Tag: jesus

  • 💖 Letter To Myself: Thank You

    Hey! I hope that something in this letter speaks to your heart, ministers to your spirit, and gives you the victory you deserve. 

    Happy ten years of being obedient,  

    It all started ten years ago when you made the choice to finally call the police on Donnie. At that moment, you decided that you deserved more: more love and more protection. 

    For months leading up to the call:

    • God showed you that the love you received from your family wasn’t enough.
    • God showed you that if you stayed in that house, you would die. 
    • God showed you that there was a standard of love, and then you decided to answer the door.

    ✍️Write It Out: What has God been showing you for months?

    ✨ You didn’t make a choice in naivety. You made a choice knowing that there would be repercussions. You made a choice knowing that you would NOT be chosen. You knew your family would NOT decide to choose you, but you chose you. 

    ✍️Write It Out: What consequences are you afraid to face? 

    More than that, you chose God. You decided to listen to him, trust him, and say yes.

    You didn’t know it, but that one choice CHANGED everything. 

    ✅ Choosing God

    From there, you constantly made other choices. You decided to believe God when he promised that you would go to college, that you would graduate, and that you would be great. Not only great in standing but great in impact. 

    And baby, you did it. 🥳

    2-3 JOBS: You worked two jobs in high school and three in college, stayed obedient, and impacted many people. 

    HOMELESS TO FOOD PANTRY: You dealt with homelessness in college yet decided that you would make things better for others and started a food pantry. That food pantry is still standing and will be impacting students for years to come. Congratulations. 🎉

    THERAPY: You went to therapy and still do therapy because you decided your trauma and pain wouldn’t hold you back or go to the next generation.

    ENTREPRENEURSHIP: You trusted God enough NOT to go into corporate America, turned in your car early, and made the hard decision to trust God even when you didn’t make any money. 

    You have spent the last 10 years serving God wholeheartedly, obeying even when it was hard, and choosing to have faith in God during the hard times. 💖

    ✨When we decide to choose God, everything changes. 

    ✅ Choosing Myself

    As you enter this next season of your life, I hope you know that I am so proud of you. I am proud of your dedication, hard work, and yes. I’m proud of your heart. I’m proud of the way you conduct yourself with integrity. I’m proud of who you are today, not because of what you do, but because of who you are. 

    💐I want you to know that if no one sees you, I see you. If no one knows how hard you’ve worked, I know. If no one knows the tears you’ve cried, the giants you’ve slayed, or the mountains you’ve moved, I know. 

    💐Thank you for deciding that you would be obedient to God and leave the rest to him. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for protecting me.

    💐Thank you for creating a standard of love. Thank you for deciding to heal. Thank you for not letting your pain destroy you.

    💐More than that, thank you for deciding that you would believe God, no matter what.

    💐Thank you for trusting God and showing up when it felt impossible.

    ✍️Write It Out: What are three things you are proud of?

    ✅ Choosing to Remember 

    As you enter this new season, I hope you know that you deserve it ALL. You have paid the cost. You deserve EVERYTHING that the Lord has given you and will give you. Do not apologize for the victory, blessings, or favor in your life. Do not belittle, criticize, or mock yourself. 

    🥊You deserve it all. Do not roll over. Fight. Fight for your victory. Fight for your family, and fight for women. 

    I know that sometimes you feel that your obedience doesn’t matter, but it does. Your consistent yes to God matters. It matters to your family, friends, and community, but more than that, it matters to God. 

    Your yes to God matters!

    Things to remember:

    • You are worthy.
    • God is with you.
    • You are equipped and prepared.
    • God would never let you enter a season he hasn’t prepared you for. 

    📣 I want you to know that you can try again. I know that as a little girl, you lost some of your voice, self-esteem, and belief in yourself, but you are safe. It’s time to explore, find your voice, and bask in the protection that God has given you. 

    You do not have to perfect, put on a strong front, or be put together. God rests in your messiness and calls you forth. Be strong, be courageous, be you. You are worthy, resilient, and exactly who you are supposed to be. 

    As a child, the devil tried to take your gifts, voice, and confidence. But baby, you’re still standing. What the devil meant for evil, was a stepping stool for you to become the woman God called you to be. 

    🥳 Congratulations on believing in God, congratulations on surviving, and congratulations on this new season. 

    Welcome to a new era of using your voice and sharing your lessons! Welcome to The Daily Way!

    👀 Letter To The Reader:

    Hey girl! I know that this is a letter to myself, but I want you to know that you should be proud of yourself. 

    You may not be who you want to be yet, but you’ve had to overcome obstacles to be who you are today. Bask, in your greatness. You have survived. You are trying to be better. 

    Be proud of yourself. You deserve it. 💖

    ✍️Write It Out: What are three things you are proud of?

  • 5 Steps To Start Obeying God

    The idea of obeying God sounds great. It sounds like a fairytale, but if I can be honest with you, it sucks and often feels more like a nightmare. 

    See, obeying God isn’t fun. It requires you to change your mind, actions, and beliefs. Obedience requires you to start something new and stop something old. It’s uncomfortable, awkward, and hard. 

    Yet, obedience is required. Learning to obey God gets easier, not because it’s easy, but because it becomes your lifestyle. 

