THANK YOU!

For those who said I wasn’t good enough. Thank you! It caused me to shift gears into overdrive and work extra hard to fulfill my dreams.

For those who said I thought I was too good, thank you! It caused me to look within and appreciate the person God created me to be and, it showed me that I am a diligent student, striving to model my life based on the principles of the word of God.

For those who said I wasn’t smart enough, thank you! It caused me to be the professor of my own classroom and self-educate myself to fill in the gaps where the educational system often fails inner city youth. Thank you for the books that took me on a journey all around the world in my mind!

Thank you to those who said I wasn’t pretty enough! It taught me that beauty is: a compassionate heart, loving spirit, integrity, honesty, and human kindness. Thank you! It allowed God to plant the fruits of the spirit within me, Galatians 5:22-24, which I am happy to see are sprouting daily!

For those that said I was too skinny, thank you! It propelled me on the road to health and fitness. It caused me to take charge of my own health and not be another statistic to diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and sickness.

Thank you to those that wouldn’t hire me. It taught me how to trust and wait on the Lord for the job that He has for me. It caused me to know that the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord: “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9 ESV).

Thank you to those who fired me, it caused me to take control of my own destiny and not depend on man for my future! It taught me that God closed those doors to steer me on the path to my appointed calling.

Thank you for not loving me because it forced me to find the courage to love myself! I now know that I AM worthy, I AM valuable, I AM loveable, I AM precious. I am the apple of God’s eye! (Zechariah 2:8). It taught me that where my own love fails, God’s love is Perfect.

For those that walked out of my life, thank you! It opened the door for great people to enter! Thank you for teaching me that people come into our lives for a reason, a season and an appointed time. Thank you! It taught me that I was either the teacher or the student at that time in my life, either way, I learned valuable lessons.

For those that lied on me, thank you! Jesus gives me comfort in knowing that in spite of, I am blessed anyway: Matthew 5:10-12. He gives me the strength to smile through my pain. While your lies spread like a virus I patiently waited on the Lord because He said: “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31 ESV). I’m still standing.

For those that ostracized me, thank you! It drove me on my knees to God in prayer. But He told me that I am: “…a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 ESV). Thank you! It caused me to sympathise with the dejected, outcasts, and the rejects of this world. Furthermore, I contend to follow Moses’ example: “Choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25 ESV).

Thank you to those who rejected me! Because of you I now know that in God’s sight I am chosen and precious! (1Peter 2:4). Your renunciation was only a minute indifference compared to the rejection of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: for He was the Chief cornerstone that the builders rejected (Acts 4:11, Psalm 118:22).

Thank you to those who were hateful to me. For it taught me how to love others with the love of Christ. I chose to override your hate with the belief that we are All one in God: “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth…” (Acts 17:26 NKJV). It taught me that love is transparent: it sees no color, creed, social status, economic or political position– it lives where it is accepted.

Thank you to those who made me cry. Every time I cry God cleanses my soul with His tears. He comforts me with His promise that: “…Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5 NKJV). Most importantly, I found out that God loves me so much that He puts my tears into a bottle! Psalm 56:8.

Thank you to those who were insensitive to my handicaps. I tearfully asked God why am I different, “And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV). I agree with the apostle Paul! Thank you! It allows me to have compassion for those who are physically, mentally, or emotionally challenged. It taught me that all handicaps are not visible, and to treat others as I would like to be treated.

I extend the utmost gratitude. If it were not for you, I would have never known who I am in Christ. I would have never known that I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Psalm 139:14. I would have never been on the highway to my divine destination.

Again I say,
Thank You!

Some of you may have experienced set backs, rejection, racism or discrimination in your life. I ask that you do not become bitter, but better. Defeat is designed to steer you in the right direction, get you out of your comfort zone, and get you to step out on faith! It is all apart of God’s divine plan. You are the only one standing in your own way. Defy the odds, break down walls and barriers, and proclaim your freedom! Most importantly, build bridges for others to cross who walk in your footsteps!

~Puja Nagual

Will you go in disobedience or by faith?

