Why Is It So Hard to Pray? -Today's Soul Moment

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Since starting Project Leap of Faith (yeah, I know, that’s all I talk about anymore. But hey, what can I say, I’m excited about it!) I’ve started reading this really good *devotional? instructional? I don’t know what you’d call it.* Anyway, I’ve started this book by Elizabeth George, called A Young Woman’s Call to Prayer, and let me tell you, it is amazing. One of the questions she asks is “what keeps you praying?” This really had me thinking. Here’s a few of my reasons to keep praying:

-Because God is my best Friend

-Because God wants to hear from me

-Because I want to hear God. It isn’t a one sided conversation; if we listen and give Him the time to respond, He WILL answer.

But how often will we give God the time He deserves? How often will we drop our daily to-do's (things like running errands, watching television, doing dishes, or whatever else we do) to spend some time in conversation with God? Basically, Why is it so hard to pray?      

I can tell you why. Because Satan doesn’t want you there, in the presence of Christ. He doesn’t want you feeling encouraged, feeling loved. He wants you to feel beaten down, lost, afraid, alone. He wants you to feel the exact opposite of how you feel when you are under the protection of Christ. So now the question is, Why do we allow Satan to step in and block God out of our minds? (Just so you all know, I’m asking myself these questions as I’m asking you.)

How many times have we started feeling sad about nothing, or maybe we remember something that hurt us, and we just let those feelings kind of envelope us until that’s all we could think about? Instead of turning to God and asking Him to hold us as we experienced those feelings, why did we sink down amongst them and become as sad as the feelings?

Because the flesh is corrupted, it is pretty much Satan’s tool until we have Christ in our hearts, purifying us and making us whole. Satan wants to use his tool against us. Dear ones, we have to fight against the enemy’s lies. We are blessed when we spend time in with Christ, and we lose out on that blessing by making other things more important than praying.

So what decision will we make today? Will we decide to start our day with the Armor that we receive by beginning with God? Just remember: You don't put on your armor in the middle of the battle. You put it on at the beginning.
May you have a blessed day!

Week 3 of Project Leap of Faith

I took this photo earlier today on a walk over to the precious Allison's home (:

3 WEEKS??? ALREADY??

My goodness time needs to slow down.

This past week has literally flown by, maybe because it’s just been so busy. As you read in my last post, on Saturday (the 25th) was the wedding of the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell to his gorgeous bride, Courtney. It was a very beautiful, intimate, and laid back ceremony, just a few friends and family (and by few, I mean most of the siblings of the groom and their children, about 45 people in total just on his side). 

That night there was another occasion: A HUGE spiritual battle was fought until 1:30 in the morning, as we prayed and spoke with one of the young men there (a nephew of the groom). For 4 hours there was a war between darkness and light, as Jesus and Satan battled over this young man’s soul. (If you don’t mind to continue praying over him as he struggles with plaving his faith entirely in Christ Jesus, the whole family of Christ would be so appreciative!)

One of the things said really, REALLY made an impact on me, considering how much I’ve been longing to grow closer to Christ, to truly have Him ruling in my heart, to die to flesh constantly. “Being a ‘good follower of Christ is like doing pushups or pullups: the more you do, the stronger you become. So the more you do what pleases Christ, the stronger your relationship with Him becomes, and the stronger you become through Him.”

It really made an impact on me. Like for instance, how often do I try to resist temptation, even in little things like exaggerating or listening to music that doesn’t honor God? How many times do I allow myself to compromise and give in to the flesh nature?

On that note, I’ll continue with my week.

On Sunday, my dear, precious friend Cheyenne and I went on a walk that ended up lasting close to two hours, and we hiked almost 2 miles, in skirts, barefoot, through the woods and up rocky hunting roads and 4-wheeler trails. I love the fact that no matter what we talked about, it was always Christ centered. Even at 15, this young woman is a young woman of God, completely and fully without a doubt. She even taught me a few things that I’ll be doing in my own spiritual life!

