First Love

Happy February, with this being the "Love" month I thought it would be fitting to share with you the 

Love of Jesus. 

For God so Loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish by have eternal life. -John 3:16

I totally believe with all my heart that "before" we can have Love from another or give it to another we first need to receive it from the source of Love, which is God. God is Love. And He sent his Son Jesus for us. Once you receive Jesus Love and He becomes your "First Love" He will fill you with His Love and that is when we are able to give it to others. If you don't receive His Love first, you can't possibly Love another the way God wants you to. At best it's Love that is self-seeking at the core. We received Jesus by faith, like completely and so our Love for one another is the same. There is no agenda. There is no motive, it's pure. It's unconditional. Why? Because His Love is freely given, so we do the same. Your true identity is in Jesus, no one else. It's not in your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, pastor, mom, dad, kids, your job, your money, your weight, nothing but in Him. All you need is His Love. Sure, we all want that "True Love" that kind of Love that will Love you no matter what and never leave you, but unless it's Love that comes from God it's better to remain in His Love, because it's truly enough.  Please don't ever settle for anything less than God's best for you. When you fall in Love with Jesus and He is truly your first Love, He will let the right one come in and that right one will Love Jesus.  His life will reflect Jesus in all He does. 

He will be like King David, "A man after God's own heart."

Stay with God, take heart, don't quit, I'll say it again; stay with God. -Psalm 27:14

Is anything to hard for the Lord? -Genesis 18:14

Pray for your future spouse if you desire one. 

"Righteousness and peace kiss each other.

His mouth is most sweet, Yes he is altogether lovely, 

This is my Beloved And this is my friend. -Song of Solomon 5:16

I Love these lyrics from a song called 

"More" by Matthew West.

Take a look at the mountain 

Stretching a mile high

Take a look at the ocean

Far as your eye can see

And think of me

Take a look at the desert

Do you feel like a grain of sand?

I am with you wherever 

Where you go is where I am

And I'm always thinking of you

Take a look around your

I'm spelling it out one by one

I Love you more than the sun

And the stars that I taught how to shine

You are mine and you shine for me too

I Love you

Yesterday

And today

And tomorrow

I'll say it again and again

I Love you more

Just a face in the city

Just a tear on a crowded street

But you are one in a million

And you belong to me

And I want you to know

I'm not letting go

Even when you come undone

I Love you more than the sun

And the stars that I taught how to shine

You are mind and you shine for me too

I Love you

Yesterday

And today

And tomorrow

I'll say it again and again

I Love you more

I Love you more

And I see you

And I made you

And I Love you more than you can imagine

More than you can fathom

I Love you more than the sun

And you shine for me

How beautiful! Just Love, Love, Love but first Love Jesus, and keep Him your First Love no matter what. 

God will give you the desires of your heart if you delight yourself in Him. -Psalm 37:4

Dreams DO come true. Why? Because only He could give such Love. Wait for it. True Love Waits.

"Love Never Fails in Jesus Name"

Your Priceless

Happy 2019! 

Mercy, peace and Love be yours in abundance.-Jude 1:2

I've read many post about a "word" for the New Year. Like a word you can take throughout the year to help you. I've ponder that and I seem to come back to the same thing, Love. I believe with all my heart it's always about Love, and it always comes back to Love and Love is all we need. We all need to be Loved and we all should give Love freely. When I think about Love, I think about the ultimate Love which will always be Jesus Himself. God gave us this gift of His Son Jesus, and died for us even while we were sinners. It's really crazy to think that no matter what you've done, or haven't done, God Loves you and Jesus came for you and for me. I Love this new song by 

Casting Crowns, called 

"Even When You're Running"

-because we've all found ourselves running-

  

