Victorious Declarations

Two months ago, I wrote an article about the power of words, if you haven't read it - you can find the post here.

Just a few weeks ago, my dear friend sent me something called "Victorious Declarations".  What it is, is a list of Scriptures that you read over yourself.  It helps you refocus your thoughts to the mind of Christ, and to speak godliness over you, your life, your thoughts, etc.

It is amazing!  So amazing, I just had to share it with you all :)
Please feel free to copy this list, print it off, and add other Scriptures to it.  Make it yours!

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~ I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Ps. 139:14)

~ I am like a green olive tree planted in the house of God. (Ps. 52:8)

~ My life has been redeemed from destruction and I am crowned with loving kindness and tender mercies. (Ps. 103:4)

~ I am my Beloved's, and His desire is toward me. (Song of Songs 7:10)

~ I have been given the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:16)

~ I have been bought with a price, I am not my own, I belong to God. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)

~ I have been made righteous by Jesus who became sin for me, that I may become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:21)

~ I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ loves in me. (Gal. 2:20)

~ I was chosen by God before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame before Him in love. (Eph. 1:4)

~ I am accepted in the beloved. (Eph. 1:6)

~ I have been made alive together with Jesus. (Eph. 2:5)

~ I have been delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (Col. 1:13-14)

~ I have been made complete in Christ. (Col. 2:10)

~ I am of Abraham's seed in Christ, and an heir according to the promise. (Gal. 3:29)

~ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)

~ I have been given a spirit of power, love, and self-control. (2 Tim. 1:7)

~ Not by works of righteousness that I have done, but according to His mercy He saved me, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)

~ I am kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Pet. 1:5)

~ I am a new creation, old things have passed away. (2 Cor. 5:17)

~ I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation. (2 Cor. 5:18-19)

~ I am hidden with Christ in God. (Col. 3:3)

~ I am a living stone in God's house. (1 Pet. 2:5)

~ I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:38-39)

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What are some Scriptures you like to speak over yourself?

Comment the Scriptures below.  Maybe others would like to add them to the list ;)

Pray for Rebekah

In HIS grace, Alisha

Being in full surrender

Growing up, I heard all of our pastors say, “in order to get the most out of your faith, you need to be in full surrender” and that's where they would stop. They wouldn't explain what it meant to be in full surrender. They didn't explain why I needed to be in full surrender. I was just left on my own, to figure the rest out, and if I find it … great, and if not … oh well, at least I tried, right?

This was one topic (out of quite a few) that I decided that I wouldn't ask God to reveal to my what it meant to be in full surrender, and why it was important. I simply figured …. “if God wants me to learn what it means and why it's important, then He'll reveal it to me on His own. He doesn't need me to ask Him.”

[pause for a moment]

I know, I know … what kind of mindset is that?

To be honest … as of lately, I have been having a hard time coping with a “trial” my family and I have been going through. This “trial” has really put a damper on my faith … like a lot, thankfully we serve a God of restoration and mercy, so my faith is being restored!! [more on this in another post]

[okay back to the post]

About three weeks ago (I think my time frame is right), I was praying before I started my morning Bible reading. During that prayer, I prayed that the Lord would show me what it means to be in full surrender to Him, and why it was important … I also prayed for my time to be encouraging + edifying. I was quite disappointed when none of the verses I read that morning, didn't mention being in surrender to Him. Ready to give up, I felt as if I needed to read chapter 2 in“Sacred Singleness” by Leslie Ludy … I couldn't understand why I felt that way, but I felt it … and I read the chapter.

[side note]

I have had the book “Sacred Singleness” for about three years now, and I haven't even finished it once. It isn't a book that I see on my shelf and think to myself “I really need to finish that book”. Instead, it's one that I see on the shelf and think “oh yeah … I haven't finished that have I? Maybe I should send it to a friend … I'll never get around to reading it!”

[back to the post]

What I read in chapter 2 was aah-maay-zing! Below is a snippet from chapter 2:

¹“When I chose to live in purity 'all the days of my life,' I wasn't making a bargain with God: 'I'll stay pure, and in return I want You to write me a beautiful love story.' Rather, I chose a life of purity because I wanted to love and honor the Prince of my heart, Jesus Christ–even if He never blessed me an earthly love story. When I walked through this process of surrender, God exposed and uprooted every seed of selfishness within my heart. Prior to this season of my life, I had always approached Christ wondering what I could get out of my relationship with Him. Now, He was asking me to lay everything down upon the altar, not expecting anything in return.”