My dear friends Chalice and Cherish and I are already planning for the upcoming week. At least one creek trip, as well as a Goodwill run on Saturday are just the tip of the iceburg (:

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Walking After the Spirit-Today's Soul Moment

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Here at the Campbell house, we set aside our Fridays as our cleaning day, or Day of Preparation. July 24, 2015, however, was our super super heavy duty cleaning day because the next day, July 25, is the wedding day of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell’s youngest son, John. We swept the house until the dirt was an ancient memory, cleaned the windows until they shone, put beautiful lace drapes and candles and rose garlands, and decorated with a silver arch intertwined with fairy lights (Christmas lights), more purple rose garlands and tulle.

One of our tasks for the day on Friday was burning all of the extra boxes and junk mail. Mrs. Campbell put me to this task, and after she had gone inside and the boxes burned down to smoldering ash, I raked around spread the fire to anything that might be underneath. As I raked, I found a sales catalog with edges burnt to a crisp, but it would catch fire. I pulled it apart with the rake, scattering the pages again, and the fire relight, swallowing each page in seconds. As I watched the flames spread to another stack of pages and die out again, things started turning in my mind.

We as Christians are kind of like those papers. Have you ever noticed when we’re standing alone in our beliefs, we will sometimes compromise little things (oh, these shorts aren’t too bad, I’ve seen shorter; oh, this movie isn’t too bad, I’ve seen worse; etc) and eventually, if we have no support or Christian influences, we disintegrate to ashes of our faith? We compromise more and more, until all we have left is saying “I’m a Christian. See, I love people.” and continue in our sin.

Guys, as Christians, we can live in any part of the world without another Christian influence, and still refuse to live according to the customs, patterns, and ways. Learning how to pass control of your life over to Christ is just a part of the journey of discipleship.

Romans 8:1 says There is threrefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (KJV) Verse two goes on to say that the law of the Spirit of Christ makes us free from the law of sin. How cool is that??? When Jesus died for us on the cross, when He took the scourging, the hatred, the agony of the climb up that hill, He changed the law for us. He made it so that we were no longer under the old law (the Ten Commandments), the sacrificial law. Can you believe it? Someone loved you SO MUCH, that He took on every punishment you ever deserved, just so you could live forever with Him.

Keep that in mind today, dear ones. Keep in mind before you compromise, what you’re REALLY compromising.

A New Work In You- Today's Soul Moment

                                                      Photo found at Elizabeth and Jim George's page

The second you ask Christ into your heart as your Savior and Lord, He begins working in you, creating in you a new being (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). That new person is His ‘good work’, a beautiful masterpiece of His precious design, painting a story like no other. How many times do we fight against the tender touch of the Master’s hand, and try to go back to the person we were?

No matter how much we push against His will, longing for our own desires, Christ is still working at us.

But how do we become someone after God’s own heart?

How do we fall so in love with God, that no matter what tribulations or trials come our way, we still look to Him?

How do we show God even a fraction of the love He shows us?

To start, we have to remember that we are not of this world. We are set apart, a sanctified nation under Christ’s blood. This means we need to live in a way that honors Christ. From the words we say to the way we act, we need to keep Christ at the forefront of our minds.

One of the first steps I took in Project Leap of Faith, even before I knew I would be coming to Primm Springs, TN, was difficult. Some of you who know me know that I. LOVE. MUSIC. A lot. Well, the day before I found I would be helping at Above Rubies, I completely cleaned out my music playlist on my phone. Anything that wasn’t wholesome or encouraging or of God, I took off my phone. Why? Because I felt like it was time that I started devoting ALL of my time to God. All of my thoughts. I wanted to give God room to continue to work in me, and it’s hard to grow if you’re trapped in a box. My box just happened to have walls of (not bad, like it didn’t have bad words, but it wasn’t God honoring) music. So I took it out of my life.

As soon as I got rid of one of my biggest stumbling blocks, I could feel a HUGE difference. Have you ever been stuck in a little room, and when you walked outside after being in that space, you just felt so free? That’s what it was like. And besides, listening to music that encourages you, instead of reminding you of old hurts or talking bad about people or whatever, is so much nicer!

