Are you REALLY a Christian?

Hola world!! Wow...it's been 5 months since my last post...that's sad! It's crazy how we can get busy and just let time pass us by. But I have some good excuses as to where I've been! First, I started Pinky Promise HU right after my last blog post and it has been an AWESOME experience! God is really moving through this group of young ladies and I'm so thankful to have been the vessel God used to bring us together! Also, I had my internship this summer with Phillips 66 in Houston, TX! I met some great people, worked on a challenging project, and ultimately received a full-time job offer upon my graduation next year! God is so good!! Lastly, God blessed me with a scholarship that will guarantee that I graduate from Howard University DEBT FREE!!! (PRAISE BREAK!)(*inserts shouting music*) Now, I say all of that not to brag on myself but to brag on my GOD! If he did it for me, he will do it for you to! Just pray, believe, and receive! 

Since I've been gone though I've had a lot of different things I want to discuss on here on my mind! Today I'm going to start with Romans 8 which I decided to study this morning and just really hit me hard as I read it!

Now, I'm sure many of you probably read the title of this post and said...uhm yeah, duh. But today, I want to go beyond that question and ask HOW? How do you know that you are a Christian?...........Really! Take a moment and answer that for yourself. How do I know that I'm a Christian?

Snaps and claps for those who said, "well, I believe in my heart and confessed with my mouth that Christ is risen from the dead." Yay you! You've been taught salvation well! But guess what...salvation doesn't just magically make you a Christian! Christian by definition means follower of Christ and I'm sure you can think of a few people off the top of your head who are "saved" but don't follow Christ.

So, are you REALLY a Christian? That will require a deeper look into what it means to be a Christian. Now, I could write for YEARS on everything the bible says on what it means to follow Christ and spiritual discipleship but today, I want to just begin with Romans chapter 8 and a one simple things that the Lord requires of us if we are to identify ourselves as Christians.

Romans 8:1 says "This is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

There it is! The first key: Those who are in Christ Jesus (Christians), walk NOT after the FLESH, but after the SPIRIT. Just as we know a tree by it's fruit, people will know a Christian by his walk! Verse 5 says "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit [mind] the things of the Spirit." To break this down into everyday terms - What does your heart long after? Why do you make decisions? What is leading you on a daily basis? Your flesh (mind, body, emotions, etc) or the Spirit of God who lives in you?

Now, I could make this a really long blog post but I won't. I just ask that you examine your heart! I don't know about you but it drives me crazy that so many people have hardened their heart to Christ because of what they've seen so-called Christians do! And it makes me sick to see so many "Christians" struggling when God has already provided all of our needs! He wants us to be prosperous so that we can reach more people and save our world! Verses 2-4 of Romans 8 talk about how Jesus DIED so that we could be free from the curse of the law and live the blessed lives he wants us to live but only if we FOLLOW HIM!

So, if you consider yourself a Christian I ask that you examine your heart, your motives, and your actions and decide whether you're really living up to that title. We all have work to do and need to make a DAILY effort to crucify our flesh and follow Christ but are you really making an effort?

And if you're not a Christian, I want to introduce you to my very best friend! I know that Christianity may not always get the best reputation because of the people who call themselves Christians, but the fact of the matter is CHRISTianity is about CHRIST, not people and people will always be crazy but Jesus will always be perfect. He is waiting on you with open arms. God wants to have a relationship with you and just like building a relationship with another person it requires spending time with him, talking to him (through prayer), and learning more about him through his word (the bible). He loves you more than you will ever know or can even imagine and in him there is fullness of joy!

If you want to receive him as your personal Lord and Savior just say these simple words out loud and believe them in your heart:

"Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus I come to you today to give you my life. I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that God has raised him from the dead. I repent of sin by turning away from it and I receive you, Lord. Thank you Lord for hearing my prayer, for answering my prayer, and for saving me now!" 

CONGRATULATIONS! You are now saved!! I encourage you to, first, get a bible if you don't already have one! Commit to spending time reading your bible and praying every day. Additionally, find a church home where you will be taught the word and encouraged in your Christian walk. Lastly, find/ask God for a friend to walk with you, pray with you, and hold you accountable on this journey! God has such a bright future for you!! Get excited!! Welcome home!

Be Intentional, Be Contagious

Well hello there! Man, it's been a while...sorry guys, these past few weeks just seemed to get away from me...and I definitely have had this tab open with the title of this post up for over two weeks now. (smh) I promise I will get back on it!

Anywho, for anyone who pays attention to some of my social media, you may have noticed that I was talking a lot about how I've chosen to live my life being intentional. Now probably over a year ago, one of my good friends posted that as his status and at the time I was like, that's cool, and kept it moving. But during my reflection time at the end of last year that phrase just kept popping up in my spirit so I really took time to meditate on it and the depth that I found in those two words have already changed my life.

B E   I N T E N T I O N A L .

Meaning, whatever you do, do it with purpose. I've realized that so much of my time was wasted on time-fillers, things that I just did to do, not for any particular purpose. And when I really realized that my days are numbered, thinking of all the time I've wasted NOT making an impact on the world was sickening to me. I've always been one to look at the big picture...if someone were to ask me what I want out of life, I would be able to simply say to leave a legacy that empowers future generations. That's it. I don't necessarily want to be remembered but I know God has called me to make a mark on this world and that is so much bigger than me!! Every now and then, a girl who I may see every so often but never really talk to will come up to me and tell me that I inspire her...............WOW...how humbling is that??? It just goes to show that every move we make, someone is watching... and someone's salvation could depend on our obedience! So how can we not live an intentional life???


Then, about a few weeks ago, Pastor Michelle Butler posted a video before her message on being contagious. Well that was just the icing on the cake to my meditation on being intentional!

con·ta·gious

 adjective \-jəs\

Definition of CONTAGIOUS

1

: communicable by contact : catching <contagious diseases>

2

: bearing contagion <contagious people>

3

: used for contagious diseases <a contagious ward>

4

: exciting similar emotions or conduct in others <contagiousenthusiasm>

— con·ta·gious·ly adverb

— con·ta·gious·ness noun

WOW...did that just spark something inside of you? Cause it definitely did for me! I mean when was the last time that something you did excited a similar emotion or conduct in others? Now, let's be clear, there are many people who are very contagious but in negative ways - and how much sense does that make?! As Christians we have all of the answers because we have Jesus and the Holy Spirit! Jesus lives on the inside of us! Meaning we have is JOY, his LOVE, his PEACE on the inside of us!! That should be communicable by contact! When people interact with you they should be able to catch that! I mean, we are all inspired by the Josephs and Moses' and Sarai's of the bible but we don't ever that that God has called us to be just like them! He wants our lives to inspire others to be more like him...and that's an honor we can not deny and can not take lightly!


How to live an intentional, contagious life:

1. Take a good, hard look at yourself and the things you do and truly analyze why you do them. Is it just because? It it because that's what everyone else is doing? Is it to make yourself feel better about yourself? Everything you do should have a defined purpose and somehow that purpose should lead back to living a life that pleases God. 
2. Think before you act. It's not enough so just "do" anymore. We must have a sense of direction with our actions. What do you want to be the outcome and how do you plan on making it happen? Be sure to follow through.  
3. Spend time with God. This is most important! It is through our relationship with him that we'll know what his plans for our life are and once we know that it's a lot easier to start planning and taking the steps towards making that vision a reality. 

Change

Change isn't change until you change.

Pretty simple right? Right and wrong. You know, change is one of the most feared things in the world. It causes uncertainty and makes people uncomfortable but most times, it also causes GROWTH.

Lately I've been faced with a lot of things I need to change in my life and made me think about how so many people come to me wanting to change things about themselves but it takes them YEARS to finally change. I've been there before and I thank God for the changes he's made in me that have caused me to get out of such cycles.

Transparency moment - So in my prayer time, God really revealed to me that I am self-righteous. Now, this was something I thought I'd got pass in high school when I worked on becoming humble. However, he showed me that way too often I'll be listening to a sermon or reading a book and as I'm reading it I'll be thinking "oh, so-and-so needs to read this" or "hm, whatshisname needs to be here right now" instead of what I should be thinking "wow, this is good, how can I apply this to my life to be more Christ-like" so that's something I'm working on. But you know, that causes a deliberate change in thinking.

I'm sure you all know, your thoughts are one of the hardest things to change, but it's where your freedom begins! If you can change your thoughts, you can truly live life abundantly, as Christ died for us to live! So how do you do that? Dying daily!

I've kind of been meditating on this for a while now (clearly not as much as I should) because I grew up hearing the phrase but not truly understanding what it meant but finally I realized, changing my thoughts, choosing to be intentional in my Christian walk, that's dying daily.

Whenever a negative thought about yourself comes into your head, cast it down and replace it with a scripture! If you're not in that point in your faith yet where you can roll it off the tongue, replace it with something simple and positive, such as "I'm beautiful," or "I'm patient," or "I need to change" (pride.) Even if you don't believe it yet, know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Press into his word, into his presence and be intentional in growing in Christ!

Change isn't change until you change. Saying you want it isn't going to make it happen. So what are you waiting on? CHANGE.

