Author: Rebecca Darga

What fuels your flame?

The tiniest spark can start a whole blaze.

The Holy Spirit works the same way, he sparks a fire and a passion in us to share God’s love with people but we have to fan the flame, nurture it and help it grow. If we snuff it out then we have to keep restarting that spark.

God gave me the verse Jeremiah 20:9

But if I say, “I will not mention his word
    or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
    a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
    indeed, I cannot.

A long time ago to remind me that even though I turned my back on him once that I won’t do it again. But I need to fan the flame each day, I need to fuel the fire he put in me.

By spending time with him, by fixing my eyes on Jesus and asking him to teach me something new each day.

What fire has God started in your heart? Are you snuffing it out or are you feeding the fire he put in you?


You Are Not Alone

When you feel defeated, knocked down, like no one is in your corner. Jesus is always there for you. He always has your back. He will go to bat for you because He already did when lived a sinless life and died to pay for our mistakes.

He’s forever on our side.

Jesus is always there for us.

We can always talk to Him. He will always listening, because He loves us.

He loves us so much that He gave everything for us. He gave every second of everyday for us. He gave up His life for US!

He’s forever on our side.

Are you helping or hindering?

I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree and to work in harmony in the Lord.  Indeed, I ask you too, my true companion, to help these women [to keep on cooperating], for they have shared my struggle in the [cause of the] gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. ~Philippians 4:2-3

Why do we have disagreements within the church body? I’m not talking about the big theological debates. More about the simple things like how the Christmas decorations get set up.

Why do we let these things bother us? Was it really our decision in the first place or are we giving our opinion. If it is our opinion, is that what we should be focused on?

Isn’t our role in the church to be the body of Jesus to help each other, not hinder.

Have we asked Jesus His opinion on the matter? Or are we just blazing forward without regard for God’s opinion.

You may think He doesn’t care about the little things, or that your perfectly capable of making that decision without Him; but should we be doing things without Him? Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.

Jesus can make the simplest thing simpler or the most boring thing enjoyable.

Make every moment a moment to deepen your relationship with Him.

If doing something simple and boring is more fun with a friend; and He is the funnest friend ever. Then shouldn’t we want to do everything with Him.


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Anywhere, Anyway, Anytime

Jesus is always seeking you, always pursuing you, always longing for you. He is always happy to see you, speak to you, share His love for you, with you.

You don’t have to clean up your act, or get to a better place to come to Him.

Go to Him anywhere, in any state; because He will go to you anywhere, in any state.

Just surrender to Him and let His love wash over you.

He is always there longing to be with you. He always wants to have relationship with you.

He always wants you.

Don’t fear God

All, all of us ever want is to be loved. To have a safe place where we know we can be open and vulnerable about our troubles, hurts and wounds.

Jesus is that safe place.

We can always go to Him about anything, anytime. He is always there for us, He always wants to talk to us, to love us and to heal us.

People often fear going to God in the hard times because they think they have to clean themselves up first.

But that’s not true.

Jesus wants us just a we are. What would be the point of going to Him for help if we thought we had to fix everything first.

He already knows everything, you won’t catch Him off guard.

Is it worth the sacrifice?

Is chasing your dream worth the sacrifices you have to make to achieve your goal? What compromises will you make to get there? Who will you when you achieve your goal? Will your goal make you who you want to be? Or will chasing your goal change who you are?

When we chase our own goals, we often make compromises or sacrifice integrity to take shortcuts to achieve it. Many times when we achieve that goal we may lose who we wanted to be by achieving that very goal.

When we let go of our goals and trust God He surprises us with something beyond what we thought possible.

Every time I have tried to make my own goals or success it has not turned out as I have planned. The result of my goal has been less satisfactory then I had hoped for or I compromised who I was to achieve that goal. Nevertheless it has never left me feeling satisfied.

But when I follow God’s leading and look to the interest of others, I have never been disappointed.

It’s easy to get caught up in ourselves but so much more rewarding to serve and achieve the goals that God has laid on our hearts.

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What are Christians supposed to be like?

 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,  not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: (emphasis added)

Philippians 2:1-5

If we have found encouragement, comfort, love, tenderness and compassion from Jesus.

