Let’s be real. I have doubts sometimes. You have doubts sometimes. We are humans. We fall short. There are times when we feel as if our last shred of hope has just dissolved in a sea of terrifying situations. We look for other things to hold onto, even though, in reality, the only One Who is able to bring us through is God. Yet, when we face life, we sometimes forget that there is more than what we see right now. Lately, I’ve been “cruising” in life. I’ve been complacent where I am in life because I’ve lost all my strength from fighting on my own. I’ve allowed weeds to spring up & take the place of all that I, as God’s child, am designed to do. I’ve allowed my mind to be so filled with the things of this world that I’ve lost sight of my own purpose. In my pursuit of being open-minded & seeking to understand what others believe & think, even if I don’t agree with them, I’ve forgotten that I have my own beliefs as well, & that holding to those beliefs is not a bad thing. I know God, & I’ve seen His hands working in my life. Yet, I care so much about understanding other things that I fail to understand God the way I should. The more I learn about this world, & the more I absorb its ways of thinking & doing, the more I try to be self-reliant. Yet, when I do this, I become less independent than I was before, because I lose my sense of direction. You see, we all come to different crossroads throughout life. We come to points where we fall away from God & into our own ideas of what life should be. Or, we get restless, sometimes even wondering if we’re missing out on something else when we live the Christian life. But, the more comfortable I get in this world, the more lost I feel. Life without God is depressing, terrifying, & empty. It’s easy to think that I can be a perfect Christian. As long as I go to church, read my Bible every day, & pray pretty regularly, I’m good, right? I can feel proud of myself when I think about my “accomplishments” as a Christian, but when I do this, I’m missing the point completely, & I’m mirroring the Pharisees that Jesus rebuked throughout the New Testament. God doesn’t tell me to be perfect. He doesn’t tell me to fix myself on my own strength, or to be a self-made person, & yet somehow I fall into this idea that I am supposed to be that way. I always see something else that I can change to improve myself, but then I see so many things that I end up not fixing any of them because I don’t know where to start. I get so absorbed in what I am, in what I could be, & in what I’m supposed to be, that I completely toss aside the reality that is being a Christian. God really doesn’t want me to polish myself up before I come to Him. He really doesn’t expect me to live my entire life without making a mistake, sinning, or falling short of what I should be. He doesn’t expect me to be the perfect Christian with all the right words & all the most powerful prayers & the most beautiful praises & the largest amount of converts to Christianity. He wants me as I am, not as I am to be. Before writing these words, I was listening to an acoustic version of the hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. The following words rang out to me: “Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God.” Hearing these words & singing them touched my heart. I know the hymn, I've heard it many times, but this time it made me think & reflect. Jesus wasn’t out looking for the best preachers or the biggest spiritual giants. He was out looking for the broken, for the weak, for the lost, & for the empty-hearted. He wasn’t asking me to perfect myself & then join the club of perfect people, but rather He was saying, “Come to Me, & I will make you whole. I will show you great & unsearchable things that you cannot ever understand on your own (Jeremiaiah 33:3). I will help you grow, & I will teach you the way of life. I will help you when you fall, & I will lift you up when you can’t stand on your own. I will strengthen you, I will fight for you, & I will unlock the door for you to enter into My Kingdom.” Don’t fall into the trap of believing that God is an unapproachable God, or that you aren’t good enough to be known by Him. Hebrews 4:16 says that we can approach Him boldly, & besides that, If God didn’t love us, He wouldn’t have let His own Son die on a cross & make the way for us to know Him once again, even knowing that we wouldn’t always choose Him. That, my friends, is love, & it is beautiful. God loves us, & no matter what comes our way, or what way we choose, we know that His love is unconditional, & for that, I am ever so thankful. Have you been going through struggles in life recently? What are you learning as you face these struggles? I know it’s hard to share, but God is working through each of us, & no matter how ugly our mess, He turns it into something beautiful! Blessings, Allison
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Today, we’re talking about Bible study! I hope to dedicate a future post to my methods for studying the Bible, but today we’re going to talk about what you might call the foundations of Bible study, from learning how to set aside time for it to knowing what supplies might make it better for you, read on for my 3 big tips! 1. Consistency. Most people (myself included) like routines. Not to say that everything in life must be planned out extensively, but having a structure & a framework in mind is something that we can use in order to be more productive. When we start getting into the habit of doing something on a repetitive basis, it becomes easier to maintain. Personally, my times set aside for Bible-reading are in the morning, when I first wake up, & at night, right before I go to bed. No matter when you choose to spend time with God & in His Word, when you start doing it consistently, you will develop a habit & eventually make it an integral part of your day that you will look forward to. Of course, there will be times when we don’t end up following through with it, & that’s alright. There is no such thing as the “perfect” Christian, so don’t let your pride tell you that reading your Bible every day makes you better than another Christian, or that not reading your Bible every day makes you a worse Christian. As you grow in faith & mature spiritually, you will need to dig deeper & fill your heart & mind with God’s Word, & you will need to strengthen your roots & work to develop the self-discipline of prioritizing God, even when you don’t feel like it, but let your motivation be God-centered & not self-centered. Seek God in order to know Him more fully, to understand how to live by His ways in this world, & in order to love & serve Him more whole-heartedly. 