Woman of the Night

 This past week I have been studying in my devotional about the story of Rahab. Now before this week I only knew she was a prostitute. Thats it. So let me tell you a story....

See Rahab lived in Jericho- you know the one- the story about where God had them march around the city for 7 days and on the 7th day had trumpets blare and the men scream and the walls came tumbling down. But did you know that the woman of the night is the one that helped them?

See, spies were sent into the town to scout the land. They came to Rahab and she had heard , not ever seen , but just HEARD of Gods mighty power with stories passed along and she feared God. Sight unseen. Hebrews 11:1 is the memory verse and its been my own personal heart verse for my husband. That in of itself is not a coincidence that this week, the week I needed it the most, that was the memory verse. So back to Rahab- so she feared God more than she did man and hid the spies, but someone was a tattle tale and ran off to tell the king. She could have given in when they came and told her to send them out but instead she lied and said yes they had been there, but they had left and she didn't know where. She had hid them and afterwards told them exactly how to escape- see her house was built into the walls of the town. 

They promised her that if she would hang a red cord from her window, when they took the city, no harm would come to her or anyone inside. Rahab had to trust these men to keep their word. She had faith in God that she would be safe. But one little problem- her house was built into those walls remember!? So when she watched the men marching around she could have gotten scared and left the house not trusting that God would provide for her. Especially on that 7th day when the walls started to fall. But no, she held onto her faith and sure enough her entire family was saved.

And you know what she did??? She ended up dwelling with the Israelites and continuing her journey with God. But it doesn't end there- she ended up being a  part of the bloodline of Jesus! See she was Boaz's mother ( Ruth's MIL) go read up on that!!!

See- God doesn't give a hoot about your past. Or your present. Because she was ACTIVELY involved in prostitution when she hid the spies. God sees past all that and sees your heart- your faith- and thats all he needs. God will use you- yes you- the one that battled with depression and anxiety. The one that was in and out of rehab so many times you cant even remember. The one that committed adultery .... more than once. The one that is the town gossip that no one trusts anymore. 

God doesn't care about circumstances. 

As the song says " Im just a nobody, trying to tell everybody, all about somebody, who saved my soul."

God used Moses even when he had a fear of speaking in public

God used David and his little slingshot and stones to take out a giant

God picked 12 people nobody knew for his Apostles and changed the world

Everyone has a purpose. So when you hear the devil start mocking you saying who do you think YOU are that God could even use a worn out, depressed, broken person like yourself- You just tell him Im Gods child and he loves me and will use me because I am precious in his eyes!

Not today satan, not today.

Stephanie Jones 

Hold up- shes going to do what????

 I am sure , even if you aren't of faith, you know the story of the birth of our amazing Savior! 

But did you know how it happened? Like how it REALLY started. Let me give you a little insight. 

First background- I went to visit my friend Hannah 2 weeks ago to surprise her and because I felt like I needed to go see her. She has been Gods gracious gift to me for this entire journey. There every day to talk to, vent to, encourage me, bless me in ways that God knew I needed. She is truly not only my sister in Christ, but family. And I had had a particularly bad evening. I decided at 4 am I was going to drive the almost 2 hours to her church and surprise her. Thinking it was because I just needed to see her and hug her and thank her.

Yall. God had a bigger plan and reason. And It didn't become apparent until tonight. I needed to hear the message at the church that day- and no it wasn't some blow your socks off im speaking directly to you message , or so I thought. It was about before the birth of Jesus. How Gabriel came to Mary to explain to her what was going to happen. And that she was going to be a virgin giving birth. And im sure she was like "Wait, what?" I have told Joseph Im a virgin how is he going to understand this!!" Welllll im sure it blew her mind but im also sure that it was explained to her in great detail. So she was like Ok sure im on board. 

However, there was still the matter of Joseph having his little get together and understanding. And im sure most men would be like " woah sir.... dont you know what people are going to think??? to say!!" And of course he didn't want her to be shamed etc. He loved her. 

So yeah, great message but nothing overly mind blowing to me. Until tonight.

I had this message come across me twice today- Stay patient when it gets weird. Remember, the Lord spoke to Joseph AFTER he talked to Mary, not before. 

See, while we might have the picture of Gods plan finally falling into place, while we might see and understand what the puzzle is going to look like once finished, the other person might not have been clued into the image just yet. God might have worked it out with you- but HE still has to go explain it to the other person involved so we are all on the same page. 

I realized that tonight. God has shown me this past 2 plus months everything I have asked for in His plans for me. He has been revealing pieces of the puzzle a little at a time , allowing me to understand fully what is going to happen. But now that I know, he still has to go to the other person and explain to him what the plan is. You know how people ask you "Where you going?" I dont know..... "Who's going to be there?" I guess whoever comes.... " What y'all going to do?" Im not sure yet im just going along for the ride....

