The ONE thing I hate

Hi lovelies!

     I hope that everyone is having a good day so far. I cannot believe that today is officially October 1st!

This has honestly been a really interesting phase of life for me. After finishing graduate school in June, I am still in the process of looking for a career type of job. I am hoping to find a job at the local University in town, in the field of communication. I have applied to many many jobs, and I am still waiting to hear back from a big chunk of them.  I'm content, but at times I struggle and question with wondering what is NEXT. I really feel like God is calling to keep pursuing youth ministry where I live, which is a big reason why I have decided to stay where I am. If you think of me, could you please pray that God would open career doors of opportunity for me? Thank you :)

Anyways, Today I wanted to talk to you guys about the one thing that I truly hate: EVILNESS. aka SATAN himself. 

"Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for He guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hands of the wicked." Psalm 97:10 

This probably isn't any news to you guys, that we HAVE an enemy. However, before I was a Christian, I didn't acknowledge the enemy, or his presence in my life. I didn't realize that Satan had one goal for my life: To destroy it. I didn't realize that he wanted to convince me that life was meant for living for myself, and not Jesus. I didn't realize that he was seeking to continuously lead me away from understanding my true value in Christ by convincing me that I could find my purpose in boys/relationships, other people, sex, money, alcohol, and more. 

And that is why forever convinced was started. To lead people closer to Jesus. To let them know that they are LOVED. For them to know that the God of the universe wants an authentic relationship with them. I don't want Satan to have power over anyone's life any longer. My hope and goal is for everyone coming across this blog who doesn't know Christ to submit to Jesus, so that way they will be free from the power of evil in their lives. 

I love you guys!

In Christ, 

Jessica 

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Finding Joy in Christian Singleness

Two years ago, I wrote a post titled "The Struggle in Being Single," on my blog. As I was doing some research on my blog logistics the other day, I found out that this was my most viewed post of all time, generating over 9,000 views.

Wow.

That is a LOT of views. I wish I could take the credit, but I can't. I owe it all to Jesus. It has been and will always be His words that speak through me on this blog. Anyway, in light of knowing that the topic of Christian singleness is something that people are interested in reading about, and also something that a lot of Christian singles struggle with, I thought that it would be a good idea to a little recap on how I have been able to find true joy in my singleness.

Does this mean that I no longer struggle with being single? Absoutely not. One of my biggest desires in this life is to be married and to have a family. There are times when I question if I will ever meet "the guy." Then I am reminded of God's faithfulness and how He sees the desires of my heart.  I just finally came to a place in my faith where I realized that God would want me to EMBRACE this season of singleness, instead of just enduring it. I was tired of believing the lie that I couldn't find joy in my singleness. 

So that is why I decided to write this blog post, my lovely friends. For you to know that it is MORE than possible to find joy in your singleness. I am going to list below some specific ways that I have found joy in my singleness, which I believe the each of you will be able to apply to your own walks with Christ and that will also help you to find joy as well (if you are still single and wanting to be in a relationship).

#1: A huge way that I have found JOY in my singleness is through becoming more involved with youth ministry, AKA serving others! In February of this year, God put it on my heart to become involved with the youth ministry at my local Church. I was a little hesitant at first since I was mostly new to the church, but as time went on, it couldn't have been more clear that this was right where God wanted me. I find so much JOY through leading each one of the kids, a kind of joy that I have never experienced before. And who knows, this is something that I may not have had the time to experience if I were in a relationship. If you currently aren't serving anywhere, I would encourage you to pray and ask God to guide you to serve somewhere. I believe that He has somewhere specific for you that you will truly LOVE and that will also bring a lot of joy into your life! Plus, ministry is a GREAT place to meet a cute Christian boy, just saying ;) (I sure wouldn't mind meeting my future husband in ministry!)

***Pictured below are a couple of photos from my youth ministry adventures this summer! :) We went on an excursion to the beach, took some of our girls to girls camp for a weekend, and also went on our annual missions trip***

# 2: Next, another key way that I have found joy in my singleness is through pursuing other hobbies (besides church ministry) that I am passionate about. Growing up, I always loved to write. It was something I just throughly enjoyed doing. I had this wolf journal (don't ask) where I would write out my thoughts, dreams, emotions, and more. Later on in life when I accepted Christ into my heart and became a Christian, the Holy Spirit invaded my mind with new dreams, and also gave me an entirely different outlook on life. It was shortly after that when I decided to start my own personal blog, to write about my faith and what God was teaching me throughout my life.  Flash forward three years later, and blogging still remains one of my favorite hobbies to this day! If you don't have a hobby, I suggest that you talk to God about it and ask Him to reveal to you what YOU are passionate about. What are you good at? What do you have fun doing? Something that really helped me to figure out what kinds of hobbies that I wanted to pursue was to ask my friends for suggestions or ideas. It is your friends jobs to build you up with who you are in Christ, and I am sure that they would be more than happy to tell you what they think you are good at! I am so thankful for all of the encouragement that I received from my friends to start this blog. They really played a huge role in motivating me to get things going. 

***Check out below the FIRST video I ever made when I started my blog! (me introducing myself). Haha. I was such a little baby! This was about three years ago!***

#3: I have also found joy in my singleness through being intentional and pursuing strong friendships with other Christian woman. Some of these strong Christian friends of mine are still single, and some of them are in relationships. Either way, the time of fellowship that I have with them is such a blessing. I like to think of this way: when I am in a relationship with somebody one day, I won't have nearly as much of free time as I do now to spend time with my close friends. My friends and I have so much fun together just doing random things, and also talking about what God is doing in our lives. Sometimes we will just go on random trips together, or go see a movie together. This summer I helped out with one of my friend's wedding photography business and went to nine different weddings, and I also saw Toby Mac, For King and Country, Blanca, Danny Gokey, and Kutless live in concert with another one of my friends. These experiences with my friends brought so much JOY into my life. If you don't have strong Christian friends, I encourage you to join a small group at your church or somewhere else where you can develop these kinds of friendships. Pray for God to bring these kinds of friends into your life, because He wants to! 

