|| i·den·ti·ty || part four

the final part to the i·den·ti·ty series

// i am made new in Christ - born of God the saying "we're just forgiven sinners saved by grace" is devastating because it actually denies the work that God has done in us. God's word tells us that we are a new creature in Christ, old things have passed away and all things have become new: "therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. the old has passed away; behold the new has come" - 2 Corinthians 5:17. when i accepted Jesus a my Lord and Savior and believed upon Him, i became a new creation in Christ. God's word tells us that this new man is created in righteousness and true holiness: "and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" - Ephesians 4:24. i am not just born again but i have also become a child of God: "but to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" - John 1:12-13. so what happened to the old you? the old you was crucified with Christ. God didn't repair the old you, he created a new you in Christ, which is what the Bible refers to when talking about being born-again: "Jesus answered, 'truly, truly  i say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that i say to you, 'you must be born again" - John 3:5-7. "i have been crucified with Christ. it is no longer i who live, bu 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" - Galatians 2:20"

// i am seated with Christ - a position of authority to be seated refers to a place of authority. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, and God's word tells us that we are seated with Christ: "and raised us up with him and seated us with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" - Ephesians 2:6. because of my in Christ, i am seated in a place of authority over all sickness, diseases, and demons.

in conclusion, when i don't realize who i am in Christ, my faith is crippled. if i don't feel worthy yo exercise my authority in Christ  then i won't be doing it in the fullness of faith and will lack assurance. satan works diligently to program people's minds to feel unworthy and unable to walk in the power of God here on earth. this is one of the most popular strongholds in existence today in the body of Christ. the truth is that we, by our own power and effort, are unworthy, but it is the blood of Christ that makes us worthy. and if we say we are unworthy when the blood says we are, then we are denying the work that Christ did for us on the cross.

// scripture memorization:

2 corinthians 5:17

ephesians 4:24

john 1:12-3

galations 2:20

ephesians 2:6

***teaching printed from www.GreatBibleStudy.com. this is not my own work. to read original article, click here!

// i pray ephesians 3:14-19 over you now, for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. in Jesus' name amen.

DO NOT FORGET WHO YOU ARE

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|| project53 ||

//i am proud and blessed to live life with such crazy-talented people! Sean & Brittany Kyte put together this amazing short film called 53. 

// based on Isaiah 53, this short wonderfully conveys who Jesus is and the significance of His life, death and resurrection. "in this short film we also see three very relatable scenarios in which each character is experiencing a different level of the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. in Him, we now have hope! no matter where we are at in life, with Christ our best days truly are ahead of us." - Brittany Kyte, Created.

// for more info on their future projects, follow Sean on twitter |here| and Brittany on twitter |here|. Brittany also is an amazing blogger, follow her blog |here|.

   

//Isaiah 53(MSG)

Who believes what we've heard and seen?

    Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?

The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,

    a scrubby plant in a parched field.

There was nothing attractive about him,

    nothing to cause us to take a second look.

He was looked down on and passed over,

    a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.

One look at him and people turned away.

    We looked down on him, thought he was scum.

But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—

    our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.

We thought he brought it on himself,

    that God was punishing him for his own failures.

But it was our sins that did that to him,

    that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!

He took the punishment, and that made us whole.

    Through his bruises we get healed.

We’re all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.

    We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.

And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,

    on him, on him.

He was beaten, he was tortured,

    but he didn't say a word.

Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered

    and like a sheep being sheared,

    he took it all in silence.

Justice miscarried, and he was led off—

    and did anyone really know what was happening?

He died without a thought for his own welfare,

    beaten bloody for the sins of my people.

They buried him with the wicked,

    threw him in a grave with a rich man,

Even though he’d never hurt a soul

    or said one word that wasn't true.

Still, it’s what God had in mind all along,

    to crush him with pain.

The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin

    so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life.

    And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.

Out of that terrible travail of soul,

    he’ll see that it’s worth it and be glad he did it.

Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,

    will make many “righteous ones,”

    as he himself carries the burden of their sins.

Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly—

    the best of everything, the highest honors—

Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch,

    because he embraced the company of the lowest.

