Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Wow, I cannot believe it’s already 2023. I mean, seriously, where did 2022 run off to?

2022 for me was definitely a crazy year, it was full of so many ups and downs, but most importantly, growth! I have been dealing with so many health issues, tests, unknowns, undiagnosed situations… and so much more! Yet, in the midst of it all, I have learned so much about what trusting God is really about. He has shown me that He is here, He loves me, He sees me, He is taking care of me, and everything in between! 

When 2022 began God gave me a verse, years past I had never gotten a “verse of the year” from the Lord.  But 2022 was so different, and I knew Him personally (and still do). So this is the verse i want to continue to share, and i hope it touches you in the way that it did to me:

Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Now, at the beginning of the year I was questioning why God would put that verse on my heart/mind. However, instead of letting the verse pass through my mind, I got out a paper and a pen to write it down and put it on my wall. I still have it on my wall to this day!

            When May came around my health issues began. I had always dealt with this, but it got much worse, and started to affect me on a daily basis. When the beginning of June came around God reminded me (again!) of that verse. I knew right then and there why I needed it. That verse helped me, and is still helping me get through the toughest season I have ever had to deal with.

I have been praying for healing. I have been putting my trust in God, and not worrying about what may happen to me. Just trusting God with tomorrow, my health, my tics, my life! God’s got this!

2022 was difficult, but I grew so much! God showed me who He is! Not only that, but my boyfriend and I have grown closer to each other through growing closer to God, and pushing through till’ the end of this tough season. I just want to say, thank you! Thank you to God, my family, my friends, my boyfriend, and everyone in my life! Thank you for not leaving me, for encouraging me everyday to chase after my Father in Heaven. Thank you for always being there to talk, and for just being in my life! God really has blessed me with such an amazing and loving community! And thank you personally to everyone who follows my blog, for just sticking around to see my walk with God grow!

This year God gave me my calling, to write about Him, to share encouraging words through this, to make videos sharing what I am learning, and really just reaching people for the Kingdom of God!

            However 2022 was for you, I pray that you had a great one! I pray you saw God in the days that came throughout 2022, and through every season you encountered Him, both in the good and hard. 

God loves you! 2023 will be a great year, give it to God! Whatever happens, wherever it takes you, remember, God is in control. He sees you. He is guiding you. He is with you!

Happy New Year, and I am praying for you all! 

Advertisement

Merry Christmas!

Isaiah 9:6–                                                                                                                       For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

    Merry Christmas, happy holidays! The day has finally arrived, and I am still trying to “wrap” my head around the thought of Christmas already being here. How did it arrive so quickly? This is my favorite Holiday of the year! I love the time I get to spend with family, the traditions we do, not only on Christmas, but also the days leading up to it. Such as Chocolate advents, reading through Luke, and really slowing down to focus on what the Christmas season is really about! Christmas is here, and Jesus is born! Do you know what Christmas is all about? Gifts are great- I love receiving gifts from family and friends, and giving them as well.  But centuries ago God gave us the best gift you will ever receive, and that is Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us.  And today this is the story I would like to share with you, so get comfy, grab a snack, and let’s get into it!

  Many of you might have heard this story as a kid. The story of Jesus’ birth. I know I grew up knowing a bit about it, but as a kid I didn’t really take it all in, or even really understand what it meant. All I cared about was the time I got with family, the holiday movies we would watch, and the gifts I would receive on Christmas day. 

  As I have gotten older I’ve been diving deeper into my walk with Christ, and what Christmas is truly about! It’s about the birth of Jesus Christ. God sent Jesus into this world as a baby boy to show us His everlasting love, as well as who God really is! 

  Everyone thought Jesus would be born a king. A wealthy guy who only the highest people on Earth would know. But that was far from the truth! Jesus was born in a stable, to a mother who was only a teenager, and a father who was a carpenter!

Matthew 1:18-21                                                                                                   Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

  Isn’t that incredible? God didn’t choose the rich, but the the poor, to have His son be born into! Jesus was a stranger to the world.

