Faithfully His.

Luke 22:42 : "Saying Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done"

Looking at this scripture, I am just completely overwhelmed. Remove this cup from me--take MY wants, and MY needs, Lord, I want what your will is for my life and not my own-- That is an extremely difficult scripture for me sometimes. How many times a day do we have our own requests, our own way of doing things, and then it gets knocked off course and all of a sudden we are set completely off track. We rush to catch up and we worry that we wont get what WE want done. Do you think God ever feels like that? When we are submitting to his will for our lives, and he has this awesome plan for us, and it gets knocked off track because we want whats best for us at the time? 

For the past 6 months I have been knocked off track. I havent been in the Word like i should, praying like I should--I havent been submitting to God at my full potential. The enemy has a good way at putting roadblocks in our path and trying to knock us off track. Whether it's putting people in our lives that try to deceive us, or putting financial struggles in the way, he has a way. But the Word says, "Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good" (Romans 12:21 NLT). Why do we allow evil to come into our lives, when we in fact know what is good? We have to be ready for these things! Being in the Word, and praying BOLD prayers is how we stay in relationship with God, and without that we are NOTHING. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" But without faith, we will not go anywhere. What does that scripture say up top.. take this cup, yet not my will but [when convenient] yours be done?! No! ALWAYS! Being in relationship with God is NOT about convenience! It is about letting God in and making Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords, your savior. Trusting God to cover ALL of your needs! We will get absolutely nowhere if all we are doing is for ourselves. "Hallelujah, you have overcome, you have overcome, Hallelujah, Jesus you have overcome the world. Every high thing must come down, every stronghold shall be broken, you wear the victors crown, you overcome, you overcome!" Thats the lyrics to one of Darlene Zschech's song Victor's Crown that just captivates me everytime i hear it.

Why are we allowing ourselves to sit around, and do things for ourselves, when Jesus overcame the world?! Its time to get off of our pedestals, our soap boxes, our prideful thinking and give God the ability to ALWAYS be in control.

Hebrews 11:1- "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see"

Its not always easy to have that confidence in what God's plan is for our lives. Spoiler alert! It's not going to be rainbows and butterflies. It's not going to be easy. Have faith!! Just read Hebrews 11.. there are so many amazing examples of faith. Its hard to know sometimes that we are going to catch up financially, but being Faithful to God, I trust that we will. There are certain relationships in my life that I would love to see good come out of, and I have faith that they will. Things take time. Thats the beauty of waiting. God gives us a supernatural power of patience when we wait in His name. But if we aren't remaining faithful to God, good cannot come out of it! Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes EVERYTHING to work together for the good of those who LOVE God and are CALLED according to HIS purprose."

Are you Faithfully His?

Do you wake up everyday and thank God for another day? I can't tell you thats the first thing on my head in the morning when I wake up. Especially when my alarm is going off at 5:30 in the morning. I'm not usually the first to compliment myself, or take compliments at all for that matter, so it's not always easy for me to thank God for the abilities I have. However, 2 Corinthians 3:5 says, "It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualifications come from God." Jumping over to 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, it says, "Each time he said, ""My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness."" So now I am glad to boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why i take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that i suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."  Are you living a life that is committed to God,  or are you walking in lukewarm water, and just letting God control your destiny when it's necessary. I have lost that lately, and giving into temptations that i know are not of Gods will for my life. But I am declaring, that I am giving my cup to God, that its not my will but Gods, ALWAYS, in my life. Not to say I've been living a horribly sinful life and I have to repent, no. But I have not making the best decisions that are allowing me to live the spiritual life that God designed for me. Even if that is you, living in sin thinking God will never accept you; that is so not the truth. God is waiting for you to run into his arms.

 I am so blessed to have a husband that leads with Christ in the center. Who admits when his relationship with God isnt where it should be, but he selflessly gives to our marriage. I cant' say that i always do that. However, I am making this declaration today, to live as a woman faithfully His. To commit everyday to God, and when temptation arises, God will be my defender and not allow the enemy to come into my life. I belong to Jesus. "

I love you, Jesus. I'll always love you. Now and forever. I belong to you" 

Proverbs 31:25, "She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future"

 

Not of This World.

We.are.not.of.this.world.

If you are a fellow believer, then you believe this. If you are not, then you probably do not understand what it means. I mean, what do you mean.. not of this world? We are here aren't we?? Are we?!

God calls us to go out to all 4 corners of the earth and preach the gospel. He wants the whole world to know who Jesus is. He wants the world to be SAVED. I have a previous blog that discusses what salvation is and I invite you to read it. When we become a part of this world, we get sucked into the media, the society, the influences..we are sucked into the flesh. We become addicted to worldly things. I will be the first to admit that i am guilty. I spend more time on facebook, twitter, instagram, vine, and lets not forget my addiction to Candy Crush. I open my bible app one or two times throughout the day, and really dig into the word, but what good does it do if we aren't applying it to our lives.

• Scripture does not say, follow as many people as you can to get twice as many follow backs. It says "follow me, pick up your cross and leave your selfish ways." 
• Scripture does not say; follow someones life through social media. He calls us to go out and invest in the lives of others. 
• Scripture does not say; selfishly live out our lives and offend as many as possible. No, it says to examine ourselves, and then put others before ourseleves

There are more than i can show, but what is that saying? It is so easy to get sucked up into the lives of others, without pouring into them; we can so easily to become selfish.
God didn't put Jesus on this earth so he could come collect as much money as he could, and spend it on worthless stuff. He put Jesus on this earth to save us from our sins. The most self-less act you could ever ask for. He asks us to pick up our cross and follow him. He challenges us to sell all of our possessions and give the money to the poor.

In my life, I have some friends. To name a few, Ansley, Holli, Cory, Jamie, Stephanie, Beth.. who have all sold their possessions, and moved to the other side of the world, and serve the poor. I have other friends, who have been called to short term missions, in Ethiopia this summer, and Kandi who gives up so much to give so much to Haiti. How hard would it be for one, to give up their possessions, and their time to go and serve short/long term? It is a true calling from God. They have amazing testimonies, and awesome stories of what God is doing. They truly live by the spirit. They are not of this world.

Some of the most unhappiest people you'll meet are those that only live by the flesh and not by the spirit. Although, their outer appearance may show that they are, its inside that they aren't. Its not a fun life to always be consumed by all the worldly things.

This.World.Needs.Jesus.

The difference between the flesh and the spirit, is when we are living in the flesh we find ourselves consumed by the worldly things. When we live by the spirit, we are fully relying on God. F.r.o.g as i learned in elementary school

We are not of this world. God created us as flesh, but this world is not our home. It is only temporary. Again, in Matthew we are called to go out and be disciples. How do we do that if we are part of this world, and in the flesh? We can't! If you are a believer and you follow in the word, you know that it's not long until Jesus comes back! Look at Israel! Our nation is falling! Why? Because God is being taken out of the picture!! The same thing that happened to Israel. They decided they did not need God anymore, so what happened!? They Fell! Then they had to rebuild! It's all there!! Its time to get serious and take put Jesus in your life!

Recently, I had a fallout of my own. I let my flesh take over, and i went a little over-the-top with some conversations and actions. I had to pretty much hit myself with a brick and say "this is not what you should be doing!!" but how easy is it to slip into a door once its been cracked!? We find ourselves in conversations with others, and we actually start to trick ourselves into something thats more appealing! The only way to get out of it, is by having God in your life and letting him be your strength.

