Last week in a volunteer training session at the PRC, a question was prompted that I took no thought in answering. As soon as she asked, immediately my mind flashed back about 2.5 years ago to a time in my life where my faith had been tested to the core for about 7 months; which brings me to the point of this post. God had stripped me of everything. I had moved between 4 homes in a matter of months, no job, no money, no phone; just my faith and the hope that things would get better soon. During the first couple of months God blessed me to stay with a wonderful friend who at that time was also struggling financially, but was gracious enough to take me into her one bedroom apt. For both of us, God showed us that summer what it really meant to trust him. We woke up every single day for over a month and prayed until we were exhausted and went back to sleep. God supplied us with enough money to eat, put gas in the car for church (which was 30 min. away), and to come home—period. Each night I’d go on the balcony around 11pm with a cup of hot tea and talk to God for hours, pouring out my heart and developing a relationship with Him that I knew would change my life forever; and let me just say it did.

I moved out of her apt. and into the home of a loving family that took me as their own; but after a couple of months it was time for me to leave so that they could make room for a daughter returning home from college.  What now God? I did not fret in the least bit because I knew that the same God that kept me and gave me (just enough) during the summer, would continue to do so now.  My relationship had grown closer to God as I spent the majority of the day in my room praying, writing, and studying the word.  Although I had to leave in such a short time, God made it very clear to me that He was still present even in the midst of what seemed to be a desperate situation.

We all have times in our lives when God divinely places someone in our path at the right moment to help us. This was one of those times. The lady who’s home I was about to move out of (who I adoringly call Mama Anna: shout out! lol), was connected to a woman who was a supervisor at a local hospital. I was accepted for a position there and was to begin training the week I was to move out of her home. At the training I sat beside an older lady around my mother’s age and we began to talk. Somehow we got on the topic of me and my living arrangements (I honestly have no idea how that happened). I remember her saying to me, “I can’t believe that you are going through all of this, you seem so happy and upbeat”. I told her that it was only by the grace of God that I could be so joyful at such a trying time.  I then found out that she was a believer and was very strong in her faith. Unbeknownst to me, she called her husband during lunch and made arrangements for me to stay at their home. Many may think I was crazy for accepting the offer, but God had given me peace and assurance about the situation. I moved into their home the next day. Her and her husband took me in as if I were their own child. Blessed me with more than enough and extended the offer for me to stay and make this my home for as long as I needed. I only stayed for a few short weeks before moving into my sister’s home. (That’s another story)

Although I have drastically shortened this story, I say all of this to say that when you put all of your faith and hope in God and cease to worry, He will position people in your life to help you right when you need it the most. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” For those 7 months my hope and my faith was all that I had and God made sure that the hope that I had in Him would not be deferred in any circumstance. One of my MANY foundational scriptures is Galatians 6:9 which says, “And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.” I did sometimes wonder how much longer, but I never grew weary; I just continued to trust Him. God again made it clear that His word never returns void, but that it sets out to accomplish the purpose for which He sent it. (Isaiah 55:11) He never promised me that totally depending on Him and being stripped of all things meaningless would be easy, but He did promise me that He would take care of me and I stand as a witness to say that even in my lack, God gave me more than enough.

The people that God connected me to during those 7 months changed my life. I grew to love them as my own family and will be forever grateful for them allowing God to use them to open up their hearts to bless me in my time of need.

May we all trust God and stand on His very word and every single promise that He has set before us. Whoever said being a believer in Christ would be easy tells no truth. To trust and believe in God takes faith and that faith will be tested. But in your lowest and weakest times, will you still trust Him? Will you still worship Him? Will you still give Him everything that you have left in you and allow His strength to be made perfect in your weakness? Maybe your situation is different from mine, but nonetheless, the same God that reigned over mine reigns over yours and is ready for you to give it all to Him today so that He can divinely set people in order to bless you. Will you trust Him today?

Develop that personal relationship with God, study and meditate on His promises so that no matter what comes you’ll be strong enough to trust Him. And as always, be blessed as you allow God to restore your heart.

www.restoringtheheartinc.org

Lanita D. Wilks ©

I won’t make this long because it is quite simple. The unfortunate part of this is that even though it’s simple, people’s lack of understanding of God’s promises make what I’m about to talk about very complicating.  Forgiveness. The Bible is filled with stories that show acts of forgiveness and the promise that our Savior will forgive us from ALL of our sins. Not some, not the one’s we think are “small”, but ALL of them.

Luke 7:36-50 — A Sinful Woman Anoints Jesus’ Feet

It says that this woman in the town lived a sinful life and like many of us that have lived sinful lives, there comes a time when we say enough is enough. It’s a time when we are tired and ready to surrender everything to God so that we may be FORGIVEN for all that we have done.  This woman’s faith that Jesus would forgive her allowed her to anoint Jesus’ feet in the presence of Pharisee’s. She wet his feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. What if we all went to Jesus with that attitude when we needed to be forgiven—humble, broken, and unashamed.

