The Growth of Faith...

Hi Guys, hope you're all having a lovely weekend :)

As mentioned in my last post, this will be a continuation on the topic of faith and the ways in which we as believers in Christ can increase our faith in God.

  So, this afternoon when I was doing a brief bible study I came across Romans 10:17 'So, then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God' (NKJV), and what I gathered from this verse is the importance of reading/ or hearing the word of God in order to build ones faith; now, this can be done through various ways other than a bible study, you can listen to sermons online (one preacher that I usually listen to is T.D Jakes), listen to gospel music etc. But I believe why a bible study is known to be the most popular form of reading into the word of God is because you are personally having a quiet time with your Lord, through reading the word and praying to him for knowledge and understanding God is able to talk to and through you.
Think of it this way, when you want something to grow do you not water & feed it? Like if you have a seed in your garden which you want to see blossom into a beautiful flower, you would continually water it as you see it growing- it's the same as the word of God. God's word is like a seed that when consistently adhered to, faith within begins to grow.

(James 1: 22-24) This scripture is seen to discuss how Christians need to be doers and not only hearers of the word. What this means is, taking in the word of God and abiding to it; applying what is written in the Bible to our everyday lives is a key factor in increasing ones faith. For instance, allowing what we hear as the word of God to be shown through our actions. It's one thing to read the commandments, but another to actually put effort in to abide by them.
(Malachi 3: 9-11) Verse 10 specifically says '...And try me now this, "says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing..." (NKJV). The key word in this verse 'TRY', which to my understanding is like putting the word of God to a test, in a way that we can prove that God really does what he says he will. An example is, when  you buy items of clothing online, or shoes etc, you have to try it to know whether it'll look as good as it did where you saw it. Or even, if a friend refers a book or a series to you, you don't know if it's actually going to be what they said until you TRY- Now that's the same with what God says in this scripture, just give him a try by paying your tithes in church & see how he'll bless you the way he says.

(James 1: 2-3) Now, this scripture talks about how the testing of our patience also increases our faith. When we face trials, the wait we have for God to remove them is also a way for God to strengthen the faith in us. And, even though it sounds impossible and can be a hard thing to do, as believers we are expected to rejoice during trials in order for the faith in us to grow. Therefore, tests how much faith you actually have for God in the way you react during trials.

Thought process:
Do you doubt God? Question why you? Think he has forgotten you during times of need?
I'm sure these have all probably crossed our minds at times, but what we need to realise is that all those things are not signs of strong faith, but instead evidence of a lack of faith (James 1:6). So, let's try to stop seeing the trials we go through as a punishment from God, but instead as an opportunity to grow in faith and work on your patience!

Other relevant scriptures:
Matthew 21: 21-22
Luke 17:6
James 2:14

Thanks for reading & May God bless and help us all x
P.S Sorry it's a bit long, just had so much to write (lol).

Leap of Faith!

Hi Everyone :)

Firstly, my sincere apologies for my lack of consistency for a while- 3rd year of university had the best of me in taking up my time. But thanks to God, I am now finished & back better than before (I promise).

So... As the title states, this post will be a brief opening on taking a 'Leap of Faith'. Now, what does that mean you may ask? Well, a Leap of Faith can be explained as an act of believing/ or hoping for something that may not come with supporting evidence. In Christianity what this means, is to have faith in God- to trust & hope in all the good things to come from him. Whether this may be during a difficult period in your life or even on just a normal day, having strong Faith (substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen) in something you cannot physically see is difficult BUT that does not make it impossible!

2 Corinthians 4:18 (NLT) 'So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.' This verse simply explains that we should not ponder on the problems we may currently be facing but having faith in God should give us hope to focus on the good things ahead. Knowing that you will not remain in this current situation forever is a starting point, drawing closer to God in order to make room for upliftment and progress is all part of this Leap of Faith.

Something, I have personally realised whilst getting closer to God is the importance of having faith; which shows through the fact that as Christians we cannot possibly please God if we lack faith. Meaning if we doubt him, or remain stagnant in believing that he cannot do even MORE than what we expect, it is basically us emphasizing that God is not able to do all things & of course that is NOT true because he surely is! As Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT) states we need to separate ourselves from any bad weight that may be weighing us down, giving us negative thoughts & look unto God the author and finisher of our faith- how we can do this will be featured in my next post :)

Finally, what I'd like to leave you with today is a reminder that without God we are NOTHING! The first half of the year has passed & it's only by his grace that we made it through so let's make a start today to take a Leap of Faith and give God the gratitude he deserves, starting by being equipped in Faith!

Other relevant scriptures:
Psalm 33:20
Psalm 27:4
Proverbs 3:5 

That's all for today, Stay blessed & have a great weekend :)

Everlasting Joy!

As some of you may know, and for those who didn't it was my church harvest 2 weeks ago and the theme was 'Everlasting Joy', and during that week there was a Womens hour which was extremely powerful. I really was fed the word by several women of honour in Celestial Church.
So, this explains the topic for this post, after hearing these words I went on to analyse everything myself and here's what God revealed to me:

-There are several scriptures in the bible that amount to the topic of Joy (relevant ones will be listed below), for example (Galatians 5:22-26) which lists the fruits of the Holy Spirit; along with the other scriptures, this particularly helped me to understand that casting our cares, worries & stress (Psalm 55:22) and also rejoicing with songs of praises onto God are ways to allow Joy into our hearts.
This Joy will then produce the blessings into our lives, and also show people of the world that we are children of God. Which therefore, shows that it is important to have God as our personal saviour, as in doing this alone he will automatically add joy unto us. Now, this doesn't just mean going to church or calling yourself a Christian, but also having a personal relationship with him.
- (Deuteronomy 12:10-13) is an example of how we need to fear the lord and also walk in his ways, by doing this his blessings will surely come upon us as we keep his commandments etc.
- Now, the next question I asked myself is "How does one walk in the way of God?" And, the answer came to me; living for Christ, our ways of living, communicating the word of God which will then proclaim the love of God in our lives. (1 John 1:5-7) 
The benefits that come from doing these things are many, and all we have to sustain to do is love him, with all our heart, mind & soul in order to gain the blessings desired from God.
-As it states in Deuteronomy 28 and also Phillipians 4:19; he shall supply all our needs according to our riches in glory.
(John 15:1-11) If we claim to be children of God then love must reign in us, it must flow towards one another so that the love of God will continue to abide in us, along with an everlasting joy that will be in our lives forever.

Finally, we must remember to acknowledge the blessings of God, if we recognise the blessings of God in others it will help us to go forward.
Lets look at the story of Ruth, the everlasting joy that God gave her lived forever more, and this is the endurance she had that made her a victorious woman.
(Jeremiah 30:19) (Nehemiah 8:10)
Yes, we will go through trials & tribulations but it's not just about going through them but GROWING through them, by doing this we need to be consistent in rejoicing, the one thing the devil hates is when he hears us praising God and whilst we do this he will flee!
-When the devil says there is no way, sing & say there is a way! Because 'When Jesus says yes NOBODY can say no!'
-Always make the best of a bad situation; one key thing i'm currently learning to do. This is all because as individuals we have a choice to either get better or stay bitter?

A few of the other bible scriptures I found relevant:
Romans 8:28
Psalms 144:15
Proverbs 17:22
Psalms 40:16
Psalms 16:8-9
Psalms 68:3-4
Thank you for reading, hope you all have a blessed new month ahead filled with EVERLASTING JOY!

The Power of Prayer!

- God's favour in all areas of life. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

This blog post will be based on my testimony, but through this I'd like to share how powerful & important prayer is!

Honestly if you just dedicate some time to God & give your all to him (surrendering all your worries & fears) he will flip your situation around for the best. No joke ANYTHING is possible with prayer!

The reason I'm saying this? So for like 2-3 months I've been looking for a job/ placement/ internship (mainly wanted to do a placement year, then summer internship, which then resulted into just looking for a job for summer. So yeah 'hella' applications got sent out lol) and trust me when I say I was probably at one of the lowest points in my life. I faced stress, anger & cried so many tears all because I wasn't getting what I wanted. Through this, I would pray consistently, morning & night and even when I was about to send an application I'd pray. So I got like 3 interviews through this & nope nothing.

I'm here getting all depressed, so close to giving up but thank God for my darling mother who pushed me to carry on applying & have faith, she put it in prayer for me too (I'm sure you all know how powerful a mother's prayers are for her children) and I just did it, the usual applying and praying & I began to notice how much stronger my prayers were getting; I began to say "God let me receive favour in ALL areas of my life, from male & female, young & old, white, black etc... Bless me beyond my imagination, bless me beyond my expectation" & I will still thank him continuously for allowing me to see day after day, because to me the fact that I'm even alive is a blessing on its own.

Then the  next day I got a call, quick phone interview & I got a job JUST LIKE THAT! This was a Thursday & I was told to start on Monday. Long story short I started this week & it's been GREAT, Everything going well & on Thursday 7 of us got called to the office to speak to the manager (part-timers btw) & they basically all got fired except ME! The manager liked me, thought I was good & wanted me to stay but change to full-time & ofc I accepted without a 2nd thought. That is what you call favour! Now I'm not saying I'm better than anyone, I'm just saying there is POWER in PRAYER!! Also, it all relates to Gods timing because when God has a plan for you, he sets the perfect time, place & everything. Nothing or nobody will be able to take that from you.

Hope this encourages someone to keep going, whatever it is you might want God to do in your life, stay strong, pray & have faith in God & you shall surely receive! 

P.S. Some bible verses to help get where I'm coming from...

- Jeremiah 29: 11-14

- Psalm 37: 3-7

- Matthew 6: 34-37

3 P's: Patience, Positivity & Perseverance

The Google definition of Patience states that it is 'the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.'
Yes, being patient isn't easy, whatever the situation, in fact it is very hard in fact, but something I have definitely learnt through my journey with Christ is the importance of patience- which comes with trusting and having faith in God. (Psalm 27:14)
I mentioned this in a previous post, however, daily I'm constantly reminded about the significance of God's timing. You may want God to bless you in a certain way and you want it done instantly but God, however, the one that knows what is best for us and WHEN it is best plans to deliver this request at a later time; this time which could be tomorrow, next week or next year, due to the main fact that he already knows the right timing in our lives. But during this wait we as humans become impatient, anxious, tired etc. which then leads to the misinterpretation that God has not heard your prayers or he does not want to answer your request, which is not true. He is just preparing us for the right appointed time.
For me, patience is something I'm working on, I've gone through many stages where I'll pray every day for one particular request that is so important for me and I'll get so annoyed that I haven't got it. I'll be questioning myself like "How long am I meant to wait?"... "I've prayed every day, what's going on?" Blah blah blah... And this is due to the lack of understanding God's timing. This, therefore, clarifies the importance of patience, even if it isn't related to Gods timing, having patience and taking your time to pursue something makes a huge difference.

2. Positivity- Urban dictionary defines this as 'Positivity is staying positive even when you find a really good reason to be negative.'
Now, we all go through hard times, situations that depress us etc. but one thing I've grown to understand is that you will NOT remain in that situation forever, once you have that belief that God can turn your situation around he surely can and WILL! (John 14: 12-14).
Positivity comes with having continuous remembrance that 'There is always light at the end of the tunnel'- Don't want to repeat what was said in my last post but basically know that the tunnel = the trials, stress, downfalls etc. however, when you pick yourself up and allow God to strengthen you and get you through it all a light will be shining very soon for you to see, this light being your breakthrough (Isaiah 41:10).
'Positive thoughts breed positive outcomes'- believe that your blessing is on its way, have faith in God and think positively and you'll begin to notice the effect it has towards you.

3. Perseverance- 'Persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.'
Using this as my last point to round up; many people give up accomplishing their aims in life due to downfalls and stress which they cannot handle, but it is important to remember that persistence is key. You can't achieve anything if you don't have determination to, so despite all problems you may face you still fight through and wait on God to turn all your worries around, this is Perseverance! Everyone's success starts from somewhere, you may admire someone's outcome in their achievements not knowing the hard work and effort that was put in to get them there.
So if you want to achieve something, have persistence & strive to do it. There will be twists & turns but be patient, positive & persevere, God will surely take control! (Matthew 11: 28-20). 

Thanks for reading & hope it helps :)

 

(Something that reached out to me)

Gods Timing Is...

The BEST Timing!!

So, Ironically this week I've been speaking to two of my friends about the timing of several situations and waiting on Gods timing in all things.
This topic has been something I've been thinking about for quite a while and just thought I might as well post it up.

