Happy Thursday TT family, sorry I missed Tuesday... but I think Thursday still works for our TT posts :)

Last Sunday was the first time I have went to a Sunday Church service in a very long time. You know I march to the beat of my own drum, so I always feel like I don’t need the church, the church is inside of me. Recently, while gassing up some baby Christians on social media platforms, hearing them speak of church made the Holy Spirit nudge me. Church is a hospital for the sick in spirit, but it is also the place where God's words can change us and teach us how to keep pressing forward in the midst of spiritual battles.

The service was perfect, I sang contemporary worship songs that I already listen to on the radio, I clapped my hands and the spirit moved me to tears when the music slowed down. How lucky am I to be living in America where we can worship God freely and not in Nigeria where Christians are being slaughtered daily. What a good God he is indeed that I live here, in the land of the "free"

This week's sermon was on how to stop being offended so easily, and if you aren’t offended... maybe you are the offender. This sermon was light, funny, and right on point. It reminded me that when I started accepting my mother for who she is instead of staying rooted in the ways she offended me, things got easier for me.

I came home and told the people around me quips of road rage and the story of how James and John were ready to "blow the place up" when the people offended Jesus. It was a really great message, and I hope you enjoy this sermon! God bless you this week :) Love, Ally. 

Good Morning, my Friends! Happy Testimony Tuesday. I hope you are well and keeping your faith during persecution! Today, I would like to highlight John 15:18-25 as recently so many of our friends are facing persecution. 

The World Hates the Disciples

John 15: 18-25 

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’^[b] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

If you are experiencing hate and persecution, I would say you are in good company. Notice how the world fawns over celebrities that are deeply entrenched in the occult. Yet, when we speak up for the survivors of the system, we are hunted down and slandered to no end. Keep the Faith my brothers and sisters. Indeed the world will hate the truth and anyone who speaks it.

I also want to encourage you that not every "fool" needs a response from you. They are literal energy vampires taking your time and energy away from what matters most... praising the Lord. How can you be in worship if you are in a constant state of worry. God wants us to worship him, and lay our problems down at his feet...vengeance is the Lords, not ours, so say what you have to say and keep it moving :) Romans 12:19 "Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord."

• Proverbs 23:9: "Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words."
• Proverbs 29:9: "If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet."
  
• 2 Timothy 2:23-24: "Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome..." 

I hope this little post invigorates you, and give you the peace and freedom to speak the Truth and let God handle the rest. I love you all! <3 Ally. 

Good morning, my friends! I hope everyone is doing well this fine Testimony Tuesday :)

Today, I would like to highlight a man who has left all his chains behind and is now following God and living his new sober life. John Miles is starting his content journey by speaking about addiction, recovery, and providing hope to other addicts to seek recovery and lay their past behind.

John truly inspires me. Living as an addict on the streets for 10 years, he is now 16 months clean and living life with new eyes. I think it’s quite beautiful that someone who has lived such a hard life now sees the beauty of God in the little things. He counts his blessings and provides a weekly gratitude post so "when we are having a hard time, we can look back on the post to remind us about all the things we are grateful for." John has so much that he can choose to look back on and dwell over, yet he moves forward every day with a new hope and gratitude for life.

A lot of people just look down on others and judges them by their outward appearances. Yet God tells us that he does not look at the outside but looks at our heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 ESV "But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”  John's heart is a servant’s heart, and he wants to help those from the same addictions and feelings of hopelessness. 

Verses that inspire me watching John's journey: 

John 13:34-35 ESV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Matthew 22:37-39 ESV 

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Psalm 18:3 ESV

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

Psalm 142:5 ESV

I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

John is at the beginning of his content creator journey and could use some support from our amazing family on here. I will link his Facebook and Venmo below where you can like, follow, and donate to his recovery. We are all in this together, and it would be nice to help and support John, if you can. Thanks for reading this week, my friends. I love you, and pray for you always <3