Just Let It Be Beautiful.

Life can be beautiful, life will be beautiful; I always choose to tell myself. I tell myself this because God told me. He told me in his word. I told myself this because I needed to. I told myself this so bad times wouldn't appear so bad. I repeated Ecclesiastes 3:11 in my head so many times I thought it may explode. I told myself that until I believed the words rattling in my head. And now, when difficulty strikes all my mind goes to is God. When life is good I go to that same verse being reminded that God is fulfilling his promises to me. He is because he cares. He is the one entity in my life who will always care, who will always be there with a word of encouragement. He will always be there with love. I promise you that. And now, I want everyone to know the same peace and joy and hope I have found. I want broken hearted people to know what REAL love is and I want them to have a voice. I want the people in every corner of the world to know about my God. Not a God who is distant, but a God who is near. He is near in times of trial to weep with us and he is near in good to rejoice. He is perfect and I am not. As I heard in a sermon once, "Even if we don't feel adequate we should say to ourselves because I am worthy through Christ I am able to pray, worship, love.." Just know that today. And live each day for the Creator who the most divine plan. 

Safe Haven

Yes, Safe Haven. The gorgeous Nicholas Sparks movie that just recently came out. Some could say it's just another love movie with a slight plot twist. But, my dear friends it is so much more then that. I find it funny how God can use things even like movies to open our eyes. Tonight, I went to watch it with my mom. And it was like God completely answered my prayers. I was asking God to show me the world through his eyes, and to give me wisdom as to what purpose my life has in this world. And today, I saw it. He showed me how he sees my mom. She is a beautiful women. She has a tired and weary soul. He told me, " She just needs you to love her Sierra." And then my whole life just made sense. Everything became clear and apparent. So real right before me. And the more I think about it, the more I love God. It's so simple. Love her. That is all she needs. Someone to show her unconditional love and to hold her hand when things get hard. To show her that I think she is a wonderful person and show her that God knows how to make broken things beautiful, and through those situations you can feel peace. I am so thankful I have my mom. But, today it is like a I saw her, really saw her, for the first time. And now I feel like I understand why my life is the way it is. There is a plan and a purpose-an intricate design. I am in awe, awe of the One who makes everything new. He has written the greatest story for my life, and I am so glad he holds the pen. So friends, sometimes you may feel you are walking through fog, and you don't know where you ought to go. But, God is always by your side. He is guiding you to the other side and into the clarity and where the light is. Just be patient. His timing is always perfect. Give this song a listen.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." 

When We Feel Temptation Is Too Much To Handle.

I know that sometimes life can be kind of crazy. It is so easy to justify getting off course with God and to justify our reasons why we keep making poor decisions. I have been there and done that. We compare our sins to sins we could be committing that are "far worse" than our own and we deem ourselves as "good enough."  We stop challenging ourselves and live complacently. Or maybe we justify our sin because right now, we can't handle all of the stress life is handing us. So, instead of turning to God when we need him most, we turn to other things for temporary release. There is a reason that alcoholics are the way they are. They are never satisfied, never truly released from the pain. They then continue to drink just to have the temporary release from that pain for a day. But the problem with drinking and doing other things that bring short lasting results is that we create more anguish for ourselves when we do these things. Our need is never truly met, and we are never satisfied. And so, we need to look at things from God's perspective. He is over here saying, "I am enough. I don't understand why you keep running from the real solution. I want to pour joy into your soul everyday. I want to bless you. And when the hard times come I want to be your anchor when waves crash over you. " In Jeremiah 2:5 it says, "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves." That is so powerful. When we stop and think about, what hasn't God provided? What are we not letting him full control of? Because when we live a life completely sold out and submitted to him, he will be our anchor, our source of joy, our everything. And you can sense his puzzlement in that verse. How am I not enough? He is willing to help us overcome the world, but we have to be willing to be done with our sinful behaviors that we keep trying to justify. I know that before I feel like I am bound to mess up, I think about this verse and tell myself God is enough. Try it, and see how He impacts your life. 

My Vlog!

I am going to start turning my blogposts into vlog posts! (: So if you would rather watch what I have to say instead of read it, I encourage you to do so! Share it with your friends! You should be able to find the other vids of me from the one above.

Being Alone With God.

I am currently sitting in my room and I really felt God wanted me to make a post about this, so I will. I titled this article, "Being Alone With God." I have been feeling this more and more lately that us as Christians have forgotten what it is like to be alone with God. The thought of being alone with God makes us feel uncomfortable because how will we know what to say or how to act. This my friends is sad. We have become so accustomed to being "spoon fed" that we no longer understand how to go deep with God on our own. The only time we feel on fire for God is after our pastor preaches a very deep message or for teens after a great youth retreat. But, what is that centered around? It's centered around production-the lights the stage, the gifted speakers, and a worship team that blows everyone out of the water. But, isn't our God the same everywhere? So why aren't we just as hungry for him everyday. Why aren't we searching after Him and His will every single day? We should be on our faces every morning praying and surrendering each day to his will. We should worship him the same in our rooms as in church as at a retreat. It shouldn't take a stadium full of people to get us on fire for God. I could go on and on about this for hours, because it's something God has really been speaking into my life lately. But I will sum this all up. We need to learn to be okay with being alone with God. We need to make God's presence our home. We can bring heaven to earth and we can connect with God here, right now. It doesn't take all of the lights. Just try it.

The video below is one of my new favorite worship songs-give it a listen.

John 10:27 " My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. " We must hear a voice more then once to recognize it. And once we become familiar with His voice we can follow it. Learn to be still and listen. 

Oh Jesus, Only With Your Help...

When people try to bring you down, you can choose 1 of 2 things. You can choose to let their words affect you and let them bring you down, or you can choose joy and be confident in who you are in Christ. Sometimes, when people(especially those who we are close with), ridicule us and try to bring us down, our automatic response is to get all fired up. But, when we do this we let them defeat us and let them have the satisfaction. Instead, we must learn to choose joy and laugh in the face of the enemies attack! We must choose to love people, even when we feel they don't deserve it and pray for them. Resentment gets you nowhere my friend. I will leave you with this closing verse. Psalm 3:1-3 "Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”
But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high."