Hey Daddy =)

So I just wanted to take the time to write about talking to God. Throughout this week I realized that I was starting to become religious (dun, dun, dunnnnnnn!!!! *insert terror scream*) For those who don't know what I mean by that...I mean religious in the sense of worshiping tradition and getting stuck in the what and not the who. So through my reading of Pink Lips and Empty Hearts (yep, another plug, this book is just too good lol) God revealed this to me:

So many people look at God as he CEO of the world. Like we must be proper and prim and completely prepared to speak with him. Like we must be brief because he's a busy man and he has lots of other things to do......NO!! NO! NO! NO!!!

God desires a RELATIONSHIP with you! A true relationship with you! You wouldn't go talking to your friend or significant other like that so why do you go to God as this facade of who you want him to see you as? He already knows your dirt, no need to try to cover it up with pretty words lol

We need to talk to God as ourselves about our lives! I used to find this weird until I actually tried it. When I wake up, instead of getting down on my knees and saying "Oh most holy God, alpha and omega, beginning and the end, first and the last, God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, thank you."
I don't talk like that...ever, so why would I when I come to God?
I say "Good morning daddy, thank you for waking me up this morning!" and then go into my prayer time.

You see, when you talk to him as if he is more real than your friends around you (which he is), then it become so much easier to truly be in a relationship with him! The bible tells us that God desires constant communication with us and speaks to us daily if we just take the time to listen. So we should go throughout our day just talking with God! When you are facing a decision throughout the day and you don't know what to do, instead of asking your carnal friends say "Daddy, should I choose paper or plastic?" Now clearly, that's a little trivial, but you get my point! You may not always get the answer right away or hear his voice, but it will put you in communication with the MOST HIGH GOD! - I mean WOW!!! How cool is that?!?!

Personally, I love this! Me and God talk like homies!! How much better can it get? Being able to talk to the guy who has all the answers!!! And yes, sometimes he gets frustrated with me and sometimes I get frustrated with him but just knowing that he is there and I can take any and everything to him whenever I want to is such a beautiful thing!!! He always has my best interest in mind. He's the best friend I have and truly my daddy =)

Make him yours too today! Look to the sky and say "Hey Daddy =)"

Beautiful Life in Death Pt.1

Wow!!! I have had over 100 views on my blog with just my first two posts!! Look at God!!! I pray that each and every person who reads my blog is blessed and that it causes you to reflect on your relationship with Christ. For it is through him that we have life, and have it more abundantly!

This past week has been pretty cool for me. My boyfriend and I decided to not see each other this week and use the time we usually spend together with God. I used a lot of that time in the book I mentioned last week, "Pink Lips and Empty Hearts" by Heather Lindsey and I must say, I already feel the changes in my life. I am earnestly longing to be more like Christ and and to increase my personal ministry. I ask God every day to show me what I need to change in order to grow and it's been enlightening. I highly encourage every woman who is truly seeking a relationship with God to read Heather Lindsey's book!

Now, in this post I want to dive into a topic that is glorified and often people never even scratch the surface and in my prayer, reading, and meditation time this week, I've had some beautiful revelations. (Now, please know I'm just writing lol I have no idea which direction this post will go in so bear with me while I allow Holy Spirit to lead me)

Anyone who is close to me knows I am no stranger to death. I have lost many people in my life, some very close, some not as close but because of this, at a young age I learned how to lean on God and to look at death in a new way. I feel we often forget that Jesus walked this earth as we did and he can relate to us more than any other human can. Jesus actually experienced death, knowing it was coming, going through it himself, and came out of it victorious so who better to talk to then the expert?

And I learned the beauty of life that is in death. You see, the bible talks about dying in two different senses...
1. Death that Jesus experienced by which we are made free 
2.Our personal death to sin and the flesh by which we can live free 

This week I'll discuss the first kind of death because it's the one most people are familiar with. But I feel we often forget what this really means. Romans 6 opens up saying "Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or  have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death." We often go through life claiming Christ as our Lord and forgetting he is our Savior...
What do I mean by that?
I mean we often try to carry our own burden, try to change who we are or our situations without his help. Yet that is why he died! So that we wouldn't have to carry our own burdens and go through these times (good or bad) without a Savior! He died and now lives so that we can LIVE. Yet so many of us walk around dead inside. Void of the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, temperance, goodness, faith, meekness, and gentleness) that have been freely given to us for our enjoyment but most importantly, we walk around void of the Holy Spirit.
Today, I studied Romans 8 which is all about the life we have in Christ THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT. It really bothers me that so many churches do not teach Holy Spirit when it is clearly all up and throughout the bible. John 14:26 tells us that the Holy Ghost is a gift sent from God for our help! So why do we try to ignore it as if we can pick and choose which parts of the bible are important and which aren't??? But I digress...we can talk more about the Holy Spirit at a later date...

