Being Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable.

 Since being here at the University of Arkansas, I've been faced with a very big battle called temptation. Being six and a half hours away from my parents its every kids dream to finally have freedom but for me its been a nightmare. This freedom in this unknown place has opened up so many opportunities for temptation to come in, it’s kind of overwhelming. I'm so used to having boundaries being set for me and a list of do's and don'ts from my parents to protect me but being here there are no boundaries and there are no rules. Being me, I'm not used to that. Growing up in Keller, I believe I was blessed to be around the kids in my community because even though some of them in my school were doing bad things it still was a great majority of us who weren't. That majority of us were known around school as the Christians. Wellbeing at a college with over 25,000 people it's hard to pick out the real Christians because there are so many people! It has been hard for me to find a community of people that I feel like I genuinely belong. Don't get me wrong, I have met wonderful girls on campus who I feel I can really just open up to especially Britni and Abby but still I feel so lonely. Being here, I have been faced with multiple temptations such as drugs, drinking, partying, sexual immortality and so forth. It has been so hard fighting those things; maintain good grades, and trying to have a social life. I honestly ask myself every day is it even worth it. When it comes to being a Christian I am very hard on myself, so when I fall into temptation I beat myself up about it because I am trying so hard to be a perfect Christian, but God made me realize there is no such thing as a perfect Christian. I always knew that but the thought of Christians being set part made me feel like we were supposed to be perfect. Yet again, God humbly reminded me that being a Christian is not easy. We are set apart as in when we do fall we get right back up, repent and continue through this journey. I know personally, when I fall back into temptation, I become scared to face God and avoid Him for a while and start doing things I used to do. In the Bible, when Jesus approached Simon Peter he states that

Mark 1:16-18
     "Now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
     And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
     And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him."

Jesus offered Peter a new title in life. No more would he be a fisherman of fish but a fisherman of men and spread the gospel. He was giving him an opportunity to take a leap out of His comfort zone and live a new life and work for a new master. That's what God does for us. He has offered us all a new job as fishermen of men. Think about it, this job comes with enduring suffering, letting go of your pride, steering away from sin and spreading the Gospel for one big paycheck of eternal life. In the requirements for this job he didn't promise it would be easy, he told us when we fall to get back up again and continue to fight in this raging war, yet so many of us fall after we are doing so good and we get scared because we feel like we messed up forever and we are hypocrites so we avoid God. We end up going back to doing things we feel comfortable doing because we don't want to face conviction.

Luke 5:4-5

"Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

We start to feel like we aren't useful to God's plan anymore. Peter went through the same thing. He knew so much about the fishing business and being back to where he was comfortable, he had no hope because he was just so sure that they weren't going to catch anything. This happens to us as well. We fall back into our sin which we were once comfortable in and don't think God can use us in that situation, as if He won’t meet us where we are and work miracles. God loves to come in the midst of our storms that we caused and remind us He is Lord and can make all things work together for our good to bring glory to His name.

Luke 5:6-11

⁶ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, ¹⁰ and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” ¹¹ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”

When we are in the midst of falling into sin, feeling condemnation and going back to the worldly things that we once loved we, God comes in and proves to us again just how powerful He is and how he still wants to use us. I know, from dealing with situations like this recently I have learned that we as Christians are scared to be out of our comfort zone. Speaking for myself, I start going so hard after God then get scared I'm going to fall back into sin and start pursing God as much and eventually I fall back into sin; which is a tactic from Satan. He uses fear of the future to draw us away from God. But I assure you, if it's a sin you fear constantly that you will fall for again then you haven't fully surrendered that sin over to God, this is something I struggle with too. But find peace in the fact that when you do surrender it you are giving it to a King who has the power to break you free from the bondage that that sin put you in. You won’t deal with it anymore and when Satan tries to bring it back into your life, you will be more powerful than before and can withstand the temptation. It's definitely a process, but God doesn't want you comfortable with that anymore, and I know you don't want to be comfortable with that sin anymore. I pray that the thought of whatever you are being tempted with becomes disgusting to you and you despise it. I pray that God breaks those chains and you will no longer feel scared about what the future holds because you know your future is being held in the hands of a glorious heart, I hope that you find comfort in the uncomfortable and your heart desires God's desires and you take a leap out in faith.

God Bless! ~

What does Love Look Like?

