Get Your Life Back by Allen J.

This morning I woke up to His big plan. I knew what my plan was every day of the week but last night a few of the things that I thought was a part of my plan had been changed. Some things happened that were out of my control. I felt vulnerable. I felt afraid. I questioned my relationship and my family, not knowing if they were going to be "in it to win it" with me since my plans didn't go as I thought they would. Well God had a different plan for me and I'm noticing that now. I asked for certain things that I am getting but I'm not getting them how I thought I was going to get them. I'm getting them in an even better way because God intervened. He taught me a few lessons about myself in this situation. The path that I was following was one that needed to adjusted a little by God to make it more perfect. I had no control over these adjustments. All I did was listen and learn as the things played themselves out. Now I really see how much my family and my spouse ...

Etiquette and decorum is defined usually as the proper way of doing things in a dignified manner. There is an etiquette in everything you do in life. Having self respect means that you are conscious of yourself and what you do. You are also conscious of how you "come off" to other people in regards to how they treat you. You want to give what you want in return. Most of the time we all want some for of respect when dealing with other people. The only way to get respect is to give it. So in communication, we must follow an etiquette. We must be able to pinpoint our feelings and emotions to the most exact way possible and express those feelings to others in the most clear and concise way possible. Doing so gives the other person the ability to treat us accordingly. Ever wonder why you feel neglected or mistreated? Maybe it's because you have not expressed enough exactly how you feel to someone else which in return they treated you only to the extent of what you did express....

What are you doing right now? What will you be doing in the next hour or two. Next minute? Time is very valuable and every second is in direct accord with your future. Whatever you choose to do in the next second becomes one step toward what your outcome will be in your future. Are you up brushing your teeth before work? Are you eating breakfast? These are steps you are taking toward your future health. Think about whether or not the habits and behaviors you display and promote each day are constructive or destructive. You are setting up your future in destruction or construction based upon your behaviors.Think about how these behaviors are affecting your children and others around you if have you. What you're doing also affects the lives and futures of those people. Be responsible in your actions.  Think about how you spend your time on earth because what you are doing right now determines exactly who you will become. -Allen J.

Are you stressed out? Do you need a break? A vacation? There are several things we can do to ease our minds and our hearts. Sometimes we focus so much on what is in front of us that we forget to take a look around. Look at the trees. Aren't they tall? Look at the flowers. Aren't they perfectly colorful. Take a look at all the intricacies of the things you take for granted such as insects, mountains, running water. All these things are things of God. The majestic beauty in all of God's creations are like no other. Take a step out on your balcony and take a look at how vast the trees (or buildings) run into the distance. Realize just how small you are and how big God is by doing so. Be grateful that He created you to live in such majesty. Ease your mind and your soul because when times get hard and you think that everything is so bad, there is beauty all around you. So walk outside and take a deep breath. You are living!!!! You are walking. You are a part of all that God crea...

Having your stuff together does not mean that you are driving the latest and greatest car. It does not mean that you have a four bedroom house nor a job that pays $100,000 a year. Having all your stuff together means that you are doing better today than you were the day before. Having your stuff together means that you are growing in life and on the right path. Having all your stuff together means that you are mending broken relationships, giving to those who need, and most of all developing a closer relationship with God. It means that you are becoming the person who has learned from all his/her mistakes and being the best YOU that you can be. Don't let the devil fool you by making you think that you should be greedy and steal and cheat and lie to gather all these material things that are only monetary just because you think that having those things you have it all together because you don't. Those things can easily be taken away from you and you will be left with nothing or n...

What are you wanting right at this moment? What do you need? You can ask God to give it to you. He wants you to come to Him for all of your wants and needed and desires. Don't lose hope on your journey because you think that certain things aren't going to happen, or that certain things won't be able to be done. Anything can be done with the help of God if you ask Him to help you. He can help ease your stress. He can help relieve you of pain and sorrow if only you ask. If you are overwhelmed and feel you need to cry then cry. But cry to God. Do not cry to the devil because this will cause you to get angry. The devil is waiting for you to cry to him so that he can fill your mind with lies that will block you from your growth. Everybody hates to feel miserable but misery isn't forever with the help of God. Sometimes we allow the devil to lie to us by telling us that what we are grieving will kill us. If you didn't get the job that you wanted, you will feel some type of...