2. Quality over quantity. In a world where “more” always seems to equal “better”, it’s easy to think, “Why not apply this to Bible study?”, but the fact is, “more” does not always equal “better”. We could spend all day & all night reading God’s Word, but if we do not let it sink in past the surface, what good are we doing in our own hearts? Sure, I can do 5 Bible studies at once, but if I don’t have adequate time to think about, reflect on, & pray about the Biblical principles that I am learning, then all my work is in vain. You see, God’s Word is a beautiful gift, & yes, you absolutely should get as much of it as you can, but if you put an entire steak in your mouth at once, it becomes hard to chew. More so, if you gobble that steak down, you don’t have the chance to savor the flavor, & you won’t digest it very well if you haven’t broken it down before consuming it. In the same way, studying the Bible is like eating the choicest of meats. God might use His Word to reveal something absolutely amazing to you, but if you snatch it up & then shove it in the back of your mind while you read the other five chapters in your Bible reading plan, you won’t be able to receive His ministering & revelation like you would if you stopped & pondered for a while about that one verse that jumped out at you. You see, it’s not about reading five or ten or twenty chapters of your Bible in one day, or about reading the entire Bible from cover to cover. It’s not about making sure you’ve checked off all your assigned readings for the day, but it’s about sitting down at the table to feast on God’s Word, one juicy bite of steak at a time. 3. Supplemental tools. There are a few things that make studying God’s Word better & more beneficial. Some are necessary, & some are about personal preference. Let’s start with the biggest key to understanding & receiving God’s Word that you will ever have. His Name is Holy Spirit. Going back to the concept of quality over quantity, in order to have that beautiful steak, we really should have a fork & a knife so we don’t have to pick our steak up & tear it apart with our own hands, thus destroying the grain of the meat & letting the flavorful juices spill out all over the place. You see, the Holy Spirit is immensely important if we want to study God’s Word & receive it to the fullest. The Holy Spirit is our direct two-way connection with God. Through Him, we receive salvation, we obtain wisdom, & we hear the voice of God guiding us in His ways & revealing to us the unsearchable things of His Word that we otherwise would never know. Without Him, we can read the surface of God’s Word, but we won’t be able to dig deeper & understand the true meaning of what is being said, & we won’t be able to receive the full depth & breadth of God’s message of love to us. Another integral part of Bible study is prayer. Prayer goes right along with the Holy Spirit, because, as I said, The Holy Spirit is our two-way connection with God. The Holy Spirit is the Connector, but prayer is the phone that you have to pick up & dial to in order to reach God, & you have to pick it up & listen when it rings in order to hear what God has to say. Prayer is a tool that must be implemented in the life of a Christian. After all, as I’ve said many times, a relationship must be tended to in order to grow, & in order to do that, you must spend time with the other person. You cannot get to know someone without communicating with them, & a relationship with God is no different, so use the gift of prayer extensively! Ask God to give you His wisdom, to open your heart & mind to receive His Word, & for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to lead you in living out what He reveals to you. Now, we’ve covered the bases on what (& Who) you undoubtedly need in order to study the Bible, so now let’s look some additional resources that may prove helpful to you, as they certainly have to me. Firstly, pens, highlighters, or anything that you can mark, write, or draw with. Whether it be drawing/writing in your Bible, or in a notebook/journal, going beyond simply reading & going the extra mile to write down your thoughts & highlight verses that touched you will help you to develop a deeper connection to God’s Word. I like to write personal notes in my Bible, such as things that God says to me while I am reading, verses that minister to me during a specific time in my life (especially during hard times), & tidbits from sermons, Bible studies, & devotionals that I want to remember. Another thing I like to do is write the date I wrote what I wrote, so that I can look back on seasons of my life where God answered my prayers & brought me through difficult circumstances. My one rule for writing in a Bible is this: never write anything that covers the words of the Bible or interferes with your ability to read them. It’s hard to do if you don’t have a journaling Bible with large margins, which is why I also use handy dandy sticky notes. They come in all shapes & sizes, & are easily removable for when you need to read what’s behind them. My next favorite tool is a notebook. I have one dedicated to sermon notes, but you can go a step further & use one for your day-to-day personal Bible studying. Write down principles & passages (even if only the references) that stick out to you, & even write down prayers & petitions & praises. Involve your hands & your mind in your study in order to better absorb what you’re learning. If you’re a visual learner, try writing out Bible verses in a pretty script or a design that you like, & then either hang it up somewhere, or use it as a bookmark in your Bible. If you’re an auditory learner, you can try listening to spoken versions of the Bible found on tape, CDs, & online through websites & apps such as Bible Gateway & the YouVersion Bible app. No matter what you do, use God’s Word as the foundation, & then find ways to learn that make it easier to absorb. There isn’t a black & white method for studying God’s Word. We have talked about foundational principles, but beyond those, we have many resources that can help each of us learn & retain God’s Word in the way that works best for us! “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” - 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV What is your one tip for improving your Bible study? PS: This was a collaboration with some other Christian writers on Instagram! I've linked each of their posts below, so feel free to take a few moments & read through their tips as well! Blessings, Allison
“He prays to God, & He is favorable to him, so that he sees His face with joy; for God restores to him his righteousness (his uprightness & right standing with God) — with its joys.” - Job 33:26 AMPC Hello, & welcome to another Wednesday blog post! Today, we are continuing on in our study, titled "Spiritually Sprouting". We are currently on the sub-topic of prayer, & this post, a breakdown of a really neat verse I found in Job (see above), is mainly about the relationship with God that we develop through prayer. I had a good time writing this, & I hope you have a good time reading it! "He prays to God" As we’ve confirmed multiple times, a relationship with God is TWO-way. It is not only God speaking to us, or only us speaking to God, but it requires effort, communication, & commitment from both sides. If you feel that you aren’t connected to God, you can start by praying. Talk to God, pour out your heart to Him, & give Him the gift of your time. You wouldn’t want a relationship with someone if they cared nothing about you & never even bothered to talk with you, right? Imagine how it breaks God’s heart when we push Him aside to pursue other things. As important as interpersonal relationships with people are, be reminded of how much more important it is to have a thriving relationship with God. All humans are created in the image of God, so the joy we derive from human relationships is but a tiny fragment compared to the joy & fulfillment that comes from a relationship with God. But, remember this: it’s not only about what God can do for you. It’s also about what you can do for Him. You are specially designed & created for the purpose of glorifying God in your life, & you have amazing potential to do