Thank You, Lord Jesus, By Trish M.

Thank You, Lord Jesus

By Trish M.

Hello beautiful sisters in spirit. I just want to greet you all in the mighty name of Jesus Christ and start off by quoting a song as per usual . This song says “ He paid a debt he did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay, I needed someone to wash my sins away and now I sing a brand new song, amazing grace , How sweet the sound, Christ Jesus Paid the debt that I could never pay” .

Think about it. 

We were born from/of sin which was original sin by Adam and Eve. We are all sinners, every single one of us and the word of God says that sin is punishable by death. Basically someone had to die or else we would all die. Jesus himself, the lion of Judah, the son of God died just for you and me.

When I think about this, I start to cry because how incredible is it that thousands of years before you were born, somebody loved you enough to let themselves be crucified. Someone cared about you enough to give up their life for you. This is a very big deal.

I would just like to encourage you to repeat this prayer thanking Lord Jesus for dying for you.

A prayer of thanks:

Lord Jesus, I love you. Jesus you are a wonderful king, I exalt your mighty name for there is no one else like you. Jesus I just want to thank you for dying on the cross for me, my family, my friends, everybody before me and everybody after me. Jesus Christ, what you did as the ultimate gift of love and I just want to love you back. You are the Messiah, you are the mighty Savior. Thank you once again.

Amen.

God has a plan for you, By Trish M.

God has a plan for you.

By Trish M.

Hello Beautiful Ladies of Faith. I just want to start off by letting you know that God loves you and even though, I don’t know who you are, what your situation is and at which point of your walk with God you are at, I know the Lord has a plan for you and your life.

Okay so this topic came to me when I was singing one of my favourite church songs and the words are “ I know the Lord will make a way for me, yes for me , If I live a holy life, shun the wrong and do the right, I know the Lord will make a way for me” . This really got me thinking about my life and how for 16 years (and a few months!) God has been countlessly looking after me, making sure I’m healthy, protecting me from whatever the devil may throw at me. I also realised that from day 1 , 2^nd of June( My birthday), God had a plan for me and he has one for you too!

I know that in this world full of pain, confusion, sin, suffering, Life ending diseases, wars and all sorts of horrible things, it can be hard to have a peace of mind. I know that we all go through terrible things like death of family members and it physically hurts us to the point that we feel like God doesn’t love us. This cannot be farther from the truth. The Lord, your God, loves us so much. We are all precious to him and each and every one of us is valued a lot.

So when you are feeling like life is living you , remember, God is your strength. I like to almost chant Psalm18:1-3 that says “ I love you , lord, you are my strength. The lord is my rock, my fortress, my Savior. My God is my rock in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me and my place of safety. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and He saved me from my enemies."

This verse really reaches the core of my message, God is our rock and if you are still not convinced when I say he has a plan for you, you can see in Jeremiah 29:11, it states that “ For I know the plans I have for you, says the lord, they are plans for good, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”. God has a big plan for you but he just needs you to follow him and let you guide him and at those times of heatbreak just remember Psalms 34 v 18 “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. He recues those whose spirits are crushed”.

I really hope this article helps at least one person out there who is struggling with something or just simply lost their faith and hope.  

Keep holding on.

Xoxo Trish :)

The Spirit of Temptation, By Trish M.

The Spirit of Temptation

By Trish M. 

