Spirit of Strength

A Sound Mind~

I've been talking to some friends of mine (young teens) that are saying how much they struggle with the fear of not going to heaven. They are saved, and they know it. The liar Satan has just taken control of their thoughts and is doing a good job of scaring them with his lies. I know, I've struggled deeply with these same fears and doubts myself. But one truth remains strong above Satan's voice, defeating the father of lies. That is the truth found in 2 Timothy 1:7--"For God has not given us the spirit of fear;but of POWER,  and of LOVE, and of a SOUND MIND."

            When the devil, the deciever and the father of lies, throws doubts and fears at us, telling us we aren't worthy, we aren't enough, we can supply with POWER. The truth that WE AREN'T WORTHY, we never have been and we never will be. But when we choose to repent of our sin, and surrender our lives to Jesus Christ who died on the cross and took our sin upon His shoulders, and rose again, WE ARE SAVED. And this truth stands strong for anyone!

John 6:51 says,

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh."

His "flesh" he offered up was His life, for us on the cross, to take away our sin, the wrong things we've done. Lying, stealing, hating, cursing, all deserving of hell in God's eyes. BUT when we give our lives to Him,  He never leaves, He  never forsakes us, and He SAVES US. He is the "Author and the Finisher" of our faith and "nothing can snatch us from His hand" for He has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. So be strong, remeber His great love and grace that abounds forever, and stand strong, knowing that when you choose Him, He holds you until YOU choose to walk away.

Praise Him for His grace, and celebrate your eternal life.

Blessings!

Liel

IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SURRENDER YOUR LIFE TO JESUS, AND ACCEPT HIS FREE GIFT OF SALVATION. IF NOT, GOD IS JUST. HE CANNOT LET YOU INTO HEAVEN WITH SIN. "FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND  FALLEN SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD." ROMANS 3:23

 WE HAVE EACH MISSED THE MARK. BUT, "IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH JESUS IS LORD, AND BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART GOD HAS RAISED HIM FOR THE DEAD, YOU WILL BE SAVED." ROMANS 10:9

Pure and Holy

Hey everyone! I'm sorry that we haven't updated this in a while. Life just gets so busy sometimes, doesn't it? We had an awesome Bible Study last Saturday and the chapter talked about Purity. I just felt like I needed to share some of my notes from that onto a post here.

So here goes...

    Whenever we think of 'purity' we think of (or at least I tend to) physical purity from relationships outside of marriage. Well, that's what purity is, but it's more than that. Purity has to do with the physical factors, but it is also mental and spiritual. And in our Bible Study, we started to talk about this. The world that we live in today is so perverse. It is incredibly wicked. Even since the beginning of time until now, there were only 3 people who were perfect. Adam, Eve and Jesus Christ. We know that Adam and Eve fell and there went our chance to have any 'perfectness' in our DNA. But we do know that because of the way that the Holy Spirit entered Mary, and allowed her to conceive, that Jesus' blood wasn't tainted by the sin that had been passed down the line over generations and generations. Jesus was perfect; that's that. He lived his whole life without sinning and ended up taking our sins upon Him on the cross so that we could have eternal life. Jesus is our role model. We are to be like Him. Matthew 5:48 says, "Be perfect, therefore as your heavenly Father is perfect..." Perfect? Yes, that is God's standard for us. But we CAN'T meet that standard. Romans 3:23 says that, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." and Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." God has provided a way for us to be holy. That is, accepting and receiving the fact that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, so that you can have eternal life with Him. Because God has shown us how to be holy, it grieves Him when we don't choose that way. Yes, we have a choice to do what's right; we have a choice to accept His forgiveness and change how we live. When we don't, it grieves the Holy Spirit; it grieves Him when we sin. The choice that we have to make has to do with John 1:9. It says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It is absolutely important that we have His blood to cleanse us from our sins. This is not an option. Being holy comes with a choice. Another verse that was laid upon my heart was 1 John 2: 15-17. "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." Why does God say that we shouldn't love the world? Because it is just a lust. It's like fashions. They come and go, but they never stay the same. Because the world is such a blurr, coming and passing with its sinful desires, the Lord is calling us to be completely holy and set apart from the world. There is not one thing in the world that is holy. If you just think about it, Satan is the prince/ruler of this world. He hates God. So why would he ever allow anything 'good' or 'holy' or even 'of the Lord' to be in his kingdom? He wouldn't. We are the exceptions to that. We are the only light into this dark world; and he (Satan) is doing everything in his power to pull us away. And while he is doing that, we are called to be set apart, holy, blameless and pure children of God. Just a side note- when I was thinking about being blameless and pure.. it made me think of the verse that says, "do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure children of God." Even complaining or arguing is sinful, and even that little sin is tearing us away from God's presence. That was a little thought that I had....

