Trusting in His faithfulness (Testimony #6)

Many of us have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior (redeemer of sin and saver of souls); but we struggle with making Him the Lord (yielding to the will and control) over our lives.

I didn’t think this was an issue to me until the Holy Spirit showed me in my quiet time that the decision I made to purchase this new vehicle, I didn’t surrender it to the Lord.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 says:

“Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart And do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way]. – Amplified version

“If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself. ⁶ In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.” – Living Bible

I’m very familiar with this verse but until this long waiting period, I’ve truly recognize that this is not just a verse to recite when I think we’re “waiting” but instead it’s one of the recipe for success in our life.

I love how the Living Bible puts it, “Put God first, don’t ever trust yourself”.  That means before I make every single decision, talk to God about it. Rely on His direction. Allow Him to remove all the obstacles that may try to block my way.

As I ponder on the whole car situation, I embarrassingly admit I didn’t seek God first. I got a command to sell my old vehicle then I relied on my own finite understanding and now I’m unnecessarily in this period of excessively waiting (which sucks… sorry can Christian say suck.. hush that’s best way I can put it).

Now, overly religious people would say “that’s God’s will”… But I’ve learnt that there is God’s perfect will and His permissible will. If I follow HIS command in the first place (which is asking for His direction first and not lean on my own understanding) then He would have “crown my efforts with success”. Instead, I didn’t what I wanted to do then when things weren’t working out, I ask for His intervention (sigh).  But He is a loving God so I know He will work it out for my good eventually (Romans 8:28).

I also thought about it logically, if I had an earthly husband I would have sought His advice before I make such a decision; so why didn’t I sought my heavenly husband first?

So, I sat at my desk this morning just talking to God because the guy that is dealing with my car says I will get it today but now, he’s giving me more excuses (like what He’s been telling me for past 3 months). I got a bit annoyed and I began to pray. Then I was told to blog this lesson… (which was really challenging because no one wants to admit that they made a foolish decision by not seeking God first on such a big purchase).

I was reminded that this is not about me. I am simply a vessel. A chosen vessel.

Somebody is in the process of making some decisions in their life and it might seem like it’s the best decision but our limited understanding can easily lead us astray. Proverbs 16:25 says, "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." When we choose to direct our lives according to what seems right to us, we often reap disaster (Judges 21:25).

I’ve learnt no matter how ‘big’ or ‘small’ the decision is ASK HIM!! God sees the whole picture, while we only see our tiny bit of it. 

This has certainly been a learning experience for me. Even the clothes we wear, God cares about. How we spend our money, God cares about. How we spend our time, God cares about. Which doctor or dentist, God cares about. YES.. Like seriously He does!!

So as I end this blog, I want to close with a prayer:

Dear Lord forgive me for all the times I thought I knew the answer or I knew the way. Forgive me for going ahead of you, for trying to fight my battles on my own or trusting in my own finite wisdom. Abba, I ask that you help me to always put your first. Help me to always seek you first. Help me to surrender my ways, knowledge, wisdom and plans to you. Father have your sweet way in my life and the direct me daily, hourly and by the minute in the way you want me to go. In Jesus name. Amen 

God loves you and I love you too!!

Crystal

Just a few things:

1) Please check my website and sign up on my mailing list – www.crystaldaye.com

2) Order my first book, Living A Royal Reality from Amazon, if you are outside of Jamaica or contact me personally if you in Jamaica. 

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

GOD IS IN CONTROL

I stood in the bus almost in tears.

My feet ached. Christelle was asleep in a stranger’s lap. The rain was pouring heavily and I had 3 bags. To top it all off, I left my bank card so I had no money to get dinner… sighL

In my mind I’m thinking, “Lord, the walk to my house is so long and it’s raining… really?”

To be honest, it has been a rough two weeks. It’s almost like the warfare has intensified and I felt my faith getting shaky.

There are days that I’m pumped and decide to keep fighting; while there are other times when I feel like this is just too much.

I’ve been sharing my journey of “Trusting in God’s faithfulness”.  However, it seems like every time I post a blog, the battle gets hotter and I decided I just won’t blog anymore until my breakthrough comes.

I began to get anxious, weary and overwhelmed.

God is working in the background. I can feel it because He has come through in so many ways, but even those areas don’t feel like it’s enough.