Greetings my sisters in Christ,
Easter’s coming up so it’s quite an emotional time and a celebration time - and believe it or not, Easter has absolutely nothing to do with chocolate and or some giant bunny.
Anyways, today I want to “talk” to you guys about temptation. Look ladies, temptation isn’t a sin, it’s whether or not you fall to temptation.
  Okay, so, when you gave your life to Christ, the devil wasn’t pleased at all and he will do anything to get your relationship with God to fail. In other words, the devil’s going to tempt you with (I will admit) tempting things like money, but we as Christians must seek God so that He can help us through the obstacles that comes with temptation.
But those who crave to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish (useless, godless) and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction and miserable perishing. 1 Timothy 6: 9
Temptation can be in any form really. You can tempted to scream at your brother but it’s whether you do it or not that counts; you can be tempted to steal, and hopefully we can rise above that temptation considering that stealing is against one of the 10 rules God said we must not commit. And you can be tempted to "just miss one" Sunday service.
These are all temptations.
Temptation is such a serious subject that when Jesus gave us the prayer to pray to God, yes the Our Father, he added a line directed to temptation.  He said “lead us not into temptation” because even Jesus was tempted. When Jesus was fasting and praying for 40 days and 40 nights, Lucifer appeared to Him and told Him he would give Him anything He wanted if only He will worship him and of course Jesus said No! He rose above temptation, and since we try to be like Jesus as much as possible, we should also rise above and resist temptation.
The Bible has a lot to say about Temptation like in James 1 v 12 , the Bible says "Happy is the man who doesn't give in and do wrong when he is tempted, for afterwards he will get as his reward the crown of life that God has promised those who love him."
So since the Bible is God’s word this means that God Himself is telling us that if we have the willpower to resist the devil’s temptation then we will be rewarded with the crown of life.  I don’t know about you, but I think I want the crown of life. Sounds like a Biblical accessory.
And remember, when someone wants to do wrong it is never God who is tempting him, for God never wants to do wrong and never tempts anyone else to do it. Temptation is the pull of man's own evil thoughts and wishes." JAMES 1 VERSES 13 & 14
So you can’t blame this all on the devil. You can also tempt yourself. Your mind and flesh is not the same as your spirit and soul. When we attempt to please our mind and flesh by "rising" to temptation we often end up bruising our soul and spirit
All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26: 41
So what’s the best way to avoid temptation?  I have a few ideas as to how we as Christian girls of today and future Women of God can avoid/ resist temptation.
1.      Resist temptation using the Word of God - This means that every time you feel tempted to do something you know is wrong then just read your Bible or recite a memory verse!.
2.      Distract yourself with praise - We are never tempted when we are in the house of God or we are praising Him so if we continuously praise and worship Him, there is literally no room for the devil to squeeze in and tempt us.
3.      Talk to God - This is the best thing you can do. Just pray to God and ask Him to help you overcome temptation for through Jesus you are an overcomer
The Word of God in the Book of 1 Corinthians 10:13. Says, "But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.
God is on your side ladies - and so am I of course!

Family, Family and... Family, By Trish M.

Family, Family and... Family 

By Trish M.

Hi Ladies,

I apologize again for not writing anywhere near as much as I should but grade 11 is so stressful. The assignments, exams, work... I hardly have time to breathe. Me and my mum and brother have also recently moved houses so that has been a bore, too - but never fear, Trish is here, and ready to get to business!

My topic for you this time is how to deal with family problems. I understand that as different people, we have different backgrounds and different families.

I know that it’s so hard to deal when your parents have, for some reason or another, decided to either separate or divorce. Sometimes it comes as a big shock to us, but sometimes, you were expecting it.

In these times, that’s when you have to be strong.  You have to realize that none of this is your fault at all and if your parents are making it seem like it is, then talk to them. That’s tip number 1.

Tip number 2 is Prayer. The best way to reach out to God is to pray and talk to him. Matthew 7:7-8 says:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” .

That means that if we ask God to help us and intervene with our family, then he most certainly will and the best well to Find God is to Seek him through Prayer and even Fasting.

Tip number 3 is never take sides. I know it might be tempting to choose a side but the bible says in Ephesians 6 verse 2:

“Honour your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise”.

 This means that no matter what your parents do you must always treat both of them with respect because that is what God wants. If one of your parents is trying to make you choose a side, respectfully tell them that you love them both and do not want to pick sides because of this.

Tip number 4 is to try and understand. I know that it may be all very confusing and overwhelming but be understanding.  This doesn’t really need an explanation.

Tip number 5 is to always remember that God loves you and your parents Love you very much. God selected them to be your parents for a reason.

I love you girls and thank you for reading my article. 

Virtuous Young Ladies - Part 2, By Trish M.

Virtuous Young Ladies - Part 2

By Trish M.

Beautiful Ladies! What's up?