After I read this, I realized that God did want me to learn what full surrender was! After leading me to this, He made it clear to me that I wasn't in full surrender to Him.

As I was about to close the book … satisfied that He had answered my prayer, I noticed that Leslie Ludy used Jim and Elisabeth Elliot's love story as an example of being in full surrender … so I read on.

I was astonished to learn that Jim and Elisabeth, even though they were interested in one another, surrendered everything … their dreams, desires, plans, to the Lord. They were willing to except whatever the Lord had in store for them. If that meant that they would remain single, then great … they wouldn't have a “hinderance” or an “earthly distraction” keeping them from the Lord's work. Or if that meant that they would end up getting married, then great … they would be able to serve the Lord side by side.

It amazed me (and still does to this day) that they were willing/able to lay their love for the other on the altar of the Lord … ready to except whatever was in store for them … even though they were in love with each other.

[oh by the way … I ended up finishing chapters 2 & 3 haha]

Still in amazement, I began asking myself questions:

*have I “surrendered” something to Christ, only expecting something in return?

= the answer is yes … my purity. I have decided to live a life of purity, which is great. But I have expected the same “reward” that Leslie Ludy had expected … an earthly love story written and orchestrated by God.

*am I willing to be in full surrender to God, and not expect anything in return?

=the answer is yes … I want to get the most out of my faith! And if I'm not in full surrender, then I will be doing a disservice to my Lord.

*if I'm in full surrender and not expecting anything in return, will I be okay if God chooses for me to be single until He takes me Home?

=this answer was the hardest for me to answer … because being a wife to a Godly man has always been my desire. So I began really contemplating whether or not I would be okay/content or if I would be worried/discontent. However, I finally came up with the answer … if God sees fit to give me a Godly husband, then great – I will be able to serve Him by my man's side! If He sees fit for me to remain single, that's great too – I will be able to serve Him and worry about the things of the Lord, and not the things of the world (1 Corinthians 7:34).

Were those questions easy to answer? Yes and no

Do I wish I would have been told all of this when I was younger? Kind of … there's a reason God revealed it to me now and not then!

I am soo glad I heeded the Holy Spirit's nudge in reading “Sacred Singleness” … it was just what I had needed!

Oh and by the way … I am still reading the book – I look forward to reading it!

In HIS grace, Alisha

       xoxoxoxox

When God answers a prayer ...

Have you ever asked God to reveal something to you?  Have you ever prayed something like,  

"Father, I need a sign if [certain thing you have in mind] is Your will.  Please give me a sign!"

 For a while now, I have been praying for something specific (I don't feel comfortable sharing at this point in time).  Not praying for it to come to pass the way I wanted it to, but for it to come to pass the way God saw fit.

Asking God for a sign:

"Lord, please reveal YOUR will to me in this situation.  I don't need a neon sign, I just need You to show me in Your own special way, that it's in your will or it isn't."

My prayer was answered and God revealed to me what His will is!

God's answer to my prayer:

 He revealed His answer to me in a way that I never thought He would.  And to be honest ... I'm glad His answer was the answer I wanted deep down ... the answer was no.

"Alisha, you're making this up to sound like a perfect Christian .... no one likes it when God says 'no'!"

Let me be honest with you ... if you had told me "Ali, God is going to reveal to you the answer to your prayers, and the answer is gonna be 'no'", I would have been like, "ummm ... ha-ha ... no it won't ... His answer will be a 'yes.'"  But then I started changing the aspect of my prayers, instead of praying for what I wanted, I started praying for what God wanted.  Once I changed the aspect of my prayers, I started thinking "what if God's answer is no?  Am I prepared for that?"

Was I prepared just in the case His answer was no?

Had the answer come before I changed the direction of my prayer, my answer would have been "no".  However, the Lord is so good to show His children in His own special way that their prayers aren't aligned with His will.

Yes I was prepared [mentally, emotionally, and spiritually] just in the case His answer was "no".  I'm glad I was too, or else I would have been an emotional, mental, and spiritual wreck ... no joke!

What have I learned through this?

 Even an event, circumstance, or what have you, seems to be from God ... I need to step back and ask myself: "Is this really God ordained or is it my flesh taking control?"

The reason anyone should ask themselves this, is because:

Sometimes we may want something so bad, the devil will make the situation look God ordained just to draw the child of God away from their Heavenly Father.