***pictured below are some of the fun things that I did with my friends this summer!***

#4: Finally, the last and most important way that I have found joy in my singleness is through my relationship with JESUS! :) It has and will always be God's gentle and encouraging voice that has guided me every step of the way throughout my life. It is HIS wisdom that has led me to make important decisions such whether or not I should keep pursuing a relationship with a certain guy. It is HIS presence in my life that motivates me to keep dreaming, keep loving, and keep going. If I didn't have a relationship with God, life would truly be meaningless. He is my hope. 

(photo via pinterest)

That is it, friends! It can certainly be hard for me sometimes being single, especially because I have such a strong desire to be in a relationship with a God-fearing man. But because I have a relationship with God and I am seeking Him above all else, I know that the best is yet to come. I know that whoever I end up marrying will be worth the wait because he will be from the Lord. I have dated some people in the past who I had to turn down because I honestly just didn't feel a peace from God about dating them. Bottom line: SEEK JESUS first. He will guide you in your relationships because He is our almighty counselor (Isaiah 9:6)! He wants to exceed your expectations with whoever you end up marrying!

I love you guys!

What types of experiences or activities that you are involved in have helped you to find joy in your singleness? I would love to hear! COMMENT BELOW! :)

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Dreamin' big with Jesus

Hi blog friends!
I hope that everyone had a good weekend! I am writing this post on Sunday afternoon, and it seriously the most beautiful sunny day outside! I'm so thankful for the sunshine. This weekend I had the opportunity to go visit one of my close friends Maria at her college in a town nearby. It was a blessed time of fellowship and simply just encouraging one another with who we are in Christ! Here is a picture during our time together :)

One thing that Maria and I talked a lot about this weekend was our God-given dreams. I have always heard of the quote "If your dreams don't scare you, there not big enough," but I didn't actually understand it until this weekend. As Maria and I sat down in conversation, she began to share with me the beautiful new dream that God had recently put on her heart. It was in that moment as Maria shared her dream with me that I realized that I had my own God-given dream as well. However for some reason, I was almost scared to share my dream out loud. It was just SO BIG. But I knew that I wanted it. 
I also knew that my dream was from the Holy Spirit, because my heart leaped with joy at the thought of it actually happening. At the same time however, my dream scared the heck out of me. For a second I wasn't even sure it was attainable, but then as I sat there and prayed about it for a moment, I realized that my dream is attainable by the power of Christ! For God says in His word,
"With God, all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
And in case your wondering what my dream is....I'd be happy to share it with you. My dream is to make "Forever Convinced" into a national moment. I hope that one day my blog will reach millions,  and that I will eventually be able turn what I do on here into a full-tim job. I want to reach as many people as I can through my blog, so that way that anyone who doesn't know God who comes to my page could possibly come to know Him and understand that He loves them and wants a relationship with them. Would you join me in prayer for Forever Convinced? Would you pray that by the power of Christ hearts who do not have a relationship with God would be brought to this page? Would you also pray that God would give me the strength, motivation, and determination to turn this blog into something bigger than I could have ever imagined? Would you pray for God's hand of blessing on every part of my page?
Thank you so much.
Now it is YOUR turn. I would love for you to share your God given dream in a comment below, so that way I can be praying for you about your beautiful dream. I believe that with God, all things are possible, and most importantly. God wants us to DREAM BIG.

discontentment in my singleness

Hi blog friends! How are the each of you doing? I really am missing this little blog of mine lately. This has been such an exciting season for me in my life, with so many new changes and experiences. 

Today however, I didn't come here to talk to you about my teaching experiences so far or anything like that. I came here to talk with you about why I really don't like being single. In fact, I'm completely open to admitting that If I had to choice given to me by God right now, I would be already married with a family. The closer I get to Jesus, the stronger the desire in my heart becomes to be in a relationship. I read an article the other day from a Christian blogger who I could really relate with on her discussion of singleness. She said, "If the myth were true that God only blesses you with a spouse when you learn to be content in your singleness, than I would have never gotten married, because frankly–I was not okay with a lifetime of singleness. I wanted to be married!"

Thats about how I feel right about now in this stage of my life of being single. The funny thing is too that the closer I get to Jesus, the more opposition I face from the enemy through him trying to do anything he can to make me give up on waiting for God's timing to meet my future spouse. I had the hardest time this week with a situation like this. I'm sure many of you Christian ladies can relate. In one of my classes, there is a very very very attractive guy, who happened to already give me his number and wants to start hanging out right away. I absolutely know without a doubt in my heart that God certainly does not want me hanging out with this guy, because He is not a believer & most importantly is not following Jesus. But it's still down right hard to just say no. There is an overwhelming desire in my heart to just give up and start a relationship with this very attractive guy, but I can't. I know its not what God wants me to do.

I have been in similar situations like this before, but this one honestly is the hardest one yet, and I don't know why. Maybe its because I've become the closest I've ever been to Jesus in my life, and the enemy wants nothing more than to lead me astray. Whatever the reason is for this time around being so hard, I know that I can't give up. I have to stay strong, and trust with my whole heart that God has an amazing, Jesus-loving, attractive husband out there waiting to meet a girl like me.

The author of the article I mentioned previously also said a couple other things about being single that I could really relate with. She said:

"It’s okay to struggle through singleness, but it’s not okay to stop living life because of it." 

"It’s okay to be discontent through singleness, but it’s not okay to let that discontentedness rob us of our very lives."

These are facts that I know to be true. I know that its okay to struggle with being single and to be discontent through this stage in my life, but I also know that I can't allow my discontentment to keep me from living my life.The struggle through my singleness is normal, but its not normal to allow my struggle to become a stronghold.

