Following Your Dreams


If we are like most people we all have that one thing that was placed deep in our hearts since we were a child that we wanted to do. That one thing we wanted to be or accomplish when we got older. The passion was so alive and on fire and today it still is, but we may not know how to get there. But God says to walk by faith, be obedient and trust Him to pave the way there. Whatever passions God placed inside of you He wants you to use it, and He wants you to use it for His glory. We can take God with us everywhere and in any profession.

When I was in Elementary school and first learned how to start writing, I fell love with the art of writing ever since. The beauty of weaving words together to create a beautiful message or story has always intrigued me. But I always kept this gift as a hobby or simply a “dream”, something that I would wake up from and never really be able to live out. I became unconfident in my ability to get published or get my work out there so I just settled, but now I am resolute on accomplishing this dream. I will live it out by God's grace.

Anytime you want to live out your purpose the enemy will fight against it and make you feel like you aren't able enough to do it, but God is able to do all things, and if we just let Him lead us in everything we do He will make a way. Don’t give up on your dreams.

I've decided now that I am going to chase and grab onto these God given dreams no matter what. As many of you may know I have published my very first novel titled “Leaving Jade!” I am just so thankful and humbled by all of your support and love, it really means a lot to me.

The book will be available May 5th, 2014 via amazon.com. I am just so excited to see where God is taking me. I trust Him and I put it all in His hands. I know that becoming a bestselling author is my destiny and that He will pave the way for its success.

So I encourage you to go after whatever dream you had since you were a little boy or girl. You’ll never get anywhere by staying still. Let your feet hit the ground running and grab for what’s yours. All things are possible with God! You can do this! I’m so excited ya’ll! I can’t wait to see God do great things through all of us for His kingdom!

Love and happiness, 

Shaniqua




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What's so sinful about having sex outside of marriage?

This is a question asked a lot, especially from those who are in “committed” relationships and they have children together. I see a growing trend in my generation. Many of the young people are having babies, yet there is only a household of one, generally it being a mother. And even if it is a household of two, the parents are not married for some reason or another. I am in no way writing this blog post to condemn anyone, I am writing it so I can express the beauty of marriage done God’s way and how it’s so important that if you label yourself as a Christian to live as one by doing things the way God designed for it to be. I am also writing this post so we can bring back Godly values to a dying generation who seem to be moving further and further away from God.

Many “Christians” think its OK to have sex and still call their selves “Christians” when they are not married to their sexual partner. I mean they love their partner’s right? Their doing no one any harm and most of all they are "committed".

The fact is is that these people are not really in fully committed relationships; rather they are in semi-committed relationships. And some of the reasons why marriage keeps being held off is at least one person in the relationship is not ready to commit, or maybe they are not sure if they want to spend the rest of their life with this one person, or simply put why would they buy a cow when they can milk it for free?

Another thing important to realize is that if we proclaim ourselves as Christians we need to understand that sex outside of marriage does cause harm. It causes harm to our spirits and most importantly is causes harm to our relationship with God. Sex is more than just an act of physical pleasure; it’s literally the bonding of two people mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It’s something so intimate and if done God’s way is so beautiful. God meant for sex to be done within a marriage between a husband and a wife, and that doesn't include engaged couples. The Bible says you must be married.

1 Corinthians 7:2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

Hebrews 13: 4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality

Sexually immoral people in the Bible are described as those who can’t control themselves and are having sex with men/women who are not their spouse. If they couldn't control their flesh the Bible says it is better for that person to marry than for them to burn with lust (1 Corinthians 7:9). Premarital sex is a sin and if you are having it you are not in a good place with God, and it’s grieving His heart. He knows how precious you are and He doesn't want you selling yourself up short to please a human. God wants you to put Him first.

God designed sex for a husband and a wife for a reason. For one it saves a lot of emotionally heartache when you thought the person loved you for forever, but all they really wanted was sexual pleasure. The reasons why a lot of relationships don’t work are because they think sex is what’s going to keep someone. For a while sex will keep a lustful person, but after a while they get bored, the arguments start and you realize you aren't compatible. It’s because your relationship was based off of lust and not pure love. If a person sincerely loves you they will wait for your hand in marriage to join physically one with you by doing things God’s way.

Sex clouds a person’s judgment. When you know the person isn't right for you you still try to be with them because you have joined yourself to this person when you shouldn't have in the first place. Now you’re unhappy and struggling to make the relationship work, but it’s not going to work unless you start putting God first in it and serving God with your body.

A way you can tell if you are in a serious relationship based on love is by telling that person you will not have sex with them anymore until after you are married with them. If that person gets angry, doesn't understand and starts trying to convince you to change your mind, then that’s lust not love, and it reveals their true intentions. Their desire for you is conditional and based mainly on physical pleasure. Staying with this person will not help your relationship with God, but hinder it. That person is keeping you from a prosperous relationship with God and furthermore they don’t care about the eternity of your soul, all they care about is fulfilling their fleshly desire. That shouldn't be so.



The love of your life should love you no matter if he/she can have sex with you or not. Do things God’s way and see the positive changes it can have in your relationship. For one you should do things God’s way because you love Him, and as Christians we are to obey Him. My husband and I first started as sinners and argued constantly because we were doing things the devil’s way, but once we got saved we practiced abstinence and our relationship has never been better. It’s because we planted our relationship on solid ground by following God’s principles. Check out Our Not So Ordinary Courting Story.