Did I want God's answer to be "yes"?  In the beginning I did, but as time went on, I began see how I wouldn't have been aligned with God's precious will for my life.

Am I an emotional, mental, and spiritual wreck?  Not at all, why?  Because in God's answer, I see His beautiful story unfolding in a whole different way.  I have a complete peace, and His answer didn't hurt me as much as I thought it would.

Thank God for His comforting peace ... I know His answer was no for a reason, and I am so thankful that I didn't end up where I was at 13 (more on that down the road)!

In HIS grace, Alisha

My encouragement for today!!!!

I found these on Pinterest today...and thought I would share them with you!

I have been praying about something major lately...I'm not going to share with you right now (maybe in the near future), but please pray that the Lord's will!  That He will open the doors that no man can shut, and shut the doors that no man can open.  And that my parents and I will have an overwhelming peace from our Father if it's His will or not!  I thank y'all for your prayers....do you have anything I can pray for?

<3

Lord help me become that type of young woman!!!!!!!!!!!

Well...not for two years...it could be a month or two!

Love from,

Alisha

xoxox

I will never be the same

I grew up going to church, and like most children, I knew the song “Jesus Loves Me” – I even went to a Christian daycare.  Although I had grown up hearing about God and Jesus, I didn't know that I was a sinner damned to Hell.  My mother became a Christian in 1997, but as a new Christian she didn't know exactly how to live out her faith (God was slowly working on her).

When I was eight years old, my mother led both me and my dad to the Lord.  I truly believe that I became a part of the family of God that night.  However, as a young child, I believed that the Christian walk was going to be a bed of roses.  I have always had an evangelistic heart – I began witnessing to everyone (I was even sent to the principles office for witnessing on the playground).  At eight and a half years old I gave a piece of my heart to my good friend, only to have him break my childish heart a few days later.

At nine years old, God led me to trusting Him with my heart.  December 27, 2009 I vowed to remain pure until the Lord brought the right man into my life.  I went to all of my friends and told them about the decision I had made.  Instead of encouragement, I heard “Alisha you're crazy!”, but I didn't let that phase me.  I kept on keeping my heart pure – and still am.

When I was thirteen, the Christian walk became an extremely bumpy path for me.  We had been living in TX for a year, when my parents told me that I wasn't able to go to the young group until I was fourteen.  I got mad at God and my parents, and decided that I could live my life better without God.  Finally fourteen rolled around and I was able to go to the youth group.  One night, the pastor's son asked me out on a date.  Out of spite for my parents, and without hesitation, I told him “yes”.  Surprised to hear that I had accepted, he told me that it was an April Fools joke, which really bothered me.  God was trying to pull me closer to Him by giving me an uneasy feeling about this youth group.  Heeding this feeling, I stopped going, and thankfully God led us to a different church.

At the age of fifteen, I got myself into some trouble and even contemplated hurting myself.  I was choosing to follow the crowd, and not follow the Word of God.  I was allowing my past mistakes to control me.  I was in a secret relationship, listened to music that wasn't glorifying to God, talking like the world, and simply not living my faith out.  

When I turned sixteen, I couldn't hide my miserable life any longer.  I told my parents what I had been doing, and they were extremely disappointed in me.  Hearing them say “We're extremely disappointed in you” was heartbreaking, but it caused me to think of how I had disappointed my Heavenly Father.  I had walked around calling myself a Christian, while living like the rest of the world.  My parents prayed with me, asking God to change my heart, and if I wasn't truly saved – to save me.  I knew I was truly saved, but I wanted life done with me in the driver's seat.

From then on, I really dove into the Word and started getting my life back on track.  I still made silly mistakes, but I finally realized that I had victory over them!  I realized that they didn't have to consume me, and that I didn't have to beat myself up over them.  I knew that I didn't have to let my past control me, and that I had been forgiven.

When we moved to Virginia, we started to attend a small Baptist church.  Two nights before my eighteenth birthday, the pastor felt the Spirit leading him to allow the congregation to give praises, thanksgiving, apologize to people – it was a wonderful impromptu revival service.  Four nights ago (April 3, 2013) I surrendered my life to God.  That night I realized the following:

Yes I became a Child of God at eight years old – and was baptized two months later.  I had made mistakes that I regret (even to this day).  What I was missing in my walk with God was complete surrender!  I needed to get out of the driver seat and allow God to take the wheel of my life.  Until I surrendered control, my life wouldn't be in line to God's will.

