by desing | Faith & Purpose
Exactly what is faith? Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen and it’s the evidence of things that aren’t seen. That’s why when you’re on your journey of manifesting a vision that has been placed on your heart, you cannot judge your future success by what you can see happening now.
Too often, we allow what we can physically see around us to stop us from exercising our faith. If you could see actually receiving that $1 million contract next week, then why would you need to have faith? Nowadays, we want it all and we want it all now but if you birth your vision prematurely you’re in danger of risking the growth and long-lasting success of that vision.
There’s a reason why it takes nine months for a human baby to be born because the baby has to be properly developed inside the mother’s womb. The process of manifesting your vision may take longer or shorter than nine months but it’s definitely a process that will always require you to stretch your faith past what you can see. When God plants a vision in your heart it’s vital for you to understand that He gave it to you and only you because only you can do what He has called you to do. God doesn’t do group calling. The vision may be so big that it scares you and you may be deceived to think that it’s impossible but that’s when God does His best work; He specializes in the impossible.
Every vision that God has called you to realize will require you to stretch your faith. You attract success by the person you become and if you’re someone who only focuses on what you can see, what you can afford on your own, what you can do in your own strength then you are limiting God’s power in your life.
God is such a gentleman and He will not force His way on you. He will not stop you if you want to figure it out on your own but He’s always there waiting for you to rely on Him. If you could manifest that vision in your own might, then what would you need God for? That’s the wonderful lesson that God wants to teach us individually because He loves to be trusted.
Living with your eye of faith means that you cannot be defeated when others don’t understand your vision. God gave you the vision, not them, so it’s important to understand that people will impose their own fears, hardened hearts and insecurities onto you. Living with your eye of faith means that even when things may not go the way you anticipated, you still trust God. Living with your eye of faith means that even when you have no idea how it’s going to get paid, you believe that all your needs are already met. Living with your eye of faith means that you are so secure in your journey that no matter how many “No’s” you hear, you know that your “Yes” is on its way.
It’s your season; there’s no time to shrink back any more, live with your eye of faith not what you can see!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose, Tools
What does hope really mean to you?
In my quiet time with God, I’ve been hearing the word “hope” over and over again. I didn’t pay it any attention because I thought I knew what hope was but then something told me to look up the definition of hope.
I learned this from pastor and spiritual leader, Joyce Meyer – sometimes we become so accustomed to a word that we downplay the meaning of that word. When we’re studying and on our path of emotional, mental and spiritual growth, we have to go back to square one sometimes and actually look up a word so we know the definition and how to apply that definition to our lives.
Hope means a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen or a feeling of trust. Oftentimes when we say “I hope so”, there can be some doubt or fear in our hearts but we weren’t created to fear. You were created in the image of God so if God created you in His image then where would fear, doubt or lack of hope fit into that equation? I have a hard time believing that God fears or doubts.
What are you hoping for? Is the hope that you profess to have one that is filled with a hesitancy to believe that it will actually happen? When you start a new week or a new day or a new job, project or business deal, what are you expecting to come out of it?
I’ve heard to expect nothing but I believe that when you expect nothing, you’ll get nothing in return. If a farmer planted his crops and expected nothing in return then what’s the point of preparing the field? Your hope is tied to your expectation and it’s time to get your hopes up!
I will continue to encourage you to change the way you think and how you look at your current circumstances. I don’t care how a situation in your life may look, I want you to know that God is in control and He wants you to get your hopes up for His best. In my heart, I truly believe that there’s an abundance of favor, opened doors, new opportunities, new relationships, new money and blessings right around the corner coming to you.
You’ve probably been working at your dreams for years or you’ve been hoping for that one prayer to be answered and I KNOW that it’s on its way. Start getting prepared for those open doors. Don’t wait until you can see it to start getting ready, make sure you’re ready now! If you got the call tomorrow, you should be ready to go the next day because if you leave opportunity waiting too long at the door then it may go knocking on the next person’s door.
If you’ve lost hope then I want you take it back! There’s such an attack on our minds with false imaginations of our future. You the power to take it back – take back the hope for your dreams, finishing your education, your new home, your restored relationship, your financial increase, your new job, or your thriving business.
Are you ready to receive what’s on its way? You can start by being grateful in advance. Thank God in advance for whatever it is that you’ve been hoping for. Start to think of ways you can make room for it. Maybe you need to clean out your closet by giving to others so that you can make room for the new in your life. Maybe you should call creditors to determine how much you owe so you can start your payment plan next month because you’re about to get that new job.
Girls, it’s time to get out of your rut and get your hopes up!! Hope is just as important as faith. Faith is assurance that you’ll receive it and hope expects it!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose
Before I get into this week’s message, I wanted to share some INCREDIBLE news with you.
ESSENCE magazine has done ANOTHER feature on me! This time on ESSENCE.com as a feature in their ESSENCE Network section! Words really cannot express my gratitude for ESSENCE’s support of me on my journey. It’s moments like these where I sit back in awe of what God can do. This is just the beginning of what He’s ordained for me and you too; all you have to do is believe and receive it with thanksgiving.
I know that it can be difficult to have faith in a world where we can be deceived to only measure life by what we can see with the natural eye. But as you know, faith is the confidence that we hope for will actually happen and it gives us the evidence of things that are not seen, so in order to truly live by faith you are not to judge whether God is working by what you can see.
You may have been praying for the new job, the financial miracle, or the opened door and it still hasn’t happened. The true to key to prayer is not only believing that your prayers are answered but also to receive what you have prayed for. You don’t have to “get” God to do anything all you have to do is receive what He has for you.
When you shift your prayers, hopes, desires and dreams from a request to a finished work then all you have to do at that point is receive it.
So, how do you receive it?
You receive all the blessings and answered prayer in your life by living with a thankful spirit and expressing your gratitude for not only what God has already done in your life but also for His promises and your answered prayers that will soon manifest. Don’t wait until you can see it so you can have a thankful attitude, believe that you will receive and out of your believing and receiving mindset will come a grateful attitude.
God can do more in one day than you can do on your own in several lifetimes. We can be fooled to think that we have to pray for eight hours, do everything right and continuously do something to “get” God to answer, but that’s not living by the grace of God. You can’t do anything to earn His favor upon you, He gives it to you freely.
God asks us to believe when we make our requests known to Him, leave it there with Him and trust that He’s got you! Do you understand that you have the most powerful being living inside of you, walking with you, who is concerned about everything that concerns you? His love for you stretches further and deeper than our finite minds could ever fully understand. This isn’t the time to start thinking that you don’t deserve what He has for you because none of us do. We receive what He has by His grace.
I challenge you for the rest of this week to go from getting mode to receiving mode. Thank God for your prayers and hopes already being done. Put your whole trust in His love for you. Speak those words of thanksgiving out loud as often as you can. If things don’t work out your way, thank God that something better is on its way.
Open your hands and open your heart to receive what has already been ordained for you to have. It’s time to take it into your possession by faith!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose
As a woman, it’s natural to be more “in tune” with your feelings. We are wired differently from men because we can sense things that perhaps they can’t. Our feelings can help us discern “suspect” people or circumstances when we have no physically proof but all we know is that “something doesn’t feel right.” And oftentimes those suspicious feelings are valid.
But there are also times when we can allow our feelings and emotions to reign over our lives to the point that we surrender to them in a way that is detrimental to our growth in faith and maturity. There may be times where you will have a bad attitude with others at work because, “Today, you just are not in the mood.” Or there will be other times where you’re having faith for something big but because your feelings don’t agree with what you believe, you choose to follow your feelings and lose hope in whatever it is that you are having faith for.
Your feelings are triggered by your thought life because the quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life. If you allow yourself to meditate on thoughts of fear, jealousy, pride, anger, resentment or bitterness then your feelings will soon follow which will lead to the decisions that you make.
The greatest battlefield in life is not facing challenges that we can see, it’s the battlefield of the mind. And one of the greatest weapons that will be used against us receiving God’s promises and building a life that we desire is the falsehood that will try to manifest itself in our imaginations. Those imaginations are usually thoughts of things that will hurt you, fearful thoughts of your future, imagined threats of your future, or thoughts that contradict the very promises of hope, joy, prosperity and success that God has placed in your heart.
Once those imaginations start to penetrate your mind, feelings that amplify those thoughts will start to stir up trying to control your decision making. If you don’t have a clear mind then you can’t have a clear life. In order to receive the promises of your future, revelations and discernment then you must have a clear mind and that’s why there’s such an attack on your head and your emotions.
This is NOT the time to lose your head and fall subject to your feelings. This is NOT the time to allow your feelings to control you. It’s time to pull your feelings, insecurities and emotions out of what you know is yours, out of what you know you are destined to become, out of what you know God has revealed to you!
You can’t cry, fuss or kick and scream your way out of your assignment. It’s time for you to take a bold stand on what you know and check your feelings. It’s not the time to be weak and allow your feelings to control you; you have come too for that now. It’s time for you to command your feelings and stand in your strength which comes from God – you are NEVER alone and He’s given you the power to stand.
God didn’t promise that our feelings will line up with the facts. When God reveals something to you about your future or gives you a dream to realize in your heart, He didn’t say that your feelings would agree because it’s up to you to check that. God will do for you what you cannot do on your own but He won’t do for you what you can do on your own. It’s time to check your feelings.
Succumbing to every way that you “feel” is highly ineffective. We keep doing it and doing it, hoping to have some sort of different outcome but isn’t that the definition of insanity? It’s time to stop being loyal to our ineffective ways and marry effectiveness. If falling subject to your feelings and imaginations have not helped you then it’s time to try something different.