The Bible study book went on to say that we need to recognize purity. We need to realize first our ungodliness, our unholiness, and see who we are. And then we need to confess our sins, confess that we are sinful beings and ask God to forgive us from those sins. God wants us to acknowledge how sinful we are, and then I believe when we do that, then it will make us appreciate/ realize how holy He is. From there, we can strive to be more like Him. But until that happens, we can't be holy on our own. Responding to purity was next. Once we realize that we have sinned, it's not going to do us any good if we keep living in sin, doing what we want and putting God off. We need to repent and change.
Purity is a part of holiness. If we are holy, then we will be pure. Matthew 5:8 comes to mind. This is from Jesus' teaching on the mount. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Being pure comes with such a blessing. We will SEE God. Others can see Him, but I think that it is something special. I think that we can notice Him in lots more of the world and what we are doing than the average Christian person. God is pure. When we are pure, we can start seeing things through His eyes. We can start becoming more like Him.
Purity comes with a choice as well. We have to choose to be pure. 2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." We are to FLEE, run away from, abandon the evil desires of youth. We can also choose who we associate with. We need to choose to be around those who "...call on the Lord out of a pure heart..", in other words, other believers who have the same pure mindset. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, "Bad company corrupts good morals." We all know this to be true. When we are around those who are pure, then it raises our standards. We can easily be pulled down into the world (aka influenced) but it's hard for us to influence others in a good way. This is why we need to strive for those things/relationships that will bring us up in the faith, pull us along in the right direction. As Christians, the Lord has a calling for each and every one of us. The question is, will we follow?

I hope that you guys were encouraged from reading this. I know that I was just thinking about it. May the Lord bless you, keep you, and make His face to shine upon you. :) Have a wonderful day in the Lord.

God bless,
Mikaela :)

Grace

His Grace ~

Grace. As human beings, grace is one of the, if not THE most important thing in our Christian life. Without Jesus' grace, we would not be here. And we would not be saved.

"For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."

Grace is a gift. A FREE gift, for all to recieve, and all to enjoy. Nevertheless, we have to CHOOSE  to RECIEVE IT. Jesus will not force His grace on you, because that is not love.  Love is a choice. A choice that you, and only you, can make for yourself.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldy lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious apperaring of our great God and Savior Jesus Chirst, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, ZEALOUS for good works."

Titus 2:11-14

    Jesus' grace has POWER. His grace is what separates His children from everyone else.

But, as it is the most important thing, it is also one of the most attacked things. God's Word says that it is His GRACE that leads us to repentance. Satan know that, and He attacks. But we can stand, and claim Christ's promise that His grace is ALWAYS enough.

2 Corinthians 12:9

"And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

Jesus is perfect. He is everything we need, and His is and always will be ENOUGH. As His children, lets claim His promise of grace, and let His power rest upon us, that His strength will be made perfect in our weakness'. HE IS FOR US.

2 Corinthians 9:8

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."

Feel inefficient? that's because WE ARE. His grace is what makes us able, abundant, for every good work. When we fail, we trust His grace to pick us back up again. But,

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? CERTAINLY NOT! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?"

Romans 6:1-2

Just because He gives grace freely, grace NEVER gives us the right to sin. On the contrary, His grace should lead us far from it, to be humbled in His sight. Who are we to deserve this grace?

"Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you thing that the Scripture says in vain, The Spirt who dwells in us yearns jealousy? But He gives MORE GRACE. Therfore, He says:  God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

James 4:6

Jesus is in LOVE with us. If ask Him to live in us, we are HIS,  and He wants all of us. But how many times do we ignore the One who gave Himself for us, and seek after the empty things of thw world? Yet Jesus gives us more grace. His grace should cause to be humbled, because we so severely deserve the opposite. His wrath. But Christ's kid's will never experience His grace. We will only ever experince His discipline, which is grace, because without it, we may forget His love and fall away. We have to trust Him. Therefore, we are His, and FREE form all secret sin and shame. Do  not allow the enemy to tempt you to doubt. Never doubt His grace He loves us.