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28

So, I have had to make a conscious decision to go to God daily and give Him these burdens. Every. Single. One. The financial and work burdens, I say God here take it. The being a single mother burden – I leave it your hands. The ministry, church, car issues, relationships and my business…..take the case Father because You know best.

The Greek for “rest’ is anapauó which means ease or refresh.

Lord, please give me some ease I pray and refresh me daily, but sometimes it feels the answers to my prayers aren’t coming. All He keeps saying is He is in control.

“Arghhhh… God I know you are in control so please act anytime soon.. Please and Thanks” (in my baby voice).

His response once again is “Crystal…. I AM IN CONTROL”.

Okay Lord…

So I turn on my worship music, I start praying for somebody else, I decide to listen to a sermon and read more of His Word.

Can you relate to this?

I wanted to wait until my breakthrough came before I posted another blog, but I know God wants me to share this lesson in the middle of the storm. HE IS IN CONTROL!

I know Jehovah.. the Great I AM.. is bigger and more than capable to handle every and any situation I may be facing. My only job now is to trust in His Sovereignty that He will do it in His timing and not mine. Now that’s the hard part….

So, I speak His promises over my life and remind myself:

“Lean not on my own understanding”….

“He’s my refuge and my strong tower”….

“He has great plans for my life”…

“He can do exceedingly more than I can imagine”

“The Lord is with me wherever I go”

I feel His peace. I feel His presence. I feel assurance. I feel hope.

So back to my bus episode… I got to my stop and the rain suddenly ceased.

I walked to the nearby shop to get Christelle something to eat and I saw a neighbor who gave me a ride to my apartment. In the midst of my worry God showed up and reminded me that He is faithful.

 “After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.” – 1 Kings 19:12

Jehovah came through again and I wait in expectancy for Him to do it again.

GOD IS IN CONTROL!!

God loves you and I love you too!!

Crystal

Just a few things:

1) Please check my website and sign up on my mailing list – www.crystaldaye.com

2) Order my first book, Living A Royal Reality from Amazon, if you are outside of Jamaica or contact me personally if you in Jamaica. 

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

Trusting in His Faithfulness (Part 5)

A few months ago, God laid it on my heart to share the journey I’m going through. Many times people are deceived to come into Christianity to believe serving God means getting everything you want and life will be easier and that is so not the case. Even as believers, we go through various tests to help us grow in faith and develop our perseverance which matures us to be more like Christ.

Honestly, I would prefer to wait until the testimony comes and the victory is won, than to share my vulnerability while being tested. But this life is not about me, it’s about giving God the glory whether circumstances are good or bad.

So, I shared that the Lord led me to sell my vehicle over 5 months ago. With all my heart I knew this was an instruction from God; even though many times over the last couple of months I’ve questioned if it was me being greedy and wanting a new vehicle or it was really Him.  But every time I questioned it, I realized that my faith was being shaken and if my faith is shaken then it will have a ripple effect on who I am as a child of God. So, I know without a shadow of a doubt, this command was given by God and I needed to be obedient.

Update of the vehicle.. Well, the funds were provided, finally got the concession sorted out and paid for the vehicle expecting within 2 – 3 weeks (early July), I would have had the vehicle. It’s almost the end of August but still no word, all I keep hearing next week but next week hasn’t come yet. I’ve gotten frustrated, disappointed and even anxious during this period because I can’t understand what is causing the delay. This is really annoying especially with back-to-school just around the corner.

In my quiet time, God has been speaking to me about many aspects of my life. Every time I seek Him about the vehicle, He reminds me that He is in control and I must be patient. Can I tell you how waiting sucks sometimes!!

I started to reflect on the past 5 months and what it has been like. I have recognized that not having a car has actually been a blessing. When I stop looking on what I don’t have and start truly reflecting on all I’ve learnt during this season, actually it’s been one of the best season in my Christian life regarding my spiritual growth and awareness.

• Since I don’t have a vehicle, I have been able to truly ‘be still’ and humble myself before God. I am normally miss-busy-body so I am everywhere trying to do everything. Not having a vehicle, I’ve been spending far more time in God’s presence, reading more, listening to more faith-filled messages, completed my website, writing more and I’ve been able to truly get focus on building my business and honing my skills and knowledge to become a Kingdom Entrepreneur. Honestly, the knowledge I’ve gained over the past couple of months has truly been life-changing and preparing me for the next season of my life… God is so faithful! 

•  Not having a vehicle has also helped me to be a bit more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. My discernment has certainly increased and the true intentions of many persons that I thought were genuine were revealed. I’ve learnt to believe God the first time He tells me something about someone and not try to ‘change’ them or believe what I see on the surface. More and more, I recognized the enemy can truly use anyone against you, if they allow themselves to be used…God is so faithful! 

• I have also been learning about myself and some ungodly characteristics about myself that God needed to truly ‘cut away’. My bad spending habits, my occasional lying tendencies, being an emotional wreck sometimes, being manipulative to get my own way and also my lack of self-control regarding mouth management (I can be too feisty sometimes). To others these might seem minor, but to God they have very big implications. There is no small sin, sin is sin and I’m called to be holy, righteous and blameless before Him (Hebrews 12:14 & 1 Peter 1:14-16). I must be conscious that I am not living for myself but I am representing Christ in everything I do…God is so faithful!

I could go on and on, but I wanted to share those specific lessons because I want to challenge you to look at your ‘waiting’ season as a blessing also. Not having a job, going through a divorce, being broke, being single, losing a love one or waiting on your next breakthrough might seem like a punishment but I guarantee it is not. Even in this season of waiting, God is trying to reveal our hearts and intentions to us. Many of us, think we love God until He is no longer giving us all we think we deserve.

Will we still serve God if He never answers another prayer? Is He still God when we lose everything that He has given us? Do we believe He is still faithful when things are bad and we can’t explain what is going on? 

These are the questions, I’m challenged to reflect on in this season of my life.

I daily choose to trust God that He knows what is best for my life. Sometimes, I do cry and struggle with negative feelings. But feelings are so temporary. This is not out of doubting He will come through but honestly, I just really want to ensure I am in His Will and being obedient in everything I do. 

My heart’s desire is to ensure God is pleased with my life.. Car or no car, job or no job, single or taken .. Be encouraged …God is still faithful~

God loves you and I love you too!!

Crystal

Just a few things:

1) Please check my website and sign up on my mailing list – www.crystaldaye.com

2) My first book launched on Amazon on August 18th “Living A Royal Reality”. My book launch party is this Saturday at 8 Ruthven Road.. Please come out and support. 

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

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  

Trusting His Faithfulness (Testimony 3)

I keep hearing that the darkest hour is before dawn.

I keep hearing that my breakthrough is almost here.

I started to feel optimistic .. 
I felt like God is coming through any moment now..
I started smiling more.. 
I started praying more

In all the optimism, I even went ahead of myself and gave a praise report at church that I'm finally getting a relieve from the attacks plus my vehicle is finally coming through and ... I did this in expectancy!!

But in the expectancy.. The unexpected happened** deep breath

This morning... I got an email with an even more disappointing news... 

NO!! Not another setback.. Not another disappointment... What about my breakthrough?? ...arghhh!! 

Confession-- I wanted to through myself a pity-party. I wanted to just scream. I wanted to throw in the towel this time. I wanted to start crying again. 

1 minute passed... I whispered .. 'Crystal you're a big girl.. Trust in God's faithfulness'.

I decided not to think about it because I have a major conference in 4 days.. I have an international visitor coming to speak... I have almost 200 women coming to this event and I've been so excited to worship and fellowship with them. 

I decided to not think about my car-less issues, my money-less issues, my work issues or whatever other issues I'm currently being bombarded by. 

I WILL focus on Kingdom business...Because I know only the things I do for the Kingdom is eternal and all other 'issues' are temporary. 

Disappointed... Yes! 
Stressed... Nope!! 

I truly made a CHOICE to trust that GOD knows what He is doing. I know a delay is not necessarily a denial and even a denial will work out for my good (Romans 8:28). 

I know that there MUST be someone going through a similar season of dryness, disappointment or delay. So, I wrote this blog to encourage you to know GOD is STILL on the job.

Push pass those feelings. Don't stop moving forward. Don't lose heart. Continue to hold on to God's promises. Continue walking by faith. TRUST IN HIS FAITHFULNESS!

** I'm certainly reminding myself of this over and over and over again!!

Listen this song .. Hope you're encouraged by it:-)

God loves you and I love you too!! 

Hope you have a blessed week.. 

To God to be Glory**** 

Crystal