Back to the Basics

Never get so busy with worldly matters that you're no heavenly good. 
Or so, the saying goes...

This has been a very challenging semester for me & the students I work with!

Since I'm still a student myself, balancing school & work while always giving time to Christ isn't the easiest to do. This past summer, my relationship with Christ was at its strongest. I can truly say, I was FILLED with His Holy SPirit. I meditated on Christ's Word night & day, read the bible everyday for hours at a time, humbled at the mercy Christ gives me & in effect, truly loved all people.

There was no evil that saturated in me, no wicked responses that I negatively reacted to & no fear of ministering to people about the Will of Yahweh & His gift of salvation for all that accept.

So, once the summer was coming to an end & I returned for the fall 2012 semester, I saw things differently. I was not at all pleased with the unclean spirits I felt around me. They weren't IN me, but they were present in my atmosphere through many people around me & it spiritually disgusted me.

Since I walked in the Holy Spirit, I was overtly sensitive to the spirit many people held. I could feel the heaviness of my professors and mentees, their fears/pain/stress/ even when they physically showed otherwise. The tuning of my spirit was so keen, I could hardly concentrate on worldly tasks. I wanted to go into ministry full-time & leave school, as a student, immediately!

I began to pray about this matter, asking Yahweh to reveal to me rather I should stay or leave. WHile waiting on an answer, satan was on my case HARD, trying to discourage my focus on the things of Yahweh. He was bringing unforeseen trials my way constantly. Yet, I still took great joy in being a child of THE KING OF KINGS, never being deterred of my faith in Christ.

My answer from Yahweh: I've placed you here for a reason not known entirely to you. Continue to minister my Word to people where you currently are.

This was NOT the answer I wanted! I just KNEW that Christ would've wanted me to get out there and use my entire day talking to the homeless & people in shelters, those in nursing homes. etc. about the Kingdom of Yahweh. However, Christ wanted me to stay here & continue in this journey, ministering & finishing school.

So I pulled back on my relationship with Christ. I still prayed and read the bible but I was not in so deep as before. I started concentrating more on my students & my personal schoolwork. I felt guilty, thinking I should still be greatly saturated in the Word. Yet, I kept going on the way I knew how throughout the semester.

By midterm, I was making all As in my classes & began focusing on one of my mentees that I call my little sister. Her experiences are parallel to what my mother endured as a young woman & after Christ continued to press upon me the responsibility of helping this young lady overcome spiritual bondage through the love of Christ, I surrendered.

It is the end of the Fall semester, my final grades were all As & now I'm personally mentoring a young lady that is well on her way to having a strong & consistent relationship with Christ.

I now think about if I were not obedient to Christ or second-guessed His purpose for myself, where would I be right now?

Megan & I (Left to Right)

Working With The Youth

If you don't follow me on twitter , you may not know this- but I work for Student Support Services (SSS) as a mentor and tutor to undergraduate students at Chicago State University (CSU). We  are part of TRiO, which caters to first generation college attendees, low income and minority students to help them complete an undergraduate degree with all possible support such as counseling, mentoring, tutoring, financial assistance, and relevant topic- workshops. This job is so fun, exciting and fulfilling because I get to work with a variety of people with various backgrounds, ages, etc. I always connect with many students that have very tragic histories and have endured a lot, often times, within just 20 or so years of life. I use this job as a platform to spread the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. I'm always asking God to help me be able to reach more people and for Christ to work within me so that those who are called by Him can hear his voice and know that they need Him to transform their hearts.

Since last week, we have been processing new admits and there are so many students, of all grade levels, coming into the program. I worked over the summer, so I got to sit and meet with many of the new students. One young woman, age 24, is a senior at CSU and she has 2 children (boy and girl), ages 4 and 2. She came in with a newly admitted friend of hers, inquiring about the program. I was explaining the benefits of SSS and she was joking that because she is a senior, it may not be very beneficial to her. I went on to do more paperwork, yet because I always observe my surroundings, I could see that she was very kind & accommodating to everyone that had come in, smiling & making everyone laugh at her jokes. 

However, I knew there was a heaviness in her heart. I cannot explain how I knew it, I just did. There was a restlessness within her & a mask covering the pain she felt. God was pressing me to speak to her about Him. I called her out into the hallway and began speaking with her one on one. She revealed to me that she was molested several times throughout her life and that her father practices necromancy, divination among other forms of sorcery (Deuteronomy 18:10-11). I look forward to speaking with her more about the Word of God & will personally work with her spiritually, outside of the workplace. 