He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,

    he took up the cause of all the black sheep.

the final post of the i·den·ti·ty challenge, part four, will be posted shortly. 

be sure to check out |part one| |part two| and |part three|

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|| i·den·ti·ty || part three

// my sin is no longer a part of me the truth is that your sins have not simply been covered, but actually removed from your account. this was not possible in the old testament, but through the precious Blood of Christ, the removal of sins is a reality. "the next day john saw Jesus coming toward, and said 'behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" - John 1:29. "for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" - Matthew 26:28. and if forgiving us wasn't enough, God himself chose to FORGET our failures for His own sake. when He sees us, He doesn't want to remember our failures, He wants to see us a His precious child who stands blameless before Him. "i will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more" - Hebrews 10:17

// i have peace with God we have been justified and made right with God, therefore we have peace with God. this means that your relationship with God has been restored and you can boldly enter His presence with a clean conscience because of your faith in Christ Jesus and the work that He's done for us on the cross. "therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our lord Jesus Christ" - Romans 5:1.

// i am clothed with the righteousness of Jesus as believers in Christ, there is a great exchange that has taken place. one of the things exchanged is our sin for Jesus' own righteousness. "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe" - Romans 3:22. "whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. this was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins" - Romans 3:25 "for if, by one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ" - Romans 5:17. Jesus recieved what we deserved (punishment for our sins), and He gave us His righteousness in exchange!

// scripture memorization:

john 1:29

hebrews 10:17

romans 5:1

romans 5:17

DO NOT FORGET WHO YOU ARE 

***teaching printed from www.GreatBibleStudy.com. this is not my own work. to read original article, click here! 

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|| i·den·ti·ty || part two

// i am purchased at a steep price i am purchased by the precious blood of the lamb "for you were bought with a price. so glorify God in your body" - 1 Corinthians 6:20. "and they sang a new song, saying 'worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed (or purchased) people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation" - Revelation 5:9. Jesus purchased us with His own blood because of His deep love for us and he deeply desires to have a loving relationship with you and i. "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" Romans 5:8.

// i am justified and declared innocent if i have repented of my sins and accepted the gift of God (the forgiveness of sins through the precious shed blood of Christ) then God's word tells me that i am justified. "yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified." - Galatians 2:16. the word "justified" in this passage is derived from the Greek word dikaioo, which means, "to render (that is, show or regards as) just or innocent: - free, justify(ier), be righteous". if a person is justified , it means they are made innocent or made just as if they have never sinned.

// i am entitled to a clean conscience since my sins have been put away and removed from me, and we are justified (made right with God) i am entitled to a clean and undefiled conscience. "how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God" - Hebrews 9:14. if i am still beating myself up over my past failures which have been nailed to the cross, i am denying the work that Christ has done for me. a clean conscience before the Lord agrees with what Christ has done in removing my sin and declaring me as justified or innocent before the Lord.

// scripture memorization:

1 Corinthians 6:20

Galatians 2:26

Hebrews 9:14

DO NOT FORGET WHO YOU ARE 

***teaching printed from www.GreatBibleStudy.com. this is not my own work. to read original article, click here!

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|| i·den·ti·ty || part one

// identity has been heavy on my heart the past twenty four hours. i have struggled with identity for a long time, unknowingly. so, i am challenging myself to memorize the scripture verses that have to do with my identity. if you are up for the challenge, join me! i will post the verses to memorize at the end of every post. please declare these scriptures over your life and watch how God changes and/or reveals new things about who you are. feel free to comment below about anything the Lord shows you as we dive deeper into this. my heart is to start a conversation and to learn and grow with you.

// identity. identity. identity.

// God is so good.

// continually renewing your mind with Biblical truth is a vital part of a believer. "you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free" - John 8:32. satan works diligently to program people's minds to feel unworthy and unable to walk in the power of God. knowing your identity is Christ will allow you to battle satan more effectively. if you are a Christ follower than the following statements i claim are for you to claim as well.

// i am worthy! i am worthy because Jesus' blood has made me worthy. if you claim to be unworthy after the blood of Christ has made your worthy you are denying the work of Christ in your life.

