By Angela D. Thomas, DrPH, MPH, MBA Because you have not been leaning on the Helper who already lives inside you. When you accepted Christ, God did not just save you and wave from a distance. He moved in. The Holy Spirit is God in you, and most of us are out here trying to carry it all on our own, when He was sent to help us. Let me talk to the woman who is worn out from trying. You love God. You are showing up, praying, doing your best to live right. But somewhere in there i

By Angela D. Thomas, DrPH, MPH, MBA He is closer than you think. On the day two heartbroken disciples felt the most alone, Jesus was walking right beside them the whole time, they just did not recognize Him. God is often present in the very season you would swear He is absent from. The key is to invite Him to stay. Let me talk to the woman who feels like God went quiet on her. You are still praying, still showing up, but you cannot feel Him anywhere. The heavens seem like bra

By Angela D. Thomas, DrPH, MPH, MBA You're supposed to be collecting receipts. A season of preparation is not a season of doing nothing. It's the season where God grows the wisdom, the strength, and the favor you'll need the day your purpose finally goes public. So you pray for those things on purpose, and you let Him build them in you now. Yesterday we said you're not late, you're in preparation, and that Jesus spent thirty years getting ready. Today I want to get practical,

By Angela D. Thomas, DrPH, MPH, MBA Because greater assignments come with greater opposition. When you level up, the enemy levels up too, and he stops attacking you where you're weak and starts appealing to what you love most. The blessing didn't invite the attack by accident. They travel together. Let me tell you about the night the whole world watched a good man make a five-second decision, because it's the clearest picture of this I have ever seen. Will Smith had leveled a

By Angela D. Thomas, DrPH, MPH, MBA You've got to get your situation into the right hands. Not the hands of every well-meaning person with an opinion, and not some borrowed strategy that was never the source. Your promise belongs cleaved to God Himself. Let me ask you a hard one before we go another sentence. When your situation is on the line, whose hands do you actually run to first? Because most of us say God, but our phone records tell on us. We text five friends, we drop

You cannot do it perfectly. But you are not alone in the attempt. God never gave you a commandment without also giving you help to carry it out. The Holy Spirit is that help. And learning to depend on Him is how imperfect people give the most extraordinary love the world has ever seen. We have covered a lot of ground this week. Four types of love. Match them to the right relationship. The giving versus receiving distinction. The commandment to Agape love unconditionally. And

Because what you're able to receive is directly connected to what you've been prepared to hold. God is not withholding from you. He is being strategic about the timing of every reveal, the same way Jesus was strategic for three full years before showing His disciples who He really was. You want clarity. You want God to just show you the whole picture, the full plan, all the details, right now. And when He doesn't, it can feel like He's holding out on you. Like the information