The Pharisee’s judged her just like people around you and me have judged us for what we did in our past. Verses 39 sounds like people I hear everyday that judge others for what they’ve done in their past when they are ready to surrender; and the sad thing is they act as if they live a blameless life. Just like this woman, we have to push past the words and whispers of others if we want to be cleansed and be made whole.

In response to the Pharisee’s that were questioning Jesus and the woman who has come to Him to be forgiven, Jesus says, “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” (Luke 7:47) People will always turn their noses up at you when you say that you no longer want to party, drink, sex, and smoke etc; but these are the people that God says love little and will be forgiven little. They will say things like “Oh, you think you are too good now” or “You’re not all that, I remember when you used to have sex with x, y, & z”. The most dangerous thing we can do is let the “naysayers” opinions of us affect the important decision we make to go to God for forgiveness. Despite her sins, she showed more love for Jesus than the Pharisee’s had the entire time He’d been in their house (the one’s who acted as if they were perfect).

Jesus said to the woman in v. 48, “Your sins are forgiven,” and again in v. 50, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

So I say to you today that if you go to God with a sincere and repentant heart and are ready to be forgiven for what you’ve done in your past, including yesterday and today; He is ready and waiting to forgive you. Your salvation is more important than anyone’s opinion of you. As a matter of fact, not only are we forgiven for our sins, but Jesus remembers them no longer. God says in Hebrews 10:17 “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” What a promise and what comfort! He then says in Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our sins from us.” Another amazing promise! The east and the west never meet and that’s how much God says He’ll forgive us… to no end!

You can smile now and be comforted knowing that when you surrender your past to God, He takes it all not leaving anything unclean. For all of us, asking for forgiveness should be a daily practice. No one is perfect and God knows that, but His mercy is not to be taken for granted; however, He does allow us to come to Him for forgiveness at any time and that is something that no one can take away from us.

Be encouraged as you know that it is simple—you’ve asked and you have been forgiven for EVERYTHING you have done; and be blessed as you allow God to restore your heart.

www.restoringtheheartinc.org

Lanita D. Wilks ©

I pray that this message finds everyone in great spirits! If you haven’t already, please stop by and check out my website www.restoringtheheartinc.org for a dose of encouragement, helpful resources, and to stay up to date with future events. Restoring the Heart Inc. is a non-profit women’s ministry that focuses on the issues of the heart and God’s promises in His word that He will restore, redeem, and transform our lives if we trust Him. Not only do we minister to the hearts of women concerning issues from their past, we also empower, equip, and educate women with messages that encourage them to pursue their passions and purpose and walk into the freedom of their future.

I have recently added 3 amazing testimonies to the “Testimonies: Hearts Restored” page and would love for you to check them out! They certainly blessed me and I’m sure they will bless you too! Stop by my “My Story” page to read a part of my testimony and why I do what I do. I pray that it encourages your heart and reminds you of God’s promise that He will restore back to you the years that the locusts have eaten… (Joel 2:25)

We are so excited about what God is doing with RTH Inc. and know that this is only the beginning of something greater than our minds can imagine. It’s a blessing to see God move in the lives of those that have a heart for people and to advance His Kingdom.

I went on a journey today. Not physically, but through my memory. As I was worshiping, God took me back in time and allowed me to recount events in my life that dated back to as young as four years old. He showed me times when I was in pain, times when I contemplated suicide, times when I felt lonely… The more I remembered, the more I cried. I didn’t cry because of the memory of these events. I didn’t cry because I had been reminded of some things that I never wanted to remember again. I cried because as God showed me these things, He showed me that He was with me during each and every one of them. The times when I thought He wasn’t there, He was always there. Even before I knew who Jesus was and confessed Him as my Lord and Savior, He was there… He showed me how His hand has been on my life every since I was a child and how it would continue to be for the entirety of my life. He showed me that my very mean had meaning and purpose. Lanita means: Gracious, God has shown favor. Everything that I’ve been through has only made me who I am today and I am grateful. God’s grace and favor is certainly over my life.

Lanita D. Wilks

Originally written July 7, 2010

www.restoringtheheartinc.org

Hi everyone! It has certainly been a while since I’ve been up here, but nevertheless all is great and God is faithful. I pray that everyone else can say the same. Since I’ve last logged on I have launched my website to my non-profit ministry Restoring the Heart Inc.

