So, I was reading in Genesis last night, and I came across the story of Isaac and Rebekah. As I read my bible each day, I find that I am discovering more and more of God's character, and this story helped me find a little more. In the story, God sent one of Abraham's servants out to his hometown and his people to find a wife for his son Isaac there. This was a really tough challenge for the servant, to travel for 2 weeks then find a woman to marry the son of Abraham whom would be the heir of Gods promise. So taking this all in perspective, this is kind of what we do. We don't travel 2 weeks to pick a husband, but we search for a man to hold out God's plan for our lives. When the servant got to the hometown, he prayed to God, "See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,'and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'--let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac" (Genesis 24:13-14). It then goes on to say that before he was even done praying the woman he was searching for walked up. She did what he had prayed about and gave water for 10 thirsty camels to drink (thats about 250 gallons she had to draw from the spring). The amazing thing I found through this is that Abraham and his servant both trusted God, they both prayed and trusted that God would show them the one. They prayed for someone with hospitality and servitude. God is so amazing. He does't want us to settle with someone that is not a follower of him, he wants us to want someone that is a child of God like we are. He wants us to pray about it. Ultimately, he wants us to trust him to the end, whether or not a husband is part of our future. The woman they found was Rabekah, and she went home with the servant and married Isaac, and they had 2 other children that they raised together under God. This just shows what plans God has for our lives. And I will trust him with my life, because I know I can't succeed on my own.
And also... I was listening to this song this morning, and I love it and I love Kari Jobe, and I just wanted to share it on here with everyone! <3
~ Love, Alisha
ps. Could everyone please pray for all of us who are going to nationals, for health and safety, for us to have amazing moments with God through the fellowship, worship, and services, and to do good with our human video, because we are doing this through service for him, not for ourselves! Thank you all so much! I love you!
So, there is the place I found peace. Where I found the well overdue silence my soul needed. This is where I met with my Father every morning when my eyes first opened and every night before they closed. I gave God everything. I renewed a relationship and had wonderful Godly conversations with some amazing adults. I got to pour into the lives of 4 beautiful girls. Every conversation I had with Matt and Stacy the night before God also gave me the next morning in my devotionals. God worked in my life so much. I am so thankful for a God who loves me so much and says I am already enough. Some of the things he worked on me about were learning to fully depend on God with everything in me. Learning to have full confidence in my identity in Christ and see the true depth of how much God loves me. I guess God has really surfaced a lot of emotional scars He wants and needs to heal in order to finish his work in me.I am learning to be silent and listen. I am so thankful for the feeling of the love of God. I also prayed over Elijah and I's relationship the whole time I was gone. God listened. He heard and rearranged my world. I came home to a new boyfriend. He is taking initiative in our walk with God. He is putting God first in our relationship. And he isn't going to Evangel with me. He is enlisting into the Marine Corps. And in the craziness of shock I feel time apart will help strengthen us in our walks with God individually to prepare us for what our lives will be like. This will take work but it will be worth it. He loves me and I love him. This might sound crazy but I feel in my heart God is telling me he is the one. But I will pray, trust God, and let him steady my heart. Please be praying with upcoming life decisions that God and the Holy Spirit will direct me. Maybe a proposal in my future...? I just want to keep my eyes fixed on God. Also, God brought back to me a vision he gave me awhile ago during prayer a couple years ago I dismissed. I was praying about Elijah liking me when I didn't even know my feelings for him and I saw Elijah at the top of the aisle waiting for me. I feel just so much peace in everything right now in the midst of this topsy turves. I am just thankful to be dating a man who will put God's plans for him (the Marines) above his own wants( to come with me).
~love you all Sierra
Okay today I've just been really really upset. I'm in a pretty dry spot with God and I'm not used to that. I've grown up in church and I've never really had a dry spell, until about two weeks ago. So today I got home from Virginia and when my plans got cancelled I went upstairs and read my bible some more. I was just really confused and I started crying. I rarely cry. So in my confusion I got frustrated with God and decided to call it quits for the night. That was a mistake, and I obviously knew that. if I want to get closer to God you spend time with Him. You don't get mad and walk away, but I did. So I got on Facebook, the only social media I'm not fasting, and I'm not sure why. I never get on there, and I'm not really sure what I was looking for. But God had something for me. I scrolled through my news feed and saw a post from my friend Josh that said "Jesus Christ did his most hell-defying, God-honoring work when he was feeling absolutely deserted by God the father. Don't give up!" So even when you don't feel him, God's still there and working through you.