 

 

Being in college, it is almost mandatory to find your "soul mate." It's been told that college is when you find your spouse so many of us are searching for the one. When searching for the one we must know exactly what love looks like. We always hear verse 1 Corinthian 13:4-7 on what love is and sadly it has even become cliché. But in this blog we are going to do a case study on it and take a deeper look at the verse. The amplified version puts it like this

 

^"4 Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.

⁵ It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

⁶ It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

⁷ Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]."

 

Before we break down the verse, we must understand what God created love to be. The word love can be properly defined in terms of action, attitude, and behavior. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul didn't give us a theoretical definition of love but rather a list of things love exemplifies so we can be aware of it when we see it. Now, back to the verse. It starts with love endures (stand no matter what hardships comes our way) long. Love is willing to wait for long periods of time through suffering for the one it cares about which causes it to be patient. Love is kind, it is gentle and cares about the person and their well being. Love isn't envious nor filled with jealousy. Jealousy implies to being displeased with the success of others. Yet, true love desires the success of others. Love is not boastful; it's not big-headed but rather big-hearted. Love is not conceited, it is selfless not selfish. Love is not rude. There are some Christians who seem to take delight in being blunt, justifying it with being "honesty." They will say, “I’m just telling it like it is.” But love doesn’t always tell it like it is; it doesn’t always verbalize all its thoughts, especially if those thoughts don’t build others up. There is a graciousness in love which never forgets that courtesy. Love doesn't seek its own; it is not worried about winning or being the best, love doesn't worry about its own selfish wants. Love is not easily provoked. It is slow to become annoyed and refuses to let other's under their skin. Love isn't a "bookkeeper" of wrong things done to it. That causes hatred and animosity to build up and that is not a characteristic of love. Love takes no joy in any evil or unrighteousness. Love rejoices when the truth prevails. It loves the exposure of what is right. Love bears all things, which means it "covers up" or "protects" what it loves. Love believes all things, it gives the person it loves the benefit of the doubt. Love hopes all things, love is a big believer. Love endures all things, love holds it position at all cost.
Reflecting off that, we see this kind of love through Jesus Christ. he is patient with us, even when we sin and he waits for us years and years until we turn to Him. He is kind and gentle, when we need Him, He is always there holding us and letting us know He is Lord and he will take care of our problems. He is not jealous when we love other people because love is an spiritual gift that we received through Him and when we love we bring glory to His name. He isn't boastful; he doesn't rub in our face that He took up our cross when He didn't have to. He doesn't think of Himself, but rather He thinks of our wellbeing. He is slow to anger and doesn't keep a record of the wrong we have done to Him; he forgives.  He doesn't find excitement in our suffering, when we suffer so does He. He rejoices when we learn the gospel because it is the truth. he covers us up and protects us. He sees the best in us and hopes nothing but good upon our life. He stands firm in his relationship with us and never gives up.
Now, look at the person you're interested in. Do they love you like Jesus does? If not why are you with them? God has prepared someone for you that will love you like Jesus. Jesus love for us is different than any love. Jesus has an agape love. Agape means selfless love of one person for another without sexual implications (especially love that is spiritual in nature.) Humans can't love like this because we are sinful by nature. We have selfishness somewhere in us. When we love, we don't love perfectly; we love with a phileo love. Phileo means brotherly love; affection. We see the difference in these two types of love in Acts. Jesus asked Peter 3 times if he loved him. John 21:15-17 states

 “Jesus asked, "do you agapao me?"
Peter replied, "I phileo you."

  Jesus asked, "do you agapao me?"
Peter replied, "I phileo you."

 Jesus asked, "do you phileo me?"
Peter replied, "I phileo you."

Jesus was asking him does he love him with all his heart, but Peter in some manuscripts says Peter was grieved and replied back "Lord you know everything; You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]." As humans, that's all we can offer others, a deep emotional based love. But when we ask God for his love and to love others like He does we begin to love them the way 1 Corinthians 13 describes love.

A lot of you are in a relationship where you have phileo love, but God wants to give you a spouse who will agape love you through their agape love given from Jesus Christ. I pray that God will show each and everyone of you what true love is, through Himself first, the church, your family and friends and then through a special significant other.

