When you hear His voice (9/8/2019)

SALUTATIONS: Hello everyone, I hope that yall have had a great week, and enjoyed the past holiday weekend. I started this SOW on the 20th of last month, and as quickly as I started it, a combination of distractions and procrastination has kept me from finishing it until now. The ironic part is, this lesson is a brief one, but I've been upfront with yall from the jump. I've struggled with consistency, organization, and procrastination for several years. I am open with yall about these struggles because this is a place where we can help one another grow and encourage each other to keep on keeping on. Remember that there is always someone else who is worse off than you, so STOP making excuses and accept who you are. However, DO something to CHANGE that which needs to be altered. I am doing many things to improve me, one is prayer, another is watching webinars to help facilitate self-improvement, but there are many more. What will you do for YOU, to help you become a better you? Don't know? Hit me up, I have a ton of suggestions, and we can do this thing together. If this is your first-time fellowshipping with us, or, perhaps you're revisiting, WELCOME! YOU ARE NOT ALONE in your spiritual journey. You've found your SAFE space to be open about your past, present, future, and especially your struggles. However, here, you have the freedom to share with your brothers and sisters in Christ as openly or privately as you desire. Together, we will help you in your walk, or, simply be supportive as you make newly revealed God-driven moves. You're encouraged to reply with your questions, comments, and/or concerns and I will respond at my earliest convenience. When you have the desire, please review the Announcements, Healthy Living Tips, and other information detailed below following the Reflections and Power in Prayer. Your continued support is always appreciated. In an effort to keep spreading God's Gospel, I invite you to share the Scripture of the Week with the hashtag SOW. Enjoy! **Disclaimer: Production and distribution days of the SOW are subject to change without warning**

PRAISE REPORTS: I have begun the publishing process with Covenant Books for Color Isn't Who I AM © 2019, written and illustrated by me; this is the 1st to be published of about 6 children's books that I have written over the course of 3 years. I'm also writing a clean-fiction novel for older audiences. We ALL have reasons, small and large, to SHOUT "HALLELUJAH!" It is time to give God some glory, even in the midst of our trials; we thank you, Jesus, at this moment, for our goings and our comings. If you have a specific praise report, please share, because we “overcame [the adversary] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of [our] testimony” (Revelation 12:11). **NOTE: All praise reports are shared with reference to your name unless anonymity is specified**

PRAYER REQUESTS: This week, let's pray for the victims of Hurricane Dorian; may the necessary comfort and relief be extended to the victims and their families, according to God's will and their absolute need. I also ask for yall to pray that I am able to raise enough funds, through my GoFundMe campaign, to help support the publishing fees for Color Isn't Who I AM © 2019 as well as my 2nd book in-line for publishing, What if tomorrow didn't come? © 2019 (see the Announcements for more details). I encourage you to keep praying for one another, thanking Yahweh for the victory while refraining from confessing the problem caused by the enemy; ALWAYS pray for the desired result, NOT the unfavorable outcome (refer to the book The Tongue – A Creative Force, by Charles Capps; you can purchase your copy here https://goo.gl/qf4rxB). If you or someone you know needs prayer, let me know, and your request will be added to the following SOW. **NOTE: All prayer requests are shared with reference to your name and need unless anonymity is specified**

BE ENCOURAGED: NEVER lose sight of God in amidst of adversity… Ponder this: "When you connect to the silence within you, that's when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you" (Stephen Richards). I'm no theological scholar, and even if I were a pastor or an expert on God's word, I would still advise you NEVER to take someone else's word as solid truth; "Study to show thyself approved" (2 Timothy 2:15), and CHALLENGE EVERYTHING by comparing it to the Word of God. If what you see, hear or read does NOT fall in line with the Word of God, then it is NOT true... The rest of this day isn't promised, let alone tomorrow, so why not strengthen your faith TODAY? Feed your body healthy nutrition, be cautious of what things you allow your eyes, ears, and spirit to be exposed to (e.g. media, books, TV, music, etc.) so that YOU can start anew and become a better you NOW, rather than later. If you need someone to help you get there, or you're looking for an accountability partner, here I am.