I will leave you to ponder on some questions. Why can’t you give up sex for God? Has sex become your God? If so repent and move away from it. God forgives a sincere heart who cries out to Him and stops committing the act of sexual immorality. You can live the holy life God desires for you to live, which is a life worth pleasing to Him.

1 Thessalonians 4:4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

It is with great love that I write this post. As Christians who love the Lord we live to please God, and not people. We can't call ourselves a child of God, but act like children of the devil. Value yourself and put God first. You can do this!


GOD’S GRACE IS LIMITLESS,


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Can you really heal a cavity naturally?


So I went to the dentist last week after a long overdue checkup. I am embarrassed to even tell you how long I went without seeing one, lol. I initially went to go see about getting some Invisalign's,  but came out more than what I bargained for. The dentist inspected my mouth and upon her inspection told me I had four cavities that she could see with her natural eye, but there might be more once we do an X-Ray. To say the least I was pretty disappointed to hear about that news. I do brush my teeth regularly and try to keep them healthy as best as possible. So I left scheduling an appointment for the next time to get an X ray done and to fill those cavities. The Invisalign's unfortunately had to wait.

I was going to settle for spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars to fill the cavities in, but then I started doing some research. I had ran across an article before about healing cavities naturally, but I didn't pay much mind to it until finding out I had some of my own. So I am going to do a challenge to see if I can cure these bad boys naturally. I am going to give it two months and see how it goes. For right now I am cancelling that dentist appointment for next week and will keep you all updated.

I sincerely believe that God provided everything on the earth we need to naturally heal our bodies and to prevent diseases if we take care of ourselves. I am all for home remedies and I don't take any medication, only vitamins and probiotics. Not saying I'm against medicine but I think that the natural way is the best way to go if you can opt for it.

The first thing I will be doing to heal these cavities naturally (in Jesus name) is by oil pulling. Oil pulling is when instead of brushing your teeth first thing in the morning with regular toothpaste you swish your mouth for 20 minutes with coconut oil.

This all sounds crazy to me too, but it's worth a try. They say also taking a teaspoon of cod liver fish oil and butter oil is another way you can heal tooth decay. I am waiting on the cod fish oil and butter oil to come through the mail. So for right now I am going to start doing the oil pulling tomorrow morning. I am praying for great results. It sounded crazy to me when I first heard about it, but I believe it's worth trying.

GOD'S GRACE IS LIMITLESS,


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Sinner or a Saint?


Many times I hear people who are saved say they are just a sinner saved by grace, or that we are all sinners. The phrases sometimes can be a little irksome to me because I’m sad to see as Christians we don’t realize our new identity in Christ. The church is having an identity crisis and that’s the reason why a lot of the times we see churches or "Christians" compromising to the present evil times. It’s because we are trying to mix the old man with the new or as the Bible states it we are trying to pour new wine into old wineskins (Matthew 9:17).

The Bible says we become a new creature when we come into Christ Jesus.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! - 2 Corinthians 5:17

So that means we have a new nature, a new name and we now belong to our heavenly Father who sits on the throne.

We must realize that we are now a child of God and we will be called a new name. In the Bible Jesus even would change the names of the Apostles he chose, and if you notice when reading the letters to the Churches in the New Testament they always address the audience as Saint’s now. We are no longer sinners, for if we were Christ death would've been in vain. He died so we could put to death the old man (sinner).
The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. - Romans 6: 10-11

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Romans 6:6

Let’s define what a sinner is. The New Testament Greek word for sinner is hamartolos and it means:      1. Someone who practices sin or is devoted to sin.
2. A person who is not free from sin
3. Sinful and wicked men

As the Bible says there is power in the tongue, and it can either bring life or death (Proverbs 18:21). If you find yourself still being a slave to sin, it’s probably because you’re still identifying yourself as a sinner (or you need to repent and dedicate your life back to Jesus) A sinner is someone who is a slave to sin. In Christ Jesus we are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:6). If you keep seeing yourself as a sinner, someone who is still a slave to sin, you will keep acting that way.

Think about it, a teacher is called a teacher because he/she teaches. An author is called an author because he/she writes. It’s the same with any other profession or label that you give yourself.

Those who are born again through Christ Jesus are no longer sinners and it's only by the power of Christ that this is so. That’s the beauty of Jesus coming to die on the cross for us, so we can be free in all areas and become totally new in him, in this way we can live a life worth pleasing to God. The devil wants you to keep thinking he has a hold on you. There are so many false teachings that have crept in the Church because the devil wants us to have an identity crisis. But the devil is a liar, we will use the full armor of God and know that we are a new creature in Jesus. I encourage you to live that new life of victory and freedom through God’s never failing Grace. And if you are still living as a sinner, but call yourself a child of God, that's being a lukewarm Christian, and God says he will spit those types of people out of his mouth. Repent and turn to God so you can live a holy life that's pleasing to Him. You can not have one foot in God's kingdom and one foot in the world. You can do this!


God’s Grace is Limitless,


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