Statistic Schmatistic!

"Your walk with God is an individual thing." 

 - [Wise.man.of.God's.Uncle]

Jesus answer me.

What do you do when you recognize that a person is hurting? What do you say when you compare your life to theirs and it seems as if the hand dealt to you was inexplicably better? What can you do when your whole heart is filled with compassion to the point where you would give anything, even everything that you have to that person in hopes of satisfying their emptiness, soothing their pain and bringing them joy? What can you do if everything that person needed transcended materialism, even the pleasures of this world? What if that person needed Jesus? What if they knew they needed Jesus but did not know how to experience Him? How do you help a person experience Jesus, meet Jesus, receive love from Jesus, lean on Jesus, depend on Jesus, trust in Jesus when even you sometimes fail at all of the above? How do you hold back tears from smudging the pages of your journal when the solution to this person's problems seems so out of your grasp? How do you go about your daily business when this person's life continues to weigh heavily on your heart? I don't know. Jesus answer me.

Isaiah 43

Isaiah 43 (New International Version)

Isaiah 43

Israel's Only Savior

 ¹ But now, this is what the LORD says—
       he who created you, O Jacob,
       he who formed you, O Israel:
       "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
       I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  ² When you pass through the waters,
       I will be with you;
       and when you pass through the rivers,
       they will not sweep over you.
       When you walk through the fire,
       you will not be burned;
       the flames will not set you ablaze.
 ³ For I am the LORD, your God,
       the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
       I give Egypt for your ransom,
       Cush ^[a] and Seba in your stead.
 ⁴ Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
       and because I love you,
       I will give men in exchange for you,
       and people in exchange for your life.
 ⁵ Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
       I will bring your children from the east
       and gather you from the west.
 ⁶ I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
       and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
       Bring my sons from afar
       and my daughters from the ends of the earth-
 ⁷ everyone who is called by my name,
       whom I created for my glory,
       whom I formed and made."
 ⁸ Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
       who have ears but are deaf.
 ⁹ All the nations gather together
       and the peoples assemble.
       Which of them foretold this
       and proclaimed to us the former things?
       Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
       so that others may hear and say, "It is true."
 ¹⁰ "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
       "and my servant whom I have chosen,
       so that you may know and believe me
       and understand that I am he.
       Before me no god was formed,
       nor will there be one after me.
 ¹¹ I, even I, am the LORD,
       and apart from me there is no savior.
 ¹² I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
       I, and not some foreign god among you.
       You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God.
 ¹³ Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
       No one can deliver out of my hand.
       When I act, who can reverse it?"

[click here for verse 14-28]

Encounter with a stranger

  
As I type, the sweet aroma of coffee beans fill the air and the chatter of fellow students fighting the good fight of essays and papers surround me. I am sitting down on a suave but comfy dark brown chair at one of my favourite coffee shops sipping on the most delicious blueberry de-caffeinated tea. I just shared over an hour of my study time with a friendly stranger sitting in the chair beside me. He too had his laptop in front of him with his coffee mug situated just to the right of it. It was the wonderful smell of my tea that caught his attention he said. After I removed my head phones from my ears, he then mentioned how good the tea must taste. I confirmed his suspicion and it was then that we entered into our very long conversation. Of course I didn't know it would continue for as long as it did and I suspect he didn't know either; and although we both had work to do, the talk was going so good that it didn't seem to matter. We talked about all sorts of thing; God, the good life, happiness, travel destinations, future aspirations, love and humanity. We were significantly different people. He was a Colombian man, probably in his mid 40s who already has his life together in terms of his career and achieving what he calls happiness. Me, I'm just a 19 year old girl with absolutely no clue where I stand in life or where I am going. My only certainty is the love God has for me which I shared with Him. That was among the many things we talked about. Listening to his perspective of life was definitely a change from the people I surround myself with. I could tell he wasn't very religious, but in many ways he was a good man. He believed in doing good and being kind to others and generous and loving. His career entailed helping others identify their purpose in life as well as developing their future aspirations. I shared how I am in the process of identifying my passions and the type of career I wish to have in the future. He shared a lot of  beneficial information that really helped me organize my thoughts for my future plans. He said that I am at the perfect age to just "stop *he paused* and think." It's amazing how two strangers can have a totally deep and rewarding conversation. I gained knowledge and incite of things I had never known and I hope that I was able to impart some knowledge and a different perspective of life to him.

