According to the word of God, God wants us to show compassion to others through our actions. To do so requires us to walk in the love of God and to always be willing to forgive. The word of God says that vengeance is His. Romans 12: 19-21 says:

¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

²⁰ Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

To lack forgiveness in your heart towards someone and to not walk in love will make it very difficult to have compassion for anyone. The word of God mentions having compassion over one hundred times. Jesus Christ was a perfect example of someone who showed compassion to others. He was a living example of how we should treat others. It is not Godly for us to be selfish and only live to please ourselves.

For some people, when it comes to helping others, they concern themselves with what it is they have to give up in order to help someone. They forget that God will always supply their needs according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus(Philippians 4:19).

The same God that gave them what they have now is the same God that will give them what they will need. So it should never be a problem to help someone in need. But with the way that we think, there will always be a reason why we shouldn’t help. There are a lot of scriptures on having compassion for others, but I will only list four.

⁸Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another, love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous,
⁹not returning evil for evil or reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
1 Peter 3:8-9

¹²Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering;
Colossians 3:12

³²And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32

⁸The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy.
⁹ The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.
Psalms 145:8-9

It is never meant for us to have the feeling of defeat when we choose to stay in the love and compassion of Jesus Christ when someone has wronged us. It is meant for us to stay in the love of God and allow God to fight our battles for us. He will always give us wisdom where it is needed in any situation. We just have to trust him according to Proverbs 3:5-6; 5: ⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

In conclusion, we should always trust the word of God when it is showing us how to deal with people, especially those who have wronged us. To stay in the love of God and have compassion for everyone, even those who have wronged us, can not only have a great impact on our lives but also on those who have wronged us.

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On November 11, 2020, I was diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure. God told me that this would be temporary because He wanted to show Himself in my life to me and to others around me. God gave me specific instructions. He told me to eat smaller portions, drink plenty of water, and walk. He told me to stand on Isaiah 53:4-5. ⁴Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. ⁵But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.

So when God gave me this word, I began to do as I was instructed. I began to lose weight. I was spiritually strengthened. I saw that the healing had begun. But as time passed, the enemy began to stir up problems in my family. It emotionally and physically brought me down and I strayed off the path that God had me on. I got alone with the Lord. I cried, I got angry, and I questioned it all, God allowed me to do whatever I needed to do to let go, to move past this setback and get back on the path He had me on. God told me that the enemy could not get to me directly because of my relationship with Him, so the enemy came at me through my family.

He made me fight for them in ways that it was not meant for me to fight. I tried to be there for them and the enemy had them come against me. The stress, the crying every day, the depression, the feeling of being lost and alone caused me to get distracted and get off the assignment that God had me on. God told me that this battle with my family could not be fought in the natural, only in the supernatural. He instructed me to read Psalms 91 over my family every night. It made me realize that if I trust the Lord with my life, then why not trust Him with the life of my family?

So one morning at 1 a.m., the Lord woke me up and I knew there was something He wanted to tell me. He said that He woke me early in the morning because it was the perfect time to talk with me. I was not doing, and going, I wasn’t distracted. I was finally still, so that He had my undivided attention. He showed me everything that had gone on in my life, what got me off track, how the enemy was coming after my family, and how I allowed it to take my eyes off the path that God had me on.

I had gained all the weight back and because of the stress, other health issues tried to arise. God spoke two words to me that night. He told me to “come back”. I understood what it meant, and that’s exactly what I did. So God helped me to get back on track. I boldly walk in His peace. I stay in the word of God. I go to church. I get on the prayer calls. I do whatever I can to help me stay focused and do what God has called me to do. So, I’m back to doing what God has instructed me to do. I am down 23 pounds. And I got 2 good doctor reports.

She told me if I continue to do what I’m doing, I will have a clean bill of health. (No more diabetes!!!) Everything God has been speaking to me, He confirms it through my pastor’s preaching. So God confirmed and summed up everything last night in the message our pastor preached on healing. I have learned to love people with the love of God. Because to do it in your own way, will only lead you on the wrong path. You will be fighting battles that were not meant for you to fight.

