Blessed

God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. ~Matthew 5:5

Much has happened in the way of obstacles, change, and growth. Each experience, however, has made me a stronger and more remarkable woman.  I will take this opportunity to share with you why I am blessed.  I am a remarkable and unorthodox individual, and there is nothing that anyone can do about it. Why? Well because . . .

·         I am blessed because I have sown sacrificial not superficial seeds.

·         I am blessed because I embrace my flaws as an advantage as opposed to crutch.

·         I am blessed because I live as Santresa (San) on purpose and not as a carbon copy of my social media status.

·         I am blessed because I accept that my imperfections are gifts and purposely live my life as opposed to exist in it.

There is nothing more beautiful or that exudes more self-confidence than being authentically who you are.  Living with a peace of mind is invaluable and in recent months has proven not only beneficial, but necessary.  A while ago when I decided to do this, enemies became agitated, my disposition towards loving more of myself became evident, my smile became infectious, I stop worrying about my needs that God promised he would supply, my uncomfortable became comfortable, and I’ve exuded without qualms just how much I love being, me. The lesson that I learned was to stop building walls with my words and actions that became obstacles (which I have overcome) in my life. Instead, I faced and defeated my "ugly truths", embraced my imperfections, loved more of and made time for those that have always loved me, laughed, and most importantly, continued to LIVE ON and WITH PURPOSE. 

I no longer wonder why I've been blessed BEYOND my prayers of needs and wants.  I have come into the understanding that I'm reaping the harvest of the seeds I've sown for years. Clarification! Nothing . . . nothing that I have now has not been without sacrifice, pain, vulnerability, tough truths, hard work, His mercy and favor.  Guess what!? He is only getting started.  Dear readers, let Him work in your life and STOP getting in your own way.  To the faithful, he sees your heart and will continue to keep you.  All that my enemies meant for bad, He not only shifted towards good, but is continuing to bless me with better than I was originally supposed to receive.  Thank you, Jesus!  I am happy, full of joy and gratitude as well as blessed with a peace of mind independent of outwards circumstances.  Change IS good!

How has He been a blessing for you?

Deuces,

~San

You Can Go into the Enemy’s Camp and Win

The LORD shall cause your enemies that rise up against you to be defeated before your face: they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways.  ~ Deuteronomy 28:7

God is powerful enough to allow you to go into your enemy’s territory and come out victorious.  For those who elect to have Jesus as their Lord and personal redeemer, you are granted God’s power and authority to defeat your enemy in his or her own terrain.  We often have to face our enemies in their territory.  You need to know that God has granted you the authority to defeat the Devil no matter where he attempts to try to come against you.  Your level of faith will determine whether you or the Devil wins.

God is Satan’s master.  At the command of God, Satan must follow His orders.  When Satan comes against you, you need to tag Jesus into the ring.  Let the Lord fight your battles and you will always come out the victor.  In Christ Jesus, we already have the victory!  Therefore, stop being scared to face the Enemy.  He has no dominion over your life.  God is the ruler of your life and all of your steps are ordered by Him. When Satan is battling you, you need to activate the Jesus in you.

God has not given us a spirit of fear.  He has given us power to defeat the Enemy in his territory and take that territory as our own and sanctify it.  Too many people look at the missiles the Devil launches against them with their natural eyes and fail to employ their spiritual eyes.  The battle you’re fighting against the Devil is not a natural battle—it’s a spiritual battle.  When you’re in spiritual warfare, you have to fight the Devil using the spirit of Jesus that dwells within you.

Jesus will give you a clear plan to conquer the Enemy.  He will provide you with the ability to execute the plan.  You must have enough faith in God that He can allow you to come out of your situation with the victory.  No matter what you may be going through God is able to do exactly what you need done.  Even when Satan has stacked the deck against you, Jesus can cause that deck to be destroyed.  He can cause your enemies to begin to work on your behalf.  Now, what a mighty God we serve!

You cannot win without Jesus being on your side.  I would encourage you to not go a day without having Jesus on your side.  You simply cannot afford to miss a day without Jesus being in your life.  The Enemy is always looking for a way to come into your life and attack you.  When you don’t have Jesus residing on the inside, you’re vulnerable to the power of Satan to destroy you.  Without a doubt, Satan is powerful.  If God is not in your life, Satan can steal from you, defeat you, and kill you.   

With God, no weapons the Enemy uses against you will prosper—not a single weapon will prosper!

Stop acting like you serve a weak God who is a wimp.  You serve a mighty God.  Tag him into the ring today to have Him to defeat the Devil on your behalf.  Praise God for the victory over the Enemy!

Deuces,

Tony

  

Ugly Truth

Truthful words stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed. ~Proverbs 12:19

Instead of thinking that God has removed someone out of your life, have you ever reevaluated your lack of contributions to a friendship or relationship to understand that perhaps, he removed YOU out of theirs.  Lord, I thank you for confirmation, faithful friends, and the learning experiences associated with failed relationships. I ask your forgiveness for ignoring earlier in my life, all that you exposed to me. We sometimes want to make what we think are necessary excuses to defend individuals that have constantly hurt us. Whether it is to prove to those that advised us to "walk away" wrong or to remain in denial, we must understand that it our reactions with each issue or in different situations that we are accountable.  Happiness and peace are mentally stimulating drivers that push us to be better human beings and cultivates our talents and gifts. Negativity on the one hand can serve as motivation, however, the mental and psychological damage can linger a lifetime for some individuals. 

