5 Bible Passages I would remind my younger self.

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I TURN 20 TODAY! 

1)
Then said I: 
"Ah Lord GOD!
Behold, I cannot speak, for I am youth."
But the Lord said to me:
"Do not say, 'I am youth,'
For you shall go to all to whom I send you, 
And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,"
says the Lord. - Jeremiah 1:6-8 (NKJV)

I remember when I was just turning a teenager, I had already given my life to the Lord but I was so afraid of my faith that very few of my school friends knew about my Saviour. It was all very well going to Church and being able to be myself but at school I searched for ways to avoid the whole "christianity" topic. I have always been very concious about what people think about me and I remember hiding Him from everyone because I was embarassed. Can you believe being embarassed about the Creator of the heavens? It saddened me greatly because my relationship with the Lord was growing and a part of me was rising up inside and wanted to shout His name from every rooftop of my town but the other side suppressed that and I was in a real battle of giving either side the glory. I struggled with this for a few years until I got past it, with the Lord's help I decided that He was worthy of my praising and worshipping of Him outside of my bedroom and the Church walls. My heart really wanted to let people know the beauty He's given my life. If you're in a similar position to me that I was in when I was around 13 I want to encourage you to stay strong and bold in your faith because your battle has already been won by an almighty God that love you and cherishes you with all His heart and that your voice matters. This world needs more amazing and inspiring individuals like yourselves to shine a light in this darkened land and if not you then who?

2) 

The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.
It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man. - Psalm 118:6-8 (NKJV)

Along with my conciousness of what people thought of me was caring too much about people liking me. I was heavily concerned with everyone getting along and would wince at the possibility of someone not liking me. It would make me incredibly sad and at times would consume me, I tried ever so hard to keep the peace wherever possible and would avoid conflict and drama. The hard truth is not everyone you encounter will be as appreciative of you than others and getting to grips with that and moving on to focus on God and shift that pressure and expectation you place on yourself is going to be so liberating. Do not put all your confidence and waste energy on getting people to like you, it will be a wasted effort and you may end up comprising instead put all your confidence in the Lord.


3)

Let love be without hypocrisy, Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
rejoicing in hope, patient in a tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath for it is written "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay" says the Lord. 
Therefore 
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink; 
For in doing so you will heap coals of fire on his head"
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
 - Romans 12:9-21

It is very easy to become disheartened when people hate you, gossip about you and hurt your family with words. I would tell my younger self that hatred is a waste of time and it is much better for the soul to forgive and bless your enemies rather than curse, gossip and stir. It is easy to hate but love takes courage. Love is the very essence of God's being and if we are empowered by His love and His Holy Spirit we begin to see people through the eyes of Jesus and we love them. Our enemy is against principalities and powers not flesh and blood. The devil wants to cause disunity with hatred and gossip but with the Lord guiding us united we'll stand drenched in His love and ready to win people back for Jesus.

4) 
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. - Colossians 2:8-9

Growing up in church, I was very concious and aware of what those older than me and in authority over me were saying. I took every word in as the truth and never tested it with the Lord's word. A couple of years ago when I moved church I was able to find people that loved the Lord, hung onto every word of the Lord and showed the love of the Lord, the genuine love of the Lord to me and it was something I had rarely experienced beforehand. Pray that the Lord opens your spiritual eyes and grants you wisdom, knowledge and understanding of Him and His Word. Pray that He plants people into your life that can be accountable for you and will love you regardless of what you have to say. Pray that He puts genuine, sold out for the Lord people in your life that will inspire and grow with you and treat like family :) Shoutout to Mama, the Matejka family and my very best friends from home and uni and around the world - you know who you are and what an inspiration you are to me I thank God for you beautiful people in my life. I enjoy doing life with you very much!

5) 
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. - Colossians 3:2

I thought it best to finish on this verse as Christians our brothers and sister in Christ are being attacked, slaughtered and silenced all over the world. His Word and His values are being ripped out of schools, out of countries laws and thrown to the pavement. Becoming a Christian doesn't guarantee an easy life on this earth, no, aren't we grateful for He swears to never leave us nor forsake us. When the weight of the world is on our shoulders, when we feel bounded by our sin and when we feel unworthy of stepping into His presence and His goodness being so low down and far away from Him puts us in the perfect position to kneel at His feet and pray. When the trials and the tribulations build up and you can't see whether or not the future is looking bright look to Him, always to Him, press past the flesh, past our self and into Jesus for our reward is not on this earth but with Our Father in heaven!

Happy New Year: A Reflection.

