I Am Who He Says I Am

I am who He say's I am. Now, let’s be real here. We can say the phrase all we want. I am who God says I am. We can say it and say it, but deep down, we don't believe it. We're too caught up with our own negative thoughts about ourselves. "I've done this, I'm too (insert negative comment here)". I've been listening to Pastor Steven Furtick’s series on Crash the Chatterbox(check it out if you already haven’t! totally worth it!). To summarize , it talks about how often times we get too tangled up in our own thoughts or "chatter" and that holds us back, because we begin to listen to the chatter more than what God says about us.
I can tell you that this chatter has been present in my life, and it always will be, because it’s an everyday battle that you have to fight against. It may not be easy, but we are fully equipped to do so! We have Gods word, and through this we can find what God says about us! Not what society says about you, not what your boss says about you, not what your teacher says about you, and not what the enemy says about you. GOD, it’s about what God says about you! It's the only thing worth listening to.
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The chatter says you are so filthy in sin, that you can't be forgiven....God says you ARE forgiven.  

Matthew 26:28
The chatter says no one loves you....God says "I love you!"  

John 3:16
The chatter says you were born without a purpose....God says you have a purpose! Ephesians 1:11
The chatter says you are worthless....God says you are full of worth and value! 

          Matthew 10:31                  

The Chatter says you are ugly….God says you are beautiful!  

Song of Solomon 4:7
The chatter says you are weak.... God says he gives you the strength. 

Phillipians 4:13 

The chatter says you are alone....God says you are never alone.  

                                      Deutoronomy31:6                                           

The chatter says you are rejected….God says  you are accepted!  

        Romans 15:7                 

 The chatter says you are a captive….God says you are set free! 

Galatians 5:1
I am who He says I am…I am a child of God!  

John 1:12
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I am who God says I am. I am defined by Him and no other. What society wants to say about who I am is irrelevant because I've found my true identity in Christ. It can be hard to silence your own thoughts, but when you look for the truths that God has spoken over your life, it makes it a whole lot easier. It's about time that we realize that sometimes our biggest enemy is comfortably sitting in our own heads. I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of letting my own negative thoughts get the best of me. It's time to fight back! Defeat the lies with the truth! I am who HE says I am.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Phillipians 4:8

 With Love, Michelle ♥

Ps. I'm back! Hopefully you guys didn't miss me too much! I know that you guys had some really great reads thanks to my bestie Diana. Just so you know, I'm gonna be posting a lot more than she is in the next little bit. She's getting crazy busy just as I did. 

Don’t Forget What Was Said in Private

“But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” - Genesis 2:16, 17

“The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.” -Genesis 3:6

& Just like that, Adam forgot what was said in private, in the secret place, where God and him where the only ones.

Doesn’t that happen to you? You pray about something you know what He’s saying to you, you hear Him, you know exactly what He feels for you but as soon as you step out of that secret place you completely forget about what was said between you and Him. I know it has for me, and I never understood why it is so easy to forget the promises and words of love the Father has laid upon our lives and believing the lies of the enemy, the one who wants to destroy you. Why does negativity stick like glue but the positive words of our Father slip off like soap in water?  

It is so easy to see your failures and mistakes, and to see how far you have to still reach your potential and that dream you’ve always wanted. It’s so easy to say “I’m not ready” and for the rest of the world to tell you that you aren’t ready. But why, why on earth are you forgetting what your Heavenly Father tells you every time you fall at his feet?!

 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10

“And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’” Acts 22:16

Are these not His words to you?! “AND NOW WHY DO YOU WAIT?” That question is one of the questions that can make people stutter like they were Moses, the famous “It’s impossible,” that's when "We forget that IMPOSSIBLE is one of God’s favorite words. Don't let that word get in your way of your dreams!!” -unknown. Or we make excuses and declare all these statements in their lives about how “we aren’t ready.”  And granted some people aren’t ready for a lot of things; newsflash who is really ready for anything?!  And where is the joy in life if you don’t jump of a cliff to the unknown. God will go before you, and if you know that His presence is coming with you, if you and God have had this conversation (only you and him know exactly what conversation it is) then why are you waiting? Why are you forgetting the promises that he has breathed in you. The most crucial part here is, do not confuse your desire for his will. His will, will only lead you to a place of glory, which does not dismiss the fact that there may be bumps on the road, but ultimately it is a place where he can glorify Himself. Your desires may lead you to the wrong places, try to see the bigger picture, but desires and the will of God will be for another post.