While babysitting, I have been watching a lot of Disney Channel and some of the shows are a little bit... worldly. A lot of them show that you should have the smartphone, the clothes, the look. It also seems like if you are smart and make the right decisions, then you come off as dumb. Working in a middle school, it makes so much sense now. These kids are constantly surrounded by the social media, the influences, and the clothes. Very rarely do you hear of kids that play outside anymore, or kids being kids. I'm very thankful to be with 4 very awesome kids everyday this summer, that understand what it still means to be a kid, and actively having fun. But what about the youth that don't have that life? Do they go through middle and high school focused on themselves? Because that's what its about.. I see so many of these high schoolers offending each other through Twitter, because "they arent going to know i'm talking about them." Sadly, most of them know. Bullying is at an all time high today. A large percent of it being cyber-bullying. It's only to go up, because it's not.being.stopped. Its all or nothing in schools these days. I daily in the schools see so many examples of this. Its a cycle of who can be better, who can be meaner..cyberbullying needs.to.stop. But it comes down to a lot of that generation is learning to live by the worldly thing, and thats it.

They need to know self respect, and love.

You know, being on a few mission trips, i often get the "why are you going to other countries, when you can do so much in your own." But what are those people doing that ask that? Ask yourself what you can do. Can you be the hands and feet to this generation growing up and show them who Jesus is? That doesnt mean you have to preach to them. Its being the example. No words necessary. I look up to my husband a lot, because he's being that voice to the youth. He goes into the schools, he provides a club, and he is being the hands and feet to the youth.

If you have a passion to see this world love Jesus, then I encourage you to reach out to the youth and show them who he is. Because if they have never heard, they will never know.

Die to self.

The bible says that in order to become a follower we must die to self. What does that mean? Well...
"20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy." Eph 4:20-24

Throw off your old sinful nature and your formal way of life...get rid of it! Begin a new life in Christ, washed white as snow. Take up your cross, and follow HIM.

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the FLESH, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”Galatians 5:13-14

Do not use the freedom for the Flesh; but instead.. serve one another!!

With all this being said.. Always remember.. you are not of this world. This world belongs to God. WE need to be the hands and feet, and even when we see corruption, and evil, we need to remember not to live in the flesh but to use scripture, and love, and live by the spirit.

God has a plan for each and every one of us. But in order to access our God given destiny, we need to not just know who God is, but we need to know God, and have salvation with Jesus Christ.

Until next time... In His name.. <3

Selfishness

I have this problem sometimes. Its a problem i KNOW that we have all dealt with.

SELFISHNESS.

Now i know that that word doesnt seem so bad, but its a bitter word to me. What does it mean to be selfish? Well i'll tell ya!

self·ish

  [sel-fish] 

adjective

1.

devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits,welfare, etc., regardless of others.

When i think of being devoted to something, it means that i am really attached to that thing. I put a lot of time into it. So what happens when we become so devoted to ourselves that thats all we are concerned about? Well, for one, it no longer becomes about anyone else. It comes down to the core of--ourselves. We become so wrapped up in what we want, or how we want it, that when it comes down to us, and it doesn't go particularly the way we want it we become, mad, or bitter. Bitterness leads to anger, and that selfish person inside of us tends to flare up and our flesh begins to say things, and do things.--even think things, that maybe we wouldn't normally say, do, or think.

THIS IS NOT FROM GOD!!!!!

I love the book of James. In chapter 3 it says, " But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. ¹⁵ For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. ¹⁶ For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind." [[James 3:14-16]]

