Moving Forward: Beyond 2010

Update for 12-11-10

I'm up working late on homework and was led to get this devotional from five months ago and repost. As I think about the place I was during that time versus where I am now, I know personally that I am a much better person because of the changes I had to face. Even after all of the changes I had to go through, I am yet a determined woman who is pressing ahead and moving foward as this year comes to a complete close.

Father God has great things in store, and I am joyfully expectant as a child would be when a parent promises a surprise gift months in advance. My prayer for each of you during the coming weeks is that you remain  stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that your labor has not been done in vain. God is a rewarder of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Stay focused despite the small irritations and distractions. Know that God has you covered under the shadow of His wings because you are consistently making time to love on Him and to dwell in the secret place of the Most High God.

God Bless you and Merry Christmas!

Arnita L. Fields


Original Post

As I sat working on a project during the third watch of the night, I began to hear the rustling of the wind outside my window. As the wind picked up speed and lightening began to light up the sky, it was inevitable that a huge storm was about to pass through Memphis. After spending a few moments listening to see if I should just go on to bed and finish up what I was working on later today, I began to type faster as words began to flow up out of my spirit. Although a huge storm was moving throughout the city, I still had to remain focused and keep on working because God still had something to say despite what was going on around me.

During the course of the past few months Israel Houghton’s song “Moving Forward” has come up repeatedly in my spirit. I love this song not because Israel is one of my favorite minstrels, but because the words resonate with my spirit as a charge to move forward into the things that God has purposed for me to do and in the time that I have been allotted to do them in.

This morning during my quiet time as I listened intently to what the spirit of God was saying, I began to hear that there were some things in my life that needed to be closed out and completed before the end of this month. July which is the seventh month is also known as the month of completion. As details of the items that needed my immediate attention were revealed, I began to make mental notes so that I would not forget one single thing. God was truly showing forth His wisdom as He began to confirm to me details about the upcoming season and the things that were coming to a close in my life right now.

Although my breakthrough stands within sight on the horizon, I am truly glad that I was up and working before the storm came, it has put my mind at rest knowing that this type of cleansing rain was good not only for the city but for my soul and spirit as well.

One of my favorite scriptures is Ecclesiastes 3, where in verse 1 Solomon writes; “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” With this thought in mind, as I move closer to my 44th year of life, I am learning so much more about myself as an individual as well as who I am as a child of God. Although during the course of 43 years, I have made numerous mistakes, and have by the grace and wisdom of God made many good decisions. Many of these decisions led me closer to God and many others took me away from His planned will for my life. Regardless of this fact, God had continued to shower His love upon and in me. My deepest desire and heart’s cry is to be a vessel unto honor and pleasing to God no matter the cost. After today, I have no plans of looking back; my face has now been set like flint so that I can move forward in God.

Although I have been directed to remove some people and things that have become distractions, I know that all things do work together for good in the end. Despite the many storms of this past season God has truly been merciful to me and my family. For without His mercy and grace I believe I would have fainted right smack in the middle of it all, but because I have a purpose and destiny to fulfill in God, He has come to strengthen me and to restore my soul.

May this note offer some type of encouragement to you as you prepare to exit the month of completion and enter into your very own month of new beginnings.

In God's love,

Arnita L. Fields, 2010

Aim High and Fly Higher!

Rise Above Your Ashes

Rise above your ashes, no matter where they may fall.

Rise above your ashes, don’t panic or your destiny will surely be stalled.

Rise above your ashes, and tap into your well deep down inside.

Rise above your ashes, and kiss your misery good-bye!

© Arnita L. Fields 2009

     As the seasons began to change and we enter into the last quarter of 2009, many of us will find ourselves once again in a mode of self reflection as we assess how the events and changes in the first three quarters of this year have affected our lives. If you are still dealing with the effects of a loss you have faced, I would like to take a few moments to offer you a word of encouragement which is taken right out of the word of God.

     You may have lost your home; car, a job, furniture, family or friends and some of you may even have lost your faith. But despite what you may have lost, you can and are well able to recover those things that God has preordained for you to have. If you are serious about reclaiming what you have lost, you are going to have to become a willing participant in your own recovery process.

     Let’s go now to the word of God in 1 Samuel 30:1-8 and take a look at David and how he was able to rise above his ashes and recover that which belonged to him. In verse 1 we see where the Amalekites had invaded Ziklag and burned it with fire, but as we come to verse 4 we began to see how David responded in his trial. (4) “Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. (6) Then David was greatly distressed for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” (NKJV)

     Do you see that it was okay when you cried about your loss? But after you have cried and released your tears, you must come to a point where you will have to get up from your ash heap and begin to tap down into your spirit and make a divine connection with your Heavenly Father. The attitude that you take when you are in the midst of a fiery trial is key as to how well you will respond back to God. If you have previously been building yourself up in your most holy faith, you will be able to pull up whatever it is that you need to come out of your situation victorious. David had the right attitude towards God when he approached the throne of grace. He knew that the wisdom he needed to pass his test was not wrapped up in the people around him, but in his own personal relationship with God.

     Now let’s go back and see what David did in the following verse, (8) “So David inquired of the Lord, saying shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” (NKJV) When David made his divine connection with God; he was able to receive the wisdom he needed to move forward in his recovery process.

     Have you taken what you have been struggling and dealing with to God? Are you willing to take part in your own recovery process? Or are you just looking for someone else to come and bail you out of all of your troubles? You may say that you are not like David and you don’t have his faith or even his strength, but the word of God says that you do have the same divine connection that he had, and that’s a direct line to the heart of God. We serve a God who never sleeps and never slumbers. He is a God who is not a respecter of persons, and He is a wise loving Father who hears the cry of His children. Your ashes are not meant for you to sit in forever; they are only there to help propel you to your next level and place in God. So my dear sister and brother I say to you right now, arise and dust yourself off; and immediately consult God for His divine wisdom and direction so that you too; can move forward into your divine destiny and purpose.