O-Blog

Don’t you just love a continuation of a lesson….

I John 5:4-5 says For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. (KJV) You know sometimes when God gives us stuff , yet we are limited in our freedom, we are subject to reject that that God has given. Are you limited and still bound in your freedom? Get the VICTORY by overcoming some stuff in your life. Do you know what victory is? It is overcoming that which has been trying to overcome you!! Sometimes the only enemy that some of us has is ourselves. We get in our own way, block our own blessings and stop our own freedom!!! We get tied up because we don’t understand the victory in where we are! Have you ever seen a palmtree in a storm? That thing will move whichever way the wind decides to take it. It will bend over backwards but IT NEVER BREAKS!!! I want to be a palmtree for Jesus!!! You have to know that if you are gonna do what the world does and dictates to you, there is absolutely no reason to be born again. Being born again symbolizes a newness!!! A fresh start…an opportunity to start over and do the right thing but if we decide that we are gonna continue to do whatever it is that we wanna do, what is the point? You have to keep moving, keep pushing forward because God rewards your overcoming!! I believe it is Hezekiah Walker that sings that song Moving Forward…I’m not going back, I’m moving ahead, I’m here to declare to you my past is over, in You all things are made new, surrender my life to Christ, I’m moving moving forward!!! That is what we need to do Saints! To be born of Christ is to imitate Him at every turn! You must impart what God has imparted in you, in to someone else’s life. Are you ready for the manifest/the order that God has for you?

How many of us text, email, facebook, twitter, etc.? What if we were to get messages from God? Some people are so into these electronic ways of communicating, they block everything else. What happens if you stop getting messages from God? You stop overcoming things!!! You have to be able to hear from the Lord in order to move as He has instructed you to do. By faith I am gonna walk into what I say because I believe in my heart that I am more than a conqueror!!! To walk in something, you must first overcome it? Saints of God, we can’t get content where we are, open your eyes and see the manifestation of God’s word in you and your life!! Make it a practice to not waste God’s time. If you are gonna continue to live like the world lives, then don’t continue to ask God to move for you, when you won’t move for Him!! Are you in a dark spot in your life? God sometimes will allow you to get out of your own dark spot to see your strength and faith in Him.  We have to realize that we have the victory today and all we have to do is believe and walk in that belief….in other words HAVE FAITH!! Hebrews 11:1 says Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Have faith Saints of God and watch God do a thing. Claim you victory right now and walk in it!! If I can do it, so can you!!

Peace & Blessings

All my love

Mark 5:1-9 states And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. (KJV)

Did you know that the journey that we, as Saints of God, are on is not a sit-down journey? It is one of continuous growth. Sometimes in life we want people to see only what we want them to see. Life is good, everything is going swell, when in actuality….all hell is breaking loose on the inside of you! I have those moments in my life where I only want people to see my smile, not my frustration and fears. I want people to say that she is always so happy and upbeat. All the while, there is a battle raging on inside of me. We fight battles everyday. Some are so simple, like battling to get up in the morning when that alarm clock goes off. Some, however, are not so simple. This is when you lean not to your own understanding. The bible says that we battle not against flesh and blood but against the rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places!!! Now, explain to me how we (flesh and blood) are gonna fight a battle like that? We can’t!! That is when we depend on God to bring us through our battles. But, there is a catch….Jesus can ONLY dwell inside me once I give Him ALL OF ME!!! Not 3/4, 1/2…….ALL 100% of me!! Jesus can either have all of you or none of you. That’s the simple truth of the matter. If you work 40 hours a week, you want your whole paycheck, right? Well babe, God wants all of you. Makes me think of that song by Forever Jones….He wants it all. We can’t expect ridiculous miracles if we don’t have ridiculous faith in Him. See the scripture speaks of a demon possessed man that was healed. When the devil and his legions are delivered from your body, change the locks so that they can’t return. Verse 15 of this same chapter says when they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. (NIV)

