Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thank you for following this blog and your support throughout the year. You are appreciated. ❤️

For those of you who support Operation God is Love, the homeless outreach/missions/human trafficking efforts, I thank you too! It’s been a year of dozens of people being fed spiritually and naturally. People gave their hearts and lives to Jesus. Your support helped to feed hundreds of people, provide Christmas gifts to those who may have been forgotten on the streets, and more! I thank you!!

I included a few photos below of some of the gifts we gave out this month to our friends on the street.

Thank your for supporting Lamb Enterprises LLC and it’s divisions. 💕

Your support of the books, clothing/merchandise, and Empowered & Free stores are helping to rescue women and children from human trafficking. So I thank you!

I am wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Love is why we are here. God is love. His love goes into the darkest places and fills them with light! You and I may not be able to do everything, we can do something.

During this holiday season, my prayer is that you and I shine His light bright. May we love people deeper, forgive freely, bless people around us, and help someone in need.

I hope and pray you enjoy the season. The BEST is yet to come.

Love,

Erin Lamb

Founder & CEO of Lamb Enterprises LLC and Operation God is Love

Author of I Thought I Knew What Love Was, Confident & Free, and Overcoming Church & Abuse

Websites:

Empowered-Free.com, EmpoweredandFreeMerch.com, and OperationGodisLove.org

Thriving in Finances (Wisdom Series)

Tips on how to stop living paycheck to paycheck! And increasing tithes and offerings is not on my list.

We do not love money, yet being broke is not cute and stressful. Having more than enough can provide for future generations or invest in making the world a better place.

1. Look at where your money goes each month. Go to the bank and grab a statement or export one to Excel. Look at what you spend money on and dial back what is not needed. Do you need Starbucks every day? It’s $4.99 for your morning fix. Or can you cut that and brew coffee at home? Do you need mega cable? I cancelled cable years ago. Do you need to eat out at restaurants every day? I take my lunch most of the time and have a grocery budget. Yes I said the b word-BUDGET! Yes there are times to splurge. Most of the times there is a target. I also shop weekly so items do not spoil. I went through a phase where I ate the same thing every day to build up savings.

2. Set financial goals. Do you want a vacation? To pay off debt? Pay your house off early? Without a plan, you fail. Without vision the people perish. I set a plan to pay off my car early. I did, even with loss of major income. I set a plan to pay off my house early. I am working towards that plan. I set a goal to have more than 1 stream of income. I now do.

3. What can you do outside your 9-5 to earn money? God gives us the power to gain wealth. There are companies like Fivver, Upwork, etc that hire freelancers. What do you do to solve problems? Find a way to capitalize on it. If you don’t know how to start a business, SCORE can help. And SCORE is FREE for the most part. There are free resources everywhere.

4. SAVE instead of spend. Say you have an extra bonus from work, how about saving some of it instead of heading to the mall. My family has made fun of me because I am not a big spender. I like to travel, yet I still price shop. Can I get this cheaper somewhere else? Can I bargain? Girl has mad bargaining skills. I have not paid anywhere near sticker price for a car, and God has blessed me with favor in this area. Yet I have not ever asked my family for money. I bet they like that…Set up a savings plan. Say what? Yes, even if it’s 10 dollars a week. That’s $40 a month, thats $480 a year. Build at least a $1,000 emergency fund.

5. Stop overgiving. I repeat, stop over giving. It is possible to over give!! It is possible to use your emergency fund to get someone else out of crisis and you end up in a ditch. If I cannot afford to not be repayed, I don’t let people borrow from me. I also assess what I can do and what God wants me to do. I had a family member in crisis a few years ago who was quite angry I would not help them. Well, I am glad I did not. Why? My finances were hit later on and never would have seen that money again.

6. Don’t be lazy or expect money to fall from the sky. If the job offers overtime and you need extra cash, pick up a shift or two.

7. Ask God for wisdom with money. This one is big for me. God loves to provide wisdom. Wisdom is pivotal for thriving in life.

8. Think about future generations even if you do not have kids. I would love to help future generations thrive. Living only for self is not meaningful.

9. Treat money like something you are stewarding for God. The same with a business or ministry. It is for Him. It’s a resource. God is the Source.

10. Don’t steal. Don’t steal your company’s time by not doing your job. Why? One it’s wrong, two the thief pays back 7 times what is stolen. Sow stealing, reap being broke. Do your job with excellence. Show up, do it well.

11. Stop complaining/murmuring and using your words in a negative fashion. “I am always broke.” Stop cursing yourself. Speak life. I had a financial hit last year and I kept saying, “God shall provide all my needs according to His riches in glory. Those who give to the poor lend to the Lord. God is faithful to His word. My bank accounts will not go to zero.” Not one account went to zero.

12. Ask God for ideas, witty inventions, concepts, and answers to the world’s problems. If you’re a problem solver, you can build a business.

You can give tithes and name seed all day and still be broke. Without a plan, you fail. Why? Because there is no vision to funnel wealth into. I have met people who are the biggest givers at church and they are BROKE! Wisdom, the Bible says, get wisdom. Money is a resource. God is the Source. Lord knows He has come through for me in incredible ways when I was hard pressed. He is the Source. He also gives us wisdom, talents, skills, creative ideas, and insight to go create/generate wealth.

