Michele Noel-Peake - Yes, God!: The Cost. The Sacrifice. The Blessings.

YES, GOD!

Published by Purposely Created Publishing Group

Copyright 2021 Michele Noel-Peake

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to Jesus Christ, my friend and Lord and Savior, to whom I am truly grateful for providing me with so many opportunities to say yes, God.

I thank my two inspirations, my beautiful daughters, Zarina and Nia, who are just starting their incredible journey of saying yes, God for themselves.

A special dedication to my mom and dad, Evelyn and Berkley Noel, for training my brother and me up in the way that we should go.

And finally, I thank my husband and all of the people God has brought into my life as a result of saying yes, God. You have been and continue to be a true blessing to me!

We are trusting God that the content of this book will inspire you to become more intimate with Jesus Christ, move you to daily seek your assignments, and encourage you to strive to glorify God.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah was in service to the Lord, but not completely dedicated to Him. But the scriptures teach us that after his spiritual encounter with the Lord, he experienced a breakthrough. Yes... Isaiah came out of his box. God showed him a true reflection of himself as He aligned Isaiah alongside of Him. When we have a true experience with God, it is life-changing. We are no longer just working for God; rather, He is now working in us.

In order to have a substantial relationship with the Lord, we must admit to seeing what God sees in us. After seeing the vision, Isaiah said, Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips,... for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 6:5, NKJV). When we admit, believe, and confess, God releases saving grace and transforming power in our inner spirits. This is when our faith becomes genuine. At this point, we no longer need others to define the essence of who we are, nor do we need others to define the reality of Jesus Christ.

After Isaiahs spiritual encounter, he was able to hear and understand the voice of God. God gave a general call: Who will take My message to Judah; whom shall I send? Because of Isaiahs personal experiences, he declared, Hear I am; send me, Lord, I will go. Get ready; be prepared to go, preach, and serve, even if you do not get the chance to activate your decision. Get ready!

I pray that as you read this book, you will experience more of God. If you have not received Him as your Savior, this will be your first encounter. It is our salvation that needs to become our lifestyle. For those who are already Christians, I pray that you will be inspired to allow God to open or reopen doors of opportunities and that you will grow. May the Spirit of Christ speak to you as you read this book.

Blessings,

Pastor Charles E. Cato, Sr.

Yes, God! was written to spread the powerful message that a yes, God is not only life-changing, but also necessary for true victory and success in our lives. Each coauthor in this book has experienced the power in saying yes to God, and each feels called by God to help as many people as possible experience the supernatural, life-changing power that comes with saying yes, God.

I told God yes many years ago, and it has been the most painful and powerful thing I have ever consciously done in my life. You would think saying yes, God would make everything right with the world. Or so I thought at the time. What I didnt know, but slowly began to discover, is that saying yes, God would be the experience of a lifetime! I would experience things and people in supernatural ways! How exciting, exhilarating, terrifying, and crazy all at the same time! Here are seven individuals sharing not just their stories, but also some of the things they did, said, prayed, surrendered, and sacrificed in hopes that you too might implement some or all into your life.

This is why Yes, God! had to be written: so people everywhere could see, through the stories on these pages, that saying yes, God is a life-changer. It changes the entire game of your life. The stories on these pages are of real people who struggled and stretched and persevered beyond what they ever could have imagined was possible, not because they were worthy, but because they surrendered and said yes, Godand now they are walking in the victory of their yes, God moments.

Regardless of your strugglewhether you are feeling stressed and anxious about the times we are living in, grieving, or facing financial struggles, family challenges, or issues with sinbe encouraged by these stories. We want Gods mercy, grace, and favor to be upon your life, and we pray that you are blessed beyond measure as you read through each powerful chapter in this book. May your faith increase by what you hear. May your strength increase in Him, and may your walk with Jesus be like never before!

Finally, my beautiful friends, we truly pray that you are motivated to seek Gods will for your life. We pray that you are inspired to see more of what God has for you. And finally, we pray that you are compelled to say yes, God over and over again!

With much love,

Michele Noel-Peake

When I sit back and ask myself what the moment was when I committed and said, Yes, God, I surrender, I can recall very clearly two things: 1) the incident and 2) the end result, my coming-to-Jesus moment. Interestingly, thats all I remember.

Some may call it weirdbut I believe that God intentionally reminded me exactly what I needed to know to share this testimony with you all today. Lets get one thing straightI havent always been a Jesus-loving, Bible-thumping Christian. Ive always loved God, dont get me wrong. I was born and raised in a Christian environment, from Baptist churches to Catholic school. However, it wasnt until I got serious about my faith in 2017 that I started to develop a deep love for Christ as well.

You may not understand, but thats okay. My goal is to express that the true process of spiritual breakthrough and elevation requires something different, something opposite of the mediocrity of before. I can confidently say from my experiences that the majority of us as Christians are mediocre when it comes to the things of Christ. It wasnt until my breaking point that I realized saying Im just a Christian just wont suffice.

For the record, I wasnt desperately seeking God, nor was I searching for God at all. Rather, once I endured the deepest, darkest moments of my life, that light came on which changed my life forever. Let me explain...

THE PIT

One of the major factors that led to my pit experience was becoming a motherly confidant to my friends and family, who heavily relied on me daily for advice and solutions to their crises. In addition, I was struggling with my perspective of my own life after returning from a developing nation, having experienced their deprivation of basic human rights like clean water. Everything combined together, creating this voice in the back of my head that said, You have no reason to be ungrateful. You have everything you could possibly need. Your problems are not real problems.