Serving in Church- 11/23/2016

Happy Almost Thanksgiving! I hope you will be spending this holiday with people you love, surrounded by lots of delicious food. I love the holidays like the next gal ! The food, the family, the gifts... The holidays are truly my favorite time of year. I am not naturally a person who enjoys serving but I've found that during the holidays it is easier for me to serve because I am in such a festive mood.  As God's daughter, something I've learned overtime is he wants me to serve not just on the holidays, but regularly throughout the year. That being said, one place we should serve is in our church body. As Christians, we have a responsibility to serve where we fellowship. Within church there are always a plethora of places to serve. Your pastor and the leadership need help! Once you are plugged into a church you need to serve in a way that maximizes your God-given abilities. Here are a few ways I serve in my local church:

1.      Worship Pastor –I serve by choosing worship songs, doing worship power points, finding scriptural references for the worship songs, doing rehearsal and praying over the worship.

2.      Benevolence Team- I help get benevolence (giving) projects organized and efficiently ran.

3.      Discipleship Leader- I help teach young women about the word of God in weekly or bi-monthly sessions.

What are some ways you serve in your church?
XOXO,

Myah Lonye’

Three Things I've Learned About Developing Faith- November 4, 2016

By personality, I am not an individual who goes to the Lord often and asks’ Him to increase my faith. In the early part of my walk, growing in faith was not something that was attractive to me. I wanted more knowledge, a deeper prayer life, to experience the Holy Spirit in worship- but faith was not something I often asked the Lord for. To be honest, I think it is because in a lot of ways I didn’t feel like I needed faith. I believed I was the type of woman who trusted God easily and for the most part, I did and I still do. I trust that God will open doors for me, I trust that God will assist me through the process of completing my degree. I used to feel that trusting God was easy, until he begin to put things in my life that were harder to trust Him for: like growth in my business, expansion in my family’s ministry, healing in my body, and money. Especially money.

 I’m a hard worker and I have often prided myself on my hard work taking me where I desire to go. Now don’t get me wrong, hard work is Biblical. The Bible is very explicit that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). We have to work for and prepare for what we pray for. However, in some ways I was more self-reliant on my hard work taking me where I wanted to go than God reliant. But at some point in every Christian’s walk, we experience challenges and our faith grows through trials. In the process of God growing my faith, I’ve learned a myriad of things. Here are three simple tips on how to grow your faith.

1.      Faith come by hearing: The Bible says that “faith comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17).

Meaning we develop our faith by the consistent hearing of God’s word. If you are not consistently indulging in the word, either by reading, watching or listening to it, your faith is not growing.

2.      Be prepared to grow through challenges: You develop faith by being challenged. If everything was easy breezy we would have no need to trust God right? That being said, you have to expect that you are going to go through various things that will cause you to have to exercise your faith muscles. Maybe it’s being single at 35 and wondering where your Boaz is. Maybe it’s the loss of a best friend to cancer. Maybe it’s a rough patch in a relationship. Maybe it’s a decision you made out of obedience to God that seems as though it is going haywire. Whatever it is, faith is developed out of the difficult parts and you have to be prepared for that.

3.      You must be patient to see the result (and you have to be willing to trust the result): Seeing the fruit of faith takes patience. Sometimes a few moments, sometimes a lifetime. And while I have yet to meet a person who loves developing patience, it is a vital part of the faith component.

Developing faith is simple, but certainly not easy. It takes humility, trust and a lot of patience. But the result of waiting until you see something blossom through in faith is sure to be nothing short of remarkable.

XOXO,

Myah Lonye’

Myah's Favorite Bible Study Tools- November 3rd, 2016

Studying the Bible can be daunting. Trust me, I completely understand.  To make my study time more approachable I have a few tools that I often use and want to share.

1.      Hardback Bible and/ or Bible App- You obviously need a Bible to have a Bible study. I use both a hard-back NKJV (it’s a teen edition that I’ve had since I was 11, lol) and BibleGateway. I use Bible Gateway because I can switch back and forth between versions without having to by 20 different translations.

2.      Notebook or journal- I like to write down any insights the Holy Spirit gives me.

3.      Pens, Pencils, Highlighters- to write in said journal.

4.      A guided chapter study, devotional, or Christian book. Now this is optional, but  when I first learned how to have a prayer time, I learned by reading a Christian book (Girl Talk With God) , looking up all of the reference scriptures in my Bible and applying the scriptures to my life. This really helped me learn how to create “context” for the scriptures in what they mean and how they applied to me at that time. You have to be intentional about the writers and devotionals you choose for a guided reading. Some of my favs are Joyce Meyer, Beth Moore and Dave Williams.

