The Emergency Fund

We all have an "emergency fund" - a safety net in the event that we fall sick or have an accident or need to fix a leaky roof etc. The emergency fund is not only a bank account - it could comprise of family members and friends who provide emotional support, a good job, a country with a good economy, a university education and more.  If you're honest with yourself, your stress levels are way lower when you have something to lean on in the case of an emergency. It's common sense. You feel that if something were to happen to you, then you'd at least have the money to take care of yourself, people to help take care of you etc. An emergency fund is a good thing - a great thing really, but it becomes a problem when we trust the emergency fund more that we trust God.


What do I mean by that?

You see, I've been noticing some thing about myself, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one. As a chronic worrier (yes, I know, that needs to change), when I have nothing or no one to fall back on, I go into panic mode. My human nature needs something that I can see to make me feel safe. However, as a child of God, my hope, trust and confidence should be in God, not what I can see. In other words, my automatic reaction should be faith (Hebrews 11:1) and not panic.

So here's where the emergency fund gets us in trouble. Whilst it is an excellent thing to have (and we should all be working on one), when we have it, we tend to lose sight of the fact that God is our provider - He's our source and everything comes from him. We lose sight of the fact that we don't provide for ourselves, God does. Our faith level drops a little bit because we feel that if something happens we'll be fine. We don't remember that it is God who gave the emergency fund in the first place and He loses a little bit of his significance in our lives. That is why, when our emergency fund is depleted, we go into panic mode.

I believe that faith is like a muscle. It must be exercised or it will deteriorate. If we don't learn to have faith even in the good times, when times become desperate it is going to be difficult to wrap our heads around that fact that God can and WILL take care of us.

So what's the message of today's post? As children of a living God, we must remember to put our faith not in the material things that we have, or the persons that we may have around us, or the jobs that we currently hold or the current state of the economy of the country that we live in. Our faith should ALWAYS be in God. He has given us wisdom and has taught us to save for the future, to educate ourselves, to work diligently at whatever job we have and invest in the future. However, let us not let that "emergency fund" distract us from have total faith in our ultimate source.

Be blessed and have a great day.

Devotions like this one and others can be found in the Soul Food Series in Kindle or paperback format. 

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No Looking Back

Looking back can be very tempting.  When God asks us to move forward, He usually requires that we leave some things that are very important to us behind.  These things tend to spur what I call,  the Lot's Wife Syndrome -  looking back at the things that should be left behind with longing. 

That story bears an important lesson for all of us.  There are certain things in our lives that may be tripping us up, causing us to stumble, to fall, to be in constant pain etc.  These may even be things, places or people that we love.  However when God is ready to bring us to the place where we fulfill our destiny,  those things can't come with us.  They'll hinder our growth and cause us to fall all over again.  That is why he asks is to leave them behind. 

We all know that this is easier said than done; but one thing that will make the task a little less daunting is getting rid of the Lot's Wife Syndrome.  Looking back every few days at what you left behind will make you want to go back and pick it up again. 

God knew that Lot's wife was heading for trouble that day,  hence the reason she was turned into a pillar of salt.  She probably wanted to go back.  She had friends in that burning city.  Her home was there;  her whole life was there. However, if she went back,  then Lot would have probably followed,  after all, she was his wife.  I believe that God could not allow something like that, so she was stopped. 

Let us stop looking back with longing at the things we know that we need to leave behind us.  Let us follow God with confidence, knowing the He is leading us to the best thing for us. 

Determine today that there will be no looking back. There will be no "Lot's Wife Syndrome".

Devotions like this one and others can be found in a handy collection in Kindle or paperback format. 

To grab your copy, click here. 

All things work TOGETHER for our Good

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 NLT

This Bible verse takes a lot of abuse. We misquote it a lot and one variation that I hear often is "all things work out for good". This is what causes a lot of people to doubt its validity. This misquote causes us to expect every situation to work out in our favour. When it doesn't, we blame and doubt God.

What this scripture is really saying is that no matter how many difficult situations you may face, in the end God's plan is that all the tiny pieces of the puzzle will come together and the big picture will be something great.

You see each situation has a purpose in our lives; and it's not to frustrate us, but to mold us for the future. Our reaction to each one is important because it determines whether we are ready for the next stage in our process. God never promised that we'd have stress free lives but He did promise that He would always have our backs (Hebrews 13:5b).

Remember that in the end all these tiny situations that cause us headaches will come together and work out in our favour. It's always at the end of the puzzle that we realize what each piece was for. The same thing goes for life. You will realize how each situation or struggle has come together for your good at the end when you look back and marvel at how God worked it out.