Aren’t you tired of the devil beating you up? I hate to fight so honey, I know that I am tired of fighting with him and his minions!!! I can’t allow the devil to dwell in my temple any longer. I have gotten mad!!! It (the devil) can’t dwell anywhere that I tread!!! That includes my classroom at school, where I sit on the bus, even around me at the busstop!!! See, I wanna be free!!! Don’t you? I don’t want to be bound by people, the devil or any situation that the devil may try to throw my way. I desire to walk in integrity and peace with God!!! Do you really wanna be free today saints? Do you need som help? Are you ready to be set free? Ready for deliverance? Ready to do what God has called you for? If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything!! Saints of God, don’t fall for just anything. Stand for the One that stood for you. Just because it seems like all hell is breaking loose in your life does not mean that you can’t overcome and be free. Learn, today, how to declare a thing in Jesus name and walk in the faith of knowing that IT IS DONE!!! Don’t let the devil win…take your freedom and be free! For whom the Son sets free is truly free indeed.

Peace & Blessings my friends

All my love

Have you ever heard someone say I love you but…..or today was a pretty good day but….

Did you know that when you say “but” it cancels out everything that you previously said? I mean really, like for example…I love you but I want you to leave. You have just said that you want them to leave not I love you. The word but puts more emphasis on the words that are said after it versus the words that are spoken before the but. However, there is a silver lining to every “but” cloud….when you speak BUT GOD, you have cancelled out everything but God!!!! How awesome is that.

I lost my job, but God

I have cancer, but God

My spouse has left me with no way to care for myself, BUT GOD!!!!!

See God is the end all be all to every problem, situation, and circumstance. God has the answer to your every question and He put it in others to create the book in which we look to find those answers. Sometimes we are even blessed enough to hear it from God with our own ears. ou can’t beat that with a stick. You see God is the ONLY person that matters. We must get to a place where we totally trust God. I was with a friend today talking to one of our sisters in Christ. God took hold of that conversation and I began to minister to my sisters. One of them said that she felt out of the loop because she could not speak that way. I reminded her that it had not been long ago that I couldn’t speak the way I was just speaking, BUT GOD!!! See, with God for us, who can come against us. You have to remove everything that needs to be removed and draw closer to God for yourself. I wanted her to think back ten years ago when she met me, a year ago, only 6 months ago before I let God take hold of me. I was at that same place where she sits now and had lost more than she could ever fathom losing in her lifetime…….BUT GOD!!!! Do you see how that works? No matter what I say, with but God on the end of it, it makes everything alright. That is my message today!! God is more than able and more than capable of sustaining you through every storm in life. I have the victory through Him who keeps me!! Say that everyday that the Lord brings around and you are blessed with the opportunity to wake up and see another day. I don’t care if it is raining cats and dogs, pigs and cows outside, realize that it is a beautiful day because YOU ARE ALIVE TO SEE IT!!! I could have been dead and gone…but GOD. Honey, God is the author and finisher of my faith. Without God bringing me from where he has brought me from, I would have no faith. I would believe in nothing. If you believe in nothing then you will fall for anything. I’m not willing to fall for just anything anymore. I want what God has promised me in His word. I want everything the devil has robbed me of. My self-esteem, my happiness, my joy, my sanity!!! I have it all back. I know that if it were not for God being who He is, and me not being who I am in Him, I would still be lost in the world full of hatred, anger and pain. But GOD, but GOD, but GOD!!! That is all I know now. Yes, I still have moments of weakness and I stumble and fall sometimes, but what did Donnie McClurkin say, “For a saint is just a sinner who fell down but he didn’t stay there.” AMEN to that. I have decided, I will not fail, I may fall but I will not stay there in that pity party mode, I will succeed, I will finish this race!! I am more than a conqueror!! I am a daughter of the MOST HIGH GOD!!! I am His and He is mine, it doesn’t matter what I did, He only sees me for who I am.