Now at the age of eighteen, I am so thankful that I have not only given Him full control, but I have given Him my dreams/desires.  Once I surrendered my dreams/desires to God, He has opened doors for me that I honestly never thought would be opened (oh me of little faith).

While I regret the mistakes I made in my past, I know God will use them to touch other peoples lives.  I am thankful that while I decided to live life my way, I never lost sight of what my Savior did for me!

My schedule for today

Today is a very busy day for me...here is what my plans are:

8:30 am: getting ready to go to the gun show

9:40 am: arrive at McDonald's to meet Pastor and two other men from church

10:08-11:00 am: arrive at the Expo and start handing out tracts to others waiting in line.

I thought it was funny that the times I handed out tracts...the tracts were rejected because people would take a look at my long skirt...oh well!  It wasn't me that they rejected, but our LORD Jesus Christ!

11:00 - 12:30 pm: get inside and hand out tracts inside the building, having people comment on what your church shirt says (on the back it says "Jesus Saves")

1:00 pm: head on over to Dominion Outdoors to look at guns

1:30 pm: arrive home after a young man from church and Pastor pick on me about walking home

Luckily they drove me home so I didn't have to walk in the 25-30 degree weather :P

2:00 pm: eat lunch, blog hop, check email, etc

And the rest of the afternoon: help clean the house again, make a German-chocolate cake for tomorrow night's church fellowship, play the piano (I don't have to, but I want to), play the clarinet, play the flute, tidy up my room, and much more :D

I may even make another batch of chocolate chip cookies (I don't recommend making chocolate chip cookies with coconut oil...yuck)!

What do you have planned today?

Serving HIM,
Alisha

White as a rose

 “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22

Living in purity is by far the best way to live your life. God has a perfect future for you, but sometimes we tend to forget that God is in control of our life, and go out trying to live for us. This is very dangerous...especially when it involves close friendships with young men. Lets take a look at an example, then I'll explain what I mean.

Eleven year old Gracelynn was so excited! She was finally at the age that her parents said she could have a “boyfriend” and start dating.   She couldn't wait until she was asked to go out on a date, finally it happened! A young boy named Trevor, came to Gracelynn after school and asked her to go to the movies with him.  She said yes and immensely enjoyed her first date with Trevor. Soon the two became inseparable!  Suddenly Gracelynn's heart was broken.  As she was walking in the hall at school, she noticed Trevor holding hands with another girl.  Soon Trevor came to Gracelynn and dumped her. Gracelynn's heart is now scared forever!

Did you notice anything wrong with this example? Let me show you what's wrong:

First, an eleven year old young lady should not be dating (any young lady should not date period), that is just asking for trouble.  Secondly, having a “boyfriend” is only temporary enjoyment.  I'm sure you have friends that say, “Oh wow, having a boyfriend is so much fun!”  What they really mean is, “I hope this relationship will last longer than the previous relationship that I was in.”  We as young ladies don't need to go searching for temporary enjoyment, when we have God to give us everlasting enjoyment, through His precious Love Letter (His Word).  Last but not least, dating is another form of divorce!  "Oh now you're being just plain silly!  Dating is by no means like divorce!"  Let's take for instance Trevor and Gracelynn's situation, shall we!  

They enjoyed their relationship, until Trevor thought that Gracelynn was not good enough for him, so he dumped her. When a couple gets married they have the best life together, until they realize their partner has too many quirks or dislikes. Then they go searching for something better...this leads to a sometimes nasty divorce.

Give your heart to the Lord, asking Him to hold it in His strong hands. Have Him give it to the right person at the right time. It's never to late! Thankfully we have a God of second chances! Strive to live a life of purity...you can do it!

Dear Almighty God, I ask You to help me keep my body, mind, and most importantly, my heart pure. Lord I ask You to help me avoid all the youthful lusts that I'm tempted with. Create in me a pure heart, oh God!  Thank you for all that You do in my life. In Christ's name I pray, amen.

Matthew 12:50

"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

Do we do the will of our Father in heaven?
Does Christ call us His brothers and sisters and mothers?

Lord,
please give us all the wisdom to come to You in everything we do.  Help us desire to do Your will...without You we are nothing.

For the rest of the week, desire to do the Father's will!

