Safe Haven Christian Fellowship Inc.

02/28/2026

11/20/2025

Trusting the Process: Hostile Hospitality

Reference Scripture: Psalm 23

Psalm 23 is arguably one of the most popular psalms. It gives expression to those that are being shepherded by God. The truth is, we all are being shepherded, whether we realize it or not. We often hear from the vantage point if the shepherds, but rarely do we get first person conveyances from the flock. There are many scriptures that speak to the behavior of the flock, the tendencies of the flock, and the mindset of the flock…but rarely do we hear the flock speak. In this passage, the author is speaking from the vantage point of being shepherded and lead by God.

It’s interesting because we get some of the observations and feelings straight from the mouth of the one being led. This psalm brings comfort to many because we all are guaranteed to have some valley experiences in our lives. No one likes them, but they are a part of our process, and according to the text, a necessary evil for God to manifest as Jireh. The author speaks of a dreary passage along the course of life, but he alludes to the phenomenon of God actually using difficulties and even opposition to establish a place for you.

Have you ever been in a room where the occupants may not have cared for you, but the access you had wasn’t contingent upon them. I’m talking about those rooms that have a specific purpose and blessing for you, but the environment is against you!? How many times has God opened a door in the face of your opposition, and used them to actually serve you!? Often, we go through valley moments, not having the awareness of the providence of God in the valley. I can imagine sheep going through hostile terrain, where predators may lurke nearby, but the shepherd still find a place suitable for sustenance. A place beneficial and productive for the sheep…in the midst of predators. Any good shepherd realizes they have to calm the herd, chorale them, and lead them to where he/she has determined is the best place to be. Guess what!?!? Sometimes that place is behind enemy lines. Sometimes that place is back at big mama house where everyone has talked about you and called you everything but a child of God. Sometimes that place is with a person or place that may cause you great discomfort because of past hurt and trauma. There are so many scenarios that God can and will use that go against what we seek and desire.

This is why it’s so important to be shepherded by God, and not my feelings and opinions. My avoidance of opposition may be the very thing that stands in between me and my breakthrough. God actually may have placed the keys on the table that your opposition is occupying! Never rule yourself out when you serve the Alpha and Omega! 🗣FOLLOW GOD…even if he leads you into uncomfortable territories.

10/30/2025

Trusting The Process: Inner Work

Reference Scripture: Ephesians 3:20

Clocks are used for a very important purpose. They track and keep account of, arguably the most valuable thing to mankind, time. We live our lives and plan our activities around the time. Some common practices and tendencies have been set to a particular time of day…like certain meals, and starting and finishing the day. Although the time is typically observed on the face of the timepiece…the time is able to be displayed because of the inner workings of the device, often called movement. Without the movement and the inner workings of the timepiece, the “time” would never be accurate appropriate.

The scripture that will be being analyzed, is a very popular one. It definitely offers encouragement, especially in the midst of life’s ups and downs. As we must endure the process, we as believers can find solace in knowing that God is able to cause great things to happen. God can not only meet our needs, desires, and expectations…but He can supersede them! There is one interesting caveat however.

The tail end of the verse states that it is “according to the power that works in us”. God can and will do the above and beyond, but there is a part that we must allow to be played. That power must be allowed to work “in” you! Much like the timepiece…the inner workings are what give the ability for the time to be recognized and seen. If the movement ain’t moving…the timepiece won’t work.

As we go through our process…be aware and mindful of the power within you…and let it work. Sometimes the delay in our deliverance is not God making us wait…we just aren’t letting the power within us work. Let God be God…

10/23/2025

Trusting the Process: Loss Along the Way

Reference Scripture: Genesis Chapter 35

If you live long enough, you will experience loss. Loss can be perceived as a truly trying time in anyone’s life. If you want to talk about truly going through the “process”, loss and death can definitely be high on the list of difficult times.

Imagine Jacob, now Isreal, going through so much. He finally gets to a point where he seems to reach a point of breakthrough…and this is the time where he starts experiencing significant loss. He loses the love of his life. The woman he endured one of the toughest times of his life for, gone. Then he loses his father, Issac. His father symbolized so much in his life. Could you imagine feeling neglected and overlooked, only to have to deceive to get recognition.

This type of loss is inevitable and necessary as we progress through life. Yes it may be gut wrenching, but often times as you go into your “next” and continue to advance through life, there will be some people and some things that just can’t go with you. There at the place Jacob named, Bethel where God appeared, it appears that things are starting to finally click…and then the losses come.

Loss is a part of life that we must all endure. It’s tough and definitely hurtful, but it’s a necessary part of the process of life. It may bring many emotions to the surface. It may cause deep reflection and bring up good and bad feelings. Be that as it may…it is also a part of your process. Some losses may be seen as untimely, but God knows what He is doing…and He knows what and who you will need and need to be to journey on.

What losses are you experiencing in your process?