// i am loved by God the Father! i am loved by God not because of what i have done, but because of who i am. "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" - Romans 5:8. God loves me with the same love that He has towards Jesus himself. "i in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me" - John 17:23. i am valuable and dear to Him because Jesus laid down his life for me and he said that the greatest love a man can show for his friends, is when he lays down his life for them. "greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" - John 15:13. if we don't realize the love of God, we cannot be filled with the fullness of God. we will lack His fullness in our lives until we come to know of His deep love for us. "so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." - Ephesians 3:17-19

// scripture memorization:

Romans 5:8

John 17:23

John 15:13

Ephesians 3:17-19

DO NOT FORGET WHO YOU ARE

***teaching printed from www.GreatBibleStudy.com. this is not my own work. to read original article, click here!

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Happy Valentine's Day

Celebrating today with the lover of my soul, Jesus!

Ever wonder what candy hearts from Jesus would say? 

I think they would say something like this:

BE MINE: John 3:16

ALL MINE: John 10:27-30

TRUE LOVE: Jeremiah 31:3

LOVE ME: Luke 10:27

I'M SURE: John 14:1-3

SWEET TALK: Psalm 119:103

BE GOOD: John 14:15

FAX ME: Jeremiah 33:3

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

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Hidden Treasure

We went to In & Out after service.
I'm still amazed at how many people don't know about these hidden treasures underneath the cups & on the back of french fry wrappers. Then I realized, Kerrin, not all people are weird like you and look at the bottom of their cups!!!
hahaha
Anyways, here are a few snaps from Sunday and one wacky video of Courtney!

“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

"The Lord is good,

a stronghold in the day of trouble;

he knows those who take refuge in him." - Nahum 1:7
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." - Revelation 3:20
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding. - Proverbs 3:5

And now for your viewing enjoyment, my very talented and extremely amazing friend Courtney doing her famous crazy eyes trick!!!

Happy Wednesday wonderful people!

Bloggers in this post:

Beth

Courtney

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It's Here!!!!

Girls With Swords is now available! 

I was so privileged to be apart of the launch team for this book. This truly is a heaven breathed book. I believe with all my heart that this is a message for God's daughters young & old! It's really a message for the entire church but more specifically what God is wanting to do with His daughters. I am not promoting this book simply because I have to, but because I truly believe in the message it communicates!

I am inspired and all fired up!

The following is a message from Lisa

To purchase the book from Messenger International, click here! 

To purchase the book from Amazon, click here!

Have a fantastic Tuesday!!!

xoxo

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He Makes All Things New

“I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

 - Revelation 2:2-7

I have so much peace today!

I have repented of forgetting my first love, Jesus. I am now starting a new journey of falling IN love with him. :)

And I'm excited for that!

He is everything I need!

Let your eyes look directly forward,

and your gaze be straight before you.

Ponder the path of your feet;

then all your ways will be sure.

Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil.

 - Proverbs 4:25-27

No more looking to the right or to the left but straight at Him. I wonder what He will do through me now that He has my full attention... :)

Thank you so much Brittany. Love you woman!!!

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Book Challenge Update: Girls With Swords

It's going very well. I am half way through the book and am taking notes like crazy! This book is dripping with wisdom. I know the title is "Girls" With Swords but it really should be "Church" With Swords. This book, much like Lisa's other books is for men too.

Here are some of my notes from the book...

• It is time we pray that the Lord of the harvest opens our eyes and widens our gaze so that we too might see beyond the obvious and live out the actions of heaven's heroes
• Life in the Spirit means we no longer give way to the base actions & emotions that tether us to our own strength and striving
• Acting human isn't large enough to steward what is inside of us. We actually behave in a superhuman way when we eliminate jealousy and strife from the equation of our lives. We supersede the fleshly norm by choosing to walk in one accord. (see 1 Corinthians 3:3)
• Has blaming the woman ever freed the man? No! Has blaming the man ever freed the woman? No! Jesus came to take the blame once and for all. Blame is always a distraction from what is truly going on.

... so many more gems but if I write anymore, I'll be typing the entire book. So, as the Reading Rainbow guy always says "...don't take my word for it!" Go buy the book. It's available February 12th.

#38   God's ability to wash us clean

#37   the steadfast love of our God

#36   the abundant mercy of our God

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This Weekend

Good morning friends! I hope you all had an absolutely fantastic weekend! I pray that this upcoming week is filled with patience and perseverance. I pray that the God of this universe would continue to make himself known to us & that our eyes will be open to seeing it. I pray that we would never settle for anything less than God's best for our lives. I pray that we will run and not grow weary or walk and not faint while we wait on the Lord. I pray that strength will be renewed. Hearts will hope & love will abound. In Jesus' name, Amen!