Romans 8:1/31-19

"There is therefore now NO CONDEMNTATION to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law of the spirit of life in CHrist Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and deat. For what the LAW of the Spirit could NOT  do, in that it was weak through the flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousl requirement of the law migh tbe fulfilled in us who do NOT walk according  to the FLESH,  but according to the SPIRIT...if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly await for it with perseverence. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He sho searches the hearts knows what he mind of the Spirit is,because He amkes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined, ..these He also called, these He also justified, these whom He justified He also glorified. (here comes my favorite part..;) "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?  It is GOD who justifies. Who is He who condems? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession of us. Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine.. or peril or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerers through HIM WHO LOVED US. ..Nor any other created thing, shall be able to separated us from the love of God tha is in Christ Jesus OUR LORD."

He is OUR God. Jesus Christ, who loves us, and pours out His grace. He longs to give us His grace and the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT. Lets give in to Him. Lets surrender. Surrender to His grace. He is with you. He loves you. He is reaching for you. Accept His grace, and be EMPOWERED by it.

Be blessed!

"Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined (known before-hand) us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the ggood pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of HIS GRACE, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved."

God's Love~

Christ's grace and love is SO amazing!!! These are pics of a Purity Conference we did at our church. Waiting on GODS pick of a husband is TOTALLY worth it. I've seen it. It is His grace alone that satisfies, and keeps us, and will give us the grace to wait...

 We were asked to speak a little on  what spoke to us from the  Bible study we did, then dad spoke a little on what I meant to him. It was a precious moment.~

About Me....

When will my life begin...

So a little about me:) I am 17, and I have a yearning passion to see my dreams fulfilled:) My heart keeps beating for the hope that is in me:) Jesus is forever in hot pursuit of me, I could not escape His love if I chose to. He has been so faithful to me. He has given me my many grand dreams...

   the biggest being acting. I have been acting since before I could talk; putting myself in other peoples shoes, feeling what they must have felt..it is a fire burning in me that can never be  quenched. I long for my life to glorify God in the acting field, yet that is a very difficult task indeed. One day I long to see myself on the red carpet, having films of my own. But before I can even think of doing that I have to WAIT for God to mold me and transform into someone who will boldly and willingly carry His light into one of the darkest industries in America today. 

"Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,[a] and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels." Luke 9:23-26

        Wow. How powerful is that? Convicting....Yet this is truth, and how many Christians actually obey these Words? Not enough; myself included. I have to let go of what I think should be, and take hold of what God knows to be best. Next to my acting dream lies the dream to TRAVEL. Travel the whole world!!! Yes, I know that's expensive. That's why it's called a DREAM. But it is, nevertheless, a very real one, constantly on my mind. 

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, what God has planned for those who love Him." 

1 Corinthians 2:9

   And that is what I hold to:) I long for more, for adventure--I want to SEE things, experience them firsthand, not just hear about them. But first I must be content with where I am, and delight myself in the Lord! and THEN will He give me "the desires of my heart." (Psalm 37:4) PS--I REALLY WANT TO VISIT NYC!!! that's...aaahh! such a desire. but even more is the desire to go to INDIA.

  Missions. I adore them. India has been on my heart for almost 3 years now, and I still have yet to go. But I know that I am called there, at least for the time being, and I am earnestly praying and seeking God for a way that I can go. I trust Him. In truth, I do not pray half as much as I ought. Hey but let me just say 'world, look out! cause i'm comin'. I don't know when, or how, but i'm a comin'." :)

  So that fact covers the next part of my story:) I am a confused individual I believe, for on one half I am shy and barely speak a word, but on the other I am a bit too loud and no one can keep me from speaking my mind:) I am shy, and yet I adore the stage. My friends don't believe that I could EVER be shy, and my classmates wonder if I even talk at home. My BEST friends...know I'm completely insane;) For me...well...I get very frustrated. Because I feel as though I have SO much to share, but unless I feel completely secure with someone, it's like I lose the ability to speak! If you REALLY want to get to me, it takes time! a lot of it. But then when you DO get to know I sure do come on strong!! hehe....;) When people tell me that there is NO WAY that I can be shy because of how in love I am with the stage, I just remember all the stage lovers before me that were the exact same way! (take note: I am not comparing myself to these people in ANY way, I am merely using them to explain a bit of myself). 

1. Elvis Presley. yes ladies and gentlemen, the SAME elvis presley. He claimed he was terribly shy his entire life, and hardly ever spoke to anyone growing up. The stage was where he shone, where he belonged.

2. Michael Jackson. yes!! that soft-voiced fire ball:) In an interview he said he was "scared to death" to talk to people, that he felt "awkward" and just plain "uncomfortable." The stage was the only place he could truly be free. 

3. Lastly, Lucille Ball. Yes, the same one that had us rolling in laughter at her marvelous performances! At her first film school in New York, the principle sent home a letter to her parents saying: "Don't put any more money into this. This girl doesn't have a chance." Later they sent her home saying "she's too shy." 