FEATURED SONGS OF PRAISE: "Your Spirit (feat. Kierra Sheard)" by Tasha Cobbs Leonard you can listen to it here (https://shorturl.at/nsQ07) "Let Go" by Dewayne Woods, you can listen to it here (http://shorturl.at/EX023). I would also like to recommend Classical for Studying Radio on Pandora to better facilitate your meditation on the Word as you study, you can listen to that station here https://shorturl.at/elqz3. 

OPENING PRAYER: Yahweh, please clear our minds and open our eyes, ears, and hearts so that we may be removed from self and moved by the Spirit, to see, hear, and receive your intended message from this fellowship. In the name of Yeshua, Amen!

PASSAGE(S) – HEBREWS 3:7-15: "7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation."

**Unless otherwise indicated all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage**
 

REFLECTIONS: Whenever we hear God's voice - that feeling in your heart that the Spirit is tugging at your strings - we should ACT/ACCEPT/RECEIVE it at that moment, rather than turning away in rebellion in the same ignorance the Israelites displayed. We must be careful of the company we keep because they can influence us to stray away. "So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the Living God. For as long as it’s still God’s, today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes" (Hebrews 3:12-13, MSG). TODAY - RIGHT NOW, in the very moment you hear (feel) the Spirit leading you in a certain direction, is when you should act, moving in the course that He has directed (read Hebrews 4:7 here http://shorturl.at/noHX7).

"Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6) because one day He will close the door of opportunity to establish a relationship with Him. Luke 13:23-27 (NLT) says, "23 Someone asked Him, 'Lord, will only a few be saved?' He replied, 24 'Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. 25 When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading,' 'Lord, open the door for us!' But He will reply, 'I don’t know you or where you come from.' 26 Then you will say, 'But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' 27 And He will reply, 'I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.'"

When you're in a relationship with someone, you spend intimate time getting to know one another better, and I'm not talking about fornication here. I'm talking about the time you spend getting to know the likes, the dislikes, the favorites, and the little details that only someone near to you would know about. Have you ever experienced a season with a significant other or just a friend, where no matter how much you verbalized or attempted to express to that other individual what your needs were in that relationship, they just never seemed to get it? I have, and so have people near to me. The thing we have in common is our response to those types of individuals: "You obviously don't know me" or, "Clearly, you don't pay attention to me." Once we're fed up with our perceived lack of interest from that other individual's inability to act according to that which we have revealed to them, we shut the door on that relationship and move forward. In parallel, when we go about our life choices with no regard to that nagging feeling that the Spirit delivers, which ONLY happens when you're IN relationship with God, trust that you have NO right to claim that you know Him and in turn, He will not claim to know you. We cause our own destruction by rejecting God, every time we pass on His grace, which He FREELY gives, yet many people rarely accept. Eventually, He will close that window of opportunity. When you hear His voice, don't wait until it's too late, ACT NOW!

 

** Other references: The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible. King James Version, Second Revised Ed., AMG International, Inc., 2008. ***