So my beautiful friends, do you feel the same way I do right now about being single? Let's not give up, and lets keep pressing forward. God has an amazing plan for our lives beyond our imagination, and I can't wait until the very day until I meet my future husband face to face. 

"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. if one person falls, the other can reach out and help."

Ecclesiastes. 4:9

Love always, Jess 

P.S.- For those of you wanting to read the article I referenced throughout this post, click HERE!! I promise you'll be encouraged beyond belief. I was truly blessed through reading this post and many others on her webpage. 

My fear of being alone

Hey friends! How are the each of you doing? I am enjoying my last days of summer until I begin training for graduate school in a couple of weeks.

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Today I woke up and began thinking about this blog of mine that I love so much. I love how I have grown through my relationship with God by making this blog and writing out different posts. I don't know why though, but for some reason lately I haven't had much of a desire to write posts for my blog. It's been driving me crazy that I've been feeling this way, so today I decided today to ask the Lord to reignite the flame in my heart to start writing blog posts again. So here I am now, writing a post to my lovely blog friends and updating y'all on my life. 

A couple of weeks ago, I found out that I was going to be alone in my new house for about a month until school started. This initially made me very upset, because I was so used to having at least one of my roommates around.  I was angry at God when this news came, and I selfishly questioned why He would want me to be alone. "Why are you DOING this to me God?!" "Don't you want me to be around other Christians?!" Although I did have a big community of other Christians in town who I could hang out with for the remainder of the summer, I felt that it was more important for me to at least be living with other people. I didn't want to be by myself, and I didn't understand why God, who knew me better than anyone else, would want me to be living by myself for the remainder of the summer. 

Up until the very moment where I was officially alone in our house, I was scared to death of what it would feel like to be alone. God had given me the clear answer in my heart by letting me know that He indeed did want me to stay where I was for the rest of the summer, but what I wanted to know was WHY  He wanted me to be all by myself. I didn't understand what God was doing, so I did what I guess any normal human being would do: worry. What would I do by myself? Was God doing this to me because He was mad at me? I was an emotional wreck and my mind was all over the place, and I wasn't giving God any chance whatsoever to let in His perspective on the situation.

When I was finally alone and living by myself, at first I felt very uncomfortable, and also pretty lonely. I didn't like not having someone to talk to when I came home at random times throughout the day, or having someone to watch TV with. But as time went on, I was beginning to notice that I really didn't feel alone, even though technically I was. During this whole period of living by myself, I've felt as if God has been right next to me the entire time, talking with me and laughing with me all throughout the day (yes, God certainly does have a sense of humor! After all, He created humor!). I don't feel alone at all, and I have no doubt that I am exactly where God wants me to be. Instead of feeling lonely as I feared I would, I have only felt God cover me with His love, joy, and peace the entire time.

"Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you."

Deuteronomy 31:8 

 Although I am looking forward to having my roommates back here with me in my house soon, I am thankful that God allowed for me to live alone for a period of time. I learned so much more about who God truly is through this experience. It doesn't matter if I'm by myself or with a million people, as long as I reflect on the truth that God is with me, all my fears wash away. I can either waste my time worrying about the future, or instead  choose to keep my focus set on God and His presence that is always with me. 

I am thankful for God's grace, because I needed a heck of a lot of it to get to where I am now. I wasted a lot of time complaining to God about my circumstances, when instead I should have been praising Him for all that He has blessed me with. I also wasted a lot of time worrying about the future, when I really had nothing to worry about all along. God truly is the best teacher, and I love the fact that I am able to come into His presence every day and seek to know Him more intimately. 

Love always, Jess 

When God seems far away

    

After spending the weekend with my family, I realized something felt different inside of me. There was some kind of barrier between my relationship with God that was blocking the intimate connection with Him that I was so used to feeling. Where was He? I didn't know what to do with myself, so I began to habitually read through some of my daily devotions in hopes that the Lord's presence would once again feel near. 

     You see, this situation is something that I have experienced many times before, yet I somehow still find myself oblivious of how I arrive to this point every time I get here. After sitting down for awhile and trying to figure out why I felt so weird about my relationship with God, I realized that I had said and done some things this weekend around my family that I needed to ask God forgiveness for. I had selfishly gossiped about people of my past, and today. I had turned my face from the Lord ever so quickly, by choosing insecurity instead of glorifying Him in all that I do. It had happened quicker than a blink of the eye. There my sin was once again, sprawled out for me to see. My selfishness, my ugliness, the side of me that Jesus died for me on the cross for. The person that I used to be.

I hate seeing and experiencing the "old Jessica", but the truth of the matter is that although I am a new creation in Christ, there is still a deadly disease lurking inside of me that will never go away. Yep, its with me for life, along with the rest of you as well.  This disease whirling around inside of me is typically referred to by the name of sin, or in other words everything that is not of God. Let me give you some examples: fighting, hatred, cussing, lustful thoughts/actions, gossiping...you get the point. As much as I hate re-living the old me, thankfully I have a savior who chooses to throw it all away, every single day of my life. The guilt I had felt for my actions is suddenly gone, and I no longer have to carry any shame. All I simply had to do is ask for God to forgive me for messing up, and He puts the matter behind me.

The closer I get to Jesus, the more I want nothing to do with sin. Most importantly though, the closer I get to Jesus, the more aware I become of my own sin. I have realized that a relationship with Jesus means that we must make forgiveness from Him in our lives a daily habit. Even when we feel like we had some sort of "right" to act the way that we did, God's word and his conviction in our own lives has the upper hand, and we when He calls us to forgive, we must do it. It's that tugging, gnawing feeling on your heart, and you know when its there. Please don't ignore it like I did for so many years, I wasted so much precious time. I believe that God puts that heavy-weight feeling in your heart to bring your attention back to Him and to draw you toward repentance. He's not doing it because He's mad at you, He's doing it because He loves you, and because He is acting how a typical father acts who loves his own child that he has to discipline. 