Stay Blessed!~

Why I Choose to be Pentecostal

As a child, I grew up in a COGIC church which is typically black. It's generally the same as a Pentecostal church- just historically black. When I moved to Texas my family and I jumped around from COGIC churches for a bit and eventually stopped going all together which was fine by me because I felt judged by my own people every time I entered the church. It was more of a fashion show rather a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. During those years we stopped going it seemed like our family was going through a lot; from financial stability to disobedience in my sister and I's behavior. Most of the problems came from me because I was a very difficult child. I guess I just wanted attention. Around 2011, my friends invited me to an event called One Night at their church Milestone. Not being in a church for years or even a youth group this was pretty cool to me seeing every kid in Keller at a church. That night the pastor preached the gospel and many students including myself gave their life to Christ. When you decide to become an actual Christian it's like sparks flying inside your heart- it's an amazing encounter. Soon after that I visited the church a couple more times and started noticing things. Even though I hadn't been to church in a long time I knew that playing Rihanna in the church wasn't something that should be accepted. I didn't understand that at all and a lot of the students where there just to hangout. It seemed as if the church was watering down their faith to be socially accepted and I didn't like how it was separated. Everyone had their own group of friends and I didn't feel socially accepted. So my friend invited me to her church, which was a Baptist church. I went here for a while and I loved it at first. It was different because I was actually in a group. I met a lot of girls who were on fire for God, but still I wasn't close to them. The only thing enjoyable about that church was the youth group, then we would go to "big" church after youth and fall asleep. I didn't want that, I wanted more than just a lesson; I wanted REVIVAL. I wanted a youth group were there wasn't any groups and clicks. Eventually, I realized this was what was happening at this church as well. It was such a huge youth everyone had their own group of friends and only came to social. I  wanted to be apart of something that changed lives. I wanted other people to feel those sparks I felt when I gave my life to Christ. I wanted to spread that and I didn't feel like any of these churches were trying to do that. After weeks of prayer, God answered my prayers and my friend's pastor began to eat lunch with us at school every Thursday. Pastor Randy would always let us know that "God has a plan and purpose for my life." He doesn't know it be he legit changed my life this year. I finally decided to test out their church. They had Tuesday night services and I tagged along with them. I had never heard of a Pentecostal church until then. As we got there I saw the big sign saying welcome to the Upper Room Church. I was nervous when we walked in because I didn't want this to be a fail like all the others. When we walked into the sanctuary I could tell something was different about this church than the others; I quickly learned that the difference was that this church had the Holy Spirit. I will never forget when we walked in the worship team was singing You're an Army by Rick Pino. It kind of frightened me because everyone was jumping around and being slayed in the spirit, then I realized that's the revival I had been looking for. I wanted to be so consumed with God that I jumped for joy and laid out in the spirit. During youth, their number one rule was no cliques! I loved this because it gave everyone a change to be accepted. Everyone quickly came up to me and greeted me, and even asked for my number so we could hangout. They seemed so interested in me and didn't care that I had on jeans and a hoodie. That night I had a powerful encounter with God. Now throughout the times I was looking for a church and attending the Baptist and Non-denominational church I was still falling into sin because I wasn't being equipped with the tools I needed to fight off temptation but rather I was being worried with the burden of trying to fit in. After going here, I changed completely. I had had my first real encounter with God other than when I had decided to accept Christ as my Lord and Savior. I began to go to the church's services on Tuesday Saturday and Sunday and even went evangelizing on Fridays! I Like how involved in the community and how we gave the people the true gospel and didn't have to water it down. Unfortunately, the devil didn't like what he was seeing and tried to get me away from the church. He tried to make my parents think I was in some kind of cult, but through prayer my parents came to the church and saw it was filled with nothing but the Holy Spirit and people whose desire was to give God all of the glory He deserved. It was different for my mom, because it wasn't a typical black church and different for my dad because He's Methodist. To me, in this generation I don't think it matters what color you are. We all worship the same God and we should be able to worship in the same house. In Heaven we all will be together worshipping Him for eternity so why cant we do it on Heaven without judging our fellow brothers and sisters? I choose to be Pentecostal because it's the first church I felt accepted in- there'd no racial barrier, no judgment and no condemnation. The gospel isn't watered down and the people can admit they aren't perfect, we all need Jesus! I've had amazing encounters at the Upper Room. Since going there I've received the gift of speaking in tongues, got to work in the church nursery and help with the youth, had experiences where gold dust has fallen down on us from Heaven and had amazing fellowship with amazing Christians. I thank God that he placed me at the Upper Room Church and used Pastor Steve, Pastor Randy and Pastor James to help me grown into the Christian I am today. I love being Pentecostal. It's more than just a label to me. It means a group a people who are accepting of others and admit they are broken and need Jesus because they cant do it on their own. I am proud to say I am Pentecostal.

Becoming Victorious in the Battles!

Something I need everyone to know today is temptation is NOT a sin. You are not sinning if you are being tempted. However, how you decided to deal with the temptation will determine if you fall into sin or not. The devil uses temptation as a tactic of condemnation to make us fall into sin and be bound in it. Like I always remind you guys... there is no condemnation in Christ. Don't fall for it! There's some of us who seem to constantly be in war with temptation. Sometimes we even keep falling into sin and it doesn't seem like we can overcome it. Let me tell you something,1 John 2:2 tells us that Jesus is "the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the world."

Jesus died for that sin already. When it comes to sin there's two parts to it: falling into it or walking away from it. Because we are humans we are prone to fall into sin, it is in our nature. Paul described it best in Romans 7 when he said
"I don’t understand why I act the way I do. I don’t do the good I want to do, and I do the evil I hate. ¹⁶ And if I don’t want to do what I do, that means I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ But I am not really the one doing the evil. It is sin living in me that does it. ¹⁸ Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me—I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is not spiritual. I want to do what is good, but I don’t do it. ¹⁹ I don’t do the good that I want to do. I do the evil that I don’t want to do. ²⁰ So if I do what I don’t want to do, then I am not really the one doing it. It is the sin living in me that does it.
²¹ So I have learned this rule: When I want to do good, evil is there with me. ²² In my mind I am happy with God’s law. ²³ But I see another law working in my body. That law makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and that law makes me its prisoner. ²⁴ What a miserable person I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death? ²⁵ I thank God for his salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
We were born into sin, therefore we are sinful. As Christians we desire to do good but there's bad living within us. Imagine your heart, it has an irregular beat that causes you problem after problem but God loves you so much that He offers you his heart- a perfect beating heart with no problems. Yet, sometimes we get so comfortable in our sin and comfortable with our "old heart" we don't want to take the offer of God because we either feel unworthy, scared what our life would be like after we give it up or even scared we will fall back into temptation. But I come to you as reassurance through my own struggles and encounters with God, He never intended for us to live in fear of the future. Proverbs 31:25 says
"..she can laugh at the days to come."
We have been given a joy through the Lord to laugh and rejoice for the future. He didn't give us a spirit of fear but rather a spirit of boldness to look at the future and say "I may not know what you hold for me but I know that my God is strong and has my best interest at hand. He has offered me his heart so that I can overcome temptation and be excited for what He has planned for me in the future that glorifies Him." God has a plan and purpose for your life that involves His heart that he has offered you. You can't pursue this plan or purpose until you have fully turned from your sin. You have to stop living off the beat of your old heart and let your new heart be the beat of your drum.
Romans 8 illustrates a raging war; a war against the spirit and the flesh. The Spirit (the heart offered to you by God) has an agenda of no condemnation. It offers a life that sets you free, a life full of peace, a life that labels us as a child of God and his spirit dwells in us. Most importantly it DOESN'T make us slaves anymore; no more being a slave to sin and fear! Hallelujah!
Now, on the other hand the flesh has an agenda to destroy. Simple as that. It has come to make you have selfish pride and live for your desires for yourself. The flesh is weak, it will fall for anything.  It is hostile to God and doesn't want to submit itself to the laws of God because it is comfortable in its sin and doesn't want to surrender itself to a new master- Christ. The flesh cant please God. So today is the day were you decide which team am I on? It has already been set in history that the Spirit will win the war, and yes the flesh may win a couple battles and overcome you but when you are in the Spirit it's easy to stand back up, repent, and fight harder against the devil. I don't know about you but I'm choosing the winning team. The Spirit will have a sweet victory- eternal life in Heaven. I want that! I want to fight for that in this war! That's my motivation everyday... to fight in this war everyday, because everyday I become closer to being with my Savior for life! If that's not enough motivation for you then I don't know what is. If you're choosing to be on the team for the Spirit welcome aboard! Now God has equipped us with a strategy to help fight in this war. He tells us in Ephesians 6:11-20
^"11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
My favorite part in this was verse 18. Prayer is key. Whatever you're lacking, pray about it. Whatever you need, pray about it. Whatever you have, pray about it. Pray about any and everything. I hope this has gotten you ready to fight in this raging war. I am here as a fellow warrior to help you get through these hard battles. I am praying for you in those times where you are faced with temptation. I pray you see the way out God has given you. I pray you become a bold mighty warrior in Christ and temptation and sin realizes you are so grounded in your faith that it doesn't even try to bother you anymore. We have been called to be conquers in Christ, therefore we have the power to be victorious in the battles of this raging war!
Stay Blessed!~