Wow, another year has flown by! Happy New Year to all of my beautiful readers reading this! 2014 was such a whirlwind for me, I went through happiness to heartbreak, from heartbreak to healing, through seasons of loneliness, fear and issues about my self-worth to a realisation of who the Lord is, how He knows every thought, action and feeling that I have had and still loves me and was with me all along. I find it so easy to become suffocated under all that life and the world is, I have been swept under it for so long and it has caused me to chase things, distractions and vain attractions that are not good for my soul. There have been times in 2014 that I do not want to relive, there have been times in 2014 that I would gladly relive. I have learnt a lot from 2014. So much of it has been lessons of discipline, running back to Him and believing that I could do life on my own terms. 2014 has been a year of selfishness, of letting go and of new starts to relationships and new found friendships. It has been a combination of emotions that have led me to despair to complete freedom but despite all of this, I wouldn't want to change 2014 for anything. It has taught me to love my family, my friends and appreciate my loved ones. It has challenged my faith and stretched my faith and equipped me to live a life with Jesus whom I will continue to journey with for the rest of my life. 

Every time I go through troublesome times when it is absolutely impossible to see even a glimspe of the light at the end of the tunnel, when I feel like my dreams are further away than I can ever imagine He brings me back to the reality of Him and causes me to lean on Him and His understanding that is far above anyone else's on this earth.

I have met people and heard speakers that have inspired me to search the very depths of who the Lord is and I have met people that I have wanted to encourage to come to a revelation of who He is and the freedom He brings. I have seen people go through sorrow, grief and despair in my own family and my friends. I had become angry at the people that have hurt and spoken harshly about my loved ones and I had become frustrated with myself and who I, at times, became in 2014. I became helpless and questionable about my worth, place and purpose in this world in 2014 and I have learnt to encourage people on their journey and learnt to love with everything I have and more.

2014, like every year prior will always have a special place in my heart and it will be a reminder of His grace and how far He’s brought me in this world that I will not be flattened by any longer. I will always be on a journey that involves some aspect of what I have already experienced and learnt from. I believe that the Lord will always be showing me and teaching me His ways in a constant continuation of learning for all of the years to come.

In 2015 I hope that whatever the Lord has in store, whatever rollercoaster of emotions or events that await me this year I pray that for you, myself and others that our focus will be on Jesus even when seasons of loneliness and desolation hit us I pray that we let Him have the highest throne in our lives.

“Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God”. – Philippians 4:6 [AMP]

“And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7 [AMP]

"And this I pray, that your love may abound.."

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Hey loves, 

A few hours ago I got in from meeting with my Church's small group, our homework for this evening was to read Philippians and after going through just the first chapter I felt so encouraged and inspired and I really wanted to share a bit of why I felt this way.

Read: Philippians 1

Paul's intense encouragement resonates throughout the whole of this chapter, his selflessness and relentless love for his situation, his location, his church, those around him and most importantly for Jesus encourages and motivates the people around him and those that knew him all from prison. From his chains he was able to defend and proclaim the gospel. This selflessness reveals a strong sense of humility within Paul and reveals a strength that could only come from Jesus Christ. At no point in this chapter does he search for sympathy or attention, instead he praises the fact that his time in prison is turning out "for the furtherance of the gospel" so much so that he even impacted the "palace guard". How wonderful a thought to think that we could make the exact same impact and imprint of Jesus in the lives of every single person around us. This selfless life that he is living is always, constantly thanking God and referring back to God, even his "chains are in Christ".

 I really admire his selflessness and humility as it causes me to think of my own life and convicts me into having the same attitude that he did towards life. For me, I haven't ever been in a position like Pauls, I've never been in prison and you can imagine back in Pauls day that the prison conditions probably were as far from prisons that we see nowadays so you can imagine rough living where your faith would be challenged the most. I admire that despite everything that he is going through he chooses Jesus everytime and I love how at peace he appears to be with it all, he has no fear of his outcome, he says that he would like to go and be with Jesus but he feels as if his encouragement would benefit others. Others. We are called to love God and to love one another. We are also called to serve and to help encourage, motivate and pray for one another so that in the trials and tribulations we can get through it by God's strength and God's strength in our friends. 