    I’m not gonna lie – I don’t always obey God. Sometimes, I stumble, wrestle, and go my own way, but I can promise that in the END, I always turn back and follow God. 

    Obeying God Gets Easier! Keep going!

    It has taken a lot to get here. It has been a combination of small yeses, mini habit shifts, and a lot of heart changes. Yet, I’ve made it. 

    💖And, if I can do it. You can do it too!! 

    Although I haven’t perfected obeying God and I never will, I have learned five steps that always get me on track to obedience and I believe it can help you too!

    5 Steps to Start Obeying God

    🔍Step One: Get Clear

    What is God actually telling you to do? Not, what do you think? What do you know? See, the enemy likes to get us so overwhelmed and confused that we begin to question if it was God, if we can do it, and if it’s possible. 

    So, the first step to obeying God is: getting clear on what God is saying. 

    ✍️Methods to Get Clear

    Here are a few methods you can use to get clear. 

    ASK GOD

    You can literally pray, “God I want to obey you, but I’m so confused and stuck in my head please make it clear.”

    READ YOUR BIBLE 📖

    God has a way of guiding us to the exact scripture that we need.

    TALK IT OUT

    1. Method One: Talk out loud to yourself. Sometimes hearing yourself talk out loud makes it easier to sort out your thoughts. 
    2. Method Two: Write it out. This is one of my favorite methods. Write down all your thoughts. This will get your thoughts out of your mind and onto paper where you can sort it out. 
    3. Method Three: Find someone you can talk to who will give you GODLY counsel. If you’re unsure who to talk to, ask God to help you find the right person. 

    FAST 🌸

    Fasting is one of the best ways to starve your flesh so that you can hear God. Fasting is one of the best weapons to use when you find yourself in confusion. 

    🎙Tips:

    1. To keep this simple, I would recommend intentionally clearing space in your mind by fasting something you spend a lot of time on like: TV, social media, or reading AND spending more time with God.
    2. If you’re feeling led to do fast, I recommend asking God to help you figure out what to give up and how long to do it. 

    💬 Write it out: How can you set aside time this week to ask God what he wants you to do?

    🛑 Step Two: Find Your No

    What’s your no? What’s the thing that’s stopping you from doing what God is telling you to do? Why don‘t you want to do it? 

    🎙Getting clear on your NO, will help you start saying yes. 

    💬 Write it Out: What are three things stopping you from obeying God?

    👀Step Three: Identify the Root Issue 

    Most of the time, obedience to God clashes with the way we live, think, or believe. Obedience is often in direct conflict with our lives in one way or another. 

    🎙It’s so important to get clear on what obedience is clashing with, so that you can get to the root issue and address it.

    Examples

    •  If you’ve never felt smart enough, it’s gonna be hard to start doing school again. 
    • If you didn’t grow up seeing people, budget, it’s gonna be hard accepting that you need a budget. 
    • If you’re mad at your husband and feel like he doesn’t do enough, it’s gonna be hard accepting that God is telling you to start writing him love notes.
    • Or if you’re used to going shopping when you’re stressed, it’s gonna be hard to start spending your money wisely. 

    💬 Write it Out: What’s your root?

    ❤️‍🔥Step Four: Submit it to God

    God is not asking you or expecting you to change overnight. Nor is he calling you to do it with your own strength. Because baby, you are NOT strong enough. I mean that with deep love. 

    🎙See, obedience isn’t meant to be done with human strength; it’s meant to be done with Godly partnership. 

    When God calls us to obey him, he’s calling us to take his hand and walk with him, day by day and moment by moment. Your strength is not strong enough, but you plus God will always be enough.

    obedience is meant to be done with gOD. 

    So, I would encourage you to welcome God into your journey. You can do it right now with this prayer,

    “God, I desire to obey you. I can’t do this without you. I need you. Please help me, in Jesus’s name, Amen. 

    💬 Write it Out: How would you like to partner with God?

    🔦Step Five: Root in God

    Listen, obeying God is turning on a light in the dark. The light will lead and guide you. But that same light will also make you vulnerable to attacks, because the devil doesn’t want you to win. 

    ✨But you do NOT have to be afraid because God is with you. So, what do you do when the attacks come? You get rooted. 

    You hold on to the promises of God. See, there are promises associated with your obedience. So, when the devil comes and life hits, it’s so important you begin to pray and speak God’s word over yourself and your family. 

    💖 ✍️Scriptures to get you started: 

    • “…If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31 NIV)
    • “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37 NKJV)
    • “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV)
    • “The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.” (Deuteronomy 28:7 NIV)

    🎙Tip: I would make this personal by changing the word enemies with your struggle and changing the word you to me. 

    Listen, you can do this!

    💬 Write it Out: What do you need to submit to God?

    👋🏾That’s A Wrap:

    I want you to know that God loves you so much. Yes, the thing he’s calling you to do, SUCKS real bad. But I can promise you this, God is doing this for your good. The thing may feel bad, but because we serve a GOOD God, we can trust that God is working this out for YOUR GOOD. 

    God is doing this for your good!

    One of the scriptures that I always hold on to in rough seasons or when I am struggling with obedience is Jeremiah 29:11, “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.”” 

    I want you to know that you can trust God enough to obey him. He will not let you fail.

    Well, with that being said, It’s time to obey God. 

    I’ll talk with you soon.

    Dohna 💖