Yeah. Same thing. The person you are meeting will probably know Where, who, what , when, how and why lol but until you get there and have the talk, you will not understand anything.

Wait patiently on the Lord. He will not let the other person get lost. I promise.

Stephanie Jones 

Its a Heart Problem

 You know whats truly humbling? When you have been done wrong, disrespected, and realize that the reason you have been shut down on fixing the issue is you?? Yeah you heard me.

Forgiveness and fixing the issue is a HEART problem. Its a YOU problem.

Let me show you what I mean.

So recently I was disrespected by someone - someone that is not an adult- but old enough to know better. And it got to me extremely bad- to the point I was actually on the verge of wanting to scream among other things. Now I know its a child but at 17 its a situation where its inappropriate to insert yourself into someone elses marriage. Regardless of how you feel its extremely disrespectful. No one, any age, should come in between a husband and wife- except God. He is the only person that has that right. 

I let my anger bubble over till I was on the verge of loosing my  mind. And then I started to calm myself down and see that this was a me problem. I had just read about forgiveness! Had just literally this entire week been talking about Joseph and his forgiveness from his brothers. And I had that aha moment where the lightbulb and WHY i was reading all about this made sense- God was giving me all the information I needed to fix the issue with my heart. He was showing me all week the things I would need to transform the way I was going to handle this situation. And i felt really humbled and humiliated lol when I realized what he had done.

Satans not the only one that is sneaky - but God does it in a loving and kind way to show us lessons. And boy did I get one.

See, had I not had the tools i would continue to let that bubble and eat away at me. But because I have been so in the word, so close to God and letting the Holy Spirit fill me, I was able to start putting the pieces together that God had given me- leading me up to the fact that the problem was me.

I needed to forgive her. Its a command. You cant be close to God and have him hear your prayers and be filled with hate, resentment, bitterness, anger at the same time. Yes YOU CAN HURT thats ok. But you cant reside there and pitch your tent and let it consume you. 

Then, then you have to be able to come at the situation with a heart that is clean- one that is coming from love and kindness before you will be able to fully address the problem head on without getting into a argument. You have HAVE to come at it with love. Thats also in the bible peeps. When you can forgive, come at the situation with a clear head and heart, you will be able to overcome your sin and not use your tongue to continue to spread hate. You will be able to communicate , resolve, and move forward.

Yes things like this need to be dealt with. They need to be talked about with a calm spirit, and then prayed over and handled the way God would want you to. That may end up being something not so great but when you involve the Lord in your issues it will NEVER be wrong.

Forgiveness+Kindness+Love= Unity in problem solving for the good of everyone.

Stephanie Jones

If it was easy- would you still rely on GOD

 There are a lot of things I have literally agonized over the past two months- one of those was my sweet fur kids that when I had to leave my home, I had to leave them as well. I didn't have a way to bring them all with me. Especially Winnie- my sweet, precious soul who is blind. 

That cat is the meaning of the word innocent. All she cares about and all she wants is love. To be loved and to show love. She's the best thing that ever came along in kitten form. And I miss her as much as I miss my husband and kids. 

But I was thinking about this the other night- if I had been able to take them and go to a place of my own where it was just us and all my stuff- would I have ever been able to truly rely on GOD to work in my life and HIS plans for me.

The answer is no. I probably wouldn't have. I would have been happy and content and just tried to do things on my own instead of leaning into our FATHER who has shown me so much over the past month about his goodness and his love. 

I would never have realized how strong my voice is- and how I need to use it for HIS glory. I would have never realized how much I need GOD in my life on every single thing- even the little things. 

GOD has a reason for everything that HE does. I know I wont be without them forever and I know that he will bring us back together when the time is right- just like how he will bring me back to a new creation in my marriage whenever HIS time is right. The wait is hard. It is one of the most painful things I have ever done.

But i just keep walking in faith with hope- Hebrews 11:1

God is bigger than the boogeyman

 Don't you just love Veggie Tales??? I do lol. Even as an adult i love hearing the stories and singing along with Larry and Bob! 

But GOD really is bigger than the boogeyman!!

See, God has a plan for each of us. And a lot of times we cant see it because HE is working behind the scenes setting the stage so to speak. He's moving the characters and the settings all over the place to put HIS perfect plan into motion. Heck, he already started before you were even born. How is that for a plot! 

I have been going through such a tough season in my life. But I have watched as each Act starts and ends. As he shows me, piece by piece, his perfect plan for me. I have seen HIM working when he decides to share with me a bit of the script. Ive seen the prayers answered, and i have also seen the villain at work too. There's ALWAYS a villain! Wouldn't be a movie without one. 