wonderful things for God. He has instilled in you your very own talents & abilities, which He designed to be used for His glory. But you see, in order to unlock our full potential, we must immerse ourselves in the Source of those gifts (God) & come to know Him quite personally so that we may learn how to use our gifts for His glory. Even beyond that, a relationship with God is such a beautiful thing. It’s something we are designed to have, & deep down, it’s something that we all crave, because it’s literally written in our DNA (remember how God created Adam by breathing His own life into him?). God created us to have fellowship with Him & to have an ever-growing relationship with Him, & He doesn’t want it any other way. "He (God) is favorable to him" God is different from other kings & from the authorities in this world. He does not make us grovel before Him & beg for mercy in order to receive what we have need of, & He doesn’t neglect us in order to care for Himself. Our God is favorable to us. He cares so deeply for for us in every way that He finds joy in being our provision & in blessing us beyond our ability to comprehend! God’s favor is a gift that we continually receive when we have a relationship with God. Even at the beginning of your relationship with Him, when you were saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), you received “unmerited favor”, which is the definition of grace. God has always loved us, & He blessed us even before we knew Him, but the more you grow in a relationship with God, the more favor you will begin to see. When you know God, you recognize the work of His hands & the blessings that He is giving you, & it opens your eyes to what you can do to bless God. The beautiful thing about this, though, is that God does not benefit Himself when He gives us favor, but He simply does it to show His love for us. You see, there is nothing we could ever do to fully repay God for what He does for us as His children, but that’s exactly the point. God doesn’t want to be repaid. He offers the free gift of salvation to us simply because He loves us, & because He wants what is best for us. God doesn’t have an ulterior motive for blessing us. Like we said, God is different from the kings of this world. He gives us everything that He has, & He doesn’t do it to manipulate us or to deceive us or to buy our acts of repentance, but He does it because He loves us. God’s favor is based on His love for us & not on our being worthy to receive it, but as we increase the strength of our relationship with Him, He blesses us with more & more, because He trusts us to be faithful stewards of what He gives. He empowers us with His blessings, so that we can in turn use those gifts for God’s glory, at which point others will notice & wonder what it is that makes you so strong & successful, & that gives you an open door for sharing God’s love & explaining what He has done for you. "He (man) sees His (God’s) face with joy" When you don’t personally know someone, you don’t really have a connection with them. You may know of them, but you don’t have a close relationship with them. Before we came into relationship with God, we were outsiders. We didn’t know God, & His face was hidden from us because of our sinfulness. But, Jesus’ sacrifice leading to the free gift of salvation opened the door for us once again. After we are restored to a right relationship with God, we can actually see God’s face. Right now, we cannot see Him in the physical sense (with our eyes), but now that we know God, we can recognize the work of His hands & His heart for us, as well as all of mankind. Even more than that, we can now come boldly into His Presence & worship Him without anything standing in the way. We can make petitions & requests, & He hears them. Most of all, we can know God, & to know God is the single best thing in the entire history of the universe. It is such a privilege that we take for granted, & I think that it is due in part to the fact that we cannot physically see God while we are here on earth. It can cause thoughts of doubt to crop up in our minds, & it can be discouraging to not see God with our physical eyes, but we must remember that the spiritual things are just as real as the physical things. Just think, before the universe existed, God thought of it in His own mind. He spoke the words, & sheer nothingness became the beautiful world that we live on today. Just because we cannot see God, it doesn’t mean that His presence is not with us or that He is not aware of our doings. On the contrary, as Christians, we have God’s own Holy Spirit with us, no matter where we go or what we face. Knowing this gives us a sense of heart peace, & to think that our God cares enough about us to dwell in our own hearts is nothing short of amazing. The glory of God is so vast & so incomprehensible, but at the same time, we understand it, & when we experience it, we feel at home in it because we were never designed to experience anything less. In God’s Presence, there truly is fulness of joy (Psalm 16:11). This kind of joy is the purest form of joy in existence, because it connects us to God, the Source of true joy. It is not something based on circumstances or conditions, but it is a direct result of being in the Presence of God Himself. "For God restores to him his righteousness with its joys" Despite our efforts, we eventually fail. We fall short, we miss the mark, & we succumb to temptation. By our own strength, we can never be perfect. But, that’s where Jesus came in, living the perfect life & being the perfect example of what a child of God looks like. It wasn’t done in order to shame us, but rather it opens our eyes to see how life really should be lived. Jesus did what no other human could do. He was absolutely pure in every way, yet He came down to the lowest place of anyone, served everyone, & bore our punishment for sin, sacrificing Himself to show His love for us & to give us the ability to have a relationship with God, just as He Himself has. Because of this, we all have been ransomed. The price has been paid, & Satan no longer has authority over us. Though we were beaten down, worn out, & unable to know God, we now have the ability to be restored. Though we were lost, we have been found. Though we were guilty, we have now been made spotless. Though we still struggle with sin, we have the Holy Spirit to strengthen us & lead us on in paths of righteousness. We now have the ability to talk personally with our God & Creator, & we can worship Him in spirit & in truth. We can now receive wisdom from Him, & we can show His love to those around us. We can now have hope, because God loves us, He has beautiful plans for us, & nothing formed against us will prevail. We can live life from a place of strength & power, & we can understand God’s plan & purpose for our lives. We can minister to others, being kind-hearted servants, & we can be leaders, showing other people the ways of God. Most of all, we can know God, which is the sole best thing we could ever ask for. We no longer have to feel guilty when we fall short, & we no longer have to fend for ourselves in this world. We have a Father who loves us so immensely that words cannot describe it. We have no need to worry about our tomorrows, or even our todays, because God is with us. He is for us. He has restored us. If this post touched you, I would love for you to share it with someone! Remember that God loves you, & He will never leave