s not just let that scripture slip past you, you are God’s handiwork, God created you for a purpose and He has plans for you!

Today you may feel as if you are lost, as if your hopes and dreams will not come to pass, or as if you’ve been working tirelessly on your hopes and dreams and nothing is happening; well I’m here to remind you that in the eyes of God, you are a Jewel, and Jewels were made to shine, to shimmer, to glitter and to burn bright!!!

Malachi 3:17, says, “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.¹⁸ Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” This particular portion of scripture is referring to a book of remembrance being made up of those who spoke highly of God and who had a reverential fear of Him, He called them His jewels! Yes, that’s right if the fore mentioned characteristics are of you, then God has called you “His Jewel”.

You are special to God and you should always remember that, yes, even in the midst of your slips, mishaps and falls from His perfect will for your life. Remember, Christ died for you when you were a sinner, so if He could die for you while you were a sinner, how much more do you think He loves you now that you are righteous because of your belief in Him and because you strive (even in the midst of the falls) to do right by Him.

Don’t get it twisted and don’t let others twist it for you! People who believe you have to be perfect for God are self-righteous and not Christ-righteous, they are self-conscious and not Christ-Conscious; if we could save ourselves and keep ourselves saved by what we do or did, why did God bring Christ in the first place? If we could save ourselves and keep ourselves saved all God had to do was let us try to do it ourselves;... OH THAT’S RIGHT HE DID THAT AND WE FAILED!!!!

There’s a song that’s sung by Natalie Grant called “Burn Bright” and listed below is a section of that song, read these words, marinate on them and learn that while the world may have their opinion of what you should and shouldn’t do and how God may and may not judge you, remember you are a child of the living God, you are light, YOU ARE HIS HANDIWORK, HIS JEWEL and you were made to BURN BRIGHT!

“Burn Bright”

You were made to shine
You were made for life
Even if you've lost your way
Turn and you will hear love say
You were made for more
So much more
Child of everlasting light
Made to blaze away the night
So baby, burn bright
Burn bright
Natalie Grant – “Burn Bright”

Remember when you’ve lost your way and don’t know where to turn in life, God’s Word will always lead you back to where you belong, seeing yourself as a Child of God, Chosen by Him, Created in His Image, and always on the receiving end of His Love, Grace and Mercy!!!

Love, Kisses and Teacups,

Always In His Grace,

Toinette Neube

Are you a “Water Walker?”

Your first question might be what is a “Water Walker” Well a “Water Walker” is someone like Peter who had enough faith in Jesus to take that first step and walk on water when Jesus bid him to come to Him.

Matthew 14:22-33 says, ^“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God!

How many times has God brought something to you, a dream, a goal, a vision, a job, a move out the state, (etc.) and when the opportunity came you, like Peter said, Lord if that is you, tell me to do this. Basically you said, Lord if this job is for me, give me peace about it, or if this is the move you want me to make, give me faith enough to make it. Then once you took that first step of faith or walked on the water to do what you thought Jesus was biding or allowing you to do, your faith wavered because things started to look scary or the winds started to do what they were called to do which was to blow, and you turned back to the normal or the comfortable; and God being the God He is, gave you freedom of choice to turn back and the winds began to cease again; but in hind-sight, you, like Peter could have walked on water, if only you had enough faith.

You see God called Peter just as He called you, all it really takes is faith in God and faith in what God has put inside you, the winds will do as they have been called to do, which is blow, life will happen as it has been called to do, but you have to have enough faith in God and in what He has placed in you to not only take that first step, but also to keep walking, winds blowing and all.  

Noah was a “Water Walker” because he built an ark and had never seen rain before, Moses was a “Water Walker”, because he was a stutter who didn’t want the job of leading millions out of captivity but He did it anyway, David was a “Water Walker” because he was a shepherd boy whose only job was to lead sheep, but he had enough faith in Himself and His God to believe He could slay a giant, and by only using the one thing he knew how to use, a slingshot!

And (yes, I know I shouldn’t start a sentence with “And”, but artistic expression J), I like to think of myself as a “Water Walker”. I have known the voice of God in my life since I can remember and in knowing that voice I have always been the type of person who had to obey His voice even when I didn’t want to, and even when it wasn’t popular to those around me; from being a stay-at-home-mom when I wanted to be a 9-5 mom, to home-schooling my sons when it wasn’t popular,  to leaving a church home where I loved the pastor and church family when I knew God was telling me it was time to go, but in each of those situations, I walked on water, and in each situation God always showed up to hold my hand and bring me through; scary times, winds blowing and all!

