Fashion and Faith Inspiartion

         Hey guys! Happy Monday. I hope everyone had a great weekend. I know I did. Yesterday I went to church with my good friend LaShonda and oh my gosh it was amazing! I'm used to the charismatic church style. By charismatic I mean awesome worship that you can feel in your bones,on fire preaching, jumping up and down, and speaking in tongues. For me I have always been around that atmosphere so going to this church wasn't much different, except for the Holy Ghost encounter that I had for the first time. I've always heard people like my dad, pastor and other church members speak in tongues and be filled with the Holy Spirit but it's never happened to me. I was just always the one watching and saying "okay God this is really cool, when is it my turn." I think I've realized that it's not only God's timing but our willingness. In order for me to have encountered that myself I had to be willing to completely give myself to God and have the Holy Spirit take control. I had NO idea that I was going to go into this church and have people lay there hands on me and prophesy over me and pray for me. I was not expecting to be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues but it happened!!! And all I can say is wow. I can't stop thinking about it. It is one of the most beautiful  and empowering things I've experienced. I am just finding myself hungry for more. I'll have to admit I was confused and scared at first because I haven't felt anything like it before, but once God begins moving and fighting against the enemy that is binding your mind, there's no stopping Him.  I read this scripture to really get a better understanding of it. In Acts Chapter 2 The Holy Spirit finally comes (During Jesus' time on earth with the disciples He kept telling them that He would be sending someone after Him "The Holy Spirit") It says in Acts 2 that "It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.(1-4)
Others joked, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”(13) bystanders hearing the tongues were like "what the heck" and that's when Peter stepped in and said "That’s when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: “Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight. These people aren't drunk as some of you suspect. They haven’t had time to get drunk—it’s only nine o’clock in the morning. This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen:

“In the Last Days,” God says,
“I will pour out my Spirit
    on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy,
    also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions,
    your old men dream dreams.
When the time comes,
    I’ll pour out my Spirit
On those who serve me, men and women both,
    and they’ll prophesy.
(14-18)

So, I know that can be a lot to take in. It definitely was a lot for me. But as I dive into my walk with Jesus and get deeper and deeper into His word and presence I know that only good things can come out of it and that God has a divine plane for my life.  As I give my whole self to Him I know that He will continue to lead me, work through me, and use me as a vessel of His glory. I encourage all of you to pray and study more about this and see what God reveals to you. It's something that is so special and powerful. 
         Anyways another great part about going to church with LaShonda was getting to take picture of her fabulous outfit. That girl knows how to dress. She is the Queen of skirts and I love her style, so of course I had to share! Her skirt is perfect. I love how she paired it with a belt and that it's a high waist. And her shoes! I could never walk in them but they are so cute!  Maybe one day.... I also loved that she paired the skirt with a white sweater and simple accessories.  So today my fashion and faith inspiration comes from my girl LaShonda. Thank you for loving Jesus, glorifying Him, and dressing on point. She's the best.
    Hope you guys enjoy! Love, Sofia

Forgiven

Hey guys! Happy Good Friday. I hope everyone is having a good day. I know some people can find it hard to accept this day as joyful. When Jesus was dying on the cross it wasn't a very joyful time. It was dark and painful. The reason why I find myself being so joyful today is because I know what took place. Although today represents the day that Jesus died, it also represents the day that He took our place. The day that He was beaten, tortured, and killed for us. So today I am overwhelmed with joy because of what Jesus did for me! Because of His sacrifice I can live. Because of His blood I can walk in forgiveness and be empowered by the Holy Spirit. The chains and sin that once bounded me are no longer in control of  my life all because of the precious sacrifice made by the most precious person. Right before Jesus was captured He prayed this for us. "Father, I want those you gave me to be with me, right where I am, so they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me, having loved me long before there ever was a world. Righteous Father, the world has never known you, but I have known you, and these disciples know that You sent me on this mission. I have made Your very being known to them- who you are and what you do- and continue to make it known, so that Your love for me might be in them exactly as I am in them,." ~John 17:24-26. Isn't this wonderful!? Right before Jesus was taken to be persecuted He prayed for us, the very people that caused His persecution.  Jesus could have easily gotten off the cross. He could have commanded angles to come to His rescue, but He didn't. He had something better in mind. You and me. He wants us to experience His love and His glory. He wants to live inside of us. So He went to the cross. Everything that I am starts at the foot of the cross where Jesus poured out His life for me. Through this sacrifice Jesus has captivated my heart and set me free into His love. Today I encourage you to take a minute to really allow what Jesus has done for you to sink in. We are so undeserving and yet Jesus still willingly went to the cross to pay for all of OUR wrongs. We are forgiven. Thank you Jesus. 
                                            Today is Friday BUT Sunday is coming.