The Holy Spirit dwells in all of us who are baptized in the name of Jesus. God blesses us with the Holy Spirit to combat evil and to speak to us and guide us in our daily lives. Ever hear the phrase, "always follow your first mind"? Well usually our first mind is God speaking to us through the Holy Spirit. The devil is a very crafty man indeed and will try to manipulate your mind to block the Holy Spirit. The devil wants to enter your thought process so bad that he will do just about anything to get in if you let him. The devil is a liar and will tell you lies to bring out the worst in you. Some of these lies are so powerful that they influence the way you think, if you let them. Assumptions will block every blessing that God has in store for you. Assumptions are the result of you listening to the lies of the devil and acting on them. You allow them to push out the power of the Holy Spirit. This is ultimately your fault because you are chosing to believe things that you absol...

Don't get angry when things don't work out. Don't get upset when you think you e worked so hard for something that you ultimately don't get. God has a plan so fulfilling that it's beyond your wildest dreams. Don't be disappointed when you don't get that house that you wanted. It didn't mean that you aren't worthy. What it does mean is that that house wasn't meant for you because God has a better one in store for you. He may have the house that you passed on your way to a destination and saw thinking to yourself , "God I would love that house but it's beyond my means". God has so many things planned out for you and in store for you that you had no idea that were even obtainable. He can do these things because He is God and you are not. I encourage you to stop getting so upset because things don't work out. What will work out is on the way. -Allen J.

How much has God blessed you with? Have you gotten a raise at your job? Have you noticed that you've saved a little more than your monthly goal? Has God blessed you with some extra anything in your life? Do you have clothing in your closets that you don't wear? Perhaps some shoes? Sometimes we take for granted all the "extra" things we have. God gives us new things because the old things were only there to get us to the next step. What do you do with your old things? You should pay it forward! Everyone who has given you anything were key pieces in your growth. Why not decide to be the key piece in someone else's ? Give those old things away to someone who needs them most. Giving is an act of God. Those people will give to someone else because you gave to them and so on. The best way to add to your eternal bliss in heaven on earth is by giving. By giving to others you actually give to yourself. God gives more to those who give to others. That is a fact! The more He...

God has a plan for your life that includes all of your hearts desires. He wants you to have everything that you've ever wanted and dreamed of plus more. Your favorite car, you'll get it! That house by the lake, you'll achieve it. Everything that you've prayed for on those lonely, cold nights He will give it to you if you just be patient. There is a step process to your life that is so out of your control. God only knows the steps He is going to set you on and through to get where you want and need to be. You do not control the time in which you will get these things done. You have to learn all the lessons that come before as well as the lessons from the mistakes you have made before any of it comes into your grasp. He wants you to be humble. He wants you to have gratitude. He wants you to be able to keep the things that He has in store for you. Ever wonder why you lose things and then get something better later on? That's because that first thing that you thought yo...

Do you think about God when you live day to day? Do you ask yourself "What would God say if I do this. What would God think if I did that"? I encourage you to think about that on your journey. I encourage you to think about God in everything you do because that you'll mean you're putting Him first in your life. And that is exactly what I'm trying to do by writing this blog every day. God is so good to us so why would we go to him for day to day guidance. Develope a closer relationship with Him. Put all your trust in Him. Be conscious of Him. When people say that you are supposed to fear God it doesn't mean that you have to be afraid all your life that He's going to kill you. What it does mean is that you should ask yourself "what would God think" before you act out and make your choices in life and the battles you choose and don't. -Allen J

In life we tend to beat ourselves up so much. We focus on the should've , could've, would've rather than the can and will. Don't drain all your energy thinking about how things could or should be, what you could've done or should've done. Focus on what you can do and what you will do. The past is the past. Own it. It's part of your story. Embrace your mistakes and let those mistakes be the drive in making better choices.  This is the only way you can grow in life. Sho up for the life that you have now instead of living in the life that you once had. That life is dead to God. Of course you remember because you know I. Your hear you could have done better. But don't focus on that. Just start today and do better. Be the best you that you can be. You can decide right now to be exactly the reason you have always dreamed of. You can put all those bad choice making behaviors behind you and be a person of integrity. Do the right things for the right reasons. Let...