Speaking of God seeing you for who you are, Saints of God, stop saying that old line, “God knows my heart.” Yes, He does but that does not give you the power to mess up every time you feel like it and then say that and thinks that it makes it all better. See, after a while, you keep praying for that thing you want so bad. Even though God has kept you away from that thing/person or even removed it from your life, God will give it to you. Now don’t go running to God asking Him to take it back when it don’t work out in the end. See, God wants us to be happy, what father doesn’t want to see His children happy. And even though He knows what is best, if you keep running straight for that brick wall, God is gonna stop being that barrier and let you hit it a couple of times. Once you hit that wall a few times and it knocks some sense into you, then you will just say okay God, I’m listening. We have to realize that in our lives, the things that we want are not things that we necessarily need. He will make sure to provide our needs but our wants are just that, THINGS WE WANT. And just because we want them does not mean that God wants them for us. Get out of your own way Saints of God. Move back and let God take the wheel. I guarantee He can drive that car a lot better than you can. Even when things go wrong in our lives, we must continue to allow God to take control and guide us and steer us in the way He wants us to go. Stop rebelling against God and move out the way. Just because it looks or seems bad right now, but God baby!!! I promise you that is all you need to remember. BUT GOD! BUT GOD! BUT GOD! I keep saying it because I want it to sink in. I want you to know that all things are possible through Him!! He is ______________. That answer is simple for me…..MY EVERYTHING!! I can’t do anything anymore without God being right there to ok it for me. I didn’t become the woman of valor that I am today overnight. God created me for the purpose that I serve today. The work that I do in Him, God was conditioning me for from birth. He set up my life to be hard because I had to make it. I had to survive the tests and know that everything would be alright if I just believed in Him and let go. It took me until the age of 30 to learn that I was chosen for a specific work in Christ and that I can’t run from it any longer. Baby, realize that God has a purpose for you as well. You are not reading this by accident. God placed the words in me to type for the betterment of someone else. And please don’t think that these words are just to help others, I go back and reread everything I type and the words that God puts in me to type, always, ALWAYS  ministers to my spirit. Trust me honey, the message must minister to the minister before it can minister to the people of God.  Life is never gonna be all peaches and cream, that is one guarantee I can give you. It will actually get harder when you decide to make your life about Christ. But God. I say that because I GUARANTEE that the reward is so worth the heartache, tears, blood, sweat, and pain that you may have to endure. My tests have become my testimony today. What will your tests do for you. They can either make you or break you. You have to choose which way to go. Two directions:

1. DARKNESS, CONFUSION, DESPAIR, LONELINESS, HURT, SHAME, DESTRUCTION

2. TRUTH, UNDERSTANDING, SALVATION, JOY, LOVE, LIGHT, WISDOM, NEW LEVELS

Choose this day…..it will be alright, I promise. Just remeber two little three-letter words that can turn any situation completely around……BUT GOD

Peace & Blessings

Ephesians 4:14-15 says – Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.  Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. (NLT)

