A little about me

Hello my dear friends! To all of you that have recently joined this page, welcome!

So, a little about me. I realize I haven’t really shared much about myself. I tend to just jump in and post either something I've written and want to share with all of you or a video clip that I'd like to share of other teachers or singers.

So, who is Mildred and why did I choose the name “Reflecting Truth Ministries.” I am happily married. My husband and I have been blessed with 18 years of marriage. We have three kids, 2 boys and a girl sandwiched in-between them. I have been teaching the Word of God for a long time now, like for twenty four years. I am a writer, not just of the short teachings I share with all of you but, I also am in the process of writing a novel. I have other projects I'm working on as well. Praying to become a published author soon. I'll keep you posted on that. I’m also working on setting up a YouTube Channel. I’ll also keep you posted on that.

The name "Reflecting Truth Ministries" was prayed over. God gave me this name. Why? This is what we are to do, day in and day out, reflect Truth. We are to be a reflection of our God daily. "Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23 (NIV) “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom…the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” James 3:13, 7-18 (NKJV) The ministry’s verse is Proverbs 27:19: "As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart." Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)

This ministry page is such a blessing to me. I pray that all the Lord leads me to post may be a blessing to you. Know that I pray for all of you. I welcome your comments. You’re always welcome to share my posts with your loved ones.

How about you? I’d love for you to share something about yourselves too.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post! God bless you!

Time Keeps on Moving

    Most people consider themselves to be busy. Busy seems to be the norm for a lot of people. In fact, if you're not busy people think there's something wrong with you. Our busy-ness keeps us distracted from the reality that no matter what we are doing time keeps on moving. If we are not careful time will slip on by us and before we know it we have lost precious time. It's not necessarily that we do not spend time on what's important. It's that we need to watch how much time is being spent. How much time do we set aside for God, our spouses, our children, friends or even for ourselves? If we were to actually stop and pay attention to how much time we actually spend with God, our loved ones or on ourselves, I think we'd be surprised. Yes, grant it, there are some of you out there that do spend time wisely and if that is so, then Amen! But, if not, it's time to do some introspection.

It is important for all who are part of the Body of Christ to understand how vital it is to appreciate time. Time is given to us freely by God. It is not given to us to waist. It is not given to us to only do what we please. It is given to us so that we will use it wisely. God will do what is necessary to help us use our time wisely even stop time if necessary. During a very important battle the Israelites were in that was headed by Joshua, God answered Joshua's request to stop time. "And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day." Joshua 10:13 (KJV)

Unless God answers our requests to stop time, it will continue to move on. Using our time wisely keeps us from being distracted with things or people that we shouldn't spend any time with. "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV) Stay focused on God and everything else will fall into place. "…and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to." Matthew 6:33 (TLB)

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My dear friends, thank you for reading! I'd love to read your thoughts on this topic in the comments below. Praying for you! 

 

Dove Choose Beautiful | Women all over the world make a choice

I had to share this one! Saw it on a friend's page and was moved to tears! TOO MANY WOMEN JUDGE THEMSELVES SO HARSHLY!!! We are all beautiful because we have been created by the ARTIST CALLED GOD!!! He is the one that has made us how we are and HE said IT IS GOOD!!! Who are we to say that we're not?!! WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL!!! I pray that if anyone of you had to choose a door to walk through that you would choose the BEAUTIFUL one because that's how God sees you! That's how I see you! That's how I pray you see yourself too! God bless you all!

Stubborn!

The definition of stubborn, according to dictionary.com is: "unreasonably obstinate; obstinately unmoving…" The definition for obstinate is: firmly or stubbornly adhering to one's purpose, opinion, etc.; not yielding to argument, persuasion, or entreaty."

There are many stories of stubborn people and the consequences that followed in the Bible. One such stubborn person was Jonah. Jonah was a prophet who was sent to Nineveh by God because He wanted to give them a chance to repent from their evil ways. Jonah didn't agree with God's mercy on the evil people of Nineveh (as if he had a say in who God can be merciful with). His stubborn-self took a trip to Spain, by ship, the complete opposite side of where Nineveh was on the map! There was an awful storm on the way. Jonah asked the men to throw him over because he knew that the storm was God trying to get his attention. He asked the people to throw him over into the water so that they wouldn't suffer his consequences and possibly drown to death. The storm calmed and Jonah was swallowed up by a great big fish. This fish took him towards the direction he was supposed to go in the first place! When it arrived at the shore, three days later, it "puked" and out came Jonah. He set off for Nineveh and spread the message God had for them. Wouldn't you know, they repented! His stubborn heart was angry with God for forgiving those people. He was stubborn in accepting God's leading to go to Nineveh and he was stubborn in accepting God's mercy on those people. When his work was done he continued to travel. The sun was scorching and there was no shade to be found. The Lord grew a plant for Jonah to have some shade. The next day he allowed a worm to have a go at it and it killed the plant. Now Jonah was angry about this too. The very last two verses of the book of Jonah it says, "Then the Lord said, "You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?" Jonah 4:10-11 (NLT)

God is merciful, patient and reasonable. We need to reflect those attributes out to the world. When we're being "unreasonably obstinate" are we reflecting God's attributes? "…make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5b-8 (NLT) 

Gold-mine!

Just recently a new family moved in to the house that’s across the street from us. This family owns two dogs and we couldn’t wait to meet one of them, the Great-Dain. A few Sunday’s ago I was hanging out in the front of the house with the family and our dog, a Mini-Schnauzer named Chip. That day, our new neighbor brought both of his female dogs over so that we can meet them!

Okay, before I continue I need to let you in on a debate our family has been having for a while now. We cannot decide whether to neuter our dog or not. So, he’s still, without, you know, experience in the area of female doggies. (I hope you get my drift). Anyway, the dogs were doing their thing of getting to know each other, you know, sniffing each other all up in their privates and don’t you know! Athena (the Great-Dain) was, well, let me just be blunt, in heat! Chip’s ears turned up and he was ready to go! He stood up on both his hind legs and started to inch towards her back side when I pulled on his leash and told him to stop (which if you have a male dog you know is totally useless!). It was so funny watching this dog actually try to attempt the impossible! Even though he was standing on his hind legs it was useless! She’s such a tall dog that his head could barely reach her belly. He was nowhere near her “gold-mine!”

I have to give him credit for at least trying. That’s the type of attitude we need to have as believers in the One True God. Sometimes when we are faced with difficult challenges in our Spiritual walk we cave. There are times we give up without even trying. If we were like Chip we’d try anyway! Yes, my dear friends, I was reminded of a very important truth by the leading of the Holy Spirit. This truth is this, when we believe that triumph over the challenges of life’s circumstances are completely out of reach, we need to try anyway!

We need to stop giving up and feeling defeated afterwards! We need to stand up firm and stand our ground! “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then…” Ephesians 6:13-14a (NIV) Yes, we need to go for the “gold” no matter how difficult we may think or feel the situation is. Nothing is impossible when God is involved. If He led you…if it is in His will…if the Spirit is prompting you then go for it! “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-22 (NIV)

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My dear friends, thank you for reading! I'd love to read your thoughts on this topic in the comments below. Praying for you! 

Good Friday

r.T.m.
Reflecting Truth Ministries 

When others see you what do they see?

"As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart."

Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)

"One of a Kind!"

Why is it that we love to complain about what we don’t have instead of celebrating what we do have? How about when it comes to our looks, our bodies, our hair…even how our toes look? I have heard so-o-o-o many complaints from both men and women about their looks that it’s exasperating! Come on now! It’s time to stop! It’s time to take a deep breath and exhale slowly. It’s time to really look at ourselves, not from our point of view or from any other human’s point of view. It is time we look at ourselves through God’s point of view. 

Years ago I was confronted by God on this very issue. The lack of appreciation for how He made me was something that I was unaware of. I was so caught up in the “why is it?” that I was too distracted to realize God’s tugging at my heart, mind and spirit. It wasn’t until I was confronted with His Word that I was able to see, truly see just how special He made me. 

You see, my dear friends, I was blinded by what the world was saying was beautiful or even acceptable, that I couldn’t see the reality! The reality was and still is that I am one of a kind and so are you! “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:14 (NKJV) When I was confronted with His Word conviction soon followed. Did my “soul” really “know very well” that God created me exactly the way He wanted just like an artist creates a beautiful piece of art on a canvas that was once blank?

It is when we finally accept that every part of us is what He intended for us that we can finally see just how precious we truly are! It is then that we can take our eyes off of what we think we lack and put our eyes on what we do actually have! Everything, including how we look, is part of His one of a kind, tailor made, plan for us. He’s given us all we need, inside and out, to accomplish our purpose, our calling here on earth! “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) 

My dear friends, you are a masterpiece! You are one of a kind! There is no one that has ever existed or will ever exist that is just like you! That in and of itself is mind blowing! Stop falling for the lies of Satan! You are unique! Beautiful! Not just good enough but a MASTERPIECE! You are one of a kind!!!

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Thank you for reading! I consider it such a blessing to share my writing with you! I'd love to read your thoughts on this topic in the comments below. Praying for you my dear friends!

Feeling Better!

Hello my dear friends! I'm feeling so-o-o much better! Praise God for His healing! Thank you Lord for your answered prayers. My sciatica is no longer causing havoc! Woo-Hoo!

I hope you are all doing well. It's been a little more than a month that I wasn't feeling well but now I'm back! Looking forward to all God has in store this year! Thank you for your prayers! God bless you all!

Class on Romans

Praying you all have a wonderful weekend! 

If you are not already committed to something else on Sunday's @ 10:25am I teach a class on the book of Romans. You are more than welcome to join us! Faith Assembly of God, 9307 Curry Ford Road, Orlando, FL, 32825, Room E-202. There is a service at 9am and another at 11:15am and there's something for everyone of any age there, from babies through 100+. 

If you were already planning on going to your church/a church that makes my heart smile. In fact I'd love for you to share where you guys go on Sunday mornings! I'd love to pray for your church (I pray for all of our church's in the US and across the globe. So what I mean is specifically for your church or your church's prayer requests).

May God continue to bless you and yours! Love you guys!

“Do resolutions go hand in hand with procrastination?”

Hmmm. I think the obvious answer is “No,” of course not. The reason they don’t go hand in hand is because they’re complete opposites. I was curious as to just how opposite these two words were. So, I looked them up on Dictionary.com and following are their definitions (the short, version).

Resolution: “the act of resolving or determining upon an action, course of action, method, procedure, etc.”

Procrastination: “the act or habit of…putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention.”

Trying to mix these two would be like trying to mix oil and vinegar. This is why resolutions never worked for me. It’s not that the resolutions themselves never worked it’s that I never gave it a chance to work because of procrastination. That pesky word! It’s been a problem of mine for years. It’s one of those bad habits that if you don’t pay attention to it, it can linger around for years without ever being detected. Mind you, others can detect procrastination quickly in you, but we tend to not see it in ourselves. Maybe because we don’t want to?

I decided not to name my goals for the new year “resolutions” this year. For whatever reason the temptation to procrastinate on implementation of those resolutions in my life are too great for me to handle. I tend to cave into the temptations and before anything new can stick for good in my life I quit! There, I shared a very personal bad habit of mine. Don’t judge me.

So, instead of calling them resolutions I just call these desires for change what they really are, “things you better do or else!“ No, really, I call them “dreams,“ “the year of change,” or, okay really being honest here, “things God wants you to change now!” I write my list in my prayer journal and frankly, pray over them, all year. It takes more than just a couple of days or a month for lasting change to occur, at least that’s how it is in my life!

You may be wondering where I’m at with that pesky procrastination problem. Hmmm. PRAY FOR ME! Okay, I am better at it but, still have a ways to go. So, attention off of me and where it should be. What does the Bible say about resolutions? Romans 12:1, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” This same verse in the Message Bible reads, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life-and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
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Thanks for reading! I'd love to read your thoughts on this post in the comments below. What do you think about resolutions? Are you good at keeping them or do you even bother making New Year's Resolutions?

May God continue to bless you & yours!