There is a difference between a true friend and a fake friend. True friends are the ones who bring out the best in you. Bringing out the best in you does not mean accompanying you in the destruction of yourself. True friends tell you when you are hurting yourself as we as hurting them. True friends have listened and gotten to know you well enough to know what your desires in life are as well as who you are as a person. They try to find ways for you to see what you need to do to get the things you desire and be the person that you want to be in the most responsible and constructive manner. They do not tell you to sell drugs because you want to be rich. They do not give you drugs or liquor because you are stressed out. They give you words of wisdom and encourage strength instead. The people you surround yourself with play a huge role in who you become. Even though it is up to you and how you choose your battles, they are influences. You have to watch and pay attention to those around you...

God gave each and everyone of us a set of talents. These talents are supposed to be sharpened and perfected to the best of our abilities. I know my talents are writing, critical thinking and cooking. I try to develop the talents by using them as much as possible. Ever wonder why you hate your job? You hate your job because it has nothing to do with what your true talents are. God gave you talents to be able to do what you love and make a living at the same time. You may be working in the wrong field if you hate your job. Think about what brings you joy. Think about what you were good at even in elementary school and what comes easy to you. What did you excel at your whole life? Whatever it may be, those are your God given talents. I'm not telling you to quit your job. But what I am telling you is to try to pinpoint your talents and use them so that maybe your talents can be incorporated into your job and your day to day activities. Be blessed, -Allen J.

The story of Jesus lives inside each and every one of us. We feel His pain on our journey through life as he felt it on his journey with the cross. We are no different in the eyes of God. Resurrecting Jesus in God's grace is the same thing that happens to us when we chose to follow God's plan. God had a plan for Jesus that He followed out as does He for us. If you don't understand your purpose in life, look at your talents. Your talents are the key to your God given path. To understand why we go through hardships, look at the story of Jesus and how much pain he was succepted to before he was crucified and resurrected. The end key goal is resurrection. We will always be resurrected by God's grace if we follow His plan. So get to know Jesus and you be getting to know yourself. -Allen J.

Integrity is defined as doing the right things for the right reasons. People are brought into your life to teach you things. What you learn from every encounter with another human being teaches you what is the right thing to do in life as well as what are the wrong things to do. God wants us to have integrity so He puts people in our lives to teach us those things. He also blesses us with the Holy Spirit as a bonus. Our mothers, our fathers, our neighbors and even children are all here to teach us what we need to do to live a life of integrity according to God. This is the way to the kingdom of heaven. Don't let greed and envy block what you know in your heart is right. Greed and envy are of the devil. To counteract greed and envy you must give freely and love and have compassion for others . You must also treat yourself in this way. You must do the right things for the right reasons so that you get that same treatment in return from God and other people. There will always be peopl...

So many of us complain that we don't see God working in our lives. People say that they believe in God but when asked "Do you give God some of your time? " they get a puzzled look on their faces. You can't go through life expecting God to just give you everything. This is where humility comes in, this is where honesty comes in. You ask God to forgive you for being disobedient. You ask God to reveal more of Himself to you. You ask Him for guidance and clarity. You thank Him for all the sticky situations He brought you through. You let Him know how much you want and desire certain things in your heart. You ask Him for strength and courage. If you do these things God will listen and reward you. I promise you that!!! I know we are all adults but when it comes to God we are children and are to act like children. So be obedient and give God His time. -Allen J.