wow!!! "such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic" Thats a scary thought!! That time when we get selfish, jealous, and bitter are of the flesh, or demonic! I dont want anything to deal with the enemy!! Nonetheless, this is something that i battle with, and i know many others do. Thats why i am so grateful for a God that gives us grace, and love, and covers ALL of our sins. No matter how big or small they are. 
I can tell you, being in leadership, has taught me a great deal about this. While i was a Vice President, and leader for Campus Ministry, I learned how much I had to give less of me, and more of God. I had to give up my control, my thoughts, and my actions, and let God take control. It seemed to turn out a lot better when i did that too. What about when we are serving alongside others? You have to respect the leaders you are under. This has been a huge stepping stone for me, as i was a manager at a couple restaurants. I went from being a manager, where I had to learn not to be selfish, and service along side others, and not think highly of myself, to now I am an assistant in a classroom, where we share a lot of ideas, and skills. It could be very easy to take a selfish thought, and say I can do that better. However, that's not at all what we do. I work with some awesome ladies. We learn off of each other, and really respect each others roles.
A lot of times, when we work with a team of people, and serve under a leader, we have to learn to respect that leader. So often it can be easy to want to do things the way that we want them. We have to remember God anointed certain people to do certain things, and we need to respect that. Because if we are serving under someone, and we prefer things to go our way, and the option isn't there, or that wasn't the way it was directed; we can become very bitter, and angry, that it didn't go the way we wanted it to.
The way your life is set up, if you have chosen to follow God, is he will direct you in your steps. If we try to troubleshoot that, and try to take our steps whatever way we choose, it will not turn out the way God intended! We need to be patieint, wait on Him, and trust that he will deliver.
I encourage you to spend time with God, and ask him what areas in your life you are being selfish. You'll be surprised sometimes what he shows you. You may not even realize it.

³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

The Salt and the Light

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:13-16 NLT)

This is one of my favorite scriptures. It was the lesson at Campus Life tonight. After these past few days, how important is this message?!
When salt loses its saltiness, it's done. What happens when we have light but choose to hide it? It's not to be seen. When a lightbulb goes out, it burns out, the light bulb is dead and we throw it away. If you let a candle burn all the way through, eventually it extinguishes itself.
"You are the light of the world"
We are the light! I'm sure it's not hard to see that there is so much darkness in this world! We are to be the light in the darkness. How do we do that?
Read the bible. The bible tells us what The Lord requires of us. Matthew 5 continues to say that until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of Gods law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. Do you think it's achieved? God has a purpose for all of us. ALL of us! It's by our actions and our deeds that we have the ability to be the light. Be the light! Allow God to use you, and shine his light through you. This world needs people who are willing to stand on top of a hilltop for all to see, and declare that Jesus is coming again and we need to be ready! Will you be Jesus to the least of these? When you become angry with another person, are you being Jesus to them? When you commit adultery, are you being Jesus? What about if you live on grudges and revenge? No. God tells us to love our enemies. What happens when we only love those who we like? We our guilty of casting out judgement on our enemies. If someone wrongs you, Jesus wants us to turn our cheek. He doesn't want us to strike back or have an angry quarrel.
When you start your day are you thanking God for another day? When you go to bed do you have bitterness? The bible says that we aren't to go to bed angry. Thank God for every single day. We don't know which one will be our last. When you die, do you want to be a legacy? I know I want to. That doesn't mean that you're perfect. It means you try to live your life through the eyes of Jesus Christ. You choose to live a bold, courageous life. Not a life of a coward, and in fear! We are to love!
God created light. In Genesis, God seperated the light from darkness. He didnt create light and darkness to mix. Have you ever noticed that the first thing in the bible was that God created the light?
Yesterday we saw something horrible.. A bombing on a marathon that shook the whole nation. Increased security everywhere. Then you look at Korea and what they are doing. Terrorism is a big picture right now in our country, but as it is so easy to go in your flesh, God does not want us to live in fear. When we live in fear, we start losing trust in God, and we slowly our salt starts to lose its taste, and our light starts to get dim. Eventually we will get so low that our light burns out and our salt gets thrown out and trampled on.
So the question I leave with you is will you be the salt and the light? Will you be a city on a hill brightly shining? Will you live a bold, courageous life life? I want to be a Proverbs 31 woman. God-fearing, and strong. My husband is an amazing leader in our marriage and I am extremely blessed. This world is getting closer to Jesus' return. I feel 110% responsible for sharing God with this world. And I pray daily that this nation would not fall, because people chose not to trust God and chose to make decisions in the flesh. Be a light. Choose if you will live a straight on life, or do you choose to live a lukewarm life.. But I'm all in, straight on.
Temptations will arise, but we have to use the strength that God gives us and turn the enemy away. Give to the needy, be a prayer warrior, be selfless, sarcrificial, and don't judge others. Always think as others as better as yourself. Bear good fruit. And set your life on a solid foundation.