SEE? do ya GET IT now? (sorry, I didn't mean to yell.) But just--don't judge a book by it's cover, or a person because they don't seem to have much life. The truth is, they are keeping everything inside, to dwell on them and let them grow, and then when they have the opportunity--it's DYNAMITE! really, they have SO much to give. don't write them off as boring or dull because they aren't just yet in their comfort zone. who knows? they may just one day up and surprise everyone:) 

well, there is one last VERY important thing to know about me:)

actually, my full name means "I am my Beloved's and He is mine." God has sung that over me since before I could walk, and now I walk in it and cling to the melody. His LOVE is oh-so-sufficient for me. He is all that I need. He is my reward. My portion. My inheritance. My life means nothing without Him by my side. If any one reading this has not experience His unconditional love, He is pursuing you. He is JEALOUS for you. Absolutely in love with you. And He died so that He could call you His own. 

Romans 10:9 

"If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved."

It is a life-changing decision. His love will give you PURPOSE  and HOPE. The road He calls us to is not an easy one, but one with MUCH reward. and a love that will sweep you off your feet. :)





Bible Study

Bible Study!!!

Bible study starts tonight friends! Hope to see you there!!

Proverbs 3:5-6...

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."


Hey guys!

The next Bible study is at my house (Liel's) from 7-9:00 pm roughly. We don't want to go much later than that, and we need time for prayer and an ending worship song, so we have to stay focused. Hey, be thinking and praying now about anything that Jesus may put on your heart to share about CONFIDENCE!! we all need so much more of it, and that only comes with the Holy Spirit's empowerment! Again, just a reminder, if any of you play an instrument that is easy and portable (eg. guitar, banjo....;) please feel free to bring it. We would love to have you guys BEING the worship music ;)

Any song/game recommendations would be amazing. 

All of you are SO amazing. thank you for giving you Friday night time to come spend time with us, and get to know Jesus better!

Looking forward to a marvelous, Jesus-filled Friday night with you all! 

See you soon!


Hey, books came in!! If you don't have your book we will have them here at our house Friday!!
(FYI they're $10 if you haven't already paid.) Looking forward to seeing all of your lovely faces Friday! Bring all the friends you have and tell everyone you know...because if Jesus is there, it will be awesome. And if we seek Him and draw near to Him, God's Word promises that HE will draw near to US. Amazing. Love all of you, and see ya soon!

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in ALL of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."

OK, so, for all you who yet do not know,  regretfully I must say,Bible study is canceled for tomorrow night. PLEASE KEEP READING YOUR BOOKS. Next Friday, we will continue on with the next chapter, therefore covering both (this weeks and next) on Friday.
QUICK NOTE:
GOD IS JUST. HE WILL NOT GIVE US ANY TEMPTATION OR TRIAL THAT HE WONT GIVE US THE STRENGTH TO STAND UNDER.TRUST HIM. HE IS STANDING FOR YOU. HE WILL WIN. JUSTICE WILL RULE. WAIT PATIENTLY UPON THE LORD, AND BE STILL.
~For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.~
Matthew 16:27

This Is Love~

 Hey guys! This is me, Liel. I have a great passion in my heart for God's love, and sharing it with the world! As does my dear cousin and wonderful frend Mikaela! ( I'll upload her pictrue later...you would be shocked to know how long it took me to upload this!) We are starting a Bible study tomorrow with the other girls from our church!
So pumped;) I also have a big passion for worship. TRUE worship.
Lets all pray for more true worshiper's, and to worship with our whole hearts as well.;)
Stay tuned for more updates!
Be blessed,
Liel

Prayer

PRAYER!!
Pray for my friends the Elders to be directed where to live (with emphasis on Knoxville); for my Egyptian friends Therese and Milad to be supplied with all that they need as they come here, and for a friend I met, Jake,(marvelous worship leader;) to have guidance from Jesus where to go. All of these people are AMAZING, and totally surrendered unto  God. Lets pray for His Spirit to lead.  So excited to see Jesus working!
Be blessed!
Liel

Hey guys!
Thanks for all the prayer. Our friens from Egypt, Therese, Milad, Freddy, and Joy are here in Knoxville with us. They have their own home and they are a wonderful blessing to us. WE LOVE THEM!! Jake, (the worship guy I was talking about) arrived in Knoxville today. We are looking forward to a marvelous time with him over the summer!! Our friends the Elders, through much prayer and waiting on God, felt directed to move to California. We trust them in God's perfect care. Please be praying for all of these super-wonderful people, as Jesus directs their lives in His perfect will.

Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."