Everyday is a day of praise in God. Did you know that? We are blessed to wake up to a brand new day. That means that yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not promised…we live in the present. Today is a gift given to us by God, that’s why we call it “present”. Remember when you were a kid and you couldn’t wait to grow up and be an adult. You wanted to drive and have your own place. We, as children saw all the stuff that grown-ups had but we didn’t see the bills and stress they had from taking care of us! (smile) You know, growing up applies to us Christians as well. When you came in the world as a baby, you were not able to do for yourself. You depended on your mother and father to take care of you, provide for you, shelter you, and be there for you. Why do some Christians not realize that God is the first father and can do everything that your biological parents did and much more than you could ever dream possible. As we get older, we are able to learn more and do more for ourselves. We begin to depend on ourselves more and more each day. Apply the same principles of growing up to growing up in Christ! Are you growing up where you are in Christ? When we are reborn in Him, God knows that we have all the tools to run this race. We just haven’t realized it for ourselves yet. You can’t back up and turn around because things get hard in your Christian walk. It’s like being an adult…..you now have your own bills and children to worry about….RESPONSIBILITIES!!! Yes, I said it. We have a responsibility as Christians to do for God what we said we would do. That is where the growth comes in. When you realize that HE is the truth and the light, you have to make a choice to either follow Him or go your own way. When I decided to become the Christian that I profess to be now, it wasn’t easy. I wanted everything in microwave fashion. I wanted to be automatically right. I didn’t know that it is a total rebirth and that there were things that I needed to learn. I also figured out that it wasn’t going to be easy. I know that God has chosen me for a special work in His name. You have to grow in Christ to get an understanding of what He has called you to do. When you reach a certain level of growth in Christ, you realize that “no weapon formed against me shall prosper,” is more than just something to say!! IT IS TOTAL TRUTH!! Do you really have the strength you claim that you have in Christ? God made us in His image and imparted His spirit in us. We can be just as He is. We can love others even if they have done us wrong, help our fellow brothers and sisters be them saved or unsaved. I want to grow up and be just like _________________. You fill in the blank. For me, I want to be like Christ!! I have decided that for God I will live and for God I will die. I’m not afraid of whatever the enemy thinks he can throw at me….not anymore. I used to be afraid of the dark, even as an adult. But, not anymore because I have grown up!! I’m all growed up now!!! To me that means that I have given God the reigns. I have let go of trying to be in control of everything. See, I realize that the Christ in me keeps me from backing up and turning around. I know that God is walking with me everyday. I have to stay steadfast in prayer and be confident in where I am in Christ TODAY!!! See, I realize that it’s not me that writes these blogs. It’s not me who tells someone of the love of Christ. It’s not me that encourages others to seek Him……It is the Christ that lives in me. I believe that when you have grown up, you know that it is no longer you, but Christ in you that guides your footsteps and keeps you. So are we ready to grow up? Are we ready to becomes adults in Christ? I am glad to say that finally, I see growth in myself and it is a glorious thing!!!

