Just Trust

Venture boldly into the unknown. For God knows it all :) 

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a Known God." 

-Corrie Ten Boom.

The Call of Abram

"The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you." (Genesis 12: 1)


"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." (Psalm 32:8)

We are going into a New season, a prophetic season (Joel 2: 28, Isaiah 40:31, Jeremiah 31:31-34). It's so exciting!! God will pour out more of His Spirit (His power, His love, His glory) on us to bring us closer to Him and to equip us to partner with Him in His harvest. I know this may sound scary for some of us and it may seem like God is calling you to leave behind everything you've known kinda like Abram. Choosing to trust His Word and His Spirit sometimes feel like falling and it may seem safer to cling onto what you've known. But we just have to trust that God has only good plans for us and He only gives us good gifts. And even when we fall, He won't let us hit the ground. He is with us and He will strengthen us and guide us along the way.(Related post: My G.P.S) So yeah, let's just let go of our lives, our plans, our all. Let's just fall into His arms because when we do that that's when everything else falls into place- He gives us the desires our hearts. This song really encouraged me: ♫ When I fall I know where I'll be landing. When I fall I know that You'll still be standing. ♫ =)

 The journey will have bumps but we have to cling onto all the promises He gives us and keep seeking His face and looking to His strength to carry on. We have to hold fast to the hope that He has called us to: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12: 2-3) He said it. He is faithful. He will do it! :)

Watch these video I made for us. Jesus is calling us out of the darkness into His marvelous light! ☼ He is calling us out of self-reliance to rest on His Spirit so as to soar on wings like eagles! (post: Rest => Soar) We are going to shine!!! The Kingdom of God is at hand!!! (post: The Kingdoms) Lord, help us die to ourselves in order to live as children of The Light. Please burn away anything in us that is not of You and fill us up with more of You. All for Your glory! We love You Jesus!!! =)

♫ We gon' light up the world! ♫  It's so exciting!!! Shine Jesus Shine! =)

I have a Father! :)

♫ I have a Father

He calls me His own

He'll never leave me

No matter where I go

He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls 

And hears me when I call ♫

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness."
-The LORD. (Jeremiah 31:3)

  

BEHOLD LOVE!

In my "Remember" post I rant about all my dissatisfactions with my life then how God told me that all I need to do is to remember His love, His rich, rich Love because it His love that transforms me and brings restoration to my life. 

"BEHOLD! what kind of love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1a)

This is funny because that's the same thing He told me at Prefall (He spoke through Thaddeus in Hello Africans post) and when I stopped fixing my eyes on myself (my mistakes and the devil's accusations) and on my mind (trying to understand grace logically), yeah when I took my eyes off me and fixed them on God (the Living Loving Faithful Father) I was set free! It didn't happen immediately because there was a battle of doubt (unbelief) vs. faith (choosing to believe the Truth about God, His great Love and my identity in Him). It really helped me to speak the Truth outloud to silence the accuser in my thoughts. Yeah He then set me free and filled me with His Love through His Holy Spirit("God has poured out his Love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."(Romans 5:5)And yeah when I did this (renewed my mind with Truth), it was kinda like the story of the prodigal son: 

"So he got up and went to his father.“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate." (Luke 15: 19-24)

The thing is God is our Father and He sees us and cares about us and He doesn't care how long we've been distracted by the world, deceived or oppressed by the enemy, He loves us the same. All He cares about is that we come back to Him and freely receive His Love and find our identity in Him (sons and daughters) because He hurts to see us hurt and oppressed by the world. He just LOVE US for free! hahaha We don't have to work for it or even understand it. We just need to see it. Let us behold His Love :-)

NEVER will I leave you, NEVER will I forsake you

At one prayer meeting during Fall, Paul, Thaddeus and I were praying for each other and doing listening prayer. God gave me encouraging words through them. Paul told me that God was going to protect me- He got a vision of the cross and it's shadow (It reminded me of Psalm 91) and Thaddeus got this verse for me:

"I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:18)

This was really encouraging to hear because, I was facing a lot of opposition and I still had the fear of rejection. At prefall, I shared in my post that many people had visions about what was going to happen this year. Most of people got visions that spiritual warfare would intensify this year. Some people had visions/dreams that there would be lots of conflict between the staff and students in the fellowship and it is unfortunate that this came to pass :( ( "a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household." -Matthew 10: 36. To be continued... )
Let's all behold His love and receive it =) God is with us and even when everyone deserts us He never will.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ." (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

