Safe Journey

Have you ever felt like you were, what is a good word to use, maybe paused? In your spiritual journey with the Lord? I mean like you are walking along, or maybe running or crawling, whatever your spiritual journey is like, and then all of a sudden things quiet down and then you just feel like you are standing or sitting in one spot? I think a pause in your journey is good. Like you have time to rest in the presence of God, and just soak, and be still. But then after a while, you want to get going again. You want to take the next step in the journey and you want to get closer in your relationship with your Papa.

I think this is where I am in my faith. I am at a point in my faith where I feel like I have been crawling, running, walking, jogging, fighting, and resting. Now, I feel like I am rested and ready to take the next step in my spiritual walk with Father. I want to learn more about Him, I want to have more spiritual experiences. I want to strengthen my faith more, and have my cup be more filled with more of Him, to just indulge in new revelations and be used more for Him.

I think there comes a time in every relationship when you are really in love with a person that you want to find out more things about them. And you find out more things about them by spending time with them, going on different adventures, and experiencing new things with that person to find out more about who they are. The same goes for Jesus. The way we learn more about Him is spending more time with Him, to have different spiritual encounters with Him to find out more about His heart. I feel like with humans, when you really spend time with someone you eventually learn almost everything there is to know about that person. Like when you have lived with your parents for 20+ years you kinda get to know almost everything about them. Or if you have been married for 20+ years you also find out a lot about that person. But it's different with Jesus.

First of all He is God. He is someone who no one will every be able to grasp fully or even come close to it. We constantly will be learning new things about Him. Things He loves, things He hates. Things that make Him smile and laugh, things that break His heart. The more you get to know Him the more He shows you who He is. The more He lets you into His heart. You will never have enough experiences with Him to fully know who He is, you will never have enough encounters with Him to understand His personality completely. But that's okay. Because the more there is to know about the person, the more we strive to find out. I mean if you know everything there is to know about someone, wouldn't you be stuck, or be in the "pause" mode in your relationship forever?  I guess that's okay for most situations. I mean I guess I would want to know all there is about my mom, or about my future husband, or about my future children. But I think to know that there is more to God than we will ever understand or comprehend or fathom, it just makes the relationship I have with Him all the more thrilling and exciting.

I never want to stop pursuing Him. Sure sometimes in our journey together I get super tired and cranky and frustrated and I need to plop down on the ground and just breathe. I just need Jesus to help me be still in His arms so I can catch my breath and just take Him in at that moment. But other times when I'm done resting, I want to keep going. I want to get closer to His heart and find out more about my Savior.

I want to find out what He thinks about when He sees me, I want to know what He feels when He sees His child crying or laughing, I want to know what He dreams about for His children. I want to know if my jokes make Him laugh, or if my questions make Him shake His head in annoyance or wonderment. I want to know if I make Him happy. If what I am doing with my life is what He wants me to do. If I am being obedient to His will. If I am being prepared to accomplish His will in my life.
The only way I will ever know these things is if I keep moving and keep getting closer to Him.

I not only want to keep moving on this journey to get closer to Jesus because of the many questions I have. I want to keep moving because when you really love someone, you feel like you can never have enough of them. Like you just constantly need more of that person. More of their time, more of their love, more of their presence. You just want to constantly feel them near you, and you want to constantly hear their voice. We crave this from humans, so how much more should we crave this from God? I crave it so much. I just want more of Jesus, I feel like I don't have enough.

My uncle once told me, that when you feel empty in your spiritual walk sometimes, like you are losing touch of Jesus when moments before you were so full of Him, it's not because you have done anything wrong, it's because your vessel is expanding. As your vessel expands it requires more of God to fill you up, more of Him to satisfy your soul. I pray that our vessels may be constantly expanding so that we may need more and more of Him. That we may never be satisfied with how much Jesus we have. Because, the more we seek God, the more He pours Himself unto us.

He desires for us to keep moving on this journey. He desires us to want more of Him. He desires to keep expanding our vessel. We must be constantly reminded that as much as we want to know more about God, He wants to share more of Himself with us too.