  Joseph didn’t think he was capable of caring for Mary and Jesus, so he was going to divorce her in secret. That way they wouldn’t be judged by the world even more. But the angel said “do not be afraid!” 

  God had a plan, and He was with them working everything out for the good of the world. I love these scriptures because it explains how Jesus was born the same way you and I were, human, from the womb of His mother, Mary!

  So, here are some questions for you to ponder: What does Christmas mean to you? How does the birth of Jesus affect you? 

  Christmas to me means celebrating Jesus being born to us so we would know God, know His love, and be saved and set free from our sins. God is love, and I am so excited to see what more He has for me this Holiday season as well as the new year to come!

  I hope, and pray, that today fills you with so much joy, love, and peace! I pray you are able to spend some time with loved ones this Holiday season. Remember, God loves you so much, and He sees you right where you are!

  What have you learned in the days leading up to Christmas? I learned to slow down, and really lean into what God has for me. 

  Praying for you all! Merry Christmas!

We Are Not Perfect!

So, I was wanting to write something more upbeat and happy. But, as of today I have honestly just been really down in depression. I don’t want to talk, work, or really do anything. Not even the things I felt so excited to do earlier when I was out and about. 

Life happens, I am not a perfect human, this world is just broken. But I have God and so do you who are reading this. I was going to post a video on how I am feeling However, I just can’t get myself to record it so I wanted to write it. Besides, writing is my strong suit. I hope this encourages someone out there!

Back in January, literally right when midnight hit I knew this year was going to be different, but I didn’t know how hard “different” would be. I just turned 18 last month and already it has brought even more change to my life. I would be lying if I said it was easy, because in all honesty, it is so far from “EASY”

So as I was saying, when January started I began to experience some depression which turned into the worst depression I have ever experienced, I mean, that was the first time I ever experienced it…. But, it was horrible, and it didn’t stop there. It lasted for 2 whole weeks, which if any of you follow my YouTube channel “Flowering Faith” you may have seen a video I posted about how I was feeling, that day was hard! God however told me to share, so I obeyed. It’s called:
“It’s Been A Struggle”

When the depression finally went away thanks to our amazing God, it came back off and on in the following months, and to be honest it has never fully left. 

I have been growing closer to the Lord in this hard season of a year, yet I always find it so hard to open my bible and take in the truth as the lies and depression come upon me. 

I bet you sometimes get that to, I know I am not alone, and yet sometimes I feel as though I am.

Since May I have been dealing with constant non stop health problems and on top of all that, anxiety, depression, and life! It has been so overwhelming and just weighing down on me.

I wanted to share all this with you because I want you to know that you are not alone! You have people around you, family, friends, church! But not only that, you have God! He has never and will never leave you. No matter how difficult your situation is, or how long you have been in a hard season. God sees you! He is providing for you, and He is using your situation for His glory, He has a purpose. Trust Him!

I don’t know who you are, but God does and He is with you through it all!

Hope you all are doing well, praying for you! 

God sees you friends
You are NOT alone

The Lord is Your Strength

The other day as I was listening to some calming worship music on youtube and while journaling there came a verse on the screen:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

        -Psalm 18:1-

      “I love you, O Lord, my strength”

I instantly grabbed my Bible and opened it to that verse to continue reading the rest of the chapter. Little did I know that (Psalm 18) was exactly what I needed today! God really spoke to me through each verse I read. God is truly so great! Verse 1 reminds me that my strength comes from the Lord. I shouldn’t try to rely on my own strength because my flesh is weak, whereas my God is strong, mighty, and is wanting to fight my battles for me. He has the victory!

-Psalm 18:2-

“The Lord is my Rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my Rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Not only is the Lord my strength, He is my safe place- where I take refuge. He is my shield, so in other words, when lies come my way, when the enemy’s attacks strike me, He will protect me and guard me. But only if I am prepared. My church is currently in a series called “The Fight Against Evil”, and my youth pastor has talked a lot about how before we are attacked we need to be prepared! Prayer and our Bible are the most powerful weapons, but only if you know how to use them.