At the end of the day, I may seem like I have it all together, but the truth is, I really don't. I'm just a normal girl, living in this fallen world that desperately needs Jesus.  I'm a sinner who is unworthy of anything that I receive from God,  yet God still loves me unconditionally and tells me that I have amazing value in Him. I love how God uses simple, ordinary people like you and me, to show how powerful He is through our many weaknesses.  

"Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful."

1 Corinthians 1:27

How do the each of you make it a habit to acknowledge your own sin? Do you guys struggle with recognizing it right away as I typically do? I'd love to hear what you all have to say on this topic! Lots of love to the all of you my friends! :)

Love always, Jess

when I never believed I'd be "good enough" for God

I don't know about you, but back in the day before I knew Jesus, the Bible seemed like a whole 'lot of nothing to me. As I sat in Sunday school and flipped through the dust filled pages of my own Bible, I realized that I did not feel any type of real life connection to the "ancient" book that was sitting in front of me. I felt like I would never be "holy enough" for God, so what was the point of flipping through this massive book that God Himself had apparently written 2,000 years ago anyway?

You see, the message that was preached to me all throughout my childhood about God was all about working for God's love and favor. According to how the old Jessica used to think about God, I needed get baptized ASAP in order to make myself a better Christian, and I also needed to make sure that I attended church every Sunday for the rest of my life, no excuses, or else God would be mad at me forever. God to me just seemed like an angry man up there in the clouds ordering around those He felt to be "worthy enough" of receiving His love for them.

This was it? I told myself. This was Christianity? No wonder this religion has so many phonies anyway, I thought to myself. God just seemed so distant, and as much as I wanted to know and understand Him more, I didn't know how.  How could I ever match up too all of these perfect Christians around me? That would never happen. I never felt that I would be good enough for God. I figured to myself that instead of trying to become a better Christian,  I would strive to build my social status and make new friends. I knew that I received a lot of happiness from making new friends in my life, and I knew that I absolutely loved people. God however, and that whole "Christianity" thing, was just not working out for me.

Although there was nothing wrong for me to have a goal of making new friends in my life, God wasn't at the heart and center of it all, making me doomed for failure. As time went on and I eventually was hurt by some of my friends of the past, I began to become so wounded and helpless, and I wondered if there was anyone out there who could heal my heart. This is about when God established His presence in my life so evidently that I was able to finally understand that Christianity in-fact is not a religion. Christianity is not a bunch of rules based on doing things to get better for God. Christianity is all about a relationship with Jesus, and approaching His throne of grace boldly and confidently.

Does this mean we can receive a "hall pass" for every sin in our life and do whatever we want? absolutely not, and I'd say if you are even considering that question, then you really don't love or know Jesus at all. Not to sound harsh or anything, but thats the truth. When you really come to know and love Jesus, you really love Him, and the last thing you want to do is sin against Him intentionally. That's how real and relational God is- it hurts His heart too when we cheat against Him. He becomes your father. The one that you look up to the most. The one who is always there to catch you when you stumble or make a mistake.

So my friends, tired of going to church every Sunday, calling yourself a Christian, and still feeling empty on the inside regardless? It's time to get real with God. It's time to stop doing life your way, and start letting God take over. It's time to see God for who He really is, and start treating Him like the God of the universe as He truly is. After all, how are you ever going to really know God without responding to Him in this way? The Bible says we must come to God like little children (Matthew 18:3). This means, no matter how old you are, or what type of crisis you are in, you must depend on your heavenly father for each and every circumstance...just as a little child does with his father. 

Love always, Jess


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VLOG!: How I overcame depression & anxiety with Jesus

Depression is darkness. Depression is not light. Depression is nowhere near the presence of God.

Depression is the result of leaving God out of the equation. Putting Him second. Forgetting how important it is to maintain a relationship with Him for your entire life. When God gets put second, depression has a way of quickly inserting itself into our lives. 

First depression typically begins with anxiety. You know, those horrible anxious thoughts that terrify you and make you want to run into a corner? That's anxiety. I would know, I used to have anxiety, along with depression.  Watch my video and learn how I overcame anxiety and depression with Jesus's help! and of course, please let me know what you think! I love you all!

Love always, Jess 

Click HERE to follow me on instagram and also click HERE to "like" Forever Convinced on Facebook!

sex before marriage: what I learned from that mistake

Hello. Today I would like to talk to you about a three letter word that starts with a s and ends with an x. Okay just kidding, I'm not that awkward, today I am going to talk with you about sex before marriage and why I think it is wrong. 

First things first, lets make some things clear. I am a Christian, so that is one of the main reasons why I believe sex before marriage is wrong. It is wrong for so many reasons other than that though. Ladies please, don't sit there and believe the lie as you listen to all of those other women out there who talk about sex before marriage like its some kind of adventure. Isn't it crazy how they make it out to be something to be the equivalent of dating? I'm not sure how you do that without breaking your heart. Well, I know that's at least how it was for me before I was a Christian and I had sex. I was miserable. 

Are you a Christian and have kept yourself pure up to this point and plan on doing that until your wedding one day? Great, I think thats awesome, and also something to be admired. But, thats not including all the Christians out there in that question. What about you- Are you a new Christian who has had sex before in the past and not really sure if Jesus will forgive you or not? Or maybe your not a Christian, and you have had sex and you find yourself feeling so..empty? so....hopeless? and your wondering why you feel this way?

I have been there.

I had sex before marriage, in college, before I was a Christian. I didn't know Jesus, and I had sex because a lot of my friends around me were having sex. According to everyone else around me, sex just seemed like the "typically thing to do." Yet I wondered to myself...how come I felt so depressed on the inside about sex and everyone else seemed content about it? I was searching for an answer. Little did I know that God saw my lost soul and my hopelessness and was beginning to pursue a relationship with me. 

