Tag: faith

An open Bible is surrounded by pink cut roses.

Waiting on Your Mate With God | Devotional 6

Published on by Johnnatta Giles3 Comments

Soulmates and Soul Ties

Sometimes there is a confusion between what a soul mate is and a person you may have soul ties with. Soul ties are demonic strongholds that often time present themselves in your relationships. These relationships often are fueled by heightened emotions. These emotions range from over excitement to love sickness. Along with these emotions they will be accompanied by obsession, confusion, chaos and heart break. This constantl roller coaster of feelings will recycle itself over and over again as long as you have a relationship with this person. But when you find a soulmate this man will always bring a spirit of peace, deep love, spiritual fruit and oneness.

Are there men in your life that brings you pain and chaos?

How many past relationships have you experienced soul ties?

Have you ever felt you were with a soul mate only for them to end up abusive and neglectful?

Do you believe that spiritual influences affect your relationships like the Bible says? Why or Why not?

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

When we talk about relationships we cannot ignore the spiritual element of this topic. When a woman is in a relationship that constantly produces chaos and pain the enemy is present in that relationship. This does not mean that the enemy will not attack a God centered relationship but the massive difference in a soul tie relationship and a soul mate one is the soul mate will always produce peace even in the midst of storms. Before I met my husband I was “in love” with a guy and experienced this for the first time in my adult life. Every time I was around him or thought about him I would instantly feel over excitement and love sick. So love sick to the point I could not eat. I had the same experience with my first boyfriend when I was 16 years old. But then I thought it was just a teenage phase until it happened again with the next young man. I was older by then and was spiritually mature enough to know this was not normal. We flirted back and forth often but I always felt he was out of reach. The guy would play mind games and my attraction to him kept pulling me back in. When I realized how this was affecting me I began to pray and ask God to help me. Soon I was healed and delivered but this spirit would not let up that easy. Months later I met my husband and we were in a relationship. They guy I was once interested in was still in my friend circle so avoiding him was near impossible. The guy knew I had moved on and all of a sudden became more interested in me. I completely ignored him but noticed the pull of this spiritually force anytime we were near each other. It got to the point where I could no longer hang out with friends when he was around. With a soul tie it is always a demonic presence involved. It’s not so much the person but there is a spirit dwelling among that relationship to bring chaos and disruption. For your sake let this guy go. He is there by design distracting you from following the will of God in your life.

When a man and woman become one flesh as it states in Matthew 19:6, this is a spiritual connection. When a soul mate enters the scene, you will notice that you are at peace with him. When God is involved the first thing He will want you to know is that you are safe. You will sense this spiritually not outwardly. Safety does not always mean what a man does for you but what spirit he brings with him. This is why we took so much time to address your own spiritual state because it will be the deciding factor in helping you find the one. A man can be nice to you, make you feel empowered and put you first but sometimes those are power plays of an abusive controlling man. A soul mate will put God first in his life and therefore will operate in your relationship that honors God above all else. This is true security with a man not how much money he brings. Life happens and sometimes people loose jobs and miss out on opportunities, but if God is first in a man’s life you can have peace in knowing that man will always be able to provide you with what you may need to keep you secure physically, finically and spiritually. A soulmate will not play games with you. He will be upfront on who he is and what he wants out of your relationship. He won’t float around the idea of marriage he will know if that is in his plans or not. A man of God plays no games with your heart because he understands that your a God’s daughter. My husband and I have had our share of trials as a married couple. One thing has always been true for us is that no matter what we have gone through God has held us together and peace has remained. When you are with the one you were made for, and God bring you both together it is His spirit that holds you as one.

Are you ready to leave behind your soul ties and wait on your soulmate?

Prayer

Pray that the Lord will help you identify soul ties in your relationships even the non romantic ones. Rebuke the enemy from your midst as you have the authority to do so in the name of Jesus Christ according to Luke 10:19. Pray over yourself for healing, restoration and peace. Ask the Lord to give you the gift of the Spirit according to His will and give you eyes that see and ears that hear. Ask the Lord to reveal to you the plans of the enemy and pray against those plans. Pray for protection against those the enemy uses to attack you and keep you in chaos. Pray for them that God will deliver them and set them free of demonic influence. In Jesus Christ name, Amen.