Do you feel Him in your heartbeat even when you're running? You try to drown Him out with your life but you still hear Him calling With a voice you've never heard but it sounds like home, home You try to shut in out but you feel it in your bones And it won't leave you alone His Love is inescapable His presence is unshakable Right now you don't believe it's true A better day is coming And you don't need another place to hide He'll find you in your darkest night His Love is holding on to you Even when you're running Even when your're running As a kid you said your prayers, now they're bouncing off the ceiling They took your world away when you trusted Him for healing He's no stranger to your heartbreak, He knows how it feels to lose, oh From the garden to the Cross, He's been chasing after you He's chasing after you His Love is inescapable His presence is unshakable Right now you don't believe it's true A better day is coming And you don't need another place to hide He'll find you in your darkest night His Love is holding on to you Even when you're running Even when you're running Your fear isn't dark enough Your pit isn't deep enough Your lie isn't loud enough To keep Him away from you The Father made a way for you The Son killed the grave for you Let His Spirit come alive in you Are you tired of running? The Father made the way for you The Son Killed the grave for you His Love is inescapable His presence is unshakable Right now you don't believe it's true A better day is coming And you don't need another place to hide He'll find you in your darkest night His Love is holding on to you Even when you're running Even when you're running Your fear isn't dark enough Your pit isn't deep enough Your lie isn't loud enough To keep Him away from you The Father made a way for you The Son killed the grave for you Let His Spirit come alive in you Are you tired of running? His Love is inescapable His presence is unshakable Right now you don't believe it's true A better day is coming And you don't need another place to hide He'll find you in your darkest night His Love is holding on to you Even when you're running Even when you're running It's time to stop running now You don't have to have it figured out All you need to do is turn around And the Father will come running

I Love this because He will not forget us. He knows where your at, and He knows how to get your attention. Sometimes our offended hearts are the breeding ground for deception so let's set our hearts on God and things above. Other times we just feel like nobody cares.  And a lot of times we can find ourselves saying God where are you? But let me tell you that God does care about you, so much so that He calls you Priceless. 

Yes, your Priceless. 

And yes He will not forget you. God remembers you. 

If your feeling like your all alone I so understand. But one thing I can honestly say, God is with you and no matter what He Loves you. 

Even much water cannot put out the flame of Love. Floods cannot drown Love. 

-Song of Solomon 8:7

In this New Year, you can tell God

I surrender. I surrender my life.

I surrender my will.

I surrender my desires.

He will come and fill your life with joy unspeakable, lots of laughs and silly things even in your tears. But more importantly His relentless Love will be a banner over your life.

You've been doing it your way. Now do is My way. 

Purge anything in your life that could be polluting your heart and mind. That could be TV, books, music, social media and even relationships. These things should draw you closer to God, not away. Get into His Word, and stay in it, no matter what. Pray no matter what. And if you do have access to music, listen to Worship and Christian music to lift you up. 

He inhabits the Praises of His People.  -Psalm 22:3. 

The closest times like EVER I've had was singing to Him.

At the end of the day, whether your in a relationship or not, God must be our First Love. 

He must be First in everything. 

How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, 

and there is no God but you. -2 Samuel 7:22

We do not know what tomorrow will hold, so today know He Loves you so much and He is calling you to a relationship with Him. 

Your Priceless.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, 

I know that full well. -Psalm 139:14 

Your Priceless. 

God...is my witness how constantly I remember you.

-Romans 1:9

Your Priceless.

The Love of the Light

I am the light of the world. 
He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. - Jesus 
John 8:12

December is a beautiful month celebrating the birth of Our Savior Jesus Christ. It is also a very hard time for many that have lost family and friends and those who are alone. Let's not us forget them and pray for God's Love to be upon them during this time. 

As we approach the closing of a year into the New Year lets reflect on all the memories and moments we had. May we always seek to Love the Lord with all our hearts. May we always be obedient to His Word and to things He calls us to do.  May we embrace the New Year with gladness for all God has done in our lives and still yet to do. 

God Loves you so much.

