"I Can't Leave My Boyfriend"

.. I had a conversation with a woman awhile ago and she said, "You don't know what I'm going through with my boyfriend. He treats me so bad and uses me."

I can somewhat relate because some of my relationships were a hot mess too when I was single.. but my question is, "WHAT ARE YOU LETTING OTHER PEOPLE PUT YOU THROUGH?!"  You don't HAVE to stay in that dysfunction boyfriend, girlfriend relationship! I stayed in bad relationships because I wanted to! Let's just call it like it is! You are dependent on that loser boyfriend that God told you to leave forever ago. He told you that if you only trust Him & let go that HE is going to blow your mind! God told you that but you believe the words of the illegal thighs in your bed over God. Your boyfriend is your god. You study him, read his emails, stalk his cell phone and his life has become your bible. You spend more time & energy at his feet than  you do the feet of Jesus. So, when your idol treats you badly, you accept it because he lords over you.

Did you know that one day you will stand before God & be judged on ever sermon, every book, every blog that you read? You cannot say that you didn't know better. You simply keep CHOOSING that lifestyle of sin. And sis, let's not use grace as an excuse to STAY in sin, God graces us so we don't GO back to the sin & we stay away from it. He gives us a way OUT. 

So, this blog aint for everybody. But God put it on my heart to post this for the few of you that are in BAD relationships and you need that extra push to get out. Stop rationalizing & wondering.. how you're going to make it without him. You will  be just fine and God will help you out of it. Move out of his house and start depending on God again. You cannot afford to be out of the will of God for your life and people in the BODY of Christ need you to get into position! They NEED your gifts & talents and you're up here distracted by a man that hates your God. 

By faith, step out and trust God. Let it go. NOW, go on & do the will of the Father. 

(And.. when you get tested (and you will)- write these scriptures out or the ones that minister to you & stare at them until they become more real than your raging feelings.)

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Isaiah 41:10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

And I blogged on, "We Just Broke Up, Now What?"-- check it out. 

God Loves you like Crazy!

Heather Lindsey 

Just a few things:

1. I  opened up a Pinky Promise Boutique!!! Think fashionable, fabulous purity rings, cross bracelets, journals, statement necklaces & so much more  for women! Check it out via www.pinkypromiseboutiques.com. Use code JESUS for 10% off!

2. We have developed an APP! Think: daily post notifications + weekly devotionals, recipes and so much more! It's out NOW for iphones + Androids. Under Heather & Cornelius Lindsey: Today With the Lindsey's

3.  If you live in Atlanta, I want to invite you to our church. Join us on Sundays at 11:00am at Landmark Art Cinemas. Our churches name is: "The Gathering Oasis"  931 Monroe Drive NE Atlanta, GA.

4. My book is selling like crazy! I'm so thankful for all of you that have supported! Check it out here: My New Book! Pink Lips & Empty Hearts:  www.PinkLipsAndEmptyHearts.com AND my new book,  Dusty Crowns, here! 

5. Register for the 2015 Pinky Promise in Atlanta, GA! It sold out last year, so you don't want to miss out! www.pinkypromiseconference.com 

6. As always, you can join a Pinky Promise group locally! There's about 26,000 ladies that have joined! Find a group near you by joining & checking out the intro page! Join here:www.PinkyPromiseMovement.com

7. We are hosting an event in LA on October 4th, I want to see you there! http://www.eventbee.com/v/pinkypromise/event?eid=169814152

The Lindseys: Family Photoshoot

So, every year I schedule a photoshoot with Anthony in Atlanta! (eyecandyanthony@gmail.com) and I swear by his work! I went to Michigan State University with him and he's always had an eye for great photos!

So, this year, I wanted to do a few themed photoshoots! I thought it would be fun to get letterman jackets made that we can wear as a family!

Jackets: Husbands, Logan: Zara My jacket: J Crew. Then, I took it to a local embroidery shop and they imprinted the jackets! It took about a week.
Pants: Joe Jeans (everyone)
Shoes: Husband: Jordans Son: Sperrys Me: Christian Louboutin

Then, of course, we need some promotional photos for speaking engagements and materials!

Top: Goodwill: It was a dress and I had it made into a shirt because I felt like it was too short!