I am so grateful that God has placed me in this position to help His children. I want no glory for myself & my entire goal, since I have worked with youth, has been to introduce them to Christ. I struggle with areas of separating myself from the world (being child of Christ yet working with the public and those of the world all the time, can make a person weary & it is imperative to always stay armored up - Ephesians 6:10-18 - so that Satan may not enter in your spirit). I just ask God to help me always remember to never get caught up with the world, crowding Christ out of my life (Mark 4:18-19). I love Christ SO much & I know that as His sheep, I am to represent who I believe in, follow, obey and honor. 

SO daily I pray that Christ seals me so that I am forever His & that those He leads me to speak to, the seed is dropped, in hopes it fell on good ground - receiving the word with gladness & bearing much fruit. 

Side-note: The young woman's name is Deborah - a prophetess, judge of Israel and wife according to Judges 4 in the bible. So what's in a name? According to the Word of God, names are extremely important & they foretell a person's destiny. I believe that this young lady, Deborah, can become a great woman in God's Will & His plan for her life. Let God Work!

Fellowship 101

*Warning* - This post will contain a highly offensive subject matter (to the flesh) that many will dispute but I must introduce it! If you are not interested in seeking truth, I suggest you leave this page now...


Recently, my mother had same-day surgery to break up a kidney stone. The nurse that monitored her vitals during recovery begin having a conversation with my mom. They were discussing the Word of God & the nurse was baffled that although my mom does not attend church, she actually studies the bible daily, keeps the commandments of God & have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Many people find this to be odd because the world LOVES to place people in categories & it is almost as if people cannot mentally process information if it will not fit in a category the world created! Christ never ministered religion. He despised the Pharisees because they did not worship in spirit & truth (John 4:24) and instead, disregarded the Word of God to keep the commandments of men (Mark 7:13). 


I often think, if now (instead of then) were the generation in which Christ came to spread the Gospel of The Kingdom Of God, who would be the Pharisees? 

Well, the Pharisees did their deeds in the sight of men to receive their praise (Matt 6:5), Christ called them hypocrites (Matt 6:2), spiritually blind (Matt 15:14), their prayer was not heard by God (Luke 18:11, John 9:31). In addition, they often had social ties with those that had nothing to do with God, political ties & they advised others to do things that they themselves refuse to do (Gal 6:12-13).This really describes many church members & government-registered (501c3) churches. God's Word is NOT for sale, yet every church has merchandise that they offer the congregation, rather it be self help books, DVDs & CDs of the sermons, or other things for sale. 

In Mark 11:11-22, Christ does something SO significant. People often overlook this & never understand it for what it really means.  We are shown that Christ was with His apostles coming from Bethany & got hungry. He came upon a fig tree that had no fruit. He cursed the tree, declaring that it will not ever bear fruit again & immediately afterward- we are shown Him going into the temple in Jerusalem, rebuking those that bought & sold within the church, casting them out!- turning over tables, knocking over chairs & said "Is it not said my house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? But ye have made it a den of thieves." - Now if you know anything about a fig tree, you know that the figs grow before the leaves.... So when Christ saw leaves on the fig tree, it was certainly suppose to have figs. However, just as many supposed godly people APPEAR like they are bearing spiritual fruit, when we examine it, we see they have no spiritual fruit at all. They merely have a form of godliness as taught in 2Tim 3:5.  I thought it was very interesting to see the curse of the fig tree & Christ in the temple connected to one another as one story, not only in the Book of Mark, but the Book of Matthew as well.


It is imperative that people understand what Hebrew 10:25 meant. When Paul said "Do not forsake the assembly..."- It is clear He was speaking to a group of people that believed in, obeyed and followed the Will of God though Jesus Christ. This was in NO WAY encouraging people to find a church home or stay in a church building among a group of people. In the Book of Acts, often times the apostles were in people's home having fellowship. Let's be clear: In NO wise has a congregational building church service EVER been promoted in scripture. Every time Christ taught in the synagogue, there were a mix of people in there- the hypocrites and the true believers. This carried over to the apostles in the Book of Acts as well. 
We must know the character of God to truly serve Him. God is NOT going to send us among a "form of godliness" type of people to Worship Him yet still ask us to remain "unspotted from the world" ( James 1:27). That is NOT the character of God. The one TRUE God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob teaches us to remove ourselves from wickedness, and even moreso when it comes to Worshiping Him! ...Worshiping among hypocrites is not God's intention nor meaning for His children when He asks us to avoid forsaking the assembly. 
People have asked "so what is your problem with going to church? did you have a bad experience?" - And my response to that is NO! Although many people HAVE had an experience that revealed the wickedness that goes on in these congregations, I have not faced that. And I thank God that my 15+ yrs in congregations (from my past) never had me endure spiritual abuse. However, it does not take a genius to know exactly what goes on in these places. I've attended enough churches to know 1. The sheep of Christ are scattered, He is the shepherd & do not belong to any denomination  that are the "chosen people" and 2. Being set apart would be leaving ALL wickedness behind, including walking away from your beloved church home because the entire church congregations in Christianity as we know them - have been tainted by Satan. There is more about this topic HERE if you are interested in knowing the history of why church as we know it is not of God.