Never allow another to remove out of your life all that you have worked for with the power of their words and atrocious actions of their intent. Your joy, your moment, your driver, your passion is much too great to let a naysayer be an end all from a single opinion.  At days end they have to wrestle with their conscious and as my grandmother used to tell me, "When you lay your head to that pillow at night . . . all of your goods and evils shall sleep with you too."  I have always taken that to mean that whatever you to do to a person is eventually what you have stirring on your conscious as guilt or as a feeling of joy.  I am 32 years old and just when I think that I've learned almost everything about how relationships functions, God unveils to me that those you love most will continue to shock you with the things that they don't do as opposed to the things that they do.  Well I have a testimony and as long as I am with breathe, I will always tell of the good that He has done, how He has made a way from absolutely nothing, how He protects and favors me because I decided to give it all to Him, and how his mercy . . . his mercy allows me to screw up a thousand times over and still be able to say, "I see the best in you". 

Now, in those prayers to ask God to remove certain individuals out of your life!? Be sure that you are not the aggressor. Every individual has at some point in their adult life prayed a prayer to ask God to remove those who mean them harm or those that consistently bring negative energy to particular relationships out of their life.  The unforeseen concern comes when those that you thought were supportive and caring friends and family begin to disappear.  What should never happen, however, is to second guess what He has deemed so.  Simply stated, stop granting part-time people, full-time positions in your life. Face your ugly truths and then He shall remove either that associate or friend out of your life OR remove you out of theirs. 

Deuces, 

~San

Stay-At-Home “Christians”

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. ~ Hebrews 10:25

No matter how you want to attempt to justify it, you cannot receive the type of worship of God at home as you do at church.  If you say you can, then you’re a member of a church that’s not right for you, you’re not a member of a church or you don’t have a serious worship of God.  While there are some dynamic preachers one can watch on television, especially on Sundays, you miss the power of the anointing present at the temple of God.  God anoints preachers, gives them the spirit of discernment, and gift of prophecy to lay hands on you to meet your needs (those you know about and don’t know about), speak blessings into your life, warn you about the traps the Enemy has set and will set for you, and much more.  Now, this is simply not going to take place when you’re at home resting in your bed or sitting up “having church on t.v.”

Admit it—the reason why you don’t get up and go to church is you’re making excuses.  Many people are simply too lazy to get up go, but they are some of the biggest “Christians.”  Being a Christian requires you to do more than say that you’re one.  You must have a solemn personal relationship with God.  It would seem that a true personal relationship with God would lead you to his temple at least on Sundays.

Those who don’t really have a sincere personal relationship with God will respond to this piece by saying, “Don’t question my relationship with God—how dare you!”  My response is show up for God then.  Be present among the saints of God.  If God saved you, He did not save you for yourself.  He saved you so that you might be a witness to someone else who is not saved.  You’re not going to be an effective witness sitting up in your house.  Churches have weekly services like Bible Study and Prayer that you need to attend to keep you saved and to mature you in your Christian walk with God.  You need to attend Sunday School so that you can live better than you currently know how.

It will not hurt you to attend your church.  Don’t tell me about you “attend” your church online, especially when you live close to your church.  You simply cannot replace the experience and benefits of physically attending your church. 

If you’re going to take your spirituality to the next level, you’re going to have to start by getting your butt up and going to church.

Deuces,

Tony

 

Accept Your Intellectual Inferiority

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ~ James 3:14 - 15

If you want to be viewed as an educated person, you have to do the necessary work.  Educated people know when you don’t know your facts.  You cannot make up the facts and try to present them as real facts.  Too many people want to act like they know everything.  It’s impossible for you to know everything.  All clear thinking people understand this reality.  Why would you want to attempt to present yourself like you know everything?  No one likes someone who pretends like he or she knows everything.

Those who try to pretend like they know everything are envious and jealous of those who really are highly knowledgeable people.  When a truly knowledgeable person on a wide variety of things attempts to give the pretenders the facts, the pretenders will try to make their ignorance appear as facts.  The best way to handle pretenders is to present the facts to them and then move on from them.  They’re a waste of your energy. 

With so many things you need to and have to invest your energy in, you don’t need to waste it on meaningless discussions and debates with people who are pretenders.  Remember that truth always triumphs over falsehood inevitably.

Never downplay your intelligence to make others feel better or to let a pretender off the hook easily.  Don’t simply not offer the truth because you’re around a pretender, considering you know the individual is not interested in facts and it won’t matter what you say to him or her.  Speak the truth no matter if you feel it will matter or not.

You will be surprised how even your family and friends will be envious and jealous of your knowledge when they want to be right about something or be right about something all the time.  Many people are simply not comfortable not knowing everything.  Don’t be surprised if you sit at the kitchen table with pretenders and/or hang out at the mall with them.  Pretenders are everywhere and your family and friends are not automatically exempt from being pretenders.