Wherever you are in your relationship with God, on your journey with Him, remember to keep moving forward. To not stay in one place too long. Rest up, and get up and keep moving. The best things are yet to come.

"Make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed."-Hebrews 12:13

Fight On

Have you ever felt like you are at a point in your life, when you feel like you are being chewed up, ripped apart, and then spit out. You feel like you have hit rock bottom more than three times and all you can do is lie there and scream because you have no strength to get back up? Sometimes you feel like you are chained against a wall and you can't get loose and it's dark. Yea, I've been there too. And no, you aren't alone.

You see, suffering and hardships, pain and chaos are every where. We see it in the lives of our friends, our closet family, we see it in the mirror. When I was in this time of my life, I would get waves of feeling broken, like I was being punched in the stomach over and over again and I couldn't do anything about it except just take it all in.

But I want to tell you something that I learned. This is a war. This is a battle. You have to fight, you have to march, you have to get yourself together and move. You may look around you and see others collapsing and falling, you may see them broken, but remember one thing, you are not like them. You may look like them on the outside, but on the inside you are different. You have the blood of Jesus Christ flowing through your veins, you have the power of the Holy Spirit moving inside you. You have the armor of God covering every inch of your body. You were made to fight. You were not only made to fight, but you were made to win.

Yes, it's hard, but you aren't doing it alone. You have armies of angels fighting with you, and for you. You may be blind to see them, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. You may feel weak and exhausted and that's okay. That weakness is to remind you that you aren't strong enough on your own, but with Christ, there is NOTHING you cannot do. That weakness is to remind you that your strength comes from God and from God alone.

Remember, as you walk on the waves, the storm might seem huge, the water might feel freezing, and you may be getting hit hard by the wind and rain. But if you remember to look in front of you, you will see Him standing there. His eyes locked on you, His arms extended toward you just in case you slip, and if you do, don't worry, it's okay, He will not lose a second to save you.

I don't know what you are going through. It might be academics, it may be your health, it may be family issues, it maybe be something that no one would understand. But know this, you are the child of God, you are co-heirs with Christ. You are made to fight the good fight, you are made to be strong. Have you read Revelation? You know what happens? Spoiler alert, He wins. JESUS WINS!
If you are part of Jesus, if you have put your faith and trust in Him, if you believe He is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and that He gave up His life so we can be with Him FOREVER! Then you win too.

You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Christ will always strengthen you. I am living proof.

" but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."-Isaiah 41:30

It should be all about Jesus

I am one who dreams like crazy. Not the falling asleep and being submerged into dreams that I can't control, but the day dreams. The day dreams that you have when you should be studying for MCATs or the day dreams you have when you are driving and suddenly realize that you are at your destination but you have no idea how you made it here. Yea, those kinds of dreams.

Well, I was having those kinds of dreams when I was studying, and in the dream I was imaging myself talking in front of a crowd of people, and talking about what I love to talk about the most, Jesus. Like most day dreams you can control what happens, what you are wearing, where you go, who is there, and this day dream had all of it, except one thing was different. In this dream I imagined myself walking up on stage and I imagined myself placing my pink Bible on the podium and then I imagined myself taking a dream breath with prayer as I began to speak. But something happened, something that I did not imagine, I said "the problem we have is that we don't make it all about Jesus." I quickly jumped out of my day dream and glanced around. What was that? Where did that come from? That was not from me. I figured if it wasn't from me, it had to be from Him.

You see, there is nothing wrong with dreaming. If anything I think it makes us more like Jesus. He is the greatest dreamer of all, and of course we would be too, I mean He is our father and as His children it would make sense to dream like our papa. But what is wrong with day dreaming is the content.

As children of God, we are called to be like Jesus. We are called to be holy like Christ is holy. We are called to love Him with all our body, mind and soul, always. We are called to make it all about Jesus. To think of Him, to live for Him, to talk about Him, to act like Him, and in everything to glorify Jesus.

This plot twist in my day dream really taught me a lesson. A lesson I had no idea I would learn in my day dreams! But praise God for His ways of teaching His children, in the ways that are best for us to learn. I realized that I don't make it about Jesus all the time, and of course that's okay to an extent. We do have responsibilities that God gives us that we need to focus on, but I think what is important as the children of God to understand is that, behind all of our dreams and ambitions and behind all of our thoughts and feelings, and actions and sayings, it should all be about Jesus.

Last night, I had a great conversation with God, I brought up things in my heart before Jesus and told Him to cast the things that are not of Him away, so that things that are of Him will consume those places. I do want all of who I am to be about Him. I do want absolutely everything of who I am to be about Him.

Think about it this way. When you are in love with someone, you think about that person all the time. You think of scenarios with that person, you think of the jokes you would tell them, you think of what makes them happy and make a to do list in your head to do those things, you make it a goal to be pleasing to that person. Basically you do everything you can to make that person feel as much loved as they make you feel.

 So why don't we do that with Jesus? We know that He is CRAZY in love with us, so why don't we think of ways to be pleasing to Him? Why don't we make it a goal to do whatever it is that makes Him smile and laugh? Why don't we go out of our way to bring Him joy? Because He does that for us. He says, "I know my daughter loves the smell of the air after it rains, so i'm going to send a summers rain her way today." He says, "I love the way her eyes are filled with the reflection of the suns light when it rises and sets, so i'm going to wake her up just in time to see those things." He says, "I know she is hurt and is sinning, but I love her way to much to let her be that way, so I'm going to go and take her place on her cross, so that she will always and forever have a home with me." I don't know if you can see it or feel it or taste, smell, or hear it, but folks, you have a God that is passionately in love with you. He makes it all about us, so why do we not make it all about Him?

Remember to make it all about Jesus cause He is all about you! Keep smiling and know you are so loved!

If you have any prayer requests or comments you can leave them below or email me at smilelikejesus@gmail.com.

Psalm 37:7

"Be still in the Lord and wait patiently for Him."

I've been wanting for the longest time to memorize Bible verses. My mom has been a great supporter in this, telling me that one day we may not have the ability to have Bibles and only our memorizes will remain. There is even a post on this very blog that states who I wanted to memorize more of God's Word.

Now that it is summer and I have time to indulge in the richness of the Lord, I decided that it's time to get down to business and get learning. I gathered my index cards and started to write a Bible verse on each praying that this method will be beneficial to me and will finally help me meditate and embrace the living Word.

One of the verses I memorized was Psalm 37:7, it's so small but there is so much hope and beauty in it. It's funny though, that I didn't realize that until I was on the phone with a friend and this verse popped into my head as we discussed our ever so unpredictable future.

"Be still in the Lord..." When I first read this I remembered a friend who said she sometimes squirms in the presence of God because it's just so hard to be "still" or to be focused on just Him. I thought that this verse meant to not squirm out of the will for the Lord, but as I was on the phone I realized to be still could also mean to just trust in Him. To not complain or freak out or looking to other ways and other answers but to just stop and trust in God and to just believe that He will guide you and lead you perfectly.

"...and wait patiently for Him." Once again as I spoke to my friend and I uttered this verse to her, my mind stayed at the word "wait," what does it mean to wait? It means that you are expecting something, like when your parents go to work, you WAIT for them to come back, or when you take an exam you WAIT for the result. So in both cases, waiting means that you know something is coming, that you can expect something. So when you wait for the Lord you KNOW that He will give you something. So just wait because you know that He will give you what you need and what He desires for you so soon.

Be strong and courageous my friends!! Wait for the Lord because He's giving you something wonderful very soon!! 

Dear Friend,

Whatever journey you are on and no matter how hard it is, remember that God is using this time to prepare you for something much more wonderful than you can ever imagine. Keep pushing and keep trusting in Him.

Sincerely,
Your Fellow Traveler 

Finally, Sun

Though it was only months it felt like years before the snow finally began to melt, and for good this time; giving way for the green grass too peek up through the ground.

Ahh, Spring and Summer. My two favorite seasons for the year, why? Oh, because I'm not one to enjoy the cold. I'd rather have those firefly lit nights than those nights when it's too cold to even step out to grab a few essentials from the grocery store. And I love the nights when you can just lay down and watch our Creator's magical light show in the night sky, rather than slide everywhere on the ice that covers the sidewalks and the snow that covers the grass. Not to mention, I'd much rather prefer the dresses and shorts and T-shirts to the heavy coats, fuzzy socks, scarves, sweaters, long-sleeves and the boots that are supposed to help you not slip but for some reason don't really do the job for me.

Also, the nice weather has come at the right time as I finish another year of college. I think it's quite funny how I have waited, along with many of my other friends and peers, for the days of summer when we will no longer have to do school work, or stay in at the library when we could be in watching movies, or hanging out with friends. Now that summer has finally arrived....I'm so totally bored, and it's only been three days. Oh, geez.

But the good news is, that it will just be for this week, which I think I can handle. Though I am bored, I can't say that don't I deserve this much needed break. Last semester was rough on many levels, I mean it had many highs but just as many downs if not more. Academics is so pressuring especially for a student who desires and dreams of pursuing a medical career.

Starting next week, I will start my summer courses. I will be taking organic chemistry and physics II, as well as hopefully taking on an intern position. I hope and pray that they will both be tasks that I can shine in and at the same time be places where I can really learn and be engaged in.

I know this summer is going to be a good one, because I feel like God is going to be teaching me a couple things.

Lesson one, God is good. He always has been and always will be. He is sovereign and compassionate. I know you have probably heard this a thousand times, whether through people or by reading or the TV. Some of you reading this might even roll your eyes or might sense what I'm getting at and skip down. But honestly, I'm not saying God is good because my life is perfect, I'm saying God is good especially because my life isn't perfect. But you know what, the fact that my life is so crocked and crazy and just all out exactly what life is about I have understood and gained the knowledge of why God is good. He is good because He understands our deepest struggle and He will always understand. Our God loves you SO MUCH that just one sentence or a fragment of prayer moves Him to come to your side. You may not feel it all the time, you may not believe me, but it's true. I'm a living example of it.

You must know and understand that God is always close to You because He has claimed you as His own. He died for you not because He had to, but because He looked right at you and said, "I want him/her, forever." No matter your faults or struggles, He knew all of that already, but He still wanted you and that's why He had to give up His life, because if He hadn't we would never be worthy to be called His.

So, smile all you beautiful people because you are claimed by a King, making you beautiful princes and princesses!!

<3

Faith

July 9, 2013

So, about how i'm miserably failing this test. I've been presented to it multiple times and yet my failure keeps bringing me down making it hard to get back up. What test? Oh the greatest test of all! The Faith Test.

You know, the test when you totally confess your belief and your faith and then when you are presented in a situation when you have to rely on it and use it...you totally fail and wonder what happened. Yea...kinda what I'm going through right now.

You see, I have drawn a lot closer to Jesus this summer, not because I really chose to, because ever since I went to college I firmly felt that my faith took a turn for the better, and that was AWESOME. But this summer, I think God thought I needed to draw closer to Him, so He lightly pulled on the strings of my heart.

I learned quite a bit about faith this summer.

 Faith: total trust in something or someone. So, that's kinda like you telling your sister, I have total faith that you aren't going to eat this candy bar, and then when you come back you find it gone and you immediately blame her, when it was actually your dog... Okay maybe that's a bad example, BUT you get the point. Faith isn't something you just say, but then when you are given the opportunity to act on it you just throw it in the air.

Faith is powerful. In the Bible there are SO many instances when faith was the sole thing that carried so many believers. It caused miracles to happen. Miracles of healing, making the blind see, making the deaf hear, making the paralyzed walk! Jesus says over and over again, your faith has made you whole. Dang, that's some faith huh? There's this verse in the Bible that I have come to ADORE. It's Mark 11:24, it says, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you pray for, if you believe you have received it, it is yours." That's it. Simple...right?  Do you know the story of the women, who touched the hem of Jesus' robe? So for those of you who don't know the story, it's one of my favorite. So there's this women who has had this terrible illness for YEARS, today it would be something related to severe bleeding due to a problem in her uterus or ovaries or something of that nature. So in my Bible (I love my Bible because of this, and because of course it's my BIBLE!) it said that this women was basically  shunned from her town and family and friends because at that time, when a women was in "that-time-of-month" she is considered unclean, and since this women was constantly bleeding she was just unclean. That's it. So, when she hears that Jesus is in town she realizes that this is her chance to finally be healed. She knows that her chances of actually meeting him face to face is nearly impossible with, first the crowd of people, and second of basically what people would think of her and how they would treat her if they found her touching Him, making Him unclean too. Though she has all these thoughts, she goes anyway, I always play this scene over and over again in my head. So this women, walking, bumping into crowds of people that want to see Him too, and then finally she gets pushed down, and while she's on the ground sweaty, and out of breath, just about to lose the desire to move on and get back up, she catches a glimpse of Jesus' robe in front of her. She quickly crawls forward reaches her hands through the feet of others until she touches it. It's done.


She's healed. In the Bible it says, "she sensed in her body that she was cured of her affliction."-Mark 5:29. She felt the power of Jesus flow into her and stop her bleeding. She FELT it. Then the story continues when Jesus stops and asks who touched Him. The disciples look at each other and let out a laugh and ask Jesus, you've got to be kidding! Don't you see all these people around you? But Jesus ignores them and says, no no, I felt my POWER release. "At once Jesus realized in Himself that power had gone out from Him."-Mark 5:30. Then the woman feeling totally guilty and scared for her life that if Jesus found out it was her, an unworthy and unclean person touched Him, He would most definitely shun her too. But she ends up telling Him anyway and when she does, the love that He casts form His eyes, and the kindness in His voice when he says, " 'Daughter,' He said to her, 'your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be free from your affliction,' " never would she or anyone imagine that Jesus would say that and show that affection, publicly to a women such as her. THAT ladies and gentlemen is not only the power of faith but it is the love of our Savior. 

This summer, I had my faith tested. The verse that I just talked about, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you pray for, if you believe you have received it, it is yours," when my mom found this verse, I just stared at it for a while.  I took a bite of it and then slowly chewed it and then swallowed and then BAM, I felt the power of it just surging through me. The power that the women who was bleeding felt. If I have faith, then I can do this. I can do anything that God wants me to do. The only problem was when it became time to test my faith, I failed. Miserably. So then, God being so gentle and patient helps me pick up the pieces, picks me up from the ground, makes me stand and starts my training again.

 I notice in myself that my faith of course needs work, but I can withstand medium amount of trials, but when it becomes hard, the time when I really only have faith to rely on that I become Peter  walking on the water to Jesus. I see Jesus, and I have enough faith to get me out of the boat, but it's when I'm walking on the water that I start to look around me and wonder, what am I doing? I lose sight of WHO got me out of the boat and WHO can save me from drowning, and in WHO my faith lies. And when I lose sight of that I end up sinking, but Jesus always extends His nail pierced hand out to me, and pulls me back up into His loving arms and says," Hey sweetie, it's okay. We'll try this again. "

Faith is powerful. It's hard, but when you get it, it's amazing. God hands it to us like a gift all wrapped up, at first we don't see the difficulty of it, but when we are truly made to use it, we say, "Oh, I see how this works." Faith can move mountains, make us get out of boats onto water, makes us see, and stops our bleeding, all because Jesus gave it to us. We just have to hold onto it, especially when it's all we have.

 The important thing also about faith that we must not forget is, WHERE this faith lies, or I should say in WHO. We can't have faith in ourselves, because we are humans. Humans fail. We can't put our faith in material things because they are just...stuff, stuff can't do anything. We can't put our faith in science because what happens when you get to the point when no one knows. We must put our faith in Jesus, the only one who can make our faith reality, who never gives up even when our faith is sooo tiny almost invisible. He will carry us through, even if we fail. 

Keep smiling people for we have a Savior who we can have faith in, because He first had faith in us!