People have been misled into believing a counterfeit Christ is the REAL Christ & ALL Christian denominations & sects have had a part in this (See Jeremiah 23 for description of this). There is NO church congregation that teaches to depend SOLELY on the Holy Spirit to teach you of all truth (not some unbiblical prophet of prophetess, pastor,evangelist, etc), obey God by keeping the 10 commandments, teach the TRUE time Christ rose from the dead, teach the TRUE Sabbath & much more... Not ONE church does this. 

So people, I implore you to get right with God by repenting of ALL of your sins, asking forgiveness of those that you have done wrong to, stop placing yourselves in a judgment position, humble yourselves as a little child, ask for the Holy Spirit to guide your understanding & avoid evil no matter who or what you must forsake to do so. This is the only way to please the God of the Bible. 

Waiting on The Lord

Follow @MoniceSharde I've vowed to the Lord that I would read His Word Daily & truly submit myself to His Will for my life, not placing ANYTHING in front of Him & releasing all of the ways of the world that separate me from Him, following the 10 commandments (and NO they are NOT "nailed to the cross" or "done away with"- read John 14:15, 1John 2:3-4, James 2:10-11, Romans 3:31) through faith in Jesus Christ & always ask God what I should do in all areas of my life.

So, I've been reading over many books in the bible that I've read many times before but God reveals things to me as He sees fit when He knows it's time for me to see more. I am so grateful for this because it is literally like unwrapping a new gift every time I read the Word of God..

Recently, I have been trying to figure out something that is VERY imperative to understand within the Word & Will of God. I thought I understood this certain thing but then something came out of my research that made me think otherwise. I felt discouraged... Because like many other things taught within these Christian churches of the world that we've all learned PRIOR to finally getting to the TRUTH of who The LORD is, I'm finding that this topic- has too- been distorted to kill the TRUE Gospel of the Kingdom of God. I got filled up with tears and started crying. I felt "Oh No, I have found SOMETHING ELSE that Satan has deceived the masses with?! I give up!"

I went to lie down in my room & pulled the covers over my head, pouting to myself. My mom came in to minister to me & I just did not want to hear it. I felt defeated in every way imaginable & then Satan's temptations started to flood me within seconds "It does not matter, you will never get the truth, whatever will be will be, just accept it & live your life the way YOU want because getting it right is far from your reach & just unattainable. Why waste your time, you could be doing something else. Just QUIT trying NOW" Immediately, I knew Satan was trying his best to sift me as wheat & make it where I walked away from God for good.


Then right afterward, the small voice came... My thoughts shifted to "No. God is not setting His children up for failure. You know He hears your prayers & you know that all of what you HAVE learned in His Word, you have been obedient to. God does not condemn those that are diligently seeking Him & he discerns the hearts of man. He knows that you love Him & He wants to continue a relationship with you. Be patient because although it may seem that everywhere you turn there is a different & often eschewed interpretation of (the matter at hand), God has not left you & will reveal the truth of it in due season. Rest on what you DO know & He will continue to lead you in truth"


I felt immediate comfort & was kinda mad at myself for not having the second thought come first! I immediately repented, prayed & rested with the Faith that God will reveal this topic that has troubled me in His timing.

If you have ever faced a roadblock when trying to understand things concerning the Word & Will of God, I encourage you to read the following scriptures, then pray - asking God to reveal His Word to you so that you will have a conviction in the TRUE Word & Will of God:

"But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your rememberance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you but not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. - John 15:26-27

"Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself: but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine & show it unto you" - John 16:13-14


"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." - Romans 8:14

"My help comes from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved : he that keepeth thee will not slumber." - Psalms 121:2-3

So you see, if there are things you do not understand within the Word of God that have yet to be revealed to you, the Holy Ghost (Comforter) will teach it to you in God's timing. When you are someone that is obedient to the Lord, you will receive the mysteries of the Kingdom of God & all that is needed to be known of Him & His Will as time goes by. You do not have to get the understanding by man... For the Spirit of TRUTH will tell you soon enough! Be confident in the Lord your God!

