To the Girls . . . :)

I posted this on my facebook a little while ago and decided to go ahead and add it to here :) . . .

      I was talking to my friend Jessica today and what we were talking about today was just about how much we as girls can really rely on guys for our worth. But why do we do that? If a guy doesn't treat you right or respect you the way he should then he is not the guy you should be with. Just because he doesn't see how special you are does not mean you aren't special. Why do we torture ourselves waiting for him to call, or ask us out, or tell us were beautiful, or that he likes us back? Why do we stare at our phones just hoping he'll take the time to send us that text? WHY? Why do we care so much if he likes us back or not? If he does and is a godly man of Christ then he will pursue us in the right way, in the godly way, and things will be clear in that Christ is the center. If he doesn’t like us … then that’s fine to! and we need to realize that God will have someone out there for us, just this one is not, “THE ONE”, lol, but we don’t need to worry cause if we follow Christ hard then we will find “the One” without going through the heart break to find him. And we might even find a good Christian Godly man who we really like and it might not be mutual feelings of him liking us back, but that still just means that God has someone different for us …. I feel like so many of my girl friends and myself have felt this way at some point in our lives. But we neeeeeeeeeeed to realize when God wants us with someone he will bring that person to us and we don't need to worry about a guy giving us self worth. God tells us so many times throughout the Bible how special we are. Remember we are fearfully and wonderfully made Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Also remember, and to me this is so important now just seeing it in my own life recently and in the lives of my friends, that we need to wait for God to bring the right one to us and not try and start something that isn't right for the time or isn't right for what we know God wants, Song of Solomon 2:7  "Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." This same verse is repeated word for word 3 more times (3:5, 5:8, 8:4) So I think we really need to remember this verse and take it to heart!...

           2 Corinthians 6:14-  “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” Ok girls whose been there? Another important point is not dating someone to try and convert them or even dating a person that says their a Christian, but there are no fruits. If you've been there then you know that usually the one who gets hurt in that type of relationship is the believer. My friend told me once she dated a guy who use to say that, “she made him want to be a better person”, when he would say that to her she would feel good about that and felt like she was really helping him... But then she thought about him and if she felt he was doing the same for her, making her want to be a better person, and it was definitely the opposite. She could see how much she let him bring her down in her walk with God and then she got in a position where she felt too weak to leave him and let Satan fool her into putting all of her self-worth in that guy. In relationships we need to be equally yoked both pulling each other towards Christ not just one person doing all the work cause its way easier to be pulled down than to try and pull yourself plus another person up (and guys are usually a lot heavier than girls, j/k lol)

            In conclusion, lol, Ladies God is going to take care of us! He is all the man we will ever need! Hopefully we find good Godly men in our lifetime on earth, but in order to do that we need to really be in continual prayer about our future spouse and the guys we choose to date. Wait for the guy God has for you. Wait in every way possible (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) We’ve all probably fallen short in one or all 3 of these areas with past relationships, but that doesn’t mean we can’t change and re-dedicate our dating lives for Christ! God has great plans for us and we never need to worry as long as we trust in Him! Believe me of all people, I am saying this all to myself! lol …. But I wanted to maybe be able to encourage some of you as well! Have a good night! You all are BEAUTIFUL!

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, they are plans for good, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

P.S.- Listen to this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J95rAr0gOFU … The lyrics in it really spoke to me a while ago when I was listened to it,

 “Why are you looking for love,

Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough,

To where will you go child,

Tell me where will you run”



Trails

Trials…. We all go through them…

What has been a big trial in your life? Has someone close passed away? Have your parent’s gotten a divorce or you yourself? Have you physically gone through hardships? Have you lost someone you love to another or felt betrayed by a friend? Have you experienced financial struggles? We’ve all gone through trials. . .  How do you feel when you’re going through them? Not good… Right? Do you feel lonely, sad, lost, emotionless, angry, confused, hurt? Do you blame others? Do you blame God? We ask, “WHY?”

“Why God?”

Why do we have to feel this pain? To feel this hurt? I’ve been there. . . Why did my parents have to get a divorce? Why couldn’t I have a Christian dad who wasn’t an alcoholic and loved me more than the alcohol? Why did my dad get sick? Why is he such a mess? Why do I have to take care of him when he should take care of me? . . . Why God?

I’m sure many of you ask, “Why?” It’s a question we ask often, because we don’t understand. We say it doesn’t’ make sense that if God loves us why would allow this pain to come into our lives. But God does love us and does allow the pain and the trials. He allows them so He can test our faith and so that we can grow in him. . .

1 Peter 1:3-9- “³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ 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, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Romans 5:1-5 (Another good verse, you may want to look up )

It hurts to go through these trials God allows, but it really is for our own good. We just need to remember that God is with us through them all. He wants us to draw closer to Him through our trials and he will protect us and hold us through our pain.

Isaiah 41: 13
¹³ For I am the LORD your God   who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear;
   I will help you.

Joshua 1:9 - ⁹Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

            Christ will be with us through everything! He’s with us when we lose that loved one. He holds us when we feel all alone. He’s our greatest friend when we feel like we have none. He can give us a peace in anything we go through that will transcend all understanding of this world. Others can look at us and wonder why we are still strong through the darkness that is in our life and we can tell them about God through our actions when trials come and how we let the peace of God flow through us. Remember we see just the page or the chapter in the story we call life, but God sees the whole thing and He won’t give us more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13) and He knows the ending to our story!

Philippians 4:4-7- ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I Cannot Beat Satan . . . But with You I can!

I decided to put The Message version of this verse in here because, It really helped explain the verse, at least for me it did …

Romans 7:14-25 (The Message)

 ^14-16I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. ^17-20But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.  ^21-23It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.  ²⁴I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?  ²⁵The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

I was reading this passage in Romans today and it really stood out to me. . . Satan is around every corner. He wants us to stumble and fall into temptation. Satan's road always seems easier as well and maybe it is at first, but the consequences of his road can drag any of us into a downward spiral. As Christian’s are we ever truly happy when we give into temptation and do those things that Satan wants us to that look fun to the world? At first they can be awesome and fun and exciting, but they end up leaving us feeling empty and far from God. I’ve had so many friends give into so many different things that the world and Satan have to offer and every time they just feel emptier. I myself have been there many of times and given into Satan. I’ve fallen for his tricks sometimes unintentionally and sometimes intentionally. Why do we want what we can’t have? Why do we go against what we know as Christians we're suppose to be doing? Why do we say we love God, but hurt Him with our sin so often? Why do we ever question God? We know what His word says and what He wants for us yet we still disobey…. Have you ever read the story in Genesis of Eve and Adam taking from tree God specifically said not to and yet they did? Do you ever say,

“I would never do that! Why did they do that? If I would have been there, then I wouldn’t have done that!”

 …. WE WOULD HAVE! … Look how God has told us to love others and yet we still make fun of people and gossip. He tells us not to lie, yet we do. He asks us to trust Him and we don’t? And every other commandment or encouragement God gives us, we ignore and believe Satan! Why? It makes me so angry that I am so weak and give in so much to Satan and his lies! Why do we choose his fakeness over God’s greatness?  And how do we ever become better lights for Christ and stop repeating our wicked ways?

…. I’ve realized I can’t do it! I can’t stop myself from being tempted and giving into sin. Even though I want so badly to not give into sin, I can’t do it on my own. ….Jesus Christ though, can do it! He can help me in overcoming Satan and running from Him. Without Christ, I am nothing. I can’t do anything without Him. I look at the world and the people who don’t believe in God and why wouldn’t they do the wicked things they do? How can you overcome Satan and all he offers of this world without Christ? It's hard even for us as Christians to not succumb to Satan's schemes.  I’ve felt good in the past when I’ve thought I’ve overcame some temptation that Satan set in front me, but that wasn’t me who overcame that temptation that was Christ working in me. I can do nothing on my own. I lose every time. But with God I can do everything and be a champion. With God all things are possible! 

Matthew 19:26- “²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

*Thank You Lord for your guidance. For never giving up on me. For forgiving me even when I mess up over and over again and for being with me and helping me overcome temptation when I do. I love YOU GOD! :) I am SOOOOO in love with You! 

This is Me . . .

This is me.... Raw Me... I wanted to start a blog to just be honest and open about myself and things that I want to change. I have come so far in my walk with Christ, since becoming a Christian, but I fault in many areas. I want to change and I want to be like Christ to the fullest. This is my Blogging journey where I'm starting to become a better Christ-like me! :) ... I'm excited to start :).....

In starting I have to first lay out my faults... Right? … Confess? ... Well I think so... I can't name them all in this post, but I'll give the BIG ones.... This is intimidating and scary putting this all out there for everyone to see, but if I don't then how can I change? With laying out my faults I can be held more accountable. . .          
Ok.... So I’ll start . . . There are so many things I struggle with daily, first and foremost something that has always been a struggle for me is respecting my mom. Since my parents have gotten their divorce, I have been bitter and mean to her and disrespectful at times. I have been selfish and felt mistreated by her. I definitely have not always shown her the same love Christ has shown me when I've hurt Him. I'll see myself being disrespectful sometimes and still keep being the way I am even with the little voice inside telling me to stop :/. Thank goodness for the Holy Spirit I'm glad I feel guilt because it shows me how un-Christ-like I can be and convicts me and shows me where I need to change. I just need to start acting on fixing things and not just "knowing" or being convicted about doing them.  .... Another area I have struggled with is guys :/. Just finding my self-worth in them and whether or not someone likes me. I need to be content though and happy with just God and me before I can be happy with a guy and God. I do feel more at peace with this whole situation, though, but I’m still a work in progress. Also in not fooling myself with guys and trying to think someone is the right guy when everything the Bible says about who I should be with (a Christian and  Godly Leader) is not what that guy is lol (I did that for a looooooooooong time). With guys comes the worry also that I won’t find "that" guy. “That” guy being the good guy that is in love with God first and is truly striving after Him and is a guy that wants me also. I struggle with thinking all the time that no one will want me in that way also another big thing I struggle with all the time is my body image and the way I look and not ever feeling good enough. Being 'New Again' not only includes a new me in a spiritual way but also physically. I want to feel good about myself in every area and be the best me that I can because I know God wants my best. In all things I want to give Him the best. I know I’ll struggle. I know I’ll fall. I know I’ll mess up. But I am going to give Him my all and get back up every time I fall with His help and press onward to be more like Him! Challenge me those who know me. Help me in sharing more of Him through me. Help me to be the Best I can be and let His light shine through me! In every area of my life I want Him to be seen and Him to lead. . .

Proverbs 16:9- "In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines His steps"

 Proverbs 3:5-6  

                   ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart

                 and lean not on your own understanding;

                  ⁶ in all your ways submit to him,

                and he will make your paths straight