But if you wanna see a really good plan that HE worked out- go read the story of Joseph. 

Now THAT my friends is a plan worth rejoicing over. Cheering on the hero that comes through in the end- GOD. 

Joseph - many of us know the story about him. But do you really know the story? Go read it in Genesis. 

See his brothers were extremely jealous of him. So much so when Joseph started having dreams from GOD they got so angry they decided to plot his death! ( Again, grab the popcorn this is going to get good)

But they had a change of heart and decided they would sell him into slavery that way they wouldn't be murderers. Cause you know slavery is so much better! So they sent him off to Egypt and then took his beautiful coat ( you know the one!) and took it home to their father Jacob and said look here dad your son must have been killed by some beast. 

Meanwhile over in his new home, he was under Pharaoh and was being treated well as he was favored by the Lord so he was able to live well. That was UNTIL ( plot twist) the kings wife wanted him and tried to seduce him and when Joseph declined , well that didn't sit well with her. She cried out that he had tried to rape her and landed himself in the prison there. But he became favored with the guard and when two of the kings servants came in he had dreams about both. He predicted from his dreams that one would be shown favor and the other killed. And it came to pass! When Pharaoh learned of this he had him come back and pretty much was put in charge of things. And when he had two dreams he went to Joseph to have him tell him what they meant. When he told them about 7 years of plenty and then 7 years of famine, the king put him in charge of everything - livestock, harvest etc. 

So fast forward a bit- his brothers had to come to him because in the 7 years of famine there wasn't food for the family to survive. They didn't recognize their brother when they came, but he knew. And decided to have a little fun with them. Go read about it. Brotherly love lol. 

Sooooooo fast forward ( seriously y'all go read it) to the end of Genesis. His father finds out he's alive and comes to live there and ends up passing away. His brothers FREAKED OUT y'all. They thought man for sure now that father is gone he will now repay us for what we did to him.

Plot twist spoiler- nope! He forgave them. And then went on to tell them GOD had a plan. 

So lets recap shall we:

Sold into Slavery - Accused of rape- thrown in jail - interpreted dreams- became ruler over everything King Pharaoh had- saved his family from famine and death- got to see his father again

See GOD had a plan for Joseph. One much bigger than he could have even knew. For the good.

So the next time you are in circumstances that you cant even begin to see how GOD is going to use this to help you and better you- just remember- God is bigger than the boogeyman- even in the face of dire pits of despair, HE has a plan to bring you out victorious!

Stephanie Jones 

Second Happy

 Its been a minute since I have felt like evening writing. So much has been going on and a lot of it was very hard to deal with. 

But I want to write about a book that I know without a doubt GOD placed in my life. And you might find it ironic that he would place a book about marriage in my lap when I am literally facing divorce. And everyone and their brothers dog is telling me not to get my hope up. But that's what GOD is in the business of doing- bringing Hope in the darkest of moments.

So let me give you a backstory on this one. Cause its a lot. I had been praying for two months to be able to eat lunch with my daughter ( my step daughter) and just praying for GOD to make the moment right for me to do so. It was her birthday this past sunday so i wanted to go eat lunch with her friday at school. My  mom had wanted to get her a gift card and I immediately knew what- Claire's. That child loves that place. 

My mom had been too busy to go and get it so I said ill go. Of course I get to walmart and they dont open till 11. I thought well then its not supposed to be cause her lunch is at 11 and there's no way. I was upset and thought ill just have to leave her gifts on the porch. I left and was going to go meet someone for breakfast. And as its almost time they cancelled. And i just stopped and parked the car and threw up my hands and told GOD if something didn't work out I was done with the whole thing. I had texted my friend Hannah and told her the situation. While im sitting there having my pity party she messages me and tells me: 

"I felt this tugging in my heart to go try and find where you can get the gift card. Go try Kroger it says they have them."

So not having anything to loose I ran over to Kroger. I was searching and searching and there , at the very bottom, was that gift card. I lost it in Kroger. I knew it was meant to be. But then of course I was terrified at how it was going to go. I had not spoken to or seen her in 2 months. I was shaking so bad the whole way to lunch. 

Yall- GOD SHOWED UP in so many ways that day. My baby told me how thankful she was I was there. She kept telling me over and over that she missed me and wanted to spend time with me. Could i come back??? She didn't care if i brought her lunch just to come back. My heart was bursting and i was crying. I loved on her and rejoiced. Little did I know a week later that would be ripped from me - which it was. And while it hurt so much i KNOW without a doubt the enemy was at play. God would never give you something and rip it away. And even in my anger at the situation I was at peace knowing GOD would prevail. 

