Joyful Abundance

Alrighty friends, here we are to talk about God and how great He is!! These past few weeks I think I have learned the most about how important it is to fill your life with Truth. The reality of it is that the enemy is smart and real and active, he will fill your head with lies and will try to break you down as best as he can. And you know what, he can be pretty successful at it too, regardless of where your walk with Christ is. We all fall short, we all buy into those lies but it is our choice to decide whether or not we are going to fight with the ultimate weapon, the Word of God. It has been tough for me to realize that I need to be active as well to combat those lies and fight with truth. I say all the excuses: "oh, I had too much going on today to open my Bible" or "maybe if I just try to avoid it all together it will go away" (this is my 9 self on the enneagram coming out). WRONG. The more you allow your thoughts to be compromised the worse it gets, your perspe...

Yesterday at church the pastor talked about prayer and how when we ask for one thing, God has to do ten thousand things in order for that prayer to be answered. One example he used was for someone to ask for a word, so many people had to be in the right place at the right time but it was over a span of 50 years that could lead up to this one divine moment. For every little thing we ask for, God puts ten thousand things into motion. How incredible is that?!?! This is a perfect representation of God's love for us, He is willing to affect the lives of everyone to fulfill what one person asks. Now, that doesn't mean whatever is being asked will be received right away or even at all. I believe it is in our human nature to have some expectations as to what we want God to give us rather than completely trusting in what has been set into motion already. He wants us to remain faithful in Him regardless of what the timeline may be. Waiting is one of the hardest things to do and it can be...

This year for spring break I had the privilege of going to Jamaica on a missions trip with my college volleyball team. The week consisted of us going to various places to share the love of Jesus and pour into different people. Our week started out with landing in Montego Bay Saturday evening where I experienced the most beautiful view of the Island as we were landing, we then got settled into our cottages and relaxed from the long day of travel. Sunday we had the privilege to go to a local church where the Holy Spirit was no doubt in that place. The passion the people had for the Lord was nothing like I had ever seen before, they were dancing and singing and praising the Lord with so much joy it was truly eye opening to see how unashamed we should be in our faith. Later on that afternoon we traveled to a home and spent some time with girls who had been involved in abusive situations previously, their spirits were so positive and the time we had to connect with them is forever...

If you have grown up in or around the church you have most likely heard the term "faith like a mustard seed". I remember the first time I heard that and thinking what the heck does this even mean, what does some seed have to do with Christianity. Fast forward about a decade and it became clear, even if you have such little faith, so little that it is the size of a mustard seed, God can work supernaturally through you. I think that especially having been in the church my whole life and attending a Christian school sometimes people become competitive about the size or amount of faith one has. We tend to think that "oh I have been a believer Longer so that means my relationship with God is stronger." However, that is not necessarily always the case. He has the power to use you in whatever stage of life you are in, whether you are new to the Christian faith or have been a believer most of your life. We are told in Matthew 17:20 " Because of your little faith. For t...

" But I can't find my purpose when I don't know what my worth is"  One of my favorite things to do when listening to music is to see if there are any hidden messages in the song that could possible be taken in a context that turns back to God. This quote is from the lyrics of the song Deep Water by the band American Authors and although I have no set knowledge of their religious/faith background. This song could very well be taken in a way that turns back to Christian faith. Though the story behind the song is written about the loved ones of the band staying close and supporting them in the difficult time, one could take the lyrics to turn back towards God being by your side when you are going through the deep water. While listening to this song for the first time, I thought to myself "hold up, this is actually pretty accurate, how would we know what our purpose is if we are unknowing of our worth or identity?". As Christians, we know that we have an id...

We all know what comes with the New Year, New Years resolutions. I see too many captions that say "new year, new me!", but why not say new year, improved me? Although I have never set a legitimate resolution, this year I decided to set an achievable goal for myself if I stay disciplined. My goal is to draw closer to God and to be a better version of myself so I can live a better life. This seems cliche, not going to deny that, but I know that this year I want to be more intentional with everything that I do. I want to be more present with those I am spending time with, I want to be able to show Christ in everything I do and say, and I want to be physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy. In all realness, the only way that would make all of this difficult to achieve is if I choose to lack in effort. I have to hold myself accountable for everything that I do whether that is spending time in the word every day and setting aside time dedicated to prayer or in the choices I m...