5.      Greek and Hebrew Lexicon: I use this when looking to find the original meaning of the words in the scriptures. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament Greek, so the meanings of words are not always as obvious at face value. That being said, I often use my Lexicon to show me, exactly what the Holy Spirit was communicating in the meaning behind the text.

6.      Concordance: A concordance is basically like a sourcebook of words where you can find where each word is in the bible. It is fantastic for topical study.

7.      Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary- I like to use this dictionary because it gives the original meaning of words in the English language before social constructionism arose and begin to change the meanings. And yes, I know some of you are thinking, “but all words are socially constructed,” but this dictionary carries a biblical world view in how it approaches the English language.

8.      Index Cards- To write out my memory scriptures or any notes I want to keep handy.

XOXO,

Myah Lonye’

How I Stayed Pure in College - November 2, 2016

Often, college is an easy time to lose your footing, on the track toward purity. No one is exempt from temptation. When I was in undergrad I felt immense pressure to be sexually active. I desperately wanted to please God by saving my body and waiting until marriage to have sex; yet I also wanted the guys on campus to like me and to fit in with the “sophisticated” women at my job. Staying pure was an emotional and social fight and in the process, I had to develop coping skills and mechanisms to assist me. Here are some of the things I did and encourage you to do to stay pure in college.

1.      Strong accountability- In order to stay pure, I came under strong accountability. I was very honest about my sexual needs and desires with my accountability partners. It was a no-shame game. I knew I had to be honest in order to stay pure. If I did not express my heart honestly, it would have been easy for me to hide and fall into hidden sin. I let my accountability get “all in my business.” And I can say it has paid off so far. At 26, I am still a virgin and I am still praying and trusting God for my purity.

2.      Find a Christian big sister who is waiting- You need at least one example of a woman who is or has waited until marriage to have sex. I actually had two ladies who were my “purity big sisters.” My Christian big sisters would call me and talk to me about purity and waiting. Sometimes they would send me resources and pray for me. Their guidance greatly helped me to grow spiritually and encouraged me that waiting was actually possible.

3.      Surround yourself with Christian friends: More often than not, non-believers are not going to encourage you to stay pure. Be sure to surround yourself with like-minded Christian friends who will encourage you to maintain your purity. Note, the emphasis on like-minded. If your Christian friends are into premarital sex, then they are not the group you will want around you on the road to purity.

4.      If you can’t find Christian friends, resolve yourself to a period of solitude. One of the prominent reasons I often hear of why people don’t have Christian friends is because they cannot find Christian friends. This is real a experience for many people and this is valid. However, it is not an excuse of why you should lower your standards and choose friends who are not godly. What we meditate on we become like. If you cannot find Christian friends, perhaps God is calling you to a space of solitude or to a time of separation to take you into deeper intimacy with him. Either way, no friends are better than a group of compromising friendships or friends who will lead you into sin.

5.      Read books on purity- Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). If you want to encourage yourself, read Christian books on purity. Some of my faves are Every Young Woman’s Battle (Shannon Ethridge) and The M Word (Debbie Adebayo).

6.      Memorize scriptures on purity- We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Romans 12:2). Thus, if you want to gain strength in purity, take time and memorize scriptures on the topic It will renew your mind to pursue waiting in a Godly way and will also encourage you in your journey.

7.      Be very selective with whom you date or make a choice not to date at all for a period. There were many times during undergrad when young men would approach me for dates and I knew they were unsaved. Not only does the Bible tell us to not be unequally yoke (2 Corinthians 6:14), it is unwise to date guys who are not on the same track to purity as you are (that includes in thought, word or deed.) For example, if a guy is willing to not “have sex” with you but wants to participate in heavy petting, oral sex, or other modes of sexuality (outside of penetration) he still does not have a godly view of waiting and should not be dating you.

8.      Learn how to control your sexual desires and offer them up unto the Lord. If you a human being, you have sexual hormones. It is what it is. You are going to have times when you are aroused (especially when Aunt Flo pays a visit and your sexual and reproductive hormones are heightened). Arousal is not sin. It is a chemical response that God created. It is what you do with the arousal (outside of marriage specifically) that distinguishes rather or not you honor God. Be honest with the Lord about your physical needs. Express to him what you feel. Then ask Him to help you take control of your flesh. This does not mean he is going to take that natural chemical response away, but rather it means that when you experience times of sexual arousal you will be able to practice self control and put your sexuality in the proper place.

I pray this is helpful!

XOXO,

Myah Lonye’