A Message for My Phi Lamb Sisters!

Lately God has been impressing on my heart this message I'm about to share with you. I've been wrestling with it and trying not to deal with it because I didn't want to offend anyone but  I've been learning to obey God, His commands and His word so I'm finally going to share with you this revelation God has shared with me.

 

Sigma Phi Lambda. Sisters for the Lord. Let's take a closer look at the "for the Lord" part. We are for the Lord. As Christians we are called to live our lives for the Lord. Everything we do is supposed to be glorifying and righteous in the Lord's eyes. When we are Christians we are put on a higher standard scale. When we mess up or fall into sin and temptation non-believers base Christianity off of that. We are called to live for the Lord in every aspect of our lives so sin and temptation don't enter our lives. Now, let's take a look at the meaning of Sigma Phi Lambda. We are a Christian sorority. We are different, set apart from the others. We are Christians. So let's talk about how we should maintain that. I know we aren't perfect but it is not glorifying to God nor does it look good for Phi Lamb if you are at every party, listening to secular music, drinking, cursing and gossiping. I know it's hard, especially being at a university where they start "turning up" on a Thursday. I know it doesn't seem like there's much for a Christian to do around the university that's considered fun, but let's face it, that fun you're having wont get you into Heaven. How does it look during rush when a girl who is considering pledging and isn't really a believer but wants to know God in an intimate way and sees one of us promoting to join Phi Lamb and is like "wait.. weren't you just at a Kappa Sig function this weekend completely wasted?" That's how Christians get the title of being a hypocrite, we tend to not practice what we preach. If you have friends who aren't in Phi Lamb, that's totally fine but don't let them influence you but instead influence them. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:14 (the AMP version)

^" Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness?"

If your friends are hindering your relationship with God, you have got to let them go or separate yourself from them for awhile until you are strong enough to not fall for peer pressure. For me, my best friend Cierra and I planned on going to college together for about two years but it didn't happen. I know God separated us so we can grow stronger in our faith and blossom into proverbs 31 women. She's in Phi Lamb at LSU and found her an amazing church and I'm so happy God separated us. Before, if one of us fell into sin while the other was going strong after God we tended to pull the other one down, not purposely but to make ourselves comfortable with our sin. Now, since we are both stronger we help strength one another when we see each other struggling. If your friends cant do that do you really think you need them? Are you really going to let them be the reason you didn't make it into heaven because you wanted to be a people pleaser?  How about being a Jesus pleaser and DIE to your flesh and worldly wants. Seriously, how many drinks will it take for you to realize how much blood Jesus bled for you and how we owe Him our lives? In Proverbs 13:20, it states that

"He who walks [as a companion] with wise men is wise, but he who associates with [self-confident] fools is [a fool himself and] shall smart for it."

So lastly, lets go back to the part where it says "SISTERS for the Lord." Lets look at the part that says "sisters." We are sisters. We are a family in Christ. We have to keep each one of us grounded in our faith and separated from the world. We are a big group of accountability partners. When one of us fall it affects us all because they have something we need and if the devil is attacking that something that they have; he's essentially attacking all of us. It's important to GUARD YOUR TESTIMONY. You might think it's okay to party as long as I don't drink but like I said, we are Christians and we are on a completely different scale. You might know you're not drinking, but what does everyone else assume? That the Christian girl is there and she's drinking as well, so it must be okay for us to drink? That image of a Christian being okay with that keeps non-believers bound in sin and you don't even immorality associated with you according to Ephesians 5:3

But immorality (sexual vice) and all impurity [of lustful, rich, wasteful living] or greediness must not even be named among you, as is fitting and proper among saints (God’s consecrated people).