Till then, keep on trusting God. Know that He is busy putting your puzzle together and it WILL work out according to His plan if your trust him and do what He asks.

Devotions like this one and others can be found in a handy collection in Kindle or paperback format. 

To grab your copy, click here. 

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo 

When God doesn't make sense

If you've been a Christian for a while you'll know that there are times when what God does makes absolutely no sense to you. Even if you've been a Christian for only a short time, most of the time you'll be at a loss trying to understand how the wide range of things that happen to you on a daily basis are supposed to fit together and work out for good.

So what do you do when God simply makes no sense to you? Trust Him. Simple answer right. Yeah, yeah, I know. It's not the one that you want. You probably thought I was going to say something wonderful and profound and give you a kick-start on your week right? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you.

For the myriad of times that God will make no sense to you, you simply have to trust. You have to learn to trust that He has the Big Picture and He knows what's best.

So here I am preaching to myself 'cause right now, God makes absolutely no sense to me. What He's doing is driving me up the wall and if I let it, it may just drive me away from Him. I have a lot of questions that are going unanswered. I also have a lot of requests that seem to be ignored. Sigh. So now what?

Trust.

It's an issue that comes up over and over in my walk with God because in general as an individual, I have trust issues. I also have control issues, I wanna be in control of my life at all times. That's not good. Not for a Christian so it's safe to say that God and I are almost always in a tug-of-war. He wants my problems so He can solve them, but I keep taking them back because His way doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Trust.

That's all it takes really. Trust. Trusting that God knows what He's doing and that things will work out in the end. Trusting that God has your best interest at heart. Trusting that all the little pieces of the puzzle will come together nicely and will create a great big picture that makes perfect sense.

Ah Trust. Five letters that feel like five mountains that need to be moved. (Faith moves mountains right? But that's a whole other sermon)

At the end of the day, when God makes no sense, when the things he does seem like they're meant to hurt us, not help us, when He is silent and when it seems like He is doing nothing, remember to trust. He's still in control and always will be. Trust. Trust that He knows what He's doing and He's doing it in our favour. Trust that His way is perfect and complete.

Trust.

Now it's time to follow my own advice. (You should too).

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo 

The Big Picture

As mere humans, we never really have a total picture of what's happening in our lives. Each circumstance or situation seems unique until God opens our eyes and allows us to see the real deal, the whole picture that encompasses each puzzle piece that we used to see in isolation.


In September last year, I wrote a post titled "When God's desires become yours". Back then, I asked God for a very specific thing, and He said no. I was disappointed, but I chose to trust him. Six months later, I figured out why he said no. The Big Picture.  You see the thing I wanted so badly turned out to be rather unattractive at the end of the day. Now, it repulses me. Guess what? God knew that.

We humans are pretty myopic. Fancy glitter and glamour confuses us and blinds us to the truth about the situations around us. We are ALWAYS making decisions without all the information simply because we can never, ever know everything. That's why trusting God when He says no makes so much sense. He has the big picture and He knows everything about everything. Would you rather rely on your limited information like I was doing or would you go with God's choice for you, knowing that He knows what will change in six months time.

It may be hard to accept a "no" answer from God but remember that He is the one making the informed decision, not us. I'm ecstatic now, realising that He saved me from another disastrous situation. Had I ignored Him and gone ahead on my own, I'd be nursing some severe wounds right about now just like I had to in the past. I'm pretty sure that you have had some of those situations. We humans like to be in control of our own destiny but here's a bit of a newsflash. We are NEVER in control of our own destiny. If God is not controlling it, then the devil is. Not us. We are not our own masters, no matter how much in control we think we are. If God is not guarding and guiding us, then the devil is bound to be manipulating us for his own pleasure. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather have my destiny driven by someone with my best interest at heart.

I challenge you today to accept that last "no" you received from God. I guarantee that maybe a few weeks, months or even years from now, all the pieces of the puzzle will come together and you will realise that you were being protected from your own desires. Trust God with your Future, He's the only one who knows what it really looks like.

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo 

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger...

Why is life hard? More specifically, why is your life hard? Why is my life hard? Why do the same people going through all the hard stuff when others just seem to be sailing through life will blessings all around. First of all, let me just say that things aren't always as they seem. Those who seem to have it best may not even have it that good at all. But I must admit that some of us just seem to have the worst luck. Or is it really luck?

I could probably consider myself one of those people who just seem to have hardship piled on at every turn. In fact, I've developed the habit of waiting for something crappy to happen the minute something good happens to me. It's been that way my whole life. So why then do some of us have to go through all the major tough stuff? Why isn't hardship spread out across the planet evenly? Why do some of us have to have all the things that we have no control over happen to us over and over again? Why do parents get cancer, why do husbands leave, why do fiances betray us, why do we get laid off?