I pray my story will encourage anyone who is going through a storm in their health and with their family.

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For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

That’s right, the word of God also speaks on this topic. It tells us that sex outside of marriage (fornication) is a sin. But before we go any further, let’s take a look at the definition of sex. Sex is defined as sexual activity, including specifically sexual intercourse, normally between a man and woman (male and female). The first book of the Bible, Genesis, speaks of the physical union between man and woman, as God created them to be.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Genesis 2:24

So sex outside of marriage is a sin in the eyes of God. According to the word of God, sex is not just a physical act of pleasure between two people. It is a spiritual çombining where man and woman become one. This is why it is important to allow God to send you that helpmate who will be one with you spiritually and physically. You do not want to give up something so important to just anyone. Only to the one God intended for you to be with.

In this sinful world, intercourse is probably the greatest sin, next to sinning against God by denying Him and denying who He is. Sex has been used and greatly abused in so many unclean ways. It has also left many people blind to the truth. Sex has made people believe they were in love just because they chose to share the act with just anyone. Sex has led to people cheating and, even worse, catching diseases.

Sex is something many rush into with their spiritual eyes closed. Satan has used it to blind people to the truth. They have been misled, hurt, abused, lied to, and physically mistreated. Many people had mistaken sex for love. Sex has also led to adultery. It has ruined marriages and has been the cause of many divorces. And it has led to jealousy, which in many cases has led to lives being taken. Some people would rather have sex than have a faithful life with God and the person God has given them to be with. Sex may feel good, but it can lead many astray as well as leave them lost in their relationship with God and with the person they are supposed to be with.

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If We Are the Church It Requires Us to Renew Our Mind

If we are the church in this world, it will often require us to renew our minds daily in the Lord. Satan will come after the children of God and we must always be prepared. The word of God has everything we need to defeat the enemy.

God knows what we are up against in the world. So, as we represent Him, God promised us that He would never leave us nor forsake us. And He is a God of His word.

Living in The Peace of God

To be the church requires us to walk in the peace of God which also requires us to walk in love. To have peace with others requires you to first have peace with God. He will teach us how so that we can know how to be in peace in love out in a hurting and lost world.

Problems will come during our journey in the Lord. But we have the full power of God dwelling in the inside of us. It is time for us to spiritually grow up and use our faith to trust and believe in God in whatever we may face in this world. God will never give us more than we can bare because whatever we may have to bare in this world He will bare it with us.

We will never run out of the power that God has given us because the spirit of God that is within us is being renewed every day. And it will continue to be renewed if we spend time in the word daily. Be determined to have more of God in your life and less of yourself.

So, as we strive to be God’s temple, God’s “church,” we should also humble ourselves and submit ourselves to God. Continually resist the devil and he will flee. Whenever we choose to humble ourselves before the Lord God, we put ourselves in a position to receive more from God than what we even asked for. Because God knows what we need before we even ask. Always put your trust in God and use the word to come against Satan whenever He tries to get in your way of doing the will of God. God has everything you need to defeat the enemy. Just stay in the word of God and continue to represent Him.

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Research: Verifying the Publisher

The first thing you must do during the publishing process of your book is to do your research. Find out which companies you wish to publish your book with or that is accepting your kind of book. After you have your list of companies that you wish to investigate, check each company with the Better Business Bureau. I also called the copyright lawyer and asked them a few questions about the publishing companies that I was interested in publishing my book with. After you get the okay then the next step is to pick which company you wish to publish your book with.

Selling Through a Publisher

After you get the approval from doing your necessary research, then your next step is to send off a sample of your writing to the company of your choice. Make sure your manuscript is exactly as they want you to have it before you send it off. When you find a publisher that accepts your manuscript then you will move on to your final stage of becoming a published author. That final stage is promoting yourself. Never leave all the work to the publisher. Keep up with your own sales and never ever fully depend on the publisher to do everything for you. I made that mistake and did not get what I should have gotten from all the sales that I made from my very first book.