We are called to be holy, Jesus died for are sins and partying, drinking, cursing and gossiping are sins. He died for those things so leave them at the Cross. If you don't believe me pray to Him that He show you His side and he holes in His hand and where the thorn in His brow was placed, that's where your sin lays. He took that and in return as a Christian we are called to live a holy life, so don't worry about your image to society worry about your image in Christ. Sigma Phi Lambda.. Sisters for the Lord. God is calling us to awaken this campus through our image in Him, our character and through the spreading of His gospel. If you're just in it for the cool t-shirts you might want to reconsider what you're pledging. We aren't only pledging a sorority but we are pledging a lifetime commitment to the King. He is a jealous jealousy and it's either Him or the world! Don't break that commitment for a Thursday night Phi Delt function. Besides, I went to a Phi Delt function last semester... I'd rather have Jesus!

God Bless!~

Praising Him!

Just six months ago wrote this excerpt in my journal:

“His love. His heart is so transparent. He pours out his love onto my life in numerous ways but yet sin is like Glaucoma; fogging my sight of what's right and only allowing me to see what's wrong. The Lord says he will be back for his children but will I be one of the chosen ones to go back to his home? I've seen tasted smelled and been in the presence of God. So why do I keep allowing sin to come in when I've had the sweetest love known to man. But yet God still loves me. I can hear him saying do you know the way you move me? You are my child Amber. I made you distinctively unique; different from everyone else because there's something in you.... Something in you that you haven't figured out yet. That something is an attribute the body of Christ needs.

I'm just so thankful I serve a God who can forgive me for my sins I continually to commit and he's not disappointed in me. He breaks off all the shame and condemnation the Devil put on me that came with the sin I allowed myself to get into.

His presence is so thick and tangible right now and I don't even know how to soak it all in. It's something I don't know how to explain. I just feel like a complete disappointment to him. Just a year ago I was in church four days a week, evangelizing and winning souls. What happened? This person isn't me. I miss the presence of God.

I'm praying for repentance and strength. Father forgive me. Give me strength to fight of these demons. I bind them in the name of Jesus and put on the armor you provided me with. I plead the blood of Jesus over me and Satan has NO power over me anymore. My life belongs to Jesus. I am his.

Father thank you for your never ending mercy and love. Thank you for always forgiving. Thank you for sending your one and only begotten son. Thank you father.

I love you.


Amen!”

Looking back on this I just become filled with joy. At that time in my life I was hopeless and my faith was very little but God never took His hands off of me. I just wanted to post this and just let everyone know God never stops working on us and He has completely answered this prayer for me over these 6 months. He is more than my words can ever say and I just can’t stop praising Him. He’s so wonderful!

Conviction vs. Condemnation

 

 

Yesterday my best friend Cierra called me and the first thing she said was "There's no condemnation in Christ" and through the whole phone call she repeatedly said that. All night that was on my heart and I was just thinking there was no better time that she could have told me that. Something I've learned since I've been Christian is that God never intended to use your past sins against you, instead He uses it convict you and to remind you how far He has brought you from then and now and that you have strength in Him to overcome those sins. To understand this, we must understand the difference in conviction and condemnation. Conviction is a supernatural gift from the Holy Spirit placed upon our lives and condemnation is sent from the devil to stir up confusion and shame. God uses conviction through the Holy Spirit to bring our attention on what we are doing wrong and to draw us to repentance. While the devil uses condemnation to make us scared to approach our Holy God at His thrown and humble ourselves to repent because condemnation blinds us and we don't see the truth- that God is a forgiving God and there's no shame in Christ he does not judge. Conviction is revolved around love and forgiveness with opened arms and condemnation is revolved around scare tactics the devil uses through pride, shame and fear to slowly but surely pull you away from God and keep you in sin. Other differences are