In the book of Jonah, God called Jonah to go and deliver a prophetic message to the city of Nineveh; a great and wicked city. Jonah refused to go and fled to Tarshish. Jonah 1:3 says Jonah went down to Joppa and got on a ship, trying to flee from the presence of Lord. Because of his disobedience God brought great wrath and turbulence upon his life by way of a raging storm. But when Jonah cried out to the Lord (Jonah 2:1-9), God received his prayer (vs 2: 10).

When we willingly disobey God His covering will not be over us, therefore we become vulnerable to all kinds of curses, dark places, and torture from satan. In contrast, the great thing about God is that it is never too late to come to Him. Unfortunately, usually it is when we have come to the end of ourselves and realize we can’t make it on our own. Oh but how loving is our Father, with arms outstretched wide, He rescues us from the hands of our enemies. Verse 2:10 goes on to say, ” So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” In Galatians 5:17 it says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” Many times God may tell us to do something and we simply refuse.  The main root is disobedience which often arises out of fear, unbelief, and the most damming of them all–doubt! We doubt God can do what He sent us to do, and we doubt God’s ability to carry us through to the end. In the midst of life’s tide will come sharks, piranhas, and the proverbial whale. But, do we just let satan throw us overboard to be eaten alive because we selfishly don’t want to go through pain, hurt, and suffering that is often required to walk with God? Or, do we stand up, while inside the belly of the whale, and start praising and worshiping God; stirring up a commotion, agitating its loins, and upsetting its stomach so much so that it has no choice but to regurgitate us out? Light can not live inside of darkness. Either of two will happen: darkness will conform to light, or the light will be too powerful for the darkness and it will have to flee! Hallelujah! Will you heed the voice of God pertaining to your life? God may allow you to be overtaken by the enemy for a moment, but will retrieve you–despite your disobedience, so He can show you how faithful and merciful He is. It’s situations like these that God allows us to go through to increase our faith (1 peter 6,7). When you first started on this Christian journey your trials may have been small, but as you pass one faith test after another, you will begin to see that the level of faith required to go through the next situation will need to be of a higher magnitude. Will you walk bold like David did and face your Goliath, or will you do as James 1:23, 24 says and forget what kind of man you are? Intermittingly, we sometimes forget what God has already brought us through, forget who we are in Christ, and forget that Romans 8:37 says that we are more than conquers.

Moreover, when we finally accept God’s will for the thing that He has called us to do, when it does not go the way we think it should go do we start to murmur, judge and complain? We begin to usurp God’s authority and do His job for Him when all he simply told us to do was obey! The assignment He sent you on was for Nineveh’s (other person’s) deliverance, not you! But, you’re complaining, “why is this person in my life?” “Why am I going through this?” Some of you are even praying and wishing harm on the one that God sent to you to intercede for! Because you are subject to pain in the process, you get angry at God for not punishing the person (vs 4: 1,2). God had to show Jonah the mercy of His heart through a plant (vs 4: 9, 10). Just as Jonah was as passionate about that perishing plant, so was God about His perishing people (vs 4:11). Beloved, God will send us as laborers to the harvest when He is trying to reach unsaved sheep. It takes maturating in Christ not to look at a trial subjectively. It takes a selfless person to love another human being that is perishing in darkness; to suffer for that person so their soul can be saved       (1 corinthians 13:2). Instead most run away from Ninevah. We must have a willing heart and sensitive ear to listen to the voice of God and follow His direction for our life. Instead we let hurt, pain, and anger toward’s a person paralyze us, thus saying “no” to God and forfeiting the person’s salvation. Oftimes, God is already speaking to the person’s heart, calling them out of darkness. God needs you to be His physical body to reach out and embrace them. The people you are assigned to will most often react to you in anger and hatred because like you–before you surrendered to God–they are trying to run away from God’s calling on their lives. Beloved, don’t run away from God. Did He not tell us to, “pick up your cross and follow me?” Matthew 10:24. As Christians this life is not ours,    1 peter 4:2 says, “that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” Saints, we are ambassadors for Christ.