                            "It was our sins that did that to him- our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through His bruises we get healed. We've all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong, on him, on him." ~ Isaiah 53:5

This shirt is perfect for today's occasion. It's perfect for any day actually :) But I got it last summer at a Lecrae concert. It's one of my favorite t-shirts. It's a great conversation starter and a fun way for me to share the gospel with people everywhere. Jesus and clothes (two of my favorite things).

Love, Sofia.

Jehovah- Nissi

   Hi everyone! I hope you all are having a good week so far. With high school slowly starting to come to an end for me, I'm finding myself having more work than I've had through my whole high school career! Everything from 8 page research papers, to tons of college papers, scholarships, payments, and test to take can get pretty overwhelming. I am so thankful that I am able to enter into the rest of Jesus. Without His peace and guidance I would literally go crazy. In this new season of spiritual intimacy and prayer I've entered, God has revealed some different  things to me. One of these things are His characteristics and who He is to me and for me.

 Jehovah-Nissi means "The Lord is my banner." Jehovah, meaning Lord, and Nissi, meaning "refuge, exaltation, banner." As I came across the names of God this one really stuck with me and as I searched it up in the bible God poured His love and revelation into my heart. In Exodus 17:8 The Amalekites go to war and attack the Israelites. Moses orders Joshua to take some of the men and go fight against the Amalekites and says "Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill and with the staff of God in my hands" (9). So Joshua went and fought the Amalekites and Moses went and sat on a hill with Aaron and Hur. The interesting thing is this "As long as Moses held up up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning," (11). So basically when he was holding up his hands he was getting victory but when he lowered his hands he was being defeated. This has such a deep meaning. Moses wasn't just lifting up his hands randomly., he was lifting them up to God offering a sacrifice of worship and prayer.Think about a time you were at church and saw people lifting their hands during worship, that's probably what Moses looked like in that moment. When Moses's hands were lifted victory was established and poured out on the Israelites, but as soon as those hands of worship and praise came down defeat also came down upon the Israelites. This passage shows the value of offering ourselves to God as a living sacrifice and what can come of it. As the passage continues it says "But Moses' hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him. and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side; and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun, (12)." Sometimes it get's hard to worship. We find ourselves getting beat up by our emotions and the world. We become weak and our hands and heart grow so heavy that we just don't think we can praise anymore. That's when we need to sit on the stone. I'm talking about the cornerstone, who is Jesus. When Moses's hands became heavy he sat on top of a stone. When I read this it all just hit me, this stone represents Jesus. Our strength, our fortress. Without continually turning to him ,and sitting upon His word of truth our hands become heavy and we can no longer find ourselves able to worship. He is our strength. We have to rest upon Him or we won't rest at all. Not only did Moses sit on the stone but his companions Aaron and Hur supported him. Helping him to lift his hands up. To me this represents having people in your life that will point you to Jesus even when things are hard. Aaaron and Hur could have let Moses struggle and watch the Israelites be defeated but they stepped in and helped their friend offer a sacrifice of worship to God. That's beautiful and that is true friendship.  So guess what happened after all of this "Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword," (13). When I read this I couldn't help but praise God. Joshua overcame. Because of Moses' sacrifice of praise to God they overcame adversity. "Moses built an alter and called it. The Lord is my Banner. He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord, (15-16)." God is our Banner. He fights for us and lifts us up when we are weak. Moses gave direct glory to God after this victory. He built Him and altar! And basically said "God is my protector, my fighter, my banner, my strength. I lifted my hands up to Him and look what He did. Not only did He give me the strength to carry on but He gave us the victory." Today know that God is fighting for you. When it seems hard to lift your hands in praise sit yourself upon the Rock of Ages, the cornerstone, the word of God, Jesus. When we are weak we are made strong in the Saviors love. Offer yourselves to God and He will pour out victory, strength and more than you could ever imaging. Thank you God for being our Banner our Jehovha-Nissi.    "Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them- living and breathing God!" Romans 8:5 (MSG)

Here are the names of God found in the bible. Study them and see what God has to say about your life and what He has to say about Himself. They will reveal the intimacy of God and what He has in store for your life. 

                                 Love,
                                         Sofia

Spiritual Shift

   Happy Friday everyone! I hope everyone has had a great week so far. I know that I have. It was definitely a week filled with unexpected things. A few weeks ago I found out that Kim-Walker Smith was coming to a church conference in Orlando at a church that my family was very familiar with. My best friend and I had been wanting to see Jesus Culture in concert really badly so when I found out about the conference I knew that we had to go. I signed my mom, me, and my best friend up and got so excited. As the day approached things started coming up that I thought would prevent us from going, but when God is involved in a situation there's no stopping Him. The name of the conference was Unleashed and it was at New Destiny Christian Center. Paula White is the senior pastor of the church and she is incredible. I thought I knew what to expect at this conference, but what I got from it was so different than anything I could have dreamed.  I've been listening to Paula White preach since I was a little girl so I knew to expect some Holy Spirit fired up preaching, but I was not expecting the prophetic anointing that was released (I didn't even know to much about prophetic anointing until this night). I've listened to Kim Walker Smith's music a countless amount of times but to actually be present in her anointed voice was way different. What happened to me was a complete spiritual shift. Being in a room of hundreds of people worshiping is one thing. Being in a room full of people speaking in tongues, getting healed and prophesied over is a whole other thing. People were literally healed from sickness and bondage right in front of me, lives were changed right in front of me. You don't leave something like that and stay the same. The atmosphere was so incredible it's hard to explain with words. It was like nothing I've ever experienced. What makes me so excited is knowing that I have stepped into something so much deeper and bigger than myself. It's like God has breathed a breath of fresh air into my lungs and given me this whole new outlook and vision. Everything I know about God is about to get so much more intimate than it was before. Seeing the resurrection power of Jesus become activated in my life has caused such an enormous shift and I am so excited for this new journey of intimacy, sacrifice, abundance, and anointing to enter into my life. God has restored things back to me that I didn't even know needed restoring and I am so grateful to Him for bringing me, and two of my favorite people, to this awesome conference. I can't wait to continue in this amazing shift and share with you all about the new journey that I'm on. God is so great, and as I get deeper into His word and anointing I pray that I can be an even bigger blessing to people everywhere.

                                      Here's something I read in the bible today that really spoke to me. I  pray that it blesses you!

     Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck O captive Daughter of Zion.....How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"...The Lord will lay bare His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. ~ Isaiah 52:1-2, 7, 10

My amazing mother and soul sister before the conference. :)

Kim Walker Smith was AMAZING. Seeing her was a dream come true.

Jesus.

                                             

One of the amazing healing moments. Seriously such a beautiful and powerful thing. So blessed to have experienced. (no, healing miracles didn't just happen back in the bible days, it's alive and present now to)

Paula White and this amazing prophet preaching up a storm!! It was incredible.