1) Condemnation causes us to turn away from God in fear, dread, and shame. Conviction causes us to come to God and boldly place our faith in the perfect life and death of Christ.
2) Condemnation leads us to believe that we’ll never change and that we aren't worthy of God's love. Conviction gives us hope that, even though we sinned, God is still at work in us.
3) Condemnation paralyzes faith for change, keeping us in bondage. Conviction bears the fruit of faith for change, freeing us to fully grow in the love of God.
4) Condemnation causes us to wallow in despair and self-pity. Conviction leads to God-centered hope.
5) Condemnation sees God as an angry judge who is waiting in the shadows to strike at any moment. Conviction sees God as a loving Father who disciplines his children through His love for us.
6) Condemnation is inward, self-focused, and always dwelling on the fact that we have sinned. Conviction is outward, God-focused, and always dwelling on the fact that we have sinned against God.
It is important to know the difference in these. When the devil is condemning you, it's constantly nagging you and it's like your sin is a never ending movie that you're being forced to watch and memorize and repeat everything you are watching. While when God is convicting you it's like a wake up call to do better, to draw to redemption and fall back into His arms. The devil says "remember your past" as he replays, replants ad torture your with sin while God screams out "forget your sin" as he offers you repentance, hope and brighter days. Do not follow your heart, but follow the conviction of the Holy Spirit because Jeremiah 17:9 warns us that
 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?"

If our heart is deceitful then it can be easily deceived by condemnation. Follow the truth, written in God's word rather than the lies said by evil (our heart and the devil.) God needs His people to understand this difference so he can bring them out of the sin that is enslaving them. He has given us freedom, don't let condemnation think you're still a slave when GOD says "you're free."
God Bless!~ 


Following God's Plan

 

All my life I had so many dream jobs, from being an astronomer to a forensic scientist. It wasn't until around middle school I decided I wanted to be a nurse. It even became my families dream for me to be a nurse. I loved the anatomy of the human body and I just knew that I would be an RN and eventually open my own hospital. Well, God didn't intend for me to be a nurse. As soon as I got to college my passion for my dream job suddenly faded away. I was so scared to tell my parents I wanted to change my major because I didn't want to disappoint them. Then I heard that calming yet powerful voice of God saying "Is it not I you live for? The only person you should be worried about disappointing is me- your Father." Being human, I still worried and never told my parents I wanted to change my major and that's when God began to convict me and punish me for being disobedient. My grades dropped and my parents grew frustrated with me. I knew God was trying to get my attention. That's when I told them I wanted to change my major. They seemed supportive but I know it really disappointed them. Now, this semester I am a Social Work major with a minor in Psychology but I still don't know if that's what God has planned for me.

 

God always has a plan for our life. Whether we know that plan or not, he has created a perfect path for us to follow in life to become the person he has intended us to be and all we have to do is be obedient to His word and promises and everything will work itself out. Seems easy right?  Well it's not that easy for us because of sin. Sin entered the world creating these paths that look easier and more appealing to the flesh than God's paths. It's hard following God's path when sin enters the equation. Following his path is an act of obedience, self-discipline and being selfless. God's plan for us was to live a life of full-time ministry. In Jeremiah 1, verse 5 God tells us

 

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."

We are called to spread the gospel. Now that doesn't mean everyone is called to be Pastors, you can still be a lawyer, doctor, pharmacist or a youth leader. Wherever he calls you to do your full-time ministry is where you need to be. Don't choose a career without consulting the creator of it all. If you still don't know where you're called to be remember Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 11

 

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Whatever career path God places you own remember that his has full control and your purpose is not to fulfill the job's desire but to glorify the Word of God. Let that verse dwell in your heart and calm your seas. God has a plan for you and it might not be what you expect but He does have a plan. Don't stress and don't give up and take the easy paths that appeal to the flesh. He's still working on you!

God Bless!

Do You Believe?

How many of you know that there is power in the name of Jesus? Sounds cliché right, but there seriously is power in the name of Jesus. Lets take a look in the Bible when Jesus healed a boy who was possessed by an impure spirit. In the book of Mark, chapter 9 crowds of people who were in desperate need of answers and disbelief came running to Jesus. Jesus asked them what was going on and a man in the crowd said

                 ¹⁷“Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸ Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

 In reply, Jesus called them an unbelieving generation. When you look up the definition of unbelieving, words like skeptical, doubt and disbelief appear. All those feelings are works of the devil. The devil blinds you with fear and clouds your mind with doubt and disbelief so you wont have faith in our God. I've learned to never doubt God's ability to do big things. If God has the ability to come down to earth in the form of man, formally known as His son and die for our sins so that we can be able to repent and turn to Him in our time of need what makes you think He can't answer your prayer for an A on your test, or for financial stability? Jesus endured a lot for us. He died for us, but the good thing is he rose again. So I ask you again, what make you believe he won't answer your prayer? He defeated the undefeated obstacle because He believed in God's word.

So what can make you believe? Reading the word and praying. You have to know God and his heart to be able to genuinely pray. I mean anyone can say a prayer, but if you don't know God and what He did for the love of you then you won't have much faith that God will answer your prayers. Going back to the book of Mark in chapter 9 Jesus told them to bring the boy to Him and then

 ^"20When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

²³ “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

²⁶ The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up."

We see here how demons tremble in the presence of Jesus. The man had very little faith in Jesus at first when he asked Him if he can do anything. We all know there's no ifs, ands or buts when it comes to the power of God. He can do anything and everything, nothings impossible. Jesus responded to the man by saying "everything is possible if you believe." The man was honest with himself and Jesus and said "I do belief, help me overcome my unbelief." That was very courageous, you have to ask God to remove all unbelief and believe that He will answer your prayers when you're in trouble.  After the boy was healed, the disciples asked Jesus why couldn't they drive the spirit out. He replied

²⁹ “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

So we see that with hard obstacles like that you have to have strong faith in God and rely on prayer. Don't doubt prayer, believe in it. God hears the cries of His children. When we cry out to God, His heart moves for us and he longs to make our lives easier. You just have to believe. I know it's hard sometimes to believe and it's okay to pray "God I love you but help me love you more. God I trust you but help me trust you more. God I believe in you but help me believe in you more." This will move Him and He will show up and the blessings will overflow in your life. In order to believe in the power of prayer, don't surround yourself with people who aren't strong in their faith and ask them to pray for you, they probably are struggling with disbelief too. Surround yourself with friends who are prayer warriors, who won't stop praying until they see healings and deliverance, who talk in tongues more than they speak English. You need them. Pray even when you barely believe. God loves answering prayers when we have little faith so we can believe in Him and our faith will grow more. I ask God to just calm you waters and whatever storm you're facing I pray that you just believe in God and lean on Him. He has your best interest at heart, if you just believe that there's power in Jesus name. So pray big prayers with big faith to Him!

Stay Blessed!~

The dangers of Soul Ties!

Lately, God has placed it on my heart to write about the dangers of soul ties. Generally, when trying to understand what soul ties mean it can be kind of confusing. Soul ties can be either good or bad. It's good when God unites two people in marriage and their spirits are intertwined and comingled with one another, thus creating a good soul tie. When connected to a person the right way, which is through God they can engage in sexual acts with one another because God placed them together. He wants us to enjoy that with our significant other and reproduce. But, because of sin some of us get bound to soul ties with people who God didn't have in mind for us. Soul ties may not be from just having sexual relationships with someone God didn't intend for you too, it could be also being emotionally involved with the wrong person. As a fellow Christian, I know how hard it is when temptation is involved. Sometimes we slip up and things happen between you and a guy and you end up with this soul tie. When having a soul tie with the wrong one you often get symptoms you would get if you were sick. You become depressed, angry, resentful, discouraged and if you stress over it too much you honestly will get physically sick. Well I'm here to tell you Jesus is your medicine! He laid his life on the cross and died for you. He died for your soul tie, shame, depression and anger so you wouldn't have to go through the pain. All you have to do is repent for not waiting on the man God is preparing for you and turn to God to fill that void in your heart. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 states that

     "³ It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵ not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; ⁶ and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. ⁷ For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. ⁸ Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit."

Keep yourself pure and just wait . Don't go searching for love in the wrong places. God is calling you to live a pure, holy, honorable and righteous life through Him. When we obey his word he blesses us, and He will bless you with a man who is fearing of the Lord and genuinely loves you for you and not what you have to offer. If you're going through an unhealthy soul tie right now, I decree and declare freedom. There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain. You are covered by the blood of the resurrected Lord and as a child of God I command Satan to loosen all chains and bondage that he has upon you. I cancel his assignment and send it back to the pit of hell. I pray God just shows you what he has in store for you and fills you with His love peace and joy. Love came down and rescued you, it came down and set you free. You are forever His. God we are praising you in advance for your powerful love. Thank you for freeing your precious children from the works of the enemy. Amen!

Stay Blessed!~