Happy Monday!

Happy Birthday Momma!

#35   hope

#34   friends who pray for you.

#33  good advice from Adriana

#32   coffee shop reading

#31   step by step peace & process from the Lord

#30   extra sleep

#29   Proverbs 4: 23-27

#28   thin mints surprises

#27   fear and anticipation of what's to come

#26   Him loving, encouraging & empowering you to be better.

#25   God's faithfulness to expose the true condition of your heart & then...

#24   conversations that cause you to examine your own heart

#23   seeing old friends

***#22   being front row & five feet away from Tim Tebow (God's favor)

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The Calm Before The Storm

sunnies Free People scarf H&M jacket Ross top Last Chance pants Target boots H&M

Today is going to get a little crazy busy. As I sit at my desk I think to myself it's the calm before the storm. Of course that thought was meant for today's work but I can't help but feel like the Holy Spirit is saying that to me personally as well.

The past few months I've been bored with my life and stuck in a rut I can't seem to get out of.

My best friend is so amazing at describing how I feel. She explains how I feel when I can't and she's ALWAYS right, it's frightening & awesome at the same time! She describes me in this way:

She said that I am a very passionate person. That whatever I do, I do it BIG! Which is true. Go big or go home, right? When she got married, I wanted her to have the best wedding with everything she wanted because I love her to death and she deserves it! When she got pregnant, gosh darn it, she was going to have the best baby shower EVER! (I guess that's my love language - grand gestures. Is that even a love language?)

She said that because I go big in everything I do, I tend to get bored when big things aren't happening in my life. WHICH IS TOTALLY TRUE!!!! I have a hard time finding joy in the smaller less epic moments. I believe in this season, God is teaching me to find joy in the every day smaller moments since they are more frequent than the epic moments in life. 

The Lord is showing me all the little ways I see Him incorrectly. For example, when I don't see God doing big things in my life, I tend to relate that to Him not loving me - which is completely absurd, I know!

I can't help but think this season is my "calm before the storm".

God is always working behind the scenes, I'm ready to see what He's got.

Hope is rising.

God is faithful!

“Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.” -C.S. Lewis

#21   surprise chocolate hearts

#20   friendships reconciled

#19   women's ministry leader (more details soon)

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Do you REALLY want to be healed?

Last week, I was studying The Healing At The Pool On The Sabbath in John 5. I was reading a commentary on it by David Guzik - he's my favorite so far- and something really struck me. Jesus asks the sick man "Do you want to be healed?". Isn't that such a silly question? I mean, don't we all want to be healed and whole? What person who has an illness doesn't want to be healed???

As I read through the commentary, David Guzik states that "Jesus knew that not every sick person wants to be healed, and that some are so discouraged that they put away all hope. Jesus was dealing with a man who may have had his heart withered as well as his legs."

Upon reading that, I thought, "What?!? Not everyone wants to be healed?!? That's crazy!"

David's commentary goes on by giving the following examples so people like me can understand why Jesus' question was a reasonable one.

• One commentator points out: "An eastern beggar often loses a good living by being cured of his disease." (that makes sense, I've heard that people make good money begging on the street nowadays. ***Please don't let that stop you from giving to people***)
• As bad as our current situation is, at least we are familiar with it. We know it. It won’t surprise us. We can be more comfortable in our present misery than taking the steps we need to be free.
• For example, there are some women who on the one hand desperately want their husbands to be saved - yet on the other hand, they dread the idea because they know it would bring so many changes into their relationship.
• In 1993, it was reported that a small order of Franciscan nuns in Prague decided to subsidize their convent by opening the downstairs of their facility - formerly an underground detention center used by the Communists to imprison and torture their enemies - as a hotel. For $33 a night, you could stay in a former prison cell. The proprietors say they try to achieve a middle ground between comfort and authenticity in the "hotel." Many people are really looking for just that - a comfortable prison cell.

Is that true? Have we grown used to walking around crippled and broken? Do we not want a life without limits? Why do we settle for anything less than the abundant life Christ died to give us?