Manifesting Psalm 51:10

Follow @MoniceSharde Currently, I am undergoing a reconstruction process. Being completely transparent, it has always been very difficult to release things of the world that I felt was not spiritually harmful.  Entertainment has always been an issue for me. I enjoy reading novels & my favorite genre is Psychological & Crime Thrillers. I'm more into music than television but when I do watch television, a major portion of it is dedicated to Reality TV. I have struggled with this for many years, looking for the balance between what type of entertainment The Most High God considers a sin. I knew that watching shows like Basketball Wives and Love & Hip-Hop was not bringing glory to Him, but I also felt it wasn't necessarily taking it away. Then my mother told me something that, although I would force myself to forget while engaging in sinful forms of entertainment, still stuck with me... And what she said was: Your activities have to be done in the mind of Christ. If there is something you are interested in doing that you do not immediately deem as spiritually harmful, think about Christ sitting in your front room. What would you do around Him in comfort of knowing you are doing His Will & what would you try to hide in fear of knowing He wouldn't approve? - 

And JUST LIKE THAT, my mother had summed up my rhetorical questioning of things being acceptable or not to The LORD. This was told to me back in 2010. However, the acceptance of it is saturating now.

So, I am tired of running from complete righteousness, tired of asking Jesus Christ to only wash parts of me (because other parts were unwilling to submit to His Will) & tired of lying down at night being plagued with the feeling of myself being lukewarm!

At this time, I am undergoing a reconstruction process that is removing all of what I thought to be little sins & replacing it with complete obedience of The Word & Will of The Most High God. 

I have NEVER gotten rid of certain music, TV shows/Movies & Books & stayed rid of it. However, how can I say I am a child of my LORD & Saviour if I do not completely obey Him & walk completely in faith? Exactly! So here I am, a child receiving mercy from My Father for another chance to give willingness & obedience to Christ, so that He may change my ways & cleanse ALL of my heart. 

*For information about how harmful entertainment can be, please read the previous post: The Danger of Entertainment 

The Danger of Entertainment

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For some time, I have struggled with entertainment by watching  TV shows/movies & listening to music that God would not approve of. I have gone through the process of ridding myself of R&B, Hip-Hop & even certain gospel music a least three times. I can tell you that entertainment definitely carries a spirit of bondage. It amazes me of how people can still argue the idea that music & movies have no effect on a person's behavioral patterns. Even from a scientific & psychological evaluation, these forms of entertainment and many more - without a doubt - affects the behavior, reactions and overall emotions of people.

Ever heard that we only use a certain percentage of our brain? This is true when we engage in most activities. However, music is one of the few activities that involve using the ENTIRE brain. Music is processed in the right hemisphere of the brain. This is the side of the brain that reacts emotionally rather than logically, process the "big picture' rather than the details, processes information in random order rather than sequential order, memory through non verbal information (such as images), and creativity which eliminates perception of consequences.  

Television has been linked to the increase number Attention Deficit Disorder, hyperactivity and delayed brain function in children and adults. According to the #1 natural health site, 72 percent of parents in the U.S. are concerned with their children watching TV for 5 hours a day but only 23 percent of them have taken action of this concern by monitoring what their children watch, cutting the time allowed to watch television or encouraging their children to watch & enjoy educational programming. I'd say, this is not an acceptable number considering we haven't even spoke about the adults that feverishly watch TV programming that do nothing to positively enhance growth!

Of course, with these facts come the evaluation of Satan & his demons having EVERYTHING to do with the reason so many people find entertainment absolutely addictive, music in particular. The bible tells us, in Ezekiel 28:13, that the Tabret and Pipes were prepared IN Lucifer the day he was created. Lucifer actually embodied musical instruments. According to several other scriptures, these are proven to be instruments for music (Gen 31;27, 1Samuel 10:5, Job 17:6, 1 King 1:40, Isaiah 5:12, Matt 11:17 and at least 10 more). Although Lucifer became the adversary of God, thus gaining the name "Satan" and being cast out of heaven, along with the angels that turned from God - Satan still bared many of his heavenly assets and it is no surprise that he is using music and other forms of entertainment to cause people to sin against God. 

Christ talks about "hypocrites" in a greater portion of Matt 6. This word is from the Greek translation of hypokrites which means "play acting" "acting out" "judgment" or "critics"... In short, this word mean ACTOR. Christ taught that hypocrites, or actors - are people that play a role but secretly, they are someone else & have hidden agendas. They put on performances. This is true for the actors in movies and TV shows because they have a public persona yet are completely different people outside of the public eye. Also, music videos provide a platform for musicians to act. All videos have a story-line and require for the people in it to act it out.