Christ Mindset

According to Luke 10:19 I have authority in Jesus Christ to rebuke the devil, his plans and his cohorts. I want to be set free and I proclaim I am set free in the name of Jesus Christ. The enemy has no authority over me. The Lord in His perfect timing will lead my soul mate to me. The Lord loves me and does all things for my good and therefore anything that comes to me that produces evil is not of Him. Anything good is from the Lord anything bad is from the devil.

Heart and A cross
A Woman takes a Moment To Be

How My Faith Defined My Womanhood

Published on by Johnnatta Giles2 Comments

If you ever met me you would know right away that my faith is my life line. I struggled with my identity my entire young life and the only thing that remained the same was my faith. But I wanted to know deeply who I really was and also who I was as a woman. As a young girl I grew up not fully understanding how to really become a woman. Was it sexuality? Was it woman nature within me? What really made me a woman? I became a mother before I even knew the answer to that question.  Prayer took the lead in my discovery and the Word brought me little understanding. It was then in my spirit I knew I would have to walk this out organically. 

What Makes A Woman?

It’s not so much physiology. I couldn’t look at myself and just see what woman I was. No, I discovered it’s spirituality that really made me the woman I am and then wanted to become. In the depths of my soul what would I find there? Well, some terrifying things as I dug through the surface, but as I began to dig deeper, I found the most delicious treasures. Things hidden in me I never knew existed. There was power, strength, love, weakness and beautiful brokenness that turned out to be the most beautiful parts of the woman in me. I will most likely spend the rest of my life putting those pieces together but it is an Odyssey I am greatly enjoying the fruits of. The journey is transforming the heart of me with every breath, every year that leaves me and wisdom is growing like deep roots of a tree.

Bering a woman means being all that God created us to be. Embracing all of feminimty that’s unique and loving the body we are walking in. Allowing the Spirit to bring us to life and cultvating the very essence of our gifts in Christ. Letting our light shine and not allowing the enemy to use our gifts for our destruction. Being our best advocates instead of our own worst enemy. Lifting other women up in sisterhood but also not being afraid to speak the truth which sets them free. Leading with our men with swords in hand and when the battle comes, suit up in our armor of faith and deafeat the enemy and win the war together, This is womanhood spiritually. And every year I’m learning more and more.

Without my faith I would have never discovered all the gifts in me and all the lack. I discovered the path to something fierce. Behind me He was there cheering me on and loving me.

Don’t stop at the outward, not even the surface once you truly begin your discovery. Dig deep and find the core of the trueness of woman inside of you.

Johnnatta Giles

A man thinks and waits

You prayed, But He Didn’t Answer

Published on by Johnnatta Giles5 Comments

This is probably one of the biggest concerns I say many Christians have with their walk with the Lord. I see and hear questions like “What if He doesn’t answer me?” ‘Why do I pray but don’t receive what I pray for?” ,”Will He even hear me?” and even “Why don’t my prayers work?.” First I want to say, God hears everything we say and He sees everything we do, so you don’t ever have to guess if He hears you. The Word is full of stories of people crying out to God and Him answering them. There are also stories of people who say things against God in their heart and He punishes them. Even still, there are stories of how the Lord waits long periods to fulfill promises and answer prayers but yet He still does it. I was watching a video last night talking about this a little. How in the waiting season we think God is doing nothing when all the while He is preparing us and refining us to be able to do the very thing we are asking for. When you think He is silent, He is working. For the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16) therefore we know it will not go unnoticed by Him. The problem is how many of us are praying unrighteously or living a life of disobedience yet we are expecting something from a Holy God.

I could sit here and only give you the happy stuff which is the promises, the goodness of who God is and tell you how faithful He is to those who trust in Him. But today I also want to ask you hard questions maybe you haven’t asked enough of yourself. On your end are you doing what God has told you to do? Are you still committing acts of sin? Have you been giving into temptations that have taken you off the course that God has set you on? Take a moment to take your eyes off the question of why you haven’t received what you asked for. Because let it be known, God will never ignore His children and He will answer in His perfect timing. But sometimes we are keeping ourselves from receiving what we are asking for by trying to make our prayers become a reality (manifesting) or jumping back into things we shouldn’t be in instead of being faithful in the waiting. I often think about Sarah and Abraham and how God gave them a promise and then they intervened by taking it into their own hands. Both Sarah and Abraham committed an act of sin because they lacked the patience and faith in their God. I wonder sometimes, would it have taken as long as it did for Isaac to come? Would Sara have been that old when he was born? Sara was barren, having Isaac in general would have been enough of a miracle within itself! Sometimes our answers are far off and need to be for a reason and sometimes well, it’s our fault it’s taken so long.

So what can we do to make sure it’s not the latter? First step to is to walk away from the sin that is binding you and cast down every temptation. Take back authority in your life, submit your flesh unto the Holy Spirit and then comes the waiting. In the waiting we must be faithful to the Lord in all that He has placed in our hands. What I mean by that is, whatever you are holding right now that is yours focus on that. If you have prayed for a new job, do the best of your abilities in the one you already have for God’s glory. If you don’t have a job and want one take care of your home, children and yourself and focus on your relationship with the Lord until your opportunity arrives. If your praying for healing of a sickness or disease, rest and have faith God heard you and is working on the solution to bring you full healing. Praise God everyday for the prayers already answered, for His provisions and protection, for His undying love and favor over your life.

Lastly, your faith alone will determine what you receive and don’t receive. The Lord has already told you, He withholds no good thing from those who love him (Psalm 84:11) and Jesus said simply just ask (John 14: 14) so all that is left to do is believe (Mark 5:36). Do you believe that what you are asking for God will give to you? Do you trust Him to deliver those very things you ask for in His timing? And do you believe His timing is perfect and never too late? Only believe and what you ask for you shall receive.

For The King!

Johnnatta

A woman is earnestly praying

Look Up Because There Your God Is

Published on by Johnnatta Giles2 Comments

Vulnerability is probably not my favorite thing in the world. But it seems I am much better at writing out my vulnerabilities than I am speaking them. And some how some way the Lord uses it in ministry. How many of us are going through the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fire these days? It’s getting really hot and I’m getting tired of it. Everywhere I turn there is yet something happening. I have been working on using my phone less and focusing more and more on prayer in my spare time. Our bills are going up and I am on my knees begging God for a way over these mountain. I’m either going over or through it! I’m too tired to walk around it. After the tears I began to do what many may deem the oddest thing.

I laughed.

I laughed so hard right in the face of the enemy and told him, no matter what you and your cohorts are up to my God is greater in me than he that is in the world! And guess what? That’s you! He’s greater than all of this and He has already made a way for us to escape this. I got up and started doing some work. When I finished that I went outside and replaced an alternator on my car with my husband and rested for the rest of the night. I was tempted to fall on my face and began crying again but I refused and just confessed peace. I cannot even lie to you, this is a hard time we are living in. But you can also see it as this: an opportunity to test your faith in the Lord. Do you know the Lord says he wants to “test” our faith that it may be refined? Many times people look at testing as overcoming trials but when God speaks of testing, His saying “I want to put this gold in the fire and make it even prettier than it is. I want to make it shine so much that it radiates light!” It’s so we can get stronger, for the message to become clearer in us and that we would not easily be broken. When our faith becomes stronger we can begin to see the mountains before us fall and provisions come we never thought possible. I keep imagining the hands of Jesus in Matthew 17:24-27 holding that coin that Peter took out of that fish’s mouth. Lord if you can provide like that for your son and I am his heir you’ll take care of me too! Brothers and siters have faith! It may be your day off because of the Holiday but make sure you don’t take a day off with Him. Give Him more of your time in this hard season. Praise the Lord in the storms and laugh at the devil because he holds no power over God’s people! And when you get up you’ll begin to watch that mountain fall in the most glorious way. I believe it. Do you?

Much love

Johnnatta

a family hugging each other

My Children Behave ( Mostly) and This Is Why

Published on by Johnnatta Giles2 Comments

Yes I’m coming to you with a bold title today because for years I’ve had at this point hundreds of people that have came up to us to tell us how well behaved our kids are. For sometime now I’ve been wanting to write this post but of course when your raising 6 children and living life time gets away with you. Here is just a small bit of advice from a mom of 16 years. Let me take you back in time to the foundations of why our kids are so well behaved (mostly).

Kids will be kids but the love of God is powerful!