We have to renew our minds every day, we cannot forget like Adam what was said in secret. For the person reading this, I know God has spoken to you, and it may not be literally speaking, it may be a dream, a passion in your heart. Those aren’t there for just any reason, don’t be afraid to go and live your dream. Don’t ever tame your spark because others just can’t handle it. The only one that matters has put the spark in you; never tame it. Always keep those God given words in your heart and mostly in your mind. Adam was supposed to be the voice of reason; the light in the darkness, but he forgot the words directly said to him by God and well you know what happens next.

Live in the grace, goodness and love of God. I hope you never forget your tears, laughs, half smiles, serious talks, funny talks, your petitions and your selfish ones (we all have them), your quiet and your “I Can’t Tame This Tongue’ talks in your secret place with God. I hope you never forget His response to you, the silent ones and the ‘This is So Clear’ responses. I hope you never forget the night that Jesus came and wrapped his love around you; only you and He knew exactly how that felt. Don’t forget it, you will need it on the days you most want to live out your dreams.

“All fear removed, I breathe you in, I lean into

 Your love, oh your love”

With Love & Grace- Diana C

Love: In Three Words

This is going to be a very short post but since it was Valentine’s Day yesterday, why not talk about love. I made a decision that I was going to read the gospel of Jesus all over again but this time for each verse I was going to write something about it. A few days ago I was asked what love was to me, and my chapter for that day was Luke 23, the death of Jesus. The greatest sign of love is right there written very bluntly in that chapter. But what caught my attention was Luke 23:42:

“Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” “

That is love. It is messy, crazy, and scandalous. That a criminal was asking REMEMBER ME when you come into your kingdom and Jesus basically said “no worries bro it’s your kingdom too, you will be with me” I don’t know about you but that just gets me so excited about love and life. To know that even in the darkest of my days I still have Jesus to say “You will be with me in paradise, NO MATTER WHAT”

In Genesis 2:7 it says,

“Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

And in Mark 15:27 it says,

“With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.”

God is a divine entity, He is not human therefore He doesn’t have a sex, organs or any humanly thing we possess. God didn’t have lungs; he never had the dependency to live off breathing. So isn’t it interesting that in Genesis it says he BREATHED life into the man. That just speaks so clearly to me, God’s FIRST breath was given to ME. In John Jesus breathed his last breath on a cross, again for whom? Oh yeah, ME. So the first breath of God was for me, and the last breath of Jesus was also for me. Knowing me, if I was going to have to give my first breath to someone and my last, I’m going to pick someone off the charts, like Mother Teresa. It would be an honour to be held responsible for giving her the breath of life, twice. But God (my favourite phrase is BUT GOD) gave His breath for me, you, that weed smoker and that prostitute. He loves that he is responsible for giving the breath of life to every single one of us, He's proud of us, even when we give Him nothing in return. That’s called Agape love; selfless LOVE. 

As you all know Jesus died on the cross on Skull Mountain and 3 days later he rose again (woohoo). For those 3 days he was fighting for everyone on this earth, he was fighting for sin and humanity; and he won. It took 3 days, and isn't it funny how “I love you” has 3 words in it also? And not only “I love you” but every other statement that my Jesus uses to say I am loved:

You are redeemed

You are saved

You are healed

You are adored

You are forgiven

You are free.

This is real passionate crazy love.

With Love & Grace- Diana

Through Storm and Through Breakthrough

We've all been through trials and tribulations in our lives. Some more than others, and we've ALL heard time and time again to remain faithful to God in these times and that He will come through for us. I agree with this 100% that God remains faithful to us at all times. When God finally pulls through we are ecstatic, because obviously we deserved it right? We prayed for a whole hour, maybe even two; we really got into the word and began to see that God is faithful. It comes to the point when you are really and truly devoted to God that you finally begin to trust and praise in the storm. So that’s great you've learned to increase your devotion to Him in times of trouble; your darkest hour. But what about when the morning comes and all your troubles have disappeared? Are you still the devoted and faithful to Him?

There's a topic that Bill Johnson briefly talks about in one of his teachings and it seriously impacted my life. He talks about increasing your devotion in times of blessing and NOT just tribulation. We may dedicate more time to seeking God when we are in trouble, when our finances aren’t the greatest or when we get bad news from the doctor. But when all of our problems are solved and we’re fine and dandy; we go back to putting God back into His "little box" ready for the next time that we need his help. He's not a genie in a bottle and the fact that we treat Him like one shows how selfish we can really be.

Don't you just hate it when someone calls you only when they need something from you? Now just imagine how God feels. Don't you think he wants you to include Him in all your good times and not just the bad? Jesus was with those who were in need and in sorrow, and he felt their pain. But he was also there with them to celebrate the miracles that he would perform.

"As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?  Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”  And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”                 Luke 17:11-19 NLT

This scripture is so raw and it shows how much we haven’t changed. If out of those 10 men only 1 came back to give the glory to God when He was right there in front of them, just imagine how it is today. That's pretty sad. But our God is so good that he chooses to overlook this in us, and He still chooses to love us even though we may forget about being devoted to Him when times are good. Of course it's easier said than done because that means fighting off the desires of the flesh like not waking up earlier to search for His Glory or not reading the Bible at all. Even in your good days, when everything seems to be going right, when you really don’t think it is necessary to actually know His heart more; that’s when you should search for it without ceasing. Like I said, it’s easier said than done, but nothing is impossible with God on your side. Once you experience that peace in your best of days and also in your rainy days it doesn’t become hard to praise him ALL the time.

Something that goes hand in hand with this is learning to trust God’s decisions because they are better than yours.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8

 I mean, God made this world and everything in it; including you and me. So wouldn't you give Him more credit by trusting His decisions? Sometimes it might hurt us, but I promise you that if you take into account His judgment over yours, it is a lot better than you could ever imagine. It’s time to trust Him with EVERY aspect of your life. God loves it when you do that, believe me. 

Just take Job for example; He lived in prosperity for a good chunk of His life until one day Satan asked God to see if he was actually a faithful man; a Godly man. He attacked him in EVERYTHING. You know what? Job was firm in His God, even when His wife and friends mocked Him, He still praised! This is because when he was living the good life, he knew it was all due to the favor God had upon him. He never put God in his “rescue” box, he walked hand in hand with Him. He praised Him in his storm the same way he praised him when he was healthy and wealthy.

“Even though He would kill me, yet I will trust in Him” Job 13:15

Trust me when I say that God knows better. Our plans can easily make us prideful because we may think we’re in control; which is totally not the case.

"Lord, do not let evil people have their way. Do not let their evil schemes succeed, or they will become proud."  Psalms 140:8 NLT

 I think it’s time we step up to the plate and wholeheartedly trust God with everything in our lives. Trust His judgment and accept that He knows better. Not only that, but never stop increasing your devotion to Him. When you are going through a difficult time, increase your devotion.  When you receive breakthrough increase your devotion. When your opposition increases, you guessed it, increase your devotion. But when God is aligning everything; when you feel His Glory shining upon you and you can’t help but say “ I love life”, that’s when you need to increase your devotion even more. Remember the promises you made Him in your struggles. Praise and Glory be to Him at ALL TIMES.

With Love, Michelle ♥

Why I'm Dating a Black Man

One of my favourite bloggers, Lauren DeMoss of the FulltimeGirl tweeted an article by Christian rapper Trip Lee, titled “Why I Married a White Girl”. Being in an interracial relationship myself, I decided to write my rendition of this topic.

I would be lying to you if I said that  never in my wildest dreams thought I would be dating outside my ethnicity; I simply never saw the difference between me and another race. I grew up in school were dating inter-racially was completely normal, so I never saw a problem with it. I moved to a new country my sophomore year and stopped dating all together. I ended up going to a very urban school in Toronto where, again dating inter-racially was normal. The summer before going to college I met Dylan, my current boyfriend.  He happens to be from Trinidad and Tobago so yes, his skin is a lot darker than mine.

We started going out on dates and getting to know each other for about four months before becoming official. Soon after those four months passed and we became official, that’s when I noticed that a lot of people do not think the way I do. I remember this girl from school, a Christian, saying to me, “Oh..He’s black..My mother would never let me date a Black guy” the only thing that came into my head was “Why? Why not?” I never understood why a person who would claim the love of Jesus as her own would neglect another person based on their color. Then my mom would tell me that people from our old church were asking her why she would let me date a black person. Then one day we went on the subway and for the first time I saw this older man staring at me with disgust, and then he stared at Dylan. It was the first time I really wanted to punch someone in the face. He wasn’t the last to stare at us that way but he was the last person I ever wanted to punch; now all I want to do is hug.

So why is dating inter-racially such a taboo in the Church? Even outside the church? The most ridicule I have received have been from “Christians” so why? And yes I'm talking racism. The topic not talked about in churches because it’s that much of a taboo. Racism is still quite present in our society, if we strip our outer skin you are the exact same as that African or Asian sitting next to you. We like to profess this love for Christ and the nations but if your daughter came home with a black man or an Indian man, you would probably forget all about that love. If that hurt you a little, good. I invite you to reevaluate your heart and really dig into the love of Jesus.

 “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28(NIV)

I remember talking to some group of girls from my youth group one Sunday and they were talking about preferences in boys. You know, the typical Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt description and in my head I laughed, what if God has something completely different for you? Maybe His plan is to join you with someone completely different to humble you. It’s awesome to have preferences in what your spouse may look like but your preferences should be more on personality than looks. The more you grow in Christ your preferences may change. But the one thing that can never change is a God fearing heart. That should be your number one preference. It would be a shame that you let the love of your life walk away because of colour, ethnicity, weight or height.

Many say love is blind. I disagree. Love sees it all; the color, the perfection, the imperfection, the weight, and the height but love decides to look past all that. Love sees it all and loves it with greater passion. Jesus is like that, we are gentiles, we are not from His land yet he does not care, He still calls us His bride, He still sees all of us and He still loves us. I see the love and grace of Jesus in my boyfriend every day and our relationship just shows the world how two different people can come together in love and for the name of Jesus. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So be open to what God has for you, it might not be what you wanted but it is definitely what you need. God knows you better than you even know yourself, so if I were you I would trust His judgement. He can pair you up with someone who is out of this world; if only you were open to it. Don't let the ignorance of this society rule over who you should and shouldn't love. Follow the love of Christ, because it is unconditional. It doesn't matter who you are, the color of your skin, your height. It DOESN'T matter. I think we should strive to be more like Jesus. Be able to look at everyone through HIS eyes; not in a judgmental way, with no criticism, and with a genuine love. God's love knows NO end. So why should ours?

(The beau and I & pesky white camera spots) 

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.- Colossians 3:14

With love and grace- Diana

Knowing the Bible and knowing the Author are two very different things

So in continuation, to building  a strong relationship with God we all have to make an effort to the the second step: reading the word! This is probably the step that is the most important yet challenging for people because the bible can be complicated and difficult to understand. I know that in my life, reading the bible was something that didn't catch my interest all that much. I didn't understand it, I ultimately thought it was the most boring thing I could have ever laid my eyes on. Naturally, this is the reality that most people face when it comes to reading the word of God. This really has to change! It's pretty sad seeing how lost this generation can be when they have the answers right in front of them. We tend to ask where is God, why can't I hear Him? Why doesn't He answer me? And I can only imagine Him standing in front of you scratching his head and pointing to the bible. These are His words, promises and answers to you. The bible is something that I've learned has an answer to everything and I mean EVERYTHING. But for you to obtain these answers you just have to take the time to read it. And I mean really read it, not just skimming through it 1, 2, 3 and you're done. I mean setting a time and forgetting about everything else in this world that worries you and meditating on HIS word for you. Thinking about what you're reading, and applying every promise and every word for comfort to your life. His word is meant to change you, and it will.

"Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do." -Joshua 1:8

It literally it says that if you meditate on the word, meaning going deeper into it's meaning and OBEY...that's a big one, that you will succeed in ALL that you do. I don't know about you but I want to succeed in everything I do. God gave the world the key to succeeding. How amazing is that? But how can we know of Gods promises for our lives if we can't spend time getting to know Him in the word that He himself has given us. I think its time that we develop a hunger and a passion for the word. Not in a way that is selfish, as to only acquire things such as blessing and success, but to really get to know and fall in LOVE with our Creator. Everything else will fall into place if you seek God. One of the things that has helped me fall in love with the word of God is starting by the book of Matthew. Reading all about Jesus, there's something about falling in love with the Son that makes you want to go back and read about times before the Son. It honestly makes you want to know why they call him Son of David and all of his descents. Reading the gospel will open a whole new desire to reading times before Jesus. You can relate to the Old Testament believe it or not, they were waiting for a messiah to come, aren't we waiting for Him to come back too?

"Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world."- James 4:8

So if you really make the decision that you want to be closer to God, and that you want to go deeper in your relationship with Him, I encourage you to fall in love with the word. Let there be a passion ignited within you that desires to know more.

My people perish from a lack of knowledge. - Hosea 4: 6

LOVE - MICHELLE

Fear....a Trust Issue?

  I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one out there who's been afraid. Afraid of a multitude of things in this lifetime. Personally, I was so hooked on fear that it was starting to dominate over me, not letting me live my life the way I should. Now that's taking it too far I think. Of course, nobody's perfect and I'm still afraid of things such as public speaking (everyone's usually surprised by this one), but its something that I trust God will deliver me from slowly, but surely.
     But if there's something that I've learned over time it's that fear is a trust issue. Yeah, that sounds kind of weird right? Let me explain. I've come to realize that when you are afraid and fearful, it is because you aren't trusting God with the issue. There's this little thing called having faith, which is something that lacks if you are allowing fear to control your life.To overcome fear is to surrender it all to God. Like it says in  Philippians 4:6-7:

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

    If you allow God to take control of your fear then what makes you think He won't? He will give you that overwhelming peace that surpasses all of our understanding. Who doesn't want that?! I mean really? But we have to understand that there are implications to this. God wants you to do your part too! Don't just wait around for Him to make your feelings of fear magically disappear. It doesn't work that way. You have to make an effort yourself to be more trusting of God, meaning you have to seek Him, and get to know Him for who He really is; a loving Father!

There are a few things that I think really help you to overcome fear. 

1) Prayer
If you haven't experienced the power of prayer, I encourage you to go deeper. Dedicate time to this because prayer is the key in this battle. God promises us in Matthew 7.7 :

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you."

Put it into practice and be amazed by Gods glory! I dare you.

2) Read the Word
This one seems like a no brainer.  Read the word and you can really learn a lot about Jesus and the Father. But something that I've come to realize is that the enemy has NO new tricks. So recognizing the attack of the enemy against your life gives you an advantage and an opportunity to use the word to overcome.

3) Counsel
Put up your hand if you've ever been that type of person who thought they could do everything on their own without needing anyone's help. Yeah I was that person for far too long. I'm almost 100% sure that God put people on this planet so that we could help each other out and flee from isolation. So tell someone you trust about what you're going through; someone who is on higher spiritual grounds than you are. I promise you, God will use them to give you words of comfort and wisdom.

4) Worship  
Chains are broken during worship.  Its a time where you can completely let go of whats bothering you, and wholeheartedly give it up to God. Worship is a time to set an atmosphere to let the Holy Spirit do His work. Surrender it all and trust God!

    Essentially what I want is for you all to walk in the freedom that Jesus has given us. His love overcomes all things, and He is GREATER than any and every fear that exists. So why not go out on a limb and surrender all fear within you up to Jesus? There's really nothing to lose. All you do is gain! Learn to trust God with everything that you are, every inch of your being; all fears included, and walk out in the love that is Christ. I pray that God will set you free of all fear that is trying to dominate over your life, and that the love and peace of God may just overflow in your lives! 

Written by Michelle♡