I wish I had the answer. In fact, I do, but I don't like it. The truth of the matter is that we live in a world tainted by sin, this means that it has been spiraling out of control. Evil exists because sin exists. It's the truth, but I don't like it. At the end of the day, life is still hard and I still have to go through it.

So what's the bright side? Is there a bright side? Well yes, there is. See, a few days ago I sat back observing a few of my friends and that's when I realised that some of them have had a pretty smooth life compared to mine. It's also when I realised that going through difficult stuff my whole life has it's merits. See, when I was robbed two weeks ago, I felt really bad for losing my laptop and all my writing, but I didn't cry or break down. I started losing faith when I realised that the police were doing diddly squat to help me, but I found it again and kept moving forward. Most people who know what happened express that they'd break down, cry and never sleep in the house again. But I didn't and I do. Why? Because as tough stuff goes, this is nothing compared to what I've already been through. I've learned to reserve my tears for the really big stuff.

See, that's my bright side. Because of all the difficult situations I've had to endure I can now go through some really big ones and still keep a genuine smile on my face. Maybe if my early days were a cake walk, I'd be sunk deep in depression right now. I don't think this is by chance though. It is often said that God doesn't give us more than we can bear. I think that He always prepares us for what we have to bear later on. Sometimes that preparation is simply making our roads a little rough, one situation at a time until we are tough enough to endure some whoppers.

I guess that's why I can still stand. My faith has been made strong and my trust in God bolstered by the fact that He has saved my butt many times. I know many people who are considered strong in faith who wouldn't last a day in my shoes. I'm definitely not hating on them, they just have a different purpose for their life. Mine is to encourage others and help them become stronger through my experiences.

So that's my why. Life is hard sometimes because we need it to be. Those of us who go through the hardest stuff and survive are stronger for it and for me, it's no cliche, it's the truth. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger....

Have a strength-filled day!

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo 

Leaning on the Everlasting Arm

Do you ever feel like you could literally just fall over from the stress of your everyday life. Life can be full of joyous moments and can be really wonderful sometimes, but there are those moments that just make you want to scream. What's worse, is that those moments enjoy happening in a cluster. They weigh down on your faith, bare down on your finances and steal your sleep. They can leave you walking pretty much like a zombie, lifeless and unable to smell the roses or see the smaller things that would usually make you happy.

At moments like that, you just want to crawl in bed and stay there. Your energy has been completely zapped and you barely have the energy or the willpower to stay standing. I'm having one of those moments, and in the midst of it, a song was deposited in my spirit. One phrase got stuck in my head; it says "leaning on the everlasting arms". Another says, "safe and secure from all alarm". When I think about it, that's probably the only reason I'm still standing; God's everlasting arms are strong enough to keep me going even when I feel like I don't even want to keep going. I've probably been leaning on those arms for a very long time and did not even realise it.

That's something about God that amazes me. A deep, intimate walk with him brings such closeness that sometimes you don't even have to actually ask for His help. Your spirit becomes so entwined with Holy Spirit that He cries out for help for you. God hears that and honours it. I often wonder how people go through difficulties outside of Christ. What do you do when you don't have a big strong God who can handle anything  to lean on? Of course, I got my answer right away; it's the reason that many people end their own lives. Some challenges are just too much to bare on your own. In fact, I'm pretty sure I would have lost my mind by now if I was trying to do this on my own.

The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT) Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. In a lot of Christian circles  this verse has become quite the cliche, but it's the absolute truth. God cares about our situations and our worries. They are obviously too much for us to bear on our own, so why try to carry them our selves. God knows how to solve them and He does it right each time, so let's learn to give ALL of our worries and cares to God. Let him handle things. Lean on Him, He'll never feel like you are putting too much pressure on Him. Most of our friends would buckle under the pressure of our problems, but God won't and unlike our friends, He can actually solve them.

When all your strength is gone and you feel like you just can't stand any longer, remember that you can lean on God's ever lasting arms. He's there to support you and to keep you going forward.

Be Blessed.

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo 

Test? Or Testimony?

This week has been a rather challenging one for me and staying positive is sapping all my energy. My house was broken into three days ago and thieves cleared me out. They took the one tool I own which is most important to me, my laptop. From it, I learn, create, produce and play. They also took my two back up hard drives, so I'm left with nothing. I've lost complete manuscripts (unpublished) and other works in progress. I've lost so much more, it's hard to even think about it. It's safe to say that I'm a bit depressed.