POWER IN PRAYER: Yahweh, we thank you for redemption, and for the freedom to choose life over death by way of our faith. We thank you for your provisions of health and healing, and for allowing us to breathe yet another week. Help us believe so that we do not doubt nor fear. We grant your Holy Spirit permission to influence us boldly through our thoughts, words, and actions each day, so that we may have the discernment to remove the things and people from our lives hindering us from recognizing our full potential and walking in our God-driven purpose, and for the spiritual things that require spiritual awareness to become clear to us. Lord, we praise you for the peace as well as the chaos, because we know that after the endurance is a testimony that'll encourage and help others. We praise you for the good and easy times as well as the bad and difficult times because we know that amidst an obstacle that is endured, we find strength. We thank you for removing all strongholds that prevent us from establishing and strengthening a relationship with you. We ask you to touch all of the individuals who were affected by Hurricane Dorian, and we ask that you provide relief and comfort to each of them as it falls in line with their individual need as well are your will. We pray for Tylesha to successfully raise the funds not only to publish Color Isn't Who I AM, but to also be able to publish her other works, that she may continuously train our youth to excel, one book at a time. We thank you for closing doors that are necessary for our development while opening new windows of opportunities for growth. Help us to make choices in wisdom, not folly, to sincerely trust in and act upon your will. Help us to turn away from sin and to serve others in a manner that is an exemplary display of Christ-like character; behavior that demonstrates love, encouragement, edification, and strength so that others may experience your grace through us. Help us to forgive others so that you too may forgive us, and may we also forgive ourselves so that we can let go of the past that haunts us, releasing us from any binds and attachments that negatively impact our spirituality. Keep us humble, focused, disciplined, and driven as we work to become everything you have called us to be. Bless each of us individually providing all the tools necessary to balance our spiritual, personal, and professional lives. Bless our loved ones and enemies alike. Provide revelations and awareness as you deliver us from our hindrances. Achieve in us the ability to pray game-changing prayers – prayers that change people, change outcomes, and help your will to manifest. This is our trusted prayer, and as your angels and Holy Spirit do your bidding on Earth and in Heaven, protect us and them with your recourse, as you bind, loose, and cast out the demonic spirits of distraction, destruction, retaliation, revenge, and backlash. All these things we ask in the matchless name of Yeshua, Amen!

HEALTHY LIVING TIPS: Change begins within... I cannot stress enough the importance of ditching excuses. They are merely obstacles you strategically place in your own way, hindering yourself from accomplishing a goal that you honestly don't deeply desire. Otherwise, you would push past societal limitations and bring those things into fruition. The key element in pushing past mental blocks is to change your perception about those things. If your goal is to quit smoking, don't look at it as a task or something unattainable because of all the stress that influences YOUR DECISION to light a cancer stick, I mean, cigarette or cigar. Look at it with a mentality that "I will quit smoking so that I can live longer, breathe better, and age gracefully." If you hate working out or have injuries or pain that you feel will interfere with your goals, EXCUSES!

I have bilateral knee pain most days that worsens in cold weather and makes it difficult to even walk up a flight of stairs, I'm asthmatic, inflexible, and I don't really like working out... all excuses. Flo-Jo was an asthmatic track and field athlete that set world records back in 88'. Rocky Bleier was a pro football player who was told he'd never play football due to an injury he sustained in the Vietnam war; he went on to help win 4 Superbowl Championships. Kyle Maynard is a mixed-martial arts athlete despite being a quadruple amputee. We are the ones who place limitations on ourselves. Those limiting beliefs can stem from our own disbeliefs, or, from societal norms; if a doctor tells you, "you'll never walk again," you can accept that and live your life bitter in a wheelchair, or, you can accept the diagnosis but refuse to allow it to be a hindrance, living a fulfilled life knowing that you lived every moment fighting to prove the doctors wrong, and remain content even if the diagnosis rings true.

Take one step at a time. If working out is your challenge, commit to at least 5 mins a day, then increase your time each week. If smoking is your obstacle, try limiting the amount you smoke each day; replace the habit with chewing gum or exercising. If your diet is in the way, start slow, by cutting out one unhealthy thing, such as candy, and replace it with fruit, or popcorn instead of chips. Whatever the barrier running interference on your achievements, REMEMBER your desired outcome (result), and allow that to motivate you to the finish line.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. Last time we met, I told yall about the completion of my illustrations for one of the several children's books I've hand-written. Although I have reserved funds for this project and have already launched the publishing of Color Isn't Who I AM © 2019, I don't have quite enough to front the full fee. The cost for my first book is $3,495, which I have the bulk of, but I'd also like to publish a 2nd book, What if tomorrow didn't come? © 2019 What am I getting at? Here's my pitch: As a result of reading my books, youth will gain age-appropriate insight on life lessons, they'll explore early development such as learning letters, numbers, songs, etc., they'll develop life-long lessons of morals and manners, they'll gain knowledge and understanding of love, kindness, acceptance, and spirituality. As a result of reading Color Isn't Who I AM © 2019, youth will embrace who they are, and challenge others to live in harmony. As a result of reading What if tomorrow didn't come? © 2019, youth will learn the importance of obedience, as well as the significance of doing things right away, rather than putting them off for the next day. I'm looking for individuals who'd like to help me train our youth to excel one book at a time, through age-appropriate literature that will lead them in the way they should go. Who do you know? Please donate or share the link https://www.gofundme.com/f/color-isn039t-who-i-am. ALL efforts and contributions matter. Thanks in advance.
2. I am on a quest to relaunch Fostering Mind, Body, and Soul Incorporated (FMBS Inc.) and I NEED volunteers and serious board members; Currently, I am in need of people who have a background in business, have some knowledge of operating a non-profit, and/or have resources or connections that can help facilitate our making an impact in surrounding at-risk and underprivileged communities **NOTE: this is a business NOT a hobby** FMBS Inc. has a mission to help supply the homeless as well as needy families with food and hygiene bags. Our recipients are selected by referral, and/or by canvassing the streets for deserving families and individuals throughout Southern California. I encourage you to reach out to me regarding your interest in service or to arrange any monetary donations or item contributions at any time via email at fmbsinc_2012@outlook.com, my voicemail or text at (951) 790-2127, or by making a donation using the Donate button on the upper right corner of our Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/fmbsinc.sustenance/.
3. Please take a moment to register your Ralph's, Food 4 Less, and/or Kroger Rewards cards to enroll your member number/phone number for the Ralph's/Food 4 Less Community Contribution Program to help Fostering Mind, Body, and Soul Incorporated (aka FMBS Inc., serving communities throughout Southern Cali since 2012) raise funds to give back to the community; for every purchase you make, a small % is given as a donation to our non-profit organization - your rewards points are NOT affected by this enrollment. To enroll, you must go to their website here http://www.friendsindeedpas.org/get-involved/ralphs-community-contribution-program/ and link your rewards cards or telephone numbers (Alt ID) to our organization each year, and we will earn money for every purchase made under your rewards cards. Your continued support is always appreciated. 

JOIN OUR CAUSE: Fostering Mind, Body, and Soul Incorporated (FMBS Inc.) is on a never-ending quest to locate deserving individuals to extend our services to. Therefore, we are always in need of monetary donations and/or contributions of hygiene items, sealed snacks, bottled water, seasonal items (gloves, scarves, blankets, umbrellas, sunglasses, sunscreen, lip balm, etc.), mini bibles, reading books, and so forth.; our YEAR-ROUND mission is to serve homeless and/or needy individuals and families in underprivileged communities throughout Southern California. We also need DEDICATED volunteers and members – is this your calling? Eventually, when we have met our need for volunteers and board members, we will extend our services to assist/mentor at-risk youth, and to address some of the needs of veterans and their family members. We are successful because of YOUR continued support. Please continue to back us up through participation, and/or by encouraging others to join our cause!

For more information about our organization contact fmbsinc_2012@outlook.com, as our website is currently under construction. Feel free to LIKE our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/fmbsinc.sustenance/ and follow us on Twitter @FMBSInc.

Very Respectfully,

Tylesha "Tye" Allen   Behavioral Interventionist | Mobile Notary | CEO/Founder of FMBS Inc. ·         Mobile: (951) 790-2127 ·         Address: Los Angeles, CA ·         Website: http://www.ready411.weebly.com | http://sodbytye.blogspot.com  ·         Email: professional1_99@hotmail.com ·         Change begins within; work on becoming a better You ·         "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." (Psalm 118:8) ·         Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/fmbsinc.sustenance ·         LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/tylesha-"tye"-allen/a4/599/875 ·         Twitter: https://twitter.com/TyeDreamsBig