I can’t begin to tell you all that God has begun to do in my life through my obedience to walking faithfully in my purpose. Although there are many things that God has called me to do, one of my passions is linked directly to helping the hearts of hurting women. We all have a testimony and I encourage every woman to allow God to speak to them and restore their hearts so that women may be set free as a result of them sharing it. I could tell you all personal stories about domestic violence, abortion, depression, suicidal thoughts etc. but I am only one person and I cannot reach everyone. God has blessed me to connect with women that have accepted the call to open up their hearts for God to use them to be a blessing to other women through their testimonies. I don’t know where God is taking me with this ministry, but wherever it is I am a ready and willing vessel and I call upon the Lord to have His way.

Please visit my website www.restoringtheheartinc.org for more information about RTH and for speaking. It would be my pleasure to share with you what God has given me through His word and His promises to restore our hearts. God bless and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Lanita D. Wilks

It has been almost a month since I last shared my thoughts with you all, but I just wanted to let you know that I do have much to share and will post throughout the week! I’ve been very busy working on some other projects such as speaking, writing, and putting together the pieces of my non-profit Restoring the Heart Inc. as well as a co-founded non-profit H.E.R.O. for Life Inc. that I will go into more detail about at a later time. These are two great visions that the Lord has given me as well as my business partner and I look forward to sharing them with you soon.

One thing that I’ve learned in the process of starting a non-profit and actively walking in my purpose is that the more you trust and surrender to God in fulfilling His purpose and will for your life, the more things come together. The doors to connections of people, places, and resources will begin to open. Sometimes they open slower than we like, but it’s all in God’s perfect timing. It’s also been a reminder that YOUR LIFE is ministry in itself. There are times when I felt I was being idle or not doing enough with the visions that God has given me, not realizing that my very life; my actions and words were being watched and ministering to people that I was unaware of. That is why it is IMPORTANT that your actions line up with your words. OUR LIVES ARE MINISTRY!

I want to encourage everyone that is living a life sold out for Christ, that your labor is not in vain. Your late nights writing the vision and making it plain are not in vain. Remember God’s word in Habakkuk 2:3 says, “For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” God gave me a word for someone that I love dearly who continuously labors in the Lord’s field and serves others with a grateful heart. He said that for his faithfulness, it was his time. His time to be blessed exceedingly and abundantly all that he could ask or think and I am grateful to be attached to his visions. I believe that someone else needs to hear that today.

Be blessed as you serve, and while everyone may not understand why you do what you do for Christ, God sees and your reward in heaven will be far greater than any reward that can be given to you on earth by man. Stay focused and continue to press forward being a voice for God by spreading the Good News of Christ through your music, art, writing, acting, modeling, and every other avenue that the Lord chooses for you to use that brings Him ALL the glory. Be blessed and encouraged as you do. I love you all with the love of Christ.

Lanita D. Wilks

“Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the LORD your God to take this deadly plague away from me.” Exodus 10:17

As I was studying, it came to me that Pharaoh represents the person that continuously sins and after the consequences of their sins begin to manifest, they pray and ask God to have mercy on them. And when they see that God has indeed shown them mercy; for example, the STD was “treatable” or that they just missed a menstrual cycle and was not pregnant after having unprotected sex with their boyfriend; they go and do it again.

We see that Pharaoh is summoning Moses and Aaron to pray to God again to lift the plague, after having reneged a number of times on his promise to free the Israelites from slavery.  Each time Moses would release a plague upon Egypt, Pharaoh, immediately seeing the consequences of not following through with his promise, would summon Moses to pray for him; and once he saw that the plague had been lifted, he would again go back on his promise.

After reading this, I had to repent. I, myself have been guilty of a sin and becoming afraid of the consequence would ask God to forgive me and say I’d never do it again. Once I realized that everything was ok, if the opportunity presented itself again, I would not “always” turn away from it. My mode of thinking was if God had mercy on me the first time, He’d do it again. How ignorant of us to take God’s mercy for granted? As Moses and Aaron said to Pharaoh on behalf of God in v. 17, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?” That question was not just for Pharaoh, but for all of us who continue to fall into the same sin after God having unfailing mercy upon us does not allow us to get sick, hurt, or die in that sin. We must no longer have the mind of Pharaoh. Once God gives us the opportunity to release something that is causing us to sin, we must release it as if that is our FINAL warning. We cannot continue to expect God to do things for us, when we willingly sin against Him.

Pharaoh’s inability to adhere to God’s warnings ended up costing him the life of his firstborn son who sat on the throne to succeed him. It should not have had to take death to get Pharaoh’s attention but it did. Eventually Pharaoh’s hardened heart cost him his life. As for us, it should not have to take something as devastating as an incurable disease or the death of someone we love to get our attention. We must be mindful that the consequences of our sin may not always fall back on us, but on someone else as in the case of Pharaoh. With tomorrow not being promised, none of us have time to live our lives with the “Mind of Pharaoh” mentality another day. This is one of many examples in the Bible of why God’s mercy is not to be taken for granted. I sincerely pray that what God gave to me blessed you as much as it blessed me, but also pricked your heart that you will change. I know I am.

Lanita D. Wilks