*For More information about the origins of acting in Greek society click this link> http://www.greektheatre.gr/actors.html

In Exodus 20, The Most High God warns us about imagery. When we use imagery as a major tool of perception, we will most assuredly go wrong. This is why people idolize celebrities' image of lifestyle (money, clothes, cars, jewelry) & public persona. 

You may be asking about other forms of entertainment such as various products of technology (game consoles, cameras, computers, and much more) and to that I say each of these have created issues on a moral level such as playing video games that promote violence, creating and collecting nude photos/videos, and cyber bullying among many other problems. 

So please, re-evaluate the time you spend and type of entertainment you intake. It can damage you spirit!

Truth About Mother's Day

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On The Road To Success Without Christ??

Follow @MoniceSharde I was thinking about what my goals were before I begin following Christ & the Will of The Most High God. Once I entered college, I would complete that degree, secretly thinking that if it were necessary - manipulate, cheat and lie to get what I wanted. I wanted to take on the world and get everything in it that I felt was deserved. My thoughts toward Christ was that I would praise Him to compliment my already mapped out life. He would just be an addition to my American Dream but I wasn't about to ask Him to direct my path because I knew He wouldn't go in the direction my wicked heart was leading me.

I honestly thought that because when I was in a bad situation, the prayers I sent up to Christ would last me through when I was in a better situation. You know the phrase All Prayed Up... As if my past prayers would last a lifetime through wicked thoughts and a foolish rebellious heart.


Well, fast forward to years later >>> God had me take a break after my first degree. During that time, I was saturated in the Word of God. My once Selfish and Wicked desires had been washed away and replaced with a Heart for God. I cared less about being what the world deemed as successful and listened to God's divine instruction for my life. I switched career paths and looked back at the steps I had previously taken... 

1. When I was a child and adolescent, my mom always babysat for neighbors' children. Since I am my mother's only child, I really enjoyed when she would have children over because I could pretend they were my  siblings (*Note* I wasn't united with my paternal brother at that time). I would care for them in whatever way my mom needed assistance and spent quality time with them...
2. When I was 19, I begin working as a Pharmacy Technician at a couple of Hospitals. There were so many young ladies (around 16 years old) that came to one of the hospitals I worked for, seeking an abortion. I talked with many of them and actually became an off-the-record-mentor for several. During this time I got close with my coworkers and formed bonds with their children. They considered me their big sister...
3. When I was 22, I began working for a division of Kaplan Inc (Test Prep and Tutoring service for k-12th graders). After my first week of working there, my supervisors would send me to tutor some of the more difficult students because they saw I was able to relate to them and these students would work with me when they were extremely resistant toward the other tutors...
4. During my time of pursuing my first degree, in addition to tutoring for Kaplan- I tutored Public Speaking, English & Writing for G.E.D. and college freshman/sophomore students at a couple of community colleges. I worked with students that had been away from school for many years and were reluctant to get help for fear of embarrassment. I found exciting ways to teach them and it worked! I was overjoyed that they found a liking for education again...

The Trayvon Martin DECEPTION!

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Is the New Definition of a "Good Relationship" Accurate?

Follow @MoniceSharde Recently, I met a young man that holds an interest in me & has what many would say are good qualities. He is a college graduate, goal oriented, funny, and handsome... And honestly, a few years ago, that would have been enough for me to think to myself "He is a good enough candidate to be a boyfriend!"  I would've NEVER thought to ask about his belief in Christ. I would've gladly began a relationship with him.. A relationship I would've defended and granted the title: "Good Relationship"

However, since I have grown in the Word and asked Jesus Christ to renew my heart, obeying what is acceptable to Him and removing what isn't - I had to ask this young man about the Word of God and was his beliefs aligned with it. But he is not a man after God's own heart. He is very clear about his rebellion toward Jesus Christ, His Will for our lives and anything that it includes. This was a deal breaker for me. 



As this society has decreased in morality & substantial values, the definition of a "good relationship" has degenerated! In affect, we can agree that the NEW definition of a good relationship is lacking! The qualities that are sought in men and women are financial stability, ambition, level of physical attraction, nice, knows how to behave according to surroundings (etc etc etc)... With this being said, there is a quality that is more important than all of the above traits of a man/woman -put together.. Ironically, many overlook it, as I once would! When a man or woman follows the Will of God by way of Jesus Christ, all goodness will encompass that person's character. Ecclesiastes 4:4 tells us the vanities in having ambitions that outweigh our love for God. This includes seeking or molding and partaking in an ungodly rooted relationship.

