LaMonique Mac

Black and white:  The Anti to mainstream color, yet it’s contrast offers an abundance in diversity and vibrant character

This is the view from my porch on a country road in Alabama.  Every Sunday at church I speak life over my finances with an affirmation that states:  “Wealth and riches are in my house”.  I believe that soon my view will change and this is a memory placeholder as I travel to my wealthy place.

I have never really traveled the path of least resistance (although, I’ve vacationed there for a bit).  Even when the scenery doesn’t look like what i thought it should look like, God is faithful.

“The Lord is my Shepherd.  He gives me everything I need.  He lets me lie down in fields of green grass.  He leads me beside quiet waters.  He gives me new strength.”

Psalms 23: 1-3a

It’s important to understand that God knows when we need time to slow down and take in the green grass and still waters.  He gives us those opportunities to renew our strength.

 

Choices seem to envelope and overwhelm us sometimes.  “Am I making the right choice?”  “Where will this path lead me?”  I find myself asking these questions to not only myself but to my husband also.  Lately my husband has been redirecting me back to God.  “LaMonique, Did you pray about that? ”  Me:  “Well no, but can’t you just give me your opinion?” Mr Tee (That’s the husband) “You need to pray about it, let Him guide you.”  Me:  “Ok will you pray with me?”  Mr Tee: “ok”

“He guides me in the right paths for the honor of His name.  Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid.  You are with me.   Your shepherd’s rod and staff comfort me. “

Psalms 23: 3b,4

Because I am on the narrow path, there are few people to be found there.  This causes me to wonder sometimes, “am I on the right path?” “I don’t see anyone else.”   When Mr. Tee gives me those reminders to check in with God to make sure I am on the right path, in the back of my mind I have a small doubt.   Do you know what that doubt is?  “Maybe God won’t answer me.” or “Maybe I’ll be stuck not knowing what to do and end up making a wrong turn. ”

One day recently,  I was asking God “why this and why that”, He clearly answered me.  “Search the scriptures!”  So I did.  His rod and staff are always there to direct us, whether it is by us looking up our problem in His word or hearing from Him directly.

When I go to others first, instead of God (no matter who it is),  I have locked myself out of the true divine answers that are ready and available to me.  I have robbed myself of the opportunity to hear His voice.  It is fine to gain wisdom from others, but approach God first as the Shepherd.  Sheep are precious.  Jesus called us His little flock.  He said my sheep hear my voice and they follow me.   Where do you think Jesus will have us follow him to?  No matter what path God has you on, it leads to righteousness, abundance, fulfillment and achievement.

“You prepare a feast for me right in front of my enemies.  You pour oil on my head.  My cup runs over.  I am sure that your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.  And I will live in the house of the Lord forever. “

Psalms 23: 5,6

That door that you are seeking, how do you obtain it?  God says if we follow His voice we will enter into His rest.  His rest is peaceful enjoyment.   Over and over again God tells us to “Fear Not!”  Do you know what that means?  That means, don’t get in a frenzy during the waiting period!  The door is coming, enjoy the intermission.

Thanks be to God, sometimes we have to yield and pivot to get to the doors of understanding and opportunity.  I myself am at a place of movement and turning to reach those doors.  After an intermission, rest and renewed strength – I actually can see myself there reaching out and ready to pull those handles.

 

 

Now right off the bat, you may be saying, “why would anyone want to play tennis with the devil?”  My answer:  Because Jesus did it first by example.  We will read all about it in Matthew 4:1-11 shortly.

God told us in His word to fight the good fight of faith (I Timothy 6:12).  When the enemy comes to you with suggestions of doubt and fear, it’s like we are in a tennis match.  When he swings doubt and fear in our direction, what are we going to do?  Are we going to swing back with the word of God or are we going to sit there until we are under such a huge pile of negativity that we can’t see how to get up again?  Let’s see how Jesus fought the good fight of faith in Matthew 4:1-11.

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2 And when He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, afterward He was Hungry.

3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said “If you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

[Tennis ball 1 is thrown by the enemy] [To say to Jesus:  “If You are the son of God”, implies that He may not be the son of God]  [The enemy is trying to get Jesus Christ to question His own identity here]

4 But He answered and said, “It is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

[Jesus hit the tennis ball back with the word of God:  “It is written”] [Question:  What is written in God’s word to combat the threats of failure and the lies the enemy personally tries to feed you?]

5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple

6 And said to Him “If You are the Son of God, throw yourself down for it is written

‘He shall give His angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone’ “

[Here the devil is trying to use pride to get Jesus to prove Himself to the enemy.  He is using the bible to mock him.  Basically, the enemy is saying, “kill yourself, If you are really the son of God you won’t die, doesn’t your bible say the angels won’t even let you cut your foot?]  [See before pride truly comes a great fall.  How many times have we tried to defend ourselves to people who attempted to assassinate our character?  We get angry because:  “we are real Christians”.  Then we find ourselves acting outside of the character of Jesus while we are” proving” ourselves. ] 

[Do you know what God told me once?  When people are trying to offend you, it’s like they are handing you a bomb.  Don’t pick up that bomb! ] [Think about it.  What happens if you pick up a bomb?  You explode!]

7 Jesus said to him “It is written again “you shall not tempt the Lord your God”

[Jesus keeps hitting that tennis ball with his racquet] [You have the word of God to combat the negative thoughts and whispers of the enemy.]

8 Again the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

9 And he said to Him “All these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.

[Ahh now we see what the enemy is really after.]  [He couldn’t get Jesus subtlety with doubt, he couldn’t get Him with pride, so now he thinks he will try and get Him with greed.]

10 Then Jesus said to him, “away with you Satan!  For it is written ‘you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve’ “

[Tennis ball hit boom!]

11 Then the devil left Him and behold angels came and ministered to Him.

[And that’s game Y’all]

And that is how a faith fight is won!  That is how you resist the enemy and he has to flee!

The same way the enemy came to tempt Jesus; he comes to us as well.  You see Jesus already told us in His word that – If they hated Him they will hate us too.  No servant is greater than his master.

The enemy tries to plant seeds of doubt in our minds with whispers that undermine who God called us to be.  What do these whispers sound like?

“Are you really an author?”

“If you were really an entrepreneur, wouldn’t you have made more sales by now?”

“You’re too old to start this journey – you should have decided to do this when you

were younger.”

“You don’t have enough credentials to speak, teach, write, or own a business.”

Many motivational speakers refer to this as “negative self-talk”.  But I’m here to expose it as the lie from the pit of hell that it is.  It is the enemy trying to trick you out of your inheritance.  Your right to the abundant life.

So what are you going to do?  Are you going to let the enemy hit you with a barrage of tennis balls until you’re knocked out on the ground?  Or are you going to swing that racquet back and fight the good fight by agreeing with God’s words for your life?

Come on hit those tennis balls across that court!

The next time you are in a tennis match with the enemy, fight the good fight of faith.  Speak the word of God.

“I am what the word of God says I am.”

“I can have what the word of God says I can have.”

“I am a child of the most High God.”

“I am royalty.”

“I’m the head and not the tail.”

“I come behind in no good thing.”

“All that I set my hands to do prospers.”

Godly Entrepreneurs & Marketers (GEMS) I want you right now in the comment section of this blog post, to boldly state your identity and leave a link of where we can find out more about you.  Go ahead GEMS fight the good fight of faith.  I’ll start.

I am LaMonique Mac and I help other Godly Entrepreneurs & Marketers (GEMS) share their light with the world. I can be found here on my website at http://www.lamoniquemac.com or on Periscope or Pinterest @globetrail sharing bright beams of light.  

Does it feel weird to be making a plan for your vision in July?  I mean aren’t those things done in January?  Well if you haven’t heard by now, there is a beautiful piece of wisdom being passed around that states:

“If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.”

Lets reflect back to what normally happens to our vision plan every January.  We make goals for the new year.  Those goals could include personal health goals, business goals, and spiritual goals.  Usually we come out of the ring swinging.  Ready for the challenge! Pumped up! Only to loose motivation, tenacity and consistency by February or March. Some of us have done this year after year after year.  We come out swinging but in the end we don’t give our dreams, talents, vision and goals a real fighting chance.  Repeating those behaviors has not brought us success, so let’s try a new approach.

How about we check in on our vision!  Most productive entrepreneurs check in on their vision and goals every 90 days.  But let’s start slow and learn big with a July Vision Board Party.  Re-imagine those dreams.  It’s never too late.  I promise you, if you are a Godly Entrepreneur & Marketer (GEM) , then you haven’t missed your last shot in life. Reemerge on the second half of the year as a winner.  Plan for your vision in July.

Listen GEMS, the last 7 months for me have been life altering.  I moved from my home state to Bama.  And I left my vision board.  The word of God says, so as a man thinks in his heart he is.  So once I left my industry of trade and became a full time entrepreneur, I began to desire successful thoughts for my business’ future.  Now because this is somewhat of a new practice for me, having a vision board made that a lot easier to do.

That’s when I decided to create a vision board that could never be lost.  A virtual vision board.  And that’s when I decided that no other Godly Entrepreneur & Marketer (GEM) , would loose their vision board or vision again.  How’s that you say?  At the Virtual Vision Board Party of course.  Listen on July 16, 2017 at 6 p.m. est. we are going to partay inside of the Godly Entrepreneurs & Marketers Facebook Group. 

Utilizing Facebook Live, I will teach you how to use Pinterest to make your vision board. When everyone is done, I will send you back a file collage vision board to use as your phone’s lock screen or on your desktop.

Not only that but, inside of the GEMS Facebook Group I offer:

• Free step by step courses for entrepreneurs using screenshare.
• Free How to Videos on the latest technology for the online entrepreneur
• The latest information on online entrepreneur industry news
• Super fun events

Join GEMS today, let’s kick it off with a plan for your vision in July.

 

 

 

 

Last year I kept hearing the Lord tell me to go hard in the paint.  I kept hearing it as I did the laundry, worked in my business, drove around.  Finally I was like “God what does that even mean?” (That’s how me and God communicate by the way).

You probably can tell,  i’m totally not a sports person.  But, I knew to go hard in the paint had something to do with sports.  I just wasn’t exactly sure what.  So I asked my husband. That’s when I found out how DEEP it is to go hard in the paint.

You see the painted area on the basketball court is really close to the goal.  It is the point where you receive the most opposition.  Everything is coming against you to stop you from making that goal.  But the goal is right there in front of you, so close.  When you are that close, you have to give it your all.  You have to work hard in that painted area.

Listen! How many times have you felt like you were right there on the cusp, the very brink of success? And then all hell broke loose.  You then took your focus off that goal and onto all those problems.

Get this picture in your mind.  The enemy wouldn’t come after you so hard if he wasn’t shaking with fear that you were about to triumph.

Listen up! You haven’t missed your last shot in life.  Faith is now! The moment that you realized how much this story has applied to your life was the moment you began to break free. I truly believe you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Even the hard things.  Go hard in the paint!