Let it Go

When I hear the phrase, "Let it Go" i think about the movie Frozen. I mean doesn't pretty much everyone think of that? Letting go of something can be one of the hardest things to do. Wether it is letting go of a past boyfriend/girlfriend, feelings for someone, a parent that left,detaching someone from your life, its SO hard to let go sometimes. We don't always want to let go of what is making us angry, stressed, or hard hearted. It does us NO good to hold on to the anger or the burden. Sometimes, we just have to surrender it to Him who is the ONLY one who can rid you of those feelings. He is the only one who can soften your heart and take away the burden. He will lift it right off of you with no cost. Maybe it's that person you need to forgive for hurting you so badly or maybe its someone who you need to remove from your life because they aren't worth the stress and anxiety that comes along with them. When we start putting material and earthly feelings and things before God, you know you are too consumed with what this world offers. You need to surrender it to God, let it go, and let God work in His mighty ways. If you ask, He will give you the strength you never thought you had to forgive or let go of whatever you are struggling with. Do not let things that are out of your control, affect how you live life. God wants us to realize that He is the only one in control and the only one who can relive your pain. You just have to trust that He knows what He is doing. If you are confused or don't even know where to begin, start by just being real with God. Pray and talk to Him like your best friend, He cares more than anyone I promise you that. "You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding." Psalm 139:5,6 He is in complete control. Surrender ALL,not just some,but ALL your anxieties and worries and feelings that are not from Him and ask Him to fill your heart with love. Ask Him for strength to let go and trust that He is good through it all and will renew your spirit. I promise you He will give you the strength to let go. Give Him the every part of your life and stop holding on to the things you want to control because those will crash and burn without Him. 

Spreading Joy

When I hear the word Joy, MAN does it fill me with such happiness and comfort. Joy is something we decide to choose daily. It's a choice we make every morning when we wake up. We decide what kind of day we are going to have. Are you going to let others steal your joy or embrace the greatness of the day ahead? Are you going to face the day with happiness and thankfulness and love? Do not let anyone steal your joy because, true joy comes from the Father!! He gives us ETERNAL joy!! Think about how amazing that sounds! Imagine having never ending joy that fills you up every single day!! Be a light to others because you are a child of the King. He wants you to show others love and encourage everyone you come in contact with. You have no idea who could benefit from you spreading the amazing joy that comes from Him and Him alone, the creator of Joy!! Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of green hope fill you with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy spirit, will brim over with hope!" How cool is that?? I don't know about you, but that gives me so much encouragement and fills me the happiness and joy. Make an effort everyday to show His love and remind others how important and special they are. “It is His joy that remains in us that makes our joy full.” ~ A. B. Simpson I LOVE this quote wow! If we remain in Him and find Joy in Him, He will make our joy complete and He will remain in us and continue to give us the amazing joy!! If that doesn't make you happy and put a smile on your face, I don't know what will!! If you choose God daily, you are choosing a life of joy every single. You were created for greatness and a purpose!! You are SO loved and SOO cherished and SOO valued!! He loves you beyond measure!! You are a RADICAL human being who is a beautiful light. You are important and special, NEVER forget that. I will end with this verse that sums it all up, wow is God so good at saying such a little phrase that can bring so much peace and joy. 1 Peter 1:6 "Be truly glad. There is WONDERFUL joy ahead." Spread Joy wherever you go!! Never stop showing others the joy you have found from loving Jesus. Be an example to everyone around you make Joy NOTICEABLE!! #spreadjoy 

Love

Love is the most misused word in the human language. We use the word love for multiple things such as, "I love this movie" or "I love this certain type of food" or "I love this person." Most of the time we tie love to the material things of this world when really is that truly love? That leads to the question, what is love? Its 3 words 9 letters, God is love. God talks about the subject of love more than any subject in the Bible. In order for us humans to understand the concept of love properly, we must love the right way, which is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. You must love God with everything you got. He also talks about loving your neighbor as yourself. For some of us, loving someone as much as we love ourselves is BEYOND your call of duty, but we can not love until we have learned to love the one who loved us first. God's love story is the ultimate love story. Think about it, He sent His ONLY son to come to earth and take on the harshness and trials of this world FOR YOU. Then His son took on sin and dies for YOU even before the world met you. You were un deserving of His love, but He extended it to you so you could have an intimate relationship with Him. Tell me that is not the greatest love story you have ever heard?! It totally beats any Nicholas Sparks novel or love story thats for sure. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us because He wanted to know us. He wanted to know us on a different level than any person could ever know us. The coolest thing about God's love is that, it's NEVER ENDING. His love is unmeasurable. His love is incomprehensible. His love is unlike anything we will ever be able to understand. His love NEVER fails and overcomes all sins. We must learn to love Him in order to love those who hurt us and disappoint us. We are called to love others because God loved us first and because He loves us when we mess up and fail Him every single day. Romans 12:9-10 says, "Love from the center of who you are: don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply." We must love deeply and passionately and selfless. The love we demonstrate on a daily basis should be sincere and genuine. Philippians 1:9-10 says, "This is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much, but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Love a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of." Love others the way Jesus loves us daily and learn to look at people with eyes filled with love and not hate for one another. Any person who is full of hate can not love God because again, God is love. Finally He sums it up with a small statement in 1 John 4:21, "Loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both." He does not try to make it complicated, but very simple. If you learn to love like Jesus you will find yourself looking at other people the way God sees them, a precious child of the King. I challenge YOU, live out a life of Love. Be willing to love others the way God loves you, with a unconditional sincere type of love that can only come from loving Jesus first. 

You Belong

Sometimes we feel like we don't belong or we just don't fit in with anyone or anything. We tend to change who we are just to fit in with a certain crowd or group of people. We sacrafice our greatness to meet other people's greatness. I want to let you know, YOU BELONG. You are a child of God who loves you more than you know. Sometimes we feel alone when we don't feel like we belong, but we are NEVER alone with Christ. He is always there and you always belong in His eyes. When people don't see your worth, God sees it. If a certain group of people don't accept you for you, then those people are missing out on how amazing you are. You are special and have a special place in God's heart who says you do belong and you don't have to change for anyone. I love how God tells us to come as we are, not dressed up nicely or come to Him thinking we are the best. He tells us we are accepted, we belong to Him and we can come with open hearts. He comes with arms open wide ready to accept us.  1 John 4: 4-5 says, " My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over the false teachers, for the spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. These people belong to the Christ- denying world. They talk the world's language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and BELONG to God." You always belong to your Heavenly Father who loves you more than you will ever be able to comprehend. He has His arms open and full of love for you. Do not worry about fitting in or going along with the crowd, but focus on how Christ sees you, someone who is created beautifully and BELONGS to the King. 

You are Worthy

You are worthy. You are created for greatness. You are loved. You are cherished. You are a masterpiece. You were handpicked by the Creator of the Universe. You were made to do great and beautiful things through Him. Some days we feel defeated, like the world has won and we are left feeling hopeless and worthless. For some of you some one, wether it be a friend, boyfriend, or girlfriend, told you that you were worthless or un worthy of love or affection. Let me tell you, you are WORTHY of love you are WORTHY of affection you are WORTHY of so much more. You are not worthless, God tells us in Proverbs 3:15 "She is worth MORE than rubies; NOTHING you desire can compare with her." You are precious and worth so much in the eyes of your Father. The world will continue to tell you that you are not worth more than what it offers, but in God's eyes you are a masterpiece and created for much more than anything the world can offer you. You shine bright because you belong to the Creator. "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago" Ephesians 2:10. He created us NEW and DIFFERENT. You are not worthless in the eyes of your Heavenly Father, you are made for great things that He already has in store for you. When people and the world tell you that you are worthless, remember that God says you are worthy and selected by Him to shine bright and that is all that should matter at the end of the day. You are loved by the creator of love who believes in you always and will never give up on you. You are worth it!!

Fear of the Unknown

We all have fear of the future or fear of what we are not in control of. This is so normal I promise you. Its okay to fear what the future holds and what lies ahead. I struggle with that more than I want to. For me, going to college next year scares me. It makes me have to put something so big, like college, into the hands of someone greater that I. Fear alone can rule you if you let it. In the Bible, God talks about fear a multitude of times, and trusting His plan when we get anxious about what is yet to come in our lives. When I say God talks about fear a lot, He talks about it 365 times. He mentions the phrase "Do not be afraid" 365 times, isn't that AMAZING. He constantly reminds us that He is with us and will guide us to where we need to be. Why should we fear the unknown when God has it already planned out and shaped the way He wants it to be? Psalm 27:1 gives me so much peace about the things yet to come. It says, " With God on my side I'm fearless, afraid of no one or nothing." He tells us He is on our side!! He is FOR us!! He is on OUR team cheering us on!! Why should we be afraid when we know He is with us and knows EXACTLY what is in store for the road ahead? Another great verse that truly eases my soul is Hebrews 13:6, "God is there, ready to help. I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?" When you look and take a step back, if you truly are walking in the way of the Lord and you are letting Him take control, who truly can stop you? God knows every intricate detail of your life, why not trust Him in the plans He has for you? He knows you better than you know yourself and when you ask Him for guidance He will lead you in the way He wants you to go and His way is ALWAYS the best way. Do not be afraid of what is yet to come, instead rejoice in what God is yet to do in your life in the times ahead.  Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future declares the Lord."