~Alli :)
Friday, July 26, 2013
I just wanted to throw in a prayer request for one of my good friends, Kasey. I haven't been a very good friend to her this summer, and haven't tried to hang out or talk to her much, but I know she needs me to help her, and she needs all our prayers. She has been a really amazing Christian, but lately a lot of things have happened to her, and she feels like she is distancing herself from God. I feel bad because I haven't been a part of her life to know much of this, so I am turning things around and am going to be constantly praying for her and taking her to church as much as she can go. So please just be praying for her so she can discover who she is in God. Thanks! ~Alisha
So every night when I take my makeup off I don't fee any less pretty than I do with it on. So last night as I was taking my makeup off and I didn't feel any less pretty with it off. And I was wondering why I felt less pretty in the morning with it off than at night. I realized that every night right before I take my makeup off I read my bible, then I take it off, then go to bed. I don't usually do morning devos. I spend too much time getting ready and making plans and sometimes just sleeping in as late as I possibly can. Last night I heard God tell me I need to start waking up and doing morning devos. I also thought that He said I should fast makeup, but I kinda blew that part off a little bit. It was like well I'll just try doing morning devos and see if it changes the way i look at myself, but I can still wear makeup. So this morning I woke up and did my devos, then continued to do my routine. So I got dressed did my hair and put makeup on. Josh was coming over at around noon to take me to his house and as soon as I opened the door the first thing he said to me was "Why are you wearing makeup?" I knew immediately that was God's way of telling me that I'm not supposed to be wearing it. So I made up an excuse and he ended up only coming to tell me that he had to go somewhere and he'd pick me up later. So when he left I went upstairs and took my makeup off and read my bible. I feel just fine without makeup on. So I'm going to be fasting it until God tells me otherwise. Please continue to pray for me. I love you guys. :) ~Alli
Thank you all for the prayers. Yesterday, every moment that i spoke to my mom, or when she got home, it was nothing but fighting between us. So I was praying a lot last night and through the day. I prayed for God to be my patience with my mom, and for him to help me get out of falling away from him every time I lost patience with my mom. I also prayed a lot about what I mentioned yesterday. And I got to thinking. I always can imagine myself in the future living in a beautiful place, like a beach, and every morning, waking up, reading my bible, maybe listen to some worship music, and going out and walking alone with God on the beach. God then questioned me, "Why can't you do that now, where you live. It doesn't have to be a beach. You are missing out on precious time that you could be spending with me because you are planning things for the future, and not putting them into action now." So thats what I did, with faith in God to fill me with his presence and make my spirit new, I woke up at 6:30, put on Oceans by Hillsong, and prayed to God until I fully woke up. I prayed, and read 3 chapters in my bible. I still wasn't all together sure what I was going to do next, so I prayed and listened to God. I decided to follow the people in the bible that did amazing things for God. They took amazing feats for God, they took risks out of faith, they did what he asked them to do. So I realized if Moses could walk across the desert for a lifetime for God, I could get my butt out of bed and go on a walk to be alone with God, with no distractions, just me in his presence...
It was amazing, nothing huge happened. I didn't have any revelations or fainting or even shivers from his presence, I just felt him, and purely him. And that was amazing. I will do this every morning until God lets me know otherwise. I am going to continue praying, and fasting. Through this, I have faith that my relationship will grow immensely with God.
Hey guys, so, as some of you may know, I just moved. It was really sudden and we only had a couple of weeks to pack our things. We moved all our stuff over on saturday and have been trying to organize since then. Because of this move, I have bee really busy ad haven't been able to go to church for the past two weeks... I can't tell you how much I miss it there... But I have been doing my nightly time with God and bible studies up until saturday. The new place is an apartment and only has 2 bedrooms, one for my mom, and one for my aunt. My mom is telling me I can take her room until I leave, but i want to give it to her because she deserves it so much. So I am sleeping on the couch and have next to no privacy, and therefore, no where to spend my nights alone with God... This morning I did go outside to spend some one-on-one time with God, but I couldn't too much because I am also babysitting. So I need you guys to pray for me and my family. Please pray for help to get settled into the apartment, and to relieve the stress from my mom. Also pray that I can find time alone with God, or to be able to switch my fast from nights to mornings. If I do switch it to mornings, I would have to wake up before my mom goes to work and find somewhere alone, maybe go outside, or go on a walk somewhere. I don't know exactly what to do, so I am looking to God for answers. So please keep praying! Thank you guys so much, love you all!!! ~Alisha p.s. I think I am done babysitting after this week, so I will be alone during the days, but I don't know exactly, and I would still love to sacrifice a portion of my time otherwise used and spend it with God.