Then we are supposed to bring joy to Him by being liked minded with Him, by sharing that same love with others, by following the Holy Spirit, by humbling ourselves and valuing others above ourselves.

If you haven’t found these things in Jesus, then I ask have you been seeking Him?

We cannot be these things to others if we do not first know them from Him. Its hard to give out what you haven’t received.

Seek God, learn His character, know His words and His actions. If we know Him we can tell others about Him, but if we don’t know Him how can we expect to show others.

Finding JOY

I gave my life to Jesus because I tried doing life without him, I tried being happy without Him and it didn’t work. There was always something missing something I was striving for that I couldn’t grasp.

But life with Jesus is simpler, peaceful, and joy filled.

Don’t think I don’t have bad moments, I do, but those moments are the one where I don’t have Him in mind.

But it never fails that when I turn to Him, He shows me the sunshine through the rain. He shines bright and shows me where He is in that moment and He changes my perspective to find the joy in the sadness.

Forgiveness Change Everything

bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Colossians 3:13

I heard a Pastor say once “unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”

When we hold on to unforgiveness it grows into bitterness and resentment. We think we are hurting the other person because they hurt us, but most of the time the other person doesn’t even know they hurt us.

By holding onto it we just hurt ourselves more.

But by choosing to forgive we extend the same grace God gave us to them. it His grace not our ours and who are weto withhold His grace from someone.

Forgiveness is freeing.

Remember how you felt when you accepted Gods forgiveness, it’s the same when we forgive others.

So why would you choose to hold yourself back from that freedom?

You are worthy

None of us are beyond saving. We all have the opportunity to feel free and find new life in Jesus.

The beauty of His sacrifice is that when He died, we died.

“He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

Matthew 10:39

When we try to live without Jesus we are always striving to feel worthy, valued, loved and wanted.

But Jesus sacrifice already paid our debts and He gives us our worth and our value. He sees us as priceless, that’s why He gave His life for us. So that we could stop striving and start living in Him.

No matter you’ve done or how unworthy you feel, God will always see you as priceless and worthy because of His sacrifice, if we accept it.

https://youtu.be/H-iPu2WjqdM

Start the conversation

The movie War Room is about the power of prayer. But what is prayer? And how do you do it? There are so many that think it has to be perfectly worded, like it was a magic spell or something.

But prayer is simply a conversation between you and God. It doesn’t have to be scary or intimidating, just a simple conversation.

So what is that conversation about or for? Prayer is to develop our relationship with God as any conversation does. We can talk to Him about anything and everything. Prayer helps us to know God better so that we can see things through His perspective, so we can choose to let Him change us to be more like Him.

Prayer should be a constant in our lives just as we stay in communication with our closest loved ones, God wants to stay in constant communication with us, but we don’t need a device to do it.

You can pray in the line at the grocery store or at your desk at work or even while changing your kids diaper. The point is, you can have a conversation anywhere, anytime, while doing anything. He is always there, always wanting to talk, all you have to do is allow Him in. And don’t forget to listen!

 Rejoice always,  pray continually,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Before Creation

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. ~Ephesians 1:5

Amazing to think that God knew us even before you were born and he decided before then to make us part of His plan. 

We are not a mistake, we were thought of by the creator of the universe before we were even born. That’s how important we are to God. 

Stop thinking no one cares or you’re not important because it’s simple not true. Each and everyone of us is precious to God.

We all can worship

Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
 Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

1 Chronicles 16:23-24

Worship crosses all boundaries, language and cultural. We all have the capacity to worship God.

It doesn’t matter if we know the words to a song, if we like the style of the music, if we’re rich or poor, what we look like or where we grew up. We all can worship.

Worship is about putting God first in our hearts. It’s about surrendering to Him and giving Him the glory.

It doesn’t matter where we are or who we’re with we can worship God anywhere anytime, with anyone anywhere in the world. Because we are all His children and He loves each of us.

We worship Him because of His who He is, not what He’s done for us. Just as He loves us not for what we’ve done but who we are to Him. His beloved creation.

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Find Freedom

Rehearsing over and over again our mistakes in our head just allows guilt and shame to have control over us. Even rehearsing the wrong doings of others against us gives them power over us. When we allow these things to dictate our decisions we give them control over us.

But when we surrender them over to Jesus and accept His grace for us and for them, we find freedom.