One fantastic gift God has always given us is the ability to start over. We can decide at this moment to start our lives all over again and be the person that has learned from all their mistakes. One of the greatest things I remember my mother ever telling me as a child was, "Allen, you can go to bed tonight and wake up tomorrow and everything will not seem as bad as it was the day before". I may not have quoted her exactly but you get the picture. We can wake up and start fresh. If you have hurt someone in your life, forgive yourself because it's a brand new day. You can try to start that relationship over. Ask God to help you. It all starts with God as you begin your new journey. Ask him to guide you. Go to the ones you've hurt and tell them that you're willing to start over. Make peace with them as well as yourself. If those people are the ones worth your time, they will give you another chance. If they reject your advances of a new start, then at least you can...

God wants us to pay attention. Not only does He want us to pay attention to ourselves, He wants us to pay attention to the people who are around us and how they treat us. See the people who you think are most against you may just be the people who have always had your back. Before we start living according to how God would have us live, we live according to the devil. The devil wants us dead so he makes us believe that the people who are telling us the right things are criticizing us. We push them away in search for people who will satisfy our devilish behaviors. There is a difference between constructive and destructive criticism. One means "build" the other "to tear apart". People who care about us are the ones who are trying to help build us into better people. So pay attention!!!! The ones who want to tear us down allow certain behaviors to go on around us and are tricky enough to make you believe that those behaviors are ok. Not only ok for themselves but ok fo...

Spunk is defined by having courage or determination. Well think about how much spunk do you have. I always thought of the word "spunk" when it referred to cheerleaders. That's the only time I have ever heard the word. Spunk is what we need to survive. Through live, day to day, we have to make some of the most uneasy and uncomfortable choices. We know these choices can affect us negatively or they can affect us in a positive way. We only hope that the choices that we make are the right ones that cause us no harm or pain. But there are always these times that we find ourselves not knowing which choice to make. We don't know where to go or what to do. This is when we need spunk! We have to have the courage and the determination to trust in God and take a leap of faith. It can be very scary especially if you feel God has not revealed enough of Himself to you for you to see that He will always have your back. If you feel that way, if you feel doubtful in God, take a look a...

No one in life is perfect. Only God is perfect. Just as many people who have offended you and made you feel hurt is as many people who you have hurt and offended. As long as God is not first in your life and someone or something else is first, you will hurt other people. God is love and through love you will find happiness The only way to happiness is to be able to love others as well as yourself . You have to love even the ones who have hurt you the most. By doing so, you get the opportunity to forgive yourself for some of the wrong things you have done to others. It's like repaying your debt. You give love for all the wrongs you have done. You get a chance to see the wrongs you have made in life by helping other people. You begin to realize that there are things you can relate to the people you found most different. We all want love and that is what makes us the same. No one wants to be alone and hated by the world. Everyone wants to be loved. The devil will try to pit difference...

We always tend to believe that if we take life into our own hands to get the things we want that we are living. We come up with all these schemes and plots to get these material things that are of the world. We become so arrogant in ourselves that no one can tell us any different. We idolize ourselves so much that we try to tell God who we are instead of allowing Him to tell us who we are. See we are not above God. We are followers of God. Stop telling God what you need. He knows what you need. He wants you to come to Him and ask Him, not demand it like you are above Him. Put yourself in the mindset of a child who idolizes their parents. Be humble. Don't be a rebellious and defiant child of God. Until you become an obedient child of God, YOU ARE NOT LIVING. God will give you everything your heart desires as well as reveal Himself to you if you have faith and rely on Him for all your choices., needs, wants,....etc. You have to let go and let God immediately if you want to know the m...

Each of us are different. God did not make any of us exactly alike. I have certain talents as do you all. The talents given to us by God are supposed to be sharpened to the best of our abilities and used, not only to help ourselves, but to help other people as well. We use those talents to help bring people closer to God. Remember those bracelets that had the words "W.W.J.D? on them .Everyone knew the "What Would Jesus Do" bracelets stood for more than just an accessory of fashion. The bracelets were used to help us along our journey in life. When we reach roadblocks in life, we ask ourselves " What would Jesus do?", This is how we get a sense of direction. If you are not that into Christianity then you pray and ask God for clarity and guidance along the way. So, as we sharpen our talents, take care of ourselves and our families and help other people, each moment we find it hard, we ask God for clarity and guidance and we ask ourselves " What would Jesus d...