Dissatisfied

As many of you know, I work at DeKalb middle school. The past few days the county has gone through quite a bit. A junior passed away due to health issues on Monday. On Tuesday, many of you might've also saw the news that we were on a modified lockdown. This was simply because a former student was missing and it was told that he had a gun. Lo and behold, he wasn't even in the same county. Sadly, he was a threat to himself and not anyone else. He was found dead and that's all we know. Whether it was self harm or not, that hasn't been released.
But through that, there has been no judgement from me. What I found really crazy is how working in the schools how fast things travel.. And it's almost like they are playing telephone, because at the end of the day it's amazing the stories that come out of it. Where a girl dying of health issues, turns into, she was home all day and overdosed. Also, If you've seen the news, yesterday you'll see that a prisoner escaped from a dekalb sheriff. So what do people post? The sheriffs are so overweight, my gma can run faster. Really?! Why is it that whenever tragedy hits or mistakes happen, the first place to turn to is judgement or blame?! I'm seriously tired of it! Why can't we turn to God, or have grace??
The answer.. Because we are all dissatisfied. With ourselves. We lack the ability to be completely satisfied with ourselves. We get offensive, defensive and we take it out the way we think it should be. Why is it that we can never be content? There always has to be something wrong. Whether its that look in the mirror that screams "rough," or that losing weight has become about looks now then health and people will go extreme measures to become as thin as they can. I was reading a book, "the resolution for women" and I LOVED the excerpt I read!! It's about how I unsatisfied we truly can be :
"If you're single, you should have the security of marriage
If you're married, you should have the freedom of singleness
If you live in an apartment, you should own a home by now
If you own a home, it should be bigger than the one you already have.
Getting the message?
Your clothes should be from THIS vendor
Your appearance should look like THAT trend
Your kids should be more like THOSE kids
Your standard of success should be measured by THESE standards."

Can anyone argue that? I read it and I thought, that is pretty right on. I have prayed and tried very hard to be someone who is satisfied, but any woman will admit.. It's not easy.
Of course I have said that I want to be a Proverbs 31 woman and well.. I still don't know how to sew. :)
But what I have learned is exactly what Philippians 4:11 says.. "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am"
I have an amazing husband that maybe without knowing, has guided me through a lot of it.
I was having a conversation with someone once and I said, my insecurities have decreased, my confidence has increased and my i find grace in so many areas of my life now. And the response I received back was simply, "ya well you're married." Friends, I have something great! I have accessed a strength and the ability to be confident and secure NOT because I am married, but because I chose to love who I am through Jesus Christ. I accessed this long before marriage, and in fact long before I was dating! That's a whole other blog though. :)
I used to dislike myself, and put myself in the wrong crowds. I used to party and I hated being single. But I came to a point in my life where that wasn't ok anymore. I learned what it meant to love myself, and I wouldn't never learned that if I didn't encounter the presence of God.
It wasn't about being married. There are a lot of married people that are insecure and lack confidence. Without God, we are nothing! We are NOTHING! God gives us a purpose, a hope and a future.

So why do we turn to negativity whenever something bad happens or something we don't agree with? If you don't agree with it, let it go. If something bad happens, wait for the answers. Turn to God!! There is no excuse for selfishness. The most unselfish act was God giving his son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, for our selfishness and he gave us GRACE.
So when you see a hurting person, a lonely person, a sick person, or one of those people who all they can do is complain and judge what are you going to do? Love. When you begin to love yourself, you will find it easier to love others.