Serving HIM,
Alisha

A goal worth living for

What exactly is purity? I have been asked this question so many times. The answer is this: purity isn’t just saving all of the important firsts for your wedding day. It’s also being pure in body, heart, and mind. Being pure isn’t a set of rules some Christian set up for a better world. Being pure is how God orchestrated the single and married life. To me my heart is a precious gift, that I will one day be able to give to my Prince Charming. Miss Sarah Mally explains it like this:
Pretend you’re a princess and the King calls you to His throne and tells you, "My daughter in this bag are 100 (a candy of your choice). I want you to go into town and give the candy to a special person. Now you may go." Suppose you ask Him, "But Father, who is this special person?" But He won’t tell you. So you go into town, and along the way you see your friend. So you think to your-self, He has to be that special person, I’ll just give him one piece of candy just in case. Soon your walking along and you meet another person, so you think to your-self, Oh he has to be the one, but I’ll give him one piece of candy just in case. Pretty soon you have given almost the whole bag of candy away. Then suddenly you meet someone and you just know that he is the special person your Father told you about. When you hand him the bag of candy, he counts to make sure all 100 pieces are all a counted for. All of a sudden he has a very disappointed look on his face and he asks you, "Where’s the rest of the candy?" Then you have to tell him that you gave other people his candy along the way.
I wonder what the King thought when He heard that His daughter didn’t give that special someone ALL of the candy? This story is similar to what is going on today in our society. There are young men and women today who are going on dates and thinking to themselves, well she/he has to be the one. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be able to stand at the altar on my wedding day and be able to give the man of my dreams my entire heart with no guilt.

If you would like to ask the Lord take control of your heart then below is a prayer I found while reading a book called A life of Faith: Millie Keith: Millie’s Faithful Heart:
Jesus, please hold my heart in Your hand. Don’t let me give it or any piece of it away. I want YOU to give it away in Your time, to the right person. Please hold it tight, lock it up, and keep the key. ~Amen~

PS. If you placed your heart in the hands of the Lord, I would love to know (if of course you would feel comfortable with it). If you want you can contact me or you can leave a comment.

ttyl,
Alisha

Parents know what they're talking about

18...the age every sixteen year old girl wishes they could be...why?  Perhaps the "freedom" they will get.  Driver's License, graduating from High School, living on their own, perhaps the age their parents would allow them to have a "boyfriend", the age where they could possibly get married, etc.
Turning 18 will bring me all of the opposite: getting my Driver's License, being a Senior in High School, staying at home, trusting in the Lord to bring the right man along, going to Daddy about a certain somebody that has caught my eye, watching everyone around me get married, dreaming about the day my knight in shining armor will sweep me off my feet, learning how to cook, etc.
When I turned 17, my parents told me that life (as I knew it) wouldn't be the same!  On the outside I made it look like I believed them, but on the inside, I chuckled thinking:
yeah but you weren't raised the same way I'm being raised!  Let me tell you...parents know what they're talking about!!  Life as I knew it (finding it easy to trust Mamma and Daddy, getting along okay with my little sister, not caring about what a young man cares about you, etc) changed.  Now, six months before turning 18, my life as I knew is indeed drastically changing (finding it harder to trust what Mamma and Daddy choose is indeed the best for me, going to Daddy about a certain somebody that has caught my eye, caring about what the young man thinks of me, constantly being asked if I have (or want) a boyfriend, constantly being asked if I'm want to go to college, and just growing up).

Do I want to have trouble trusting what my parents choose for me is the best?  yes!!

Do I want to care about what the young man thinks of me?  well I don't really care (or at least I thought I didn't)!!

Do I have (or want) a boyfriend?  no...not at all...I'm sorry that road is not for me!!  My heart is reserved for the one God has for me...not who Alisha can track down!

Do I want to go to college?  nope...I don't think they have a degree in home-making and motherhood!

Do I want to grow up?  yes & no...if growing up means that I will be laughed at because: I still love Veggie Tales, still play Barbies with my sister, absolutely love teddy bears, etc. then no not really!  But if it means that my Lord can use me even better...then count me in!!

As you can tell, I'm currently confused about life!!  I've heard that it only gets worse as you get older (oh great...where's the time machine?)!  I have a little advice for those who are on the verge of adulthood (about to turn 17 or 18), don't let the Devil deceive you.  Listen to your parents...trust them (I know it may be hard at times)...don't take your eyes off of Jesus...dig deeper into God's Blueprint for your life (the Bible)

I used to be excited about almost being 18...but, can I borrow anyone's time machine? :D

Blessings to all on this day of rest!

ttyl,
Alisha