Last key, the Bible speaks highly of those who remember the poor. Please don’t forget to invest in those who truly cannot do for themselves at the time. God will repay you! Hope something here was a blessing.

While people are planning their trips to the gym, how about a savings plan. 🙂

Warmly,

Erin

You Are Not Alone in the Fire

Sunday Encouragement: You Are Not Alone in the Fire (Prayer of Refreshing at the End).

Yesterday a candle set fire in my kitchen. No real harm, I contained it. No property damage. A little smokey in the house, yet thankful I heard it the second it caught fire. There was a flash and whoosh sound.

Fire consumes. Fire spreads quickly. Fire is intense. The heat from the flames can range from 750F to 1,300F. Have you ever felt like life seated you in the middle of a fire? Life was going along great then flash, whoosh, you went from zero to 1,000. If you look around things are being consumed and quite possibly it may seem that you cannot contain it. You see flames, yet if you walk with Jesus, do you recognize He is with you even until the ends of the earth and right in the fire with you?

Unlike mere human beings, God does not abandon us in the darkest of night or the fiercest of fires. God stands with us and for us. God is Emmanuel; God with us. The covenant God makes with His word and His heart is unlike any human covenant. Marriage covenants on earth end, they do not exist in heaven. Yet God’s covenant with humanity is eternal. Humans may run, forsake, hide, say-“That’s not my problem,” but God. I tell my friends and mentees, insert but God. But God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above ALL we could ask or imagine. But God will make even your enemies to be at peace with you when your ways please Him. But God is still the same God who raises the dead, opens blind eyes, causes the lame to walk, and that resurrection power did not end on calvary. But God is the same God who parted the Red Sea, called manna from heaven, and quail from the sea.

If God be for you (us) who stands a chance against you (us)? What is meant for evil, God can turn it around for good. God is still making ways where there seems to be no way. God is still providing streams in the desert. Like David I proclaim, “I look to the hills where my help comes from. My help comes from the Maker of the heavens and the earth.” There is no one more capable than God.

My encouragement, and I understand it can be a challenge…Don’t stare at the flames. Look into the eyes of Jesus. One of my frequent prayers in fire trials is, “God help me to see what you see. Give me the vantage point of heaven. I need help.”

Even though we may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us. Let that sink in deep this morning. God is with you! The most powerful being in the Universe is with you; He commands the angelic armies. No one can stop God. One word from God and everything shifts and changes.

I speak life over you today! The dry dead bones can live. Your body can be healed. Your family can be saved. You can find ample employment. You can overcome. You can live and NOT die to declare the works of the Lord. The Spirit of an Overcomer resides in Jesus and you have full access to Him. You can come out of the fire not even smelling like smoke. Don’t you die in the fire. Don’t give up when it looks bleak. There is another man in the fire with you. He is MIGHTY to SAVE!

I have never been trapped in a fire. I do know what it’s like to be trapped in a car under water. I understand facing death if no miracle occurred. I understand 911 not showing up for me. But God showed up!! God keeps showing up with love in His eyes and power in His hands. He is a mountain moving, dragon slaying, closing the mouths of lions, pulling people off death’s door kind of God.

Today, celebrate that you are not alone. He is the come to the rescue kind of God. He is the loving you when you are down to nothing or on top of the mountain kind of God. He is the forgiving and merciful God. He is full of justice! He sets the wrong things right. He provides in the wilderness. God never fails. I repeat, “God never fails!”

Abba, I ask that anyone who reads this receives a fresh touch of the anointing of an overcomer. Break off any spirits of hopelessness, self pity, depression, and despair. The devil is a liar. Break off the power of every lie that they can not make it or overcome. Holy Spirit breathe a fresh wind of refreshing over them today. No situation is too hard for you God. Nothing is impossible for you Papa. It can be done. I bind every spirit of loneliness and fear. I invite the Spirit of adoption to overwhelm each person, they are not orphans or outcasts. They are not alone. The Lord of Hosts is with them. Saturate each person with your truth today God. Believing your truth sets us free! Breaker anointing fall on every reader. Set the captives free. In the powerful name of Jesus!

Verses to Ponder:

Daniel 3:25-27 Amplified Bible (AMP)

He answered, “Look! I see four men untied, walking around in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt! And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!” Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing furnace and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, servants of the Most High God, come out [of there]! Come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire. The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s counselors gathered around them and saw that in regard to these men the fire had no effect on their bodies—their hair was not singed, their clothes were not scorched or damaged, even the smell of smoke was not on them.

You can come out of the fire and not even smell like smoke!! 🔥🔥🔥 And when you overcome with Jesus, it takes you into a promoted level of authority. We have authority in His name. Those who stand in His authority in adversity find a greater level of understanding of who they are in Him and who God is through them. In Jesus we can stand VICTORIOUS!

Photo: Pinterest (Fourth Man in the Fire)

You are greatly loved!

Warmly,

Erin Lamb

Empowered-Free.Com

EmpoweredandFreeMerch.com

OperationGodisLove.org