It’s time to stand on what you know, it’s time to grow up in your faith, it’s time to become who you have been called to be so that you can clearly honor what you have been called to do. This is not the time to lose your head, girl you have too much coming up to fall back now!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose
If I told you that you have the power living inside of you to help you endure through and overcome any challenge in this life, would you believe me?
Oftentimes we go to God in prayer during those inevitable trials in life hoping that He will deliver us and give us the strength needed to persevere. Because He is all-loving and all-powerful, He will always either deliver us or give us the grace to walk through the storm victoriously, while strengthening our character along the way.
But there is one thing that He will not do.
God will do for you what you cannot do for yourself but He will not do what He requires you to do for yourself. You are responsible for exercising your faith and the spiritual disciplines that He has equipped you with in order to prosper in life.
According to Dictionary.com, exercise means something done or performed as a means of practice or training. Therefore, in order to exercise your faith then you must start practicing your faith.
When you begin exercising to lose weight then it is normal to have a plan in order to help you achieve your fitness goals. You may develop a workout routine and meal plan so that you can meet your mark. This is how you should look at your faith, what plan will you begin to put into place in order to become stronger in your faith?
All the power that you need to win in this life is already living inside of you which can be exercised by your five senses and here is how:
- Taste(which comes from your tongue): God tells us in His word that there is death and life in the power of your tongue ensuring that your words have power. Start to exercise your faith by speaking life, resurrection and victory over your circumstances. Use your words to only speak your victory or desired outcome, not what may hurt you. Also, choose to speak God’s word over your life; His word is an indispensable weapon.
- Hearing: Faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of God. Make a decision to surround yourself with God’s word and take the time to get quiet with God and listen. God is faithful and you have the power to hear from Him directly but it happens when you get quiet, even if it’s just for five minutes a day to simply listen.
- Touch: Applying the sense of touch in exercising your faith is best used when you are listening to God. Your hands are an instrument and ask God to show you how to utilize what He has given you in order to succeed. When you do this, use your hands during that time alone with God to write down what you hear. Also, write down your vision, your hopes and pray over it to God. God tells us clearly to write the vision and make it plain.
- Sight: Use the sense of your sight to see, meditate on and envision your victory. Everything begins in thought form and you can choose to focus on your defeat or God’s power. Ask God to help you envision your success instead of what you fear because what we tend to focus on we empower to grow.
- Scent: After all is done, it’s time to smell your victory!
You are more than a conqueror, a strong warrior in the army of God! It’s time to exercise the authority and power He has given you.
by desing | Faith & Purpose
It can be difficult to believe for a breakthrough in the midst of hard times. All you can see in front of you is the current trial and trying to believe that your triumph is right around the corner can be beyond difficult.
However, I realized that how we choose to live is a choice. How you choose to operate in this life is a choice. You can operate out of fear, worry, doubt or you can operate out of victory. When you operate out of fear, worry and doubt you may tend to try to control the situation but when you choose to operate out of victory you can relinquish control in peace.
You were not called to live in turmoil within yourself. You were called to have a peace of mind and peace in your hearts. Peace should always provoke your thoughts and actions. If you don’t have peace about it, then don’t do it.
When you begin thinking about your current challenges, you can decide if the way you’re thinking about it is from a place of peace and victory or a place of fear and control. When you’re about to make a decision concerning your circumstance, is that motive for that decision rooted in victory or defeat?
We’ve been conditioned to be pretty lazy in our thinking and coping skills. It’s so easy to allow any sort of thought or emotion to fester in our hearts but you have the power to decide otherwise. Peace must be the umpire of your thoughts and your decisions.
Look at all of your current trials from a place of victory. Take the time to meditate on everything working in your favor. Believe that this test of faith is simply something that’s going to make you better and perhaps even help you help someone else one day. It’s time to believe past what you can see and keep your eyes glued on the finish line which is your victory.
Once you begin to keep your eyes on the victory, you will begin to operate out of that victory daily. There will be a change in your focus, a change in your emotions, a change in your mindset, a change in the words that you speak. You will find yourself talking about your problem less because you will be too focused on your victory.
Instead of talking to anyone who will hear you about your problems, talk to yourself about your victory. You can choose to believe that you will be victorious or you can choose to believe that you will fail and the worst will happen. I’ve said this before – what you choose to believe is a choice.
You don’t need anyone else to believe what you believe. You don’t need everyone to be on your same page because you have to learn to be strong and grow in your individual faith. You cannot operate out of the faith of someone else, you have to grow, come up higher and believe for yourself.
When you focus on your victory, you will have peace. Turmoil, worry, impatience, lack of trust, fear and doubt bring about a lack of peace. If you truly want to experience peace in your life, then it’s time to believe that your battle is already won and operate from that victory in your mind, soul and spirit.
Identify with victory and God who has already provided you with the victory. You don’t have to “obtain” your victory, all you have to do is maintain the victory that God has already won for you – remember that 🙂
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
