Trusting in His faithfulness (Testimony 4)

It’s the eve of my birthday, I am looking all pretty at work and my day started off amazing as I spent time in worship this morning and I truly was looking forward to a blessed day.

Then,

The realities of not having my vehicle began to bombard me.

If I don’t think about it, go about my merry way taking public transportation and just focus on my daily blessings then I am fine.

But,

Then you realize you paid for a vehicle, sitting patiently waiting on God to “come through” and release the vehicle but every time I check on the progress then I sink deeper into depression and confusion because I don’t know what’s happening.

I know God doesn’t punish His children, He disciplines them. So am I being disciplined for something that I am not aware of? Is there some lesson I must learn that I am not grasping? These questions and pleas cripple me whenever I think about them.

I know Satan doesn’t want the vehicle and he’s simply after my faith but I must admit every now and then, this faith gets a bit shaky when it comes to this situation.

Honestly, my only comfort in this season is that GOD IS GOD.. GOD IS FAITHFUL.. GOD IS IN CONTROL.. Despite how disappointed I am with everything that is going on.

So, I daily decide to STAND on who GOD IS…  and on HIS PROMISES (He has plans to prosper not to harm me (Jeremiah 29:11), He will never leave me nor forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:6), If God is with me who can be against me (Romans 8:31) and All things will work together for my good because I love God (Romans 8:28).

I write this blog because this is a form of worship for me. Writing allows me to be vulnerable with God which is my healing bread.

This is not just for me, this is for someone who reads this blog to know and be reminded that anything you are going through is not beyond God’s ability to restore. He doesn’t necessarily work with our expectations or timetable despite how long the fulfillment of his promises might seem to us. He is still faithful. And that alone is enough to give Him thanks and praise for. 

So, happy almost birthday to me.. I am truly smiling because Satan has lost again. How I felt when I started writing this blog is certainly not how I feel now.

I have peace.. I have joy.. I have Jesus and that’s enough:-) 

                

  Happy 'almost' birthday to me:-)

God loves you and I love you too!! 

Crystal 

Reclaiming Excellence for the Kingdom

One of my biggest pet peeves is to see things done in a sloppy and unpresentable manner. It's so important as Christians (children of A King), that we realize we aren't just representing ourselves but more importantly we're representing the God that we declare we serve. 

This blog is not a criticism of Christians but I'm hoping to challenge you to do everything in the Kingdom with excellence. 

I've heard many Christians say our career or job is not important. They tend to believe that doing "church" duties are the only things that matter to God but I beg to differ.

Colossians 3:23-24 Amplified Bible (AMP)

^“Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men, knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [greatest] reward. It is the Lord Christ whom you [actually] serve.”

This Scripture is telling us wherever we are now is a part of God's purpose for us and He must be glorified and whatever we do, we must do it well.

So let me ask, are you truly walking in excellence? 

I want you to really ponder this question. I've attended too many events held by Christians that are poorly planned and executed. Striving for excellence starts with a mindset and this will alter our behavior.

In my years before Christ being a party girl, I attended many events and it's a bit embarrassing because they invest time, money and resources to ensure these events are done in excellence.  Now, we know the excuse that Christians don't have money like that and I wonder why.. hmmm...but let me not even comment today (that's for an upcoming blog). 

However, as I said I want this blog to challenge us to start thinking and acting in excellence. 

What is excellence?  Simply put, it is high quality, superiority, greatness and extreme value. 

These are all the things God has called us to be excellent in: our jobs, careers, education, church, school, recreation, business, events and in our overall lifestyle. 

Many religious folks may quote John 17:16 that says "Be ye separated from the world". To which I totally agree. We cannot operate like the world because we're called to a higher standard because our GOD owns all things.  So we should not “fit” into their mold. We cannot allow the world to dim our lights; we must be the catalyst in everything we do. 

Think about Daniel and Joseph, these men were greatly admired because of the spirit of excellence which they portrayed. Also, Solomon, look at how he built the temple with great precision and caliber. These men of God were able to represent Jehovah with distinctionJ

Come on friends, we have to truly do better because we cannot represent the King we say we serve when we do things with mediocrity and lackluster. 

I leave these two Scriptures with you:

1 Corinthians 10:31 – “So then, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of [our great] God.”

Matthew 5:16 – “ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in Heaven.”

Hope I've challenged you to start thinking higher about how we represent ourselves but even more importantly how we represent our God (King). 

Excellence is a virtue and we should pursue it at all times.

Look at next week as I discuss 6 Steps to Achieve Excellence. 

God loves you and I love you too.

To God be the glory
Crystal Daye

Just a few things:

1) I'm so proud myself.. I officially launched my rebranded website yesterday. Please check it out and sign up on my mailing list - www.crystaldaye.com

2) My first book launches on Amazon on August 18th titled: "Living A Royal Reality" - look out for more details on the launch and book tour coming up.

3) Remember, I sell t-shirts various styles and colours on sale for Ja. $1,200 You can order yours at email: crystalsdaye@gmail.com telephone #(876) 540-4863 

Dealing with Insecurities and becoming confident

Do you know that we can miss out on God’s best for our lives because of insecurity or lack of confidence?

In my own life, I have struggle so many times with feelings of insecurity that has crippled me from walking into my God-given destiny.  Many of these feelings of insecurity were seeds planted by others who kept telling me that I can’t do this or I’m not pretty enough or I’m not qualified enough or I’m too poor and I allowed these feelings to outweigh the Truth of God’s Word that ‘I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:13).

I met many people who struggle with these feelings also. The root of insecurity is fear. Fear of not becoming successful, fear of what others might think or say and fear of being rejected. If we allow fear to stop us, we are falling into Satan’s plans. We know his plan is to rob our purpose, steal our joy and kill our destiny. So we cannot accept this.

In order for us to overcome these feelings of insecurity and walk in confidence; we must increase our faith. Faith is the antidote of fear. So when we increase our faith, fear will decrease.

How do we increase our faith?

Well, Romans 10:17 says ‘faith comes from hearing’.

So we must reflect, listen and believe what God says about us.

As many of you know, my new book launches this month. To be honest, I got up this morning feeling so overwhelmed with nervousness and insecurity. I heard a voice saying, ‘nobody will buy your book’, ‘they won’t like your book’, ‘when people read those things about you, you will lose their respect’... I had to intentional start speaking against those lies… I started to play some worship music and reflect on God’s love. 1 John 4:18 states that “God’s perfect love casts out all fear”.

Confidence is built from the inside and radiates on the outside. So the more, I began to believe in God’s love, my faith increased and the fears begun to decrease.

Whatever God has called us to do, it will require us to be confident. I know it’s not easy but it is possible to live a fulfilled life and accomplish your dreams.

The confidence we need is far bigger than “self-confidence” because that has limited potential. We need “God-confidence” as this gives us limitless possibilities.

In my new book,  ‘Living A Royal Reality’, I have a chapter on Confidence and I share strategies on increasing your confidence that has been working for me. So as soon as the book release, grab your copy:-) 

I want you to believe that God has so much He wants to do in you, through you and with you. Start feeding yourself more faith-filled messages and reflect on His Word to help to conquer these feelings of insecurities.

God loves you and I love you too!

God bless you.

To God to be Glory**** 

Crystal