Vid - {K'NAAN - WAVIN' FLAG}

{K'NAAN - WAVIN' FLAG}

Izzy Baby :)

The day Izzy visited with her mommy Losotros. She became mine for the day.

I love Isabella aka Izzy =)

It is not faith to believe for something and still have back-up plans
-[wise.woman.of.God]

It is not faith to believe for something for others and not for yourself.
-[wise.woman.of.God]

Prayer Request - I have a cold

I have a cold at the moment and it's slowing down my productivity level HARD. This poses a problem since it's the last week of school and I have assignments to write! Please say a prayer of faith for me so that I will get well A.S.A.P.. Prayer that my sneezes and sniffles go away and that my congested nasal passage gets cleared up and that I get a lot of energy to do my school work. :) Thank You Fam!

Acknowledging God's presence

Today was interesting. ..  then again.. everyday that I walk with God and remembers He loves me tends to be interesting. One of the more interesting parts of my day was bible study. My Pastor Joel came to my campus bible study to teach us about and how to do the good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do. [Ephesians 2:10] His teaching was filled with wisdom and I definitely soaked up alllll that my mind-sponge could retain. However, I believe that the biggest thing I took away from the bible study was from Joel's side notes. Now, if you know my Pastor Joel, side notes can actually be as long as FULL sermons so you better believe that I got a lot of it!! He was teaching us how to stay in constant communion with God and he gave us an illustration of a driver and his passenger. He said that if a driver disregarded that there was a passenger in the car with him and saw something funny outside, he would probably just chuckle to himself and keep driving. It would be rude not to include the passenger into the joke wouldn't it? Now if the driver was aware of the passenger's presence and welcomed that presence, if he saw something funny outside the window he would turn to his passenger and say "Hey! look at that!" and they would both start laughing. Our communion with God is very much like this driver and his passenger.  If we know that God is always in our presence, but we do not acknowledge His presence, it's like we are being the rude driver ignoring our passenger. I really took this to heart because I felt like at times I was that rude driver. The illustration really changed my perspective on how I view unceasing prayer with God. Prayer is a dialogue and it is much easier to have a dialogue with a person who you know is in your midst.


That's all for now folks!
Bed time x_x

Seasons change

As I was driving down a familiar road bordered with beautiful tall trees mixed with large lots of farm land I observed the faint colours of the plants and the naked branches of the trees. I thought to myself that soon enough, spring will come, and the leaves will once again find their places on their assigned branches. It was at that time when I drew a parallel between the seasons of the trees and the seasons of my life. I realised that just like seasons are bound to change - spring will always follow winter, summer will always follow spring and so on and so forth - the seasons in a persons life will also inevitably change. Understanding this brings hope if one is going through a difficult season in their life because then one can be sure that life will soon get better. It also brings hope if you are enjoying a season of rest and peace, because it is during this time that one can prepare for the bitter winter ahead and brace yourself for the 'hard' times to come. Seasons change.. some last longer than others but one will always end and usher in the next.

Happy Birthday to Christos Dep Hibbert!!

Daniel Diet

Day 10

I never thought that I would miss meat as much as I do right now.

.Obedience unto death.

Daniel 3:16-18 (New International Version) -Daniel

 ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
(Read full story)

Esther 4:16 (New International Version) -Esther

¹⁶ "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."
(Read full story)

Philippians 1:21 (New International Version) -Paul

²¹For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
 (Read full story)

John 10:17-18 (New International Version) -Jesus

¹⁷The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
(Read full story)

.Obedience unto death.