(Ephesians 6:10-19) talks a lot more about this, and I encourage you to study and take a closer look at the verses! It is important to know how to use the armor of God. Honestly, I didn’t understand how we were supposed to put the full armor of God on, until one of the sermons at my church was explained this way:

“Before you leave your house, or step out of your bed to start your day, go to God in prayer, and ask Him to guard your heart, mind, and body from what may come
your way.”

Changed

Back in October I went to a 3 day woman’s conference my home church hosts every year. This year was my first time watching it in person and words can’t even describe how incredible it was!! God’s presence was soooo evident, God was working in that place, and I left COMPLETELY new!!! I am so excited to see what God does next!

I left feeling new and I want to kind of explain what I mean by that.

1st: I used to fear being myself because I thought others would judge me or even just give me looks. But now, I am fearless! I have been my complete self ever since the last day of DFL. I have of course still been facing some lies and attacks from Satan about this specific topic, and my response toward that is “I rebuke you Satan in Jesus’ Name!!” Because the enemy has NO authority over our lives and the way we view ourselves. God designed us in HIS image, and we are so loved by Him! Who cares what others “may” think, I only care about how God views me!

2nd: I have had such a fire for God, and I am just so excited to spread the Gospel. Honestly, as much as it is hard to explain, I have been so encouraged, filled with so much love, and God’s presence and light has just been flowing through me everywhere I go.

Making Jesus my number one priority has changed me and my perspective in so many ways! Inside and out.
I have made sure I read at least 1 chapter of my bible in any book each day no matter how I feel or even how tired I may feel.

God is so good!!

You can live changed as well! Take a moment today to look at your priorities. Is God still number 1 on your list? Or are you going to your phone, work, friends, and family for something that won’t bring you eternal satisfaction?

Join me today in reading a chapter of any book daily! For me, it has been Matthew and sometimes I even read a chapter of Matthew and 2 Samuel.
If you would like to see some more posts on my daily reading, maybe I could start posting daily about what I read that day and what I got from it. If anything, because let’s me honest. We don’t ALWAYS get something from a verse in that moment.

Praying for you all! Have a wonderful day.

We Need Rest!

The other night I was laying on my bed just scrolling through Instagram. Sometime later I decided to turn it off and put my phone down. Immediately after deciding to do this, the Holy Spirit laid this verse on my heart:

Matthew 11:28 NIV.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
‭

I’ll be honest with you, I sat there on my bed questioning why I needed that verse and why it even came to mind. I hadn’t read it on Instagram nor had I found it anywhere else. But, then as I was thinking about the verse I started to realize that I had been struggling to go to God with my burdens so He can give me the rest I truly need daily. Rest that this world cannot give to me. Instead, I was dwelling in my emotions and just trying to do it all on my own. I thought I would be able to get through it alone.

I always come to think I can do life alone, but you and I both know that is so far from the truth!! We can’t do anything on our own! And that is why we have Jesus, He takes everything we are going through on His shoulders and carry’s us through it all. However, that is ONLY if we allow Him to have it all.

Are you allowing God to have your trials? Are you trusting Him in this season of difficulty you may be facing? Have you surrendered your life to Him?

I have asked myself these questions time and time again so that I can reposition myself to Christ if I have gone off the path He has for me. Trust me, it can be so hard in the moment! But God WILL get you through this!

I am praying for you all! I hope each of you reading this have had a great week!

Am I Enough?

Have you ever struggled with feeling like you are not enough to your loved one, family, friends, or even your calling God has for you?

Well, I sure have and I am here to tell you this:
You are right, you are NOT enough!

Bet you weren’t expecting or even looking for that reply/answer. To be honest, I wasn’t either (at first). Until I realized that that those words are true!
You know why? Well, it’s simple, Jesus IS enough for me so I won’t be enough for someone else and they won’t be enough for me. Jesus is ALL I need in this world.
However, that does not mean you don’t need people in your life! You absolutely still need people, friends, family, and even your girlfriend/wife or boyfriend/husband to point you toward God and be there by your side through the highs and lows you face in life.
Not only do you need people there for you, they need you to be there for them as well. God put people in your life for a reason.