you. He is faithful, & He will never give up on you. Blessings, Allison 1. Prayer is a relationship with God.How neat is it that we can actually talk to God? Earthly kings generally sit high upon their thrones & allow very few people to approach them in conversation, but our God invites us into His Presence! He looks forward to our conversations with Him, & He always listens to the voice of His children. Even when we stumble & fall, He’s there to pick us back up & set us on our feet again, because He loves us. He cares very much about each one of us, & the stronger your relationship with Him becomes, the more you are able to see His love made manifest in your life. God always has loved us with perfect love. He’s never loved us less than He does now, & He’ll never love us any more than He already does, because He is the epitome of love. 2. Prayer connects us to God.God’s love is not intended to be a one-way relationship. He loves us because He is love, & not because of what we can do for Him or because of what we have done, but as we pursue a relationship with Him, we wade deeper & deeper into that love & experience it in more ways than we thought imaginable. In order to have a strong relationship with someone, you must put an effort into spending time with them. You likely talk with them a lot, & in doing that, you become closer to that person by knowing a little more about what goes on in their heart. You see, prayer is what gives us the ability to have those bond-building conversations with God. It allows us to know His heart, & it gives us the opportunity to verbally pour out our own hearts to Him. It draws the two of you closer to each other, & in prayer, we learn God’s will for our lives, as well as His will for the lives of others around us, whom He uses us to touch. 3. God speaks to us when we pray.In prayer, God speaks to us. Through His Holy Spirit, we speak to God, & through the same Holy Spirit, God tells us key details in living a life that glorifies Him. When we make God our priority & set aside time to truly seek Him with a sincere heart, He opens our hearts to receive His words. Though it can be hard to remember, prayer is a two-way conversation. It isn’t necessarily like the conversations you would have with your sister or brother or parent or your best friend, because God doesn’t always speak with a physically audible voice. He doesn’t show His physical face to us, but even so, He hears, & He speaks. God speaks to our hearts, which is one reason why it is so very important to guard your heart & what you allow to take up space in your heart. 4. Prayer strengthens us.Another reason why prayer is important is because it strengthens us. The fact is, life on earth can be pretty tough sometimes. There is still the presence of sin in this world, & there are still hardships & trials. The good part, though, is that even though we are exposed to these things, we don’t have to remain victims to them. Through prayer & through a relationship with God, we can stand from the place of victory where Jesus stands, as One Who conquered death, Hell, & the grave. We can see life the way God sees it; as a source of joy & hope & love & strength. Through prayer, we know God Himself, which is truly the greatest & most worthwhile thing of all time. All other things pale in comparison to the ability to have a relationship with God, & through prayer, we have that beautiful relationship. 5. Jesus prayed.Many times we see Jesus going off alone to pray. He understood how much it really matters to have a relationship with God, & He was a true example of the way we should prioritize God in our own lives. Jesus praised God, He asked God for wisdom, He prayed over other people & healed them, & He even cried out to God in desperation as He took His final breath before dying on the cross, which He died on to glorify God & to restore our ability to have a relationship with Him. Jesus treated a relationship with God as the source of life itself, because it is just that. 6. Prayer changes us.Through prayer, we connect & communicate with God, our Father & Creator, & we are able to receive wisdom from Him. Through our prayer life, God strengthens us, heals our tired hearts, & gives us an entirely new perspective on life. God opens our eyes when we look to Him. He shows us things the way He designed them to be, & He lets us see things in faith through the Holy Spirit that we would never be able to see on our own. He helps us mature & grow, & He leads us into deeper relationship with Him as we seek His face. God draws us closer to Himself as we make Him our priority, & He equips us with the tools that we need to live an abundant life. He leads us to what He is calling each of us individually to do, & He shows us His plans for our lives. Not only is there an inward change that takes place when we pray, but wherever there is an inward change, there is also an outward change. When our hearts & minds are focused in harmony on God, it changes our thoughts & helps us become more aware of our emotions. The Holy Spirit leads us to speak life-giving words, & as we nurture our prayer life, we become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. 7. Prayer changes situations.The outward situations that change are not only those in our own hearts & lives. When we pray, we receive special anointing from the Holy Spirit, & as it is certainly shown in Acts, the Holy Spirit is very powerful, & God works through Him in beautiful ways. Through Holy Spirit's power, God calls us to pray over & heal the sick. He calls us to rebuke the Devil & put him back where he belongs (which is NOT in our lives). The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to see things differently as well, & through Him, situations we once saw as hopeless become opportunities for growth & positive change, & as He walks us through these situations, He causes us to cultivate deeper faith than we had before. The Holy Spirit empowers us to make a difference in this world, which is what God calls us to do to begin with. The neatest part about all of this is that God does not call us to do things that He is not willing to equip us to do. The problem comes when we think we can do it on our own & we don’t come to Him for support. Prayer is an absolute key in our lives, from being the way that we become Christians to being the way we gain wisdom from God. Most importantly, it’s the way we are able to know God. Knowing Him is truly the greatest treasure we can ever have. I hope you enjoyed this post, & that it served as a reminder of what prayer really is. This is the first post of many in my new series, titled “Spiritually Sprouting”, & I look forward to seeing what else God has in store! To read other blog posts from Spiritually Sprouting, click here. Click through to my Instagram to read shorter posts on the Spiritually Sprouting series, & be sure to read a post or two from my last series, #Come2Overcome2016 . Blessings, Allison
I love to do themes on my Instagram account. It gives me structure & helps me to plan out posts in advance, & it gives me a chance to delve deeper into a specific subject than Instagram's 2,500 character caption limit. Past themes & topics that I've covered include faith, as well as the importance of Scripture/Bible-reading. Back in December, I’d been praying about a new theme for 2016. I came up with a list of words, but one that really stood out to me & the one I felt God telling me to use was “overcome”.
