The Skill of Suppression

A skill is the ability to do something well, and suppression is:

                                        1)to inhibit (an impulse or action) consciously.
                                        2)to withhold from disclosure or publication 
                                        3)to vanquish or subdue quell; crush.
                                        4)to keep out of conscious awareness.

Suppression of emotions is a conscious denial of feelings (repression is an un conscious denial). When you suppress your emotions and ignore your feelings you choose not to deal with them. It's an unhealthy response to your emotions. 

To give you a back story, I had mastered the suppression of healthy "negative" emotions. What I mean by healthy "negative" emotions is that a negative emotion can be looked at as: sadness, anger, disappointment, fear etc and the reason I used the word "healthy" is because those emotions are normal to have (with balance). You cant go through life never feeling sad or angry, disappointed or scared. For me, it had started as a child, so growing up, doing just that, avoiding those emotions as much as I can, hiding those emotions from myself and others, and convincing myself that I didn't feel them, by the time I graduated high-school I had in fact mastered it. 

What makes it a bit more interesting is that after high-school, although I had felt like I mastered it emotionally, I had not mastered it physically. Meaning, there were times I could tell you that "I'm fine" and convinced myself that it was true, all the while my eyes would fill up with tears if you asked the question or my face would tell you the truth if I wasn't being careful to make sure it looked happy. 

Then there were times when I really wanted to talk about how I was feeling but felt like I didnt know how to start. Suppression can stunt your growth in communication. You can be 50 and still not know how to articulate how you feel like an adult, if you continue to run away from your feelings. 

In a more tangible way Suppression looks like: 

• I don't want to talk about it because I don't want to acknowledge it or face it. Maybe because if I express how I feel someone will judge me, or they wont get it and dismiss the emotion. 
• Using facades, not being transparent or letting anyone pass a certain point, very surface
• Holding on to past mistakes 
• Suffering by yourself because you don't really believe you can be set free, you have become accustomed to your reality that "this is just who I am".
• Can be critical, maybe to distract yourself from the things you need to address within yourself. (These are the people that need love the most)
• Indifferent: they force themselves not to care about the things that would other wise hurt them if they acknowledge it ** I did this one a lot**
• Likes being by themselves not because they enjoy it fully, but because they trust themselves the most, they don't allow anyone else but themselves to see their true emotions without judgement. Comfortable in their own darkness.
• Scared of confessing that they are really in fact sad, angry, disappointed because the facade that they have built showing everyone they they "have it all together" would be ruined.
• Desires peace but doesn't know how to attain it

I can honestly say that I have experienced and practiced all those characteristics of suppression. As I continue getting closer to the Lord, He becomes like a mirror, He shows you the things you may not want to see or even notice about yourself. Not to discourage you, but to help you acknowledge it so you can bring it to Him, lay it at His feet and allow Him to remove the deep rooted junk that's causing harm and no good. God has never said that we should cover up our emotions, He actually tells us to do the opposite, He tells us to be transparent, to confess, to acknowledge, to be real. So that His light can penetrate your darkness. Imagine for a minute that someone  suppressing they're emotions are like a room with no windows but when someone opens the door, Light floods the room and darkness ceases. 

Confession is healthy, it puts everyone on a level playing field because everyone has a past, a chapter of their lives they cringe if read out loud, a hurt. To be transparent rather than suppress is when healing begins. 

Be encouraged, with God there is ALWAYS a way, a way out of your darkness, out of that "stuck" feeling you may have, a way to regain the peace you've been searching for. It's always found in Jesus. All the good that you have been looking for is found in Him because He is the embodiment of good and all good flows from Him.

If you've ever read the book of Psalms in the Bible, King David was very transparent with God, he always went to Him to vent and acknowledge how he was feeling, whether is was because he was so joyful he couldn't contain it or so unhappy and afraid that he didn't know what to do. But even David try to suppress his feelings and his wrong doings at some point, he wrote down how it negatively impacted him and his relationship with God:

"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. . . . Let everyone who is godly pray to You while You may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him" Psalm 32:3-6. 

David is not saying that God takes Himself out of our reach, he's saying if you look at circumstances as bigger than God, it won't take long for your emotions to overcome you. When suppressed emotions build up within you like "mighty waters," you won't turn to God, you'll be focused on your emotions and your emotions will be the one in control. It's important to open up to God while you can, because if you bottle up your feelings too long, it will disrupt the harmony of your relationship with Him. 