So what does a Christian do at times like these. It's easy to just want to crawl into the fetal position and yell at God "how could you let this happen to me." It's also easy on day one to stand firm and believe that your all powerful God will help you recover all. It even seemed like He already started working, the police got an incredible lead and they know exactly who violated my home. So you think they'd go get my stuff right away right? Nope, they didn't. So day two rolls around and whilst I still have faith, it's starting to drop to only about 90%. Wait...what? Yup, I am, I'm slowly losing faith.

This is the part where I would usually say you gotta keep focused and trust God but today, on day three, it feels like my faith is now at about 80%. See, I'm learning something about myself, and maybe about people on a whole. It's extremely easy to have faith on day one. God gets our complete trust. His word is all that matters to us. Then, the days wear on and we see no progress and we begin to wonder if God is even bothering with us. It's human nature, but, it's also a weakness in us that the devil exploits. He knows that I'll never believe that my God can't do something, so his lie is this "your God can, but WILL he?! He doesn't care about your stupid laptop!"  That's a lie that's easier believed.

I've noticed something else. God is challenging me with something else. Earlier this year, I posted something about being more militant about the Christian walk, I've stepped up,  but truly not as much as I should have. This situation is forcing me to mean what I say. So, the war is on, for my faith and for my stuff and for my life. I view this attack as personal, when I put out my last book, Trusting God with your Future, I realized that God is pushing me to write more in that direction and less fiction. So the devil wants to take my voice. It's not happening. So now, I'm going to lift my voice and tell him so.

I'm pretty sure there's a situation in your life that you can apply this to.

Be Blessed.

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo 

Trusting God with your Future - The Devotional

Announcing the release of "Trusting God with your Future" the devotional.

This is a small collection of devotions meant to encourage, strengthen and stir the hearts of Christians. Trust is a complicated issue, especially when applied to someone we can't see. Not only is this book about trust, but it's about the everyday situations that affect out trust in God.

Each lesson in this book is one the author has experienced and learned herself. There are personal testimonies and experiences that are meant to inspire and to challenge.

As the author states in one of the devotions included in this book, "In the party of life, God is the one guest you always invite because he always brings and amazing gift!" May this gift from her heart bless yours.

Trusting God with your Future is Book Two in the Soul Food series. 

Grab your copy here: 

Trusting God with your Future - Part 2

It gets really hard to trust God with your future when at best, it seems dismal. When you look at what life will be with your current circumstances, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep walking in faith. You almost begin to lose hope, get cynical and maybe even turn your back on God but trust me, that's the time when you need to trust Him even more.

See, through the years that I've been a Christian, I've learnt something very important. It's when we feel most alone, or even deserted, those are the moments when God is working on us the hardest.

With the kinds of futures that God has promised us, we can't go in with the bad habits of the past. If we did, we'd make the same mistakes of our past. Sometimes, our cleansing requires isolation. Sometimes, it requires that we be stripped of the things that we love most. Sometimes it requires that we simply learn to listen. Other times, it requires that our trust and faith be built. God ALWAYS knows which path will be best for us. ALWAYS. And in the moments when we feel the most despair, our breakthrough is usually just around the corner.

I've recently been going through what I call a midnight period. All around me, everything seems so dark. I've been thrust into isolation and I feel like I've been stripped. Trust me, it is SO HARD to trust God in moments like that. When I wrote "Trusting God with your Future" part one, I made a special effort to start telling God daily, in spite of my struggles, that I'd still trust Him with my future. Sometimes, it got pretty hard to say those words;, the sceptic in my head would try to scream "What kind of loving God would put you through all this?" But, deep in my heart, I KNOW that I can trust God with my future. I mean, who else am I going to trust with it? Myself? Seriously? I think not. My track record proves that all I can do on my own is mess up my life. I'd rather leave it in the hands of One who I know to be capable. Wouldn't you agree?

I'll be honest, sometimes it's just pretty darn hard to trust God, especially when He's not telling you why He's doing what He's doing. But I encourage you, no I implore you, please, now is not the time to stop trusting Him. His promises ALWAYS stand. If you keep your end of the bargain, He WILL come through for you. Though your life may seem as dark as night right now, know that morning ALWAYS comes and with the morning, comes unspeakable joy. Your circumstances will make you stronger, and with each new test of your strength, you'll build great spiritual muscle and one day, you'll look back at this period and wonder what all the fuss was about.

Trust God with your future, even when it's dark outside!

This devotion and others like it can be found in one title (kindle or paperback).

Click the link below to grab your copy.

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo