For the Single Ladies- Looking in the mirror!

Task #32 for the Single Ladies

You’ve got to have some drive!!!

I was thinking about this, after seeing an enormous amount of women who say that they trust in God, but yet don’t even trust in themselves…

When you believe in yourself, you pass a certain confidence to all those around you and this adds to your life in many aspects.

I really like to be around a person who is confident and positive; it’s nuisance to be near a person who is negative, insecure, always complaining and grumbling…

I’m not speaking about arrogance here! Please don’t confuse what I’m saying.

This confidence is very different from arrogance, it’s something very positive. And it’s also something constant, because we cannot be like the waves of the sea – on a high one minute and down low the next…

This confidence can be translated into one word: Faith.

You need to have faith in God and faith in yourself as well, because what’s the use in moving ahead with your faith in God if you don’t believe that you yourself can also move ahead?

Even if nobody is there for you, Jesus is and He gave His whole life for you!

How many times have we refused to listen to negative words?!

The devil uses this to pull you down!

Be strong! Be courageous and kick over that bucket!!! Change the situation! You can!

Task #32

“Look in your mirror. What do you see every morning when you wake up?!...

“I can!” “I am strong!” “I believe in God and I have great potential!” “I believe in me!!!”…

…And then start to act in a way that reflects this belief.

If Jesus is with you, so when you ‘look in the mirror’ you need to see Him!”

For the Single Ladies- The police and the outlaw

Task #31 for the Single Ladies

When we think about the ‘police’ we think about people who protect the law (putting all sarcasm aside of course!)

There are police in every country, state and city. Their job is to keep watch and make sure that the law is enforced.

And it’s no different in the spiritual world!

Every one of us needs to police ourselves. We need to always be attentive and keep watch over our attitudes. If not, then very soon we will be ‘outlaws’.

The more mistakes you make when not policing yourself, the further you will feel from the One who created the laws!

There was once a criminal who wanted to put together a gang of outlaws. The group grew and was constantly accusing others with the intention of bringing more people onto their side.

The outlaw who was already judged and given the death sentence, set up many traps to take down as many others as he could.

You and me are on this black list, but there’s no need to be afraid so long as we remain within the law and are constantly policing ourselves!

Task #31

“Watch, watch, watch!

Police over your life.

Watch your thoughts, reactions, emotions and your attitudes. Use your weapon (faith) to destroy everything that seems to be against the law. Don’t think twice and shoot to kill!

Your target must be perfect!”

For the Single Ladies - Whatever is hidden needs to be revealed

Task #30 for the Single Ladies

The other day God revealed something really strong to me – it made me cry.

“My God, I want to be better and not commit the same mistakes of the past. I want to find out where I went wrong. I want to correct the mistakes and never act in that way again.”

This was my prayer, but I didn’t only make that prayer once – I’ve done it many times – just wording it in different ways. I made many of those prayers because it seemed as though I wasn’t getting an answer. I prayed but still didn’t know where I went wrong!

In reality, I did find many reasons for going wrong, but deep down I knew that they weren’t the root of my problem – they were just superficial reasons that wouldn’t stop me from making the same mistakes again.

I started to go back in time – using my mind to re-visit the problem; I thought about similar situations, I searched within myself. It wasn’t easy – in fact it was painful so I started to ask myself why doing this was so painful for me?

“DON’T MAKE YOURSELF A VICTIM!” was the answer that I got – loud and clear!

“Who? Me? A victim?” I thought, now a little hurt.

“LOOK AGAIN, YOU ARE STILL MAKING YOURSELF THE VICTIM! IF YOU REALLY WANT TO FIND THE PROBLEM, THEN CUT OUT ALL THE SELF-PITTY OVER WHAT HAS HAPPENED!”

At that moment, I understood the reason for my pain… I was wallowing in self-pity…

This pity blinded me and stopped me from going forward – from getting to the root…

Self-pity and making myself the victim is just another way of being to proud to accept my wrong. Isn’t that so?

So, I then began to question my emotions, that before seemed very innocent, but now I had found out what they really were!

Wolves in sheep’s clothing to ‘innocently’ knock me down. Horrid pride; get away from me!

I bowed down before God in recognition of my mistake and asked forgiveness…

But still, that wasn’t enough; I still had to discover the root of it all!

I continued seeking and after eliminating the problem mentioned above, it wasn’t difficult to discover the other, because without self-pity, I could search myself in a non-emotional way.

What is it that I’m trying to say with all this?

It doesn’t matter how “perfect” “saintly” or “good” and “problem free” we are, we need to seek within ourselves.

Mistakes happen, but if you don’t seek, you won’t find and if you don’t find, you can’t change and if you don’t change, then sooner or later you will suffer the consequences.

There are some evident signs that we urgently need to look out for, and cut off by the root:

1. You are always involved in the same problems. It happens once and then over and over again.

2. You don’t see results of your faith.

3. It seems as though God isn’t listening or answering you.

4. Everything seems to be going wrong in your life.

These are only a few that I have in my mind at the moment, but I believe that there are more…

Remember that the problem IS NEVER WITH GOD! IT’S NEVER HIS FAULT!

Another important tip:

God allows us to learn through problems, but if we blame the other people involved, then we will NEVER learn. If you are going through something, forget the others who are involved and seek to find out what God wants to show YOU!

Task #30

“Seek, find your mistake, ask forgiveness, think about how you can change and then actually do it”

This will help you very much; also because when we don’t search within ourselves for our own mistakes, we have the tendency to look at the mistakes of other people.

For sure whatever you find won’t be pleasing and will perhaps even make you cry, but question your emotions and then don’t stop there!

For the Single Ladies- Sexy girl

Task #29 for the Single Ladies

Before I knew the Lord Jesus, I lived with no direction whatsoever – in all aspects of my life.

This wasn’t only on the spiritual side, but also in the physical. What am I trying to say here?

I thought that I needed to attract attention in order to be noticed – I’m speaking here about the way I dressed.

Remembering those times is really embarrassing, but in order to help, I’m going to share the “old Fernanda” with you.

I was very insecure and concerned about attracting male attention; I thought that that was the only way I would be noticed.

I even found a way to look “sexy” with my school uniform and attract the glances of men… during PE wearing trousers so tight that they seemed like part of my skin.

I remember one day, I was in the third year of secondary school, going home with a friend, when she mentioned something…

“Fernanda, you do know that you get the attention of all the guys when you pass by, don’t you?”

“Who, me?” I ignorantly said, but deep down I was loving the comment.

“Do you know what that means?” she asked. “It means that you’re driven by a promiscuous spirit.”

“Look, I don’t know what that means, but I’m sure it’s something very good!” I answered smiling.

This was the first time that I heard about this promiscuous spirit, and the worst thing is, that I saw nothing wrong with it!

For me, there were no limits:

The shorter the skirt, the better.

The lower cut the blouse, the better.

The more transparent the dress, the better.

The tighter the trousers, the better. Not to mention, that hopefully it was really low cut, so that the navel shows…

The more attention I called, the more I thought I would be appreciated and happier in love; but do you know what happened?

I was always unhappy in love and felt very used.

That’s how I arrived at the church and when I was set free from this

Promiscuity, I understood the importance of being careful when choosing the right clothes.

I began to view the way I dressed as vulgar and knew that it attracted attention to my body, but that doesn’t mean to say that I was appreciated.

It’s important to understand that depending on the way we dress, we will attract a certain type of attention.

A man who fears God will not choose a woman based on her ‘sexy appearance’.

Task #29

“If you realize that you dress without limits and do have the intention to attract attention to your body, don’t hesitate in seeking help through Chains of Prayer to be free from this.

Also, do a clean out of your wardrobe and be free from those clothes which are so open and revealing.

For those of you who are free but just need to be careful with how you dress, here you go…

Here are some tips, things that, in my opinion, are not good to wear:

1. ‘Dental floss’ knickers

2. Jeans or other trousers that are really tight.

3. Tops where the neckline shows part of your breast or the famous “builder’s bum”, (or that space between the breast area, look at the picture above).

4. Mini skirts.

5. See-through blouses that show your bra, or see-through skirts

6. Tops that display a bare back.

7. Tight dresses that mark and show your silhouette.

8. Clingy skirts that hug your body and show the shape of your bottom.

9. Low cut jeans that show the crease of your bottom or your underwear.

10. Belly tops that show your beautiful navel.

Being well dressed is not about showing your body; the secret is to know how to dress in a beautiful way, without exaggerating and with a lot of care.

I’m not here to create doctrines; I only want to help those who want to be helped. If for some reason you don’t agree with my opinion, you are free to be however you want and wear whatever you want.”

For the Single Ladies- But I did my best...

Task #28 for the Single Ladies

She just doesn’t understand…

“I did my best and yet I still get rebuked, what an injustice!”

You know what, I can see Cain thinking that same way. I don’t believe that he thought: “Humm… I’m going to offer my worst to God!”

Absolutely not! I believe that he really thought that it was his best.

People, look at the danger there!

How many times have we done the same? How many times have we had that same thought?

Everybody has a different opinion in relation to what’s best.

Imagine one day you are asked to prepare a room for a visitor who will arrive at your house (People, this is only an example, okay)…

You go there with all your love and clean the whole room – changing the bed sheets, and going all out so that everything is perfect!

You really did your best!

Then, before the visitor arrives, the person who asked you to organize the room comes to check your work and is disappointed…

Because you forgot to put out towels for the visitors, you forgot to provide essential things like toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, cream etc.

Do you know what we need to learn from this?

That our opinion of what’s best is very low and our standards need to be higher!

This thing of mumbling and saying... “But I did my best…” is not going to help in any way, on the contrary, if someone goes there and does better, the tendency is that you begin to feel the same way as Cain, who turned against Abel!

Ahh, if only he raised his standards, then his next offering would have probably been accepted and he wouldn’t have ended up the way that he did.

This thought of “I did my best”, can take you down the same road as Cain.

Task #28

The next time that someone compliments you on something you’ve done, think like this…

“I did my best, but next time I still have to do better…”

Like this, you will constantly be raising your idea of what’s better and so will do nothing in the same way – but will always do it better.

If the opposite happens and you are rebuked even when you really did think that you did your best, so understand that the problem isn’t that you didn’t do your best, the problem is that you need to raise your standards of what is best.

And please, don’t start feeling sorry for yourself, that doesn’t help either. Instead, determine that you will do it ten times better the next time!

Be very careful with the subtle traps of the devil!

For the Single Ladies - The dress

Task #27 for the Single Ladies

We lived in the United States and my husband and I were already assistants when we decided to get married. The rush was on to choose my dream wedding dress…

I knew what I wanted but at the same time I didn’t know how it would be.

I went from shop to shop with my mother-in-law and fell in love with them all! It was really difficult to choose, but there was one that captivated me, it was like a dream!!!

Even my father-in-law who was with us on that day, says that this dress was the most beautiful!

It had these fabric flowers all over it that made it stand out amongst all the other dresses, but I didn’t try it on, I only looked at it in the shop window; I thought that it wasn’t for me, in spite of all it’s beauty…

That’s because it had a really deep neckline; I asked them to adjust it, to add some material to make it higher, but the shop assistant looked at me as if I was an alien!

“That’s a normal neckline,” she said, wanting me to try on the dress.

“Not for me,” I responded as I started looking for an alternative dress…

I found one that I thought was beautiful, but it had the same problem. I insisted with the shop assistant and she finally agreed to higher the neckline. A few days later, I went back to see the dress of my dreams…

The matter of taste is not up for discussion here, perhaps you won’t find this dress beautiful, but for me it was really stunning!

When I was choosing, I had a vague idea of what I wanted: one thing for sure was that all deep necklines and strapless dresses were out!

This was my faith.

Think with me…

If the Lord Jesus would be at your wedding in person, to carry out the ceremony, what type of dress would you choose?

That’s right! My Lord Jesus was present at my wedding and will also be at yours too, therefore, it’s worthwhile to choose a dress that will please Him as much as it would your future husband…

Fashion dictates many rules, but a woman who fears the Lord is not lead by them.

Be wise and happy with your choices…

For the Single Ladies - Sweet smelling success!

Task #26 for the Single Ladies

I’ll tell you this, there are few things worse than a woman who smells bad.

I know that many times we leave home really early and there’s no such thing as a bath or even deodorant that can survive the heat of over 30 degrees!

So what must we do then?

It’s very simple; if you are one of these fighters who leave the house really early and only returns at night, then you need to adopt some habits so that you will always smell lovely… And those around you will be very grateful!

After all, you never know when or where you will meet your “prince charming!”

Imagine if you are caught unaware and he comes along – you being all worried about the state of your hair, lift your arms to fix it and BOOOM!

…He falls back and dies!

So, in order for this not to happen, our hygiene is vital!

My husband adores the fact that I always smell good, in fact, I don’t think any man would want it any other way. Of course there are exceptions to everything, but then he wouldn’t be your ‘Prince Charming’ but your ‘Charming Goat’…

So, let’s have a look at my tips:

• Use a neutral deodorant! At all costs, avoid those that smell really strong. They only smell good for the first two hours and then mix with your sweat to release an odor that nobody deserves!

• Always carry a neutral deodorant in your bag.

• Buy a neutral soap and keep it in a small plastic container in your bag.

• Put a small bottle of perfume in your bag.

• Buy a small packet of wet wipes – you know, the ones that are used to clean a baby’s bottom. For those times when there’s no bathroom, you can use them to freshen up your face. In fact, they are really useful and should always be in your bag. You can use also use them to clean your hands, or even your bottom! It’s not only babies who deserve this kind of care!

• At least twice a day, go to the bathroom and freshen up. Clean your face and under your arms with the neutral soap. Then put on the neutral deodorant and top up with a little perfume.

Ps: The tip about your deodorant being neutral is also important because it doesn’t have a strong smell and so won’t conflict with your perfume. Remember that deodorant is not perfume; the aim isn’t for everyone to smell what deodorant you are wearing or for it to mix with your perfume. Nobody deserves that either!

If you use a strong smelling perfume, please don’t take a bath in it!

Otherwise when you pass by you’ll leave people sneezing!

I’ll give you a personal suggestion…

My day-to-day perfume is one that’s meant for babies. For those who cannot afford to be buying those expensive perfumes, this is a great option and even if you do take a bath in it, you won’t make an embarrassing faux pas because it’s mild and lovely!

Okay, so here’s my secret…

The perfume is called: “Giovanna Baby”, it’s not expensive and if I remember correctly, you can find it in most American shops. The one with the blue lid is my favorite! My mother-in-law knows that whenever someone travels to where she is in Brazil, she always picks up a few bottles for me…

Come on girls, lets always smell gorgeous!

You’re future ‘prince’ will thank you for it!