What happens when this type of guy doesn't believe in, follow, or submit to The Will of The Most High? 

 

"Blessed are those that do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life. For without are dogs and sorcerers and whore-mongers and murderers and idolators and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" - Revelation 22:14&15

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" -Luke 12:34

"The fool hath said in his heart there is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good." - Psalms 53:1

"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness" - 1 Corinthians 3:19

"Either make the tree good and his fruit good or the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit" - Matthew 12:33 & Luke 6:44

The Word is VERY clear about those that refuse His Word and Will! If you are someone that Loves the Lord Jesus Christ.. You cannot ride off into the sunset (proverbial) and be joined with someone that isn't a believer! The Lord's purpose by design is for the man to follow God (Proverbs 1:2-15) and through this, be a leader for the household.

"In all thy ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths" - Proverbs 3:6

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen" - Jude 1:24&25

"Be ye not unequally yolked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?" - 2 Corinthians 6:14

It is IMPOSSIBLE to have a "good relationship" without following The Perfect Will of The Most High God! So remember, the world's standards and qualities of what constitutes a good relationship are commandments of men.. But The Word of God should ALWAYS be weighed against the commandments of men, for it's the only acceptable standard and when followed, has proven itself to be RIGHT and WORTHY! 

Popular Culture says Y.O.L.O. but Christ says NO NO!

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For the past couple of months I have been hearing and seeing the term "Y.O.L.O." and didn't think to ask what it meant. Because I don't keep up with the trends of popular culture very much, I just thought it was an acronym for something in hip-hop but really couldn't have cared less about its meaning. However, earlier today a guy sent me a message (through social networking) and his username was Y.O.L.O. and I decided to look it up. I found the above picture of Zac Efron with a Y.O.L.O tattoo on his hand. Also, Jenelle from MTV's Teen Mom has gotten one as well:

The meaning of Y.O.L.O. is interpreted in through a mixtape by rappers Drake and Rick Ross, titled "You Only Live Once" which has taken Hollywood by storm and although people used this term frequently in the past, it's taken on a brand of its own.

Ironically, this is a terrible message to impressionable minds, particularly those that have not heard what the Word of God has to say about this! 

The bible teaches us that everyone that accepts the gift of salvation through obedience by faith will not live once but TWICE!

• John 11:25 says: "Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.."

•  1 Thess 4:14 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
• Rev 20:5 "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection"
• Psalm 71:20 " Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth."

This tells us that believers in Christ will physically die to the sin of this world but Jesus will give us new bodies so that we can be caught up to meet him (1 Corinth 15). Do NOT fall into the lies of this world.. The lies of popular culture are satan driven! Jesus has overcome death & so shall we live again if we do the Will of The Most High. Popular Culture says Y.O.L.O. but to that, Jesus says NO NO!

Testimony: From Spiritual Rags to Riches

Follow @MoniceSharde I want to share my testimony with you so that you will have a better understanding of my journey to loving and obeying The Most High. 

I was raised by a single parent (mother) and had a close relationship to my maternal grandmother. My mother was considered the "black sheep" of the family because she never went along with traditions of man, well before she could understand God was calling her out from among her family. Although at that time, she didn't have a strong personal relationship with Jesus Christ, she always recognized that He was Lord and Savior and taught me to be humble, kind, respectful, reliable and trustworthy. She always encouraged me to pray and to lean on Him for strength. Needless to say, being a single mother was not easy for her and she fell into sin that threatened to steal her life. During this time, she was still very active in parenting and was "burning the candle on both ends" so to speak. I would pray daily that she became all that God had for her to be. I believed all she taught me and knew although I couldn't see Christ, He was my strength and was the ONLY one that could change/fix what man could not. So I held on to that faith and continued to pray my mother out of darkness. I went through elementary school, high school, trade school and into the working world holding on to Jesus and trying to build my relationship with Him, which my mom continued to encourage even when she was spiritually weak and wasn't depending on Him to change her.

