Have you ever wondered what the scripture means in Genesis chapter one verses 26 - 28 when God is talking about making us in His image?  For me, this is one of those passages that sets my mind on "tilt".  So, get your bible out and read this with me.  I believe it will help you understand just what God has invested in YOU.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen 1:26-28 (KJV).
There is so much information to absorb from these verses but what captures my interest the most is how God chooses to make us in His image.  What does that image look like?  How would it function?  Why would He choose to do this in us?  There are probably countless other questions about this. 
In brief, His power to change, His grace to overcome, all that God IS resides inside of every born again believer. In other words, God is living on the inside of you being God, living out His "Godness" through our spirit, soul, and body. 
Like the picture above, we all have the capacity to be the same even though we have different colors.  We still have the ability to be that cookie ie that child of God in His image.  Incidentally, we hinder God being God inside of us when we make choices contrary to His Godness through the soulish realm of our mind, will, and emotions.  I hope this inspires you to move through life more slowly, giving yourself time to recognize God inside of you tackling your everyday challenges.  Learning to yield our ways to God's ways takes some time so start today.
When you wake up in the morning, sit on the side of your bed long enough to recognize God inside of you.  Give Him the room to live His life, His thoughts, His ways, His power, in your life so you can experience His kind of life, His high thoughts, His high ways, and his overwhelming kind of victory in your everyday life.  Gosh that was a mouthful.  This is why I said earlier that this sets my mind on "tilt, ding, ding, bonkers, flash, and more tilt". 
When I think of God, I never think of Him as being challenged on any level, not mentally, physically, or emotionally.  I never think of God as wringing His hands wondering what to do about adverse situations.  I never catch God struggling to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.  I never catch God short of words or coming short of an answer to anything at anytime.  I never witness God having a bad hair day, right. 
So, in closing, our being made in His image means that He created in us the capacity to live a God kind of life [His kind of life] in this earth.  We can think His thoughts, we can be in a position of authority as in a King, we can choose which plan we are to work, His plan or our plan.  Personally, I choose His.  I tried the ways of this world -defined as beg, borrow, steal, and stomp on anybody who gets in the way- and it brought only sorrow and defeat at every corner.  Thinking God's thoughts, accepting our rightful place in Him - Eph. 2: 6, working His plan puts us in position to experience His kind of victory.  And how many of us are in such a position that we'd have to say, Ok God, you've got to stop with all this victory, I have too much?
I want you to understand something. See, we were born with a nature to sin, to be rebellious.  It is the Grace of God that allowed him to keep loving us enough to send Jesus to the cross for us to remove that sinful nature just by believing Jesus would do something like that for us.  It's all because of this Grace, that we are saved, it is a free gift.  And it is all because of this Grace that God would allow us to have any
-A N Y- rewards in heaven.  He's even got a huge celebration planned for us called the marriage supper of the lamb.
Our reward for allowing God to be in us through Jesus is an invitation to the grandest ball ever - the marriage supper of the Lamb, Rev 19: 17-19.    All the "who's who" will be there.  And I am not talking about Hollywood's a-listers either.  I'm talking about YOU and ME and anybody who allows their heart to believe in Jesus as savior and Lord.  We, collectively called the Bride of Christ, will be the "Belle of the Ball", we are the object of His divine affection, and we are the recipients of His everlasting love.

See yourself victorious today.
In His Service,
​La Donna

Recently in doing a bible study, just trying to hear from the Lord, I heard Him say these words to me, Defy Negative Gravity.  That was some very interesting words to me. Those words, when I think about them and apply them spiritually in the recent faith fight I had, set me free.  It has the power to send me over the hump that's been holding me back.  That hump was keeping me from sensing my own spiritual strength that took years to build in my spirit.  I wanted to share more of this with you.
Defying Negative Gravity involves identifying things that pull us down, that lead to depression, anxiety, keeping us in grief, anything that keeps us from having and enjoying the things of our God and from living a life of faith.  Negative Gravity is anything that keeps you from walking on water, from doing the impossible, from moving mountains.
If you are a born again child of God, you have everything in you necessary to pull down negative gravity, strongholds.
Now that we know what negative gravity is, here's two key points on how to defy them.
1) Grow in Grace & Knowledge     2 Peter 3: 18-
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
This is simply you studying the word and learning more about God everyday.  You can join me right here each week for new teaching and inspiration.  Go through the older blog posts.  Click the Encouragement tab  for articles to help strengthen your faith in God.  Faith comes by hearing so if you never give your spirit food by reading or hearing - taking in the truths of God, your faith won't grow at all.  Stay with us.  Everything we share with you here, we live it.  We can tell you by our own personal experience that the more you work the Word of God in your life the more the Word will work for you to bring you to a good place the word says in Exodus 3:8.  No matter what you face today, no matter the bondage's holding you back, God can bring you out of your Egypt and put you into a good and large place with blessings overflowing. Consider Psalms 31:8 and Psalms 40:2. 
2) Strengthen Your Mind      1 Peter 1: 13-
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Keep your mind strong by believing only the things you read in the word of God.   Anything else, toss it out of your mind immediately.  This is not dismissing you from attending a good church.  A good church is one that not only teaches you about the victories in Jesus but how to obtain and accomplish them.
In closing, Romans 15:13 says: Now the God of hope FILL YOU with ALL JOY & PEACE in believing, that YE may ABOUND in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. (emphasis mine)
Have a great week.
​La Donna

