Don't Get Caught Up in the Story: Just Get the Message

By Alicia Crandell

Ashamed of my weakness but willing to share it to heal from my pain. Second Corinthians 11:30 states, "If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity." Knowing that the Lord is my strength calms my spirit. Second Corinthians 12:9–10 states, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." Thank you, Lord, for making me strong when I was weak. Through your Word, I received direction, correction, and encouragement to continue staying faithful to you; you won't leave me, nor forsake me. Joy, pain, gain, I'm a part of Christ's gang. In this book, I will share how to bang Christ name without the shame. I have gained all things through Christ's name. You will experience how I traded revenge as my friend and invited Christ to sit in. Learning how to plant seeds for Christ for Jesus saved my life. Gaining the wisdom to trust the Lord without a doubt and watch Christ knock the enemy out is what this life is all about! Thank you, Lord, for not allowing my faith to be paralyzed. I love you, Lord. In Jesus's name, amen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098075583

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Don't Get Caught Up in the Story

Just Get the Message

Alicia Crandell

Copyright © 2020 by Alicia Crandell

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Day One Big Homie

Serving Life for Christ

Season’s Greetings

First Trimester

Wise Vitamins for My Pregnancy

Second Trimester

SBFC

Time to Set My Table

Healing while Healing

Whose Voice Is Ringing in Your Ear?

Third Trimester

Delivery Room Check-In with the Lord

Out for Delivery

Pray without Ceasing

Encouraging Scriptures

Introduction

A series of stories leading to one message: The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear…whom should I be afraid of.

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it (Prov. 10:22). Amen.

To thrive means to grow, be strong, be healthy, be full of energy, to flourish, to prosper, to blossom, to advance, and to make strides to succeed. Lord, thank you for blessing me with the gift to thrive and help God’s people dive into your word more. I pray this book will fulfill my purpose of allowing someone else to develop a deeper prayer life with you, Lord. In Jesus’s name, amen!"

Ashamed of my weakness but willing to share it to heal from my pain. Second Corinthians 11:30 states, If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. Knowing that the Lord is my strength calms my spirit. Second Corinthians 12 states:

My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor. 12:9–10)

Thank you, Lord, for making me strong when I was weak. Through your Word, I received direction, correction, and encouragement to continue staying faithful to you; you won’t leave me, nor forsake me. Thank you, Lord, for not allowing my faith to be paralyzed. I love you, Lord. In Jesus’s name, amen.

To all the homies in the streets, can I share something to help you think?

Who is your big homie?

Big homies and little homies. Big homies in the streets protect their little homies. Little homies report to their big homies, and the big homies supply the little homies products to distribute out in the streets. Holding on to a cycle created as a source of protection continues the cycle of neglection. For Christ paid the cost for our sins, what’s your reason you reject Him? The Lord is my Big Homie. I can always count on Him. When Jesus is your Big Homie, He will supply all your needs, placing you as His little homie. I must always report back to Christ, to receive my supplies. Once He fills believers up with His product, we then give it out to all of His people in the streets. When the Lord is your Big Homie, His protection is all around you daily. Having man as your big homie places Christ as no homie. No one is above you, only Christ sits higher than us, giving someone else that power to control what you do puts Christ in no position with you. For Christ is second to none. The Lord is our Shepherd! Whenever I’m in Christ’s streets, I love giving His product out to all His peeps. Hey, big homie, you got some work. And His answer is always, You know I do. For Christ is our ultimate provider, with Christ you shall not want. Difference between Christ and man big homie is Christ product is the best product homie, and He never runs dry on His homies, but we must go to Him to receive His work! Man, bleed like I bleed, die like I die. No man is a big homie, for we’re all equal in Christ’s eyes, but Christ is our Big Homie. Never fear no evil! For the Lord is with you! Christ as your Big Homie will never leave you lonely. It’s time to release those chains and experience Christ’s gang! Welcome, homie!

Day One Big Homie

God created you in His image! Do you believe Him? Or do you believe you were made and not created?