I believe we should go first to God about how we feel, in prayer. Be careful not to look at prayer as a duty, or job where you drag your feet to do it. Prayer is direct communication with God. God knows you better than anyone and He also loves you more than anyone. If you go to Him first with how you're feeling, He will not only give you a peace that surpasses understanding, He can speak to you, reassuring you, pouring out his love and instructions on what to do.

God will also bless you with godly people and friends around you that you can talk to. Don't forget to pray that God sends you godly friends and puts you in a church community that really honors God and reflects His love. I believe that Christians pray a lot for God to send them a godly man or woman to marry but maybe forget to pray about true godly friends. We should be as cautious, attentive, and prayerful picking our friends as we are picking our spouses, they both are relationships and commitments and they both can effect your life greatly.

Sharing our feelings with others is also helpful in managing emotions. The Christian life is not meant to be lived alone. God has given us the gift of other believers who can share our burdens and whose burdens we share. Heres a few verses of reassurance about that:

Romans 12 (whole chapter)

Galatians 6:1-10

2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Hebrews 3:13

Ephesians 4:25-27 

James 5:16

Other men and women of God can also remind us of God’s truth and offer new perspective. When we're feeling discouraged or scared, we can benefit from the encouragement and reassurance that our friends in Christ can offer us. When we uplift others, we may become uplifted just like when we are happy, our happiness usually increases when we share it with others.

Jesus, is honestly our Hope and Strength.

Consistently reading life's guidebook (otherwise know as the Bible), listening to sound preaching (meaning preaching that is truly and completely coming from the Word of God), focusing on God and staying faithful to Him, and prayer. This is where healing comes from, this is where your life changes, it all starts and ends with God.

Love always.

Elle <3

Is Jesus Sad When I'm Sad?

John 11:35 Jesus Wept. 

The shortest verse in the Bible and can also be so comforting, your able to see Jesus in a new way. It goes against any belief that God has no emotions and no messy involvement with people. God cares how you feel and can even be touched by your brokenness. Even if you can't put into words exactly how deep your hurt goes. When all you can do is cry. 

The story of Lazarus was more about Jesus than it is about Lazarus, the depth of the story showed that you don't have to hide your grief, your broken heart, your hurt, from Him. He can be moved by it. Jesus wept because we wept. He can relate to us. [To read the full story read John chapter 11]

When He saw everyone crying over the death of Lazarus He also cried openly, He empathized with their grief and perhaps He was troubled at some of the people's unbelief of who He is and His power but in either situation Jesus proved that He cared enough for us to cry with us in our heart break.

I am NOT a public cryer, now I do cry every now and then, as does most people but crying in front of anyone is real uncomfortable for me. To me crying is a very vulnerable thing. I remember a couple years ago a friend of mine comforted me while I was crying. You see, at that time it had been about 3 years since we had been friends and I never showed any real vulnerability so when I did, the person gently smiled and said .. "this is the most human I've ever seen you". . (LOL) My friend didn't think I was a walking robot but was just saying that I had never exhibited this amount of vulnerability and openness .

Speed forward to this past Sunday, the church that I attend has groups that meet in between services to just talk, meet people and just support others. I sat in on the Women's group and these women shared some of their life experiences that they've been through and some are even still going through. Hearing their stories, struggles, victories, moved me, I just remember feeling so much compassion toward them and it moved me to the point of crying WITH them. 

How much more compassion does Jesus have toward you and what you're going through? 

Why did Jesus cry if He already knew He was going to raise up Lazarus?....because He understands the pain, the brokeness, He's not cold or emotionless that He cannot relate to your broken heart. If you think He's not concerned about you and you're well being you need to remember how much love He has, He IS LOVE. His heart is too big not to be moved by your tears.

He cried WITH the people who were mourning Lazarus' death . He was moved by their pain, He saw them and understood how they felt. He shared the experience with them. Not just the tragedy of Lazarus' death but the victory of Lazarus being risen.

Jesus' heart is for you, not just when your heart is broken and you feel like no one gets it, but when you come out of it. He already sees your victory through this. He already planned it out....but what's great about it is just because He knows the day of your deliverance before hand doesn't mean He won't walk with you through your struggle and that His heart isn't concerned for you.

In John chapter 11 you see a lot of Jesus' emotions ; compassion, sorrow, even frustration.