So, in this mornings devos I came across some food for thought. Its just a few short things but they are definetly things to meditate on. 1) "The truth is that self sufficiency is a myth perpetuated by pride and temporary success. Rejoice in your own insuffuciency knowing that Gods power is made perfect in weakness." quote by sarah young 2) read philipp. 2:12_13 and use this as an after thought. Intentionally choosing to depend on God is part of what paul refers to as "working out your own salvation with fear and trembling" I really think we are so spoon fed in America that it makes it difficult to depend on God for everything, even the small things. This is why we must learn to do it. Do it with intention. ~sierra
Hello beautiful people(: I am currently sitting in an old fashioned bed and breakfast owned by the baileys family in Rhode Island. It is wonderful and cozy and QUIET. I am very thankful for the peace. I will be filling you guys in on how God is growing me and using this time away from everyone to speak to me. i plan to spend extra time with God this week seeing as all thats on the agenda is to relax. I cant wait to see tou guys and do our overnighter soon! love you ~sierra
2 samuel 22:33."It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect"
So, for the shock of pretty much everyone who knows me... I went on a date today. I kind of liked the guy and I knew he liked me, so I thought, "why not, lets see how it goes." It didn't go very well, I didn't have a good time, and I realized, I actually didn't like the guy. But I learned a lot through it. Now lets back track a little! Today was probably the first day I wasn't with Samantha, and I'm glad, because even though I was really bored and didn't do much, about an hour before I was going on my date, I decided to read my bible to prepare me. I had also been praying and talking to God about this date and asking him to be the loving Father that he is and to put it all in his hands. I prayed that if it went well, that he come first in the relationship, and that if it didn't go well, that I would trust his plan and what he wanted out of my life. And overall I just prayed that he would protect me, my physical and emotional purity, my heart, and my future, I prayed for him to be the Father that I don't have and to just be with me. I listened to worship music and he really helped me a lot and guided my way.
After this date, I car home and reflected on the time I had. I did not have fun at all, and I know thats not how its supposed to be. I just didn't feel right. So, I put on worship music and just prayed to God. He really made me realize today how thankful I am of him, and how blessed I am to having a living God. It made me think of the video by Eric Ludy that we watched in church (I'll post it below for anyone who has never seen it). I just wanted to say that God is AMAZING beyond belief. Today, he listened to my prayers, he went with me, and he protected me. He turned something that wouldn't otherwise be good, into something amazing, to help me grow in him! I can trust God with my entire future, and that includes finding a perfect man and falling in love. I don't have to have a boyfriend now to be happy, I can use this time of being single to grow in God and to let him grow me into the Godly woman he wants me to be. This isn't to say that I'm not going to go on other dates to see if the guy is the guy, but i may also never need to go on a date to find that out. I don't know, only God knows what my future in his hands holds, but all I know now is that I am His, I am not my own, and I will give everything I am to him, and he will prepare me and help me grow. And when I meet my prince charming, we will then grow together in God and have a relationship guided by my Father.