If there’s something you don’t know and you desire to know it, do what it takes to learn it.  Don’t hate on others because they know what you don’t know.  Some people who have not truly earned their degrees; that is, had other people doing their work for them to get their degrees feel inadequate when they’re engaged in a discourse with people who are truly educated and they cannot perform satisfactorily.  This just goes to show you that a degree alone does not make you educated—it’s the learning you obtain, whether it’s in a degree program or outside of the confines of a brick and mortar institution.

Don’t pretend to be educated—go out get educated!

Deuces,

Tony      

Be Thankful

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

When someone does something nice for you, it is the will of God for you to be thankful for what he or she has done.   Far too often, I have done numerous selfless acts for people to help them to progress.  Unfortunately, many of the people who I have helped throughout the years have not been truly thankful and have not expressed their true gratitude to me.  While I am not looking for those individuals to throw me a party or banquet to celebrate the things I’ve done for them, I would very much appreciate it if those people would act like I have done something for them and not like I’m some bad guy when I’m not able to do something for them and/or don’t do things exactly like and when they want them done.

As we strive to get better each day, we have to realize that some of the people we are carrying along the way with us need to be left behind.  Everyone is not going to appreciate the things you do.  Therefore, one has to become wiser and stop doing things for people who don’t appreciate the selfless things done for them.  Don’t waste your time on people who don’t value you.  When a person is not appreciative of the things you do for them, it’s time for you to let those people depart from you.

I have had to learn that many people are just friends with you and hang around you only to reap what they can get from you.  They’re just leeches!  We all know that leeches suck the life out of us.  Beware of leeches!

For those of you who have not demonstrated your appreciation for the people in your lives who have done so many great things for you, it’s time for you to let them know they are appreciated.  

If you claim to have good or great character, then you will be a grateful person: You will let people know you thank them for all they do.

For you to continue to enjoy the progress that others have helped you to experience, you’re going to need those folks who have been helpful to you along the way to keep advancing forward.   

Never allow temporary moments of anger and selfishness to cause folks to walk out of your lives, especially when those folks have been a tremendous asset to you.  Recognize that you’re nothing without the people in your lives who have aided you in getting to where you are today.  For many of you, people went way beyond simply aiding you in getting to where you are today—they actually did the things for you that got you to where you are.  Therefore, never forget how important those people will be to you continuing to enjoy where you are and where you’re going.

Yes, God wants us to be helpers one to another.   However, there comes a point when you have to learn to redirect your help from those who fail to see the value of your help—move on to those who will be thankful for your help and will see the value of your help.  Don’t overwork yourself to the point that you get frustrated with being a selfless person—simply change the people who are the benefactors of your acts of selflessness.  You will have such a better life when you dismiss selfish and ungrateful people from your life.

Deuces,

Tony

Focus on Being Thankful on Thanksgiving

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Sometimes people can allow their education to cause them to miss the true value and opportunities offered by a holiday.  Many college students and professors love to focus their attention on the brutal treatment of the Native Americans that Thanksgiving brings to the forefront for them, and we should never forget about the inhumane treatment of the Native Americans by White people who came and stole their land.  However, we cannot go back in time and change what happened.  What we can do is concentrate on being thankful on Thanksgiving.  When holidays like Thanksgiving come around and you don’t like their origin for some reason, you have an opportunity to construct the holiday to fit your personal preferences.  Make holidays your own.

On Thanksgiving, we can all celebrate the many things that we are thankful for.  For those academicians who cannot move past the epistemology of Thanksgiving to see the opportunities and value of the holiday in the postmodern epoch, then this means you’ve been imprisoned by history and need to escape your own self-captivity.  

We don’t all have to celebrate Thanksgiving in the same way, but we all can be thankful that we are alive on this day and can be thankful for our many blessings.

To my fellow Christians, let’s show people the Christ in us by doing something for someone who is less fortunate than us by making Thanksgiving a day that they can enjoy.  If you see someone homeless, please get him or her something to eat.  No one should go hungry on Thanksgiving.

Instead of complaining all of the time about what you don’t have, start thanking God for all of the things you do have.  Let God know you’re grateful for the things He has done in your life.  Don’t be so selfish that you continue to overlook the things that people have done for you because you cannot seem to stop complaining about what you don’t have.  For those who have done special things for you this year and in the past, take a moment on this holiday and let them know how much you appreciate them for what they’ve done for you.   

Showing gratitude is vital.

Although we are faced with a challenging economy, God is not going to let those who love Him suffer through this economy alone.  He is going to give you exactly what you need to prosper in these difficult economic times because He is greater than our economy.  We only need to look to Him to be able to prosper in our current economic times.

It is my hope that everyone will have a great Thanksgiving.  Try not to eat too much and share with Everyday Street Bible some of the things you ate on your Thanksgiving menu, and share with Everyday Street Bible the significant moments you will always cherish that this holiday has brought for you.  For those of you who are missing a love one on this day who has always made this holiday special, I pray that God will give you the comfort, peace, strength, and love you need to have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Deuces,

Tony