For God so Loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. -John 3:16

That is the gift, The Love of the Light... Jesus!

Praying you have a very Blessed Christmas & New Year.

Let Me Remind You-

Let me remind you that He loves you. 

No matter where you find yourself today, 

in the valley, 

the mountain top and 

everything in between 

He Loves you. 

I pray these lyrics Bless you.

David Crowder Band

"How HE Loves"

(originally by John Mark McMillan)

He is jealous for me,

Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree,

Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.

When all of a sudden,

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, 

And I realize just how beautiful You are,

And how great Your affections are for me.

And, Oh how He loves us, oh,

Oh, how He Loves us,

How He loves us all.

And we are His portion and He is our prize,

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes.

If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.

And Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest.

I don't have time to maintain these regrets

When I think about the way...

That He loves us,

Oh, how He loves us

Oh, how He loves us,

Oh, how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us

Happy Mother's Day 2017

A short but full of Love post to say....

"Happy Mother's Day" to all YOU beautiful Mom's. 

May your day be filled with nothing but sweet times. 

Sending lots of Love and comfort to those who will be

without their Mom's for the first time this holiday, 

I know how you feel. 

Happy Mother's Day to first time Mommies 

may you experience nothing but 

joy with your new bundle of joy.

Mom's,  your kids are out there, but keep standing on His promise, 
they will be back. 
May your day be filled with Hope. 

God Bless all Mom's and may God Bless you in your lying down, rising up, going out, coming in and make all your plans succeed with great peace and joy. 

Much Love,

Trachena

Ducks and Then Stella

This picture above was taken in May of 2015. As many of you know we have a homeless pet ministry called SpinkyPets. These are 10 babies and both Dad and Mom on our patio. We raised these ducks until they were big enough to fly. We watched days where Dad and Mom would teach them. I personally grew to Love them deeply, I am sure Steve did too. We also feed many cats too which we Love. At this time we were feeding Spencer and Sabrina two cats that had many babies over a 2 year span. One day Mom Sabrina ran up on our patio and took one of the baby ducks. I watched in horror. I watched Sabrina take this baby duck all the way to the forest behind our home. I sat and cried for hours, I mean really cried like a baby and couldn't stop. My heart was broken! I cried out to God asking why! I get teary even today thinking of that day and how Dad and Mom ducks were so unsettled as they watched Sabrina the cat take one of their babies. 

God cares about every detail of your life. He cares when you cry over baby ducks, He cares when people hurt you or mistreat you. He cares about everything that concerns you. We don't always see or believe that especially when we are going through pain. We know He is faithful and we put our trust in Him. Gal 5:6 says; The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through Love. We put our Faith in The One who holds everything. We know that He works everything out for the good of those who Love Him and are called according to His purposes-Romans 8:28 right?

On January 22, 2016 God blessed me with Stella. She truly is a God girl cat. I know that God gave me Stella, I could write a post for days of all the things God showed me that He gave me Stella. The one I want to share is this-That horrible day of May 7, 2015 when I watched in disbelief "Sabrina" the cat take that baby duck I loved so much, well Sabrina was being a Mom that needed to feed her litter of babies that were born on April 20, 2015. And guess what? Stella was one of those babies! I can't tell you in words or express the depth of my Love for Stella today, but I know God gave her to me. He saw me that day crying deeply over a duck and then blessed me with Stella who survived by eating that duck!

God cares! HE Loves you! And if you will put your trust in Him 100%, He will always work things out for your good even if they don't seem good then, later on you will reap a blessing from Him. 

Here is my baby girl Stella who I rescued from the wild. She was born on the floor of the forest. I've had so many cats over the years, but she by far exceeds any cat I've had, because not only is she like almost perfect (literally) but because this was God's gift to me.  

Thank you Melissa!!

WOW! I've been in tears all day! 

I got a letter today from Melissa whom God 

has allowed me to serve through Christ for years now. 

I just had to do a post of Love and thank you's to her! 

Melissa's journey has been a miracle through the power of Christ. She has been transformed and redeemed in God's Love. From Lowell to Gadsden and soon Hernando she is a miracle. A beautiful girl with a heart of gratitude and not one that thinks that ministries should bless her, 

but grateful for anything including open to be loved and treasured.  

Today she sent me a "thank you" for all I've done for her and a check for $50 payable to me (not the ministries) just because she is grateful and well loved. I take no credit Melissa, I give God all the glory, AMEN. I'm just so thankful you allowed me to love you through Christ. Thank you for your refreshment and your act of Love to give back. I'm in tears because I remember the days you didn't have a penny and was losing weight. And to see how God has blessed you brings so many tears to my eyes. I'm so happy for you! I also have tears because God showed me through your words of Love and encouragement that He is proud of me! WOW! And yes, I am overwhelmed too by your generous heart to give back and share. Thank you Melissa!! You are Loved deeply. And I hope your okay with me telling the whole world how much I'm proud of you and sharing your letter :) I also want you to know that I am so blessed to see you write your "Well Loved". That is what we all are called to do by God, "Love People Well". Thank you for opening your heart to me Melissa. May God continue to bless you richly in Jesus Name. 

"Love Never Fails"

Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13:8

My favorite scripture, because in my life God has shown me over and over through His Love for me that Love Never fails. I had to choose to receive His Love. I need to be filled with His Love contunually. I receive that Love through a love relationship I have with Him. It's a journey of Love. He then turns what He poured into me and somehow pours out that Love into the lives He places along my path. It's truly incredible. His Love is relentless and because it never fails, with His help we can all Love from a place of Our Father. I'm still a work in progress, but I believe with everything in me that Love never fails. I also believe 

He will never called us to do something He doesn't equip us to do. 

He calls us to Love.

Below is a 1 Corinthians 13:3-8 in the messages version, I love it. I hope you will too. As you read each verse, ask God to help you Love like He loves.

“If I give everything I own to the poor 

and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, 

but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. 

So, no matter what I say, 

what I believe, 

and what I do, 

I’m bankrupt without love. 

Love never gives up. 

Love cares more for others than for self. 

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. 

Love doesn’t strut, 

Doesn’t have a swelled head, 

Doesn’t force itself on others, 

Isn’t always “me first,” 

Doesn’t fly off the handle, 

Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, 

Doesn’t revel when others grovel, 

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, 

Puts up with anything, 

Trusts God always, 

Always looks for the best, 

Never looks back, 

But keeps going to the end.” 

Love never dies.

1 Corinthians 13:3-8

True Love

Written by: Cenia Means Masterson

While most people today would define love as a feeling, Jesus Christ defines it quite differently. 

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: 

Jesus defines love for Him as obedience to Him. We may say that we love Jesus, but our lifestyle will reveal whether our love is really true or not. True love is the perfect love that motivated Jesus to surrender His back to the beating and His life to the cross for us. 

Joh 15:13-14 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
He asks nothing more and deserves nothing less than our love in return, but the love He asks for, the love He is worthy of, isn’t just lip service. It is life service. 

Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Will we deny the passions and pleasures of sin for a season to live a life of obedience and full devotion to Him or do we love self more than Jesus? Jesus asked Simon Peter a simple question that we, who claim to love Him, should ask ourselves as well.

John 21:16 Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?
Do we?

Brokenness by James MacDonald

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:17, ESV).

Before a horse can be useful to its owner, it has to be broken. An unbroken stallion is proud and strong. It will paw and snort and let no one ride it. But then a bit goes in its mouth, a saddle goes on its back, and someone climbs up and hangs on. The stallion immediately starts to buck, because it doesn’t want to be broken—but eventually it stops fighting and surrenders to the will of its master.

Sometimes we have that same stubborn, rebellious, self-sufficient spirit within us, and God often breaks those attitudes because they keep us from experiencing true intimacy with Him. 

Have you ever been broken? Brokenness is empty-handedness before God. It makes no demands. It is falling into the embrace of your loving Father and finding Him to be enough. It says not only “God, I need You,” but “God, You are all I need.”

What are some of the things God breaks? Here are some of the big ones:

Stubbornness. “I am going to do this my way.” If you are one of God’s children, that attitude is on its way out. You can fight with Him for a long time if you want, but your stubbornness will eventually be broken.

Pride. “I know better; I am better.” God hates pride in the hearts of His children. He hates it in my heart; He hates it in yours. People who have been greatly used by God have come to grips with the need to dispense with all pride and to humble themselves.

Willfulness. “You can’t make me! You can’t tell me! I’ll do what I want, when I want.” That’s willfulness, and it is also on its way out. God will use whatever He has to use to remove it from your heart and life.

Independence. “I can make it without You.” Nothing will inhibit your intimacy with the Father like an attitude of self-sufficiency. Recognize your weakness and rely on His strength.

God will use broken health, careers, dreams, relationships, promises, and hearts to rid our lives of the things that hinder intimacy with Him. Some say a loving God wouldn’t allow pain, but God’s love is not a pampering love; it’s a perfecting love. God is producing something in us—the likeness of His Son—and He is going to do whatever it takes to make that happen. You might want to get off the program, but any other path will lead you to a place you don’t want to be. 

You will never experience true intimacy with God until you are able to come before Him in genuine humility, utterly desperate for Him. You need to be broken. 

JOURNAL

• Describe a time in your life when you’ve experienced true brokenness before the Lord. What brought it about, and what resulted from it?
• What are some areas of your life you need to loosen your grip on and surrender to God now?

PRAY

Lord, I confess that I am naturally proud, stubborn, willful, and prone to believe I’m self-sufficient. I confess that I resist the thought of being broken, but I believe that, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Please help me to let go and allow You to have Your way in my life. Thank You that the more I surrender to You, the more intimacy I can have with You. God, you are all I need. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Orphans and Widows

Happy Blessed New Year 2016!!

We pray that this year will bring you abundant blessings and that you will prosper. 

May mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. 

We wanted to start the New Year off by asking for prayer for our ministries. As most of you know Surrender40 reaches out to the poor, the sick and prisoners. 

Pink Love was created to reach girls everywhere in Love through a writing ministry that currently and mainly focuses on reaching those girls in prisons. 

The last several months God has been tugging on our hearts to begin reaching out to orphans and widows. We are in deep prayer about this. We are thinking about restructuring Pink Love Ministries to embrace these additional outreaches. We even thought about adding a new name ministry to our current ministries.  

Any ideas would be a blessing.

Please pray for us. 

We want to be in the center of God's will. 

Pray for doors to be open and God to make the light shine on direction. 

Thank you for your support, love and prayers. 

James 1:27

Pure and Genuine Religion in the sight of God The Father means caring for Orphans and Widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

I am not ashamed of the Gospel

Written by:

Mandy Carey-Founder 

Father of the Bride Ministries

Cape Coral, Florida

I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL, BECAUSE IT IS THE POWER OF GOD THAT BRINGS SALVATION TO EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES, FIRST TO THE JEW, THEN TO THE GENTILE. ROMANS 1:16

WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY DEFINES “ASHAMED” as, “feeling shame or guilt: not wanting to do something because of shame or embarrassment, a feeling of inferiority or unworthiness.

Romans 1:16 makes such a BIG statement. The Apostle Paul is all about LIVING, BREATHING, EATING, SLEEPING, PREACHING, and TEACHING the Gospel of Salvation. 

The Apostle is declaring to the entire world that he is ALL ABOUT JESUS! He makes it very clear.

