“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Romans 16:17-1) ESV Not everyone that seems to be for you is your biggest fan. At times strangers may support you more than loved ones. The ones you least expect to may be opposed to your plans. Watch your back. Not everyone is in your corner.
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book(s), Not Without God: A Story of Survival and Not Without God: Hope In the Storm. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s also been featured on The Neil Haley (media giant’s) Show, The Intuitive Edge podcast and on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’broadcast as well as Grace and Truth Radio World!
Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among many other places.
She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Stormis live and for sale.
All things work together for good for those who love the Lord, for those who are called according to his purpose, this is so true. We may not see it at the time, but God‘s got your back. He’s working things out for you. It may not seem like it. But no matter what’s happening in your life, God is working for your benefit.
He will be the one there when you’re crying and don’t know what to do. He will be the one helping you when you go to the hospital to visit a loved one. He will give you peace. But you have to continually seek after the Lord. Ask him to lead and guide. At times we tend to be ‘mini gods’ and think we know what’s best. We feel fine. We may think we have no reason to call on God.
But there is a risk. When you don’t seek after him you don’t always see the truth. You may not be able to discern between the spirits. He won’t force his will on you, but the bad outcome may be your fault. You may be influenced by others who are not out to help you. It’s simple. My prayer for years has been, please Lord, lead and guide me. It’s a small prayer that has directed my path. I know I’m enveloped in the love of the Lord.
I don’t need to see to believe. That’s what faith is-believing without seeing. Your belief is what brings a good action to pass. You manifest it. Believe there is a God who loves you so much and wants to bless you even in hard times. Study his word it will strengthen you. In Hebrews 4:12, God’s word is said to be “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword.” Seek after and talk with God. He wants to be there and to be your best friend.
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
I watched a great podcast yesterday. Lex Fridman interviewed Bishop Barron. It’s nice to hear about physics from a religious perspective. I really got a lot out of it. Bishop Barron says “God is the substitent act of ‘to be’ itself.” That makes perfect sense to me. God says, “I am who I am.” He is God. He doesn’t need to prove himself.
“God IS the reason there is a more contingent being at all!”
“God is not an entity; people think of God as a big being,” Bishop Barron continues to say. God is beyond being. However, I do believe he is a “being” in heaven. I believe his size spans the earth and is probably even much bigger than that. Colton Burpo, in the book, “Heaven Is For Real” says that God looks like a much bigger version of the angel, Gabrielle. I believe that Colton said he wears a yellow/golden sash. If I remember correctly.
For me, I am a believer in God and always have been. I have believed in Jesus for as long as I can remember, from a very young age, I didn’t need “proof or evidence.” I didn’t need to see him or experience him with my five senses. I feel God. I feel him there with me every day.
And he speaks to me in the silence and in nature, in love through others, in friendships, and much more. God speaks to me when I’m listening to the Bible, for example, after I’ve just put it down or listened by audio, I get the clearest messages ever.
God’s very nature is to be, again. He is holding us together. Gravity is what keeps your feet to the ground. God made gravity, which keeps our feet to the ground and also keeps planets in their orbits! The universe(s), planets, galaxies, and billions upon billions and billions of stars are all held together by God.
Real faith is believing even when it’s dark, even when you can’t see, and even when you’re taught not to believe. It’s like an author to a book. The author may not seem to be in the book, but he is the writer. HE IS THE AUTHOR AND THE FINISHER. HE IS GOD.
Furthermore, God becomes one of us. God becomes a human (Jesus). Jesus makes humanity radiant and beautiful. He is the redeemer of all reality, Bishop Barron continues. “Jesus came to pay a debt that he didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay,” is another way to put it. The Bible tells us: “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all” (Romans 11:32).
The greatest physicts in the world talk about free will (some of them think it is non existent) and that everything is in a cosmic or what I like to call a “divine” order. But we have choices. The world renowned pastor and NY Times bestselling author, Greg Boyd, says that God sees every choice we can make, every route we can go. Even when we make the wrong ones he is there to pick us up.
God foresaw that we would all need him. God knew we would all fall short. God is love; God is light. God is omnipresent, and he can be everywhere at once. God is all knowing and all kind.♥️
Here is the podcast link to Bishop Barron’s interview with the popular host, Lex Fridman.
And here is the other podcast I mentioned, with Todd and Colton Burpo, from the NY Times bestselling book (and movie): Heaven Is For Real.
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Grace is a gift. Our work doesn’t consistently demonstrate that we should earn it. God loves us because we are his children. Grace is not earned. It is freely given. Paul tells us in the Book of Romans, 11:6, “And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works, if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”
Some have a misconception about how to come to the Lord. They may think you need to have had a sin free life, or that he would not accept you into the Kingdom if you’ve messed up. The opposite is true. Whether we are a “Noah” or fall short (we all do), God longs to be with you.
The ‘doing’ good will get us into heaven, but the doing is just a reflection of how we feel in our hearts. All we have is now, so let’s make the most of it. God can pull you out of your past, so you can live fully in the present. The path will not always be an easy one. God may call you to put away selfish desires, arrogance, or any sense of entitlement.