P.S: Thanks God for my earthly dad, for how you have shown me Your love and protection over me through Him. And thanks God for being the Perfect Father who loves me perfectly :)

*Note: "My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." =) (Proverbs 3:11-12)
I thank God for my African parents who helped me understand what this verse means lol.
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Every stress and anxiety is gone when I enter Your Rest. I am surrounded by the Power of Your Love! :) 

REST

"You make known to me

 the path of life;

in Your presence there is

 fullness of joy;

 at Your right hand are

pleasures forevermore."

   (Psalm 16:11)

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"Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

 in all your ways acknowledge Him,

    and He will direct your paths."

 (Proverbs 3:5-6)

*Learning to Rest is Learning to Trust*

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Update 9/30/12: Here are the words I left unwritten from this post...


"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15)

So through different events at the beginning of this year and before that, God was showing me that I had turned into a Martha and He was calling me to become a Mary (who I used to be). I don't want to repeat myself much so you can go check out these related posts: Trust/Love Issues anyone? (A Call to Abide), Remember, Just Be, The Present, The Desert.

For a summary, my relationship with God was not okay as well as other areas of my life but I kept moving on with my routine (leadership with InterVarsity and school. Trying to balance the two). I remember one time during Common Ground I went to get prayer in the back from Paul and when I told himthat I wasn't doing good with God he told me, "But you're a leader..." He was surprised and I knew why. That's the view people had of me. ♫ On the outside you think I'm alright. There's a smile on my face, everything's okay. But on the inside there's a different story... ♫ (song below) I became like the rabbit on the right. My sophomore year I was co-leading a freshman bible study, family prayer meeting, the black csame group and I organized a school wide event mostly by myself (The Black Church Experience) and trying to keep up with being a Bio major. So yeah, on the outside it seemed like I was doing great with God since I was doing all that stuff for Him but beneath the surface my carrot was tiny. I knew this for sure but most people couldn't tell because they usually judge by external appearances. But I knew that I wasn't doing good with God. My identity was not firmly rooted in Him (kinda like in the vision that Paul had of me as a plant in the post: My Voice). And I became too caught up with being a Martha (doing work for God) to deal with my identity crisis... until things started falling apart and God used that to get my attention so that I can put first things first: my relationship with Him. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.

Friendship with God

So I finally left leadership after the Fall. In the Winter I was set on seeking God and finding my identity in Him so I also withdrew from Common Ground for a while (I talk about this in the "Remember" post). During that time of being by myself and in the Word, God was reminding me of His identity as my loving Father and my identity in Him as His daughter. He was also restoring to me joy and peace which I was really yearning for (posts: Just Be and The Present). And He started giving me gifts to share with people, Wisdom through His Spirit and His Word. Read the verses at the top of this post again. So yeah, He was just reminding me that it's all about my relationship with Him. Everything else flows from that ("Ministry flows from being"). So my focus should always be on Him. When I focus on Him I find my identity in Him; when I seek His presence I find all that I need (love, joy, peace, strength...) which is too good to keep to myself so I wanna share it with others (ministry). So this is what He meant by working from a place of rest (post: Trust/Love Issues anyone?) And the opposite of what I was doing (Martha me). My focus was on the work: "I have no peace and joy but I'll keep doing these things for God. I'll make this sacrifice for His Kingdom." This seems nice and sacrificial but it was the WRONG approach. God doesn't tell us to sacrifice our relationship with Him "for His Kingdom" What's His Kingdom about in the first place? "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17) And in 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 Paul tells us, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." Which is the same message Jesus gave Mary and Martha, "but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

So yeah, Jesus was reminding me that He just wants to be my friend (like a real friend). To hang out with me all the time. And because He is God He knows everything so He doesn't want me to aimlessly do stuff for Him and wear myself out. He wants to direct my paths so I need to stop worrying and choose to listen to Him. (post: My G.P.S) He wants me to do stuff with Him. That doesn't mean that everything will be easy. Storms will come but He promises to be with us even in the storm so we can find rest in Him even in the storm. Listen to the first song I posted: "Alone in His presence"."No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends"- Love Jesus. Isn't that amazing??!! Jesus calls us His friends!! HaHaHa! =)