You can't be afraid or hesitant to be real with Jesus, as if He can't possibly understand what you're going through, He understands them because He's experienced those emotions. You don't have to carry the heavy burdens of your pain anymore. You can completely let it go and be transparent with Him with no fear of judgement. 

The same Jesus who cried with all those who was mourning is the One who delivered them from their pain.

Overcoming Regret

How many people have something they've done in the past that they regret, whether years ago, months ago, days ago, hrs ago, 5 minutes ago that they wish they hadn't done .....?

Regret is a skillful tactic the enemy can use to keep us in a place that God has already taken us out of....You could've repented, you could've acknowledged the wrong, whatever it was, you've seen the error of your ways, God has forgiven you!!...But you still seem to be STUCK in the past with regretful feelings and emotions.

Then that opens a door, a chain reaction , you replay that regretful memory in your mind over and over, wishing you could've done it all differently....STUCK.  Right there, right where you are, days past, weeks past but your still right there and then what does that lead to? Depression, discouragement a feeling of helplessness and a desire to give up.

You see there's nothing good that comes from dwelling in regret, no good fruit that you can produce from regret. I was an avid regretter and to be transparent I still am at times, I have to catch myself because I have a standard and if I fall below that I beat myself up for not "doing better". Every time I do something significantly wrong I would spend days, weeks! Replaying the act in my head and I...would....sink, and even when the Lord would try to get me out of it with encouragement, love, even the very NEXT sermon I'd here would be about letting things go!!! But NO I HAD to punish myself by MAKING myself feel the hurt that regret brings about .

It's a toxic way to handle a situation & more importantly it does not....portray the CHARACTER of God;

Isaiah 43:18-19 

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

I like this verse because it is specifically telling us to forget what happened before and focus on the new thing God is doing within you .He's saying don't you perceive it, sense it, feel it? God is working on you, remembering and dwelling on the negative things of the past adds to nothing good God is doing in you RIGHT NOW.

I also love how this verse says "I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, the wilderness wouldn't be an uncultivated, uninhibited region if there was paths through it. The desert wouldn't be a desert if it has rivers flowing through. God is saying I will make a way where there is NO way, if you're feeling helpless, like God can't possibly fix you're broken heart, your drug addiction, you're womanizing or promiscuity, He's saying "I can and I will.

Look, God is not surprised when you sin, He doesn't sit on His throne and the minute you sin He gets up and says "Well I definitely didn't see that one coming". 

There's an inside joke among my close friends; He doesn't turn to Enoch (who was raptured up to heaven) and say "well come here and look at this Enoch, I'm completely shocked at what so and so did."

In all seriousness God is in fact not surprised, it's not new to Him, you didn't blindside Him with anything you've done. 

And here's why...

John 3:16-17 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

God knows everything about you, even before you were in the womb,He knows everything your going to do before you do it , He knows everything your going to say before you say it, He knows every strand of hair on your head and yet HIS grace is sufficient, His love still pours out on you., His mercy is still freely given.

God shows the magnitude, the depth of His love, by sending His Son, who is pure, blameless and knew NO sin.To carry the great burden of OUR sin. He was beaten, ridiculed, nailed to the cross, for us, for our sin, for our REGRETS. We are not called to carry the burden of our regrets. It is done, it is finished.

Jesus so graciously carried it for us, the sin of the world, generation after generation are saved.

Your past is gone and God's love refuses to allow you to stay in that place, as He prunes us, purges us, makes us NEW. So when presented with a situation that if we give in, it'll be another regret!....This time this new thing He's doing in us has taken route, it becomes who we are, this new thing?!..... the righteousness of Christ

I'm praying for you!

Let go and be happy, you deserve it

xoxox

Gaelle M. D

EPIC Love Story

If you don't know God, you're missing out on the greatest Love story of your life.

With Valentines Day being just a couple days away, love is pretty much the topic of discussion leading up to it, among almost everyone. Love is great, who doesn't love....love? Of course to be loved and to show love can completely soften even the hardest of hearts. One of our greatest needs as human beings is to be loved, to know that we are cared for and accepted and loved without conditions.

There is a love, a FIRST love that should never go unnoticed, because this One, IS love. He doesn't just have lots of love, for everyone that has ever lived, and has so much of it that He can't help but to shower His people with new grace everyday, there's more..... He is in fact...Love itself.  I don't know if you've ever thought of the fact that that's exactly who He is. Sometimes just thinking about that in depth can overwhelm you.

