Identity In Christ

"If our identity is in our work, rather than Christ, Success will go to our heads, and failure will go to our hearts." -Timothy Keller

Whether we define ourselves by our success or our failure, the key to remember is that your true identity is not it our "good works" or our sin. Our true identity is in our savior.

Once we accept that we have sinned, our next step is to confess to God. Once we confess, God doesn't want us to worry about it anymore. We have to let go, and let God.

God's works is powerful. More than anything you or I could do. 

We are enough, because we are His. 

Knowing that we are enough makes us feel good right? But then the enemy will come in and tell us lies to get us distracted.

He WILL distract us. He will tell us lies and make us do anything that is not Christ-Like. 

But, if we push through the storms and trials in our lives, we will overcome.

The enemy will play mind games with us and will seek to distract us from who we are and whose we are.

We are OVERCOMERS. We already have Victory because Jesus IS the Victor!

In Ephesians 1, we find what God says we are... Blessed, Loved, Accepted, Adopted, Forgiven, Redeemed, and Chosen. We are God's own possession.  We are seated with Christ. 

We have power in us, that raises the dead!!!

Faith walking can be very intimidating at times but we do it anyways because God is faithful. He will not fail, even if we do. 

The Evil One will chant and scream lies about how you are useless and worthless, but that's not true. 

For we are called Sons and Daughters of God. 

We see flaws and imperfections in ourselves every day, but God sees us as perfect. 

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." - Jeremiah 31:3

"You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid our before a single day had passed." -Psalm 139:16

He knew that we would mess up and sin in life. But yet He still loves us with an everlasting love; Greater that anyone else can. More than the grains of sand on the beaches, and more than every drop in the ocean. 

You are a Child of God. 

"For you created me inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:13-14

"You did not chose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit-- fruit that will last-- and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you." -John 15:16

We do not see ourselves as being perfect, nor does the Devil and he WILL bring those lies inside your mind. We are God's masterpieces. 

God is always there and always listening. 

For He is coming very soon, but until then, we must continue worshiping and praising Him, here on earth. 

He is proud of us. He believes in us. He choose us. He loves us.

Some of these inspiring words came from a beautiful friend of mine, DeAnna Morris. I hope that you will go check her out over at lifeundertheoaktree.blogspot.com

I Pray that this not only blessed you, but you will share this with others and it will bless them too. 

A little worship to get you through your day! Enjoy!

{My Jesus Story} By Haley Lawter

Today I am very excited to share with you the Jesus story of a beautiful young lady in the Lord that I am very blessed to call a friend. Oh how she makes my heart smile after her love for her Father. 

Please Welcome Haley Lawter

My First Impression of Jesus:

Growing up I was taught to be a believer in Christ. My family raised me in the church, taught me all the hymns, showed me how to pray, and read me The Bible. I had the perfect foundation for God to plant His seed in me.  

Growing up I had so many questions to ask. I acted like I understood everything, but honestly I couldn't wrap my brain around the idea. I was always wondering who was this Man that was always watching and looking over me. Whenever I asked these questions, God blessed me with someone who could help me understand. God blessed me with my father. My dad was and still is the most Godly man that I know to this day. I believe that God was in him always. I would have so many questions to ask my dad. Sometimes he would have an answer, and sometimes he would say you need to save that question for God. Yes, he couldn't answer everything but God provided him with the knowledge for everything that I needed to know.  

In the Summer of 2008, I attended Vacation Bible School like always. It was the night of what I like to call "The ABC Night." Usually on this night you get taught the ABC's of becoming a Christian and at the end they have a time where you can talk to your pastor about becoming saved. That night I didn't go up front and talk to someone due to my case of shyness, but I did pray the sinner's prayer that night. I asked God to come into my life and to save me. When I got home that night, I told my mom that I wanted to talk to her alone. We went in my room and I told her that I got saved. I told her that I prayed the prayer silently and asked God to come into my life. You could see the joy just radiating off her. That next Sunday at church I went up front during invitation and told our pastor about my decision to follow Christ. We prayed together and he welcomed me into the family.  

September 21st of 2008, I was baptized in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. I felt like my life was changed, in matter of fact it was changed. I remember my dad saying to me that day that "I had made the best decision that an eight year old could make." I remember smiling with him in that moment and believing that everything was perfect...

Destruction Hits:

It was just like any other day. I woke up, done my morning routine, and headed to school. I went to class, talked with my friends, and tried to maintain an A average. After school I had the usual band practice on Tuesday like always. About thirty minutes into band practice, I started receiving non stop phone calls from my mom. Our band director didn't mind if we had our phones, we just couldn’t talk on them while we were playing. So I ignored all of my mom's calls. It seemed like the more I tried to ignore them, the more they just continued on after one another. I finally realized that something wasn't right and that I needed to answer my phone. When I answered my phone I didn't know what to expect. My mom came through on the other line saying that my dad had passed out at work and she was on her way to the hospital now. She told me that my cousin would pick me up afterwards and not her. We talked for a few more minutes then the call was over. I said a quick prayer for my dad and texted a close friend of mine asking her to be putting us in her prayers.  

I thought everything was gonna be okay. When I talked to my mom later in the evening, she said that "they" were on "their" way home. I thought "they" and "their" included him in it too...

My dad passed away on December 2nd of 2014. It was definitely an unexpected moment in life. We see this happening to others, we see this in movies and read about it in books. We never think that it is actually gonna happen to us. I never thought that it could or would happen to me. However, in reality this does happen to us. It happened to me...

I've always read about it in The Bible, I've always been told by others when a situation like this comes along the only thing you can do is to look to God. When my dad passed away, I knew that the only way I was going to get through it was with God and through my family. However, I pushed my family away and in doing this I pushed God out too. I pushed everyone and anything away during this time. I shut everyone out including God.  

The following months after the passing of my dad, I was in a bad place. I had become someone that I never thought I would become. I was hopeless and thought that I would never know the definition of hope again. It felt like I was in a black hole, everything was getting darker and deeper by each day, each second.  

My Savior Reigns:  

In May of 2015, I attended an event with a close friend of mine at her church. I wasn't quite sure how everything was going to work out, considering this was my first time at her church and this was an overnight event. I thought this event wasn't really going to do much for me, but if only I knew what God had planned for me.  

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares The LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you..." ~ Jeremiah 29:11-12

That night I witnessed a message on a subject that is close to my heart. That night God used that message to work through me. That night I gained my hope back. That night I found my Savior Jesus Christ on a level that I never knew existed.  

Blessed be The God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ! According to this great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... ~ 1 Peter 1:3

On the 16th of May 2015, I was fully saved. I realized that I was never fully saved when I got baptized in 2008. I realized that what I thought was being saved was actually just God planting His seed in me.  

On the 7th of June 2015, I was washed in the water, I was washed in the blood of Christ. I was baptized in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. This time I knew it was for real, I was changed on a level that no one could ever describe except for God Himself. I knew this time that I was forgiven and saved by my LORD and Savior. I knew that this time it was final and there was no looking back.  

I am closer to Christ then I have ever been before. Yes, everything is not perfect and I still mess up, but now I have the mercy and forgiveness of God. With God everything has been born new. With God I am no longer in that black hole, I am now in His rays of light.

There is a verse in "Something In the Water" by Carrie Underwood that I think goes along with this:

"And now I'm singing along to amazing grace,                            

 Can't nobody wipe this smile off my face

Got joy in my heart, angels on my side

Thank God almighty, I saw the light

Gonna look ahead, no turning back

Live every day, give it all that I have

Trust in someone bigger than me

Ever since the day that I believed I am changed

And now I'm stronger"

I am now changed and made stronger due to the salvation of Jesus Christ!

