2009 African American Literary Awards Show Nominations!

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When a Storm is just what you Need


Since its first release of The Triumph of My Soul, Peace in the Storm Publishing Company has worked to consistently deliver books that encourage, inspire, uplift, and entertain readers. Both the premium quality of these books and the stellar talent of PITS authors have been recognized by several nominations across several categories in the 2009 African American Literary Awards Show. At Peace In The Storm, our first priority is to give readers what they deserve and desire as well as to show our appreciation for their support by continung to offer enjoyable experiences through literary journeys.
Peace in the Storm Publishing recognizes that we need our readers to be purposed and driven writers, if not for them, who would we be? PITS would like to thank you for your continuous support and ask for your help in acknowledging the art and the peace that has been introduced to the literary world through the creative and collective storm of talent that is Peace in the Storm. We humbly ask that you please help us by placing your vote at http://www.blogger.com/ for your favorite Peace in the Storm authors in the following categories:

Romance
Jacqueline D. Moore – Serving Justice
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Non-Fiction
Cheryl Lacey Donovan – The Ministry of Motherhood
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Break-out Author Of The Year
Ebonee Monique – Suicide Diaries
Lorraine Elzia – Mistress Memoirs
S. D. Denny – The Bakers Dozen
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Short stories/Anthologies
Elissa Gabrielle (editor) - The Soul of a Man: A Triumph of My Soul Anthology
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Independent Publishing House of the Year
Peace In The Storm
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Let your vote reflect that your soul has found Peace in the Storm
Thank you for being there when we needed you most
Please cast your vote today
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No Weapon

Remember, The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire. ~ Marshal Ferdinand Foch

Scripture:

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD. Isaiah 54:17

Saints, I have been talking about being under attack for a large portion of this year. This reason for this is because I myself along with so many of my brothers and sisters is Christ, seem to be overwhelmed with trials and tribulations; one right after another.There have been times that I have wondered why I along with so many others seem to always be going through something.

Does this sound like any of you? Many of my sisters and brothers are unemployed and it seems like it's taking so much longer to find new jobs. Cancer is rampant among those we know. We are losing babies to catastrophic illnesses and even those we believed to be Christians, are committing suicide. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that being a Christian would be so hard.

However, there is a truth about being a Christian I want to share with you. You see, before you got saved and joined the family of God, life didn't seem so hard. That's because satan wasn't worried about you because he already had you. He wanted you to remain comfortable in being and living in sin. Once you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, it made him mad.

You see, as long as you were in the world, he didn't have to worry about you. When he lost you and you became a new creature in Christ Jesus, he has to get you back, so that's one of the reasons that the attacks against us increase. He lies to us, he tries to discourage us in our Christian walk. He wants us to doubt the promises of God. And you know what? Sometimes, every now and then, it seems like he may be winning.

But you know what Saints of God? God has said in his word; NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST US SHALL PROSPER! That it His promise to us. We must learn to lean on our faith, walk by faith, grow in faith, see it and believe it IN FAITH. God cannot lie. He has already told us; he would never leave us nor forsake us, If we remain faithful to him!!

I for one am standing on God's word. I am holding on to his promise! I will not let go of his unchanging hand! What about you?

Be Blessed

Prayer:

The LORD IS my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; HE LEADS me beside the still waters. HE RESTORES my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For YOU ARE WITH ME; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. YOU PREPARE a table before me in the presence of my enemies; YOU ANOINT my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I WILL DWELL in the house of the LORD, Forever and ever, Amen.

Jacqueline Moore is a Christian author who offers spiritual words of encouragement daily on her website at http://www.jacquelinedmoore.com . She has contributed to several anthologies and is currently promoting of her first novel, “Serving Justice” under the Peace in the Storm imprint.

God's Rare and Precious Jewels

Remember, the gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. ~ Chinese Proverb

Scripture:
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 1 Peter 1:6-8 (New International Version)

Did you know that diamonds are made of carbon, one of the softest materials on earth? But when carbon is under extreme pressure buried deep below more than 75 miles of rock and is in temperatures more than 2, 192° F, it changes in to a diamond. What starts out as an inert object deep in the bowls of the earth, is transformed into a rare and precious jewel by pressure.

I often liken our lives to diamonds. We start out as; apathetic, asleep, closed down, dead, dormant, down, dull, idle, immobile, impassive, impotent, inactive, inanimate, indolent, languid, languorous, lazy, leaden, listless, motionless, numb, on ice, paralyzed, passive, phlegmatic, powerless, quiescent, quiet, slack, sleepy, slothful, sluggard, sluggish, slumberous, static, still, stolid, torpid, unmoving, unresponsive, (I’m using the thesaurus tonight), individuals who are usually full of themselves with selfish motivations and no real concept of who we are without God.

As things begin to happen in our lives that put us under pressure, we too begin to change. We start searching for that someone or that something that will be the catalyst for our transformation. Those of us, who are lucky, will soon discover that the something or someone who will be the motivating factor for our change will be God.

However, it won’t stop there. As we grow in faith, so will our situations. God isn’t content with us just being a Christian. God wants us to be the best Christian we can be. So in an effort to force out any impurities that may still remain in our lives, he keeps the pressure on.

The pressure is not to break us, but rather to make is into a flawless diamond; a rare and precious jewel.

Be Blessed

Prayer:
Lord, sometimes it seems as though I am fighting a never ending battle. Some days are filled with stress and strife. Sometimes, I become weary from the war that wages around me. I realized that sometimes it is I who has caused the war from within. Lord, help me to be strong and resist temptation. Help me to develop patience, perseverance and peace within. Father, as I pause to spend time with You, I ask that you would quiet the conflict that rages within me. When I am faced with trials and tribulations help me to be still and remain calm and turn control over to the Holy Spirit. It's Your spirit Lord, that dwells in me. It that same spirit that can give me rest if I would just succumb to it. It’s in that spirit I can find peace, joy and contentment. It's in that Spirit that I can find the answer to the questions that plague me. Father, sometimes it seems as though satan’s entire army has come against me. But Your word tells me that no army can defeat me with the Lord on my side. Thank You Father. I know that as long as I follow You, I am on the right path. I also realize that as long as I follow You, satan will be there trying to discourage me. I rebuke the devil in the name of Jesus. I call upon the name of the Lord, and I will surrender my will to his and allow the Lord to fight my battles. Thank You Father for the power and authority that has been given to me through Christ Jesus. Lord, bless my family, friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. Keep me nearer God to Thee. Glory to God, Praise the name of the Lord. Hallelujah, Thank You Father. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

Jacqueline Moore is a Christian author who offers spiritual words of encouragement daily on her website at http://www.jacquelinedmoore.com . She has contributed to several anthologies and is currently promoting of her first novel, “Serving Justice” under the Peace in the Storm imprint.

Blocking Your Own Blessings

We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can / namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us. ~ St. Teresa of Avila

Scripture:
Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Matthew 16:23 (New International Version)

As we go through life, there are many things we may want or desire. We see someone and want to make them our mate. We desire big cars, fancy houses and a multitude of other riches. We want fame, fortune and success. However, I ask; how many of us seek God first before we go after the desires of our hearts?

Personally, I know there were a lot of things that I went after in my life without consulting God about it first. For example, when I met my ex-husband, I decided after our first date that he would be the man I married. Sadly, my marriage didn’t work out. I had made a life altering decision without going to God and seeking His guidance first.

Now this doesn’t mean that my ex was a bad man or even a bad husband. He just wasn’t meant to be my husband and if I had truly listened to what God was trying to tell me about that particular relationship, we never would have gotten married. I wanted what I wanted and I wanted to marry him. However, we didn’t want the same things in a marriage and that’s what led to the demise of my family.

I share this story with you today as a reminder that when we are seeking certain things in a relationship, in order for anything that we do to succeed, we must first take it to God and He will direct our paths.

God cannot bless our unions, our jobs, and our prosperity if those things are outside of his will. He cannot bless us as only He can when He sees us making wrong choices. God has given each and every one of us, free will. And as a result, we must learn to live our lives with His will for us in mind.

Satan is always trying to make our lives difficult by filling our hearts with lust for the wrong things. He is constantly putting up road blocks and distractions in our lives in his effort to keep us from the kingdom of God. Far too often we fall into his traps and as a result, will block our own blessings.

Remember, God cannot bless you if there is something else in the way.

Be Blessed

Prayer:
Father, there are times when I realize that I have a selfish spirit. I want what I want. Sometimes, I will do whatever it takes to get what I want. Lord, I come asking that You would help me to overcome my spirit of selfishness. Help me to develop a more Christ like spirit. Father help me to see my life through Your eyes. Help me to recognize my sins and faults and to work on my negative attitudes. Lord, help me to see when I am blocking my own blessings. Father, if there is something that I can do or something that I can to say to help someone else, help me to see it. When I am doing or saying something that is not pleasing to you, help me to know it. Father, I ask that You would order my steps this day as I surrender my will to Yours. Lead me, guide me, bless me. Use me Lord, for Your edification. Continue to bless my brothers and sisters in Christ. Lord, I give You all of my heart, All the praise, All the honor and glory, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jacqueline Moore is a Christian author who offers spiritual words of encouragement daily on her website at http://www.jacquelinedmoore.com . She has contributed to several anthologies and is currently promoting of her first novel, “Serving Justice” under the Peace in the Storm imprint.

Don't be Afraid

Remember, courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. ~ Ambrose Redmoon

Scripture:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6

Saints, have you ever been in a situation and didn't know how you would get out of it? As you looked around at your circumstances you just couldn't understand how did you get here and how would you get out.

I talk to many people about their circumstances. Some are having problems with the marriages. Some are struggling financially, and some just feel like life is overwhelming them and they just don't know what to do.

God's word tells us not to fear our circumstances. That no matter what we come up against, No Matter What the Outcome! He will be with us always. It doesn't matter how you got where you are. Learn to depend on God for your strength, but most of all, for your guidance.

He will never leave you, nor forsake you, but most of all; he will never lead you wrong.

Be Blessed

Prayer:

Father, I don't know how I got here, but I know that You can lead me home. Lord, I realize that I cannot always see what You have in store for me. I just ask that lead me and guide me as I seek my way home. Lord, we ask that You would continue to cover Your children. Help us Lord, to always seek Your guidance in everything that we do. Father, we ask that You would touch, bless, and anoint those saints reading this prayer right now, our family member, friends, and soldiers who are away fighting for freedom. Bless us now Lord Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit. We Love You Lord, with all that we are. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jacqueline Moore is a Christian author who offers spiritual words of encouragement daily on her website at http://www.jacquelinedmoore.com She has contributed to several anthologies and is currently promoting of her first novel, “Serving Justice” under the Peace in the Storm imprint.