In 2005, she came completely out from under satan's grip. For that entire year, she did her personal study to find out who Jesus REALLY was, without the influence of the counterfeit-christ that the Western culture's Pagan Rome-inherited teachings give. She began teaching me what she had learned and because I was falling away from Christ, I wasn't interested. The things she was learning about Christ wasn't what the world believes of Him. Yes, He is full of compassion, mercy/grace and love - He is also TRUTH and the darkness of this world is extremely offended when that TRUTH is spoken. It reveals that the walk we think we have with the TRUE Christ is nothing more than a crooked path with the counterfeit-christ of this world (satan). It reveals that ALL things are spiritual, righteous or wicked.. And that, if we decide to decline to accept the gift of salvation and our obedience that is required to effectively receive it, we will be eternally separated from Christ - which results in hell. This didn't sit well with what my eschewed understanding of Him was. It didn't allow me to feel comfortable in my sin nor did it make excuses for it. After a battle of 2 years (from the age of 20 til 22), I purposed in my heart to stop fighting what God was doing in my mother's life and accept Him-COMPLETELY- into my own.

Once I made this leap of faith- TRUE FAITH - I saw EVERYTHING differently. I was in college and once I saw the TRUTH, I no longer had the same reasoning for college as I originally did. Before, I was only in college to get a better career, have lots of money, and live the American Dream. Afterward, I was sickened by my original thoughts. I knew I wasn't in school for myself nor was to take a path I was passionate about when I had a wicked heart. I learned that my desires were to be aligned with Christ's PERFECT Will. So in this, I changed majors (from psychology to communications), after prayer and conformation about what I should do. I could no longer call those around me "friends" because I became too peculiar for them. I stopped dating because I don't want anything detouring my walk with Christ and unless the man is someone that loves the Lord with all their heart and follows His Will (including virginity or celibacy until marriage), I cannot date Him. My heart did ache because things were drastically changing but I also felt peace in knowing The Lord I serve was pleased with my willingness to change. 

Now, I am 26, building on my relationship with the Lord and asking Him to make my heart more and more in alignment with His Will, completing a B.A., and being a vessel to let as many as will hear about Jesus Christ and His love for us all if we just accept it!

Why "Acceptance" of Homosexuality is Wrong

Follow @MoniceSharde Last night, I was tweeting about why homosexuality is a sin to God. Earlier today, one of my followers (Carol) sent a link to me (via twitter) of her blog post, titled "Acceptance and Coming Out." The blog was about her daughter's choice to engage in bi sexual activity and Carol's journey of accepting it. She used scriptures to explain that Christ loves us all and that instead of her distancing herself from her daughter, she decided to accept this lifestyle and the mate her daughter has chosen. On surface, this ideology appears kind, meek and humble - as Christ has asked us to behave. HOWEVER, if we seek deeper in the Lord's Word, we will see that the REAL topic at hand is not rather we are to love someone or not... But if we are to ACCEPT them IN their sin.

I decided to write about this topic because for sometime, it was something I struggled with as well. I had many gay friends and once I became a follower of Christ, I was torn on how to deal with my relationships with those that were set on continuing in that sinful lifestyle. I felt that if I stopped hanging out with them, I'd be a judgmental person, yet if I continued being around them, I wasn't upholding my belief in The Word. After much study, prayer and experiences that provided the closure I needed on this topic - I understood that ending my dealings with them, yet continuing to love & pray for their salvation, was EXACTLY what God wants His Followers to do.

When people try to uphold the idea of accepting the sin of homosexuality, the misunderstanding of Christ's character is always used as "proof" that we are to be alright with this. Scriptures that speak about Christ's compassion and love and our duty to be that way as well (Romans 13:8, Ephesians 4:2, 1 John 4:7, Romans 5:8..etc) are often cited. Yes, Christ MOST DEFINITELY has compassion for us all and LOVES us ALL and we are to DO THE SAME. I am NOT here to dispute that fact! However, I AM here to explain how this can still be done without compromising the Word of God. 



Whenever we are in question about ANYTHING, we are to turn to the Holy Bible. It is infallible and will, most assuredly, give us the answers we seek.


In this case, its best to cover the characteristics of sin (1 John 5:17). The bible tells us that sin is the transgression of the Law of God (1 John 3:4). The entire law is founded upon the Love of God and our obedience to it by demonstrating love to Him and one another (Deut 30:15-16, Matt 22:35-40). This concludes that the ROOT of ALL SIN is SELFISHNESS. Because the bible has told us homosexuality is sin (Romans 1, Leviticus 18:22,20:13, 1Corinth 6:9-10) -we know it is ROOTED in selfishness. Paul gives all the characteristics of Love in 1Corinth 13:4-8. It tells us Love does NOT rejoice at WRONG-DOING but instead, REJOICES WITH TRUTH. It also tells us that Love NEVER ENDS.