Last week, I had a stomach bug. It was the horrible kind too, ya know when you are throwing up so hard you feel like you're going to throw up a vital organ. I felt everything! Every pain, every ache. I was crying over the toilet asking God to purge me of whatever this bug was that was causing this sickness. I remember thinking why don't I ever pray that prayer about my sin? Maybe because I don't really feel the repercussions of the sin in my life the same way I felt every release of my stomach. But just because I don't feel sin all the time, doesn't mean it isn't making my soul sick. I think we sometimes become numb to our sin because we've lived with it for so long.
"Jesus knows not everyone wants to be healed!" - that still baffled me until Tuesday when I was sick. In one particular pathetic moment I was having, my mother came up to me and laid hands on me & started praying for a divine healing. I remember thinking to myself during her prayer, It's OK, it's just a bug. It will run it's course and then it'll be done - I don't want to waste God's healing power on this little stomach bug. "I didn't want to WASTE Gods healing power on this little stomach bug?!?!?" What was I thinking? As if God is going to run out of power! In that moment I completely understood why God asked the crippled man in John 5 if he wanted to be healed. I had grown comfortable throwing up every half hour, I had grown comfortable with my sickness.
In that moment when I could've just received healing from Jesus, I doubted & brushed off my illness as if God doesn't care about what I was going through. I was in miracle territory and I didn't take advantage of it.
Have we grown comfortable living a life outside of the abundant life in Christ? Let's talk about it. What are your thoughts?



 

Resource: http://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/)

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Reflection

"God's timing is always perfect.

His delays are intentional and loaded with purpose."

I've been meditating on this for the past couple...months, now that I think of it.

I get so caught up in what I think my life is supposed to look like.

I guess I'm slowly figuring out that it's... just supposed to look like Jesus, wherever I'm at. It's not so much about the specific details of my life but about how those details point back to Christ. God gave me creative freedom to create a life here on earth and lately I find myself waiting for something to happen. Waiting for him to move, waiting for him to create.

I have a bucket list of dreams that are just chillin' there because I don't want miss something that God has for me.

I marvel at God because he can create something out of nothing and breath life into dead things. So why do I think that I have to stay put in order for him to follow through on the blessings He's promised me? It's not about physical location but the position of my heart. And He knows I am bent towards him.

God is faithful!

#12 surprise cookies

#11 pictureframe mousepad

#10 laughter at lunch with coworkers

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Dreams Fulfilled

top Forever 21 shirt Forever 21 vest old jeans old boots TjMaxx

Happy Monday friends!

God is faithful!

I've been struggling lately with finding the joy in my life. To be honest, I thought I would be somewhere different by age 25.

What do you do when you are bored with your life?

What do you do when you are waiting for God to give you what He has promised you? 

Christ died to give us life, eternal life and abundant life. What do you do when you can't see that abundant life or you don't feel like you are living it?

I know God is faithful!

I know he has spoken certain things over my life and I know in his timing they will come, but what do I do in the meantime?

"In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised." - Romans 4:18-21

God is faithful!

#1 The sound of the heater

on freezing cold mornings

  #2 quiet mornings

#3 little hidden notes



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Girls With Swords Launch Team

If any of you know me and/or have been around me for any period of time, you know I love John & Lisa Bevere! Lisa has got such a heart for women & is such an anointed women of God. She is also a feisty Italian, just like me! :D

Lisa has got a new book coming out called Girls With Swords. I have no doubt that this book will challenge & encourage you to grow deeper in your relationship with the Lord, as all of her books have done for me in the past.

At the beginning of the week, one of Lisa's posts on Facebook stated that the first 100 people to sign up on her & John's ministry website would be apart of Lisa's launch team for this book. I quickly went to the website and entered in all of my information. A few hours later, I was pleased to learn that I made the Girls With Swords Launch Team! Wooohooo GO TEAM! I am so excited for this opportunity to promote Lisa's book.

Along with receiving a free advanced copy of the book, the rest of the launch team & I will have a conference call with Lisa herself ---> YA... I fell out of my chair when I read that!

Girls With Swords is available to purchase on February 12th, 2013. You can also pre-order the book on the Messenger International website right now!

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Ministry Monday - Homosexuality

Let me start by saying, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. WAIT!!!! Don’t stop reading! Now, let me say… the church has not done a good job at expressing the heart of God on this subject! In this post I’d like to address some things to the church and some things to the homosexual. Before I go into that let me start by apologizing on behalf of the church to the homosexual community. We have not done a good job of loving you like Christ loves you. Our mission as the church is to love God & love people. We have done a really good job at judging and condemning you instead of loving you and for that I am so sorry. You are loved by God so much! You are important to Him and you matter very much!!!