I was naive in what I thought the definition of what love is, I would say that "everyone has their own definition of what love is to them, and I guess thats what it is".... but there is a true definition of what it looks like:

1 Corinthians 13:4-6

Love is patient, Love is kind, it does not envy it does not boast it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the Truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves.

You have to remind yourself that God embodies all of those things because thats who He is. Everything we can ever look for in true love is found in Him. He should be, and in reality is, our first love, He sets the standard, gives the definition and IS the example of what love is.

*There is so many levels to His love that without it we wouldn't be able to even think about having a relationship with Him;


His love is UNCONDITIONAL:

Now, I remember I was having a disagreement with someone and they said that my love, generally, is conditional. That if an offense occurred or something wasn't completely right then my love would waiver and you know what, that person was absolutely right. Of course I didn't say that and at the time I didn't even believe it but comparing my acts of love to God's I would say that there was truth to that statement.

*What's amazing about God's love is that He showers us with it when we are undeserving of it and continues even if we don't acknowledge it. We're not worthy of His love and thats what makes it that much more great.*

As humans, flawed, we tend to automatically show more love to the people who show us love back and may sometimes withhold it from those who have hurt us or haven't "earned" it. God is not like that at all:

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting Life.

I want you to really think about that for a minute. It says that "whosoever" believes in Him.... God was aware that there would be some people who would not believe in His sinless, precious Son but "God so loved the world" not just the people who would believe. His Son, Jesus, dying for the world was a open gift to anyone who wants to receive it. That love is completely and perfectly UNCONDITIONAL.



God's love is SELFLESS and SACRIFICIAL:

Romans 5:8

For God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1John 4:9-10

God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 

I don't know about you but I couldn't imagine giving up an innocent family member to die for sinful people and I also don't know anyone who would willingly agree to it.

Love is an ACTION,  a choice. I would even say love is an action and choice above feelings. If you're going off of feelings, whether its feelings of attraction, desperation, etc to love someone. Then its only a matter of time before the feeling fades. Emotions are unstable, they come and go. The decision to love comes with responsibility and sacrifice. It's expressed by the giving of oneself. Love cannot be selfish. It just can't, if it was then it wouldn't be love. Love isn't about YOU its about the giving of yourself to the object of your affections. Being selfish dwells on what you can get out of the relationship, how you will benefit, all about how the person makes YOU feel....Love is about what you can do to uplift, build and encourage that person and give sacrificially and selflessly to that person. (This isn't just about loving someone you're in a relationship with, its about the love you choose to act out toward everyone)

 *"The opposite of love isn't hate, its selfishness" C.S Lewis*

God's Love can CHANGE your life and COMFORT you:

Even if you mess up and fall short, stumble, and miss the mark God's love is sufficient enough to comfort you through your guilt and fear. You don't have to walk around with your head down, shamed and beating yourself up. God's love fills every void that you have. It makes you whole, it brings you back to real life and overwhelms you with happiness. God's love picks you up and cleans you off. 

God isn't mad at you, stop putting Him in a box that has Him depicted in your mind as Someone who is anxiously waiting to punish you or feeling like you can't talk to Him because of your past. That box you may have put God in, you might as well forget about it. He doesn't fit in it anyway. Theres no box big enough that God can fit in, and if you've thought of one...you're thinking too small.... Look, everyone has a past, everyone has baggage God isn't blind, in fact He's all knowing,  He sees everything, He knows everything you've ever done and is going to do. His love covers you. He desires to love and help you to heal from your past and to stop sinning.

1John 4:18

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love.

His love is perfect and to experience it will expand your wisdom, how you think, how you react to people. God's perfect love can change your life.

Philippians 1:6

And I am certain that God who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

God's love lasts FOREVER:

Jeremiah 3:13

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: " I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with everlasting kindness"

He loved us before we were born, He already knew us, His loving eyes are always on us, we're valuable to Him, He even numbers the hair on our head (Luke 12:7). His love is intense and overwhelming in ever good way....His love is infinite.

Since God is love, God's love is also Holy because He's Holy. His love encourages us to be Holy as well.

Ephesians 1:4

For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be Holy and blameless in His sight. In love

We can't live up to the standard of love and holiness without Jesus. If we could, we wouldn't have desperately needed Him and still need Him and He wouldn't have to have died for us. What we're grateful for is that He allowed us to see His love so that we can know what true love is. Real love looks like Jesus and if the love you're giving and receiving doesn't remind you of Him then there should be some reevaluating that needs to be done. 

