{"id":1179,"date":"2020-09-03T05:50:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-03T09:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/?p=1179"},"modified":"2020-09-03T05:50:00","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T09:50:00","slug":"gazing-upon-the-radiant-star-9-3-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/2020\/09\/03\/gazing-upon-the-radiant-star-9-3-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Gazing upon the radiant star. 9.3.2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Change your thoughts, and you change your world.<\/p>Quote by Norman Vincent Peale<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I got a call from my dear friend Tonya Jane and I immediately answered out of concern. For the life our friendship we rarely talk on the phone; texting is the more dominant form of communication unless we spend hours talking and laughing while she braids my hair or we are sharing a meal after a long day of shopping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She told me her mom had been recently hospitalized and we shared words of encouragement and caught up, making sure to talk about our kids and her grandchildren. Although she told me about the complications her mom had been having, she spoke with such optimism, such strength, such assurance! She and I both know that God\u2019s got her mom and he didn\u2019t deliver her from cancer to allow this current setback to stop her now. I was so proud to hear the positivity and the courage in her voice. She thanked God for her relationship with Him. Oh how she encouraged me in ways she couldn\u2019t even imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonya will celebrate her birthday next week and while she is unsure of what specifically she will do to celebrate her special day, I have to pause to celebrate the God in her. Truly remarkable! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after our call ended, I came in my room to feast on the Word. I started in the Book of Philemon but the spirit led me to the Book of Exodus. I started reading at the 14th chapter and kept reading chapter 15, the Song of Moses over and over. You talk about a praise break! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
It spoke to me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I guess the enemy got tired of me praising God so he tried to break my peace. Suddenly I became so distracted; my moms tv seemed to be so loud all I could hear was Tamar and Tony Braxton going back and fourth on their show \u201cBraxton Family Values\u201d and then William was singing, Micah was laughing, and Emmanuel was just being Emmanuel. It all became so much, so fast so I shut the door. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FAST FORWARD TO ABOUT 3 IN THE MORNING…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sound of my mom\u2019s feeding pump woke me up. It dawned on me I failed to place more Ensure in the bag before I dozed off to sleep. One thing led to another and I couldn\u2019t go back to sleep to save my life. It was time for a change of scenery. So while the house was quiet I decided to take a late night drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being alone and scared I drove around until I got tired of going in circles and ended up on my old stomping grounds- my moms house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was younger and couldn\u2019t sleep<\/strong>, I would look out the window and gaze upon the stars. <\/strong>I preferred sitting outside on the porch, so if it were nice outside I would do just that! Daddy would come sit with me and he would just allow me to speak my mind and after looking at the radiant stars<\/strong> things to felt to fall into place and make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this particular night I felt like I had gone back into time. Rico had done something to aggravate me so I kept playing \u201cWhen A Women\u2019s Fed Up\u201d by R. Kelly. Yes I know, not the greatest song to listen to when you are a week shy of celebrating 13 years of marriage. Give me a break, I was in my feelings here! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the big, dark sky stood this one luminous, glistening, shining star! It shimmered and shined! It gave me hope! I was happy again; all the confusion and aggravation and mess that had brought me to this place- nothing seemed to matter. This one star in the big, dark sky spoke to my soul like when I read the Song of Moses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t really describe or put into words how the two relate but they just do! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exodus 15:18 says, \u201cThe Lord shall reign forever and ever.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A MOMENT OF TRUTH AND SELF REFLECTION <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hardest thing for me to do for many years is be patient. One of the hardest obstacles I\u2019ve overcome is releasing control- not realizing I never was in control in the first place-God was, God is, and He will be forever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Lord shall reign forever and ever.\u201d<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
