I thought of Paul today

My granddaughter Skyy Julia is 17 months old and is fiercely independent in all her ways. I keep telling my daughter Richelle she’s gotten double for her trouble with this child. Skyy does not respond to the word no, stop, you can’t do that, you’re going to get hurt, you’re going to time out, or you’re going to get your hands spanked -but only for a moment. At 17 months old she knows no limits!

Yesterday, was the first time this week I’ve been able to keep my door closed all day and work. As I look for office space I’m working from my home office getting my new business up and running. The agreement with my daughter is that when my door is closed I’ m working and they are to operate as though I’m not home. It actually has been working pretty well until this week when Skyy learned to open the door by herself. Now I have to actually lock her out to get anything done.

This morning I was thinking how much writing I would get done and work accomplished as soon as I get my office away from my home. I thought about being on an island somewhere over looking a beautiful sea of water and the words just pouring out of me for my book. Maybe you’re like me an in a place where you are waiting for all the stars to line up and then you will start walking in your destiny.

As these images started to control my thoughts the Apostle Paul came into my spirit. He was able to write two thirds of the New Testament and most of his writings done while he was in prison. Not only was he fighting the physical space of his confinement but I’m sure warring with his mind. At the time of his captivity one of the prison’s he spent most of his time in was an actual hole in the ground with a small opening for light. As this one image flooded my mind I was overcome with a feeling of “how dare you.”

You can start right where you are today walking in those things you know you have been called to do. If it’s your time and season you can start even if what you see in the natural looks like chaos. Can you imagine what it must have been like for Paul to encourage himself each day and then be content in every circumstance? How shallow I am to think that I need this idyllic situation to push me towards releasing the wonderful treasures that God has stored up in me through this journey.

Are you waiting for the perfect moment to tell someone you love them, give someone a hand up, write that best seller, go get your child back, quit that job you hate, start a business, ask someone to forgive you, forgive someone who hurt you 10 years ago? If you’re one of those waiting today, all you have to do is remember the work of Apostle Paul. I know many of you will read this with a religious spirit and say to yourselves why she didn’t use Jesus as the example. After all He did made the ultimate sacrifice.

I thought of Paul today because he was the example Holy Spirit used for this situation and for this purpose. “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have,” Phil 4:11 NLT

Wealth is in the mind

I've been under the covers with a head cold for the past two days. Since I was not able to hold my head up without being in pain I found my best position was one of stillness. In the stillness, I could actually hear my own self think. There's nothing like a dialogue with self.

As I lay there, I realized how many different paradigm shifts I'd made in the past three months. My spirit has been aggressively open to change and embracing new things in general. I have been willing to lay everything on the line to be the best person, mother, friend and business associate I can possibly be.

One of the truths I've had to come face to face with is that wealth is in the mind. All this time I have thought that wealth was about money rather than wealth is about wisdom Sometimes our emotionalism clouds what has been placed in front of us as a solution to our problems. This causes us to go begging others for help when what we need is already in our hand. You do not want to be a beggar because beggars have no access.

All my life I have depended on someone else to allow me to have access. Now, I just want your information. If I can get your information I can make it happen for myself. Some of us are asking people for information who have no revelation about what is gong on in this season. You may not have all the money you need, or all the friends, or education but what do you have in your hand?

What each of us has is our mind for the anointing of God. God anoints our heads with oil so our cup runs over. We have been given an abundance of thoughts, information, insights, technology and revelation. If you change your thoughts you change your actions, if you change your actions you change your environment. If we carry our anointing with us when we show up the environment has to change.

Today, I woke up commanding my morning and setting the atmosphere in order and alignment with what was already predestined for my life. God wants us to arise and go to the next realm. God is doing something as we mature; our maturity determines our success as we go to new realms it determines our prosperity. God is accelerating our growth, the increase of our capacity and our promotion. The wealth is being transferred to the righteous but the righteous need to be ready.

I realized in the stillness of the day and even into the night that my mind has been a prisoner of war. I can decree a thing and it shall be so. I don't have to settle for a good life but I can have a great life. I can start right now with calling those things into being as though they already were. And I can start right where I am by using what's already in my hand.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.- Marcel Proust

Trusting in the Journey

So many times we find ourselves caught up in the circumstances of our lives. We spend to much time fretting or worrying about our relationships, bills, children or jobs. The other day my pastor Bishop Eddie Long challenged us to start enjoying the journey of our lives instead of just looking at where we are now. Maybe this doesn't happen to you but you know someone who operates like this. I have to admit I find myself saying things like " when I get my financial breakthrough I'm going to take a me trip to New York for a Broadway show."