God has placed everything in life how it should be placed. If you are reading this blog right now, God has placed you here to follow this message. The message is to follow and lean on Him rather than yourself. Think of yourself as one of those test drive dummies or a mannequin. Just a shell but nothing on the inside. From here on out, you have to lean not on your understanding, but to God for understanding. Do not jump to conclusions. Do not think of how things should be or how people should act, how you should and could do things. Be still until God leads you. Impatience is an act of the devil. The devil will try to tell you how things should be going but you have to let the devil go and let your own mind and thinking go. You have to trust that God will get you to the next step. You have to take YOU out of the equation. Trust that God will give you the next answer. Most of the time we waste so much energy on worry and frustration, thinking about something that isn't even goin...

God gives us so many things in life that we tend to take many of those things for granted. I remember the day I woke up from a coma after having been in it for three months. I could not walk, talk, or eat any food. I couldn't even take a sip of water because I was on a breathing machine. I had been hit by a car and almost every bone in my body had been crushed. It took over a year and a half and over 35 surgeries and procedures for me to be able to look how I look now and do everything over again. I knew one thing, that I had taken the ability to do all of those things for granted. Some times we take so many things for granted in our lives that we start to give the things we actually need away in belief that we can easily get them back. We take so much for granted that we surpass trusting in God that we have what we need in life and start thinking that we don't have enough. The devil is busy. He will tell you that you need something that you really don't . Everyone needs fo...

God lives in all of us. He is a part of each and every one of us as well as everything on Earth. think about the times you almost fell but He caught you. Think about all those times you were about to fall right into a trap and he pulled you back; or if you were a trap and he pulled you out. He DID NOT give up on you! So why would we give up on Him. That is so unfair. especially when our fate is in His hands. Jesus lives within us as well. His story is our story. The struggle he endured was unimaginable. Jesus never gave up on what He knew God had in store for Him. See God has something in store for each and every one of us. Something so great even our biggest dreams can't compete. Every time you hurt yourself, you hurt God and you make a mockery of Jesus. Would Jesus have set himself up in a trap to fail from God's plan? No He wouldn't. So why should we hurt our bodies or other people and dishonor God Himself? Take care of your body because God is in it. -Allen J.

Do not let the devil run your house. In life we learn right from wrong. We learn it from our mothers, our grandmothers, our teachers in school, our church congregation, and even our neighbors. God also gave us a rulebook, The Bible. Though much of The Bible is misinterpreted, we get the idea. The "idea" comes from a spirit that dwells within us. This is the Holy Spirit ladies and gentlemen. God loves us so much that he blessed us with The Holy Spirit to help combat the devil along with all the other tools we gather in life. Use every tool you got and get. The devil is powerful but he IS NOT more powerful than God. I guarantee that if you live your life according to God and have faith and know that the devil will not win, you can drive him so far out your house and yourselves that you have no choice but win in life. Life is full of ups and downs. But with faith and trust in God, the ride is so much smoother. Represent your mother. Represent that school teacher. Represent all t...

Sometimes we want to rush things. Sometimes we get discouraged in life because we think we are not where we are supposed to be. We think that we have made so many mistakes that it will take a million years to pick up the pieces. We get so caught up in playing catch up that we get frustrated and discouraged. God knows no time limit. God is way bigger than you think. those things that you think will take forever, God can give it all to you in one day. Just step out of the way. Stop fighting Him. He has it all laid out for you. Give Him a try and watch all your heart's desires come to life. - Allen J.

Whatever you are going through, whatever you have been through, you can get your life back. Just when you think you're alone, just when you realize that maybe you are alone, YOU ARE NOT. God is with all of us. If you don't think so take a look into my story. I will show you that whatever you have done, whatever mistakes you have made, God can and will make a way to bring you back to what is rightfully yours. I am Allen J. Get to know me and get to know God.