By Puja Nagual

Contentment vs. Persecution

If you are living according to the mandates of the Holy Bible and are being persecuted it’s because you are an effective witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. Contrarily, if you are sitting comfortable in the Lord satan doesn’t want to bother you. He see’s you sitting perched high on your religious chair–not ministering to anybody, not praying…let alone praying for anybody else, not reading your Bible, not serving in a ministry. Your ministry is your lip service, “God is good all the time!” Or, “I’m blessed, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost!” Oh, satan’s going to leave that one alone. When you are complacent you are doing his work for him, matter-of-fact he’s going to pamper you, make every thing go right for you, and build you up in false pride. He’s going to get you real comfortable so he can get you to a place of compromise. He whets your appetite by dangling the worldly carrot in front of your eyes, “sure, you can still have, fame, fortune, material prosperity, act like the world, dress like the world, talk like the world, watch what the world watches, party, drink, smoke, have sex; even with somebody’s else’s husband or wife and then tell yourself, “we are in love.” Oh, satan will have you so comfortable in him, until you start believing his lies!!! You will begin to ration in your mind, “we get along so well, God must have put us together.” In your heart you remember the Word, but out of compromise you let satan lead you by your emotions, by your wants, lusts, and the desires of this wicked world. Slowly he’s pulling you back on his side. But you know what’s the best part about it for him? Not only has he snatched you out of God’s hands, He now has you calling yourself a “Christian,” sitting up in the church doing his will! He’s now using you as his protegé to blind, destroy, deteriorate souls that God is trying to save, by your lifestyle. They look at you and say, ‘they’re just like me; they do the same things I do, say the same things that I say, and go to the same night clubs I go to, why should I follow God’? Some others will say ok well it looks like I don’t have to give up anything to become a Christian, so “sign me up!” When you compromise you are leading souls into darkness! You are telling the world a spiritual lie that you can have the world and God at the same time!!! 2 Corinthians 6:17 warns us to,”come out from among them, and be you separate, said the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” And you wonder why you don’t have any power or authority in your Christian walk so you blaspheme the person who is on fire for the Lord. Talking about them, ridiculing them. “Oh they think they are Paul, with all of that preaching and ministering! It don’t take all of that!” You wonder why God is not using you! You become jealous of their power and try to speak against what God is doing in their life! But I tell ya, to get that power you gotta suffer, you gotta go through some things, you gotta know what it feels like to be so hungry that your stomach feels like it’s eating your insides! I tell you, you gotta know what it’s like to go in the prayer closet in the morning and don’t come out until late at night. And you’re talking about this person, “if they were living right and doing God’s will they wouldn’t be persecuted. They must not be living right because they are always going through something.” But you just don’t know God has to bring them t-h-r-o-u-g-h before they can get a BREAKTHROUGH! “They are always suffering.” That’s because they are not compromising! They are a threat to satan! They are PRAYING souls out of his hand. Their ministry is breaking the shackles of sin, loosing the bonds of wickedness, feeding the bread of life to a starving and hungry generation. And you wonder why they are being persecuted. They are a threat to the kingdom of darkness! Satan is hot on their trails because they are a formidable opponent to his kingdom. He’s trying to stop the mouth of God with attacks, tribulation, war, and suffering but the more he attacks, the more he’s helping to further spread the gospel. This Christianity was built on the blood of persecution. Need a refresher course? Read the book of Mark. God will allow it for every Christian that desires to know His will for their lives in order to establish a deeper relationship with Him. Because every time they’re attacked, guess what? It’s going to drive them to their knees to seek the heart of God. Oh but when they get back up~ Isaiah 40:31 says but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint…so satan’s attacks are only creating testimonies, bringing resistant souls to Christ by the miracles that’s being done in the spirit realm , and creating a “fire” in that person that you complain about is too zealous for the Lord. God commands us in Mark 16:16 to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Complacency should not be commonplace in the kingdom of God. If you are lukewarm I ask you to reexamine your relationship with Christ. Ask Him to give you a fresh outpouring, a new anointing of the spirit. So many people have been hurt and turned away by the so-called “church.” Beloved, there are souls that are desperate, and hungry for the pure word of God, they are seeking Christians that will walk upright, and in integrity in the things of God. They are tired of being mislead. They seek a people who will speak the truth according to the Holy Bible and live according to its doctrine. Beloved, you are the only Bible some people will ever read. Let your life serve as light on a high tower, beaming ever so brightly to those who are perishing in darkness.