According to the homosexual agenda, it is often quoted "Love is Love." However, now that we have a clear definition of what Love is, we can know that the idea of a homosexual "love" is counterfeit of the real thing. Rejoicing in homosexuality, which is sin, is NOT LOVE. The bible tells sin WILL BE DESTROYED (Romans 8:13, 12:2, Rev 21:8). Sin is not love. Transgression of God's Law is not Love. Christ told us in John 14:15 "If ye LOVE me, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS." So we can move on from ANY confusion about homosexuality being a sin.


Now, how do we uphold our Love for The Lord and not be judgmental? The bible tells us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. If you are a follower of Christ, you do all you can to refrain from sinning. You repent daily and commit to doing all things in God's Will, which keeps you blameless from transgression. In this, mercy and grace cover your short-comings. This is the only way to love oneself. And you love your neighbor the SAME WAY. However, those that practice a homosexual lifestyle are NOT repentive, do NOT refrain from committing this sin and REFUSE to do God's Will. So it is not us that has REFUSED to love our neighbor. Its their sin that has REFUSED to LOVE us! We are blameless, they are not!
 In 1Peter 2:9, we are told that we are called OUT of darkness INTO the light. We are no longer to entertain sin. God has redeemed us from it and we are FREE! It would be insane to return to bondage once you are freed from it. Paul tells us to stay AWAY from sin (2Thess 3:6, Ephesians 5:3-11), having NO part of it or those that indulge in it!


Our LOVE for the Lesbian, Gay Bi-sexual, Transgender (LGBT) community should not waiver. However, we cannot be "friends" with ANYONE that is at WAR with GOD. We cannot "accept" their way of life, we cannot excuse their poor decisions. We are only to pray for them, in hopes that they turn from their wicked ways and repent, accepting the Love of Christ as we did.

Desires of Thine Heart

Follow @MoniceSharde We often hear the following scripture, in part, from Psalms 37:4 quoted: “Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” The beginning of this scripture is rarely repeated. SO people go out into the world and believe that, even when they are spiritually ill, can ask God for the desires of their (wicked) hearts and receive all they have asked for. When they don't, they either turn from God, use this as an excuse to be disobedient or accuse Him of not being affective. 



Many people believe that, due to the “prosperity movement” that has swept all the traditional churches – this scripture is speaking about financial wealth, the fulfillment of one’s goals, dreams and aspirations. The popular interpretation, in plain, is: if we attend church services and do good deeds, the Lord will give us what we ask for. But this interpretation lacks something… It does not address rather or not if the person asking has a pure and righteous heart! After all, scripture does tell us about those that have a FORM of godliness, yet deny the true power of God (2 Tim 3:5). Would Paul have warned us of this if he didn’t realize there would be people that “appeared” godly but their hearts were not pure? I don’t think so!

So what DOES God mean by “the desires of your heart?”  Well, let us take a look at what the bible says:

Throughout the bible, people have wanted things that were no good for them. For example, although God promised Sara he would fulfill her desire for a son, her impatience caused her to move faster than God’s plan and she DESIRED one sooner, so she had her husband Abraham sleep with the Egyptian (Hagar). We are aware of how messy that turned out (Hagar and Abraham’s son was Ishmael which is the “father” of the Muslim religion). Sara’s DESIRE within her heart was not something that was healthy for her and has resulted in a spiritual war that still affects mankind today!

Another example is of David’s son, Amnon. He DESIRED within his heart to have his sister, Tamar, which resulted in him raping her. This is clearly a distorted desire and by knowing the character of God, this would not be something He approved of, let alone would He EVER provide it.

Last, In Acts 8, Simon DESIRES to have the healing powers that he has seen the apostles have. He offers money for it and Peter tells him "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money"

Side note: This disproves the "prosperity movement," in that, by giving your money to pastors and allowing them to deem it as tithes, so that you can be blessed is sinning against God. Don't you know that God has no dealings in the world's treasures? How is it that you so readily accept their lie that God will provide your needs by offering money to Him? Christ assure you that your NEEDS are going to be provided (Matt6:31&33)! 

Now, back to the desires of a wicked heart vs. the desires of a pure heart. Simon clearly had a desire that was not aligned with the LORD's Will. God would never grant this desire.

1 John 5:14 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, he heareth us:” < This scripture clearly tells us that God hears the prayers of those that seek for HIS WILL to be done over their lives.

SO when you hear Psalms 37:4, remember that the scripture begins with "Delight thyself also in the LORD..." Meaning that when you seek to please God, your heart is transformed and will be in accordance to His Will. The desires will no longer be your own but instead will reflect what His perfect understanding and non perishable gifts provide: Peace, Love, Joy, Discernment, and other SPIRITUAL GIFTS!

GOD'S WARNING TO CHRISTIANS

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