10/15/2025

Trusting the Process: Facing Your Fears

Reference Scriptures: Genesis Chapters 32 & 33

In the previous study, we discussed how the process should ultimately change who you are. You should not remain the same. We looked at the culmination of the name change in Chapter 35, but we referred to the events of chapter 32. What we will examine now, is what happened between the wrestling, and the reiteration and affirmation of God over Isreal, formerly known as Jacob.

In Chapter 33, Jacob is traveling to his destination, but there is a matter of business that he is confronted with. En route to his promise…he has to travel through a place of discomfort. The land of his estranged brother, Esau. Earlier in his life, he deceived his brother and father. He obtained the birthright in an underhanded manor. Now he has to face a potential repercussion from that decision. As he “wrestles” with this issue, he winds up wrestling with “God”, and told for the first time that his new name is “God Prevails”. God always knows what lies ahead in our life journey, and ultimately whatever occurs is divinely connected to serve a purpose in our lives.

He now has to face his brother. He’s overcome with emotion and fear. Trust and believe, that part of the process involves facing difficult things, especially those things that we must repair and settle in our lives. When God has destined for you to walk into a new thing, the old things and the old person must be dealt with. One of the reasons that the process can be so challenging, is the way it makes you confront the things in your life that are less than desirable. You can be like Jacob, and face your fears, or you can avoid them.AVOIDANCE seems so much easier, but it ALLOWS the ORGANSIM of your PAST to LATCH on and LEECH from your PURPOSE and the TIME GOD has granted you to go FORWARD‼️

Ironically, life (the process) has a way of making you retake the test, confront the issue, address the root, and face your fears…until you respond and perform in a way that facilitates true growth and progress.

10/09/2025

Trusting the Process: God’s Process Should Change You

Reference Scripture: Genesis 35:9-15

The Bible is full of examples of people that had to endure the “PROCESS”. Especially early in the Bible, we see several characters that essentially go through similar circumstances. There are a couple figures whose names actually change as a result of their journey. One being Abram. God tells him that he will be the father of many nations, and the initial command from God was to go to a place that God would show him. No details, no plan, no heads up…just following by faith. In that process…he gets approached by kings of different lands, hands over his wife, deals with a barren wife, goes through drama within his household, that results in having to put his flesh and blood out, asked to sacrifice his most desired gift in life, etc…ALLLLLLLL of this for God to get him to Abraham (sheeeesh) However, that was necessary for the change to occur. Any process, that is ordained by God, should result in a change in who you are.

How many times have we gone through processes, and stayed the same, or got more entrenched in who we are/were, instead of who we should be or become?

In this text, I like the mindset of another pivotal character in the Bible. He’s arguably the most important figure of the Old Testament. His lineage ultimately sets the foundation for the chosen people of God, and carries the seed for the house of David. Jacob endures obscurity early in life. Even in birth, it appeared he was fighting for a position in life, but just couldn’t quite cut it. He deceitfully obtains a blessing from his father. He has to begin his journey into manhood with fear of retaliation from his brother. He is bamboosled by his father in law 🤣, gets played and hustles to get the woman he truly loves…all to find out that she can’t have children either! (I’m telling yall…read your bible, it’s good!)

What stands out about Jacob though is his mindset while going through his process. He encounters a “man” in the text, and does not let him go until He blesses him. His tenacity and awareness of the situation resulted in an extremely prominent name change! His name was changed because he struggled with God, and prevailed! How many of us are willing to wrestle, fight, and claw, until we see ourselves in victory. Our process come to make us evolve and change in a way that God has destined for our next! When you get in the other side of your process…you should walk a little differently 😉. The change in you should be so apparent, others recognize and call it out….

I have a couple questions…is your walk changing, is how you move changing, is what people call you changing!?!? 👀

10/02/2025

Trusting the Process: Internal Affairs

Reference Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6

One could argue that each day brings with it, it’s share of issues, obstacles, and challenges. The Bible even tells us to boast not for tomorrow (Prov 27:1) because sufficient for each day are its troubles (Matt 6:34). Honestly speaking, it’s hard to go a day or two unscathed by someone or something! I believe because of this reality, there is a great amount of residual impact we all face and feel internally.

The heart and the mind are connected in an unparalleled way. Some may feel that they can separate logic/rationale and emotions, but the reality is….they work cooperatively within us. For example, a physical issue with one’s heart immediately plays on the mind. Let someone feel a palpitation or an unwarranted skip in their heartbeat…the mind immediately activates and often times, if not managed properly, can exacerbate the physical ailment. The same goes for the mind. Allow someone to go to a place of stress mentally, and immediately the heart rate increases. This is a phenomenon that has caused tireless research and investigation. Many have pondered how can they maximize this connection to change an adverse reaction and lower stress, or how can one boost physical performance with mental work.