By Puja Nagual

Prayer: Your Spiritual Sword

The fighting is intense. Warfare is heavy on both sides. In the midst of battle you gaze around only to see your allies succumbing to their injuries. The enemy is relentless, taking no prisoners. You struggle to maintain your defense as your adversary encroaches your territory. Suddenly you are standing face to face with your foe. You study each other meticulously, your eyes are intently gazed on your opponent; you wait for a slight move to go in for the kill. Methodically, you reach down to pull out your sword. Your hand settles upon an empty holster and you realize it’s not there, in panic you struggle to find a displaced weapon. The enemy, seeing your vulnerability smirks at your unpreparedness and pushes his dagger through your heart, rendering you spiritually dead.

Though the aforementioned seems to tell of a gruesome scene from a Hollywood movie, unfortunately it is the fate we suffer when we don’t arm ourselves with prayer. The devil rages a formidable battle against us when we don’t go to God and allow Him to defend us against the pestilence that walks in darkness. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.” As Christians, prayer is our weapon of artillery against the powers of darkness. In Romans 8:36, Paul admonishes, “…For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Beloved, when we don’t spend the necessary time in prayer, we are blindly walking into defeat, persecution, and spiritual attacks unequipped.

There is a war raging around us everyday in the spirit realm and we must go to the battlefield suited up. Ephesians 6:11-18 tells us to, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”

Furthermore, when we accepted Jesus Christ as our savior, we entered into a covenant relationship with Him. A relationship requires effective communication from both parties in order to grow and become a successful, healthy union. A relationship with God can be thought of as a relationship with a spouse or significant other. When you are in love, you are concerned about the welfare of the person, you think about them every minute. You want to talk to them everyday and can’t wait to see them. Our relationship with Christ should be the same way. We say we love God, but yet most Christians go days, weeks some even months without humbling themselves on their knees and reverencing God as the Lord of their life. God desires to commune with us; He desires us to come to him with our cares, concerns and the matters of our heart. Unfortunately, many Christians neglect this most important part of their Christian walk, delegating it only to a tragedy or personal loss. Many flock to church Sunday after Sunday awaiting a word regarding God’s direction for their lives. They then return back to the monotony of a prayer less, defeated life, acceding to attacks, torment, and mental bondage. While God does speak through pastors, He desires a personal relationship with us. The only way you will ever know God’s will and desire for your life is to get to know him intimately. How do you do that? Pray. We must get into the habit of praying daily, disciplining ourselves to set a time everyday to communicate with God. Beloved, if we are to be victorious as Christians we have to get our prayer life in order. If we are to conquer the demons of depression, stress, anxiety and worry we must take a stand this day and commit to prayer. It is a sacrifice. Many have families, children, work, and/or school responsibilities that may impede their time. It will require diligence in getting up earlier or staying up later to pray; it’s ideal to wake up early in the morning before everyone awakes or late at night while everyone is sleeping so there will be no interruption. More so, other areas of your lives may have to be compromised i.e. sleeping less, or less time at the gym, or hanging out with friends. In my personal experience when I seek the Lord before I start my day, I am able to handle stressful situations more readily, I’m not as easily agitated, and there’s a lasting peace that resides in my soul when I come out of the prayer closet. It’s only a joy that God can give you! On the contrary when I don’t cover my day with prayer I’m easily agitated, feel exposed, and quite simply, just don’t have the same measure of contentment. Communing with God in the morning is the best time to pray because it sets the tone for the day.

As Christians it should be our desire to want to know the heart of God and to be able to discern His voice when He speaks to us. Beloved, if we are to train our ear to become sensitive to the Holy Spirit, we must establish a consistent prayer life.

Moreover, when you pray you are standing in proxy for your sisters and brothers around the world. This is not only our personal battle; it’s a Holy war! When we pray we are stopping the hand of murder, violence, war, preventing an unforeseen accident, sending aide to the less fortunate, and saving the lives of our brethren that are being persecuted for the Gospel’s sake. I implore you, pick up your sword, bend your knee and let’s get ready to battle!

By Puja Nagual