Born into a family with two parents, five children, and a granny. I was the third born, which made me the middle child. Although the world has put so many labels on middle children such as not cool, the left-out child, always compared to the other sibling, rebellious, the child who get overlooked, etc. In my case, since I was born into a spiritual, God-fearing household, as for me being the middle child was just the complete opposite. In our home, we didn’t go by the worldly labels of how a family should be raised. We did everything biblical. My father was a minister and working dad, and my mother cared for our home. I had the best of both worlds. We experienced struggles in our life, but because we were a God-fearing family, trouble didn’t last long, and joy always came in the morning. Born ten pounds and two ounces, my mother’s biggest baby she birthed. I was born big, and I continued to get bigger as I aged. The world considered my weight fat, but I knew I was all that, for Christ told me so and that’s a fact. I love everything God created about me. When God says He created you, He means exactly like that. God created me to not only be the middle child, the fat kid, but also be the most confident individual in my family. Being the middle child allowed me to adapt to situations very quickly. I not only had to learn at home how to be mature whenever I was around my older sister and brother, but also how to be a kid when I played with my younger sister and brother. Having siblings taught me balance, which brought me a long way in life. Being a middle child taught me how to be strong; my role required holding things together so we as siblings always stayed united. As a little girl, my parents would teach my siblings and I to pray about everything. My parents would always say God can answer any prayer, so I thought to myself, Well, let me try this God out. I began to lie in bed every night, and whatever I wanted and/or needed, I would pray to God about it. Although I was a big young girl, I would always have visions of me being smaller in size than I was at that time. I would pray to lose weight, so I wouldn’t have a hard time finding fashionable clothing in my size. After I prayed, I would close my eyes and before falling asleep, the Lord would place visions in my head of what I would look like if I was walking in my answered prayer.

One night, I prayed for God to give me a husband who loves me for me, and he loves me more than I love him. My mother always told me, If you want a good husband, pray for him, and God will give you what you pray for. I didn’t believe her but because she had a good husband (my father), I listened because she told me that’s what she prayed for. I had to put God to the test; I prayed for a good husband at five years old. As life continued to move on, I had a problem. I couldn’t stop peeing in the bed at night. No matter what myth I tried, nothing worked. For example, no liquids before bedtime, use the restroom before going to sleep, etc. I would still wet the bed at night. This was such an annoying problem for me to understand. This problem of wetting the bed made me feel dirty. And I love being super clean! I was approaching high school and still having this problem. I laid in bed one night and I prayed:

Dear God, if you are real and you say you can do all things, for my eighth grade graduation, all I want is to stop wetting the bed before I enter into high school. Lord, I have tried everything, and nothing seems to work, and I hate the way it smells. God, please if you are listening, if you stop me from wetting the bed, I would know you are real because I have tried everything, and nothing works. Lord, this battle is not mine. I’m placing it in your hands. Lord, please answer my prayer in Jesus’s name, amen.

After I prayed this prayer, I went to sleep. Two weeks later, I graduated and after that summer, I started the ninth grade and guess what? I totally stopped wetting the bed, and I mean totally stopped. I would wake up and think I had an accident, and nope, nothing was in my bed. I remember talking out loud, Oh my gosh, God is real. He answered my prayer, He heard my cry, and He is real. I can’t see Him, but I feel Him, so I know He is with me every step of the way. I gained the wisdom at a young age that God wants us to pray about everything, and through every situation in life, know that the Lord will bring you out. Trust Christ can fix our problems, and then let go of trying to fix our own problems.

When I became patient in my affliction (wetting my bed), my prayer became faithful (I begged the Lord while praying daily), learning that I am unconditionally loved by God, and it gave me joy for my future. Experiencing the Lord answered my prayers assured me that He is real and listening. This was how my prayer journey started. I began to literally pray about everything! By the way, my prayer at five years old about God giving me a good husband, He answered that as well. Although I prayed it at five, the Lord answered my prayer on His timing. That is why Christ is my Big Homie!

Accepting you’re not created to be worldly but godly.

The Lord and I had a conversation after I surrendered my