Following God is not always a “live your best life” kind of path. At times there may be hardship and even rejection. It isn’t always pleasurable. He is continually molding and shaping us. When you ask the Lord to direct you, he will guide your steps. It will be worth it in the end. When you know where the grace in your life comes from, it makes it that much more special.
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About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s just been featured on the popular, Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
Four passages in the bible that further prove this scripture are below:
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17).
“But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy” (Isaiah 65:18).
“I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more” (Is 65:19).
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:3).✨
About Zina
Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written hundreds of articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She is also a major foodie and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm will soon be released on Jan 24! Order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT
He had loved us at our darkest and at times when we did not deserve his love. God is not partial. He doesn’t only love us when we are doing ‘good.’ He loves us when we fail. He loves us when we’re not pretty. He loves us eternally no matter what. The sooner people realize that God does not change (like we do), the better. He’s not a fair-weather friend. He’s not here for a ‘season’ or because there is some benefit he gets back from us. He doesn’t behave the way humans do. He made us. He is our Holy Father. He loves us at our darkest when we’re not ‘winning,’ and when we know, we could be better. He loves us just as much as when we’re doing good. God can’t not love us because God is love. He is the epitome of it. Some may paint the picture in your mind of a God who scolds or punishes. But those images are not of the real God. They are fictitious ones. Some people stand so long in anticipation of the judgment and warning others that they are not focusing on the real Lord. His arms are open wide. Lovingly, waiting for his children to come home.❤️♥️🧡
About Zina
Zina Hermez authored the best-selling book “Not Without God: A Story of Survival.” Her stories have been featured in various guest articles, medical journals, magazines, newsletters, and over 300 of her own blog articles. As an educator for more than twenty years, she’s had the privilege of working with tens of thousands of students from different backgrounds and parts of the world. Her upcoming book, “Not Without God: Hope In the Storm” will be out later this year. Her writing endeavors earned her an invitation to speak at the Harvard Faculty Club’s “Business Expert Forum.” Zina’s goal is to help others overcome adversity, and she strives to do what she longs to–help other people. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Southern Writers magazine, and Suite T blog, among other places. Socializing with friends, taking business trips, listening to music, and meeting new people are among her hobbies. She was recently featured on Color Speak (a Grace and Truth Radio World! podcast). You can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, or Twitter.
Be thankful for EVERYTHING you have. You may not realize how precious what you have is when you have a lot of good things! We do that sometimes. We take life for granted when things are naturally easy, or going well. If things have always been good we can expect them to be good all the time. We may become angry when something is not!
When things are tough, it’s a different story. If one thing is bad it can help us look around and appreciate all the good! We can learn to be thankful during this time. When things are bad it can actually humble us because we can see the good stuff more clearly.
I’m trying to be thankful for the good and the bad tonight. The trials and tribulations, the lessons and mistakes, the losses and heartaches, and the failures and setbacks. They are all gifts. All of them.
It never feels good to go through these things, but if it brings me out better, stronger, wiser, or healthier than I was before I’m grateful. They worked for my greater good.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
About Zina
Zina Hermez authored the book Not Without God: A Story of Survival and created the Spinal Cord Injury Solutions! online website. Zina works as an English Language Instructor, and has been an educator for nearly fifteen years. Her thousands of students have been from many parts of the world, and she’s worked with all ages.
Zina writes articles on faith and overcoming disability, and her stories have been featured in Christianity Today, Spinal Cord Injury Zone, SCI Access, newsletters, and medical journals among many other various publications. To learn more about Zina visit http://zinahermez.com.
Be thankful for what you can do today because you might not be able to do it tomorrow! ~Zina Hermez
I’ve been dealing with a lot. I hate to write that because I’ve been so blessed this year with the publication of Not Without God. But man, things are tough! The biggest change this year is that I’ve become more of a caretaker for my parents. Unfortunately, my dad’s illness has progressed. I’ve been working with doctors and nurses to try to manage him. It’s been taking up much of my free time lately.
So I asked myself what I would do with a few hours of time to myself! I thought about being in a place like Manhattan, New York to see all of the beautiful Christmas sights, or to simply have dinner with a good friend. Spending some time doing whatever I want would be nice. This weekend, I am going to spend some me time – I’ll do a little shopping, call friends, take care of all of my chores, and just relax!
About Zina
Zina Hermez authored the book Not Without God: A Story of Survival and created the Spinal Cord Injury Solutions! online website. Zina works as an English Language Instructor, and has been an educator for nearly fifteen years. Her thousands of students have been from many parts of the world, and she’s worked with all ages. Zina writes articles on faith and overcoming disability, and her stories have been featured in Christianity Today, Spinal Cord Injury Zone, SCI Access, newsletters, and medical journals among many other various publications. To learn more about Zina visit http://zinahermez.com.
Four passages in the bible that further prove this scripture are below:
notwithoutgod.net 