Oh I've missed you guys! Guess what? My mum's baby is due this month and it's a girl. How exciting. Well enough about me - how are you? I hope you are blessed! Okay so this is part 2 of the Virtuous Young Ladies Series.
If you haven't read the first part, this is a 10 piece series on 10 qualities I think all Proverbs 31 women of Valour should have. The first attribute is Faith. The 2nd trait is LOVE. Let me begin with John 13:34-15. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Girls, we need love. The world needs love. Have you ever been sitting with your friends and the conversation has turned into a gossip session about other girls? Yeah, stop right there. Stop. That's not love. Love is when you encourage each other. As Christians, God wants us to encourage and lift others up, not put them down. We are the chosen people, so, come on, let's act like it. I have heard so many stories in 2012 of girls (I speak of girls because this series is for girls) committing suicide and other horrible things like self-harm because they were bullied, and this bullying is usually verbal bullying that causes emotional and psychological trauma, from other girls. If we loved each other then we wouldn't hurt and judge each other so much.

I understand that judging is part of human nature. As soon as you see someone, your instinct is to judge what they are wearing, if you think they are pretty or not, the way they talk, etc. But the word of God says "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." That's in the book of 1st John 4 , verses 7-21. So instead of noticing how much you don't like the shirt that girl is wearing, why don't you notice and tell her "how pretty her eyes are." This will not only potentially make you amazing, lifelong friends but you will be fulfilling God's commands.

God wants us to love each other, so what better reasons do we need? The best part about displaying love is that you are also displaying a fruit of the spirit. In the Bible, in Galatians 5:22, the word of the Lord says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness." Notice how the first fruit of the spirit is love. Once you display love, it's an automatic that you're going to be joyful, at peace, patient, kind, good and faithful because you love. Another reason to love is because we as Christians are trying to be like Jesus. Jesus loved everybody and showed His love by dying for us ALL. Let's pace ourselves though, probably no need to die for anybody, but we do need to have that kind of love. The love that will die for others.

So how do we show love?

Let's be really practical and literal. We can show love by: Helping others! If you see somebody who needs help and it is appropriate to help, then just help. Another way we can love is by encouraging others! Instead of discouraging and disempowering people, lets encourage and empower people. As mentioned before, another way is to compliment people. I try to compliment at least 1 person a day because making people smile and feel good about themselves is great but we must do this genuinely. Yet another way we can show love is by being generous. This doesn't mean you have to give thousands of money to charities. You could be generous by buying something for your mum instead of those cute shoes you wanted. I'm just saying!

Anyways Ladies, please stay beautiful. I love you all!

Virtuous Young Ladies, By Trish M.

Virtuous Young Ladies

By Trish M.

Hello girls! I am so sorry for not posting recently but with school, exams and assignments. So I’m starting a 10 part series of articles called “Virtuous young Ladies.” This will be 10 things that I think that we as young women in the lord should try to reflect in our day to day lives.

This whole series is based on Proverbs 31. I want to encourage you all to aim to be Proverbs 31 women of valour. Valour means bravery. Before continuing please read Proverbs 31:10.

I would like to invite all ladies to serve God in every aspect of your lives. The first aspect is faith. The Bible says that a Virtuous Woman serves God with all of her heart, mind, and soul. She seeks His will for her life and follows His ways. In Matthew 22:31, Jesus replied: “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind.” This means that we have to put our trust in God.

As ladies of valour, we have to not be easily discouraged when things go wrong but continue to praise, worship and love our God. If we look back in our lives, we can truly see all the things He has done for us, so why should we stop loving just because something has gone wrong? Always remember, God has a bigger plan for you; He sees the bigger picture. We have to live by faith and not by sight.

The word of God says in John 14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God and believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.” So why should you worry about anything when Jesus clearly instructed you to not let your heart be troubled? Let God do His job.

Let's have faith in the Lord. Your job is fast and sincerely pray to God and He will do the rest. Our faith is what determines our blessings. If you believe, then surely God will hear and answer your prayers but all in goood time.

All right ladies, that’s all for the number 1.