Skirt: From a boutique in Perimeter Mall (GA)

Necklace: Kenneth Lane

Shoes: Christian Louboutin 

Hubbys suit: Suit Supply

And, I'm from a small town called Brooklyn, MI and my husband is from Newton, MS. We are from SUPER small towns with just a couple stop lights! So, since we are from the country, we had to tap into our country roots!

Boots: From Boots N More in Jackson, MS. Hats: gifted from friends in San Antonio, TX.

Thank you for checking out our family photos!

God loves you like crazy!

Love, The Lindseys

A Starved Spirit: Hungering for God Again

"My daughter, you're becoming so busy and concerned about the things of this world that you're hardening your heart against me. Being overwhelmed and worried hardens your heart against My presence in your life because you take your eyes off of me and you put them on your situation. You take your eyes off of me and your allow for worry to consume your heart. I long to flow in and out of you but I need you to stop holding onto your ways and thinking. 

So, that was a very real conversation that I had with God at one point in my life. I never thought that I was hardening my heart against Him! I mean, I'm helping people, I'm writing books, I'm praying for others, laying hands, blogging, I'm serving my family! I mean, come on God! He said, but Heather, you are doing it out of an empty, overwhelmed spirit. You are rushing from here to there and even in your prayer time with me, you are rushing through it and running off to the next thing on your to-do list all while thinking about your schedule in my presence. It's almost like, God was whispering to my heart & I screamed back through my actions, "GOD, I don't have time for that right now, I'm too busy praying." God is JEALOUS for my schedule. He is JEALOUS for the time I give all of things things & people.

At times, we can be doing all of these God things and then we feel overwhelmed and weary. We cry out to Him and we still feel the same way. You see, you're doing what you're doing out of an empty spirit. Your spirit man is STARVED. The crazy thing is this, when we are hungry, our body tells us and we run and eat some food. It's it crazy that when our Spirit man is hungry, we don't pick up the word of God, don't spend time with God, don't meditate on scripture, too busy to go to church, or whatever else! No wonder why you're distracted & overwhelmed! Now, you're stubborned & you're not longer sensitive to God like you used to be.

It's time to get back to your FIRST love. 

Hebrews 2:1

So, we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard or we may drift away from it. 

Do you remember when you first got saved? You were SO excited about God! You would sit before Him & read your bible daily. You would apply it throughout the day! You wouldn't dare take your phone with you for quiet time because it was a precious time between you & God. You would wake up thinking about God and go to sleep thinking about God. You would listen to sermons 24-7. You talked about God all the time. You guarded your heart. You would write out scriptures and meditate on them daily. You were VERY intentional about spending time with God!

THEN, you got saved and passed a few tests, which is great! And now, you serve in a few ministries at church. You've been saved for a few years and instead of that hunger & reverence for God, it becomes this:

1. I know that scripture, I don't need to study it.
2. WHO is this minister? What are they talking about? (granted, we should test every spirit, but this isn't a testing that you're doing-- it's "I know more than you, so how did you get up there?"
3. I don't have time to go to church today or the small group. I know what they're going to teach and I already know it.
4. I don't feel like spending time with God today.. (as you spend 3 hours on Facebook or shopping online.)
5. I mean, I can still live like this, God will forgive me. You lost your standards & you took your eyes off of Him & put them on you.

John 8:31 tells us "If you will continue in my word, you are truly my disciples."

There's a CONTINUING in this WALK! You have to KEEP staying hungry & thirsty for God! You don't know everything! You never will! There's a CONSTANT growing and learning and if you study one scripture one day, God can give you a brand new revelation of the same scripture if you stay in EXPECTATION. If you no longer hunger for God, you have to ask God to HELP you to hunger for Him again. 

Then, the test will come your way. A opportunity to get distracted & to move in another direction. But who will you choose? Will you choose that ungodly music? Will you choose that pornography? Will you choose that man? Will you choose that friend? Will you choose to meditate on social media instead of sitting before Him?

As I was studying this, I saw a boat. The boat had no power and it was just drifting in the direction of the current. It was just floating away, further and further from it's direction. This is exactly what happens to you when you're distracted and starved. You're drifting in the direction of the world's current and you're moving further and further away from the direction because you don't have the HOLY SPIRITS POWER to go BACK to where you're supposed to be. You have no power. You're drifting away from God. You're empty. It's time to turn your boats power back ON & sit before the Lord quietly until He shows you what to do.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Have I drifted away from God?
2. Why am I no longer hungry for Him?
3. What has taken the power from my boat?
4. Who or what has separated me from God?
5. Why am I no longer thirsting for God?

Most likely, you've started in the spirit and now, you've taken your life into your own hands. (Galatians 3:3). You're self sufficient and you tell God what He needs to do vs. you sitting at the feet of our Lord and letting HIM lead your life.

Stop drifting. It's time to return back to Him. Start today.

Just a few things:

1. I  opened up a Pinky Promise Boutique!!! Think fashionable, fabulous purity rings, cross bracelets, journals, statement necklaces & so much more  for women! Check it out via www.pinkypromiseboutiques.com. Use code JESUS for 10% off!

2. We have developed an APP! Think: daily post notifications + weekly devotionals, recipes and so much more! It's out NOW for iphones + Androids. Under Heather & Cornelius Lindsey: Today With the Lindsey's

3.  If you live in Atlanta, I want to invite you to our church. Join us on Sundays at 11:00am at Landmark Art Cinemas. Our churches name is: "The Gathering Oasis"  931 Monroe Drive NE Atlanta, GA.

4. My book is selling like crazy! I'm so thankful for all of you that have supported! Check it out here: My New Book! Pink Lips & Empty Hearts:  www.PinkLipsAndEmptyHearts.com AND my new book,  Dusty Crowns, here! 

5. Register for the 2015 Pinky Promise in Atlanta, GA! It sold out last year, so you don't want to miss out! www.pinkypromiseconference.com 

6. As always, you can join a Pinky Promise group locally! There's about 26,000 ladies that have joined! Find a group near you by joining & checking out the intro page! Join here:www.PinkyPromiseMovement.com

7. We are hosting an event in LA on October 4th, I want to see you there! http://www.eventbee.com/v/pinkypromise/event?eid=169814152

God loves you like crazy,

Heather Lindsey

 

(Me & my hubby at the 2014 Pinky Promise Conference)

"Dry Seasons: God, where are You?"

Have you ever felt like you don't feel God's presence? Maybe, you go to church, you're trying to do the right thing. You've cut off bad relationships. You're REALLY trying to live for God but it STILL feels like you don't sense Him near you. You STILL feel like He's not giving you wisdom. You STILL feel like maybe.. I need to pray more. Or maybe, study more. Maybe then, God will make me feel full again.

If you've ever felt this way, I can relate with you.

But, this is what I've learned.

Just because I don't feel God's presence, doesn't mean He's not there. God is omnipresent. God is present everywhere! My feelings aren't the determining factor on if God is there or not. At what point did I make my feelings my idol or my god? And why do I keep trying to earn God like He's man? I am righteous by faith in the blood of Jesus, not in my works! Yes, faith without works is dead but if my faith is in Jesus then I will NATURALLY do work & live for Him. NOT the other way around.

Sadly, I thought my works made my faith. So, I did things & I said: LOOK GOD! Do you love me more?! Look God, I prayed. Where is my sticker? Look God, I served at church.. do you love me more? James makes the statement “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). Faith without works is dead faith because the lack of works reveals an unchanged life or a spiritually dead heart. There are many Scriptures that make it very clear that true saving faith will results in a CHANGED life, which is demonstrated by the “works” we do. How we live reveals what we believe and whether the faith we profess to have is a living faith.

James 2:14–26 is sometimes taken out of context in an attempt to create a works-based system of righteousness, but that is contrary to many other Scriptures.The scripture is not saying that our works make us righteous before God, but he is making it clear that real saving faith is demonstrated by good works. Works are not the cause of salvation; works are the evidence of salvation. The person who claims to be a Christian but lives in TOTAL disobedience to Christ with a life that shows no works has a false or dead faith and isn't saved. James is clearly showing you the difference between two different types of faith—truth faith that saves and false faith that is dead. So, in the midst of my dry season, I learned that it is out of my love for Jesus, I spend time with God. It is out of my love for my family that I serve them. Not for a cookie or a reward, but simply because I love them & it aint' got nothing to do with my emotions but everything to do with my unconditional love towards them.

You see, your feelings are constantly subject to change. You eat a huge meal you may feel heavy and sleepy with no energy. Then, the next day you drink a green smoothie-- so you're on a high again. Then, the next day your boss scolds you and .. there goes your mood again.

Why are your moods so unstable? Is that all it takes to push you off of your rocker?

"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."- 1 Peter 5:8

Satan has watched you and many just like you for YEARS so he & his little demons pretty much know what makes you tick.

Whenever my feelings or my emotions try to run to cling onto some silly understanding of a huge God, I'm reminded of:

"Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?"- Isaiah 40:12

Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust." - Isaiah 40:15

How COMFORTING?! God holds the universe in the palm of his HAND! What perspective! 

And maybe, just maybe you are going through a dry season in your life because you are clinging on to so many things and people that God cannot even speak life into your hardened heart? Maybe, just maybe you're heart has been in things, money, pride, status and this world?  God cares so much about you that He will allow for you to be stripped from worldly things so He will have His proper place. He refuses to share His glory with anyone else & He is JEALOUS for you. Do you think God is just gonna sit there & let you seek after this world & not CARE? God surly has a way of getting our attention again. He knows how to bring a man to repentence. So, stop wrestling with Him.

I challenge you sister to keep blogging, keep praying, keep spending crazy time with God, keep pressing in and don't move until God pushes you to move. In that moment where we feel like all hope is lost, God is whispering into our ears "As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength.- Psalm 138:3"

Just to give you a few practice tips during this season:

1. Don't quit on God, He is the only One that is leading you & the only One that can HELP  you. So, spend MORE time with Him and don't run back to your past when you get uncomfortable. Spending time with God daily should be like that flight you're catching at 7am free flight to Hawaii everyday. You know good & well you wouldn't miss that all expense paid trip. So, why is it so hard for your flesh to set a time for God & stick with it but we can get up for work, a flight.. school. There's a reason you don't desire God sis & it's because you stopped giving your attention to Him!

2. Let go of anyone or anything that is hindering your walk with the Lord. Yes, that person. You know who it is! God has already made it plain to you but you're rationalizing! Stop going back & forth with it & let it go!!

3. Guard that heart! You don't have time to sit & listen to stupid love songs & music that aint' glorifying the Father. Turn off the TV, unfollow a bunch of worldly celebrities & protect your heart. Your heart grows things and if you compare your life to all of these other people, you won't enjoy this season. You will compare your life to a persons highlight reel & think that God forgot about you.

4. Be kind to others. Yes, this may seem easy to do but when you're not feeling good about yourself, sometimes its hard to be nice to others. Avoid the pity party & get UP from your depression. Get UP from your feelings! Get UP & go help someone else that is struggling! When you get your eyes off of yourself & become selfless-- you will find the joy & the beauty in sowing time & energy into others as the Lord leads you.

 5. Learn, learn & learn some more! Read Christian BOOKS, listen to encouraging podcasts and surround yourself with believers. Never stop learning and take what you learn & apply it to your daily life. But before you pick up everybody else's book--  make sure your face is in the bible first. Nothing replaces that.

I'm praying for you. I'm standing in agreement with you & so is the rest of the body of Christ. Remember that when you quit, it puts a burden on the rest of the body to pick up where you quit on God. So, hang in there! God is for you!

Just a few things:

1. I  opened up a Pinky Promise Boutique!!! Think fashionable, fabulous purity rings, cross bracelets, journals, statement necklaces & so much more  for women! Check it out via www.pinkypromiseboutiques.com. Use code JESUS for 10% off!

2. We have developed an APP! Think: daily post notifications + weekly devotionals, recipes and so much more! It's out NOW for iphones + Androids. Under Heather & Cornelius Lindsey: Today With the Lindsey's

3.  If you live in Atlanta, I want to invite you to our church. Join us on Sundays at 11:00am at Landmark Art Cinemas. Our churches name is: "The Gathering Oasis"  931 Monroe Drive NE Atlanta, GA.

4. My book is selling like crazy! I'm so thankful for all of you that have supported! Check it out here: My New Book! Pink Lips & Empty Hearts:  www.PinkLipsAndEmptyHearts.com AND my new book,  Dusty Crowns, here! 

5. Register for the 2015 Pinky Promise in Atlanta, GA! It sold out last year, so you don't want to miss out! www.pinkypromiseconference2015.eventbee.com!

6. As always, you can join a Pinky Promise group locally! There's about 26,000 ladies that have joined! Find a group near you by joining & checking out the intro page! Join here:www.PinkyPromiseMovement.com

7. We are hosting an event in LA on October 4th, I want to see you there! http://www.eventbee.com/v/pinkypromise/event?eid=169814152

God loves you like crazy,

Heather Lindsey

My little family! :) Check out Logan's smile!