So what I'm saying is...in Christ's death all of the filth and sinful nature that is in us died with him. We don't have to live in constant lamentation of self or feeling anything other than the joy and freedom that come from his glorious resurrection!! In him we are FREED, LOVED, ACCEPTED, and MADE NEW!!! All we have to do is accept his amazing love!!! So I challenge you to each day accept him as your savior and not just your lord! And use the precious gift of the Holy Spirit as our comforter and helper to lead you and guide you throughout the day.
Don't get comfortable, keep pressing!


BONUS!!!!
If you know me you will also know that I LOVE Oraia Speaks and her ministry. She's an anointed, spirit-filled powerhouse of a spoken word artist and in the video below she does two of her pieces. The first one talking about death to self called "Die Hard and Live Free" and the second about Christ's death called "It is Finished." I encourage you to watch and listen, it'll bless you!
http://vimeo.com/57167515

Show Me the Father

Hello All! 

First and foremost I want to thank everyone who has been reading my blog! I received such wonderful feedback and I am truly humbled. =) I think I'm going to make new posts once a week (or whenever I feel led).

So this whole week I kept thinking about what should my next blog post be about?! Now that I know people are actually reading, I have to make sure it's good lol So I jumped from thought to thought and I finally realized, it's not about me...the title of this blog is Make Me Invisible, so after racking my brain and nothing seeming quite right, I waited and finally got my inspiration from the Lord in my reading of John 14 this morning.

John 14: 8-Phillip said, "Lord, show us the the Father, and we will be satisfied." 

 This passage starts off with Phillip, one of the disciples of Jesus, asking Jesus to show them the Father. If Jesus just show's them God, they will be satisfied.  Let's stop there...In a conversation I had with a good friend of mine last week, we discussed how many people around us are hurting and are looking for God, whether they know it or not. Phillip is an excellent example of a lot of people we all come in contact with... people who look and play the part but truly just want God. And Jesus responds...

9-Jesus replied, "Have I been with you all this time, Phillip, and yet you still don't know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10-Don't you know that I am the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me." 

When I read the first line of verse 9 I was hit and convicted like nothing else! Jesus said, I've been with you all this whole time and you still don't know who I am? (Now, I love this Jesus, when he challenges us and convicts us, when you get to this point with God, you KNOW you have a relationship with him, maybe I'll write a blog post on that next week lol) But this line made me think WOW-how many people have I been around my whole life and they have no idea who I am? Who I am personally and more importantly who I am in Christ...

For years I never let anybody in. I was not going to be hurt by anybody, friend or foe, boy or girl. So I put up walls that only let me shallow exterior show. When I came to Howard, I realized it all had to change. My freshman year I felt so lonely, and God revealed to me that I needed to face who I really am and let people know me on that level in order to have truly fulfilling relationships. I didn't really know where to start with that though...so it wasn't until that next school year in Living Stones where I really because my journey to transparency. All of my friends know that I don't talk about my issues...my boyfriend used to get mad at me for staying so closed up when something was wrong...but I worked hard to change all of that...and through that I learned that there's freedom in your testimony, freedom for yourself and freedom for others.

So what, or who, do people see when they look at you???

Now, I don't want to make this blog post too long so I'm going to let all you all to read the rest of this passage and meditate on it yourself...

11- Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do. 12-"I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13-You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14-Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! (New Living Translation)

I will just call attention to verses 13-14. Jesus promises us that anything that we ask in his name is ours...now that's one promise we should all hold him accountable for! I mean, how often does anyone just tell us whatever we want is ours, asking for nothing in return??? That's real love! (for anyone who's searching ;) And I love how in verse 14 he says, YES, as if he already knew we would be skeptical, because it seems too good to be true, right? But, my friends, THAT is GREAT GRACE...and there's more where that came from!

Love you all! Be blessed!

Suggested Readings (new section, because I'm doing more reading lol): Pink Lips & Empty Hearts by Heather Lindsey...great book and testimony by a great lady! If you haven't heard of her, look her up!! lol

Here It Is!

So this is a blog, huh? =)

Hello world! I don't know how many people will read this or if any will at all...but lately through my time of prayer and meditation I've had a lot of share with the world so I said hey, why not make a blog!

I named this blog "Make Me Invisible" after the KiKi Sheard song "Invisible." The entire premise of the song is a plea for God to help us be invisible so that people see nothing but Him when they look at us. And that's my life. 

Towards the end of 2012, I was overcome by this sense of joy because I felt myself stepping into my destiny  - sharing the wisdom God has given me with his hurting daughters. But with this I also realized how much my relationship with God and my boldness regarding my Christianity has suffered since I've come to college. I have a strong sense in my spirit that 2013 will be a year of personal growth, greater understanding of who we really are, if you choose to put in the work...and through this blog, if anyone chooses to follow, I hope you'll witness my growth and be inspired to grow yourself. 

Blessings! Make God proud this week! =)