Why did I feel so empty on the inside unlike anyone else? Why did it seem like I was the only one of my friends who didn't enjoy sex? Why did sex before marriage feel so wrong to me? These are some of the questions that went through my head before I met Jesus.

The thing is, sex is a beautiful, perfect, wonderful, gift from God. God loves sex. Thats why He created it. He created it to be between a man and woman who have made a covenant between one another in marriage forever. Anything outside those lines is dangerous, heartbreaking, and emotionally damaging.

That is why today, I have come up with some lies that many newer Christians typically believe about sex and how Jesus views this sin. I've replaced these lies with truth, so you can know how God really thinks of you.

Lie #1 about sex: Because I have had sex, I will never be "good enough" to be a Christian, so I should probably not even try to know Jesus because he obviously is mad at me. 

The truth: Actually, God isn't mad at you for having sex. Instead He is very upset about it, because He sees how depressed it makes you feel and also how much distance it puts between you and Him. God desperately wants a relationship with you so He can show you how He will be able to satisfy every single one of your desires. With God, you won't need anything else, thats how much satisfaction He brings us. Thankfully God gives us the free gift of grace, which means that none of us have to earn forgiveness from Him. We simply just have to ask for forgiveness, and He gives it to us. This means that none of us ever have to be "good enough" for God. We just have to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity of grace from Him.

Verse to support this truth: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God"

Ephesians 2:8

Lie #2 about sex: I can't start over again since I have had sex already, its too late.

The truth: Actually, you can! Once you accept Jesus into your heart, you are a new creation. If you don't believe that, then just click HERE to read my transformation story! God will transform your life in such a dramatic way, leaving you speechless. You'll be forever grateful and fall in love with Him forever as well. 

Verse to support this truth: "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" Colossians 3:25

Lie #3 about sex: Because I had sex before marriage, God obviously doesn't love me as much as that girl over there who has kept herself pure.

The truth: That's a HUGE lie! God loves us all the same. All we have to do is respond to His grace with asking for His forgiveness, and He will flourish us equally with His love. It's a crazy thing to think about, but it's totally true! 

Verse to support this truth: "For God does not show favoritism." 
Romans 2:11

Lie #4 about sex: Because I have had sex, I feel that I should condemn myself more than the next person who hasn't. I feel that I will have to earn my way for God's affection and love.

The truth: No way is any of that true! First of all, God tells us that there is no condemnation when we come to Him. THis means, if you are in a relationship with Jesus after asking for forgiveness, then God will not condemn you. If you feel condemnation, thats the enemy. Pray that God would deliver you from it and cover you in His blood. Also, Jesus is only about grace, no works. We don't have to do anything to earn His love, as I mentioned earlier. 

Verse to support this truth: "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." 
Romans 8:1

Lie #5 about sex: Since I have had sex, I am emotionally scarred forever and I will have this deep wound of pain inside me from sex forever as well.

The truth: God wants you to be filled with joy, not pain!  If you pray specifically for God to deliver you from wrong thoughts of sex, then He WILL. He did it with me. Whenever I have a painful thought of the past involving sex, I immediately release it to Jesus and pray that He would forgive me for allowing that thought to enter my mind and also that He would put a barrier around my mind so that no thought can enter it that is not from Him. Its hard because sometimes your un-conscious thoughts will think things out of nowhere, and you must even fight against those too. Don't give up on the fight! The enemy will try to remind you of your past and make you feel weak, but you can't give up. I really suggest reading Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer, it changed my life and helped me get my mind back in the right place with God! I also prayed that God would come into my painful memories of the past, and heal me from them, because thats what He always does. We just have to ask.

Verses to support this truth: "We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ."
2 Corinthians 12:5

"He heals the broken hearted and binds up all their wounds."
Psalm 147:3

Last but not least, I think one of the most important reasons why sex before marriage is wrong is because having sex before marriage is certainly not guarding your heart as God wants us to do. Sex is a very serious bond that leads to a special intimacy between two people. If we have sex with someone we are not married to, then we can only expect to get hurt. I would know, I made that mistake. Thankfully Jesus saw my pain and began to pursue me.

"Guard your heart above all else, because it determines the course of your life."
Proverbs 3:21

What are your guys thoughts on sex before marriage? 
I love you guys!
Love always, Jess

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Independence in God

Lately I am learning that the most beautiful person I can be is myself. The woman who God created me to be. In a society that encourages anything but independence, I constantly feel the pressure to have a million friends or be the most popular woman out there. Although these things may be tempting, the only place I can find true beauty and freedom is within. Read this verse slowly, thats right you read me correctly, SLOWLY. Soak up every word.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Psalm 139:14

Wow. The picture below is a photo I took at the beach this weekend with my family for 4th of July weekend. Absolutely stunning, don't you all agree? This picture is from my instagram account, click here to follow me on instagram! I love taking pictures, especially ones like these of God's pretty creation :) God is a magnicient artist!

In the past, I have searched for freedom in many things besides Jesus. I searched for freedom in boys, money, vacations, shopping, whatever you can think of. Now that I know Jesus and I am able to understand that the spirit of freedom is living inside of me, I desire to know Him more and more intimately. Jesus reminded me of my passions that I had long forgotten about. He is teaching me who I really am, through Him. He has given me the freedom to just be myself.

I am learning that each person must maintain a sense of independence from others if they really desire to understand who they are. By independence I don't mean only with just themselves, I mean independent with God. Spending time alone is okay, especially for those out there who are more of the introverts. I believe that by spending more alone time with God every day, we are able to understand our value in Him more. We are able to reflect more on how fearfully and wonderfully made we are. 

