Vision: All things new and beautiful.

Faith is like WiFi, It's invisible, but it has the power to connect you to what you need!

Someone that I love, whom I am a part of, asked me a question tonight. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think this question would come up. Actually, I never thought that this person would ever ask me something like this... I am delighted to share my answer, my thoughts, my advice, and most importantly the truth!

The question: "What do I do to feel closer to the Lord?"

I read this over and over and over again just thinking "Wow, The Lord has called upon me to answer this question. To help this person who needs God in their life!" I prayed for about an hour before I emailed this person back. In a way I am so grateful to be sharing God's Word with this person, whom I love so much! There was a time in my life when I shut God, and His Word out. I wanted nothing to do with it, and I was afraid - my heart was troubled and of course my stubbornness got the best of me.

Lord, I apologize that I did not praise you sooner!

Once I allowed God into my life and let Him take control I was blessed. It was overwhelming at first but I know now that a life without Jesus is no life at all! All I want is what He has for me, and I wanted to show this person who asked me this question, the light, the love, God's mercy...to remind them of what their life was like when they allowed God to take control.
This is what I said:
You pray! Pray Pray Pray...and then pray some more! Prayer is not a spare time. It is not the last option when everything else had failed. It is your secret weapon, your best defense. So whatever you may face, just PUSH. PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS! Sometimes the most powerful prayer is not the one that lasts 60 minutes; at times the most powerful prayer is the one where you say "GOD HELP ME!" There is power in prayer! God doesn't want you to worry about today or tomorrow; instead He wants you to pray about everything and to make your request known to Him!
Seek Him and put Him first. God wants your year, your life, and everything about you to be successful and wonderful. He wants you to be productive, prosperous, and fulfilled in every way. God has so many wonderful blessings in store for you that if you could know them all, you would be overwhelmed with His goodness. Ask for forgiveness, receive God's mercy, and love Him - God is love! Remember that He is your strength and power. When the world says "Give up," God whispers "Try one more time."
Everyday when you wake up expect the goodness of God in your life. Have faith! He will never give up on you, even when you sin, He is standing right by your side. He knows you, because He created you, knitted you in your mothers womb. He knows when you are sitting, laying down, about to get up, your every thought.
He will direct you in the right path, and has the perfect plan for you - He is just waiting. He is waiting for YOU to make a decision to trust in Him, to let Him in your life. To love Him with your heart, mind, body, and soul. To honor and obey him. He deserves it! You are His Princess! He is your Father! The King of Kings. He is the way - the ONLY way! The Bible says that faith pleases God. It brings pleasure to the heart of God when He knows that you trust in Him. You may not always know what will happen, and you may not always feel qualified. But the Bible says in Joshua 1:8 "Be strong, be bold, be courageous, for the Lord your God is with you." Just think of how joyous life is/was when you allow Him in it! When you stop trying to control your own life and rebel against Him... He sends blessings your way! Praise the Lord! :) And know that I too, will never EVER give up on you. I will continuously pray for you! God is bigger than your past, bigger than your disappointments, bigger than your problems. No matter what kind of mistakes you have made, God can turn them all around and use them for good. He can right all the wrong things that have happened to you and pay you back in abundance for all the hurt you've experienced. The enemy doesn't want you to grow and increase, or fulfill your destiny, so he immediately tries to distract your heart and uproot the seed God has planted. In order to defeat the enemy in your life, you have to STAY FOCUSED ON GOD, His Word - and the dream He's promised you!

You can love with all your heart no qestions asked!

"The love for equals is a human thing - of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles. The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing - the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world. The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing - to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice the love of the poor for the rich,of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by it's Saints. And then there is the love for the enemy - love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured's love for the torturer. This is God's love. It conquers the world." -Frederick Buechner

To be a gentle spirit. Thankful and willing. God wants us to love, because love is the greatest thing on earth. But love is a choice. A choice that you and I get to make; to love or not love? Imagine if we all woke up tomorrow and every single person on this earth loved one another. They were willing to do whatever they could to help each other and were thankful they had the chance to do it. How amazing would it be if none of us sinned? Love conquers all, and so many of us take love for granted and toss it around like it is nothing sacred. If we could all just learn to love...really love with all our heart, mind, body, and soul, our world would know peace."When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." -Jimi Hendrix
With that being said by good ol' Mr. Hendrix....Our world strives on power and not love. The power to have more money, the power to be in control, etc. Think about it! There are so many unhappy people in our world that don't know how to truly love. I pray that they one day come to know what it is like to love and be loved, and to know God's love; the greatest love of all!

A few days ago I went to the post office to mail something and witnesses a racist man shout horrible things to an elderly Asian man. I just could not believe what I heard and my heart immediately sunk into my stomach and I swear to you I could have started crying on the spot if I didn't stop myself! At that moment in time I realized how much this affected me and how much I didn't like people being so mean to each other! I put myself in the elderly Asian mans shoes and just thought "Oh my gosh, how horrible and sad would I feel if those things were said to me!?" I didn't realize I had so much compassion towards others who I don't even know. God has truly been working on my heart lately. I wanted to hug this man and tell him that it was okay!
Where is the love? This is what I am talking about. God's love; it conquers all! So many people don't even have a clue and I pray for them. I really do. They seem so lost and it actually makes me sad. I am so not trying to put myself on the high horse but I know what it is like to feel hated, not wanted, not good enough, tortured in a way by someone I love very much and no matter what I still continue to love this person. Why? Because I choose too! I choose to love. I love those who have wronged me, and that doesn't mean that I have forgotten. I just chose to forgive, to love, and to continuously pray for them. Hoping that one day, they know the love that I know. The love that God shows...because even those who don't have the Lord in their lives, He is still there, right by your side, waiting for you!

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
God loves us that much! How amazing is that!?

You can love with ALL your heart no questions asked! <3

Life will jerk you around.

I've learned to not take life for granted because it will continue it's status quo, for life will surprise you. Boy, does it surely surprise you. This past week I have learned that I alone live the consequences of decisions made concerning my own life - I bear the responsibility. As an adult I should not be quick to delegate my life decisions to others.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7

I was given some great advice over the weekend: "Don't be discouraged for sometimes we have to explore the negative to get positive results. If you a feel a little beat up, well...change on and grow. Life is a series of tests. Stop sulking, don't be moody. Most importantly don't complain. Ever. Try it for a week." -D.P.

 I am praying for patience, wisdom, and courage to grow. Not just for myself but for a list of people that I have committed to pray for. God definitely opened my eyes and made me realize alot. Now it's up to me. God waits for us to decide which way we want to go.
 The morning after my stupid decision that I made, I realized, after praying that I wanted only what God had for me. There is a reason why I am now living my life through him and I know that I am not a perfect christian, I make mistakes, but no matter what God is always by my side. Even when I sin (although under sinful nature there is no way we could EVER please God). When I sin I usually feel guilty, and so horrible that I beat myself up for it pretty bad, but not because it happened... but because my love of myself trumped my love of God in that moment. Sin is slavery. Christ has set me free and I try so hard to not revert back to sinful nature.

A person can not be saved by the act of praying a prayer, stopping their sin, or making Jesus the Lord of their life, a person can only me made righteous by faith in Christ alone.
"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4 <3

Look back and thank God. Look forward and trust God. Look around and serve God. Look from within and find God. If God brings you to it, he will get you through it. He got me through this mess and like I said before it is now up to me to start making the changes. I need to be strong in the Lord, and in his mighty power! I need to put on the full armor of God, so that I can take my stand against the devil's schemes, so I can stand my ground against the powers of this dark world, and agaisnt the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. The Lord has fully equiped me with everything I need to stand strong in the midst of any battle I may be facing.  Thank you Lord. God has my deliverance planned. Amen!

Ten ways to love.

Listen, speak, give, pray, answer, share, enjoy, trust, forgive, promise.

Listen to God's word. Do not be afraid to speak about your Lord and Savior. Be more of a giver than a receiver. When in doubt, pray it out. Answer to the Lord. Share the light. Enjoy this life that God has created for you. Trust in the Lord. Forgive your enemies; they may not always deserve it but you deserve to be free of them. Promise to love the Lord with all your heart and even though you may drift away from Him sometimes, never break your promise.

 I need God everyday. Every moment, every second that I breathe, I need Him. I am not strong enough on my own. My relationship with him is the most important relationship I can and will ever have in my lifetime on this earth. I think 'Learn' should be added to that list of ways to love. You learn new things every day. I need to learn to how to count my blessings and not my problems. God will answer your prayers not because you attend church, or did a lot of good things, or prayed really hard to earn it, but because He loves you, and He delights in blessing you. Nothing you can do can change the way the Heavenly Father thinks of you. I know that I am not a perfect christian. I am stubborn and moody, and sometimes just plain weird. I feel like rebelling against Him sometimes.
 When I am hopeless, I try and remind myself of who I was before I met Him, and I ask myself, "When I feel like it's the end of the world and I am failing, why should I push away the One who gave me life? Why should I forget the One who's love and faithfulness to me never changed? Why should I walk away from Him, who I need most, who has the only power to save me?" I sometimes forget His promises. His love for me never dies, never fluctuates, never changes. I often forget that He will never fail me. His love is powerful and I almost can't comprehend that. No one loves me more than my Heavenly Father. I am loved beyond comparison. Directed by love. Crazy love.

I have been so selfish, and for so long I did not realize this. Even in the midst of my self-centered thoughts, ways, God still loves me. To sit back and think that He loves me no matter what...it's amazing, lovely, reassuring! He still never let me go. He has helped me in the times of crises, and he continues to love me. I have reached this far - because of Him. God is my healer, my refuge, my savior, re builder, defender. Whenever I feel like giving up, I remind myself that God has never given up on me. He is always with me! His plan is high and above my own understanding that the only way we'll truly be able to fathom it is by taking this life day by day. It's the truth. Everything in life happens for a reason. God doesn't close one door without opening another. Love and have faith in God. Pray continuously...and when you can't put your prayer into words, God hears your heart!