We being humans tend to have our own plans for things we want in our lives and when they don't go according to plan we begin to question why this is the case. One thing I've definitely learnt of recent is the effect of Gods timing, when you put a request before God there may be times where the request is not answered immediately all because God has a timing set, he knows the right time for what we request to be delivered to us.
For example, you may ask God for financial breakthrough or a new job & God sees that the stage in your life that you want this job is not the particular time in your life when you need it, maybe he feels you're not ready or there may be things he wants you to do that the job will not allow you to do; therefore, he will make it possible at a later time, maybe next week or 2 months down the line when he sees that you are ready or even when a better job that is perfect for you is available. Whenever the time he WILL answer and even if it's later than expected just remember that it is all for the best.
Let's say you're praying to God for a job in Mcdonalds and God knows righteously that place of work is not your destiny, he may make it possible for the interview to go successfully (to show that you can do it & also prepare you) but you won't get that job all because he has a better one in store for you, maybe at a high-end office or a bigger & better high street store where you will be favoured. This is not God saying no but "Not yet, better is yet to come" (Habakkuk 2:3).

Gods timing is relevant in many situations, relationships etc and no matter what he always knows what is best and WHEN it is best. It's just about having faith and believing in his command. Through all things, believe that he is the God of blessings and favour, the God that answers our heart desires.
Do you think he will ever want to disappoint us or not give us what we want? No, but when he has a better idea/ direction on that path to righteousness at the best time in our lives why is he going to satisfy us with less than the best?

Here are a few quotes I felt reached out to me in relation to this topic:
Jeremiah 29: 11-14
1 Peter 1: 6-9
Phillippians 4: 6-8

Finally, remembering these things also goes with following the way of God and giving back to him so he can continue to bless us knowing we will return unto him (John 15:7).

Have a great weekend guys & God bless :)

The Journey with Christ

Hey Guys & Happy new month! :)

Yeah I know, its been so long since my last post (feels like years right) but I've just had so much going on which really took up my time...BUT I'm back & by the grace of God back with regular posts too!

So, as you can probably tell by the title I've got something different today and in regards to the change of my blog name I've decided to open it up to a wider range of posts (rather than just fashion related). 

Firstly starting with my 'Journey with Christ'.

I reached a point in my life where things began to fall apart, stress was piling up & 'struggle got real'; this all started from the middle of last year (I'm not going to go into detail of what happened as I'd be writing an essay otherwise) when personal issues started arising and it felt like they were all growing at the same time! Now through all these months my faith in God was truly tested, I learnt a lot about my self, working on my patience & also having determination to stay strong. 
In relation to his Holy word; Matthew 8:26-27 we notice how Jesus says to his disciples 'Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?' which particularly reached out to me, because that is exactly what the problem was 'little faith', through many difficulties one thing I've realised is faith in God is the main thing, faith that all things are possible through him! & yes I'm saying this whilst still working on progressing my faith with him but even the tiniest bit of faith in God can really make a difference. (Matthew 17:20); So for example, you pray to God putting your requests before him & instead of saying "God please give me this... & God do this for me..." you begin to put the requests before him whilst praying with assurance e.g "I have faith that you have done it already God, Thank you for doing this for me" etc. That is a sign of faith, because you are showing God that you trust him as you begin to thank him before you actually see the miracles he is about to perform in your life.

There comes a point in life where you realise that all you really have is GOD, there will be a stage where you need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on & you feel like everyone has turned their backs on you but God (Our lord and personal saviour) still stands with open ears & arms, available to listen & comfort us whenever we need him. So what you do is cry out to him, laying out all your troubles and requests and he will surely answer (Matthew 11:28-30).

It may feel like the stress is getting too much to handle, mountains standing in the way are getting higher & the tunnel you are walking through is getting darker but when you have faith just know that God can move all mountains, all that stress that is worrying you & making you feel like nothing is going right- HE can turn them to minor things that won't even bother you any more.
I definitely haven't recovered from stress just yet & the struggle still goes on but one important thing I have learnt through all the trials and tribulations is that every piece of struggle we go through is a test, a lesson learnt & also an obstacle put before us to cross and get closer to God; it may feel like it is never ending yes, but when the time is right God will set you free & through all principalities he will always remain your shield & buckler (Psalms 30:5). God wants us to see that he is here to support us, he wants us to know that when we trust in him all the struggles we go through now will become minor stepping stones that we can leap over in due time. This is what we call the Journey with Christ, in getting closer to God the devil brings forth problems to our lives in hope that we will give up but as we stand firm and keep going God continues to embrace us whilst planning many joyful moments to come.

Finally, I would like to end this post with a little something which I hope reaches out to you; Stay strong & remember there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

God bless you all & I hope you all have a great Easter ahead :)