Live the life that God ordained for you. Choose to live in the blessings of God today!

​We’ve all read stories where Dad creates this mega business that he hopes to one day pass on to his son or his children.  Basically that’s what God has done. He created the universe, put plants and animals on it and then created mankind and gave it all to us to take care of it.
And somewhere in the history of this thing, back before the creation story, one of God’s angels, Lucifer, now known as satan, was found to be full of pride and the word says that God vehemently threw him out of heaven to earth. He set up his evil worldly system designed to kill, steal, and destroy. ​Once God placed man here, in the Garden of Eden, God gave specific instructions on how to live. He told Adam and Eve to not eat the fruit of a particular tree (scripture does not say it was an apple) because it would expose man and all of creation to satan’s kingdom. And not just expose us to it, we would become subservient to it, owned by it, and trapped in it with no way out.
As many of you know, Adam and Eve disobeyed God when they chose to believe satan’s side of the story.  Using deception, he convinced Adam and Eve that it was actually okay to eat the fruit of that tree.  That’s why we should never practice deception for any reason, especially to get our own way.
Adam and Even could live here on this Earth and never see, touch, or taste of the kingdom of darkness - not even be bothered by it- if they had of just obeyed God.  But they didn’t.
At this very act of disobedience, many scholars believe that our precious planet tilted on its axis, We became subjected to earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, natural disasters, etc. For the very first time, the heart of man would taste of death both spiritually and naturally. 
Also in this act of disobedience, man became a lost soul.  No longer did we have fellowship with God but we also lost our relationship with God as his children. 
So, how does Adam’s and Eve’s behavior affect us today? Consider Romans chapter 5 with emphasis on verses 12 and 19.
Rom 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Rom 5:19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Lets look at another verse.  Romans 3: 23 says “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” That means we don’t look much like God in our spirit man, we don’t act or think like him either.
So, you see, through their sin of disobedience, it caused all of us to be born with sinful nature, a nature that rebels against God, no longer children of God, no longer citizens of his glorious kingdom - partakers of all that His kingdom offers the born again. 
We may not can see satan or his kingdom but we witness its destruction everyday: a loved one dying, school shootings, our children being doped up on drugs, divorce, starvation, poverty, sickness and disease.  All these are brought about by the hand of satan himself.
Does man have to live like this now and forever?  Are we doomed to this kind of life with no way out?
The answer is no, man does not have to live like this or be in bondage to the kingdom of darkness. Because of God’s great love for us, he had a plan ready and waiting.  That plan was to give us a choice.
God’s kingdom has been viewed, by many, as sort of some kind of dictatorship - it’s my way or the highway.  But that is simply not the truth.  I hope at this point, I really have your attention.
​Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
You see, grace is your answer to all your problems.  Meet every problem with grace and watch things change for the better for you and your loved ones.  How does this affect our loved ones? Well, your family loves you and it does their heart good to see you doing well.  Mom's, we are the strength of our families.  We can only be strong in the Lord, co-rule and co-reign with our husbands and God by understanding what grace is, how it affects us, and how we are to apply it to our lives.
Before I close, give me your ear for a few more minutes. Grace is not a license to sin. Rather it is your strength and right to say no to sin, to choose not to be a part of it, to not touch the things of darkness.  Let that sink it, think about that this week.  Grace is your right to choose the blessings of God and subsequently to refuse the curses of satan.  Choose wisely, choose carefully. 
Join me next week for more insight into God's grace.