Hey! Okay, first of all, I'm really really really really really really sorry that I haven't posted anything on here! Second, I love you girls so very very much and I'm so excited that we get to do this together. Well, I started off my fast on the same week that I stayed with my grandma. So that worked wonderfully because she doesn't have wifi or internet or any good tv or cell phone signal or anything. She lives out in the boonies so I can't really go anywhere either. So every day I would help her do stuff that needed done then go to church with her. After that I spent about three hours every day just praying and reading my bible and just spending time with God. It was absolutely perfect. So now I love going there and look forward to it. After that I had another week before camp, and I was already on a spiritual high. I spent that week preparing my heart for what God was going to do for me and in me at camp. So with that being said I got a lot out of camp and I can't wait to share that with you guys. But right now I'm going to go to worship practice. Pray for God to be there tonight. I love you beautiful girls so much! Love, Alli. :) <3
I'm heading off to kid's camp in a few minutes. I hope that I'll have so many stories to share when I come back. Not only from my kid's experiences, but with the experience I encounter with God. He has called me into this ministry and I can't even fathom all that he has planned for me :)
Please keep the kids and myself in prayer. That God would open their hearts, and that he would open mine :)
much love,
Erinn
P.S- I'll be praying for you all while I'm there, and I obviously won't be able to post on here until friday afternoon :)
God is so amazing. Let's just start there. He is so wonderful and I am not. I am completely inadequate in very way. I have weaknesses and sometimes my life gets messy. Sometimes I drift away from His presence. Sometimes I fall short of the woman I know I could be. But, I am real. So is God's grace and so is His presence. I am so thankful for a God so constant and so unfailing. No matter how much I neglect him he will always be right there waiting for me. He is there even with my hardened heart that refuses to feel Him and let Him in. But, when I fully lay myself at His feet, He comes back and touches my heart again. A break through once more. He takes me deep in love and to all the secret places. That is an irreplaceable feeling and I will never let myself distance myself from God so much again. My spirit can't afford those God withdraws again. I am so excited to see the things God has for me and my life and the ministry I will do. I was reading a fantastic blog that you all should read called www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com because it is fully inspirational in every way. But, anyways she wrote something I knew God wanted me to hear and it went like this,
"For each time that I deny God the Glory that is His, for each time I follow my will instead of listening to His, for each time I jump ahead without first consulting my Lord. He asks, " Daughter, do you truly love me?" and I do. "Feed my sheep" and I will. And I do. "Come follow me." and I am, or at least I am trying. I am Peter. I mess up. I make mistakes, I am far from perfect, and God will use me. God will accomplish great things through me. You are Peter. God already knows you will make a mess, but His plan for you is great. Go. Feed His sheep."
So, even though maybe I am not perfect and sometimes I drift. God will use me and God has a great plan. I had been going through a lot of doubt and God showed back up as he always does and told me he has still called me into ministry and that he is ready to pick up where we left off. My God is breathtaking.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 " He has made everything beautiful in it's time. He has set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. "
So girls, I just got serious about my fast yesterday. But my top two struggles right now are bible time which I rearranged my schedule to make time and also Elijah. I really need you guys to be in my business and hold me accountable to only seeing him once a week by ourselves. It's really vital to my walk with God right now that our time is limited. Also, please be praying that God will give me sound judgement to figure out where Elijah and I's relationship needs to go next. And that even if I don't like God's answer that I will be given the strength to handle it. I am so thankful for you girls and the encouragement from you guys! Love you all. Thanks! ~Sierra I am in love with this worship song, we played it last night during prayer. Give it a listen alisha!
p.s. I was also feeling like we should all do a sleepover with a 60 hour famine at someone's house and do devotionals and worship all night! I already spoke to Erinn about it and she likes the idea but I wondered what Alli and Alisha thought. Let me know
Hey guys! I am doing a bible study in my new bible that will take me through the entire bible in 3 years. It goes back and forth between old testament and new testament, with one chapter a day. But today, it started at Genesis 1... and I have read that chapter a whole ton. So i know I am going to come across many chapters and books that I know like the back of my hand, but I want a different way of seeing them. So for those chapters, and for the ones where I don't feel God by just reading it, I want to do a bible study. The only problem is I don't know many to do. I know the one Erinn was talking about, but I feel like that would be difficult with something like Genesis 1. So does anyone know of any other ones? I'm going to be looking some up, if I find one I really like, I will post it! Thanks guys!