As Christians, we are called to be overcomers, but I think sometimes we overlook that partially. Sometimes we feel like we’re helpless & powerless (I certainly do at times). But, in Christ, we have power, though not necessarily earthly power. I’m talking about the same power that God used when He created the Heavens, the earth, & everything that is in them. It’s the same power that Jesus used when He took back the keys of death from Satan & rose victoriously from the grave.
That same power is accessible & freely given by God to all of His children. He has called us to the same power that He has given to Jesus, & He calls us to use that power! Throughout the duration of this topic study, we walked through the amazing details & processes of overcoming. We learned a good deal about overcoming, from the reasons why we need to overcome, to the ways we are able to overcome, to exactly what we can overcome.
The key verse for this topic study was John 16:33:
“You are from God, little children, & have overcome them; because greater is He Who is in you than he who is in the world.” - 1 John 4:4 NASB
I must say, the #Come2Overcome2016 series has been one of my favorites thus far. It's been eye-opening for me, & God has used quite a few of the posts to speak personally to me. I've received much positive feedback from others about the posts in this series, & I can tell that God has really done some neat things with it!
I admit, I'm a little sad to be ending this series, but I feel God leading me into a new, somewhat broader study. You'll learn more about it soon, but in the meantime, I've put together a master list of all the topics that were discussed in the #Come2Overcome2016 series, because these are some pretty handy posts to keep around. I will likely refer back to these as I face challenges in life, & I bet you will too. Read below for the master list (links are gold text), & after that, keep scrolling for a special surprise!
#Come2Overcome2016 Master List
I certainly hope you enjoyed this series. I know I did! If God spoke to you through any of these posts, be sure to pin this post, share it, or add it to your bookmarks. "But wait!", you say, "Where's the surprise?" Don't worry, I didn't forget!
As you know, I like music. In fact, I love music. Because of this, I like to incorporate music into most anything I do, which is why I created a Spotify playlist full of songs that focus on overcoming, as well as our power in Christ! Music is a great tool for reinforcing knowledge & for worshiping God, so try listening to this playlist to remind yourself of the fact that YOU are an overcomer! Click here to open this playlist in Spotify.
Blessings, Allison
What was your favorite post in the #Come2Overcome2016 series?
If you know me, then you’ll know that I love music. Whether it be classical, baroque (yes, people still listen to it), modern worship songs, or light-hearted music such as the theme song from Disney’s Up (which I played for a piano recital back in 2015), I pretty much like all music genres. Music is a really neat thing. It stimulates your brain in a positive way, invokes emotions, expresses feelings, & it can even be used to improve concentration & learning.
On top of all that, God calls us to use it in worship when we praise Him. In fact, the entire book of Psalms is comprised of songs. The original Hebrew title for the book of Psalms literally means “Praise songs”, & the Greek name for this book is “Psalmoi”, from which we derive “Psalms”. Just as music today often contains deep emotions within the words, these Psalms contain messages that range from praise to penitence to desperate cries for deliverance in times of distress. There’s something about music that’s extremely moving, & it truly is a blessing from God. He encourages us to praise Him in song, & today, I’d like to share with you some ways to do that. 1- Sing to God.
Oftentimes, we don’t use our voices when we pray. It’s easy to pray silently, & God does still hear you whether you speak or not, but there’s something special about using your voice to praise God. Praise is meant to be an outward expression, & not only something we think about. When we use our mouths to speak words of prayer & praise, it alerts our bodies to the fact that we are praising God, & physically hearing your own words of praise as you speak them reinforces the fact that you are praising God.
It helps you to keep yourself centered on God as you are praising Him, & it makes Him smile to hear you making a joyful noise. God gave us mouths for a reason; He wants us to use them! Even if you don’t have the perfect voice (don't worry, no one does), sing to God. It gives Him joy to hear your praises. Even when you’re having a hard day (or week, or month, or year), it makes all the difference when you make the choice to praise God. We do it to bless Him, but in the process, He blesses us. When we praise Him, it renews our spirits & centers us back God, which is where we belong to begin with. 2- Write music.