I am so thankful for everyone who has been there for me in every way. I owe my life to my dear friend and her church, if it wasn't for them I have no clue where I would be today. I wouldn't have had the life changing moment of coming to know Christ, I wouldn't have had this testimony to reach out to others and proclaim His name.  

I thank God everyday for my salvation. I am beyond blessed to have the wonderful gift of Christ that He gave us.  

Thank you God! 

Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! - Psalm 103:1-5  

You can find Haley on Facebook and over at Faith Goes A Long Way

His Love

Have you ever had a day to where you think about something so hard, to when you think about it later on... you cannot even understand the meaning or concept anymore?


Well, lately I've been thinking a little too much about God's Love for Us. I frequently ask myself, "How can He still love me after all that I have done?" 

That's just it. You see I don't deserve His unconditional, never-ending..... Everlasting love, but yet He still gives it to me.  His love is more than every drop in the ocean, more than every grain of sand on the beach. For no one's love could ever compare to His love for us.  

Without God..... There's no telling where I would be at in life. 


Life gives us storms and trials to face, but God gets us through them. There's times where the evil comes in, and makes it seem like there is no hope, But if you Trust Him, He will get you out of that dark season in life. 

Oh how this quote speaks to me.

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. -Jeremiah 31:3

That's where Grace comes in. One of my favorite quotes about Grace comes from one of my friends De Anna. She said this quote in her own  blog post over at LifeUnderTheOakTree.blogspot.com. Her quote reads, "Grace gets messy, but grace always fills in the gaps between our imperfections and His perfect love. " 

Check out some of her other post while your there also!!!

Hope you have a "Grace Filled" Day. 

Follow me on <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14320277/?claim=3hmupyr5put">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

He's there's, when we think no one else is

In life, we believe that no one is there to listen, when times get ruff, or if there is, we feel like they are tired of hearing the same thing over and over again even though it keeps occurring over and over again in our minds. 

In my daily life, I feel the same way. As if those who do listen, are wanting to hear new things, not topics mentioned in the past. 

I prayed to God, and asked Him if He would show me where I needed to study more in the Bible. He showed me that I needed to study Psalm, even though I had studied there before, there was places that I had just read over and never  really thought about the meaning. 

I started out in Psalm 139. A friend had mentioned Psalm 139 to me a few weeks before, and had read it aloud when I probably needed it the most. 

When she read it, I listened and found the true meaning of every word.

It's amazing that He knew before we was even on Earth, every word we would say and every action we would make. He has searched us, and knows us. 

In life we make so many mistakes and we know that we can't change the past, but, God can change our future for the better. 

How I came to loving Jesus

Growing up, I had always believed in God, but had some doubt in Him. I was raised in church. Classic plays, the cute songs, and the Bible stories. Outside of church, my family always prayed before meals, and we had Bible story's read to us before we went to bed.

When I was about seven or eight, I remember me talking to my mom about being baptized. She quickly told our pastor at church, and he sat down with me and prayed with me that God would come into my life and change me. God kept trying to come into my life and change my life, but I was blocking him out, and soon I made my mind up that I wasn't "good enough" for God to change me.... That I had already hurt the world enough and that there was NO way to "Fix" me. So I gave up on Him.  

God kept trying to come into my life and change my life, but I was blocking him out, and soon I made my mind up that I wasn't "good enough" for God to change me....

In 2013, I decided that I wanted to follow the Lord, and I constantly prayed to God, hoping that he would give me another chance and that he would give me the wisdom needed  to ask Him into my Life. I asked Him to give me the courage to let Him in my life and to give me the hope to put my Faith and Trust in Him.  On August 25, 2013, I prayed to God that He would come into my life and to change me. I was tired of the old me, and I wanted to change how I lived my life.  That same day, I was baptized, and ever since that day I have had dramatic changes. That day, waters were stirred, and lives were changed.

My life changed from ignoring God to living a life "Jesus-filled."

But, there was a time in my life where, I didn't want my life anymore. I wanted to live my life on my own and I felt like I was slowly "loosing" my faith. I felt like I had let God down, and that what He had expected of me no longer mattered because I had already gave up on Him. Everyone told me that my faith was stronger than that, and that it would come through and end up back on top. And sure enough, it did. 

Today, I know that Jesus Christ is My Lord and Savior. God is my safe haven. I know that I don't have to "earn" my way into heaven, because Jesus has already paid the price for me, by dying on the cross for me. I don't have to worry about not "fitting in", because God loves me even with all of my imperfections. He loves me no matter what. 

As a Christian, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by what I have to overcome in life. But my attitude quickly changes when I’m reminded that God desires us to live a life filled with His power. And I believe that we often miss out on what God has in store for us because we miss out on the power He has given us through His son Jesus. 

God's Power is unlimited, and He wants us to experience His power at work in our lives. Don't go another day living under the weight of your need. Seek God. Call on His Son Jesus Christ today. He has the power to heal you, and He has the power to change your life.

Were called to be over comers. God doesn't require us to over comers. Jesus already overcame for us. 

I know that I am not sinless, but I hold fast to faith in Christ until the end. 

I will no longer turn away when life gets hard. 

2 Corinthians 12:9 says,  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14

This past year, I have become a much stronger Christian. Inside of  school,  I knew that I would need God by  my side at the Early College for the next four years.  In September 2014, I decided to start my own Christian group, where all Christians could come together and Worship The Lord. I enjoyed leading Mosaic (Making Ourselves Alive In Christ), this past year. I hope that we will have a even greater outcome this coming fall.

My life changed from ignoring God to living a life "Jesus-filled."

Outside of school, God has given me the courage to Praise and Worship Him even more, by singing on Sunday morning's at church. The first time I went up there to sing, I was nervous (Very Nervous). Nervous about, if my family at church, would see me differently than they did before. After singing that Sunday, I knew that there would be many more times that I would want to Worship God, by singing to Him. I used to be that quite girl that never listened to the pastor's message and wouldn't open my mouth to Praise God. But today, I am probably one of the loudest singers there, and I constantly take notes when the Pastor is Preaching.

I am very blessed to be the Christian that I am today, but I know that I could be better. I pray to God everyday that each day I will become a even stronger Christian than I was the day before. 

 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.                                                                                                                                                                                       -Galatians 2:20

Faith and Trust

When you ask God to come into your life and change you, you are willing to put your faith and trust in God's hands and letting Him control where life takes you. Galatians 2:20 says I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Yes, it is a very big chance to take, but in the end it is worthwhile.


I recently learned in my life, that when you ask God to come into your life and change you, that not only do you have to ask for it but you have to willingly open up and give Him a chance. 

I used to wonder why God was not listening to me, I had asked for Him to come into my life, but He never did. God did come into my life, I just wasn't giving Him the opportunity to start making changes. I finally realized that God uses our own voice, our own words, and our own  actions to determine our future. I wasn't giving God a chance to come in and give advice. I was blocking Him out. But now, I ask myself Whom Shall I Fear? 

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

With God, All things are possible... But you have to be ready for God to take control.

Sometimes God Knows Best

No, I'm not the perfect Christian Girl that I want to be, no one can be that perfect Christian because we all sin each and everyday. 

Many people at my school comes to me for Christ-like advice. Do I question why me? No. I just accept that is where God needs me to help out so I just give them advice. 

I recently went through a emotional time. I tried out for the school play, and didn't get the part that I wanted. I prayed to God asking that He just let me do the very best that I could...And He did. 

But throughout auditions and casting a really close friend of mine reminded me not to be mad at God. Ok, so maybe acting isn't one of my talents, but singing is. God gives me the courage to get up on stage at Church and at school and to sing and worship Him. So why should I be mad at God??? She told me, "No Matter what happens in the end... Always remember your Gods Girl and No one can ever change that." 