When we die to ourselves and allow God to live through us, His love and His grave cover our mistakes so that we can be free of guilt and shame, because we are dead and the dead can’t be offended, guilty or ashamed.

Instead we can rejoice in the freedom, joy and peace of God’s grace.

Surrender over to God whatever is holding you back, whatever you think you did or you are, that stops you from being who God made you to be.

Free and forgiven.

What are you sacrificing?

Star Wars is a great example of the battle of good and evil we all face.

Selfish choices, even if they are for someone else, they change who we are for the worse are not worth it. We devalue the person we are trying to protect because we compromise ourselves to do it.

Anakin changed the selfless path he was on, to save Padmé but his decision to compromise actually ended up being what harmed her.

Even in what seems to be the worst circumstances we need to trust God to lead us out of it.

God knows us and knows what best for us, His plans is not to harm us but to give us a hope and a future.

I can’t even count the number of times God has brought me through valleys.

Losing our faith in Him is what got us into the valley and it will never help us move forward.

Don’t despair the journey and it’s trials

There is a story about a servant carrying two pots from the river each day to bring water to his master. One pot is broken and only brings half the water from the river that the other pot carries. But along the path the servant planted wildflowers for the broken pot to water as he carried it.

Jesus does the same in our lives he uses our brokenness to pour out His life giving water. He fills us up so that we can water the seeds in others that he has planted along our path.

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,  but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ~John 4:13-14

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What are you sharing?

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ~Colossians 3:16

We as believers in Jesus are meant to teach and encourage each other, but we need to make sure we are teaching what Jesus has taught us, not what the world has taught us.

How do we separate the two, how do we know what God is teaching us and what we’ve learned from the world.

By asking the Holy Spirit and testing what we’ve learned against these verses.

 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. ~Philippians 4:5-9

AND

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ~Galatians 5:22-25

When your worn out

God is the one we can always count on. We don’t have to do or be anything to come to him.

We can be in our worst state and he is there for us. No matter how tired or exhausted we are, he is not looking for deeds to earn his love and attention, just our hearts surrendered o Him.

Don’t worry about accomplishments. Just go to Him, He’s happy just to spend time with you.

God’s love concurs fear

The love of God transform us. It gives us boldness, strength and confidence in the toughest moments. God’s love not only cancels fear, it removes it. God’s love is all encompassing.

It gave David the strength to face Goliath, Daniel the stamina to face the lion den and Shadrach, Mesach and Abednigo the confidence to face the fire.

God’s love gives us all we need to face or overcome the trials we face in life. He gives us peace in the storm when we fix our eyes on Him. Like Peter walking on the water. When he had his gaze fixed on Jesus he was able to do what defied logic and understanding. But when Peter took his gaze off of Jesus and focused on the storm around him (his circumstances) he began to sink. So no matter what your surrounded by fix your gaze on Jesus and He’ll teach you to walk on the water and find peace that surpasses understanding.

Find peace in identity

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
—John 14:27

God’s peace is not something you earn, but a gift he freely gives, if we will let Him provide it by trusting Him.

Jesus is always looking to bless us, to shower His love on us. We are the ones who hold Him back, by trying to keep control of our lives.

His blessings are peace of mind, peace in our heart and peace in our soul. By finding our confidence and identity in Him. He teaches us to be without fear or worry.

When you know who you are in Jesus, nothing can shake that and no one can take it.

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We all just need more Jesus

So often we focus on the problem instead of the solution. Jesus is always the solution.

We all always just need more Jesus.

When were having ‘bad day’ and cant get out of our own funky mood, we need more Jesus.

When someone is getting on our nerves and we don’t know why, we need more Jesus.

When were in a circumstance and don’t know what to do we need more Jesus.

Jesus is the solution.

He can bring us joy and peace on the ‘bad days’, he can show us what is really bothering us and helps us find he root cause, and he can change circumstances.

We all always just need more Jesus.

He’s our attitude adjustment, our perspective changer and he can move mountains.

Because we all just need more JESUS!

Be known

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

Psalm 139:23-24

God knows us. He knows every single thing about us down to the number of hairs on our head.

And he loves us, knowing all our faults.

But that’s not how he sees us, he sees all that we could be, he sees what he intended us to be. He sees our full potential.

There is no reason to fear God knowing you because that is what makes him love you. He sees each of us a unique and special to him and we are all valuable.

So if you want to feel loved, valued, desired, cared for and known then seek God and let him show you all that he made you to be.

Who you are

God can speak to us in ways we may not expect, if we look for him.

While watching a popular sci-fi TV show he brought this quote to my attention. “To resist the influence of others, knowledge of ones self is important.”~Tealc

It’s easy to be influenced by whatever is around us, if we don’t know who you are. But how do you know who you are?

First we are all God’s children. Each one of us is important, valued and loved by him. We are his kids and heirs to his throne. Once we know who we are to him, he can begin to show us each how unique and special he has made each one of us.

That knowledge of who he made us to be, is what we can stand on when our identity is attacked.


What pours out?

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience

Colossians 3:12

Sounds exhausting right, and it is, if your try to do and be these things on our own. But that’s not what God intends.

He wants to be these thing in us and through us.

When we give our lives to him he lives in us, that’s why we die to ourselves (not literally, spiritually) We let Jesus live through us.

But we have to nurture that relationship and feed it. By reading his word, talking with him and surrounding ourselves with what draw us closer to God not further away.

The more time we spend with God, the more we know him the more he pours out of us.

True identity

God gives us our identity before we are even born, we are sons and daughter of him, because of Jesus sacrifice he made us co-heirs with him.

But when we face problems in life, it’s often easier to run away from our problems and believe what others says about us, instead of staying and fighting for what is ours.

Like in The Lion King, when Simba lets Scar take his birth right of ruling Pride Rock because he believe the lies of who Scar says he is and goes and lives with Timon and Pumba while it is fun for a while, he isn’t fulfilling his true purpose.

We are the same we can try to find our identity in our work, our friends, our family. But we will never really feel truly fulfilled until we find our identity in Jesus because he designed us to only be fulfilled by him.

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Fight fearlessly


The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread?

Psalm 27:1

Have you ever meet someone truly fearless? Those that never back down from a challenge, nothing seems to worry them or catch them off guard.

Imagine if you had the grandest, most cunning, most skilled, undefeated warrior backing you up. What would you ever be afraid of?

That’s what we have when Jesus lives in us. He is our defender and our strength. He gives us the confidence to face giants and the fearlessness to concur mountains.

Knowing who we are in Jesus, that we are God’s kids and who he made us to be and what he call us to do, gives us that confidence to fight fearlessly to be and do what he’s called us to. Because if he’s called us to something he will provide and protect and back us up.


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Jesus was not a back up plan

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:15-20

Jesus was not a back up plan, he is God, he is creation, he is the very word that created us.

He loves us and in loving us gave us choice. For it would not be love if we were forced. God is gentle and he will never force us into anything we do not choose. We make choices in life that either brings us closer to him or further away from him.

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He knew we would make mistakes and he planned from the very beginning to sacrifice himself for us, to make a way for us to come back into right relationship with him.

Jesus choose us because he loves us. We either choose to accept his sacrifice or we don’t but in choosing we also choose to let him love and forgive us or we choose not to.

Weakness is strength

Hear my cry, O God;
    listen to my prayer.

 From the ends of the earth I call to you,
    I call as my heart grows faint;
    lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
 For you have been my refuge,
    a strong tower against the foe.

 I long to dwell in your tent forever
    and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

Psalm 61:1-4

Even on our worst day, when we feel we have nothing left, we always have God. He will be our strength when we are weak. He will lead us to the firm foundation that lifts us up and shelter us from the storms.

Jesus did not fear weakness, he fasted for forty day and forty nights because he knew that Father God would sustain him. He allowed himself to be beaten and killed because he knew God would raise him. Showing vulnerability shines God even brighter when he lifts us up, he gives us the strength and stamina to continue to share him with others despite our own iniquities.

God is always listening to us, always ready to answer our call for help, for wisdom, for protection, for strength and for shelter.

People often see weakness as a sign of failure. I see it as a sign of strength. The bravery to be vulnerable enough to show your weakness is strength. But its what we do with that weakness.

Do we just curl up in a ball and call it quits or admit our weakness and ask God for his strength. Strength is knowing that the smallest amount of God’s strength can out due us on our strongest day. Knowing where your strength comes from, makes being vulnerable easy.

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Jesus Friend of Sinners

Jesus friend of sinner by Casting Crowns perfectly describes how we have become towards non-believers and contrasts how we should actually act.

Jesus befriended sinners.

Think about it this way. Has being poking at, people pointing fingers at you, being teased, being told you are wrong, or protesting ever convinced you that you are loved by God. Then why would we think that it would convey that to anyone else.

Did Jesus do anything of those things? No.

When people met Jesus, they changed their ways by their own decision. The tax collector gave back the money he stole with interest and Jesus never asked him to. Jesus didn’t throw rocks at the woman who was going to be stoned for adultery, he defended her.

Jesus causes people to change their ways just by being love. It’s the love of God that causes people to choose to change, not condemnation.

Isn’t that what brought you to God?

His love and forgiveness.

We are not meant to be judge and jury. We are meant to show God’s love.

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Who are you?

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.  But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Colossians 3:5-11

Its easy to excuse away our behavior by saying ‘that’s just the way I am.’

But if we are are made new in Jesus, then we are not who we used to be. We are like him.

By saying ‘that’s just the way I am’ we are resurrecting our old self and saying that Jesus in us, is not enough to kill off our old selves.

Jesus makes us new when we invite him into our lives, he gives us new life a new identity.

When we say we die to self, we are spiritually no longer that person and are given new life in Jesus and that new life is to be him.

So when we find our selves reverting back to our old ways and our old habits we don’t need to try to change, we need to realize that, that is not us anymore.

That’s why knowing Jesus is so important, because the more we know him the more we know our new selves, its how we find our identity in him.

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You can’t surprise God

It’s easy to feel alone and like no one understands, because no one really knows what every moment of your life is like.

But God does…

…He knows because he was there with us whether we realize it or not. God is the only one who can and does understand, but we often feel afraid to go to him because we’re worried about what he would think. But he already knows it all so there is really nothing we can hide from him.

And even in knowing everything he still loves us.

We don’t have to be afraid of him, because he is love. Nothing about God is something that we should ever fear.

Because he is love, joy, peace, patience, kind and good.

So what about that is scary?

He is the one that we can always turn to no matter what.

So no matter what is running through your head or your heart, you can’t surprise God. But you can let him in.

I’m proud to be a “Jesus Freak”

Jesus Freak by DC Talk was one of my favorite songs when I was in junior high, when I started to make my faith my own.

I was proud then and I’m proud now to be a “Jesus Freak.” Because that means that others see him in me and through me.

We are supposed to be different, we are supposed to stand out for Jesus. People are supposed to see us different and it’s supposed to be desirable.

That doesn’t mean that we wash down the gospel so that it’s palatable to people in there current point of view, it means that we show them that they can have peace and joy and hope and love through relationship with Jesus.

Being a Jesus Freak should be something we are proud of, not something we are ashamed of.

Warnings are there for a reason

Warnings are there for a reason. They keep us away from danger and help us to go the right direction.

In ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ Aslan warns Mr. Tumnus that he is going the wrong direction by following the orders of The White Witch. Mr. Tumnus had never meet a human before and didn’t know what they were like or if they were safe. But he did know the source of the request to kidnap Lucy.

When we are completely unaware about something we need to look at the source for the answer.

Mr. Tumnus knew the witch was not good and he knew that Aslan was nothing but good, even though he had not meet him yet. Mr. Tumnus knew that Aslan was good.

When we are unsure of things in life, we must look to the source for guidance. The Holy Spirit is that for us. He knows what is good for us and what is not. He keeps us safe from harm and looks to do nothing other than bring us closer to God.

In this world where new things arise everyday. Trust the Holy Spirit’s guidance and he will lead you to the feet of Jesus.

Through heavens eyes

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

We are meant to think like Jesus, act like Jesus and be Jesus. But we are not meant to play act, we are supposed to let him shine instead of us.

Think of Jesus as your boss in a way, but imagine he is the best boss ever, who only ever wants the very best for you and others. You wouldn’t make decisions without your bosses approval so why would we make decisions with out first going to Jesus.

He knows everything and therefore knows the best way, the most efficient way and the funniest way to do things. So why wouldn’t we look to him for guidance.

