IT’S BETTER TO BE ALONE THAN TO HAVE MANY UNGODLY FRIENDS & FAMILY Written by Mindy Schuman There are many times in life when we find ourselves surrounded by friends, family and others who don’t have our best interest at heart. There are often individuals we allow to be part of our lives who have not aligned themselves with the kingdom of God and His commandments and have become a negative influence in our thoughts and actions. In many cases we allow these individuals to speak into us and be an active part of our lives causing much damage to ourselves and even our spouse and children. These types of relationships can be harmful and cause us to lose our peace that God desires us to have. We have a responsibility to our spouses, if married, and children to guard ourselves from those with evil intentions and who habitually practice sin and walk out their fleshly desires. Many mistakenly believe that being connected to those who have repeatedly and habitually been critical, judgmental and harsh is somehow better than being alone. But it is far better to pull away and be separate than be negatively influenced, controlled, manipulated and mistreated…

BEAUTIFUL WOMEN ARE HATED BY WOMEN & LUSTED AFTER BY MEN Women who are physically attractive are hated  by other women who are jealous of them and lusted after by men until the men’s advances are rejected and then are also hated on by men. Sadly there is a very real curse that most women endure when they are beautiful.  Many women get dirty looks by other jealous insecure women in public, at the workplace, church, the gym, grocery store and can feel the hatred for them for no reason. They feel ostracized, lied & gossiped about. These beautiful women are especially hated if they have a godly heart as the demons in others can’t stand them and want them to be destroyed. Lucifer used to be beautiful as the leader of worship in heaven but was jealous of God so was kicked out of heaven and is evil and leads other demons to come against those who desire to be godly so those influenced by demons especially hate beautiful women who love God.  In 2 Samuel 13 - David’s son Amnon lusted after his beautiful half sister Tamar and ultimately raped her. Then he hated her and sent her…

YOUR ACTIONS TODAY AFFECT YOUR CHILDREN & FUTURE GENERATIONS TOMORROW Written by Mindy Schuman As I was reflecting on some circumstances recently, the Lord reminded me how much each of our actions will affect and influence our children, grandchildren and future generations. We know that our actions can most importantly affect our fellowship with God, but how much do we consider that our actions can greatly affect those around us, specifically our children. Our children can be greatly influenced by how we live day to day, the level of humility we walk in before God and others, and how submitted and surrendered we are to God and his word. Scripture tells us to honor our parents so that it will go well with us (Exodus 20:12, Ephesians 6:1) and as parents we are also instructed not to provoke our children (Ephesians 6:4). I would contend also that, as parents, it will also go well for us if we are honorable towards our children, young and old in age. We honor our children by being submitted to God, by living a life where all the fruits of the spirit are in operation within our homes and by treating them with love…

THE JOY OF THE LORD WILL BE YOUR STRENGTH Written by Mindy Schuman When walking through circumstances and seasons that are are difficult, sometimes we will have to choose to walk in the joy of the Lord. Walking in the joy of the Lord will need to be an intentional choice within us, a choice to walk by faith and not by sight. We will have to choose this sometimes because scripture tells us that the joy of the Lord will be our strength (Nehemiah 8:10) and our feelings and thoughts might not always line up with this truth. Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:9-10 In Nehemiah Chapter 8 above, we see…

ARE YOU ALLOWING THE APPEARANCE OF OTHERS DECEIVE YOU? Written by Mindy Schuman Many times in scripture, Jesus emphasized that holiness and righteousness extends far beyond someone’s outward appearance, beyond their background, beyond even their nationality and gender. So many times Christians assume that those who appear to look and act outwardly holy are in fact living a sanctified and holy life before God and teaching in truth. Unfortunately, many times Christians whose outward appearance seems to convey this outward holiness are in fact unrighteousness and self indulgent (Matthew 23:27) on the inside according to scripture. This is why it’s so important to discern for yourself, with the help of Holy Spirit, to guard your heart with these types of Christians. While it’s true that our inward state of being should reflect on the outside, we can be easily fooled by those with intentions that are not pure and who do not have God’s heart even though they would like others to believe they do. Let’s look at the following scripture: Matthew 21:28-32 A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’…

ARE WE KNOWINGLY OPERATING OUT OF GOD’S WILL HOPING TO ESCAPE CONSEQUENCES FOR OUR ACTIONS?  Written by Mindy Schuman For all that is in the world-the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life-is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.  1 John 2:16-17 NKJV   As Christians there are times when, whether it be in obedience to God’s written word or distinct direction from the Holy Spirit, we have clear instructions from God about His will concerning a situation we are facing. Knowing and doing the will of God should be something we are continually conscious of in our daily walk with Jesus. Essentially, scripture teaches us that knowing the will of God is of utmost importance to the true believer and doing His will is the evidence of believing.   And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 NKJV…

THE CHURCH HAS LOST IT’S HEALTHY FEAR OF THE LORD “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?” She said, “Yes, for so much.” Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you…

HOW TO LOVE THOSE WHO OVERSTEP GODLY BOUNDARIES Written by Mindy Schuman Have you ever thought about what your actions should look like when you love someone? These actions of love tend to come pretty easily with those we love and cherish, and who show us love and kindness in return. I want to share today about another angle to loving others, a general principle that the Bible has a lot to say about yet has become a stumbling block to some in the body of Christ. The enemy has tried to deceive true believers in many ways, including attempting to use religion and twisting scripture to deceive believers about how to love others who overstep and cross our personal and moral boundaries. Specifically, how do we love those that demand we let them control areas of our life that don’t belong to them and that they have no authority over? The Bible is clear that we are to have and enforce personal boundaries to keep others from crossing the line and controlling areas where it is inappropriate for them to do so. In addition, by exercising personal boundaries, we avoid unnecessary temptations that we would otherwise be exposed to…

IT'S BETTER TO BE ALONE WITH JESUS THAN TO HAVE MANY TOXIC FRIENDS & FAMILY By Mindy Schuman There are many times in life when we find ourselves surrounded by friends, family and others who may not necessarily support us or have our best interest at heart. There could be individuals we have allowed to be part of our lives who have not aligned themselves with the kingdom of God and His commandments and have become a negative influence in our thoughts and actions. In some cases we, for whatever reason, have continued to allow these individuals to speak into and be an active part of our lives causing much damage to ourselves and perhaps even our spouse and children! These types of relationships can be harmful and cause us to not be able to walk in the peace that God desires us to have. We have a responsibility to our spouses, if married, and children to guard ourselves from those with evil intentions and who habitually practice sin and walk out their fleshly desires. In my own life, I struggled with giving the types of people mentioned above access to my life because I feared being alone and feared…