Daughter of Increase

Hey Gems!!! Today I want to talk about something that many of us find hard to obtain, but that is more easy to obtain than we think it is. God left us a gift through Jesus that we should all know how to access, but because of the world we live in we just don’t get it. That gift is peace. Peace is something we believe is far-fetched and many don’t take it seriously, but we should. Peace should keep us strong. Jesus even tells us this in John 14:27, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. I mean wow. He tells us all about the gift He’s giving to us and what we should do. In typical DOI fashion let’s breakdown some words for a deeper understanding or interpretation. Peace – Greek word eiréné meaning peace of mind, rest, quietness, God’s gift of wholeness; state of national tranquility; security, safety, prosperity the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation t...

Hey Gems!!! I pray you all had a fantastic weekend and a blessed Sunday. This week I want to talk about being rooted in God. Last week we discussed abiding in Christ through His Word which is essentially the Bible. We know that we need to abide in Christ. Abiding is what sustains and keeps us moving to be more like Christ and be closer to the Father. However, there is still more that we need to do and today we’re going to talk about it! This week’s verse comes from the book of Psalms. As we know Psalms is full of hymns and prayers that have a poetic feel to them, but are also all heartfelt praise to God. This particular Psalm I choose does not have a particular person as the author of it, but it’s titled Blessings on the Godly. The verse is Psalm 1:3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. That just sounds so poetic and beautiful. The entir...

Hey Gems!!! I pray you all had a wonderful and blessed weekend. I am excited to be getting back into doing my VOTW posts. For those of you who are new to the blog, VOTW ( verse of the week ) is a segment in which I pick a verse that I can break down in detail and relate to life in today’s world. It’s a verse that I definitely recommend trying to remember or writing down and keeping with you at all times. I enjoy doing this VOTW posts as they are sort of like short scripture studies or verse-mapping. I give definitions, examples from my personal life and application ideas. I have fun creating these posts and my prayer is that these posts continue to be a blessing to many of you. This week I dove into my old devotional/scripture studies to see if I could find something that would call out to me and boy did I find a good verse for this week; John 8:31-32: Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the ...

Good morning Gems (& Gents)! This past weekend has been insane in both a good and scary way. I experienced something frightening, but in that situation I felt a sense of peace and contentment that I'd never would have experienced before if my relationship with God wasn't where it is now. As I was thinking of a verse for this week, I came across this one from the book of Isaiah and I knew this was it: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Such a small, yet powerful verse. This is a command and a promise from our Father whether we are in times of despair or in seasons of gladness. Though told this to the people of Israel, this verse is still true to His children today. Let's start off by breaking down some of the words in this verse shall we: Fear : the Hebrew word is  yare' meaning to cause to frighten ( affright ); to make or be afraid;...

Hey Gems!!! I wanted to start off this week by telling you to be loved beloved. We are all loved by a Father that never leaves us alone. He is always there to comfort, protect, shield, dry our tears, love us unconditionally and be our shoulder to cry on. God is, above all, the best Friend, Father and Provider in this world. For me, I personally struggle at times and forget my identity as His precious daughter. Sometimes I forget that I am unconditionally and well loved by Him. However, this week I am dispelling my forgetfulness and hopefully yours too. Today's verse for the week comes from 1 John 3:1-2 in the NKJV translation: Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Thi...

Hey Gems!!! This is the start of a new week on the blog so that means it's time for our VOTW! This week are looking at Jeremiah 15:16 in the NKJV translation: Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. This was part of Jeremiah's prayer for his people to God. He pleaded with and declared to God his great love for and focus upon God’s word. This verse shows us how we should look at God and His word. First Jeremiah found God's word meaning that he neither neglected or took it for granted. He appreciated it. This is powerful because many of us are on one side of the spectrum or the other. Do you neglect the Word? Do you take it for granted? Next thing he did was eat the word of God as he would food. This means he took the word as if it were food for his body. From his intake we can gather that he received spiritual nourishment and refreshment. Do you get spirit...

Hey Gems! This is the start of a new week on the blog and I'm introducing a new weekly post called VOTW. VOTW stands for verse of the week and it's a weekly post in which I share a scripture, break it down, give you questions to ponder and then a weekly dare pertaining to the verse to keep in mind for the entire week. It's a way to keep the Word of God at the forefront of your mind and help you apply it. This is the very first VOTW on the blog and this week's verse is a focus on Isaiah 43:2 in the NKJV translation: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. Why did I pick this verse for the first VOTW? It's really simple...have you ever asked yourself why God has you going through the storm and the fire? Or better yet have you asked why He is taking you through troubled waters? The answer is two fold reall...