Paul gives us practical tips to live out our lives as Christians. We are meeting with people everyday, souls, lost souls are in desperate need for something to fill that void in their hearts and all they need is Jesus. Fear holds us back from a lot of things, one in particular is something that I struggle with and that is sharing the Gospel, physically speaking to people about Jesus and starting off a deep, theological debate and turning them off God completely has to be one of my worst nightmares. In all honesty, what have we got to lose? Christians are being martyred for their faith everyday, I don't live in nearly as much conflict as they are, if anything my life is comfort in comparisin and yet I can't even share the gospel without thinking "oh, they won't like me anymore" or "oh, they'll make fun of me" the fear of man has stopped me dead in my tracks one too many times. I believe that as Christians with an Eternal God, an Uncreated Creator, ruler of the heavens and all of the galaxies on our side, we can never truly lose. 

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain". - Philippians 1:21

Here are a couple of verses that I highlighted in my Bible maybe you coud meditate on them and pray to the Lord to open up your Spiritual eyes and ask Him for wisdom, knowledge and understanding of His word:

"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." - Philippians 1:9-11

"the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident...my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear". - Philippians 1:12-14

"that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death". - Philippians 1:20

"Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me". Philippians - 1:27-30

*Happy New Year!*

Hey loves, it's 2014 can you believe it, this year has gone by so very fast! 

This year has been such a learning curve for me with God and with everything a lot of new things happened for me, a new church, job and graduating from college. This year was hard for me at times with my family but I kept on trusting God and I knew He would pull through for me. 

This year I also started this blog, I have enjoyed it so much and it has been an incredible way to share my life and receive beautiful comments from beautiful people and I honestly cannot wait for what the New Year has in store for this blog! I can guarantee many a blog post will be on this website and it's a journey I'm seriously excited about. Also I am applying to uni so I'll tell you guys how that goes. Living away from home will be so hard but I'm sure with the Lord's help I'll make it through. I'm so excited for 2014 and what it will hold, new friendships, new adventures I'm so ready to embrace all that God has for me and I will share them with you guys.

Thankyou also to my current 282 followers and the many more that will join I appreciate the fact you guys will take time to look at my blog :')

Here's my 2013 in Pictures...

New Years into 2013 with Justin, Chris, Jacob and Tasha.

First snow day with Justin.

At Clare's 18th Birthday Party from left to right: Clare, Bean, Me, Jo, Cathy, Emma and Emily.

Batemans

Euromax 2013 at Brighton COC

Cosmo with my nephew!

Costa with my best friend Jo

Summer days with Izzie

Costa with my two best friends Leyla and Rachel.

Bowling with my work friends Danny, Tom and Phoebe.

Beach after Results Day with Clare, Molly and Rachel.

Costa after church with Dani.

ESSCO on the way to the concert rehearsal with Ollie, Sam, Alfred, Elliette, Georgia and Chris.

All dressed for the concert in Eastbourne with Elliette, Georgia, Chris, Ollie, Me and Charlotte.

Creating a summer water special in the comfort of Rachels backgarden.

Enjoying ice cream with Justin.

Vana and Milans barbecue birthday!

Clare's leaving meal, exploring with Molly, Rachel, Serena, Leyla and Clare.

Thorpe Park with Leyla, Rachel and Molly.

Walkies with Serena and Rachel

My brothers birthday meal.

Costa date with Vana and Chris and Milan.

Chris's Birthday!

Beach with Mol!

and Rach

Reunited with family, Cassie and Krystal, we used to hang out as kids!

Posing.

Ashburnham and Bible Study with my girls Izzie and Becky.

At Jesus Culture with Micah, Pearl, Justin, Jo and my Mama.

London with the work guys, in this picture, Phoebe.

Autumn walk with Bailey the Beagle and Beb.

Christmas Party with Krystal, Cassie, Christian and Rowena.

Catch-up Meal with friends we've known since secondary school: Grace, Livvy, Emily, Molly, Alice, Connie, Rachel, Sammie, Leyla and I.

Blessings and love to you all this New Year,

All my love,

My life in this moment.

Hey loves,

I want us to have a real 10 minutes right now, I might start a series of posts on this where I lay 10 minutes of what I'm feeling like in this stage of my life and it's going to be truthful and not only an inspiration for myself but hopefully for that someone who is feeling the same as I. So here we go, as a Christian I've learnt to put everything in God's hands but it's not easy. Recently I have been struggling so much, I can go days without acknowledging God and disobeying His word and it leaves me feeling empty, lonely and hopeless. I felt like there was something wrong with me, seeds of doubt sprouted up from roots I didn't even realise were in me. In all honesty He has still kept me on a piece of string attached to him, I'm still hanging on and I don't even know how but it always brings me to the realisation that He will never give up on me. I find it so very hard to get my head around that and at times it doesn't always make sense and I fall more than a baby learning to walk for the first time and I feel disgusted with myself and it feels like, at times I've reached the end of myself. But despite it all, God has imprinted His love into my heart so much so that at the end of crying rivers and lakes of sadness and frustration and anger towards Him, I still find myself giving it all to Him and trusting in Him. Saying that despite my trials Lord, I will worship You and I will love You. 