We are meant to set our mind in heaven where Jesus is and bring heaven to earth to those around us.

Jesus is with us all the time. He is our constant companion. We can talk to him anytime anywhere, in a traffic jam, at work, with our family, anytime he’s like your best friend that you can text anytime but you don’t need a phone to communicate with him.

We have the creator of the universe with us at all times, why wouldn’t we use that to our advantage?

We are meant to see the world through his eyes not him through the worlds eyes.

God is bigger than the boogie man

We teach our children that they have nothing to fear, there is no monster under the bed or in the closet and that God is with them. But do we use the same reasoning with ourselves?

God is always with us and that should make us fearless, but often we let our imaginations get the best of us.

In the those moment we need to change our focus to the reality of our situation instead of our fear of the possibilities.

The reality is that God is with us and that he does and will provide everything we need in every situation if we just look to him first.

What fills you up

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits[a] of the world, and not according to Christ.  For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,  and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Colossians 2:8-10

Everyone fills their heart and their head with something.

What we focus on first in the morning will be with us all day and what we focus on at night will be with us in our dreams and may even wake us up.

How we start and end our day impacts how our day goes. That doesn’t mean that we can’t change our focus through out the day, but we will be trying to counteract something instead of starting out on the right foot.

Starting our day with God sets the tone for the day, putting him first gives us the energy, wisdom and stamina to not just get through the day but to strive.

When we let him fill us up in the morning and ask him to direct our step through the day, our days go smoother. We have more peace and calm, because he gives us all we need, helps us do what we need to better, more effectively and more efficiently and helps us to avoid the pitfalls that can drain us or steer us in the wrong direction.

Let God direct your steps and you’ll be surprised how amazing your day will go.

Photo by Luís Eusébio on Unsplash

Fear

Fear your not welcome here

The breakup song by Francesca Battistelli is a great anthem for those moments of fear that sneak up on us.

The reminder that we have the power to tell fear to leave.

We don’t have to let it over take us every moment of every day you have the choice to let your self be ruled by fear or to choose your feeling and refuse to let fear control  you.

Listen to the song sing along a tell fear to leave.

roots

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,  rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:6-7

Where we draw our strength is what lets us stand in the storm.

Our faith is built on Jesus and when we root ourselves deep in him, we can weather the storm. When we draw our nourishment from Jesus, our roots grow strong in him and we can withstand more then we can imagine.

Photo by Max LaRochelle on Unsplash

When the storm is over we may see damage to branches and leaves but its what you can’t see deep down the roots that give the us strength to grow back bigger and stronger that matter.

Let’s root ourselves in Him.

So when the storm comes it’s his words, his love, his strength and his character that we depend on to weather the storm and come out stronger.

Stop rushing

What do you do when you feel worried and overwhelmed, like the world is spinning faster and faster?

I wonder how Mary felt when she was carrying Jesus. She had all the reason in the world to feel like she wasn’t enough or that she couldn’t do it.

But she didn’t, she surrendered her life to bear Jesus in her womb and raise him.

God has a plan for our lives, he has chosen each of us for a specific task, a calling specific to be who he made us to be.

He knit us together in our mothers womb.

He made us to bear Jesus in us, to shine his light an his love.

Stop rushing around trying to do all that the world expects and take a moment listen to this song and ask God what he has for you.

The Birth of Jesus

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,  to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Luke 2:1-20

The angels said ‘fear not.’ Often we shy away from God because we feel we don’t measure up, but that’s the beauty of why he came, to make us free of shame and guilt and to know him deeply.

Jesus choose humble beginnings, lived humbly and counted not even his own life beyond sacrifice. He held back nothing so that we could have everything.

His gift to us is salvation and righteousness so that we could live a life filled with his love joy and peace.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

O Come let us adore him

As the Christmas season begins. Remember the reason for the season. Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed with the shopping, decorating, gift giving and parties.

Instead keep your focus on Jesus, he is the reason for the season. Make him the focus of all you do.

If your shopping for gifts ask him what gift that person really needs and trust him to help you. Ask God to give you opportunities to share about him to the store clerk or the people in line with you.  While decorating sing Christmas songs as worship songs.