As a vey social person, in the past I was rarely alone. I constantly wanted to be surrounded by my friends, because they were my life. Once I learned the hard way that there must always be a spot in my heart set apart only for God to fill instead of my friends, I was able to understand more clearly how precious and valuable it is to spend time alone with God.  I'm not saying that each of you should become a hermit crab and never see the light of day, I am just saying that it is important to find your independence in God and maintain that independence. 

My goal this summer is to dig deeper into the heart of God, and discover more of who I really am. Besides my public relations internship, I do not have a whole lot going on. I have been searching for a summer job, but so far I have only been offered a real-life job that required me to work full time throughout the school year. I had to turn down that job down because of graduate school.  I am thankful for this God-given opportunity this summer, to discover more of who I really am. I am going to make the most of these next 2 months, and partake in as many volunteer opportunities as possible. Thanks Jesus!

change your thoughts and change your life: think God thoughts

The way that we each think highly corresponds with the joy that we each desire to play out into our individual lives. Our thoughts are beyond important, and they definitely determine our happiness. Many of you may think that it is your behavior that determines how happy you are, but I would argue against that and say that it is your thoughts that control your joy. If you aren't constantly thinking thoughts that are uplifting, encouraging, and joyful, then your behavior will reflect what you are thinking. God has certainly called me to talk about this topic, because I believe that there are many people out there who suffer from negative thinking patterns. These negative thinking patterns lead to depression and all other kinds of horrible problems. I'm here to tell you today that God is POSITIVE, not negative. If your living for Him, your joy will be so oblivious and apparent that others will not be able to help but notice you. God wants His children to stand out as lights in this world. Remember that.

God has been teaching me a lot lately about my own thoughts, and why many of them still need to be renewed. Once I became a Christian a couple years ago, my mind was in a dark place. I was addicted to wrong thinking about myself, others, and life in general. At that point in my life it was just plain overwhelming as to how dark my mind had become. Once God began to pursue me, He switched on a light in my mind that has grown bigger and bigger ever since that day. I have made tremendous progress, and I can tell you with 100% confidence today that my mind is in SUCH a better place. But my friends, progress takes time. There are still some areas of my mind that are dark and need renewal, as much as I don't want to believe it. God has put me in the perfect position this summer to own up to this wrong way of thinking that is still lingering in my mind, and He wants the problem to be fixed ASAP. He is willing to work with me as long as I am willing to work with Him.

On Wednesday night before my parents came into town for the 4th of July, I found myself out of no-where becoming very upset. I didn't understand where it was coming from, and I wanted it to stop. After laying down on the couch for awhile, I decided to catch up on some summer reading. As I was searching through my stash of books to read, I came across a book by Joyce Meyer that I have been in the process of reading for awhile. Joyce Meyer is one of my favorite Christian authors, mainly because everything that she talks and writes about is so relatable and inspiring. The book that I am reading is called "Battle Field of The Mind." I completely forgot that I had this book on hand, and I was about to find out that God was using this book to speak directly to me.

This book talks about how the enemy uses our minds as one of his main tools to get inside of our heads. There are so many people out there stuck in a rut with depression and are clueless as to why they feel this way about themselves. Well, its likely that their thoughts are controlling their actions, thus resulting in them living a life that feels meaningless and without hope. I realized after reading some of Joyce Meyer's book that the reason I had become so upset Wednesday night was because the thoughts that I was thinking that night were all lies, they were not of God or from God. I was not thinking in the mind of Christ. Our thoughts must match up with Gods word, or else we will never be victorious. 

"Satan will aggressively fight against the renewal of your mind, but it is vital that you press on and continue to pray and study in this area until you gain measurable victory."

-Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind

The more I fight back, the more it seems that the enemy fights even harder. From this point on, I am committing to owning up to every single negative thought that enters my mind. I am committing to casting away that negative thought as soon as it enters my mind, and replacing it with a positive thought. I am aware that sometimes I may get discouraged, because sometimes I feel that I am not making progress as quickly as I would want to. However it really helps me to think back on the past and how far I have come with thinking positive, and it motivates me to fight against the enemy's lies in my mind even harder. If you are in a dark place with your mind, don't give up. Begin to change today. Admit to God that this is something you need help with and want to change for yourself, and He will help you. Renewing your mind takes time, but I promise you that there is no place where your mind can be that is too much for God to handle. God can turn the darkest of situations into the brightest of joys. Even when we are faithless, He is faithful.

"We take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ."
2 Corinthians 10:5

I love you guys!

Love always, Jess

This-Is-Why-I-Blog

Hello friends! Today I decided to partner with Leslie at Blonde Ambition and link up with her "Why I blog' idea. You can click HERE to check out her awesome blog and read more about why she blogs herself. I love this post idea!

Well, I actually just VERY recently started blogging. In fact, it was only about a month ago. I had been surfing around on instagram and I found a couple of awesome blogs that I LOVED. I remember thinking to myself that I could see myself so easily becoming addicted to this whole blogging thing. At the same time, I didn't know what I would blog about. I had been thinking about starting a "healthy eating" themed blog based on my weight loss story, but I didn't feel like I had enough passion inside of me for a blog specifically made to focus on that topic. Instead, I felt the tug from the Lord to make a blog dedicated to HIM.

I actually remember the exact night when I made this blog. I had been reading an inspiring blog called Bloom {click HERE to check Bloom out}--her blog is so encouraging in my walk with Christ--I share her blog with many of my friends because I love it so much. She is gifted no doubt. Anyways, after reading one of her amazingly encouraging posts, I was like "That's it. I'm making a blog. I can't take it anymore." I knew it was going to be a lengthy process figuring out how to make a blog and get it going, but I knew I wanted to do it AND make it dedicated to the Lord. I was tired of going back and fourth with making one or not.