Words shape you

I learned about Mead, Sherif and Kuhn in my Classical Sociology lecture yesterday. These sociologists are well known for their work in the area of the mind, self and society. I chose to blog about them because they helped me gain further understanding of a scripture that I kept bumping into - Romans 12:2. The following points are the conclusions that I drew from the lecture and afterwards I will say why they helped me understand Romans 12:2.

Words have symbolic meaning
Mead says that constraints controlled by the conscious is more powerful than biological urges. He also said that symbolic meaning has more coercive power than biological drives. The symbolic meaning he is referring to is language - words. Sherif shows that language is a symbol system. Each sound is a symbol that stands for something else. He believed that this symbol system can create it's own perception and create its own reality.

Words change our perception of our self and the world
1. Perception of the world: Sherif’s experiment
Sherif did an experiment to prove his point: He had people sit in a dark room and observe a pin point light in front of them that was not moving. It was a stationary light. People typically saw the light moving in an erratic random motion. He then told subjects that the light was moving in a certain way and the people agreed. He then split the people into two groups and told the first group that the light was moving large distances and the second group that the light was moving small distances. Then he put the two groups together in one room and they looked at the same stationary light once more and arrived at a midway point.
In other words, perception changes in response to symbolic communication.

2. Perception of Self: Kuhn's test
Manfred Kuhn performed an experiment called the '20 statement test' where he asked people to have 20 responses to the one question, "Who am I?" He found that people often defined themselves in relation to their social status. He came to the conclusion that humans acquire their sense of 'self' from symbolic creations and we tend to become what we are told we are.

Perceptions of self and the world are a learnt behaviour
Humans do not have an innate self-awareness/perception. We learn from infant hood 'individual' and 'self' concepts symbolically (words) through society. We acquire knowledge of 'self' when we acquire language through communal interaction.

Applying this knowledge to Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (New International Version) 

I will focus on the first part of the verse, "be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Knowing that words change our perception of ourselves and of the world, we must be extremely careful of the words that surround us. How many of you know that the word of God is perfect converting the soul, perfect for teaching and instructing and perfect for encouraging? It is a perfect mirror in which we must examine ourselves and continue to being transformed. People are imperfect and therefore, the words that come out of their mouths are also imperfect. The labels that the world places on you are imperfect and what the world thinks about you is imperfect. If you continue to let what the world says about you shape who you are then you will have an imperfect picture of who you are and also, what the world is. You may not believe that the world changes your perception of self and your reality but if you allow the world to be your main source of knowledge then it will inevitably shape you. In other words, you must be constantly emerged in the word of God if you are to be shaped by His words. I heard a friend say, "You cannot know what the lie is until you know the truth." God's word is that truth and everything else is lie. Submerge yourselves in God's word and allow it to shape who you are and your reality. Then you will know what his good, pleasing and perfect will is.

The first time I was introduced to Love

I want to stand out among the masses and be recognized as an individual. I want my speech, behaviour and actions to cause others to ponder 'why does she, how is it or what causes her to be who she is.' Maybe then one out of the many would approach me, and enquire of me. Maybe then I would be given the opportunity to testify about Jesus and the miraculous work He has and continues to do in my heart. Maybe then a seed would be planted in someones life for eternity - how lovely would it be if it sprouted and it's roots shot into the ground of that one person's heart. I can't live a life like everyone else. My reality has never looked more real. Everything in in my life has shifted completely. They say that the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. It is because I fear God that I see the world under a much brighter light - any light at all is an improvement from the darkness I used to know. It's funny because this light was in the world so long ago, yet no one recognized Him. How sad. . . - to stare straight into the eyes of your masterpiece and have it turn it's back on you and say it doesn't love you. I say 'Him' because the light is living.. He is real.. He is life.. He is the Son of God - Jesus Christ. I am glad that He didn't give up on me when I turned my back on Him. He was beaten to the point where He no longer looked like a human being and bared MY punishment for MY sin - death. He's awesome though. His love conquered death and he came looking for me. He grabbed me by the hand as I stumbled in the darkness and He drew me close to Him. Immediately His light shone on me and He said, "You are mine." I struggled with Him and tried to get away - I didn't understand His love. Yet he held me even closer and said, "You are mine and I love you." My heart literally melted away as I stared into the deep, fiery eyes of my Maker the very first time I was introduced to Love.