In this one little verse, He is telling the WORLD, “I’m not who I used to be”. He is BOLDLY proclaiming to all who see him, all who hear him, all who know him, “it does not matter what you used to be! What matters is that you believe in Jesus and what He has done for you!

Paul’s life is a very real example of the grace of God coming to meet us right where we’re at in life. No matter who you are and what you’ve done, JESUS IS NOT ASHAMED OF YOU! NEITHER IS HE OR WILL HE BE ASHAMED TO USE YOU FOR HIS KINGDOM. HE WANTS YOU TO BE BOLD IN PROCLAIMING YOUR FAITH. HE WANTS PEOPLE TO KNOW YOUR PAST. HE WANTS TO MAKE THAT PART OF YOUR TESTIMONY. 

Remember, it’s not about who you were, but rather who HE, (Jesus) is in you! Don’t live your life Ashamed, but UNASHAMED!

"Nancy Michele"

Today Pink Love Ministries along with Surrender40 Ministries honors this day to:

"Nancy Michele"

Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, what he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

So who is Nancy Michele? Before I share with you who Nancy Michele is, first let me share with you how God blessed me with such a beautiful and extraordinary women of faith. It was in late May of 2009, I was on twitter posting scriptures and I saw a tweet that asked for someone to write a couple of women prisoners. I thought...I can do that and I replied. So now you know, Nancy Michele is an inmate in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections. That is where she currently resides, but not who Nancy Michele is.  I was inspired by God to write this post in honor of Nancy Michele to give her our blessings from God, but also to encourage other women inmates all over with a ray of hope that your time is coming too...don't give up your hope.

Nancy Michele entered into the Florida Department of Corrections on 

November 5, 1997 

and will be released from custody on:

May 9, 2014

(this is almost 17 years in prison not including county time)

WOW...WOW...WOW...I have goose bumps just saying that...SHE WILL BE RELEASED FROM CUSTODY ON:

MAY 9, 2014....

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!

Now who is Nancy Michele? She was a broken girl that entered into custody and now a put back together..Women of God. She is creative, artistic, outspoken, kind, outstanding, beautiful, modest, loyal, honest, discerning, noble and the MOST important...

A lover of JESUS Christ.

Through Christ Jesus she has the oil of gladness instead of mourning and has be bestowed the crown of beauty instead of ashes..

Nancy Michele has been from the depths of the pit and now set apart, Anointed, Transformed & Redeemed.

We love you Nancy Michele and bless you as you journey into the "free world" now with these scriptures..

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jude 1:2 

Mercy, Peace and Love be yours in ABUNDANCE.

I am beyond-beyond-beyond BLESSED to call you friend.

With abundance of Love to you Nancy Michele 

from all at:

Pink Love Ministries

&

Surrender40 Ministries

**For those of you reading this post that do not know Christ as your personal Savior...the Bible says...TODAY is the day of Salvation. Right now if you want Jesus to come into your heart and change your life and secure your eternity with Him please pray this simple but profound and life changing prayer and mean if from your heart**

Dear Jesus:

I've sinned and I'm not proud of it. 

Today I lay it down and repent.

I believe that you are the Son of God and died on the Cross for my sin.

Today I ask you to come in my heart and be my Savior, my friend and wash me clean. I no longer want to live from me, but for you. Thank you for accepting me just as I am. I love you Lord Jesus..and thank you.

In Jesus Name I pray...AMEN & AMEN !!!!!!!

Praise the Lord...and welcome to the body of Christ...you are now reborn...the Bible says your sins are no more...completely forgiven..In Luke 15:7 it says..

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over nintey-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. 

Luke 15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

REJOICE...heaven is rejoicing over you!!

If you said this prayer and or would like to contact us for love, encouragement and friendship in Christ Jesus we would be honored to send you a letter of hope and begin the journey with you too.

Surrender40 Ministries, Inc.

Pink Love Ministries

Attention: Trachena

Post Office Box 1041

Davenport, Florida 33836