For me, I'm such an overanalyst, literally I overthink way too much that it kind of gets dangerous and before I know it my mind is in a whirlwind of everything I think has happened and on the other side is the truth but I'm so caught up, that I can't even see it and I'm so adamant to ignore it. 

Being a Christian is such a narrow path, for me especially this past year I've had to learn and comprehend a lot more knowledge and understanding of the world and God than I ever have before, I know more this year than I ever have in past years and it all became a real bit of a build up. But God has dealt so much in my heart this past year from; deliverance to just plain old lessons. He's convicted me, wrapped me in His love and taught me to discern. I'm still on this incredible journey with Him and I know that it won't all be daisies and tulips, which, in our fleshly way of thinking you'd think, 'if you know it's not going to be a nice ride why go on with it?' Because Jesus thought I was worth it when He died on the cross to redeem me from my fallen self. That is the motivation that I have on this journey with Jesus. He has impacted me so much so that I cannot forget Him, I cannot shake Him from my frame of thinking, I cannot survive a day without Him, I cannot survive being away from Him and I especially cannot imagine being separated from Him for Eternity. 

And to finish I found this on Tumblr, it broke me down and brought me to the reality that as Christians we are all on this journey of being on a process towards perfection until the day our Saviour returns until now we must continue to encourage eachother and help eachother and most of all be there and pray for eachother.

God bless,

All my love!

“

There are days or weeks or even months when I read the Bible and there are no grand epiphanies.

There are whole seasons of Sundays when I sing praise and feel nothing.

There are times of prayer where the silence kills me.

There are great Christian books and podcasts that I eat up which don’t budge my spiritual life.

There are too many times when I doubt the very existence of God and the sending of His Son. It can all feel like a crazy lie.

I’m probably being too honest — but I’ve found that I’m not the only one who feels this way.

It’s in those times that I ask myself, “Am I out of love with God somehow? Am I losing my faith here? How do I get back to where I used to be?”

But I keep reading my Bible. I keep singing on Sundays. I keep praying. I soak in books and sermons. I serve. I enjoy the company of mature Christians. I enjoy the fellowship of the broken.

And you know what? Sometimes the clouds part and God comes through and His love squeezes my heart and I fall to my knees remembering how good He is. Then I read Scripture and can’t stop weeping and I turn on Christian songs in my car full blast and sing loud enough to scare the traffic. I serve with shaking hands and get convicted by those sermons and soak in God’s goodness all over again.

So I've learned over time: I wasn't really out of love with God. I’m just a fragile human being who changes as much as the weather. I was setting a ridiculous standard for myself that can’t be defined by self-pressuring parameters. I was tricked by the enemy into judging my flesh. My faith is based on His grace and not my feelings. And I think I need to relax.

”

— J.S. from this post (via jspark3000)

Verse of the Day #1

Hello loves,

Recently in my personal Bible Study sessions the Lord has been teaching me about the righteousness of faith and the dangers of falling into the law. In Romans 4:15 the bible says "the law brings about wrath, for where there is no law there is no transgression". The Lord has reminded me of faith and its importance. Faith is what we need to be able to inherit His promises and there is no other way. Through faith Abraham was able to be strong in it, strong in the faith that God would provide a son for him even in his physical weakness. Abraham did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief but instead was "strengthened in faith...giving glory to God...being fully convinced that what He had promised he was able to perform...therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness". Abraham's journey started with faith. Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. If anyone reading this today has a mountain of problems, family problems, job problems, relationship problems - have faith in God and all that He has promised for you, which are all for your good and all according to His will. We, as Abrahams descendants can also experience breakthrough just like he and many others did. Breakthrough is always around the corner .

So guys, those who are running a little low on faith and trust in God, talk to Him about it, He's always waiting for you to sit down with Him and talk about every single problem you have "he is a rewarders of them that diligently seek Him" - there fore there is nothing he hasn't heard of so there is no reason to be ashamed because in His eyes He loves you just the same as He did yesterday, today and forever. Which is.. a LOT of lovin'!

If you guys have any questions for me leave a comment below, I'd love to have a chat with you and any of ma Sisters in Christs out there would love talk with you also!

God bless 

xoxo