Ask God to help you to love Him and everyone the way that He does. He'll always help.

Ephesians 3:19

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fulness of life and power that come from God.

God loves you like crazy,

Gaelle M. D

Insecurity

"God is never going to help you act like somebody else....other than Jesus"

I have had my time of being discontent being who I am. I had raging insecurities in high school that found its way to my adulthood, most people have insecurities but just because its common doesn't mean we should be walking around accepting it... In high school, I was just a hot mess of personas. Me being trained in acting did not help the situation at all either. 

I had this thing where I compared myself to a bunch of girls, whether it was some pretty girl in my history class that got all the attention that I wanted or the girl who got to date the guy that I liked so I chalked it up to "There must be something wrong with me so I have to change whatever it is",but comparing yourself to someone is one of the fastest ways to steal your joy. Your portion is YOURS, envying what someone else has is distracting you from YOUR blessings, which then turns into you being dissatisfied and ungrateful with what God is actively doing in your life.

I remember one day the guy I was dating for years said to me "It's ok to be yourself, you don't have to compare yourself to anyone" , it was random when he said it and I actually got offended when he said it because I felt like he can see right through an insecurity that I thought I was good at hiding.

"You could be missing your destiny because you're so busy trying to be something other than what you are. You feel like you're not acceptable because you look around at other people or people have said things to you that have hurt you and you believe what they say.....You need to believe what God says about you not what people say about you" -Joyce

You're unique, special, one of a kind. God has a plan, picked out just for you, every intricate detail is laid out like a blueprint. Here's the thing though, it doesn't matter how many people's lives you look at and compare your own life to, He's not going to help you be that person, walk and talk like that person and have that person's life. The only person, the only goal, we should try to emulate is Jesus'. He's the only One who completed the will of God perfectly so of course He's the One we should look to.

Galatians 1:10
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

You have to ask yourself "who's approval am I trying to gain?" I'm a believer of being INTENTIONAL in everything that you do and letting those intentions be good,pure and in the will of God. You can't be "neutral" with it by trying to please everyone because people will not always agree with the things that God wants you to do. Your first priority should always be God.

Overcoming Insecurity is to forget the labels and opinions people and even yourself has placed on you and receiving/embracing what God says about you. What HE says is accurate and will always be the Truth. He knows the real you and He's not swayed by what other people think of you or even the negative and inaccurate opinions you think of yourself. When you know what God thinks of you, it completely changes things, it won't matter what others think because you are now standing on the Truth, if you start to doubt yourself you have the Truth to run back to.

The story of Gideon is a perfect example, God calls Gideon a "mighty warrior" even though at that time Gideon was hiding in the winepress from the Midianites (enemy of the Isarealites at that time; Read the book of judges to get the full story). Gideon couldn't see himself the way God saw him, and any person from the outside looking in would probably agree and say Gideon was scared and hiding, how in the world could he be a mighty warrior? None of that was changing God's truth about him. Gideon then goes off to defeat the Midianites and proves that what God called Him was accurate from the beginning, even if it couldn't be seen right away. What if he had believed the doubt he placed on himself instead of accepting what God told him? His life would be completely different.


Insecurities can be a stronghold, completely dictating how your think, act, dress, talk etc. Especially through social networks, social networks is a feeding ground for insecurities, most people won't post pictures of themselves on their worst day, so all you see is fabulously dressed, attractive looking people going to awesome places, eating food that looks expensive with friends that are just as attractive....24/7. You cannot live up to the things you see online because 9 times out of 10 its a moment captured not the full life of that person. If you feel like you have a habit of going on to these social networks and comparing yourself, I would ask that you fast from them for a while, a week, 2 weeks, 30 days. Sounds crazy enough right? Honestly, if it takes deleting a few apps from your phone for a set amount a time, sitting at the Lord's feet, praying, talking to Him, reading the Word etc while you and Him conquer your insecurities I believe its well worth it. You have to ask yourself what more do you want, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, or the eyes to see yourself the way God sees you. Eliminate the distractions if you have to.

In one of my lowest moments, drowned in insecurities a friend of mine asked me to read this book by Craig Groeschel called "Altar Ego" . This book put a lot of things in my life into perspective, its about becoming who God says you are not submitting to the the ideas and labels people placed on you, but putting them on the Altar and LEAVING IT THERE. I'm not saying its going to be easy, I'm saying its going to be worth it and with God helping you, you'll have victory. I'm urging you to read this book, its interesting and if it helped out someone like me, it can help anyone. It's inexpensive and worth every penny.

Stop comparing, you're one of a kind

Gaelle. M. D

Spending Time With God

"You need God to get to know God"

Ever read an autobiography or watch a documentary of your favorite person,artist,author, whomever and thought to yourself "yeah it told me everything I could possibly want to know but I wish I knew him/her personally" ? Do you ever feel like that about God? 

The Bible gives so many interesting events that happened in history, so many miracles, people having conversations with God. I mean the Bible gives us a way to see the character and integrity of God, what He likes and what he doesn't like, what He stands for and what He wont stand for, who He is, what gets Him upset, what He delights in, His love, His standards. The list goes on and on. The Bible will always be the most essential blue print in right living. BUT there's more, what if you could get to know God personally too, to know His voice to recognize Him in everything?.... You can.

Spending time with God is essential, but some people don't really know how to go about it or maybe they don't have the time, they're just too busy, or they look at it as a boring chore that has to be done if you're a Christian rather than looking at it as an intimate time between you and the Creator of the universe. TRUTH IS you will make the time for the things and people you want.

Honesty Time: I had a thing about rushing, if I knew I wanted to complete something then whats the point in checking the facts, or going through a process, I knew what I wanted done and how I wanted it done so the "time is always right now" my intentions were always good but my timing wasn't. 

For example as I started to spend more time with God I started to get excited about what I was finding out about him; "He's sooo cool, He created this, loves this (wait I love that too!, we like similar things!), etc. So of course I wanted to bypass this whole getting to know Him more and jump right into Him talking to me through burning bushes and parting Red Seas in front of me (read the book of Exodus). So I convinced myself that I had put all the time in and all that was left was to spiritually grow because me and God were the best of friends and don't get me wrong that is still true. Among other things I do consider Him my best friend. You're as close to God as you want to be...but there's a process to most things.

Psalm 25:14 says "The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them."

• Confide: means to give as a responsibility or put into another's care; entrust. To tell something in confidence.

God offers an intimate and lasting friendship to those who revere Him. To have the Lord confide in you is an amazing experience and having the Lord of all creation as a friend is not anything you can compare.

Fellowship with God is an amazing privilege that every believer should experience daily. We should value our relationship with Christ as more important than anything else.

Here's some ways that you could do to spend time with God but you're not limited to these. As you start to grow and get to know Him you may even add personal ways to your list:

1) Get a Bible that you can understand clearly and make a habit out of reading it. Don't leave it on your dresser or the back of your drawer collecting dust. His Word is one of the tools He uses to reveal Himself to you. I personally use the NIV Life Application Study Bible and love it.

2) PRAY, often....everyday. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) .You don't need a doctorate in theology to talk to Jesus. I cant stress enough that prayer is a intimate conversation between you and Him, be real with Him, He knows the REAL YOU and you don't have to put on a show. Be as genuine as you can with your Savior.
Pour out your heart to Him, vent, let go of all those ideas you may have of God being "impersonal" and not being able to understand what you're going through and trust Him enough to be able to handle it. (Psalm 62:8)

3) Praise Him, praising God demonstrates gratitude for all that God does for you. It's about acknowledging His goodness, mercy,grace. Celebrating who He is.Thanksgiving can also be a form of praise.

4) Get quiet, be still, stop and listen for Him (Psalm 46:10). It's too easy to feel like nothing is happening if we aren't doing anything but "Being still and doing nothing is two very different things" . Whether if its first thing in the morning as soon as you wake up or choosing times throughout the day praying, praising.....then you get quiet, sitting at His feet in silence inviting Him to just transform you

5) Make your relationship with Jesus PERSONAL. What do you like to do? How do you like to express yourself? Take that and do it for Him. For example; if you're better at writing down your feelings, write Him letters and poems. If you're artistic, paint & draw for Him. If you're good at singing....sing for Him. Make it personal by combining the things that you love to do and do it for Him.

6) Include Him in every aspect of your life. I remember listening to this sermon from Joyce Meyer and in it she said "If you go to the supermarket take God with you....take Him everywhere" sounds easy enough right? Well a while back, there was this one particular week, I was craving sushi all that week, so I planned to go one day after work and decided to "take God with me" instead of ordering it and picking it up, I decided to sit down. To be honest it felt WEIRD and awkward at first but I made a "Lunch date" out of it.  Guess what, it was fun and different but I enjoyed it. You have to come to a place of being happy with just you and God.

Philippians chapter 3:4-14 the apostle Paul talks about his credentials, credits and successes, and this man was very successful, his achievements were impressive and he was intelligent, but he states that he writes it all off as garbage when compared with the greatness of knowing Christ. Knowing Christ puts things into perspective because as you get to know Him, the Truth which is Christ, becomes the focal point of your life.

Spend time with Him

Sincerely,

Gaelle M. D

Keep Your Eyes On Him...

I cannot tell you how many times I've struggled with keeping my eyes on God. I would be great, completely consistent for a month of just "Me and God time" not being concerned about whats going on outside of that what so ever...then...just like that, my focus would shift. It wouldn't take too much doing either. Maybe I would get frustrated about something and focus more about how I was feeling rather than God or maybe someone received a blessing that I was hoping and praying for, whatever it was, my eyes would go from paying attention to what God was doing in my life to paying attention to everything but that. 

The world begs, pleads and screams for our attention everyday. Everywhere you go there's an advertisement about something, TV shows that depict what life could be like if we all had a certain amount of money and knew the right people, "everybody, everywhere has something to say about everything!" and that's just the outside world, then you may have financial struggle, family problems, marital problems or relationship issues. "It's ironic, when someone is distracted they miss the point, when its really the distractions that are hard to miss , but here's the thing...spiritual vision,which is our ability to see God clearly in what He wants us to do and to see the world from His perspective, can be easily clouded. It isn't hard at all to be wrapped up in a selfish desire or something that's troubling your heart. The issue is focus.

Matthew 14:29&30

And He said: "come" . Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out: "Lord, save me!"

The story of Peter is one those stories that gives the perfect example of what happens when you take your eyes off God, Peter was able to walk on water, by faith until he took his eyes off Jesus, looking at the storm instead and because of that he started to sink. Jesus was walking on the very thing that was threatening to overwhelm them, showing His power over it and Peter was able to do the "impossible" by keeping His eyes on Jesus. Often its too easy to focus on the problems in our lives or the chaos of this world that causes us to take our eyes off Jesus when the only thing that it leads us to do, is to go under. Whether it's to sink back into depression or those old ways that you know doesn't involve Jesus. The more you focus on your problems, the bigger it gets, which leads to you doubting God. I went through constant states of depression when I would focus on everything that wasn't perfect or going my way instead of the giver of peace and joy, I would doubt God and His love for me because all I could see was the problems,  it was draining. I actually got tired of not focusing on God.

When you find yourself in situations that causes you to be frustrated, discouraged and angry because of people it gets overwhelming, dealing with adversity and cruelty is hard, that's no secret, but that's when your eyes need to be focused back on Jesus, the Word of God and His faithfulness. God will always do His part in assisting you. He knows you're human and will always need His help. He's compassionate and will never leave you to walk through life alone if you just turn to Him.

But there are some things you can do to keep your focus on God and off of you and your issues:

•  Spending time with God DAILY. Not just on Sundays. Reading your Bible and praying. Don't ever underestimate the power of praying, its a conversation between God and you in which you can completely be yourself and vulnerable and pour out. He even tells you to "Never stop praying" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
• Cutting off your DISTRACTIONS, this could include certain people in your life. Who you surround yourself with is IMPORTANT to your future and present. Are your friends pouring into you whats positive, are they influencing you and pushing you toward the right things? Do they encourage you? Not everyone is meant to be your friend but we are commanded to love and treat everyone how we want to be treated.
• Let go of always trying to know everything. You have to accept the things that you may not know the purpose to in those moments. No need to stress yourself out and lose your Focus trying to figure it all out. Rest in God's timing.

Colossians 3:2

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Setting your mind on things above means concentrating on the eternal rather than the temporal. It enables you to look at life from God's perspective and to seek what He desires. What's above is what's important, not what's here today and gone tomorrow. Don't forfeit the visions and plans God has for you and gave you by focusing on whats around you rather than Him and His power, glory, love and help.

God loves you...focus.

Sincerely,

Gaelle Marelise .D