i declare and believe it Lord that you have a great life prepared for me and my family. i declare Psalm 91 and I am looking forward to great things, Lord! Thank you in advance!

“Christ set us free to live a free life– so take your stand. Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.”

– Galatians 5:1

Slavery.

That is such a strong word. Whenver the word slavery comes up, I immeidately thought of Joseph and the Egyptians.

However, I have come to realize that slavery could mean a lot of things.

You could actually be enslaved by anything that keeps you in bondage. Slavery is something that keeps us from enjoying this free life that Jesus has freely given us.

It could be your spending habits.

It could be the person that you can’t let go of.

It could be your friends.

It could be your lifestyle.

It is best to remember that anything that doesn’t allow us to enjoy our lives the way Jesus wants us to live it– fully immersed in Him that the little things no longer affect us because e know that at the end of the day, God has everything under control and He won’t allow anything to happen to us to destroy us.

In being secured in what Jesus did for us, we allow ourselves to be free from any kind of enslavement that doesn’t do us any good, that keeps us from His best.

Live free. Live without worries and without care. Let go of things that keep you from living the free life that Jesus died for you to have.

Believe that with Jesus, you are entitled to a life of freedom.

I was quite inspired by a blog entry my good friend, Patty shared with me (read it here: (http://nothingspaces.com/blog/2011/09/10-things-i-know-to-be-true/)

My parents raised me to be a resilient girl. My parents told me that if you want something, you go after it simply because nobody will hand it to you.

That may be the reason why I ever since I was little I have been driven by goals, i grew up a incessant dreamer it also helped a lot that my parents always told me that nothing was impossible.

Believe me, for seven year old me the impossibilities were endless. However, being goal oriented also means being future oriented.

To a fault, it was quite impossible for me to sit still simply because my mind is always racing (I think i have undiagnosed ADD). If I’m not working towards my goal, I’m dreaming about ways to fulfill it, which is really a great thing but then again the Bible also says that it is important for us to rest and not worry about tomorrow– which is something foreign to me.

For me to be at rest means that I have exhausted all options and there’s nothing left for me to do. As long as I can do something about a situation, I’m working on it and that includes worrying. Two entirely unhealthy things simply because well it leaves me tired and worried– two things Jesus said I’ll never be.

Also I have noticed that while I’m constantly working towards “perfect moments” in the future i am missing out in the little things that matter, which is very important.

It’s wonderful what God uses to remind us of what’s important– truly at the end of the day, no matter how I prepare for something, God will not allow it if it’s not in His will.

so in order for me to live my life to the fullest it is important for me to immerse myself in God’s word and through that know the direction God has planned for my life. It is always quite important to remember that God will never let us in the entire plan, that He shows it to us one by one, requiring a lot of faith on our parts– something that was difficult for me at the beginning since I’m a control freak.

Often in days of panic, I take a deep breath and tell myself that “God is good all the time and He won’t allow anything to destroy me for I am His child.”

Also whenever rejection comes I no longer fall apart but believe that God will not take away from me what is rightfully mine and what He has willed for my life. In His kingdom, what’s mine is mine.

Resting in God’s name also allows me to remember that I am just a small part in God’s kingdom and although I was put on this earth for a purpose, i am reminded of God’s greatness and how my worries are trivial.

So this weekend, I pray that you find this rest, the kind that makes you sleep soundly at night without worries.

God’s got it 🙂

haven’t had a picture with these two in awhile 🙂

Perding devastated the country and I braved the storm to go to Bon Chon.

Crazy day.

we have never shared a conversation and all i’m going to base this blog entry on is this article i found on spot.ph and a few snippets of 5 and up that I watched when i was younger.

“Don‘t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” 
                                                                   -Philippians 4:6-7 (Message)


fear.

i remember when i was in gradeschool, my friends and i came across a novel called “fearless” that was about a girl who wasn’t born without a fear gene, i really didn’t give it much thought simply because except for lizards, i wasn’t such a fearful little girl. my mom who is probably the strongest person i know always taught me to be strong.

however, as you get older, the fears increase although a bit harder to deal with since sharing them out loud would be too embarrassing and was simply not acceptable, so we try to diminish our fears during the day but almost scream to make them stop from swallowing us up at night when we’re alone in our room.

fear of rejection. fear of sickness that will never come because Jesus called you healed. fear of losing the people you love. fear of being left behind, fear of growing up alone and the list goes on.

these are the fears that we try to keep at bay but torture us at night.

fear is not pretty because it fuels the brain into thinking about random situations and if given much thought our fears consume us and make us think that that is our reality when in fact, it has nothing to do with our reality at all.

whenever we feel fear, it’s okay to face it instead of constantly run away because in reality the only way we can confront our fears is by dissecting it and ripping it apart the way we did the boogeyman when we were seven.

truth is the Bible says, “do not fear”, “do not be anxious”, “do not worry”. basically, the one thing that should stick to us the most is this “Don’t be afraid of anything, God’s got it”

but somehow, this just doesn’t make the cut when we’re alone with the shadows in our room, worrying like there was no tomorrow, somehow, the still sound voice of Jesus feels so distant, probably the way Peter felt just before he walked on water. the waves are louder, the coldness thicker than the loving embrace of Jesus who promises to save us no matter what was underneath the dark, murky waters.

however, we can just scare ourselves silly for so long, believe me, i went on a fear factor binge for almost three weeks, making up situations that are so impossible but have become so believable simply because we have created the scenarios in our head.

at the end of the day, 90% of our fears do not come true, or if they do not to the extent that you tortured yourself for.

truth is, in the same way we create fearful situations in our heads, we can also create beautiful situations that would be more beneficial to us. there is a reason why Jesus have said countless times to trust Him and to simply let it go and not worry.

God is for you therefore, nothing in your life will ever harm, hello, you trusted God for your eternity so why let something as simple as rejection consume you?

Trust God with all your worries and your fears, whenever a threatening thought comes to you, speak life to that specific situation and believe in the power that is yours just because of what Jesus did, stop living this mediocre life and instead live a life of authority- a life that is rightfully yours.

The verse in Philippians is a constant reminder that whatever fear I have in my life, whatever worry, I can stand against it because Jesus promised that we can overcome all things through His strength and He is the God of miracles and He is in the business of making dreams come true everyday so with a God like this while allow yourself to swim in a pool of senseless worries?

Simply give it to Jesus, He knows how to turn our greatest fears into something beautiful. He could turn our mourning into dancing and our tears into joy.

Stop living a life of meaningless torture and allow yourself to breathe.

God’s got it.

declare God’s goodness and your fears would disappear, besides with such a great God on our side, who should we fear?

Yes, Carl was an actor.

like a boss in her kindermusik class.