[This scripture was in my mind as I wrote this:

Romans 12:2 (King James Version)

 ²And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.]

[If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sinss, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.1 john 1:8-9]{Copied from rtzoom}

[Jesus as a dread. Unlikely, but heavy pic nonetheless]{Copied from Zazzle.ca}

  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
         Be acceptable in Your sight,
         O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

[Psalm 19:14 NKJV]

I'm on a diet

Daniel Diet

Day 1: It was hard finding food today. My house didn't have any organic foods or whole grain foods or fruits or vegies. Holay... makes me wonder about my regular eating habits?? yikes. I had to go to the super market and pick up breakfast. The fruits and vegetable aisle seemed foreign to me. I just picked up a pear and an apple and a whole grain baguette. That my friends, is my breakfast this morning.

Now on to lunch & dinner. o_O

School Ministry, Wife & Mother

This is an update on my life. I came to two realizations both today and yesterday. The first realization came yesterday. Weirdly enough, I was in a bathroom stall when it happened and it was right after my friend and I just finished praying for a couple girls. I realized that I am literally a part of a school ministry!  o_O I definitely did not see this coming, but it happened. God roped me into His plans hard but hey, All Glory To God! Leadership is foreign to me. Well I should say, being a good leader is foreign to me. I find it a challenge to take on the responsibilities of my own life so how will I manage with the lives of God's precious children? Therefore, I have decided to hand over all responsibilities to God. My leader once told me, If you are doing God's will, your plans will succeed and all Glory will go to God but, if you are doing your own will, regardless of how noble it may be, your plans will fail and it will be your own fault and not God's.  I intend to take that to heart. I believe this ministry is God's will and therefore he is in control of it's success. I view myself and the other prayer warriors as a small squad in a huge army with God as our leader. We are being trained for war!

The second realization occured while I was driving to school this morning. It was more of a wide-eyed blank stare moment when a thought of my future came to mind. I saw myself 5 years in the future being a wife and a mother of my first child. o_O That thought alone is totally insane. 7 months ago my 5 year plan looked more like, moving out of my parents house, living in a Spanish-speaking country and living a care-free make-belief life. My mindset is totally different and it's shocking to see such a drastic change in myself. Could that really be me in 5 years? Wife and mother? I'll be no older than 25. I am scared to say that I am ready.. but I somehow believe I am. Sure there are some kinks I have to work out in my life, but I'm almost looking forward to my future. God has planned out so many treats for me to find along the way. I'll let you know how it goes!

[God love burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. sgs8:6]{Copied from S0inL0VE}

One thing have I desired of the LORD,

that will I seek after;

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

to behold the beauty of the LORD,

and to enquire in his temple.

[psalm 27:4]

Kizzy pulls an Ezekiel!

Will I learn it faster if I eat it or read it?

God visits Universities?

Hey folks, I am on my 10 min break mid-way through my politics class. The lecture is on religion, politics and development... o0o interesting huh?? Nah, not really.. but w.e. I would fall asleep if I did not think the lecture would be on the final, but it will be, so I have commanded my eyelids to re-open every time they decide to close. No one can tell what's going on behind my summer shades and hoodie so I'm gooood.

On another note, God has been doing super big things here on campus. Just last Friday, LESS than a handful of Christian youth put together an awesome worship service in the School's student centre. Over 100 people attended with God as the most honoured guest. Fire poured out from heaven and hearts were changed forever. The walls of the school shook as heaven opened and angels were released all over campus. YAYY!