Peace & Blessings….I love you all

Isn’t it the most wonderful thing in the world when you see something come to fruition that you had been asking God to manifest in your life? You say, God give me an opportunity to help someone. Bless me with a chance to show someone the way. Now what would you do if God put that opportunity in your lap? You know I have begun to make it a point to allow God to speak to others through me because I don’t want to say the wrong thing in my haste. You know the flesh will have you saying stuff that you know ain’t of God!! I have begun to not just give you God’s word in this blog, but to give you insight into my life as well. Here is the reason for me doing this…I want people to be able to see what God is doing in someone’s life. What I mean is, if you can see how God moves with someone else, it may help to increase your faith. God uses His children to impact the lives of others in many ways. He could very well use you at school, at work, in the grocery store or just anywhere you are when He needs to speak through you. I have run for so long from God because I was scared I would miss something out here in the world. How crazy is that? I was brought up in the church and strayed away. I figured that church was for the older people and all the kids did was get on the older folk’s nerves and then of course, at my old church, we would have a fellowship dinner every 3rd Sunday after service. Now, for a kid, that is the best!!! So, as I became older and learned more, I ran because I didn’t want to be what everyone said I was. I wanted to do the drugs with my friends and party until the wee hours of the morning. Not knowing that in my running, I was still gonna end up right where God had predestined me to be! Now that is extraordinary. In the past two weeks since I wrote the 1st “Different” installment, my life has began to change dramatically. I have stopped focusing on the negative so much. See, realize there will always be some negative somewhere because that is just how the devil operates. He wants to throw us off balance with Christ. Now, that I realize the truth in that matter, I can focus more. Two weeks ago, I had become a basket case in my circumstance and had gotten to the point that I wanted to end my own life. But what the devil meant for bad, the Lord will turn around for the good. I had to come to the realization that God was allowing some negative energy and negative people to be removed from my life so that I could focus on Him solely. At the time I just thought that I was a big joke to God. Have you ever felt like that? As if though so much has happened in your life that God just couldn’t possibly care about you? But what you have to understand is that without a test there can be no testimony!!! I understand now. It is amazing what God can do in two weeks to a person who has given up and given it to Him to take care of. I tell you, I don’t feel like the world is on my shoulders anymore. Now, don’t get me wrong….we are not perfect, we are only human. That just means that you will make some mistakes on your journey. You just have to stay focused on the greatest prize of all…Jesus!! The devil likes to get in your ear and tell you that God don’t care about you, He can’t possibly love you after the mistakes that you have made, He don’t want somebody as unpure as you. When that happens, you stand up and shout…THE DEVIL IS A LIE!!! (He will really hate that) God is always there and He will be there when you need Him. God promised that He would never put more on us than we can bear. I learned that lesson in the past two weeks, I mean really learned it. I know that the closer I draw to God the more the devil is gonna try to deter me and block my path. You know how I look at that situation, it’s just a test and I hate to fail. I need A’s across the board. I want to show God that I trust in Him. In my trusting Him, I must remain steadfast in prayer knowing that He has my back 100%. You know, I asked God to give me a chance to speak to someone and to be a light for them. I have always wanted to help people in some shape, form or fashion. I know that God has heard my prayers because of this blog. But let me tell you that God showed up and showed out today…..while I was at school. God showed up in my classroom today! He spoke through me not only to a couple of students but the entire class and the instructor!!! Now what do you say to that…..BUT GOD!! I knew he would give me an opportunity to help someone, but baby by the end of class I wanted to shout!!! He moved so fast and delivered that word through me in such a way that one of the students asked me for my number, the instructor let me put the website info on the board and others were speaking about how I had blessed them on this day. Baby, that wasn’t me, THAT WAS THE POWER OF GOD USING THE SITUATION TO SPEAK LIFE INTO THOSE STUDENTS!! I felt amazing. My spirit was just jumping for joy. I had to control myself. We had church in class!! Now that’s the God that I serve…He said in His word that where two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be and boy, did He ever show up. I thank God for allowing me to be His vessel today. I thank Him for giving me the mind to do right by Him. You see, life is never as bad as we think it is. There is a silver lining to every dark cloud and His name is JESUS!! I love calling on that name. JESUS JESUS JESUS

Don’t worry I will keep you posted on what God is doing and where I am going in Him. I want to do this to encourage you. I want you to know that no situation is too big for my God to handle. All you have to do is stop where you are, turn around and ask God to lead you. He will, I promise. He keeps me focused on the things that I need to do for Him and I know that as long as I stay focused, all is well. He will never leave nor forsake me. Oh how I love the name JESUS, it is the sweetest name I know. I hope that this has been a blessing to those who read. May this blog help you to realize that God is all you need. Peace & Blessings