God, thanks for teaching me all this stuff. Help me to fix my eyes on You always. It's easy to take my eyes off you to focus "on the work" or on the storm which brings weariness. And it's easy to try and find rest in the world (say facebook, or movies, or silly unimportant things) or in people or even in myself but I've realized that's not finding rest; it's actually falling asleep. But I want to be awake and alert and at rest in You always so yeah, fill me up with more of Your presence. Thanks for calling me your friend! Help us all to apply this message and to be good friends with You coz that's all that matters at the end of the day. We love You Jesus! Thanks for loving us and sending a friend request in the most awesome way: laying Your life down for us even when we were Your enemies. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 <3 :)

My GPS :-)

Hello everyone :)

At the beginning of this year I was really worried about my future and stressed about the present since I didn't know what I was meant to do to prepare for something I wasn't sure of. Then Jesus told me: "Girl, don't stress...

Yeah I know that you don't know where you are going or what's coming up the bend and I'm not mean, it actually hurts me to see you grope along the way and sometimes crash into walls. 

So let me direct your attention to the left over there. What's that? Yup, I have given you a GPS so I don't want you to park somewhere waiting to receive all the answers about your future before you can move on. I want you to move on so that the GPS I have given you can work. So venture boldly into the unknown because you have a GPS that knows. Wait a minute! that actually means that you have to activate the GPS first then listen to it , trust that it will get you to the desired destination that I have programmed for you and then actually follow the directions it will give you.

 So each day as you journey on you have the choice to activate the GPS and to follow the directions it gives or you can decide not to. If you decide not to then you are choosing to trust yourself. Please don't do that because it's dumb lol (but for real, you just told me that you don't know the future so choosing to trust yourself is choosing to trust ignorance which will lead to you getting lost and crashing into things. So that would be setting yourself up for failure). Speaking about failure, the word 'failure' does not exist in the GPS manual as long as you have activated it and have decided to follow it's directions. Yes you may get distracted from time to time and hence fail to hear some instructions and you may have taken a wrong turn somewhere. But no need to worry! The beautiful thing about having a GPS is that it recalculates and sets you back on the right track to reach your destination. 

Yes the destination I have programmed for you is AWESOME! but I want you to enjoy the journey as well that's why I have given you this free gift, this GPS so that you can stop worrying, stressing, wandering around aimlessly, crashing into things and getting stuck in traffic- all of this will wear you out and even prevent you from reaching the destination. This GPS is not ordinary, its special! When you first start using it you will be on manual drive (you'll probably be switching off between trusting yourself and following the GPS) but when you actually decide to follow only the GPS then auto-drive will be activated, the GPS will drive for you and all you have to do is rest and enjoy the view. So yeah, take this gift, activate it and follow it please, for your own good. Peace!" :)
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*GPS= God's Powerful Spirit aka Holy Spirit

Huh? Who? What? Where?Why? How?
 "The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him (Jesus)— 
   the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, 
   the Spirit of counsel and of might, 
   the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD— 
 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
   He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, 
   or decide by what he hears with his ears
but with righteousness..." (Isaiah 11:2-4)

"If you love me (Jesus), keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate (Counsellor / Helper) to help you and be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14: 15-18)

"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14: 25-27)

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30: 21)

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Practicals

A. Are you driving on the wrong streets? Time to make a U-turn into the Jesus freeway =)
Check out this song by Alisa they came to perform at the Black Church Experience we had in '10 (thanks guys! for blessing us with the powerful gifts that the Holy Spirit has graced you with =).

B.Jesus is saying: Let me be your wings.... "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but they who wait for 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 40: 30-31)

"Fly with me and I will be your wings"

1. Read the Bible- Anytime. Anywhere. You could try reading it right before you study. It usually gives me peace which helps me focus more when I'm studying and reminds me that the Holy Spirit is with me as I study and is there to help me and to guide me into all truth. Also, we all deal with emotional drama everyday (stress, anger, confusion, discouragement, worry etc) and that's the time that you least feel like reading the Bible but grab it anyway and turn to any random Psalm and it will set you straight =)

2. Pray- God is everywhere around us and also in us (just believe Jesus and He will be) so talk to Him anywhere, at anytime about anything and everything :) He wants to give you His peace (doesn't depend on your circumstances) and wisdom. And yeah, He just wants to hang out with you and be involved in each area of your life so let's stop ignoring Him. Let's acknowledge Him (pray) for He is always with us :)

"Leave behind the world you know for another world of wondrous things"

3. Ask. Stop being afraid of the Holy Spirit. He is pretty cool! Have you read the Bible? The Book of Acts? The followers of Jesus were having a blast walking by the Spirit and doing "crazy things" like Jesus said they would ( John 16:12).

 *So Trust God and Ask for the Holy Spirit to fill you- Yes He lives in you from the moment you believe and give your life to Jesus but He also wants to fill you (take control/ be more involved in every part of our life) so we have to lose control and for that to happen we have to trust God.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11: 9-13)

* Wanna read about my Holy Spirit filling experience? Check out: Holy Spirit Downpour at Prefall. (You don't have to have the exact same experience as me to be filled by the Spirit just do what Jesus says that's the whole point for all of us. Let's surrender more and more until we surrender our all to Him :)

K, this one was for individual application and I'll publish another one later for corporate application. God showed me that this message is not just for myself so look out for "The Desert" post (coming soon!). Peace! =)

Prayer meetings:

1. Family prayer led by me and the family prayer gang- Wednesday at 1pm Storke Plaza.

2. Racial Reconciliation prayer led by Lissah and Shayne- Fridays at 1pm ?

3. Yours- day? time? :)

4. Prayer and Prophecy- Monday nights (anytime between 7-10pm) at the prayer shed on DP

*Video Clip: Check out this interview with Pastor Guillermo Maldonado. He talks about how Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever and His promises to His followers are still true today. Check out how revival is spreading like a wildfire in places where people take Jesus at His Word. Miracles still happen! Jesus is so cool! hahaha =) And there are miracles happening right here in IV. Check this out: Jesus Loves IV.

Grace

Jesus doesn't care what you've done before 

How you've rebelled or slammed the door 

No matter how far you've run or

how long you've been untrue 

Jesus doesn't care 

He still offers forgiveness to you 

(Song: Jesus doesn't care)

"as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12)

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." -The LORD (Jeremiah 31:3)

"Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:8a)

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9a)
He said to me, "It's not about your power or lack of it. It's all about me. So look to me and you will find freedom, love and all you need." (He told me to: Taste and See)

"You surround me with songs of deliverance." (Psalm 32:7) :-)

Taste Surrender, See Freedom =)

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him." (Psalm 34:8)

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior...for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. " :-)

(Mary's Song in Luke 1)

Thank you God for all that you have done for me so far! You're so great! And I don't even deserve it. You're so gracious! And I'm excited for what you're yet to do! (for there is much to be done)

Yesterday at church, the sermon was entitled, "A Mary Christmas" and it was based on Luke 1. Just want to share my thoughts about that passage. Mary sung a song ( Luke 1:46-55) after the Angel gave her the news that she would supernaturally conceive and give birth to Jesus. At first she was astonished at the news, she was "greatly troubled at his words." “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (vs. 34)

Many times, things seem impossible: how will this person/situation ever change? I've had this habit/problem/struggle for so long, how can I ever be free? How can I overcome this? How will I be set free? How will I get close with God (again or for the first time)? It makes no sense at all. Let's be logical, it seems impossible.

I have some good news for us! It's not up to us.

When Mary asked the angel, "How will this be" she was focused on her limitations, "since I am a virgin."

But the angel shifted her focus off herself by saying, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you... For nothing is impossible with God."

GOOD NEWS!

It's not about us! Freedom doesn't hinge upon our own strength or lack of it.

It's about God. How He works in us through His Holy Spirit. It's about His Power to set free, to heal, to restore, to do the impossible.

So all we have to do is surrender to His Power. Like Mary did: (she humbled herself )

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”

Let's imitate Mary, let us humble ourselves before Him. Let's admit defeat. We are not all-powerful. He is. Let's let Him fight our battles for us. He is able!

Then she sung a song to praise God even before He did what He said He was going to do. I think we should do the same. Learn to rest. To have faith. To be pregnant with hope for what God is going to do. To be confident that He will fulfill His Word to us even when we don't see it at the present moment. Let's praise Him where we're at, He surely won't leave us here.

"Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s." (2 Chronicles 20: 15b)

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength"

(Isaiah 30:15a)

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:14)

Let go and Let God.

"Remedy" by Dominic Balli: http://youtu.be/RBkVmQZRhEs

(Look up the lyrics if you can't hear them. So powerful! )

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Prayer:

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." (Ephesians 3:14-17a)
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NO SHAME!

One reason we suffer is because God is pruning us (the Greek word used for "prune" also means "to clean") (John 15). He is leading us to a place of deeper trust in Him, meaning there's no room for idols (anything else that we put our trust in that's not Him).

Read Psalm 16.

He wants us to surrender. He is leading us to rest =)

At the same time, He wants us not to be ashamed of our struggles. He wants us to stop feeling ashamed for how we struggle and fail to let go of our idols, how we fail to surrender, how we fail to trust Him. We are human, we are weak.

He is saying: there's no shame, no shame, no condemnation. He wants to help us surrender. So don't strive to surrender, you will fail. It's not about strife (your own strength), its about rest (rest in His power over sin and His ability to set us free).

(Hebrews 4:14-16) "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." ♥

We are safe in His arms so we can trust Him. Let us approach Him in confidence (not shame) and find rest in His love and grace =)

***Also, let's renew our mind with His Word (He has lots of promises for us!) coz like the Mexican Pastor said, "You defeat the enemy with the Word of God." So let's take up our sword! (Ephesians 6) =)

(Message I shared with InterVarsity on Oct. 26th, 2011)

Listen to these powerful songs:

"I Love You" by Misty Edwards:

• http://youtu.be/UHlliA_Ui2o

"One of us" by Paula Bowers:

• http://youtu.be/_g3yHc7rT34
  
  
  

TRUST God, not yourself and He wants it ALL

♥ Proverbs 3:5-6 ♥

"TRUST in the Lord with ALL your heart,

Lean NOT on your own understanding;

Acknowledge Him in ALL your ways And He shall direct your paths."

He wants our ALL-> ALL as in EVERYTHING!!!

Isaiah 55 is not just an invitation for unbelievers, its for us as well. He is telling us, "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare."He is telling us to TRUST HIM WITH ALL OUR HEARTS.

Let's be thirsty for the Holy Spirit to take rest in every area of our lives, our ALL.

(Message I shared with InterVarsity on Oct. 12th 2011)

REST => SOAR ☺

Finals are coming! Finals are coming!....Oh no! Finals are here! AHHHHH!!! *panic*panic*panic*

So STRESS/WORRY usually gets to me and affects my performance in stuff:

Freaking out --> discouragement-->giving up--> much dreaded failure :'(

BUT hoping in God (waiting on Him)--> renewed strength--> much hoped for victory! =).

***You will learn to SOAR when you learn to REST***

An Eagle depends on/ rests on the wind which helps it soar to great heights.

* I'm learning that God's Arms are the Safest Place to be and I should stop fighting them. I should Find Rest in Him.Trust Him and His Word. I wish that meant not having to study lol but it means trusting Him in everything I am doing and looking to Him for strength and peace. To rest on the Holy Spirit's power over the storm :)

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)

*Peace in the midst of a storm* =)

Prayer

Help me to rest Lord. Wrap me in your arms.

"I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;

turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

Show me the wonders of your great love,

you who save by your right hand

those who take refuge in you from their foes.

♥ Keep me as the apple of your eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings ♥ "

(Psalm 17:6-8)

All the best in your finals (and any other kind of trial)!

Let's not worry, let's pray. Let's not freak out, let's rest =)

(P.S: If I start freaking out again please remind me of these truths. Thanks! :)

"Still" by Hillsong: http://youtu.be/z3wwWFsSlNQ

*Other finals week tips: Hydrate! Water + tea (decaff!) + God's Word and stretch before you sleep! :)

Update: God showed me I have the fear of failure and He told me it's okay to fail haha :) His grace is enough for me so just to rest in Him instead of striving out of that fear. And yeah, He wants me not to even worry about soaring but to just rest (coz that's when I can actually soar) :-)