I believe that all of this is very important because as we all endure and go through our personal processes, we must be mindful of the effects on us personally. These experiences, if left solely up to our devices, could potentially alter us in ways that may be extremely hard to reverse, unlearn, and undo. This is why the scripture is so profound and important.

It is imperative to trust in the Lord with ALLLLLL MY HEART, AND lean not to my understanding.

That word for heart actually correlates with our MIND. They are apparently one and the same! When I don’t give my heart/mind to depend on God, I’m left up to my own understanding. That, in turn, leads me down the dangerous path of my perception, conclusions, and feelings. I will no longer be directed by the Lord…but I will become driven by myself. That leads to choices being subsequently made that really aren’t rooted and stem from God. Even the most benign or seemingly harmless of decisions can be detrimental if they aren’t rooted in the (mind) of Christ that should be within us (Phil 2). There are many things that we have deemed okay, that Jesus wouldn’t do. The process now becomes that much more difficult, and potentially more harmful to us.

What the enemy intends of evil, God can turn around for our good, but if we are stuck in the Evil and our Emotions…we may miss the Goodness of God…even in the process!

09/25/2025

Trusting the Process:: Are the Hard Times Necessary??

Reference Scripture: Psalm 119:71

👏🏾NO 👏🏾BODY 👏🏾LIKES 👏🏾THE 👏🏾TOUGH 👏🏾TIMES‼️….Okay, since I got that off of my chest, let’s talk about it lol.

I know the scriptures tell us that obedience is better than sacrifice (where is that in the Bible? When you find it…put it in the comments 😉) Yes, there are things that we can do to avoid putting ourselves through extra pain, but do we really learn what we need to learn without the tough times!?!?

The writer in the text states that the tough times actually benefit his life. Hindsight is often 20/20. Is the reality that the rough times are an absolute necessity in the plan of God!?

Let’s have a real conversation in the comment section…

Would we really learn without being “afflicted”?

What say ye!?

09/18/2025

Trust The Process: Acknowledging the Processor

Reference Scripture: Eph 3:20

Process-a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end…

As we discussed last week, Believers have a special consideration as they go through life…GOD‼️ I know we move through life so swiftly with God usually being an afterthought. It’s ironic because God is usually where we go when we are in trouble…which is usually because we moved without God…but I digress lol. You get the picture.

There is an extremely popular Christian doxology that occurs more than once in the Bible. It’s how this verse starts out…”Now unto Him!” As we are going through our process, it is important to commit our steps to God. Not to grovel and get stuck in a rut, but to consciously move according to the will of God. This is important because God’s ability exceeds our own. His thought process is far more advanced and also encompasses ALL! We should also not omit this step because for the believer…THIS SAME POWERFUL GOD WORKS IN YOU AND ON YOUR BEHALF‼️ It would be a waste to progress through this life, claiming to be a believer, but continuously stifling the power of God in our life because of our instincts and habitual nature. Those parts of us are typically opposite of God and devoid of spiritual mindedness and awareness.

As you go through whatever you’re going through…remember…🗣NOW UNTO HIM‼️

09/10/2025

Trusting the Process: God knows All

Reference Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11

There is a phrase that tells us to trust the process. With recent events, it’s hard to truly believe that some of the crazy things that happen are within the scope of God’s plan for our lives. There’s a considerable amount of mental grappling that takes place when heinous and dark things happen.

What are your personal thoughts on trusting God and his plans? Let’s be honest…Do you trust him??

08/31/2025

Hello, Everyone! So excited to announce that our services will now be streamed on our YouTube page! Click below to watch at 3pm!

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08/28/2025

The Power of Prayer: Expectaion…The Mother of Anxiety

Scripture Reference: Phillipians 4:6

The other day I was having a conversation with a friend of mine, and they told me a saying that their father always told them during some difficult times in their life…”Expectations are premeditated resentments”….🗣WOAH‼️ Such a profound statement! It made me think about my own experiences and how I have been the cause of many unsettling feelings. The reality about expectations and people is, typically we have an ideal or a preference on how others should be. We rarely communicate it or articulate it…especially to the person lol. We bottle up those feelings, and then 🗣BOOM‼️ When things don’t go as we planned…cue the undesirable feelings. That’s exactly how a lot of anxiety creeps into our minds. The worry of things panning out or people and things falling into place causes much stress and turmoil. It’s crazy to think how talking about it could help to alleviate the burden and give an opportunity for reflection.

This scripture gives believers an amazing solution! God is always available and keeps a listening ear. Have you ever sat back and thought about how late we typically go and talk to God about situations. Usually things have to be falling apart before we intently and consciously talk through stuff in detail with the Father. Whether we realize it or not…we become prompted and governed by our expectations and ideals. When things don’t go as planned we’re feeling some type of way.

Before you allow yourself to form that premeditated resentment…try talking to God about what’s really on your heart and mind. Give God an opportunity to order your steps and provide guidance. I guarantee you…HE WILL‼️