But always remember this:
Jesus is enough, so you don’t have to be

Words…

Words, they can be so hard to come by to be completely honest. For the past several months I have been longing to write something and post it on here. I absolutely love to write! However, when I open my google doc and get ready to write, I find myself staring at a blank, overwhelming page.

I have asked God over and over again, “What is it you are wanting me to write about?” But then I get lost in my own head. I have also been going through a hard season. This season of life has included a ton of lies from Satan and some health issues with myself.

Something I have learned through this time and time again is that I need to trust God, trust Him with every single thing, even the tiniest of details. He knew from the start that I would be facing this season, and He has made a way out of it.

Anxiety, tics, health, attacks, lies, fear, doctors visits, the unknown. It all seems so hard, and as if I am being attacked from every side. But the Lord has never and will never leave!

God has been here with me every step of the way, and I know, whatever you may be facing today God SEES you, and is ready for you to come to Him, His arms are open wide! He loves you, cares about you, and He has a way out of the struggles.

PRAYING for all of you reading this and I hope you have a blessed day!

.Jesus Knows The Struggle.

I have been struggling with my emotions, anxiety, and stress a lot lately that it has been really hard for me to get on here and create, even making YouTube videos has been difficult, and that is all because of the devils attacks on my life.

Advertisements

However, tonight I was reading through a couple of bible plans I am going through on the bible app called “Emotions” and “Foundations of Faith.” And I honestly learned a lot from both! The 2nd one taught me how God is love! and how He is involved in Creation and how he cares so much for Humanity. God is our Creator and He does not regret that!

The ‘Emotions’ Bible plan taught me something different though, and it honestly relates to more of what I have struggled with recently. First off it tells me how my feelings and faith in God are not at war with each other, feelings can actually fuel our Faith! This is something that I have struggled a lot to believe the past years yet it is so true! it just depends on how we choose to respond to our feelings and that is when Jesus comes into all of this. He was there at the beginning and will never leave.

Jesus came into this world as one of us. Fully man, fully God. There was one difference though, He knew NO sin! Yet He freed us from our sins to save us when He sacrificed Himself on the cross.

Since Jesus came into this world human that means He knew and lived every emotion we face in our day-to-day lives (Sadness, anger, frustration, etc.) Yet He didn’t respond to His emotions the same way most of us do. We may find ourselves trying to hide, forget, or even distract ourselves from the emotions that seem to overtake us daily. Yet Jesus responded with prayer, when He felt anger, sadness, or frustration rise in Him he would go to God and say “Let your will be done” even in the pain He went straight to God and gave Him His trust. He made sure that through His emotions He connected closely with His Father.

Advertisements

In Matthew 26:37-39 we see Jesus become distressed and in anguish about His coming crucifixion. and yet, in the middle of all this He went to His father in prayer and once again said “Let your with be done” 

-Matthew 26:37-39-
"He took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and John, and He became in anguished and distressed. He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." He went on a little farther and bowed with His face to the ground, praying.
"My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."

Jesus NEVER ignored His own pain, He acknowledged it in the moment, and He does not ignore our pain, in fact when we are hurting, God promises to always be with us, no matter what!

Our feelings can fuel our faith, but only when they send us running to the Father

In the verses below Jesus is telling His disciples whats going to happen to Him:

John 16:20 (ESV)
"Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep, and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but the sorrow will turn into joy."

John 16:20 (NLT)
"I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but the grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy."

Jesus knew the purpose of His pain, yet He didn’t diminish the disciples’ grief in the process. Jesus acknowledged that they would weep, mourn, and be sad about what all was coming. He didn’t tell them to “get over it” or “ignore it.”
He actually told them that the grief would turn into JOY!

Feelings are a reminder that you need to go to the Father

So, as an encouragement today. Spend some time with God in both the happy, and the hurting moment. You will not regret it, trust me!
and ask God to reveal to you how it is He is wanting you to deal with your current emotions, I may not know what you are facing right now but the Lord knows and He is with you right now and forever.

Praying for you all, and I hope you have a blessed day/night. Talk to you next time!

Advertisements