However, we know that one church service is not going to feed all these new babes in Christ sufficiently so as a follow up, we are planning to set up better organized bible study groups, prayer groups and also strategy to get school youth connected with base churches that will disciple them properly. I don't know about you, but I'm super excited to see the Lord CONTINUE to move on campus. =D

The Lord is perfectly faithful

For the past couple weeks I have been in a whirlwind of God's love and faithfulness. I would like to take a moment to simply Thank God for his love and faithfulness. You are awesome God!! I remember reading in Isaiah 25:1 that the Lord's faithfulness is perfect. This means that one can be absolutely sure that what He says he will do, will get done! I have been seeing the Lord's faithfulness predominantly in my life and the life of a close girl friend. God's faithfulness has become real to me and I can testify to it! I believe the reason for this revelation of God's faithfulness - I'll get to love in second - has been a direct product of prayer. Ever since I became a born-again Christian I knew prayer was powerful, but it's only been in the past couple weeks where my eyes have truly been opened to the power of prayer and the perfection of God. Now I'll touch on love. Love makes prayer extremely enjoyable. God's love compels you to prayer and when you and God begin to interact in prayer and exchange love, your relationship with Him becomes more intimate and trust begins to flow out of prayer. The scripture that really helped me with trusting in the Lord is Proverbs 3:5-6. It says that we should not lean on our own understanding, but trust in the Lord with all of our hearts. It involves putting aside all the answers that we think are right and seeking the Lord for his answer. It takes humility to admit that your thoughts or action, though they seem right and sensible, are not what God says are right. A combination of trust and prayer produces and outflow of love and faithfulness. If I didn't prayer I would not see God's faithfulness. My friend and I are a witness of His faithfulness. We share the things we prayer for and then soon after there is an answer to our prayer!!! Our faith increases and our joy in the Lord amplify. If I didn't prayer, God would still be faithful, after all, he cannot deny himself.(2Ti 2:13) I just wouldn't get to see it and I would go about my day thinking that the Lord was not involved in my life except for the rare noticeable moments where I find money on the floor or some shopkeeper gives me extra food than what I paid for. ... ugh.. that sounds stale.. I love the excitement that comes from answered prayer and the realization that God cares about each of his children on a personal and intimate level. There is nothing in our lives that is too small or insignificant for the Lord to take care of.

Word of advice: Seek to know the Lord's faithfulness and start praying.

I dance with my lover

Song of Solomon 1:2-3 (New International Version)

² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
       for your love is more delightful than wine.
 ³ Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
       your name is like perfume poured out.
       No wonder the maidens love you!

Song of Solomon 2:6 (New International Version)

 ⁶ His left arm is under my head,
       and his right arm embraces me.


---------------------

Exchanging love with my lover is like partaking in an intimate dance in the ballroom of a King. All the heavenly hosts look upon the groom and his bride as all the angels of heaven sing a beautiful melody. Despite the filled room of spectators, the groom is captivated by the beauty of his bride and she surrendors to his arms. He embraces her as she leans on his shoulder and they become the only people in this fantastically large and royal ballroom. The groom deeply inhales the sweet perfume coming from his beloved as her head rests directly beneath his nose. The bride, in his warm embrace, feels absolutely safe in his arms as she too breaths in the sweet aroma of his love. The two lovers are becoming one in this beautiful and intimate dance.

I think that I'm in-like for the first time .. ever.

[Deep]{Copied from ChristineSweets}

 Cute?

As I sip tea on a bumpy trip

Hey, I've finally decided to update this dusty ol' blog while I''m sitting here on this bumpy ride. (Which makes drinking my tea a bit difficult). Where am I going you ask? I'd say I'm in some sort of hmm.. time portal? It's taking me away from my childhood and I heard it's taking me into the realm of womanhood.  . . hm. I'm kind of scared. I've never been to this place before so I had no idea how to pack. I mean, I was rushed out the door so I just grabbed some wisdom from my mother and some training from my parents that they gave me when I was younger & of course I stuck some memories and lessons learned in my back pocket. But there is no turning back now . . . I'll tell you how it goes.