I have realized in life that not everyone has the same talents and were like that for a reason... God made us to all be unique. So while I was so upset about not getting the part that I wanted God just sent a message and He said, "If I had made you just like everyone else that did get the lead parts then you wouldn't be the person that I know you are."

I got to thinking about it and No, I don't want to be like everyone else, I want to stand out like God made and wanted me to. I don't have to have every talent in the world to be me. God gave me the ability to sing, dance, and give advice. There is probably a whole list of what God did and didn't give me that I haven't figured out but that I will find out in life sooner or later. 

So No, I am not that perfect Christian girl that I want to be but God doesn't want me to be perfect.... He just wants me to be me.  

I Hunger, I Thirst

I delight in Your Word

I Hunger

I Thirst

Your Word sustains me

Your blessings flow

The Word sows it's seeds

Fruitfulness abounds




Your Word revives me

I feed

I draught

It brings to life my heart and mind

Enriches my very being

Overflowing to your purpose

It speaks into my soul

New Year New Me

Happy New Year!!!

New year resolutions is very common during this time. I remember this time last year I set my new year resolutions and one of them was to improve my relationship with God. I knew before I could improve my relationship I would have to confess to God that I didn't enjoy reading THE WORD. He very quickly taught me how to have a love for THE WORD!!!!

This year I am still wanting to improve my relationship with Him so I am participating in the 2015 SIESTA. SIESTA is where you memorize two bible verses a month. One the 1st and 15th of each month you share them with others. I am not only doing this for me but I am wanting to share Gods Word with others.
If you want to learn more about SIESTA you can follow this link -

http://blog.lproof.org/2015/01/siesta-scripture-memory-team-2015-verse-1.html

http://blog.lproof.org/2014/12/siesta-scripture-memory-team-2015-instructions-and-spiral-information.html

First verse for 2015
Proverbs 3:6 ESV

In all you ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your straight paths.

LIFE                    LIGHT           HOPE

                      I FOLLOW

Imagine that you have someone really close to you and one morning you leave to go to school or work, you come back home later that night expecting to see that person but quickly learn something serious happened to them such as them passing away. Honestly, we as humans don't have to imagine that tragic story, because it eventually happens to every one of us, we just don't never expect it to be us or our loved ones. I've learned in my short life span that everything happens for a reason. When a loved one passes away we say we don't want them to go, but you have to think about them and exactly how they feel. Why would you want them to be in pain and suffer? If you truly love them, you will accept that God has taken them home where there is no suffering or pain. We adapt, we accept, but we never get over it! I am often asked, when will the pain go away, my honest answer is never. It changes intensity, like the waves in the ocean, as we all struggle to get to Grief Beach. Often times when loved ones passes away you want to say I'm sorry or I understand, but you honestly can't say you understand because you honestly don't know how that person feels. And, I'm sorry just makes that person even sadder. I've recently experienced this, one of my sweet friends dad passed away, I had know idea what to say or how to feel. I quickly felt the need to seek God and His advice. Even though today this sweet friend and I are still very upset, but I can say that God let me words come out as if I never had a problem or a fear of talking to them. I quickly told my friend to seek God, and He can help you, because He will never forsake you. That dearest friend knows who they are and I want them to know that I Love Them!!!

Songs

Hey! So most of you know that I'm a singer and love love love listening to music!!!! Music is my way of escaping life for those few minutes  and letting the lyrics to that song take my feelings over. Sometimes that can be exciting and others it can make me cry. I love listening to christian music because I feel as if it's a genre that lets me get close and closer to God each and every second of the songs. I love singing but I don't use my singing gift to compete with others, I use my gift to praise and worship God. The talent show last year in 8th grade was my first time showing others that God has given me a gift and I know myself that I'm not the best but why would you want to put down the gifts that God has chosen for you to have? This past summer I decided I want to share the gift God has given me, I made a HUGE step and sung at church with one of my closest friends, De Anna Morris. De Anna has showed me in life that even though times get hard you have to go along with them because God puts you through these situations to lead you to the good in life. God has definitely showed me some bad things in life but the outcome has always come out great! God has brought     De Anna into my life as a sister in The Lord as well as a mother in The Faith. I plan on using my singing gift to sing with De Anna very soon. God gave each and every person a gift somewhere and somehow, but it's your job to share the gift with others.