~Alisha
So, the other day, God showed me that I wasn't following my fasts. I knew that something had to be done. At nights I wasn't giving my all to God like I had promised. Samantha was coming over just as much, and we were't doing any bible study. And although I have succeeded in cutting out Starbucks (forgot to mention that one in my previous post), I wasn't saving any money for Speed the Light. After getting ready for bed and about 9:00, watching an episode of Sherlock, and telling myself that after I watched it I would read my bible, I realized that I broke my promise. I can't switch into a spiritual mood just after watching an intense show. I can't just read my bible and be fine. Thats not what I had promised. I broke my promise to God, I sinned against God. But it did't hurt me, even though I knew it was wrong. I was thinking that to be truly sorry and repentive of sin, we need to also be truly broken for the fact that we chose, in that moment, death over life, hell over heaven, and the utter fact that we sinned against God our Father... When I thought about that, I put on my favorite worship songs, and I wrote to God, I poured out my heart, I asked Him why I didn't feel guilty for my sin. When I opened myself up to God like that, He poured His spirit into me, and only then did I feel truly broken. I repented and asked God for His saving grace and mercy, even though I did't deserve it. After I was finished with my prayers, I read in my bible. In my study that I have been doing, it brought me to psalm 51, Davids prayer to God after his adultery and murder. For anyone out there, God listens to our prayers! Its amazing how he uses his word to speak to us and show us who he is! I connected to David in this psalm, I prayed it to God as David did, and God answered my prayers through it. "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge." (v. 4) "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." (v. 10) "My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise." (v. 17) God is amazing, all he wants is for us is to be broken for our wrong doings and transgressions and his saving grace will instill in us a pure and devoted heart, and a new spirit within us! God is helping me work on my fasts, and I still have so much room to grow, but I need to put my faith into action and choose to take the way God provides out of sin, rather than falling into sin and the temptations. I am grateful for you 3 to hold me accountable for my fasts, and I am grateful for this blog so I can share what God is doing, and not just end it in my bedroom. I expect great things to come from this, and for God to truly prepare me for college and build me up strong against temptation.
I am on a journey to grow close with God, to grow in Him, to grow in His word, and to be a better person. I learned so much when I was away at camp, and I was changed. This fast is almost like a continuation of camp for me. It talks in Matthew (chapter 6, verses 16-18) about the right way to fast. Yes, I will be journaling on here about what God is doing, but odds are I probably wont talk about it outside of here ( unless you are Alisha, Sierra, or Alli) just because I feel that I will get more out of it by sticking to what the Bible says about fasting. So, moving along to what I'm fasting:
junk food, and mindless eating- they go together, and they usually happen when I'm on the computer or watching t.v.
One meal a week, and I will be spending that time in prayer.
During camp we were told to get rid of things that distract us, so when I came home I deleted my twitter and my instagram. I was also told (by God) that pinterest was a distraction. I kept that and said that I would set a timer that would help me limit my time. It was all good until yesterday. I got on pinterest, forgot to set the timer, and I was on there for 2 hours straight. two hours that I could have spent with God. Should I delete my pinterest?
These are what I should be doing to fill in the time that I would spend to the computer and eating:
reading my Bible until I'm filled- this means I'm not reading 3 chapters and calling it a day, I'm reading until I uncover a message or a lesson. this means I could end up reading one chapter and that's it, because God spoke something or showed me something in those verses in the chapter.
writing in my prayer journal (which I will show you soon :)
Spending my whole day with God
What I expect to get out of this. Which I know that you gals might no this already, but as a reminder: Expect God to show up, and He will!:
having a more spiritual relationship with Him
Being able to spread God's word in school
Be a nicer person. really showing God's love to everyone
Memorization of the scriptures
Grow into the woman that God wants to be
Become the person that I would like to marry (more on that later)
Be a better help and have a better attitude at my house for my sister and my parents
I can't wait to see what God will do in this fast to all four of us!
Also........
You will be seeing and listening to this mug over the next 60 days :) I'm going to do a video diary as much as possible. During these videos I will be reading through my journal, talking about devos, and other random things that I want you to hear. Sometimes I feel that I express myself better on camera. Not sure if any of you other ladies will join me on this path, but it will be fun. sorry if I sound weird or appear camera shy.
Hi! This is a list of the things I am
fasting, and what I want each of them to do with my relationship with God. I
also waited to throw in that a lot of people mistake the meaning of fasting. A
lot of people just give up the one thing from their life, say its a food, or
music, or anything. But they end it there, God wants us to replace that thing
with Him!! So when we eat junk food out of boredom or comfort we should search
for God to fulfill those things in our life! Or replace the time we would spend
on the internet with reading the bible, or worshiping, or whatever you do to
become closer to God! With that in mind, I am fasting:
•My nights!
I am going to bed to be alone with God at about 9:00, during that time, to the
time I fall asleep, I will do my devos, listen to worship music, and write in
my prayer journal!
•My time with one of
my best friends. She is a Christian, but we never spend
time with God while we are together, and we are together a lot! I'm not having
a specific amount of time, but I know it won't be every single day, like it
typically is. And when we are together, we are going to do a devotional
together.
Those are really the two huge things that
take away from my relationship with God at the moment, so if anything else
arises that God moves me to fast, I will let ya'll know! :)
