Tough Season? What Are You Saying?

Yes, your situation may look like a hot mess.

Yes, you may be straight going through it.

Yes, your heart may be broken.

It's true - you may not understand what is going on in your life.

You may have just lost your job.

Your husband may have left you while you were completely faithful to him.

It may seem like you have no purpose.

It may seem like everyone has forgotten about you.

It may seem like you're at a dead end job today.

It may seem like the only thing that appeared to be comfortable was your past.

It may seem like everyone is leaving you.

It may seem like your life is a failure.

Regardless of what you are "feeling" today, I came to ask you, "What are you saying in the midst of it all?" Yes, you may get crazy thoughts about yourself based on what you can see, but the reality is that you have a choice. You can either sit and believe the devil's lies, or you can call him the LIAR that he is and decide to trust God through this situation.

Your good words and thoughts can literally trigger happy endorphins to be released in your body that make you physically feel better. Who knew that we can actually control those crazy thoughts that come through our heart? We don't have to accept the lies of the enemy, most of us just choose to believe him. If the mailman tried to drop off a package of live rattlesnakes, I'm quite sure that you wouldn't sign for the package - but sadly, many of us are signing for a package of negative words every single day.

On this earth, we will have tribulation, we will go through hard times, we will get frustrated. You may even be justified in your complaining because you have small kids,  you hate your job, or you've been single and saved for a longggg time and you are straight tired. Regardless of your season in life, I want you to remember this scripture:

Proverbs 18:21
The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

Whoa.

My words can bring LIFE or death to a situation?? And there are consequences to what I SAY? I believe that we would be MUCH more careful of what we said if we knew that it could HINDER where God is taking us. Some of us have become so used to complaining and grumbling that we literally WOKE up this morning, complained and fussed while we went into our prayer time. Then after fussing at God for about 30 minutes, we got dressed and went to work, fussing. The traffic, the train ride, the this, the that. THEN, we got to work and we are complaining.. until we opened up this blog. :)

Either we are going to have a great attitude today and decide to trust God or we are going to look exactly like this world and complain. YOU HAVE A CHOICE. 

Let's look at another scripture:

Matthew 12:36
"I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak."

Whoa.

EVERY WORD. Every word you THINK. Every WORD you SPEAK. EVERY word you TYPE. (Yes, even what you say on social media and the arguments that you have will be judged)
Heather, that scripture does not say the words I thought. But, if you read Matthew 5:27-28 it says, “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

So, even in THINKING about lust is a sin. So, THINKING about complaining, rolling your eyes at that co-worker, your friends group me message or your husband is complaining in your heart.

James 3:5 says "The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do."

How do we get help in this area?

1. First, we must be emptied out. What is in your heart? If you find that you have a ton of jealousy, pride, hate, etc - run to the feet of the Father. Repent of your sins! Ask God to cleanse you and make you whole.

2. Now, fill back up again. With God's word, sermons on unforgiveness, sermons on guarding your heart. Grab a journal, a Bible you can understand, spend time with God, stop hanging out with messy, gossiping people and maybe even do a fast from social media if it's causing you to hate everyone, including your life.

3. Surrounding yourself with believers is key. Find a local, word-based church. Join a Pinky Promise Group or start one.  

4. Fast from complaining. Yup, that's right. Train your flesh to say the opposite of what you want to say (only if it's bad!)

5. FIGHT back with the word of God. Write out scriptures on this area and when the attacks come, fight back! Here's a few!

Proverbs 12:18

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Matthew 12:36

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

Proverbs 16:24 

Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Proverbs 15:1 

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Matthew 15:18

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

Hebrews 4:12 

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Sisters, WE CAN do this! We CAN speak LIFE. We WILL have a good attitude. There WILL be a joy and light about us as we live for Jesus! We WILL align our words with what God says about us!

Few things!

1. The 2017 Pinky Promise Conference was EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like literally. Here's the night I taught on "Running From God." I will be opening up registration for 2018 this upcoming FRIDAY via www.pinkypromisemovement.com

2. Ah, I'm SO excited that the Pinky Promise Movement page has a new look! Check it out HERE. 

3. ALSO, the Pinky Promise Boutique has a new look too PLUS a ton of cute jewelry, promise rings, clothes, journals, etc! Check it out HERE.

4. Be sure to check my calendar to see if I'm in your city soon! (under Calendar)

5. Are you in Atlanta? Come and visit our church! We are in Sandy Springs! The Gathering Oasis Church - we meet at the Galloway Private School in the Amphitheatre. 215 W Wieuca Rd NW Atlanta, GA 30327 every Sunday at 10AM EST.

5. Lastly, My New Book, Silent Seasons was on the Amazon Best Seller's List as the #1 in New Releases and in Religious for 5 weeks! ahh!! Find it HERE.  or on Amazon/Kindle/Ibooks/Audio Book.