Ephesians 5:1-2 states Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (Eph. 6:8)  Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.(KJV) You know, you can’t be like everybody else, imitate Christ if you want to be like someone. When I was in college in Atlanta, I learned a valuable lesson about being a leader and a follower. I was apart of a student organization and I wanted to be the state president. I was elected state secretary instead. I was crushed because I wanted to be the leader. I considered myself to be an awesome leader but never wanted to be a follower. As my year of service to this organization went on, I became aware of how vital my part was to running this team successfully. “Being a leader means that you have a spirit of servitude. Being in a servant capacity is humbling and fulfilling at the same time. You learn that to be a great leader, you must as well be a great follower.” This was my statement when asked what I thought leadership meant. The same applies to be a Christian and following the leadership of Christ. God gives you different levels(positions) in Him. Don’t you want to be God’s protegé? I do, it’s like being a replica of the greatest entity ever. I mean, I think that it would be the best thing in the world to tell someone that God is shaping and molding me to be just like Him! But, you can’t just do part of what you need to do for Christ. You can’t be part Christian and part worldly. That makes no sense. You are either gonna do right by Christ or not. You have to realize that only GOD matters. It doesn’t matter what others say or think because they can’t save or condemn your soul. God only wants what is best for you. He wants to lead you in a better area than where you have been. You have to tell Him that you have made up your mind THIS TIME to do what is pleasing to Him. Have you ever heard of soul ties? It’s like being in a relationship that God didn’t tell you to be in. You and this other person’s soul are intermingling and becoming attached to one another. The devil will use that unhealthy relationship and get you so wrapped up that you can’t break free. That don’t sound good at all does it? Well, it isn’t. the devil loves to stir up in mess. Have you ever been in a situation and it just seemed so lucky that you got out of it? That wasn’t luck…..THAT WAS THE GRACE OF GOD!!! We as Christians need to form an obsession of Christ. I know you may not understand that but let me break it down for you. Dictionary.com defines an obsession as the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.  this is what we need for Christ!! Become obsessed with God. Find yourself thinking about Him during lunch, in a business meeting, during your shower, tucking your kids into bed…..don’t let Him be away from your thoughts. The more we focus on Christ, the more we can just focus. Follow Christ, though everything is in disarray, you will have peace at the end of the day. Pretend you are in a Nascar race…..put your pedal to the metal and get in a serious hurry to follow the one true Leader!! You have to be willing to hurt sometimes. Though things change all around you, don’t let your love of Christ change. So…..Are you ready to obey? Are you ready to follow? Are you ready to be obsessed? If you are, just tell him….”IF YOU LEAD ME, I WILL FOLLOW and I WILL FOLLOW WHEREVER YOU LEAD ME!” If GOD brings you to it, baby trust and believe, He will bring you THROUGH it!!!

Peace & Blessings

Luke 15:17-18 states And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.(KJV)
Do you remember that old song, “If he has to reach way down, Jesus will pick you up?” I do. I remembered thinking where is way down? Why would he want to pick me up? I believe that Jesus loves us so much that He would reach down into the depths of hell to pick us up if we would only cry out to Him. Someone told me that if a friend were lost, I couldn’t help them to find themself. If they had allowed the devil to consume their my mind, the only way for them to find themselves is to find their way back to God first. I used to think that was funny, how can they find God if they don’t know themselves anymore? That’s not for my flesh to understand. But, my spirit understands it completely. You know, the devil will run you through hell and back just to make you want to let go of God’s unchanging hand. I know for a fact, because he’s been testing me a lot lately. But, I’ve made a decision to not run anymore. I’m ready to shift to a new level, new place, and into a NEW ME!!! We sometimes get in our own way by trying to move too fast and attempting to rush God. Then we mess stuff up. We let the devil’s distractions block us from what God has placed in our hearts. When we do this, we are allowing our own circumstances to block us from helping somebody else find their way to Christ. Ask yourself, is my heart right? Is your heart in what you are doing for Christ? Do you have love and compassion for what you are doing in His name? I keep saying that you have to praise your way through any and every situation and I believe that wholeheartedly!!! It’s like I was saying in the “Faith under Fire” blog, YOUR FAITH IS UNDER EXTREME FIRE!!! Once you make a decision to do right in the sight of God, the devil turns up the heat just to test you….and your faith!!! Can you stand the fire? Is your faith as strong as you say it is? See check this out, have you asked God to give you patience in a situation? “Lord, just please give me patience to make it through the day!!” God is not gonna wrap up patience in pretty wrapping paper and with a nice big bow and say here you go (insert your name here) all the patience you need. Absolutely not, God is gonna put you in a situation where you have to be patient!!! God is always here for us. He will give you comfort when you are going through. He is the peace that surpasses all understanding. Know that to commit more to God means that you will have even more challenges in your life. Whatever starts wrong, will end wrong. Jeremiah 29:11 says ”For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
Waiting on God can be hard but it also a test of faith!! WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? 

IF HE HAS TO REACH WAY DOWN, JESUS WILL PICK YOU UP………………….Have you suffered enough? Are you ready to come home? God is waiting for you to come home and He is waiting with open arms and an open heart.

I love you all…………Peace & Blessings