Make him the focus this season, and ‘Adore Him’.

https://youtu.be/StjSsCbvavw

Count Blessing instead of Woes

It’s easy this year to get caught up in what we can’t do or can’t give during this Christmas but are our family traditions or gift giving really the purpose of Christmas? As wonderful as they are.

No. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus birth and it’s his life that we should celebrate. A man who was poor and even had times with no where to sleep, but was forever kind and generous. It’s he that we celebrate, one that loved all humanity so much that he came to serve us, not allowing selfish moments but letting his love for us guide him.

Even if we were have nothing this Christmas season we can always be grateful for our friends and family and for Jesus birth. 

So this Christmas no matter how different your celebration may be you can always count your blessings.

Do you know him?

The humility of Jesus birth speaks volumes to his character. Jesus is the very creator he is the word that was spoken that created us. And he choose to be born in a glorified cave surrounded by animals, by his creation not by man made structure.

He came to do his fathers work not what we thought he should do. He came to bring peace, joy and gentleness. So that all may know him.

Read about him, really study his words and actions, not what man says about him but he says.

People are fallible

Listening to the song Last Christmas by Wham reminds me that we as humans are fallible, we all make mistakes and disappointment each other.

But the one that we can always count on is God. He is love, joy, peace, patience, kind, good, faithful and gentle. He knows what we need and when; and he’s always ready to love us when we let him in.

We as humans have misrepresented him because we are not perfect and we make mistakes. So please don’t let people keep you from knowing him, let him prove who he is to you himself.

Give him your big questions, he can handle it, but make sure you listen for the answers.

This Christmas give him a chance to share his love for you with you.

Watch this movie to help you learn how to hear God’s voice.

Gift for Jesus

With all the gift giving this season. Don’t forget the reason for the season, Jesus.

What gift could you give him?

You may think you have nothing to give, but like the little drummer boy you give what you can, you give your gifts, your talents, your time, your life. Everyone has a life to give. And he deserves it because he gave his.

Even if you think you have nothing to give, Jesus says otherwise. He created you, he gave you gifts and talents you may not even know exist.

When you follow God’s plan for your life he uses those gifts and talents for him.

God gave me the calling to ministry ten years ago. And I didn’t start my blog till this September. He had to take me on a journey to teach me and grow and develop me into the woman that I am today. I am a very different person then I was ten years ago, because he had to mold me into who he made me to be and he’s still molding me.

That’s why I started this blog to use the gifts he’s given me to help others see God in their everyday lives.

The gift you can give him this Christmas is YOU!

How I Fight My Battles

Surrounded (fight my battles) by Michael W Smith may be the simplest lyrics ever written but they are powerful. The song talks about our times of struggle when we feel a heaviness, no way out, surrounded by nothing good or positive. We fight with praise. We fight by rejoicing in Jesus, the only one who is always constantly there for us, always fighting for us.

The simple repetition of theses lines

“It may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by You”

“This is how I fight my battles”

Over and over again has such power in it because it reminds us that we don’t fight with anger, hate, malice and judgment.

We fight with love, joy, peace and patience.

That’s why when we feel surrounded, we fight by giving praise to God.

We shift our focus to the one who fights for us, so that we can allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us and to show us the true perspective.

When I was in Honduras, we were working at a Christian school that also hosted youth nights. One night when we were praying before one of the youth nights a mob came to both of the gates of the fenced in facility and tried to break down the gates.

Our pastor told us what was going on and our response was not panic or worry but to pray. We trusted that God had brought us there to make an impact for Him and that He would protect us and He did.

As we were praying the Holy Spirit showed showed me a vision of the compound surrounded by 30 foot angels guarding and protecting us.

Not for one moment did I feel fear or worry because I knew God would protect us. The mob eventually dispersed and we were able to have the youth night.

God always provides for His children when we turn to Him.

So no matter where you are, what your doing, or how hopeless you feel you can always count on God to be there for you.

You are worth the sacrifice

Today marks the day Jesus sacrificed his life for us.

He endured beatings, ridicule, shame, false accusation and died the death of a murder to atone for the sins of the world. Because he loves us.

He loves all of us, each and every one of us and he would die for just you if you were the only person to ever live.

He loves you that much.

His sacrifice proves that. His sacrifice shows how much he loves you.

Don’t you want to know the one that would sacrifice everything just for you.


Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash