Laughing At His Promises

Happy Thursday! I feel like it has been so long since I last posted. College is no joke. Seriously I never have a day where I have no homework, projects, assignments, etc. I'm thankful for all of it though. I'm getting a world class education and once in a lifetime opportunities so I fight to be grateful. God is faithful guys. I can never say it enough. As I see His promises unfold I get filled with wonder but also look back at myself a  few months ago and say "Man, why didn't I just trust Him." Has God ever said something to you and you just laugh because of how crazy it sounds. Reading Genesis 18:10-14 strikes familiarity in my heart "Then the Lord said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?" Then the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say "Will I really have a child, now that I am old?" Is anything to hard for the Lord?" Sarah laughed at God's promise and I have done the same thing countless amounts of time. When God speaks the impossible into our lives and does not operate according to our timing or plans we can shrink back in disbelief. That's what Sarah did. She laughed at the thought of having a child because of her old age. Personally when this happens to me my disbelief turns into fear, my fear turns into doubt, and walls are built around my heart. It's a deadly cycle. I look back over these past few months and see how God has been so faithful to carry me through and provide in ways I didn't even think of. I was terrified of coming into this new semester of school. I was fearful of the unknown, uncertain of the promises of God, and elevating the lies of the enemy and opinion of man. Nothing was going the way I planned yet God's plan remained perfect and in place. God never once says to Himself, "Oh no I have to change this now because this didn't work out, what am I going to do!?" Instead He says "I have known all along, I go before you and behind you, before you are even in the next season of your life I am already there preparing the people, the place, and everything in between." It is a fight to trust. The enemy will always whisper the lie of "You can't trust God." But I hear the Lord say to me, "I am silencing the lies with My love." What lie have you believed? What promise has God spoken to you that you have laughed at? Be honest with yourself. I've believed the lie that I can't trust God, so therefore I must take things into my own hands. I've laughed at the fact that God has told me He will provide me with EVERYTHING I need, even when my circumstances say otherwise.I have so many times been Sarah. I have laughed at what God has told me because it is to big, to radical, to miraculous.  But that is the God we serve. We serve a God who takes or mundane broken lives and does the miraculous with them. We serve a God who cares about us so much and has no limit to how much He cares for He is love itself. God is a promise keeper. If God has promised you something and you still haven't received it, do not stop waiting. He is faithful. The enemy will tell you in the waiting that God won't come through, but that is a lie, God ALWAYS comes through. Jesus adores you. Your name is on the palms of His hands. You have not been put on standby you are always before Him. So when God gives you a promise laugh not with doubt but with expectation, because as crazy as that promise sounds "He who promised is faithful."(Hebrews 10:23).
-Sofia

Purpose Behind the Glory (pt 1)

"Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from the heavens for you." Exodus 16:4

 Something that the Holy Spirit has been teaching me, God's glory has different forms but always has purpose. I've found that as I pray over and over for particular things God teaches me on what I'm praying for almost as if I'm in Sunday school. What's amazing about it though is that all the teaching is literally being delivered by the Holy Spirit. I'll find the Spirit taking me through scripture and placing verses heavy on my heart and He will begin ministering them to me and bringing a fresh revelation. A lot of the time I find this happening before the prayer is answered. It's like God is saying, "I'm going to answer this prayer but first I want to teach you something about what you're praying because you really have know idea what the purpose for what you're praying for is." I find myself thinking, "God of course I know why I'm praying for this or else I wouldn't be praying for it right?" and then of course He's like "Sofia no you don't stop questioning and be a vessel that I can pour my word into, I'm trying to equip you and mature your spirit and mind, will you let me do that or are you going to continue questioning me?" At this point I'm like "okay I need to take a step back and listen to Jesus before I miss out on what He is trying to speak into my life." So last night I began praying for fresh bread from heaven to fall. Previously I've been praying for the glory of God to fall so hard and just completely wreck us and take over our hearts. This morning God said to me "There is always a purpose for my glory and when I send my glory I send instruction." Look at Moses. From the time he first encountered God's glory in the burning bush, to when he continually approached Pharaoh, to when the Red Sea was parted and the people were led out to the desert, God's glory was poured out and Moses was always receiving instruction from it. It was a humbling and wrecking process. We need to be humbled and wrecked by the Holy Spirit constantly so that we can be people that are instructed by glory. God's glory is always poured out for purpose. We can not drive away from that purpose. When God sent His glory in the form of manna to the Israelite community it came with purpose/instruction. "Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning." (talking about the manna). (Exodus 16:20) but they disobeyed the instruction. "However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell." (Exodus 16:20). We must obey God"s instruction on His glory! If He is telling us to give it we must not keep it to ourselves or else it will leave a stench and rot just like the manna. When we pray for fresh bread we should also pray for a heart of instruction on what should be done with that glory. God's glory results in salvation, healing, breakthrough, direction, hearts humbled and wrecked from the spirit, victory. Worship is the key into His glory and brings the cloud, and aroma of His presence. His banner begins to surround us as we worship. He becomes our Jehovah-Nissi. God said to me "We need to have glory saturated lives so Jethros can be birthed." Jethro was Moses' father-in-law. When he found out about what God had done for Moses and all of the Israelite people he "Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. He said, “Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God. (Exodus 18:9-12). Jethro worshiped God and proclaimed His glory and encountered His presence. God was glorified and that is always the purpose. Now the question is are you willing to loose everything for Jesus? That His glory might be displayed as you say yes to Him and dive into the river of His instruction, power, and Spirit. I want to see this generation taken over with the glory and instruction of Jesus so that more Jethros may be birthed, that souls will come into the kingdom, and that we might be constantly changed, offering sacrifice, praising God, and encountering His presence, just like Jethro. I pray that God opens your hearts to His supernatural glory and that you receive His instruction and that will take you to a place beyond your imagination. -Sofia

Be Holy

                                              Holiness is still important to God.