My husband and I became parents before we became newlyweds. The pregnancy of our daughter inspired us to change our ways and begin to put God first in our life indefinitely. When she was born that devotion continued and January 2011 we went to church together for the first time as a family. She was only two months old! That local church had family programs then and we started to attend one of them. This was a parenting class based of the book “Shepherding A Child’s Heart” which changed both our perspectives on parenting and revealed many failures of our own parentage. We wanted to raise her for the Lord and that meant we had to look at things differently. And so we did. I joke in passing with people when they comment on the behavior of our children and say “We raise them the old school ways!” And in part we do. Many parents from the past generations of this country raised their children based off biblical principles. Children also grew up using the Bible to learn how to read in schools. So many were raised on those moral principles growing up in public and at home. But we took it a step further and wanted to make sure our children were never taught religion. We wanted them to know the full truth of the gospel. Both my husband and I are Christians that have submitted our lives to Jesus Christ, water baptized and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Every Sunday breakfast we read the Word and discuss what it says. We ask them their opinions and we also use the world around them to bring homes these truths. That right there is apologetics in action! We are also honest with our children about spiritual matters. Because like the word says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood.”

Our kids have loved the Lord since they were babies and they know their God. They know when they pray He hears them. This is something we’ve also taught them since birth but even in their own relationships they have seen first hand. He speaks to them and they hear. They ask Him and He provides. They praise Him and they begin to see more and more. All through their own personal relationship with Him. Some of favorite memories will always be me whispering a song to my babies about how much God loves them, sees them and is with them. They desire more of Him and they know they must do their part. One of my favorite verses that they know well is when God spoke to Cain. “If you do what is right and you will be accepted.” My kids want Him more than they want anything on this earth. And they know when they fall into sin that will only bring them farther away from God.

Our kids were given the foundation that both their parents had with the Lord. Pure love. We taught our kids that not only was God Holy but that He loved them, wanted to know them and He was their friend. They were raised in a home full of worship, prayer and dedicated parents who loved the WORD. Our eldest daughter is water baptized and baptized in the Holy Spirit, the next 3 after her have been water baptized and the babies are still growing in body and spirit. They love God more than they love us and that is all I have ever prayed for! He is and will always be their greatest love!

Discipline is a must for growing children!

Let’s talk about one of the most controversial subjects concerning childrearing. Discipline. No matter what your stance is on discipline it must be done in the interest of creating character, self control, emotional control and wisdom. This is something that can make or break a functioning adult one day. Whenever it comes time to discipline our kids from toddlerhood we taught them the principles in the book we read that, their behavior not only affects them, but the people around them and their relationship with the Lord. They know when they are disobedient to us they are also being disobedient to God. Because they love Him and trust us to do His will only they have always understood this. In order for this to remain true it was highly important that we raised them according to Gods word, not our feelings, not what was trending and not what anyone else thought we should or shouldn’t do. They are also taught when they misbehave in public it is disrespectful to the people around them. Example: this is not your store to do as you please. The people in this restaurant are having a nice peaceful dinner and you are disrupting that. The hospital is full of patients resting and healing you are not to act a fool and disrupt that. These things though are only taught depending on the age. Because a baby is a baby and has every right to cry in public and when toddler is tired they are tired. But when a child is old enough to know better they are taught to be mindful of the people around them and have respect for others.

Though we are not perfect we do make every effort to lead our kids towards righteous no matter what. We raise them according to who God says each individual child is and we discipline them according to their own needs personality wise. As I said before we are not perfect so the times we do mess up we quickly repent to them for it and ask for forgiveness. Because of these things our children have a innate understanding that we are not hurting them or taking from them but helping move their hearts towards God’s will and therefore they receive either blessings or punishments based on that alone. Our kids know deeply we love them and we have a established a deep trust which in turn creates respect for us with them and them with us.

Even a child will reap what they sow

Oftentimes people think that because children are small and young their mistakes will not necessarily translate to big consequences. Many times I hear people say “They are just a kid it’s not that big of a deal!” But kids learn in those moments what they will get away with and what they won’t. There is room for grace with a child but it shouldn’t be handed out so easily or frequently. On the other side good behavior should always be praised and sometimes rewarded! I learned a long time ago to not frequently give rewards every time because my kids started doing things just to get in the treat bucket! So I began to reward them for only certain things. My kids know the simple truth of what you sow you shall reap. My four year old was in trouble about two week ago and I bent down to her level and explained to her, when you choose to do what is wrong you choose to gain what is bad. But if you choose to do what is right then you receive rewards of good things. In order to help her understand this before her four year old brain forgot it, the next time she chose to do what was right I repeated it to her and then gave her a treat. That specific thing she was getting in trouble with she no longer does anymore. This mama helped her at her level overcome! My older kids are different. When you get teens a lot of things you did when they were younger just won’t work. From the time my eldest was a toddler she hated to sweat. She would be running around having a good time and start sweating and stop and want to go in the house! To this day she doesn’t like it much so when she was in trouble about a few years ago I had her run three laps around the house. That worked for her, I honestly have not done it since but it’s still in my arsenal in case I need it! In addition, all of my kids understand the elementary truth of sin and righteousness. We are teaching our children to hunger after righteousness and then making a point to give them real life rewards when they do. A trip to get ice cream, go to the park, go see a theater production and even vacations! They get to live the good life when they choose to do good things! We of course have a reward system for our kids and their chores but we make sure they know that is a privilege and can be taken at anytime if bad behavior persists. What we will not do is take away anything that is helping them develop their God given gifts. One of my kids plays piano and we will not keep her from her lessons if she is in trouble because we know the Lord has called her to that and she has a great gif for it. But she loves to mess around with a camera I gave her. And when she is in trouble we take back the camera for a little while. Discipline no matter what must be done with great discernment.

