She’s bold and outspoken; Fierce and confident, yet as gentle as a rose petal and sensitive to the needs of others. Whether you say so or not, she’s keen on picking up exactly what’s going on with her children and she deals accordingly. She knows just what to say and when. It just may be a stern rebuke or loving encouragement. I can’t say that I ever remember a time when I needed my mom and she was not there. Her words play in my head and many of them have become the codes by which I live. Thankfully, many of those words are God’s. They are His promises. She told me things like “hold fast to what God has spoken, for He is not a man that He should lie.”

She leads by example through gracious, and deliberate demonstration of what a woman of God should be. A virtuous woman. She fears the Lord and shall be praised. We rise up and call her blessed!

I tell her every year, if only I could be half the woman she is, I’d do alright!
:-)

I am an adult now, still trusting the guidance given by you, mom.

I’m a wife now, emulating the traits of the virtuous woman you are, mom.

I’m (officially) a mother now, longing to be the nurturer that you were for me!

Thank You for loving me! Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

As a matter of fact, Here’s to all of the beautiful women who have poured into our lives. We love you and appreciate you more than you’ll ever know!!!

Happy Mother’s Day!!!!
Happy Mother’s Day!!!!
Happy Mother’s Day!!!!

 1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.  10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

What is religious? One definition of it is: Extremely scrupulous and conscientious.

The Scribes and Pharisees were extremely religious as it pertained to an outward show or appearance of Godliness. They thought that righteousness was attained through “acts” of ceremonialism. Washing hands, washing feet, praying at certain times of the day, following the the Law of Moses that provided no remission of sin, etc.

In this passage, my eyes were opened to see how Religion is the Enemy of Revival.

Here is a woman, accused of adultery;

Number 1.) She was a woman. Women had almost NO regard in society at that time. As a matter of fact, cattle was regarded higher than women.

Number 2.) She was an adulteress! She was sleeping with someone else’s husband! A sin punishable by death. (Mind you, you hear nothing of the man with whom she was caught in adultery)

Number 3.) She was caught in the ACT!!

Can you imagine the shame that came along with this? A second class citizen of little worth in society living in sin and caught in the act of adultery by supposedly pious, socially & religiously accepted model citizens – in front of everyone! She probably felt so condemned and worthless that she expected no less than to be stoned. And although she wasn’t a professed believer, note that a religious spirit will always bring accusation and buck against a move of God. (The enemy is the accuser of the brothers. )

As the account is recorded, the writer claims that as they tempted Jesus, looking for accusation against Him, Jesus stooped down and began writing in the sand with His finger as though He didn’t hear them. When the religious spirit comes to attack, you have rest assured knowing because you know that God is with you. You cannot afford to get rattled and shaken because you’re being attacked. Jesus remained calm; He knew who He was and whose He was. Recognize that you must be stand firm, even when that religious spirit is persistent; as it was in this text. ( they continued asking Him.) I can see them now “oh this is the way we’ve done this for ages!” “this is what we’re used to!” “this is God’s way!” “Accodring to Moses’ Law..” etc. You see, a religious spirit goes hand in hand with “Self Righteousness.” Religious people have a “Form of Godliness” – they “look holy” and they do all the ritualistic things that merely have an APPEARANCE of righteousness and holiness. But they deny the power thereof and God says from such, turn away. <2 Tim. 3:5> In actuality, their hearts were cold and their insides were full of dead man’s bones.

You see, a religious, self righteous spirit makes those that are outside of the ark or safety feel as though there is NO way they could ever be clean. There’s no way they could ever be righteous! They could never be holy or accepted by God. That’s a lie from the pit of hell! That is RELIGION! We want REVIVAL!!

Oh but when Jesus addressed them “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone at her.” This frustrated their efforts! This confused their intellect and made no sense of their “religious traditions” and in that moment, this woman was provided access to REVIVAL! Jesus said where are your accusers?? Where are those that have the “form of Godliness.”

The Bible says “Those that heard the word were CONVICTED by their consciences.” The word of the Lord is QUICK, powerful, sharper than a sword with TWO EDGES! It will divide “SOUL and SPIRIT,” JOINT AND MARROW! RELIGION FROM REVIVAL! It judges the intents of our hearts. (And our hearts are deceitful above all; the Bible says WHO can know it?!? )

After Christ addressed the Religious Spirit, guess who was left standing there? Him and the accused. We’ll call the accused “Revival” because what stood between her and Jesus was “Religion.”

She needed CHANGE in her life. She needed REVIVAL. She needed LIFE back in her dead situation.

I desire a move of GOD! Not RELIGION! REVIVAL BRINGS LIFE BACK. A move of God convicts your heart and conscience and brings about CHANGE not CONDEMNATION! The bible says “he that doesn’t believe is condemned already!” But His word also says to “judge nothing before it’s time.” <1 Cor. 4:5> You don’t know WHAT God may do in an individual’s life when true revival takes place! The same one that you thought would never be saved might encounter JESUS and take up their cross and outrun YOU and your religious self!!!

Religion is the enemy of Revival!  As long as we allow “religion” or a “religious spirit” to dominate our churches and lives, we’ll never see a true move of God. Signs and wonders, God’s word said will follow them that believe! (Mark 16:17> If you believe that “old time religion” will produce a move of God, keep waiting!!! Let me know when you see it!

God’s word says in Matthew 15 and Mark 7 that the traditions of men make His word ineffective!

Do you want see a move of God? Do you want to experience revival? Ask God to blow on your agenda! Invite Him to rain on your program. Welcome Him to breathe on your plans! Submit to His way and allow Him to move by His Spirit. The power of the Holy Ghost is what changes us. A wind of the HOLY SPIRIT blowing is what will change and convict hearts! When the followers of Christ were in the upper room in Acts 2 they were in one mind and one accord! They were waiting for that POWER! They had expectation! They didn’t know exactly what to expect, because they had no point of reference, therefore having to truly exercise their faith. They couldn’t base it on anything besides A WORD FROM THE LORD instructing them to wait until they’d be endued with power. He said He was going to send a comforter – the Holy Ghost! Right now, Revival is your word! The word of God says behold I am doing a NEW thing!! Do you not perceive it??? Can you see it?!? Open your eyes, people! What He is doing now is NEW! He said sing unto the Lord a NEW song!! Allow God to do something Different! Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results! He’s moving in a MIGHTY WAY and in order to be a part of what He is doing, we must not allow RELIGION to be an ENEMY of the REVIVAL we’re believing God for in our lives.

Just warning you now that this very well might be as random as a striped door knob.

2009 for me, Ayiesha Woods had to have been the toughest year for me, y’all. In so many areas of my life. I mean, we talk about transparency and how our lives are supposed to be epistles read of all men, but at the same time, we try to control the perceptions that others have of us by withholding information and sharing that which will keep us in “the good light” according to the perceptions of others. But God’s word is so true because just it says in 1 John, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.

Anyway, as I was saying… 2009 was a tough year. My last full length project came out in September of 2008 (Love Like This) and we released a Christmas project (Christmas Like This) during the holiday season of  2009. Let me tell you, I lived off of my savings in 2009! I bought a house in 2008, a beautiful home that God totally blessed me with and you know what? Even in that, I’ve had to exercise my faith because when I tell you that there were months in 2009 that I didn’t know HOW my mortgage was going to be paid, I mean the word of God truly became alive to me. Scriptures like “The just shall LIVE by faith” really caused me to walk out another level in my faith as it pertained to trusting God.

Relationally, I made some mistakes and had to learn to allow the Holy Spirit to completely empty me of old baggage and weights that were dragging me down. He tells us in His word to lay aside EVERY weight and sin that so easily besets us, and run this race with patience. I thought I was making good choices when contrarily, I was deceived. Just like in James God’s word says that we are drawn away by our own lusts and enticed; and lust when it it conceived brings forth sin and sin when it is finished brings forth death. I had my own ideas and notions about what and how things should be and my idea of God’s will vs my plans; His purpose vs my agenda, etc. But I thank God for praying people in our lives because when we’re at some of darkest times in life, there’s someone interceding for us.

You know, I used to tell people all of the time that whether my relationship with Christ is thriving or failing, it is almost ALWAYS reflected in the relationships I have with others. That’s why it’s important to maintain the relationship with have with Him and cultivate it. It’s important to stay in His word because when you have nothing else to stand on or believe, you have His word. And in it are COUNTLESS promises! And He said that all of His promises are yes and amen. Thank you Jesus for being a promise keeper.

In addition, there were words spoken prophetically to me that simply reminded me that in spite of what I was going through or experiencing, God was (is) in complete control and His plan and purpose for my life remained. So to hear words spoken (many times VERY SPECIFIC to my situations) was exactly what I needed to keep holding on.

Moving on; 2010 has been a most interesting year. I believe that God is restoring some things at this time and in this season. I believe that it is time for many of us to step out and begin walking on the water. Tread new territory. Do what you haven’t done before! Walk by faith and NOT by sight. Only be strong and courageous for the Lord your God is with you WHEREVER you Go. He has given us everything we need pertaining to life and Godliness and it’s a matter of us DOING IT. Not walking in fear, intimidation, reluctance, timidity, doubt, procrastination or selfishness, but walking in FAITH, victory, hope, love, peace, joy, boldness, fervency in spirit, tenacity and vigilance. If God be for us… WHO can be against us?!? There are territories to be chartered. Land to be taken. Positions to filled. Lives to be changed to the Glory of God THROUGH YOU. Don’t get me to preachin’! :-)

And as for the “so called” saints; Can we simply speak the truth in love? The truth hurts sometimes, yes. But even in the word God tells us that some we’ve got to SNATCH out of the fire so they can be saved. Enough of the mealy-mouth Christianity. Can someone please be bold enough to speak the truth in love? If telling me the truth is going to hurt my feelings right now, but save my soul, Can you please just hurt my feelings? I’ll get over it.

I already know that I’m going to be attacked after this blog is posted because the Devil doesn’t like me. But you know what? He can go to hell early. :-)

Can I just ask for you all to continue to lift me up in prayer? I mean, really. God’s word says in James that the effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth MUCH. So if He puts me on your heart or mind or in your spirit, pray as you’re led. I’d appreciate it. There have been times that God has brought several of you to mind during my time of prayer and I just pray as the Holy Spirit leads. He knows what each of you has need of even before you ask. His word says so. And that goes for all of us so yeah… pray for ya sista! Ya sista is praying for you!

Sooooo… real quick, the highlight of my life is that I’ll be a married woman in 2010! :-) (woo hoo!! say t with me! woo hoo!!!) I can give you a brief synopsis of my man and our relationship for those of you that care to know. lol

We met back in the spring of 2001 at a gospel music workshop in Orlando, FL where I used to live. Back then, I was waiting on a pie in the sky and recording my lil’ demos on a karaoke machine and layering my BGVs using two tape decks! lol Long story short, Joseph contacted me after the workshop and asked what I was doing with my music and I complacently told him in a nutshell “waiting on God.” When in fact, God was waiting on ME. So, we met and I played some of my songs for him and he took me and introduced me to an engineer (at the time – now super producer) and in an afternoon, I recorded a song called “Open to You.” Well, my family was at a BBQ and after my session, I joined them and played my FIRST STUDIO RECORDING for the whole lot. Immediately,  they took up an offering for me right at the house! (family friends) lol It was awesome! And I went the following weekend with Joseph BACK TO THE STUDIO to record another song. Well, a few weeks later, I moved to Dallas, TX and Joseph and I kept in touch. We were friends from then on and I recorded my independent record “What You Do To Me” with his help and guidance. (This is supposed to be long-story-short, right?!?!?)

7 years later and a number of lessons learned through other relationships, Joseph remained the amazing, beautiful, consistent friend and confidant to me and finally, after all that time, after SEVEN YEARS Y’ALL… he finally kissed me. lol :-)

Needless to say, on July 2, 2010 – my 31st Birthday, my best friend and confidant of 9 years asked me to marry him and I said yes. He waited for me for a long time and He definitely had to endure a great deal of disappointment and hurt from me, but I thank God for teaching us HIS unfailing, unconditional love. So biggupps to my sweetie. I love you so much and I’m excited about where God is taking us and how He is going to use our lives as a testament of His great love for us all.

Okay… stepping back from the mushy stuff for a minute.. lol

Can I just tell you that new music is coming soon? I know you’re anxious, but the Bible says not to be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. AMEN! Pray for us for the open doors and favor needed to get these things done.

Alright, I think I’ve brought you up to speed friends. Maintain your expectations! Keep them HIGH because God is going to do some MIGHTY things through you, in you and all around you!!! Watch and see!!

Thanks for indulging! lol

I Love Y’all!

Humbly,

~Ayiesha

http://www.praisefestministries.com/

http://www.calvarychurch.cc/

Women’s Conference

744 S. 325 East
Warsaw, In.
46582

Details to be added soon.