I think sometimes  the word holy can be very intimidating when it applies to us and I think that's why so many people in the church skip over the part of God calling us to be holy. I know that for me as I got deeper in my walk with God and realized that He was calling me to be holy I was very discouraged. How am I supposed to be holy? Isn't God the only holy one? How does he expect me, a sinner, to maintain holiness?   "But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:15-16.   and "without holiness no one will see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14. It's very clear when reading the bible that holiness is essential and very important to God. These scriptures can be very intimidating until you realize what Jesus has done in order for holiness to be achieved in your life and who the Holy Spirit is.  First of all to be holy means to be set apart, separated from sin, and  in communion with God. One thing we have to realize is holiness can not be accomplished with our efforts or with our own selves. Holiness starts at the feet of Jesus. Jesus' blood was shed to wash us clean of our sins, to make us blemish free and blameless before God. When we are covered in the blood of Jesus our tainted souls and stain bearing spirits are removed and replaced with the perfection of Jesus Christ. Wow. God is so good. If we do not constantly keep our selves at the feet of Jesus we can not be set apart and presented holy and blameless before God. Accepting Jesus into your life is the first step but now you have to continually be in fellowship with him everyday with prayer, worship, sacrifice, and reading His word. Without these things sin will still control your life which makes holiness impossible. Another thing we have to understand is the extreme importance of the Holy Ghost. Holiness can not be achieved without having the Holy Spirit living inside of you. The Holy Spirit sanctifies.  "who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood." 1 Peter 1:2  The Holy Spirit does many things but one thing He does that is critical to us maintaining salvation is separating us from the sins of this world and consecrating us to God. It's kind of amazing. God requires us to be holy, we clearly see form scripture that without holiness, separation from sin, we can not see God. But He doesn't leave us on our own. God doesn't say "alright well you've got to be holy, good luck hope you make it." He says something more along the lines of "You're my child and I have called you to be apart of a royal priesthood, a holy nation. I know there is no way you can do it so I sent my son to die for you and wash you clean, so you can live by his example, and I've sent my spirit to live in you so that I might make your body my home and purify your heart, set you apart, and make you holy like me." We are not alone! In the process of being sanctified and made more like Jesus each and every day we are enabled with the power of the Holy Spirit to say no to sin, to leave things that separate us from God and taint the purity and holiness He has called us to. Holiness is still important. Saying no to drugs, removing foul language from our lips, keeping our bodies pure from sexual immorality and our minds from lust, dressing modestly and presentable, staying humble, loving one another. All of these things are important to God! Why? Because the more we deny ourselves and the sinful things of this world, the more we become like Jesus, the more we are able to witness to one another the glorious and marvelous love of our Savior. So to all of my brothers and sisters in Christ let us not put holiness at the bottom of our list, let us leave things that separate us from God and taint the purity and holiness He has called us to. lets not get it out of our hearts and minds the critical importance of a holy life, let us not neglect coming to the feet of Jesus everyday and  being filled with the Holy Ghost so that our lives can be sanctified. Remember that God is our provider, yes He has called us to be holy but He has not called us to do it alone. He is there every step of the way.Have a blessed day. Love you guys. ~Sofia

Overflow of the Heart.

Happy Friday everyone!! I hope you all have had a good week so far. Besides being sick for a few days my week has been pretty good. One thing that has been on my mind recently are the matters of the heart. In my youth group bible study this morning we read this verse "For where your treasure is there your heart will be also." (Luke 12:34).  It stuck with me all day. I began to think about my heart and what it truly is consumed with and where it's leading me. Recently I've found myself trying to hold the overflow of my heart back. Why? God is doing something AMAZING in my life and for some reason I found myself worried that I wasn't ready. I really felt myself wrestling with the enemy and my flesh saying things like "Sofia you're not ready for this, you're not old enough, wise enough, you have no idea what your getting yourself into. Just stay in your comfort zone, your safe there."I begin to pray because I knew that there was no way that God was saying these things to me, but I just couldn't hear His voice in the situation. That's when I read this in the book I'm currently reading "God hasn't called you into His marvelous light just for you to sit there and gaze or to be afraid on this new level and run back into the comfort zone of the outer court. There's a divine purpose for you and grace to meet every need just beyond that door." (The Threshing Floor~Juanita Bynum). When I read this I was like, "Oh my gosh Jesus just spoke to me right in the middle of school out of nowhere I needed this so bad I might cry." God is so good. I've realized that He has transformed my heart, covered me in His grace, and because my treasure is Jesus my heart is with Him, and because my heart is with Him it overflows with His love and I can't hold it back! It's impossible. His work in my life and amazing love are to great of things for me to just let slide off my shoulder. As our hearts are filled with the Holy Spirit and love of Jesus, God begins to do a complete transformation and our lives begin to overflow with Him. The overflow of our hearts is something precious because when our hearts are overflowing with the love of Jesus we can touch others lives. I'm learning that as God takes me into this new season of life He isn't just blessing me but those around me. In this He has shown me once again that it's not all about me but about Him working through me to change lives, bring love and healing to the broken, and be a light in such a dark place. Take a minute to think about your heart and what you think it's consumed with. Are you giving it to Jesus or allowing other worldly things to consume it? Know that Jesus loves you so deeply and longs to bless you and use you as a vessel for His glory. In order for this to happen though you have to give Him your heart. Seek Him and when His love pours out on your heart and the Holy Spirit takes over don't hold back. Allow His love to run over from you into others. Leave your comfort zone and allow Jesus to take over, you will find yourself and others being blessed beyond measure. Love you guys and hope you all have a blessed weekend! Love Sofia.