Here are some of the main reasons why I blog:

1) My faith in Christ  

This blog is dedicated to walk with my Christ, and my passion for serving Him. I was definitely called to make this blog by Him, and I am excited to see where He leads me with this blog. He wants me on here friends, there is no doubt in my mind about that. I am beyond thankful He has given me such a strong desire in my heart for blogging--because I seriously look forward to it every single day. God is good! {Whats new? ;)}

2) Building Community.

I have only had this blog for a month and I am THRILLED by the community of awesome women I have already communicated with. It brings me so much joy knowing that there are other women on here passionate about Jesus, and that I am able to build a community of friends on here. I am so thankful for all of the wonderful comments I have received from many of you, and I love each of your hearts. I pray that I can make some awesome friendships on here, because I have read some wonderful stories on here about bloggers becoming real-life friends. What a blessing that would be. Regardless if I make close friendships on here or not, I know that my passion for blogging will never go away. I love waking up in the morning to read others post. I love that some of you are fashion bloggers, sharing your cute outfit ideas. I just love blogging basically.

3) Vulnerability.
I love that I can be vulnerable on my blog and share my heart with the each of you, and also try to encourage you in any way I can. I feel like blogging can be so therapeutic {not in a overly outpouring way} but in an awesome way. Sometimes, you just need to let it all out, and blogging is perfect to fulfill that need. I love it when I read another blogger's post and I'm like "That is EXACTLY what I have been going through today." It's like a gigantic support system, through the internet. What a blessing.

3) Encouragement.
Since my blog is about my walk with Christ, I initially joined the blogging scene to follow each of you awesome Christian bloggers and read your posts for daily encouragement. I never thought I would be encouraging you guys in any way. I pray I can continue to do that, but we'll see. That would be a majorly awesome to keep this whole encouragement thing going for a long time.

That about sums it up friends. I can't wait to see where this blogging adventure takes me, its only been such a short amount of time and I have been majorly blessed with it. 

 

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Can I get a TGIF? So happy. I am looking forward to this weekend, I have a lot of fun things planned. I am just looking forward to the future in general, friends. God has put a lot of exciting upcoming events on my heart lately, and I'm thankful for the hope He gives me. I am thankful that because of Him, I can dream. I am thankful that because He loves me, I can rejoice. I am thankful for each of you and all of the encouragement you provide me with on here. Have an amazing day friends!

Xoxo

                                                                             

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Happy Thursday Everyone!

     I am happy to announce I managed to FINALLY figure out how to add the "follower" gadget to my page. Whew, this blogging stuff is complicated! I'm just glad it didn't take me over 2 months to figure out. Haha. I feel the Lord calling me to blog more and more, and I am thrilled! I am super passionate about blogging, I don't know what it is. I love to write, especially about what the Lord is doing in my life.

     Yesterday, I went to go pick up my cap and gown for my college graduation this June. What a surreal feeling it was, let me tell you. These past four years have been full of such significant changes in my life. So much growth, and so much more growth to come. I am thankful to the place where God has brought me. I am also excited to see what the future holds, however that doesn't mean that I'm not scared about the future. In fact, I am terrified when I think that far in advance, but thankfully the Lord is there to remind me to keep my mindset in the PRESENT. That is honestly the only way I can ever have peace in my life.  

      Right now I am in period of waiting in my life. I am waiting to see what the answer is from the Lord on what to do next year. I am waiting on answers on him if I should go to graduate school or not, I am waiting on him to see who he wants me to live with, I am waiting on him for his direction in new relationships, I am waiting on him to continue to heal me in all those little places where he still hasn't touched me yet. I wanted to share with y'all some scripture on waiting on the Lord and why this is such a significant part in our relationship with Him. More specifically, waiting on Him with patience. Waiting on Him with trust. Waiting on Him with contentment.

A couple of my favorite Bible verses about waiting on the LORD: "Wait patiently for the Lord.

    Be brave and courageous.

    Yes, wait patiently for the Lord." 

Psalm 27:14

"But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.

They will soar high on wings like eagles.

They will run and not grow weary.

     They will walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:31 

      I love these verses because they speak so much truth. When I'm waiting on the Lord, I should be strong and courageous and trust that He will provide for all of my needs. I fail to do this a lot of the time, but I know that at the end of the day that God will provide for me. Sometimes my faith in the Lord my waver, but that doesn't mean He has given up on me. He is always there, encouraging me to come back into His loving arms. I have SO much more to learn from Him. That is how it is always going to be in my relationship with the Lord. Growing, Learning, Becoming more like the one who saved me.

     What are some of the things you struggle with in trusting God to provide for you? Have you confessed this to Him and given Him the chance to speak some truth into your life? Speak, He's listening!

      My FAVORITE song right now? This one!

  It's soooo good! I can't stop playing it.

     My favorite show right now? Well here's a little hint...:D

      What can I say, I'm addicted and it's hilarious!

         Hope you all have a beautiful rest of your day today!

       xoxo

                                                                               

praying for your FUTURE MAN. [the power of prayer]

     Hey friends! I'm so glad to be back in the blogging scene. Finals week for college was a killer, but my exams are over now and I'm thrilled to be back & finally just sit and share my thoughts with each of you today.

     God has been putting on my heart this past week a lot of thoughts about my future husband. Where is he? Who is he? Have I already met him yet? When will I meet him? What if I'm not ready for a relationship when I meet him? What if I don't know how to manage a relationship with Jesus and a boyfriend at the same time when he does come along?

     I don't know about you all, but these are so many questions that run through my head on a daily basis about him. Like, I hope I'm not a crazy person...please tell me this is normal at my age. The more I thought about it though and read some scripture in my Bible, I realized that God has always intended for me to marry someone, and he has put this desire on my heart to be with a man forever for a reason. Genesis 3:18 says: "Then the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just and right for him."

      As you can see, God wants us to be married. He wants us to find the love of our lives, that special someone he planned for us to be with long ago. God has the perfect match for you and me, but I'm realizing for myself that this godly man won't just come out of nowhere to me unless I PRAY.