Promoting Your Book

As a first-time author I did not know how to go about promoting my book. I did the worst thing I could have done and let the publisher do all the work for me. Doing this did not get me any profit let alone sales. A year passed before I finally had the common sense to post my book on social media and that’s when I started getting all kinds of sales on my book. I made over thirty sales on my first promotion which was on Facebook. I sold so many copies of my book and still did not receive a royalty check. The publishing company claimed that if I purchase my books from them then I do not get a royalty check. I did not do everything I needed to do to make sure that I was going about this sale of my book the right way.

Even though I was so excited to get my very first book published, I was not happy with the results of how it all went. And even though I did my research at the beginning I shouldn’t have stopped there. I should have done my research all the down to the sales and the payment of my royalty check. With all the sales that I made of my book I should have gotten something. But I learned from my mistakes and I will be very prepared for the publishing of my second book.

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I went from Satan to Jesus, bondage to freedom, darkness to light, confusion to understanding, friends to enemies, terrible life to a wonderful life, not knowing Jesus to knowing Jesus. I could go on and on because when you become a part of Jesus you will receive endless blessings.

I learned that when you give your life to Christ people will treat you different. They will treat you like dirt. But guess what? Jesus was treated the same way. But who, in the end, went to a better place? Jesus will give you what you need to get through this sinful world and go to heaven where His Heavenly Father is.

Life with Jesus is so great you will want to invite those who do not know Him. You will start to realize you have the power God has given you to face ANYTHING. You can even save those that are lost. God gives everyone a choice. Him or Satan. Heaven or Hell. And if you don’t know then either go to someone who knows, go to church, or read the word. But God will always make a way and He always has a way. He will know if you truly want to give your life to Christ.

And don’t think you can fool Christ because we are the ones who are learning and just beginning. And you can’t keep anything from Him. Giving my life to Christ is the best decision I have ever made. He didn’t say it would be easy, but it will be easier than doing it all by yourself. Anything you can’t handle you can just give it to Jesus and He will take care of it for you. He will even show you how to handle the situation yourself.

This just gives you the opportunity to grow in Him and to know how to handle situations differently now that you are in Christ. Just believe and accept Him into your life. There’s nothing hard about it unless you make it hard. He can also be your mother, father, sister, and brother. Uncle, friend, anything you don’t have on earth. And Satan can’t even touch you because God protects you.

So life with Jesus is life everlasting. And no matter what you go through you will always have a reason to be joyful and thankful. And you will never get tired of thanking Jesus, because blessings will continue to come and it will constantly let you know just how much God loves you. And let Jesus know you love Him because He loved you so much that He died for you.

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We face so much hurt and pain in life. And we have to always keep in mind that God will always give us the strength to forgive people for the hurtful things they do unto us.

Our strength and our life’s stories will be our testimony tot hose who are facing the same problems and they feel there is no hope and no more love and acceptance in the world to be offered to them.

But you are a witness to the fact that the love that they so desperately seek for is not in the world, but in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God cannot use us to glorify His kingdom when we choose to hold unforgiveness in our hearts against someone.

Unforgiveness causes mental and emotional stress. But forgiveness restores relationships. You have to be willing to take the first step in forgiving someone. And you can only do it through Christ Jesus.

It is important to forgive one another. To walk in unforgiveness will only hinder who you can truly be in Christ. Jesus. Unforgiveness is a demonic spirit. It gives the enemy full advantage of you.l He is given access to parts of your life he is off limits to. This is not the desire of God.

God cannot bless us when we are operating in unforgiveness. God is love, so when we are walking in unforgiveness, we are not walking in His love. Because of this, God cannot give us what we desire for Him to bless us with.

The bible tells us to forgive others. In Matthew 18: 21-22, it says: Then Peter came to Him and siad, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

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When you think of healthy eating, don’t think “diet”. Remember when you are fixing yourself something to eat, include protein (meat, beans, fish, cheese, nuts, eggs, and yogurt). Also include carbohydrates (Fruits, or fruit juice, beans, bread, cereal, rice, vegetables, and very little sweets like candy, cookies, and desserts.)

Another one to include is fat. This include things like butter, ice cream, coconut oil, and lard.

Another one to include is water. Water is the best thing you can consume because there is nothing in it. Just clear, odorless, tasteless water.

And last but not least, you must include vitamins and minerals. This includes watermelon, broccoli, soy milk, squash, cereals, chicken, mushrooms, and potatoes.

So, in other words, eat what you want, but in reasonable portions. Too much of anything is not good. But living a healthy lifestyle has more to do with it than just eating healthy. Exercising is another excellent way to take care of your health. And the number one exercise that is simple but has its benefits is walking. This exercise is really good for beginners who have to start off slow and work their way into other exercises like jogging.

Living your best life is just living in healthy ways that will benefit you and your body in the long run. Challenge yourself everyday to do something healthy for yourself. Just learn to love all of you, even your health.

There are other things in your life that can also affect your health. The stress of the world can also cause health problems for you. How you choose to deal with it will determine how you and your health will be. Many people deal with their problems by eating. They eat, eat, eat and gain, gain, gain. This can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle which will just lead to other health problems like diabetes. Choosing to not deal with these issues will lead you down a long road of poor health, pain and suffering due to other self created health problems.

So, in conclusion, living a healthy lifestyle requires you to eat healthy, exercise, and love yourself. No one can do it for you. It is going to require dedication and hard work. But it will definitely be worth it when you see the outcome of your hard work. Don’t be afraid to go on this journey alone. Take God with you. He is the greatest support you will ever find that will stick with you to the end.

Anything is possible. Don’t let the things in this world distract you from getting where you need to be. Don’t try to make yourself fit into society. Let go of all those things in your life that you know is causing you to backslide on your journey to better health. Do it for you and not for anyone else. Don’t do it for someone to accept you. Do this for you because in the end that’s who matters the most, you and your health.

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Life has taught so many of us that love does not have any meaning to it. We take so much for granted. Relationships and marriages do not mean as much to people as it should. We are so quick to just throw it all away because of what we’ve been through. We are quick to call it quits instead of giving it our all. But even though people do not understand just how powerful love still is, it still has the power to do whatever it is intended to do. The word of God speaks a great deal on love. And it is the most important topic in the bible. God said that love alone covers a multitude of sin. In the word of God, 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 speaks on the excellence of love and how to live and walk in that excellence.

So, love doesn’t only consist of romantic love. So many times, it causes hurt and pain and some people automatically say that love doesn’t exist or that they give up on love. Love will never feel right when it isn’t from God. He created love and He is love. So, everything you do in your life should include God first. You will know what to do and things will start to make more sense to you, Love works through people and through situations. You can’t go through your life without love. If you do you will spend a huge part of your life feeling angry and bitter because you are looking for love and acceptance in the wrong places and in the wrong people.

The hardest part of love in the word of God is loving our enemies as it mentions in Matthew 5:44. “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”

This scripture is in red, so this is God speaking on this. No matter what we go through or what we must face, God wants us to face them all in love, as He did when He walked this earth. He was the perfect example of love. And if we look for love everywhere but in Him then we will never fully experience what it is like to be truly loved by love itself.

So, when it comes to relationships and people trying to find someone who will truly love them, they will be hurt every time. Because people look for other people to love them the way they deserve to be loved and that person do not fully understand the depth of love and how to use it. It is often abused and people end up hurt and don’t fully understand that until that person can fully understand love (fully understand God) then they will never know how to rightly use the power that love carries.

So, how do we experience the fullness of love and all the awesomeness of peace and happiness it offers? Well, God must be first in your life before you choose to do anything. After all, God is love, remember? Without love how far can we really get? Believe me I know. I was getting far in my life only to realize I wasn’t getting anywhere. Only until I finally let God in did my life start to make sense to me. I knew how to approach love and how to look for it from others. God also gave me guidance when I was lost or when I needed answers. Everything I did I trusted God in it and I put Him first. Nothing is stronger than God so whatever came my way had to get through God first.

Growing up I had seen so many hurt and pain in the lives of other people around me. It took me so long just to go on my first date. Trusting someone with something as gentle and fragile as my heart was something I was in no hurry to jump into. I didn’t even know how to approach the relationship thing. Growing up in church, I knew I could turn to God for help in this area of my life.

In my lifetime I’ve met a total of four men. Three only wanted sex that they weren’t getting from me. The fourth one was my soul mate. He was everything that I went to God and asked for. That’s what you should do before you give your heart to someone. Tell God exactly what you are looking for and patiently wait for him or her and God will give you the desires of your heart. And believe me you will know when he or she comes into your life. Because only you and God know what kind of person you asked for.

So, if you’ve given up on love or you are close to giving up on love, I encourage you to give your heart to God. He will mend your heart and take care of it as if it was His very own. God created us all so He knows us better than we know ourselves. So, to trust Him with your heart and with your relationships is the best thing that you can ever do with your life and with those you choose to be with.

So, in conclusion, love should not have been something that people feel does not work or isn’t real. It has been so abused in society so much that people do not know how to treat it as something special and important. To know and understand its true meaning is the only way you will know its true strength. So, don’t give up on love or doubt its true ability. Cause in the end you are only doubting God and His true ability. Be blessed.

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Knowing I had decided to return to school, I was doing more planning than I had ever done. But, I realized that planning ahead helped me to stay ahead.

After struggling so much through high school, I had my mind set on not going back to college. Fear of failure kept me from going to college. But because of my love for writing, I decided to go back to college.

When I finished high school I decided to skip college and just focus on writing. I ended up getting one book published, The Perfect Gentleman, but my knowledge of the publishing world needed working on. I attended schools through the mail but they just didn’t work out. After really giving it some thought I decided that maybe I should reconsider going to college. But I had help with my decision. My son also played a role in my going back to school. I couldn’t make up my mind on whether I should go back to school or not. When he first started going to school, Corban asked me what I was going to be doing while he was at school. I said I didn’t know so he told me to go to school. It only confirmed what I couldn’t make my mind up on.

When I realized I was going to get a BA in English, I was really worried. In high school, English was one of my weakest subjects. But as I got in school, I felt that I was about to be strengthened in one of the main courses I wanted to strengthen. I felt I could definitely benefit from going to college by increasing my understanding on writing, promoting, and publishing my book. It was the main three areas of my writing that needed working on. And since being in college, I felt I had made some progress. I learned to take notes, study, and give reasonable time to learning new things which helped me to generate ideas.

I had to have changes made in my lifestyle in order for me to pursue my degree. So much of my life was given to helping and doing for other people. I had to let go of a lot of things that was unnecessarily taking so much of my time. Now that I was in school, I had to finally give myself some me time.

There was a lot of obstacles in my life that was trying to prevent me from doing my best in college. My health, my family, so many doctor’s appointments. Trying to keep up with everything was hard along with keeping up with school work. But like I’ve learned in Ashford’s classes it was good to write out a schedule to follow. I did that and it made things a whole lot easier to handle.

I don’t regret the decision I made of going back to school. It helped me in so many ways. And I finally felt I was doing something that was worth my time.

Life as a published author can sometimes be a challenge. Every writer should know as much as possible about the publishing world., it lets people know where you stand as a writer, it prevents someone from claiming your work, and it lets publishers, agents, and other writers know that you’re not walking in with your eyes closed. Putting more time into studying, planning, learning new things, generating ideas, and being willing to accept feedback or advice can also help in the long run. It will add to what you already know.

People respect you more when you know what you’re doing. I learned from experience that you should never just rush into anything. It will not help you if you do not know anything about what you are trying to make a goal or career at.

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