How about instead of just thinking about what it will be like when you get to your expected place you start seeing the end now. Bishop Long's words so stirred my spirit that I came home and allowed myself to daydream about my destiny. I saw myself sitting at a Barnes & Noble book signing for my New York Times bestseller. Then I saw my whole family celebrating together in my new home with me and my new husband. Yes, I am believing God for my soul mate and He is still giving us the desires of our heart.

I can't tell you how many times I have been told to enjoy the journey. If the truth be told if we knew the route we would have to take to get to our destiny we would cry out to stay where we are. Yet, when we stop complaining about our bills, the people we work with, the trouble in our relationship and start living in the finished work we walk in victory.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and at the end of each day He said it was good. (Gen. 1:1) Now, it's important that you catch this...at the end of each day He said it was good. He did not wait until the seventh day when He rested from His work and was finished to acknowledge it was good. Let's start to see each day of our journey as a good day on the way towards our expected end. Start trusting the journey and see the end from the beginning. Start giving praise and thanks in advance for everything that He has promised because the word says "He will not withhold any good thing from us."
Enjoy the RIDE!

You're Closer than you Think

I know it’s my set time for favor but it seems like each day gets harder than the next to see the true manifestation of what I believe. I have been trying to close a business deal for several weeks now. I know I’m close but each day it seems to elude me and the moving parts to make it happen are always just within my reach. My mind tells me this deal may not happen, being an entrepreneur is just to hard and maybe I’m not cut out for this.

While working diligently to pull this deal together that will open up multiple doors for my future I’m surrounded by life. My daughter and I are bumping heads as she wants the liberty to come and go and do as she pleases under my roof. Even as this tug of war is going on I know this is just another distraction to get me off course.

In my professional career I’ve had the pleasure to experience 5 different careers. Each one built upon the next as I was either a pioneer or a forerunner in those positions. My career at one of the leading super markets in the country thrush me into a promotion within culture. I was one of the first people hired into management outside of the company in over 70 years. I was met with opposition on every level as the decision to diversify their management teams forced them to hire from the outside.

Every night for about nine months I went home and cried because of the intensity of what I endured each day. I wanted to quit but I had relocated my family from Florida back home to Atlanta. I did not quit, I kept pushing until I became an integral part of the team.

I believe it’s the same principle in dealing with our daily lives. The greatest difficulty will come right before we give birth to our dreams. That’s why everything but the great wall is coming against you right now. You are in the final push. Maybe like me, that business deal just doesn’t seem like it’s going to go through. Yet, if you keep pushing and keep believing like a woman in labor you will push to your promise.

Determine today to not get down and allow your mind to pull you into what I call stinking thinking. Instead of thinking you can’t take it anymore, it’s not going to happen, the marriage is over, or the promotion is not coming turn your thoughts around. You are about to give birth to your promise. The tougher the challenge the closer you are to your victory. You are closer than you think and God will bring to pass every dream He put into your heart.

Responding in Love

I know most of you have heard the phrase hurt people hurt other people. Sometimes we misconstrue a thing and our response to the particular situation reflects hurts from past wounds. Over the years, I've mellowed out from firing off emails without making sure I had the information needed to make a good decision.
Our very human nature naturally wants to defend ourselves when someone has spoken ill of us and jumped to a conclusion that is not based on truth. Yet, when this happens to me I've chosen to take the high road. When you know who you are and whose you are you just can't respond out of your flesh. You know you are a child of the most High God. You know that no weapon formed against you will prosper. You know the battle the person is going through is not yours it belongs to the Lord.
When you truly are walking in a place of peace and of love you can respond in love. Maybe you write your feelings out to get them off your chest and then delete it. But what you put into the atmosphere should always be a response in love. The only way I continue to be able to do this is because I die to my flesh daily. Which means I surrender my will at the feet of God. Then I can move me out of the way when others wrongfully mistreat me and attempt to slander my name. One day God whispered in my ear and told me softly that He was giving me a new name. That new name is Rita Love, and each day I pray for a little piece of His heart. God is love!

You can't make money and excuses at the same time

For the past month I have been inviting a young man I'd met and identified as a real go getter to a wealth building event. Each time he would tell me with enthusiasm that he would be at the event. He even expressed his urgent need for a Plan B and the desire to make sure his family was secure. Each time just before he should arrive he would call to tell me about some hindrance to him actually making it.
This past Tuesday another opportunity presented itself for him to make good on the previous commitments he had broken. Well, it rained pretty heavy in Atlanta on Tuesday and I was amazed it didn't delay my flight out of the city. About an hour before the event that would surely secure the young man's future for his family he sent me a text stating he wanted the rain to ease up before he ventured out. Now mind you, he was at his job and would need to drive home in the rain.
I sat over 2000 miles away staring at the text in utter disbelief. Was this not a man who had just told me he had desire and desperation to make his family whole? Was this not the same man who had just experienced a huge pay decrease and was possibly facing more in the coming months? Did he actually just use rain as an excuse to continue to be POOR (passing over opportunities repeatedly)?
I’ve become allergic to excuses because the one thing I know is this- you can't make money and excuses at the same time. That check just won't cash.

No good ideas--you can steal mine

Today, a dear friend who has one of the brilliant marketing minds of our time called to tell me one of her game changing ideas had been stolen. Stolen by a colleague she had shared her strategies and concepts with. Not only stolen but put into execution and presented in her presence to her team as though she wasn't there.

I could feel her pain as she explained confronting the thief and how she was met with aloofness and "I thought of this years ago, you just gave it a name." Wow! Another close friend just told me a couple of day's ago to stop sharing everything that God was downloading to me with others. She said everyone is not going to be happy about your dreams or ideas and on occasions like this they will steal them. The thief comes but to steal and destroy.

The friend thought she was sharing her strategies with another believer which made the betrayal even more unbelievable. Well, I've found that believers come on all levels just like non- believers. At the end of the day if you don't have an intimate relationship with the Father you will be tempted, fall and find yourself stealing something that does not belong to you.

While the colleague may get some temporary accolades around these game changing concepts they will be short lived. I've experienced over and over again that even when your enemies look like they are winning they aren’t'. Maybe her day to be held accountable for this steal won't be today or even tomorrow. But it will come.

In the meantime, we must stand on the promises of God about who He says we are and what we are destined to accomplish on this earth. Remember, I said this friend has a brilliant marketing mind and she is a thought leader. I love to just sit with her and gleam from this visionary whenever the opportunity presents itself. So, brilliant, phenomenal women please remember this--you can not share your treasure with everyone. Only release to those who you know in your spirit you should and only release when its time to release. Until then, just keep it to yourself or talk to the trees.
Don't cast you pearls to swine...they'll eat them every time.

I Fired my Boss Today!

Can we just agree that we tried and it just doesn't work? When a relationship comes to and end why does someone always have to be mad? I fired my boss and she was mad as hell about it. Her actions suggested she felt the same way my ex husband did when I told him I wanted a divorce. His comment was "Ain't no b-t-- ever quit me," translation is” how dare you quit me, don't you know who I am?" Translation- I'm suppose to quit you. How dare I decide to quit being micromanaged and having my light put out daily. How dare I decide that I want to get up and do what I Love everyday? How dare I decide I don’t want another human being to decide what my financial worth is?

I dared to look in the mirror and make the bold decision to step out on faith and fire my boss. No, I don't have it all figured out and I don't even have the first contract signed. But what I do know is that it takes no amount of faith to quit when the contract is in hand. No need for God to show up if I already have it all figured out. A friend of mine asked me about five years ago when I was going to stop talking jobs. He said someone was always going to want to hire me and that I would never know what it was like to have my own business if I didn’t just do it.
So, I picked up my handbag and scooped up the three pictures of my granddaughter off the desk and stepped into my destiny. How great is our God!

Your Tears have not gone Unnoticed

Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, 3. And said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. 4. Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, 5. Go, and say to Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. Isaiah 38:2-5
Thought for the Day: Your Tears Have Not Gone Unnotice
Reflection for the Day: Your Prayers Will Make a Difference

Hezekiah prayed to the Lord for healing and when he saw Isaiah, he anticipated a positive answer to his prayer. The news was not what he desired; Hezekiah was told that he was going to die. He refused to accept this news as final, but instead, turned his face to the wall and prayed. His petition and tears went before the Lord and they did not go unnoticed. God added fifteen years to his life.

In the midst of your greatest challenges, do not give up. Though you feel that not even God is listening, your tears have not gone unnoticed. The odds may appear to be against you, but God is listening, and at the proper time change will come. Your prayers will make a difference.
Regardless of what you're going through, it could be worst. God knows exactly what you can bare and He knows all that you can handle. He has equipped you with the needed resources to make it everyday; faith, love, praise, and prayer. If you apply each of those throughout your everyday journey, God will not let your challenges and your oppositions over take you. It doesn't matter how bad it seems to be or how bad it seems to be getting, God is able to deliver you and give you more than you had before.

God is listening and He will respond. Praying to Him is that form of communication that he loves to hear and not only does he listens and hears you, but he also answers back with positive results. God said in His word that he will never leave you nor forsake you and then David reminds us in Psalm, "that He has never seen a believer without protection" so when you're going through He's there and when you're doing well he's there.

I’m a walking testimony that it does get hard sometimes and sometimes harder than most. If the truth be told, just like you, I wanted to give up. Even when the challenges seemed to have gotten the best of me, God came and showed the strength in me. “The weaker I got, the stronger I became as I allowed Christ to take over." I want you to know that God is faithful and He's able to deliver you. It was for my benefit that I faced those challenges, that God was able to prove His love for me by keeping me. Let me encourage you today! God says that if you go to Him in prayer with faith and without doubting and make your request known to him in the name of Jesus, He will do what you have asked him to do; Jesus said, "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." Just like Hezekiah did, humble yourself in prayer and remind God of your faithfulness to Him and remind Him of his word; tell God what you want and He will also give you what you need!

The time has come in the earth realm that if you don't have an intimate relationship with Jesus and a prayer life with God, you will never make it. Hezekiah was faithful to God, but still God sent Isaiah to tell Hezekiah that he was going to die, but because Hezekiah knew God and knew how to pray and not only how to pray, but pray with faith and with expectations, he didn't die, but God added 15 more years to his life. So, are you going to give up and allow your challenges to overtake you or are you going to turn to God in prayer and let Him know that in spite of what it looks like, you trust Him to deliver you? Not the judge or prosecutor nor the lawyer. He will use whom ever He chooses He even uses and ass in the Bible to accomplish His will.



Your prayer gets God's attention and your faith is what going to move Him!!!

Rita Love

A Reason, A Season or a Lifetime

I have found that people and opportunities come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. Guess what? You get to decide why and how long they belong there. You have that power of choice. It is amazing how free you feel when you finally let go of that person, job, or habit that has been holding you back.

Are you in a relationship or a position or in a rut that you know should be over? But you simply can't seem to let go and reach out to embrace the refreshing winds of change. Maybe your season is up at the job you no longer have passion for. Everyone all around you can see that your love and drive for the work just isn't there. But, you think you are masking it with small surges of energy that you muster up on occasion. What you are really doing is feeding off the enthusiasm and passion of those around you.

We often fool ourselves and allow "shoulds" "coulds" and "if onlys" to control our lives.

Women more than men tend to stay in dead end relationships, jobs and routines because of the paralyzing fear of taking a risk. However, ironically, by avoiding risk you run another one: You are sacrificing your dream life on the altar of fear. How many times have you told yourself this relationship is killing me softly -- yet you remain in place? Sometimes, people come into your life just for a season. They were sent to deposit something into you, help you see something about yourself, or fill a temporary void. Yet their presence in your world was only meant to be temporary, and you have allowed them to stay way past the season.

Some may say we are in the worst of times. I choose to believe we're in our finest hour. It's time to pack up all the excess baggage, and move on, move out, and move up. You might need to go back and thank some of those people who have left you. Had they stayed, you would not be the person who you are today.

My desire for each and every one of us is that we will all find the courage to pursue the depth of talent and gifts that lie within, to tap into the reserve of life yet unseen by our peers, and to unbind the silent wealth of power screaming to get out.

Today, I choose to love people who love me back; say "yes" only when I mean "yes"; know when something is over; only give my number to people whom I really want to have a conversation with; let money chase me instead of me chasing money; be proud that people think I am a Holy Roller (because if they knew what I was rolling about they would be rolling, too); jump for joy when people ask me to pray for them; and keep preparing myself to walk out the destiny that God placed in me before I was formed in my mother's wound.

Moving into the New

Starting back on October 3, 2009 God started dealing with my past. So far, every week out of this month I have had to face some old hurt or wound that had been buried but not really dealt with. Do you realize when you cover your stuff up it can always be unearthed? Well, I' m a witness that unless you completely deal with a thing it can come back to stand you down even after 25 years.

As a child, I was told many untruths and I was forced to confront some of them recently. After all this is the month that God is going to deal with your past. I'm simply amazed that He would love me so much that He would only allow me to face these when He knew I could receive it all in love.

Is this a time for you to confront some of the situations that you've been holding on to well past their time? Is it time for you to forgive some wrong or hurt that is limiting your ability to move into the new things God has planned for your life? You may be just like me and think just because you haven't thought about it for sometime it's dealt with. Yet, you know in your heart of hearts you haven't it just lying dormant.

I want you to did deep within your self and ask the God to help you confront whatever it is you're holding onto that is holding you in bondage. Maybe you were terminated unjustly, or he had an affair, or even some part of your childhood was stolen from you. I dare you to face it head on and ask God to replace those old wound with a piece of His heart.

The only way to move into the new things that God set out for your life even before the foundation of the world is to FORGIVE. Forgiveness is not for the transgressor but rather for you. Try today to move forward and not look back into the old.

Not looking back, moving ahead, surrendered my life to Christ and I'm moving forward.