Moving On to Next

May is almost over and we’ve celebrated many special dates and events including the National Day of Prayer, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, National Mental Health Awareness, along with graduations and too many others to list. There were graduations from Pre-K, high school, college and other celebrations like promotions and retirement. I was comparing a graduation to a promotion and wondered what they have in common? One thing is that before going to the next grade, position or level, it requires passing tests, overcoming challenges, and demonstrating competency.

My youngest nieces and nephew attended Liberty County Schools. Eliesha was promoted to 5th grade, Elise to 7th and Eli Jr. to the 8th grade. The next sibling group, Jayden and Dominique, are moving into the 10th and 11th grades in Clarkesville TN. They all had to work through their own challenges and problems to pass their tests and exams. My family and I are so proud of them all! While reflecting on them and their accomplishments, I have to share another family that we’re also very proud of. My son’s uncle, who was like a Dad, passed away last fall, and we miss him. Even after facing that most difficult challenge of their lives, his family continued on, with the help of God and the support of loved ones. Aunt Evon received her master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Differentiated Instruction. Rachel received her bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Yale University. Sarah graduated from her home school program. If you’ve had a difficult year, I hope you can find hope and strength from the lives of someone I mentioned today or someone that you know personally. Our God is able to help you too.

The same way we all have to pass tests and overcome challenges before a graduation or retirement, spiritual elevation and promotion also come with challenges, hardships and tests. Very often naturally and spiritually, before our greatest victory, we will face our most difficult test. We can read about the lives of many in the Bible who faced their own challenges, some failed and some persevered. Either way, God was able to use their examples and situations for His glory. Our ultimate example is Jesus. On what we know as Palm Sunday, He was praised and worshiped in the streets (Luke 19:28-38). Just a few days later, He was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying and the sweat was like drops of blood (Luke 22:39-46). Later, those same people who praised Him said, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” (Luke 23:20-23). Aren’t you glad Jesus didn’t let the mocking and scourging stop Him from obeying the will of God? He knew what was up ahead. He knew that His temporary suffering was nothing compared to being able to give us eternal life. I mentioned in last month’s blog that His victory means victory for us! He won so we are already winners…no matter what we face. Don’t stop in the middle of your most difficult test or trial. Jesus prayed and made sure He maintained communication with the Father. Also, He relied on an inner circle for support. Let’s do the same and keep moving forward! There’s a prize, a reward waiting at the end of the journey. DM, email, call me. Let’s communicate. I’m here to encourage, inspire and motivate. I’m praying for you! www.charlenestevensjenkins.com

Rethinking Victory

I know we’re in the last few days of April, but do me a favor? Head on over to Facebook and watch my Easter Sunday morning ‘live.’ It’s brief, but very thought provoking. I talked about what Easter means to me and I posed a key question: Is the Resurrection a reality for you? Over the years, many have heard about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus but never accepted Him as Lord and Savior. Instead, many view a story; one similar to great men in history, and even some compare Christ to Buddha and others as a myth of a past figure. Truth is, Christ cannot not be fairly or equally compared to anyone who has ever lived. He is the Son of God. Believing in Christ Jesus in truth as the risen Savior and Lord of your life changes everything. Everything about life on the earth and death. Once we have made that step, we are walking and living as new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Are we perfect? Not at all. Will we still make mistakes? Of course, we will. The Lord is with us, and it doesn’t matter what we face, we are already victorious. Jesus won the victory over death, hell, and the grave when God raised him from death. That means all of His followers, those of us who believe and are called by His name, we are also victorious. The tomb is empty. Jesus lives. Those words should give us hope whenever we feel hopeless. In His most difficult hours, Christ chose to follow the plan of God our Father because He knew that His death would give us life. More abundant life here and eternal life in heaven. So when we face challenges and difficulties, we must remind ourselves that the battles are not ours, they’re the Lord’s. As we’re overcoming our hurts, habits and hang ups, failures, shortcomings, traumas, fears, and character defects, we can’t forget that we are not fighting FOR victory, we’re fighting FROM victory. Our enemy—the devil—satan-- is already defeated, and he doesn’t want us to remember that. We have already won. So, each day, let’s look in the mirror and speak what God’s Word says about us, and the problems and situations we encounter. We are not victims. We are victors. Knowing that will help us face each obstacle with a renewed mindset and a changed outlook. Jesus already won, so we are also winners. Victorious. That’s who we are. So let’s walk in it. DM, email, call me. Let’s communicate. I’m here to encourage, inspire and motivate. I’m praying for you! www.charlenestevensjenkins.com.

Feeling Forgotten?

Have you ever felt forgotten? We all have. One of the things that can help us tremendously is to ‘remember.’ Remember what? You are not forgotten.

Let’s start with Genesis 8:1-2 (NIV), “But God remembered Noah…” ( I love how this chapter begins.) “and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky.” Go back and read Genesis 6 where God gave Noah specific instructions. No matter what others said or did, Noah followed God’s instructions. He was obedient. He followed every precise detail. Noah was “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.” Genesis 6:9 . In Chapter 7 the rain and floodwaters came.

Let’s think of our lives so that we can see this in our past, present or a future situation. I want to encourage you to walk in complete obedience to God, no matter what. Rain was something new to them. When it started coming down, the people who thought Noah was out of his mind soon realized he was prepared for what was ahead. I don’t know what you’re facing right now or what’s coming. Maybe it’s a trial or a test that you’ve never experienced before. Please don’t stop trusting God because of what others say or do around you. Please obey, even when things feel uncomfortable. Noah’s obedience saved his life and the lives of his family, along with the animals that God used to replenish the earth. God wants and uses our obedience to encourage, help, and save other people’s lives and souls. Isn’t it something how at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water had gone down? I just want us all to remember that our storms won’t last forever.

Look at Mark 4:35-41. After Jesus was teaching parables by the sea, He told the disciples he wanted to go over to the other side. Next, he sent the multitude away and they got into the ship. “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.” Where was Jesus? “And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, don’t you care that we will perish in this storm? He was with them, but they panicked, like we do sometimes. Jesus was resting, which is a lesson for us. “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

We can see from the Old and New Testaments that storms don’t last forever. Even if it feels like we’re going to perish, all we have to do is remember Who is with us the whole time. We have Jesus, the Prince of Peace and God can help us, even in the middle of a storm, to have a peace that surpasses all understanding. (Philippians 4:7).

Whether it’s for a day, a week, a year or some years, God won’t let our storms last forever. Let’s be like Noah and walk in complete obedience. Let’s not be fearful, like the disciples were. Let’s have faith and keep the faith no matter what lies ahead of us. Nothing catches God by surprise. Jesus is still calming storms. He’s still working miracles. He’s still healing. He’s still saving. We are His hands and feet. God used Noah. He has to use us. Let’s obey. Don’t give up. The storms began and will eventually end.

Remember, God didn’t forget about Noah, and He doesn't forget about you and me.

I’m here to encourage, inspire and motivate. For more about me and to read my other Blogs, head on over to www.charlenestevensjenkins.com. I’m praying for you. Call or DM me!