      Prayer...what do you think about it? When I first became I Christian, I'm going to be completely honest with you, I doubted prayer. I doubted God was really listening. I believed in God and knew He was real, but I just couldn't imagine The God of the universe really cared enough to listen to me. I had to get to the point in my life where I was completely broken so God could cry out to me, "Are you ready to listen to me now, Jessica? I never intended for you to be put through all of this harm. Confess your sins and come back to me." From here I finally began to listen to Him, I finally began to confess, and it was here in my life where I finally began to see a way out of the darkness. There was finally a light at the end of my dark tunnel. There was no longer any more endless hope for me. Now I can say that with full confidence that God's response to our prayer to Him is: Comforting. Peaceful. BEYOND REAL. Beautiful. Encouraging. Amazing.

     So here it goes, I wanted to share with you ladies some ideas of mine on praying for your future husbands. I hope it encourages you. I hope it helps you to understand even more that God does have a special prince planned out for you. & Before I begin, I just wanted to say that these ideas of mine are not intended only for the single ladies, but also the married ones, the dating ones, the engaged ones, etc.

1) You pray for his heart.

Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

Praying for your mans heart is IMPORTANT. Our man's hearts are so very special and need to be prayed for just as badly as our own. We often walk into situations where we end up getting hurt because we didn't ask God to give us the wisdom for protecting our hearts. Well, it's the same for men. Pray that God would guard their hearts, Pray that they would give their hearts to God EVERY day, Pray that they would always be seeking the Lord's heart until the time comes when God allows for them to pursue yours with tender care.

2) You pray that he would follow the Holy Spirit's leading in his life.

Another big one that I felt like I should share with you is this. From my own personal experience, following the Holy Spirit in my life has lead me to joy and peace, despite the pain it sometimes has taken for me to get there. This is why it's so important to pray for your man to follow the holy spirit's leading in his life as well. God's spirit speaks to each of us and guide us in all that we do, according to John 14:26 which says: "But the Advocate, the Holy spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind to you everything that I have said to you." Pray that your man would listen to the spirit's leading in EVERY part of his life, not just some parts. Pray that God wouldn't let the enemy lead him astray and get off track. Pray that he wouldn't allow the spirit to condemn him (because that's not from God) but only to CONVICT him. Conviction reveals us the truth we need to understand, condemnation tears us down.

3) You pray that he would love Jesus with all of his heart, mind, and soul, more than he could ever love you.

Sounds cray, right? Nope not at all! Some of you are probably thinking: "But don't I want my man to love ME with his whole heart?" Nope, you sure don't. I say this because if your man truly loves the Lord, his love for you will reflect his love for Jesus, which will be better than you ever imagined. God must be in the center of our relationships in order for them to be everything we have ever wanted them to be. God completely filled my old empty & broken heart with His unconditional love, which allowed for me to understand that NO man can ever love me in the way that He loves me. As much as I want an awesome Jesus-loving husband someday, I'll always want Jesus more. That's why I think it's so important to pray for our future men to love Jesus with all of their heart, mind, and soul. (Luke 10:27) Pray that God will always be first in their day-day-life, Pray that they would be able to understand the importance of quiet time with the Lord EVERY day, Pray that their love for the Lord would be so evident and strong that it would overflow into your own relationship with each other. Ephesians 5:25 says: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." In other words, pray that your man's love for you would be similar to how much he loves Jesus.

4) You pray that he would surround himself with godly friends who keep him accountable

I have learned in the past year how important my Christian friendship are more than ever. These are the friends who keep me accountable of my actions, call me out on my sin, pray for me, watch out for me,and love me. Wouldn't you want your man to be surrounding himself with friends like these as well? After all, 1 Corinthians 15:33 says: "Do not be mislead, bad company leads to bad character." Pray that your man would surround himself with godly friends who keep him accountable of his actions. Pray that he would seek God's wisdom above all else when building new relationships. Pray that he would be able to maintain, encourage, the new godly friends that come into his life.

5) Pray that you would both meet when your READY, in God's timing.

Ah yes. I'll be 100% honest with you guys, this is the part that might be the hardest for myself. I often find myself creating fairy tale romances in my head the second I spot a cute Christian boy at church. Yep, I just admitted that. But hey, were only human. Lately God has been really telling me lately just to be patient and WAIT. He's been reminding how important it is that my future husband is brought into my life when both him and I are ready to meet each other. Pray that both you and your man would be completely ready for a relationship together when God brings him into your life. Pray that his heart would be ready to take care of yours when you meet. Pray that he is patient enough when pursuing you so that he treats you respectfully, generously, unselfishly, and lovingly.

Q&A Time!

What if I don't know if a boy I am starting to really like is "the one?" How do I know if it's God's will or I'm moving things too fast?

Gosh. there have been quite a few times in the past where in my relationships I totally jumped into things with a new guy way too fast, without talking about God with it first. Then whuddya know? I got hurt. I wish I could help you understand the importance for you to bring whatever situation you are currently in with a boy to God first and ask for His approval. For me, Talking with God about a new guy in my life is a daily conversation. I have to remind myself each day to tell God that if this new guy isn't in His will for me, then the He should take him out of my life and set me right back on his perfect plan for my life. So yes my lovely ladies, put God first. Not only in all the big things, but even the itsy bitsy things. (God wants to be THAT intimate with you, I promise.) Be prepared for anything to happen, knowing God works in mysterious ways. If you find out a new guy you've been seeing isn't interested in you anymore, don't allow for yourself to get too upset, as hard as that is to do. (Trust me, I KNOW. I've been hurt. It's painful.) But this truly just means that God has a better guy for you. After all, God wants you to be with someone who brings out the absolute BEST in you. You deserve to be treated like a princess.

Love ya'll! Happy Sunday!