I’d like to start by explaining why God says “homosexuality is a sin”. So often the church preaches at unchurched people the word of God without explaining what they are preaching. When that happens, it often comes across in a condemning way.

Let’s define sin. For so long the world and even the church has defined sin as something bad that we do. I’ve come to realize more and more that sin isn’t so much as a specific bad act we commit, it’s more of a separator. The Lord God is Holy! He can’t sin, sin is not apart of Him whatsoever. God calls us to be Holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16) When we sin we become less holy thus pushing us further and further away from God. God’s heart is to be so close to us, to have such a personal and intimate relationship with us. Unfortunately, when Adam & Eve sinned in the garden, that single act separated us from God. Thankfully, God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross so that sin would have no power over us. When Christ died, he bridged the gap from us to God. “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous”(Romans 5:19). He is the only way to God. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Now, for years I would read that one verse and I always read it like this “Look, you better pick this Jesus guy otherwise you’re going to hell.” Or “If you pick any other religion, you’re going to hell.” God is NOT saying that in this scripture. What He is saying is “No one else is coming for you, I’m not sending anyone else to be your savior. I’m sending Jesus, my only son to build a bridge back to me, for you”.

Now that we understand that sin is a separator, let’s talk about why homosexuality is a sin. Before I go into that, I’d like to start by saying that there is no rank to sin in God’s eyes. Sin is sin and no matter how you try to rank it, it still separates us from God just the same. The reason why I say that is because homosexuality has become such huge thing & it’s really no bigger than any other sin. satan who is very real, has used homosexuality to cause strife in the church & in the church’s relationship with the world & it has got to stop! The church was never supposed to be in debate with the world. The church was always supposed to be love to the world. Church, we’ve got to stop the debate! It’s not about who’s wrong & who’s right, it’s about Him! It’s always been about Him. Stop biting satan’s bait of debate. That’s pride. World, please show us some grace, the church never claimed to be perfect. If anything, we are the first ones to admit that we are not. The only difference is that we realize we need something more than what we are to live in total freedom in this lifetime and the next.

Sorry I got off track, here we go…

Since this is a sensitive subject, I am going to do my best to be very gentle with it. I know a lot of people have been hurt. The Bible is very clear that homosexuality is not God’s plan for our lives. There are scriptures that clearly say this (1 Corinthians 6:9 & 1 Timothy 1:10). The biggest question that is asked in response to those scriptures is the question ”Why?” For so long the church has not been able to answer the “Why?” questions that people have on most major topics. Since we believe that The Bible is the perfect and infallible word of God, we’ve valued it enough to just take him at His Word. Unfortunately, much of the world doesn’t value it the way the church does so they want to know why God says certain things. The answer to the question “Why?” is found in knowing the one who created you. Ya see, knowing “Why?” will not set you free, knowing God is what sets you free. If that’s not good enough & you still want to know why, maybe this will help a little…

I was sitting in church one night listening to the late Dr. Leo Godzich, founder of NAME: National Association of Marriage Enhancement preach on relationships. He quoted Genesis 1:27 (AMP) which states, “So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Then he said something that struck me, he said men are the representation of the image of God and women are the representation of the likeness of God. Let’s break this down…

MAN = IMAGE

WOMAN = LIKENESS

IMAGE + LIKENESS = COMPLETE REPRESENTATION OF GOD

When a man & a women come together in marriage, they make the complete representation of God on the earth. And God is all about bringing heaven to earth. In the Lord’s Prayer we hear Jesus say “they kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). The “on earth as it is in heaven” part means, “If it aint in heaven it don’t belong on earth.” A man and a man together or a woman and a woman together distorts the representation of God on the earth. And God wants a clear representation of Himself on the earth.

One of my friends who struggled with homosexuality once said to me “How could this be wrong in the eyes of God if He created me this way?”. That question broke my heart, first because I could hear the pain in his voice that he had experienced from people condemning him & second because he had no idea who his true identity was in Christ. The fact is, humans aren’t born gay or straight, they are actually born Asexual. That is how a new-born baby can nurse on their mother’s breast and it not be a sexual act. Some feel they were born homosexual and I believe that they can look back on the course of their life and the only people that they were sexually attracted to were those of their same-sex. That makes sense to me & that may be true however, everyone is born into the sin nature. Those who struggle with pornography (yes, that is sin as well) weren’t born pornographers. Those who struggle with adultery weren’t born adulterers. We are all fearfully & wonderfully made (Psalms 139:14) but we were also all born into the same sin nature, and we have the choice to deny our cravings for that sinful nature that separates us from our Creator or we can choose to give into them & push Him further and further away.