God loves you like crazy,

Love always,

Heather Lindsey

"Sloppy Words"

As I near the end of my pregnancy (39 weeks) I have found that just because you're pregnant, people don't tell you their beautiful pregnancy and labor stories-- they tell you the most horrific, crazy experiences that they went through and their mama went through. It's almost like you have a sign on your head at the grocery store that says: "I want to hear your worst experiences." As with anything in life, you MUST guard your heart against what people SAY. Why are we walking around just "signing for everybody's sorry packages" about our LIFE? The bible gives us FULL instructions on HOW to LIVE regarding being single, married, raising children, dealing with family members, working on your job & EVERYTHING else. Why do we RUN to all these other sources and ignore the MAIN source of life? I don't know about you but I don't have time to entertain the lies of this world. So, in light of me giving birth and just reflecting on everything over the past 9 months, I want to remind you of the following:

1. Humans don't know everything. There's no formula for ANYTHING. What may work for someone else (they met their hubby at church, one person may give birth at 38 weeks vs. 40 weeks) may NOT work for you. Be VERY selective in what you allow to be planted in your heart. You may meet your God-fearing, fine husband at the mall or at the grocery store! Why would you limit the God of Israel based on what you can see? God can IMPORT a man, He can OPEN up a barren womb, He can OPEN up a position at a company JUST for YOU. Just because this can be true, it cannot be your FOCUS. Our focus is on CHRIST. You never know. Even in my own life, my husband and I were pregnant in March of 2011 and we were excited until we found out that the sac was empty at the first ultrasound. There was no child-- just a growing sac. My body rejected the sac in May 2011 and I went through a painful miscarriage of the sac. I experienced ALL the things that came with pregnancy (symptoms) but had no child to show for it. I continued to experience problems with my body for a few more months. When we got pregnant again and found out in June of 2012.. I had a choice. I could sit around and FEAR that there wouldn't be a child or understand Ecclesiastes 3:2 that says there's a "time to be born." It wasn't my TIME to get pregnant OR for my son to be born and NOW I understand it! Pinky Promise started in January 2012 & I'm confident if I would have given birth in November 2011 that I would have been TOO busy to focus on a brand new ministry which as taken up a ton of my time! I had to LEARN to trust God's timing. PERIOD. 

2. If you don't know the bible for yourself, someone will feed you their opinions. It's simple, if you don't have a standard then someone else will set it for you. You can't just let people's words & opinions push you around like the wind!! Can you compare to a piece of paper that is being tossed around by the wind.. kinda going wherever the weather pushes it? Or are you like that TREE that is planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in it's season and its leaf doesn't wither and whatever it does -- does well? (Psalm 1:3). So STUDY the bible DAILY. Look up scriptures on things that you struggle with-- don't just walk around blind to what the bible says, accepting what everyone tells you!

3. Fear. For example, if you're believing God for a husband, pregnancy, salvation for your husband, a change in your child or whatever the case, you must hold on to what you believe to be true. It's because of your aunt's 4th divorced advice, you think that marriage would never work. It's because your girlfriends son who is the same age as your son.. and "this & that happened to him" so now the idea has been introduced in your heart and in the back of your mind, fear is growing and your faith is being attacked. We should listen to stories of HOPE and be encouraged that God hasn't forgotten about us! Don't let these silly distractions have you so messed up that you're believing the lie more than you're believing God's truth!

4. Stop watching Scandal. Ok. Scandal is JUST an example and I've never watched the show. But based on what people tweet and post about.. it sounds like there's some adultery & sex scenes. So as you lay down tonight, whether single or married you could 1. Wish you had someone with you that you aren't married to OR 2. You're married but now you're imagining yourself sexually with someone from your past. You may not get attacked right away but a seed was PLANTED. One day, your husband just won't be good enough, being single & just "trusting God" won't be as enticing especially since you've been waiting soooo long. You may think that I'm extreme. You may think that it doesn't "take all that." But living for Christ will cost you your LIFE. Satan is SEARCHING for an open door in your heart & you GIVE him an open door & then you DEFEND the open door. There's other silly shows out there that are filled with drama, unhealthy friendships and so much more. Guard your heart against these things. Turn off your cable. Do your part. This goes for music as well. I know you love your Beyonce but she's framing your thinking. And please, don't send me emails challenging your music- if God hasn't already convicted you-- go to Him & ask Him His thoughts on it. :) 

5. YOUR part. Ok, sis- You have a responsibility. Yes, you do. What do you spend your time doing? Do you spend 14 hours on facebook, 8 hours of your day at work or school, an hour working out and then you open up your bible for 5 minutes to read 1 scripture and think that you're approved? Do you just go to church on Sunday to get your fix.. but ignore God the rest of the week? Do you only go to God when you're heartbroken or down or do you constantly seek and PURSUE Him? What if someone only came to you when they needed something? Wouldn't you feel .. a bit used? Do you really want a relationship with God or do you want what you think He can do for you? God has a personality.. a heart. He grieves. He cares. He's jealous for YOU. You must spend time with God daily. Do your PART. Remember, we spend time with God for OUR good, not for "His good." HE IS GOD. 

As I mentioned above, I'm about to give birth! :) I am currently writing a book on how to stay fit & fabulous pregnant so I cannot wait to share it!! I am going to try to keep you all updated on Baby Boy Lindsey but grace me as I get adjusted to mommy-hood!

1. 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" (there's another church that holds service there too). 931 Monroe Drive NE Atlanta, GA- in Theatre 6.

2. 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

3. As always, you can join a Pinky Promise group locally! There's about 11,000 ladies that have joined! Find a group near you by joining & checking out the intro page! Join here: www.PinkyPromiseMovement.com 

4. To purchase cross rings, tote bags, fabulous shirts, purity rings & all that other good stuff-- go here: Pinky Promise Store 

P.S. If you've asked me questions on here-- know that I'm not ignoring you! I get THOUSANDS of emails & questions and it's super hard to get to each one. Thanks for your patience during this busy time!

God loves you like crazy!

Heather Lindsey