If you do play any instruments, you’re already ahead of the game! If you’re a pianist or a guitarist, you can play around with blocked chord progressions & a simple melody. Even if you don’t play an instrument, that’s okay. The music is a powerful tool, but what matters most are the words within the song. You can develop the most amazing melody in the world, but if the words aren’t glorifying God, then the point has been missed completely.
You can sing without accompaniment (which is called a cappella), & I love doing it. If you’re a musician like myself, then you’ll know that sometimes it’s easy to get so wrapped up in playing the music correctly that you aren’t able to fully focus on God. Singing without accompaniment is just as much praising God as is doing so with accompaniment. Throughout the Psalms, you read the phrase, “Sing to The Lord a new song!”, & God loves music that truly comes from our hearts, so go ahead & write out a prayer of praise. There is no real secret to writing, so ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in your writings & He will guide you. Write something, no matter how short or how long, & sing to The Lord! 3- Listen to music as you pray & read the Bible.
Of course, you don’t want the music to be too loud, or it can potentially distract you from your time of prayer & reading of the Scriptures, but playing worship music softly in the background can really benefit you during your time with God. I don’t generally listen to music when I’m spending time with God, as my mind usually is drawn to the music (that’s what happens when you’re a musician), but if you were to listen to music during your time with God, I would definitely suggest one of my playlists on Spotify.
I really like listening to piano (or guitar! I love either one) instrumental versions of songs, & this first one is comprised of mostly piano instrumental songs. No words on these; just piano/guitar. The second one is more guitar & does include vocals, but most of them are either live & have less instruments than the mixed soundtracks or have a more acoustic feel, which is a little quieter/more peaceful & more natural-sounding, which I really enjoy. Click here for the instrumental playlist, & here for the acoustic guitar playlist, or view a sample of each below. 4- Think about the lyrics.
For me, it’s easy to just start singing whatever I’m singing because it sounds peaceful or soothing or even just catchy, but there are a lot of songs out there that have some pretty deep, moving lyrics.
The next time you sing a worship song, think about the words as you sing them. Let the words have a deeper meaning, & speak them as if they were your own. Another thing you could do is even to take the lyrics & rewrite them in your own words. Make it personal & use it to praise God. 5- Let go of everything else & praise Him.
Don’t worry about how you look when you worship in church. If you’re going to a good church, everyone should be worshiping God themselves & not be concerned about how you look (or sound) anyway. Let go of everything around you, close your eyes, & breathe in His presence.
Soak in the peace & the joy & the strength that you receive when you praise God, & make it to be just you & God. Praise Him to praise Him, not to get applause from others (applicable to those of us who are on worship teams or in choirs). Do it to please God, & do it because you love Him.
I hope you enjoyed this post! Be on the lookout for next week’s post, which is about living a life of praise.
What ways do you incorporate music into worship? Do you use music when you worship?
Blessings, Allison
A year or so ago, I wrote a short post on Instagram naming a few tips for new Christian Instagram account owners. It gave a few good tips, but the rest were not entirely applicable & not things I might suggest now. I’ve learned a lot since then in this journey to becoming a Christian writer/blogger, & I’d like to share with you from my experiences. In this article, you’ll be able to read about ways to improve your account, as well as ways to help your account grow, & you can even find some good tips for making connections with other Instagrammers out there with the same calling as you have! I hope these guidelines help you to continue growing as a writer, as well as improve the account/blog on whatever platform you are using. Be sure to share this post with anyone else who might find this helpful. Without further ado, let’s get started! Here is an table of contents for those of you who like to cut to the chase- Table of Contents
"I'm just starting out, what do I do?" ~ tips #1 - #10 1- Come up with a unique username/blog domain name One way you can do this is by taking a reference from your favorite Bible verse. For instance, if you were to choose John 3:16 as a verse, your username(/domain name) could be (@)ForGodSoLovedTheWorld(.com). You can also combine something Biblical with something else that you love, such as (@)FaithAndPhotography(.com). Another option is using lyrics from a Christian song! FUN FACT: I was inspired to choose my Instagram username (@My_Savior_Moves_Mountains) by the song, Mighty to Save, 2- Come up with a bio(graphy) Again, you can use a Bible verse, song lyrics, or write a short paragraph describing the purpose of your account. You can use your bio as a place for your mission statement (see tip 4)! Depending on the focus of your account, you can also use this space to tell a little about yourself. Remember not to share personal information (ex. the city in which you live, the locations of specific places you frequently visit, etc)! Always be Internet-safe. For my bio, I created a short paragraph (going by technicality, it’s a sentence, I suppose, but paragraph sounds more professional) expanding a little bit into the theme of my account, & is based on Mark 11:22-23. 3- Follow others who inspire you Chances are, you want to create a Christian-based Instagram account/blog (or already have created one) because you saw someone else doing the same thing, & it inspired you. It moved you to want to make a difference in someone’s just like someone else did in yours. Whatever motivated you to create an account, follow accounts & keep track of blogs that already post related content. It’s likely that you’re already following my Instagram account, so check my “following” list & you’ll find some neat Instagrammers! When I first created my account, there weren’t a lot of Christ-centered, devotion-writing Instagram account owners out there. Not very many people were doing this kind of thing. But now, the power of social media has been discovered, & it brings me joy to say that the number of Christian Instagram accounts out there has grown significantly & continues to grow at a steady pace! More & more people are reaching out to others through social media, & what's really neat is that God’s love is practically able to be spread to the ends of the earth with the touch of a button. 4- Come up with a mission statement This is a great thing to do. It helps you get to the core of what you want your account’s purpose to be, & at points when you feel discouraged as to what you should do with your account, you can refer back to your mission statement to remind you what you’re doing & for Whom you’re doing it. For instructions on writing a solid mission statement, read this article. 5- Define your goals as an Instagrammer/blogger/writer