They truly know we love them deeply

I always said I spoil my babies with love! All of my kids get many kisses and hugs. We tell them daily we love them and make a point when they are succeeding to tell them how proud we are of the. When arguments arise we make sure we are fair and stand up for the ones that have been wronged. We choose them over what the world thinks and says and we defend them with a fierceness in spite of it. We share with them our faults, our prayers (answered and unanswered) and our mistakes. They know us and know we love them for who they are. I wish I could tell you we do all of this based off of some human wisdom and revelation but we couldn’t do any of it without the strength and leading of the living spirit within us. So I leave you with this. Instead of wondering why your kids do not behave think about what it is you can do to change and redeem yourself back to your children. What can you do from then on to foster mutual respect, authority, love and meaningful relationship? I’ll give you the only thing I know that works.

Jesus

As their mother I have always went by these three Ps: persistence, patience and prayer. I have always been persistent with my kids I have always been patient with them and when they are struggling to over come I have always prayed with them. Many times I have fallen into the trap of complacency and have reaped the terrible rewards of it. I always say to my husband “I don’t know why we do it to ourselves! If we do our jobs we will inherit better behaving kids and therefore a life that is much more peaceful.” Sometimes I am just tired and need a break, Sometimes I have been neglecting my own spirit and the flesh gets in the way. Sometimes I’m just human! But I thank God I eventually get my act together! Because then I can go out to the movies, I can go out to eat, I can go on a riverboat, I can go shopping, I can go to a live theatre production all with my husband and all of my 6 kids! Because they behave!!!! And it’s all because of the very foundational things I just wrote to you. Moms and dads give yourself a break and begin to shepherding your child’s heart and watch the rewards of it spill over into your life.

Love

Johnnatta

A Mother’s Worship

Published on by Johnnatta Giles3 Comments

Pitter patter pat. I look up from my work on my queen sized bed and notice little black hairs escaping a head full of long silk curls. Someone’s coming to give me a kiss goodnight and to tell me something funny her baby sister just did. She climbs onto the bed and I open my arms for a tight hug. I then bring my hands to her face, cupping her sweet golden brown cheeks. Two kisses for each! As she climbs down to tell me something, I listen and respond but also take a moment to worship the Lord. I’m in awe that such a beautiful being could ever come from my husband and I. In silence, I’m thanking the Lord for it and committing myself deeper to His plan. Because this little one was born out of a promise between Him and I. And I’ll never forget it.

The power of in the moment worship

In the last few months, I have had a really rough time. My husband just went through a medical emergency and that has made me the primary caregiver of everyone in the house. He’s gaining his strength back but It’s going to take time. Sometimes I don’t realize just how tired and stressed I am. But in that moment I stopped and worshipped the Lord. Doing that took a tired and worn out mama and spread peace throughout my being. It was just what I needed after the se last few months of hardship. Many people view worship as a way to spend time with the Lord. But in reality there are many things worship is for and actually does. Worship also is a way the Holy Spirit rises up in us and gives us what we need in that moment. Do you need strength? Peace? Rest? Wisdom? Answers. Take a moment to Worship. Worship is a place of surrender so that the Lord can have space to give you exactly what you need in that season of your life. What around you can you give God praise for? What in your life can you give thanksgiving? Is there something that just happened that you can be humbled in gratitude about? Take e beat, and worship at His feet! People tell you to pray often but I’m telling you mama, to worship. Worship as often as you pray! There’s healing in that small moment of praise.

No matter what life throws at you, God can breathe life back into you again. And He does it a lot of the time in the smallest ways. Will you give Him just a moment so He can fill you back up again?

xo Johnnatta