When i got up the next day I didn't wanna go anywhere. But something kept telling me to go to Mardels. I had not been there in years. I mean like childhood probably. And i was like WHY i have no money i told myself it was because I wanted to see if they had this spiral bible i wanted. So i head off and get there and start looking around. Im back in the bargain books and this book just stood out to me. It was the only one there. It was a buck. It was called the Second Happy. I was like hmmmm and picked it up didn't even read anything about it. I figured for a buck if it was crap i was fine. Got home and threw it to the side. 

 So after that happened something small to most but mighty to me happened- my husband unfriended me on facebook. It hurt so bad that night i couldn't even eat i had to go upstairs. I cried myself to sleep that night.  Saturday night. I was hurting so bad over this. I knew it was because I had gone to eat with her but i didn't understand at all. I woke up around 4 am and was so angry because here GOD had showed me such hope and answered my prayers why was this happening. I drove around for a bit and felt it in my heart to go see a friend (hannah) and spend the day at church and with her family. Which i did. I drove the almost 2 hours to surprise her. And it was just what i needed. As i was driving home I asked God many times to show me Hope. To show me restoration in my marriage and family. As i was almost home i got that confirmation. 

Fast forward to Monday- i decided to pick up that 1.00 book and read. 

I sobbed. I sobbed out to God so hard i thought i was going to suffocate i couldn't breath. This book was the exact marriage that I was in, the marriage I wanted, the items i craved to make my marriage into. I literally was reading the blueprint of what we were going through, and the roadmap of what I have been praying for for the past two months. I promise you guys I couldn't make this up. Every chapter I read and have read is literally our marriage. To a T. I have cried over each chapter just as hard. I cry out to GOD HOW CAN YOU GIVE ME THIS! I WANT THIS!! SHOW ME HOW PLEASE LORD!!!

I know that book was given to me by our Father. I even went back to try and find another one to give to my friend and can't find another one at all. She ended up ordering it online lol. But im telling you go get it. If you are in a marriage even if its not in dire straights GO GET THIS BOOK. Anyway you can. Its amazing. Its mind blowing. Its so simple the things they tell you on how to have a better Christ filled and centered marriage. It even has a place for couples to do it together, or a small group. I keep praying over this that when the time is right and GOD brings my marriage back from the dead with a new creation in HIM that we will be able to read and follow this book.

Some people will say oh that's just fate- no sir! That's GOD. I would never ever have even read a book on marriage even if we weren't in this predicament. I could have cared less. That book was meant for me that day. I am thankful i listened to GOD nudging me. He is good. All the time.

Stephanie Jones 

Scripture Part 1- Things that I have marked - Exodus and Deuteronomy

As I shared , I will be outlining all of the Scripture that I have so far highlighted In my Bible and any notes etc with you. I will break it up into multiple blogs so it is not overwhelming. I will also be adding into my blog prayers for your spouse, devotionals etc. If there is anything you wanna see or me to elaborate on please email me!!! 

There are so many more obviously but this is just what I have been reading and learning about over the past almost 2 months. If you have a favorite story, passage, whatever you wanna tell me about please leave a comment or email me at - yourmagicalwishes@yahoo.com I always respond and you can also add in any prayer requests or anything you wanna talk about! 

Scripture 

Exodus 13:17-18 

This is talking about the Lord leading them into the wilderness instead of taking a more direct path to protect them because he was afraid they might change their minds if encountering danger so soon!

Exodus 14:14 - The Lord himself will fight for you just stay calm

The Lord knows what we need when we need it and how we need it. He knows that in the midst of something scary, something hurtful, that the direct approach might not work. He might have to lead us down a path that’s not as easy but he knows it will lead to his plan being revealed for your own good. He promises us that he will never leave us and he will walk with us each day on this road. He alone is who we need to rely on and lean on in times of worry, doubt, trials etc. He will fight for you we just need to be still and calm and let him work!

Deuteronomy 8- all of it - This is the call to remember and Obey- it is talking about when he lead them into the wilderness for 40 years! He was testing their strength of character to see if they would continue on to obey him after he delivered them! 

And Chapter 20:4 -For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies and he will give you victory!

Again, God will not take you somewhere and leave you there. He will protect you as you walk through your trial or your test! And he will deliver you from the hands of your enemies and give you victory over them. Those that obey him and do his good works and his will, The Lord will bless them in ways we can’t even imagine. So whatever it is you are going through, whatever season it is, continue to walk with the Lord daily letting him guide you through the battles he has already won for you so you can claim your victory on the other side of great blessings!