This goes along with developing a mission statement, & really should be done BEFORE you create a mission statement. As for defining goals, ask yourself: What am I going to post? Is it going to be a personal account/blog where I openly share my identity, or is it going to be an account where I maintain more of an anonymous position? Do I want to share my personal day-to-day journey, or do I want to be more of an authority figure, teaching Biblical principles & writing devotionals? Remember that you can choose to gear your account toward any audience you choose, & there is no right or wrong way to create your account (see tip #9). What matters is that you use it to glorify God & that you seek His approval & blessing over the approval of others. Hello! A few days ago, Tori, a friend of mine on Instagram, asked to interview me as a part of a new series that she is doing. I agreed to do so, but as you likely know, when I write, I write a lot, so my answers were just a bit too long for Instagram (in other words, 3x the caption length). Since Tori also has a blog as well, we came up with the idea to post a short version of my interview on her Instagram account, & then post the long version on her blog. I loved her idea of interviewing, & thought, "Why not interview her as well?" So, here we are! I asked Tori on the spot if she would be willing to answer some questions for me, & she kindly agreed. I enjoyed reading her answers, & I'm sure you will too! Click here to read my interview on Tori's blog. ~ Hi! My name's Tori, otherwise known as @Gods_Girl_4_Life on Instagram! I'm seventeen going on eighteen & I'm totally in love with Jesus Christ. I enjoy photography, & writing devotionals for all of my lovely followers. ~ Who/what has influenced you the most in your spiritual journey thus far? "Honestly, I would have to say my mom. If I could pick one person, it would have to be her. Because she's been through so much in her life, & even today, the strength that I see in her daily life is what keeps me going, & her faith is just amazing to me. Her love for God is my inspiration every day, & I strive to have that same level of spirituality as she has." Who is your favorite Christian writer? "Honestly, this might sound strange, but even though she probably doesn't consider herself to be one officially , I'd say Sadie Robertson. Her book, "Live Original", is to this day one of my favorite books. We're pretty close in age & personality, & I find myself relating to her often. She's so well-spoken, & has this amazing heart for God. You can tell she was gifted with the ability to reach people for Him :) " What are some things that you include in your daily routine as a Christian? "Hmmm... This may sound terrible, but I'm not the girl that has a bible plan in the morning or who has set times with God (even though I probably should, because my day would be so much better). My day consists of school (I do have a faith-based course), & after my daily things are finished, I work on things for my followers! I dive into the Bible to see what tugs at my heart & I go to town. I pray constantly, because as you guys probably all know, being a teenager can be difficult. Especially at the glorious age of 17-18, the pressure of adulthood is unreal, along with graduating, friends, & boys. I have talks with God constantly. I just wish I spent even more time with Him." What is the most powerful thing you have learned throughout life as a Christian? "The most powerful thing I have learned is that even though I stumble in my messed up life, God will never leave me. He'll never stop loving me. I think that learning that & accepting that has been one of the hardest things to do in my life, because we all want to believe that once we mess up, we're no good, right? My self confidence is something I've always struggled with. I've gone into deep depression because of it. I didn't feel worthy enough to be a child of God. After all, why would He want someone like me? I'm so far from perfect. I just don't get it. But, learning that God sees past my mistakes and loves me even when I don't love myself is something so incredible to me." What has been one of your hardest struggles as a Christian, & how has God worked through that? "One of the things I've struggled with the most is persecution from other Christians. There was this one person on Instagram (whose account no longer exists) that constantly put out God to hate people that didn't follow Him, & would make comments that Satan didn't love them either, & that they had no reason to be on this earth. It broke my heart, so in the most loving way possible, I always tried to reach out to this person to explain that the way he portrayed things would never bring people to Christ. On the forefront of Instagram, we should be loving, & welcoming, to even the most horrid of people. But you see, he never understood that. He challenged my faith & told me that I needed to read the Bible more & stop being a baby, when in reality I can proudly say that I did what God put on my heart to do. & God took care of him. Needless to say, that account was deleted by Instagram because of how many times it was reported, & I believe that God Himself took care of that for me because I did my job to relay His message." What is one piece of advice that you would give to the person who has just recently become a Christian? "The one piece of advice I would give is to have patience. Life isn't always going to be perfect. It's likely that you're going to be mocked because of your faith, & people aren't always going to understand. The devil is going to work harder on your heart because he doesn't want to see you with God. But in the end, one day we'll be standing next to our Savior, & He will look us in the face & say, “Well done, good & faithful servant.” I don't know about any of you, but I would much rather be hated by the world than to have to suffer being denied at the gates of Heaven." I would much rather be hated by the world than to have to suffer being denied at the gates of Heaven. How did you end up on Instagram as @Gods_Girl_4_Life / how were you inspired to start in social media ministry? "August of 2013, I started coming across TONS of Christian Instagram accounts. They inspired me so much in the way that they reached people for Christ, & I wanted to do that for someone. I wanted someone to look at Christ through me and be inspired in their daily life. So, I came up with a username that was pretty generic, but turned out to be how people know me. In September of 2013, I became Gods_Girl_4_Life. I posted the WORST edits, & going back to the very beginning, I still laugh at where I started. But, it's also amazing to me to see how far I've come. To watch my style