To the person who is struggling with homosexuality: First, YOU are loved more deeply than you can ever imagine by God. You matter. You are important to God and all that He is doing on this earth. The Bible says that satan is the father of all lies (John 8:44). satan is lying to you to try to pull you away from your position of strength. When he tries to get the men to act like women and the women to act like men, he is trying to pull them away from their position of strength. Second, You are more than who you sleep with. You’re identity is not found in your sexual orientation. You are so much more! Please don’t settle for defining your whole life off of one small part of it. I encourage you to start a relationship with Jesus, give Him your heart and let Him begin to whisper who you are & what He’s created you for, over you. Jesus is willing and ready to accept you, just as you are with open arms right now.

To the church: Those forgiven much, love much. Let’s not forget how much we’ve been forgiven of & let’s become the best at loving. We represent the God of the Universe who is love (1 John 4:8). Let’s rise up & be who we were created to be…all of us!

Until next time, love you!
Kerrin

 

***I welcome any questions or comments on this topic but my heart is never to argue or debate with anyone, only to express my Father’s heart accurately. Like I said in the post, it’s not about who is right and who is wrong, it’s about the truth. If you are in pursuit of the truth, please feel free to comment but I will not argue or debate with you.***

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Who am I...

I am...blessed.
I want... to be a wife.
I have... two tattoos.
I wish... to travel the world.
I hate... bugs.
I fear...heights.
I hear... people chewing popcorn in the theatre right before the movie starts...that's my favorite!
I search... for the perfect thrifting finds.
I wonder... if I will ever have a white Christmas[not likely in Phoenix]?
I regret... that one time I wore stilettos walking around NYC.
I love... camping.
I ache... when someone misunderstands the heart of God.
I always... listen to my music really loud.
I usually... drive with my windows down and my hair blowing all over the place.
I am not... a summer person.
I dance... all the time.
I sing... all the time, but people rarely catch me.
I never... let my food touch if it's on the same plate.
I sometimes... eat chocolate cake at midnight.
I cry... every time I watch Pride and Prejudice
I am not always... quiet.
I lose... track of my age. I am 26... ya, I'm 26.
I am confused... by our nations most recent presidential election.
I need... the weekends to be longer.
I should... eat better.

Who are you?

(Post idea from Running On Happiness)

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Blog Vision

I am in the process of reading Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts. In her book she dares us to find the joy in the mundane. She explains that thanksgiving is the key to a life full of joy. In the beginning, God told Adam to name everything. The act of naming something acknowledges it’s existence and gives thanks to God for it. She does a better job at explaining it in her book than I am doing right now so don’t take my word for it… go buy the book!

I have finally come up with a clear vision for this blog. To be honest, I was struggling with this whole blogging process simply because I thought blogging was for A) stay at home moms who have lots of fun stories & pictures that they want to share about their family or B) for those hardcore fashionista's out there who seem to have nothing else better to do but shop and play dress up. Since I aspire to be both but have not yet reached either, I was having trouble finding a purpose for this blog. The more and more I think about it and read others blogs I’ve decided that I’m going to do something new, something different with my blog.
I want to use this blog for…

• My passion for ministry. I love working with women and the I am extremely passionate about strong, healthy marriages. Some posts will be on controversial topics like my post on homosexuality.
• Fashion – I’m sorry but fashion bloggers need to smile more in their photos – expect smiles & lots of joy!
• My list of One Thousand Gifts – I’ve decided to take Ann up on her joy dare. I work in an office all day so finding new joys will be a challenge but I am up for it. People should find joy at work. It shouldn’t be as stressful as we make it sometimes… although, I must admit I probably have the least stressful job in my office #gift!
• … and anything else that is interesting. I promise, I will try not to bore you!

I am in the process of purchasing a new camera right now since the one is own is umm… poop, so once I have that my posts should be more frequent. Hopefully, this will solve my bloggers block as well.

Thanks for reading.
xoxo Kerrin

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