Blessings!!!!

Something Amazing!

Hey there! Haven't posted in a while because I've been so busy with school and such. I'm trying to get back into blogging. I have recently started leading a Bible Study Group at my school called MOSAIC. MOSAIC stands for Making Our Souls Alive In Christ. MOSAIC has had a great turn out and recently we have started a new book by Bob Goff called Love Does. As a New York Times Bestseller, Love Does simply lets you discover a secretly incredible life in an ordinary world. With Donald Miller writing the foreword, Goff takes his readers on such a journey through his life. As a college student he spent sixteen days in the Pacific Ocean with five guys and a crate of canned meat. As a father he took his kids on a world tour to eat ice cream with heads of state. He made friends in Uganda, and they liked him so much he became to Uganda consul. He pursed his wife for three years before she agreed to date him. His grades weren't good enough to get into law school, so he sat on a bench outside the dean's office for seven days until they finally let him enroll. Bob Goff has became something of a legend, and his family and friends considers him the worlds best kept-secret. Those same friends have long insisted he write a book, and he finally did. It's full of paradigm shifts, musings, and stories from one of the worlds most delightfully engaging and winsome people. What fuels his impact? Love. But it's not the kind of love that stops at thoughts and feelings. Bob is convinced love takes action. Bob believes Loves Does. When love does life gets interesting. Each day turns into a hilarious, whimsical, meaningful chance to make faith simple and real. Each chapter is a story that forms a book, a life, And this is one life you don't want to miss. Light and fun, unique and profound, the lessons drawn from Bob's life and attitude just might inspire you to be secretly incredible to.  I recommend you read this book that's packed with every idea that you could think of that truly says, Simply Love Does. I believe reading takes your mind of some sort of roller coaster that at least everyone can refer to. Happy Reading!!!! 

Goff, Bob. Love Does. Nashville TN: Nelson, 2012. 224. Print. 

leadership

So I haven't posted in a while because of school and everything. But recently I have thought about leading a group of christains. It has been a long process...but I finally got the answer I've been looking for. I knew that there was no way that I could do everything by myself and my friend Haley Lawter wanted to lead so we now are starting a group called MOSAIC. MOSAIC stands for "Making Our Souls Alive In Christ".  I believe this group will have a great turn out. I strongly suggest if you have read the book,"Love Does" then you really should look into it. This is a great book!!! I hope to report more about MOSAIC.



 

Some Dreams Are Possible

Most people have dreams they know about and dreams that's not thought about so much. Most peoples dreams are to be famous or flying an airplane but one of my dreams was to become a Christain. Most peoples dreams are not realistic except my dream you just have to ask a simple question, pray a certain prayer. My dream was by far not hard to accomplish. Galatians 3:27 says For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. I recently asked my Him to come into my life and change me I was also baptized and I can certainly say I have seen a change. I am beyond blessed.

Everyone has a choice

I have recently learned we have a choice in the world. Not your career choice or what you want to eat when you go to a restraunt, but the choice of what you wants others to see you as. Do you want them to see you smiling having a good time or sad and dissapointed all the time. It's your choice. I want my friends and family to see me happy and smiling but this is life, things happen, anything can happen. Everything that happens has its Pros and Cons, it's goods and bads, and it's ups and downs. I recently realized to way to happiness is Following Christ. John 16:24 says  Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. This world has a choice. The choice to be themselves or someone they try to be. It's easier to be yourself than anyone else. That's why God put you on this earth, to be yourself and only you. He never said you have to make all the decisions because if you give Him your life he can help you make those. Ephesians 2:10 says For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.