I went to jail

Last night I went to the Albany Correctional Facilities Prison in Albany, New York. It's about a 20 minute drive from Victory Church. I went with two of my friends/A-teamers: Heather and Corey. A couple other people, including our church prison leader Marty went as well. We got to minister, pray and preach with both the men and women facilities. It changed my life forever! So when the people from Victory go, the men of the group usually preach and minister to the men in the prison and women to the women. It just leaves no room for conflict or awkwardness. Except when Heather and I got asked to pray for some of the men in the jail and that was fine. We got to team up and pray for two guys who really missed their families and wanted prayer for their children. And ironically they both had 3 children each. We got to empower them with the Gospel and pray for them all in one night. It was awesome and breath-taking. I got to see some faces that looked like their life was hopeless and they felt lost. I got see people who may have been sent to the federal prison this week and never been able to see the light of day soon and I got to minister and pray with them and touch their lives and tell them they have a future and a hope. I got share my life that I thought wasn't relevant and I thought didn't matter, but it did because God uses the broken and humble to bring more into His Kingdom.

When it came time to minister and talk about my testimony to the women's group, I wasn't nervous like I had expected. God just took me over and knocked me up with Joy. I told the women that they have purpose and a destiny and that I loved them from the bottom of my heart, because they were my sisters. I said if we are all saved and in the Kingdom of God together then we are sisters and it didn't matter about our past or where we came from, but where we are going to be when we die from the earth and that's going to be in Heaven.

I was able to be myself in front of about 18 women and share my heart with them. I tell ya, when I left there last night, I was glowing. God's Glory was all over me and I could feel. My heart was full of Joy, strength, hope, confidence and so much love I could hug a stranger anytime and share God's love even more.

Visiting the Jail and ministering to those men and women who come from so many different walks of life was definitely a faith builder and life changer. My life has been impacted by those individuals for the better and because of their lives and stories, I can keep going step by step and minister to others on the streets outside of prison and jail and be a witness for the Kingdom.

Blessings,
Jenelle

Layers of my Heart

I've just ended a wonderful week of relaxation, fun and ministry at New Heart Ministries in Syracuse, New York. Pastor Charity at New Heart Ministries has been one of the most influential people in my life thus far. Her church's vision is one that I loved to serve while I was there. I am praying about going back one day soon and faithfully serve her and her church. The biggest thing that I encountered there was evaluating my heart. The Lord showed me how many layers I had around my heart. The layers signify my past. There were so many layers that I started to encounter in Syracuse that I was getting distracted and over-whelmed. Some distractions included worrying about getting to places on time or jamming my finger on a football and feeling bad about it. All those distractions were not from God whatsoever. The over-whelmed part was traveling to another place to do ministry on my team and hopefully being accepted and liked by the people there at New Heart. The things I went through and discovered about myself were life changing and I am a new creation, as it says in 2 Cor 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come." The Lord took those layers I had built up inside of me and tore them down to the point that all I can do is submit every fiber of my body, mind and soul to Him and know in my spirit that I am well taken care of. God broke down so many things for me in the past week that all I have left is a oneness with Christ. Jesus has also been reminding me of this verse from Psalms 37:4, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Delighting myself in the Lord to me means, completely giving my will over to Him and submitting my life to Him for the advancement of the Kingdom of God and just in addition, God will give me what I desire in life. There are so many things in life that I have desired for sometime now, but I also know that there is a season for everything too. Also, when I delight myself in God, I think of it as being a daughter in the Father's lap. I often do picture myself looking up my Daddy and smiling at Him while sitting on His lap. In return, Jesus looks back at me and smiles too. It's all about relationship with the Father - just sayin' ;)

So, let me get to the layers of my heart part. God showed me in just one week that I need to let go of trying to gain approval from people. In a nut shell, it's like people pleasing. If I place my desire to please others before Christ then I'm sinning and in the wrong mindset. That's powerful if you just sit back and think about it. Yeah well, God basically smacked me across the head and said that I'm here on earth to please Him and serve others and I don't need the approval of man to form my identity in life. And that's another layer, God was braking down my identity. Our identity should be in Christ, our Heavenly Father, alone! Not anyone else. I often had wondered growing up where I would fit in and God showed me at the great old age, haha, of 23 that I am identified in Christ and my name is written on the Lamb's book of life in Heaven. That's just awesome if I must say so myself!

Another thing Abba showed me this past week was love. I know in my heart of hearts that God wants me to get deeper in Him. There is a reason for it. The reason I think God is showing me true love in life is because I need to be His first before He can give me away. I've always wondered what it is like to be loved in a relationship. I haven't had that, but I have been cared for deeply before. God has been calling me to get deeper in Him because once I do, He can give me away with a secure heart intact inside of me. For example, Abba Father wants me to be so in love with Him that only He can give me away in His timing and when I am ready to understand trustworthiness and confidence in who I am in Christ. God calls us to be His bride first. Why do you think people always keep searching for love and find it in the wrong places, or they get hurt time and time again? It's because they don't know what true love is, from the Heavenly Father, and they keep searching on earth for it. People get lost in the wrong type of love. I know I did before this ministry team this summer. I thought I was in love, but it was the wrong type of love. I wasn't suppose to be with that person and I didn't listen to my Father. He was showing me so many red flags in that past relationship. I kept denying His advice and I sort of paid for it. However, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger and because of the grace of God, I am healed and set free from what I was a part of. Through some hard talks, discussions and feelings getting hurt, I made it out on top, because I know where my identity lies and its in Abba Father. Therefore, with confidence I can say I love Jesus and no one can take that away from me.

In addition to all of this in depth and crazy good topics, God has showed me that we can not be run by feelings either. Feelings are a man's thing on earth. I realized this past week that I had been run by feeling "good" or "bad" about things, when I should be trusting the Holy Spirit and seek His guidance. It's interesting if you ponder upon it. Feelings just get you in trouble and they can put your hopes up. For example, if you like someone, you should really evaluate your motives for liking them. Do you like them because of their looks? If you do, then is it lust? Do you like the person because you have the same interests? If you do, then is it settling? Or do you like the person because the Holy Spirit has showed you something? If so, then really seek your Heavenly Father about it. Now, there is no condemnation if you enter into a relationship and it doesn't work out. Sometimes we make decisions that aren't according to our destiny or path in life and God helps us rise above it and heals us. Feelings are a dangerous reason for liking someone. It makes conflict and confusion. That's why I want to be enveloped in God's heart so much that I can trust Him to show me my future husband. Feelings won't get me anywhere. I've learned from that. God gets you. My Abba Father gets me, so why not just trust Him?! It sounds simple, but it takes time. Just like every relationship you have had or have in your life. Trust is one of the stepping stones to a long-lasting relationship. It grows on you. It's kind of crazy to think that the trust I can receive in my Abba Father is instant. Crazy huh?!

Just today, I was sitting in church at Victory Christain in Albany, New York and the message that was being preached by Pastor Charlie was about a relationship so deep with God that God and me should be "one-on-one." The main scripture verse used today was Joshua 1:8. Where it says, " This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night , that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will be made prosperous, and then you will have good success." Today I felt God calling me to grow deeper in Him by meditating on His Word. To be honest, I've grown up in the church and I haven't had such a desire to read my Bible and study it in a very long time. It took me 23 years to figure that one out! Go figure me!

Besides understanding love in a whole new way, finding out my identity and confidence in life only in my Heavenly Father, and growing deeper with God, I've come to understand how God is my only provide in life. It doesn't just mean money and finances; like I've mentioned before in another post. God is my provider for trust, love, hope, breath, life, etc. He is my everything and will always be my everything. I can't stop God in my life now. There is no way I'm going back. I can't end the best relationship I have ever had in my entire life now. I'm just getting started too!

Be Blessed to all who read this. It's from my heart and I only wish to encourage those who need to hear this.

In Christ and love,
Jenelle

New Heart

It's been almost a week since the A-team has been at New Heart Ministries in Syracuse, NY. We've enjoyed much needed time with some awesome people of Christ. They're Kingdom steppers for real. Pastor Charity is an awesome Kingdom stepper and loves her kids. Charity started her church, by God's prompting, in September of 2008. Her ministry is make shock waves in the Church of America. The ministry is full of people who have broken hearts and who have a passion to reach out to the other broken hearted people. It's an awesome place to visit and be at. I want to go back when A-team is done. I only live 2 hours away and I feel like I've connected there. I want to make a difference in the streets, people's lives and help New Heart grow and be there. I'm hoping that God shows me where to go after A-team. It would be awesome to stay in the state I live in and travel on and off after a year or so.

Oh, by the way, God has been giving me a new heart. God has been showing me to be focused on Him and stop worrying about in life, because essentially I'm not of this world, I just happen to live here for the Kingdom. God has been showing me that I need to be so deep in Him that I don't second guess His love for me. My love in life is based solely in Christ because my identity is in Christ. He is my Abba Father and I love Him. Therefore, I love others and myself. That's the greatest thing to do and have in life. God commands us to love others as much as you love yourself. It's the greatest commandment in the Bible. It's an awesome commandment, because that means people can never be rejected and hurt if love is spread around by Christ. It's an awesome feeling to feel and know that Christ loves me and cares for me when sometimes I don't even think highly of myself, in those down times. On another note, God has been dealing with the issues of my heart and showing me that my feelings shouldn't override my discernment, wisdom and love in Christ. Our natural mind thinking shouldn't override what God is inside of us. That wouldn't be submitting our will to His will. We need to do that!!! We need to submit our wills to God to ultimately be enveloped in His love and share it.

I'm just sayin'.....