So most recently I\u2019ve witnessed and gained first hand knowledge of God\u2019s timing. In a nutshell it\u2019s all about trusting God- patience, giving up control, understanding; it all had to do with me trusting God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You see we can\u2019t trust God just with our mouth but in our actions. We can\u2019t run for the hills when things get tough. We can\u2019t give up the fight when it looks like we are going to loose the battle. We can\u2019t stop believing when our faith is tested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the children in Israel in the book of Exodus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had to stop and think as I looked upon that star that it wasn\u2019t just \u201cby chance\u201d that I found myself gazing upon that radiant star. It wasn\u2019t by chance that I had become so bogged down in thoughts I couldn\u2019t focus. God leads us into certain situations for a reason- it\u2019s not by chance or coincidence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wherever God leads, we must follow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you don\u2019t get anything out of today\u2019s message remember Exodus 15:18, \u201cThe Lord shall reign forever and ever.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is nothing we face, have faced, or will face that God does not know about. God is in control. God is still on the throne. God Reigns! We may not always understand the events in our lives, we may not understand all the ways of this world but there is one thing we do know- God is still God! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Going on to chapter 16 in the Book of Exodus, it talks about the Bread from Heaven. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the Lord said to Moses, \u201cBehold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. Exodus 16:4<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The devil tried me as I\u2019m sure he has or will try you. We\u2019ve got to hold fast to God and His promises and have faith in God and not our circumstances. The Bible says obedience brings blessings. God is the supplier of all of our needs<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He knows what we need before we even know it. He knows what we can and cannot handle. He knows us because He created us. We are His Beloved Children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
God knew I needed to have a little talk with Him, tell Him all about my troubles, and He answered. He gave me strength to keep on pushing one more day. He gave me the strength to endure and to keep fighting the good fight of faith. Thank you Lord! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m grateful this morning that God knows my needs. He knows your needs. I\u2019m glad this morning that God has all power to supply everything we stand in need of. Don\u2019t you know God is at work at this very moment. All we have to do is trust Him. All we have to do is give Him our heart. God showed me the beautiful, radiant star in the big, dark sky and He led me home safely. Oh what a joy it is to be kept and protected by my Heavenly Father. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In closing, God knows I\u2019ve had a heavy heart and He knows all about what I\u2019m going through and I just have to thank Him right now for allowing me to leave it at His feet. I thank God for allowing me to make peace in my circumstances and to praise Him in advance. I\u2019m walking by faith and not by sight. So devil you can\u2019t have my family, you can\u2019t take my mom, you won\u2019t have my children, you can\u2019t steal my joy, you can\u2019t take my marriage, my health, my strength, my finances, my peace, nor my mind. You won\u2019t make a fool of Whitnee\u2019. I was thirsty and God quenched my thirst. Thank you Father, thank you Lord. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Change your thoughts, and you change your world. Quote by Norman Vincent Peale I got a call from my dear friend Tonya Jane and I immediately answered out of concern. For the life our friendship we rarely talk on the… Read moreGazing upon the radiant star. 9.3.2020<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-1179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-promisekeeper-lightinthedarkness-waymaker","content-layout-excerpt-thumb"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1104,"url":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/2020\/06\/29\/her-hope-speaks-loud-and-clear-6-29-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":1179,"position":0},"title":"Her hope speaks loud and clear! 6.29.2020","author":"Whitnee","date":"June 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve heard others talk about how pleasant your mom is so I just wanted to stop by and speak. 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It\u2019s so refreshing!Says one of the 7th floor Patient Care Technicians So\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"#Hope\"","block_context":{"text":"#Hope","link":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/tag\/hope\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/img_0950.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/img_0950.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/img_0950.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/img_0950.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/img_0950.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1427,"url":"https:\/\/inspirationallaroundme.org\/index.php\/2021\/02\/02\/an-answer-to-prayer-gods-uncanny-strength\/","url_meta":{"origin":1179,"position":1},"title":"An answer to prayer: God\u2019s uncanny strength","author":"Whitnee","date":"February 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I had been waiting all week in silence and in prayer waiting on the test results from some scans my mom had done the week prior. 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