change & my devotionals become more mature. The growth of my Instagram account is something that I don't take for granted. I'm so blessed to be able to reach as many people as I do, & I hope & pray that God works on the hearts of every person who happens to come across my page. :) " What is your favorite post that you've ever written? "Favorite post... That's a toughie. Honestly, I could never pinpoint that to a certain post. But, I can say, any post that is related to self-love is one of my faves. Because I go through so much insecurity, & I love to be personal with you guys & show you how even I myself struggle every day. But, just as I can conquer insecurity, so can you. It's amazing to me when I do posts like that because I feel like you guys relate. & I hear what you think and how you're feeling as well. It's just the greatest feeling to me to know that I'm not alone in how I feel, & that none of you have to be alone either. The worst problem in teens, especially nowadays, is insecurity. We all want to look like the people on the tv, or sing like the artist on the radio, etc. So, the best thing we can do for each other is support one another & build each other up. That's why I love this topic." What is your favorite Bible verse? "Hmm.. interesting question!" { Tori asked me this question as well ;) } "I have a lot of favorites. After all, the Bible is filled with amazing scripture. But, my favorite for the past year has been Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ Who gives me strength." I feel like I connect with that verse so much because it's an amazing reminder to me that even when I feel like I can't go on, I can do anything because He gives me the strength that I need." Thank you for letting me interview you, Tori! I loved reading your answers, & I enjoyed being able to answer your questions as well. Click here to read my interview by Tori, either the long version (blog), or the short version (Instagram). Also, feel free to answer any or all of these questions down in the comment section. I'd love to read your answers! Blessings, Allison
This is a letter of encouragement to everyone out there who owns a Christian-based Instagram account, or a Christian-based blog, or who shares God’s Word through social media. Even if you don’t have 100,000 followers, or you don’t get 2,000 likes on your posts, or you don’t receive very many comments on posts that you worked so hard on to put together, know this: you are glorifying God through your actions. You are making a commitment to spreading His Word. Regardless of how many people you think you’re reaching, God is using you. It brings Him joy to see you working so diligently to make His love known, & He is using you in ways that you may not even see. It can be discouraging to look at others & see how much feedback they’re getting if you compare your success to theirs, but the thing is, it’s not about them. It’s about you doing this for God & for His glory. It’s okay that you don’t have as large a following as you’d like to have. All things start out as seeds, & from there, they can grow & blossom & expand in HUGE ways, provided they receive the proper nutrients & are able to grow strong roots. You may feel small right now, but don't let that be a reason to not give it your best. Jesus made it clear in one of His parables that in order to grow, we must be trustworthy with the little with which we start out. You may feel small right now, but don’t let that be a reason to not give it your best Regardless of the people who see your writings, God sees them, & when you are faithful over something small, He will bless you with opportunities to do greater things. The fact is, it takes time to grow. It takes time to develop strong roots, & it takes energy to develop into maturity. But you see, the best part is that during that time you’ll be able to see the ways that God is working in & through you. It may not feel like much right now, but trust me, you are making a difference. God sees it, & it makes Him smile. Satan also sees it, & he tries everything to stop it. The enemy is not happy to have words being spread that render him powerless, & he will come up against you with all that he can. It will be hard at times to keep going, but remember that your power comes from God. He will not leave you in the lurch without the power to overcome the trials that we go through. He gives us the responsibility to share His love & proclaim His Word, but He also gives us the promise that He will empower us to do His work. He blesses us & uses us to bless others. Also, know that it’s okay to mess up. It’s okay to not post every day. It’s okay to not always stick to your posting schedule. You are not perfect, & you don’t have to be. Ultimately, God is each person’s source. It is not up to you whether or not a person gets their manna today. You are a Christian writer, but you aren’t a pastor. Even if you are a pastor, guess what? They mess up too. No matter our title, no matter our following, & no matter how many people are depending on us or looking to us, we are still people. People that God created & sees as good, but also people that make mistakes & fall short. People that fail from time to time. God still loves us regardless of our shortcomings. We aren’t going to get a gold star for every post we write or for every devotional that we offer to the world. God doesn’t work that way. If salvation were based on works, we’d all be hopeless. But, it’s not. We are called to do good works for God & by His strength, but He knows that we aren’t going to live up to perfection. He knows that we will stumble, & He is merciful in those times. Christian writer, remember that you are a Christ-ian writer. Remember that true wisdom comes from God, & if you want to put quality material out there, you must seek God’s words over your own. Let your inspiration come from Him. He knows what His people need to hear, & He will give you the words to speak when you need them. Lastly, I commend you for following in the calling that God has placed on your life to be a Christian writer. I hope to be an encouragement to you, & I'd love for you to let me know if this letter touched you. (After all, I need encouragement too!) Are you a new Christian writer? Would you like practical tips & useful resources to help you grow as a writer? Look for next Wednesday's post, "50 Tips for New Christian Writers". I spent a lot of time compiling this list of 50 tips, & I would have loved to have had these ideas & resources when I was just starting out. I know you'll enjoy them as well! Subscribe to daily Bible reading prompts (courtesy of this daily Lectionary app) every morning at 9:00 AM (EST) via email or text message- Blessings, Allison
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AuthorHi, I'm Allison, the founder & leader of MSMM Ministries. I love writing, playing the piano, spending time with loved ones, & sharing God's Word, as well as the words which the Holy Spirit leads & inspires me to write. Categories
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