Being a water walker is not for the faint of heart, when Jesus calls you and you step out into the unknown, the waves can not only be scary but they can be treacherous, intimidating and at times overtake you and make you think you are sinking and want to look back and return to where you came. But if you are anything like me, you can’t turn around and the nudging of the Holy Spirit and God won’t let you do it.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. who said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.” Today take that first step of faith even though you can’t see the staircase, become a “Water Walker” and believe that God loves you enough to not let you sink, step out of your comfort zone, the winds will blow, because that’s their job, but know that the Love, Grace and Mercy of God is renewed to you every day and that He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you, know that He won’t push you, He will only bid you, and you have to have enough faith in Him and what He has placed in you, to be a “Water Walker”!

Love, Hugs and Teacups,

Always In His Grace,

Toinette Neube 

Change what you Believe and Change your Life!

In the counseling field we call it CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and in Ministry we call it “Renewing your mind!” Regardless what you call it, “If you can change what you believe, you can change your life!

About 7 years ago The Lord brought the revelation of Freedom and Grace into my life, and once I caught ahold of the message in totality, I gained a whole new understanding and knowledge of John 1:17, “The law came by Moses, but Truth and Grace came through Jesus Christ!”

I have personally experienced the teachings of every denomination from Apostolic to Episcopalian and all have their areas of truth just like anything in life, but none of them have brought me to the place of understanding, knowledge, relationship and freedom like the teachings of The Grace of God!

Unfortunately many people believe that teachings and preaching on Grace gives people the freedom to sin and to not have any remorse about it. Well this type of thinking is not scripture, it’s only human. The Bible tells us in Romans 2:4, “The Goodness of God brings us to repentance…” Not the guilt of God, not the fear of God, not the condemnation of God, but the Goodness of God! Think about it in this manner, if you were the son or daughter of a king and you always feared being punished or judged by your father the king, would you want to willingly please him? I think not; you may even hold a grudge against him for how he treated you; but if you were the child of a king who gave you everything you desired and showered you with Goodness and kindness, would you want to hurt him by not doing his will? I think not, not only would you desire to please him, but you would probably go out of your way to worship him and show him your gratitude and thankfulness. Well the same is true for us as God’s children, He doesn’t desire that we obey Him out of fear, He desires that we obey Him out of Love, gratitude and thankfulness for all that He has done for us. He knows the plans He has for us, as it says in the book of Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”…, and even though God is speaking to the nation of Israel at that time about being redeemed after being in exile, He is a God of redemption and His desire is to see everyone redeemed and to come to Him, and to be redeemed in itself means you are destined to prosper, to be protected and to have a hopeful future all in the name of Jesus Christ!  

So today I encourage you, Embrace the Goodness of God in your life, recognize that God loves you, that He desire to do good for you and by you. Change the way you see God! Change what you believe about God and start Embracing His Love, Grace, and Mercy and “Change your Life!”

Love, Kisses and Teacups!

Always In His Grace,

Toinette Neube   

It's not too late to make a "God-sized New Year Resolution" for "2015"!

Well it’s here, “2015” has made its entrance and I ‘m sure just like every other year we all have made our New Year Resolutions; whether it’s to lose weight, exercise more, or to start that business!

Well this year I’d like to challenge you make a God-sized New Year Resolution! What exactly is that? Well a God-sized New Year Resolution is a resolution that only God can make happen in your life; it can’t happen with any man-power, only insane courage and Faith in God! That’s right! It’s a resolution that can only happen by The Grace of God! A few examples may include: becoming debt free while your bills are showing years to be paid off, writing a book in a year while working full-time, going to school and taking care of your family, or building a church from scratch by years end; any and all of these resolutions would not only take an act of God, but they will also take prayer, dedication and insane courage! (That’s your part)!  

I know that you, just as I, have made resolution after resolution each year, and each year I depend upon self-effort to achieve them. Well this year I’d like to challenge you to make that God-sized resolution and depend upon God to see it through. I’m not saying you won’t have to put any action behind the resolution, but I am saying once you place the petition and prayer, leave the rest up to God and when He speaks to you, MOVE! If He doesn’t speak, then stay still and wait upon Him. The other thing that makes this resolution different from any other one you’ve made in years past, is that it’s not about having it completed by the end of the year! It’s all in God’s timing! All you have to do it begin!  

God is sooo good at giving us what we want and desire, we just need to get better at believing, taking Him at His Word and waiting!

Don’t worry, you aren’t doing this alone, I too have my God-sized resolution that I’m going to place before God and pray for enough insane courage to watch it come to fruition. I won’t reveal all the details of it right now, but I can tell you it has something to do with me taking a vow of silence and poverty!

At the end of the year, (or longer if that how long it takes) I’d love to hear your testimonies, what appears to be failure stories and of course your successes, because I know my God and He is not a man that He should lie! If He placed the dream or resolution in you, then I know it will come to past!

Remember as you start this year that this Christian walk is not about us, it’s always about God, but in His infinite giving Spirit, He loves us so much that He desires nothing from us but for us to accept Him, believe in Him, and to give back to others what He has so undeservingly given to us, His Love Grace and Mercy!

Love, Kisses and Teacups!!!

Always In His Grace!

Toinette Rose-Neube