I’m still working on another big obstacle, a more personal one. It’s hard, trying to focus only on Christ. But I know He will help me, that He will not give me anything I cannot handle.

How will you allow God to work in your life? Will you remove the weeds that He asks you to remove, even if it’s something you hold dear?

Maybe you’re holding on to a person, or like me, music, or a tv show you know doesn’t honor God. You may brush it off, saying “Oh I’ll just ignore it.” But dear ones, what we let in our eyes, goes to our minds, What we let in our minds, goes to our hearts. What we let in our hearts, goes to our mouths.

So let’s all root up the things that are hindering us from growing, taking away from the blessing God wants to give us. Let's give Him the chance to Perfect His good works in us!

Week 2 of Project Leap of Faith

Walking home from a visit with the Allison's, and God's amazing workmanship just NEEDED to be photographed!

Two weeks have already flown by, and I cannot say how much God is working in my life, and opening my eyes and ears to His love and teaching. In things as little as the way I view myself, all the way up to my planning out my future, God has been showing me-whether through my "second mom" Serene Allison and her precious wisdom in mothering and being a woman after God's heart, or through songs that He allows me to listen to at just the right time-that He IS there, that He DOES listen, and that most of all, He loves me with an unfailing love despite the choices I've made in the past.

It reminds me of the other day, (Thursday, July 16th to be exact) actually. The Allison family had brought me to the creek for the first time, and all of the other children were jumping 15+ feet from the bridge into the cold, deep water below. I longed to jump, I wanted to, I was going to!

the bridge that we jumped from (: Turning cant's into can's!

.....Until I sat on the edge of the bridge. I literally COULD NOT jump. I couldn't push off of the ledge, even though I wanted to SOOOO badly. 15 year old Chalice sat next to me for a total of about 45 minutes as I battled myself, trying to jump. I watched 8 year old Shepherd jump in 4 or 5 times, each time begging myself to jump in after him. I couldn't do it. I even tried shoving off the edge, but it was like I was glued to the cement! Chalice kept telling me it was fine, many of the Rubies girls never even tried jumping. But I knew I wanted to. Finally, Sheppy came up behind me and told me "I can shove you if you want." As soon as I heard his feet pattering across the bridge, I flung myself into the water. And it felt amazing!

Sometimes I feel this way in my walk with God. I WANT to throw myself into His plans, just let go and give it all to Him. But as hard as I try, the lies of Satan creep into my mind and take root, 'gluing' me to his chair of fear and doubt. In Matthew 8, verse 26, Jesus asks "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" He was talking to His disciples as their boat was tossing in the waves. The disciples had just seen Jesus perform miracles all afternoon. Why on earth would they doubt Him now?? Satan can take the smallest worries, the slightest of fears, and make them into a terrible battle in our mind, just like me facing the bridge. It's our choice whether we will face our fears, conquer Satan, and claim victory in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, will you make a stand, and claim your victory in Christ?

#takethe stand #dohardthings

The Hidden Man-Today's Soul Moment

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But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. (1 Peter 3:4)

Who is the hidden man of the heart? Why is he important enough for God to inspire the apostle Peter to write about him?

To be able to fully understand who ‘the hidden man’ is, we must first read the verses in the chapter leading up to the mention of this guy.

1Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that if any obey not the word, they also may without the Word, they also may without the Word be won by the conversation (behaior) of the wives;

Whoa, hold up. Let’s stop here and really think about this ladies. Peter (per God’s wisdom), is telling us as women to be in subjection to our husbands. This can go for us single, unmarried women as well; until the man God created to be our head and protection comes into our lives, our fathers are our covering. He is our designated teacher, protector. He should be the model of what our future husbands should be.

The reason why Peter is instructing this is because women are a HUGE witness to their husbands through their lifestyles. So if a wife acts like a non Christian, or someone living in the world, her husband will be affected by it, and could easily be lured into temptations simply by the wife’s actions. Christian wives should carry themselves as Sarah, the wife of Abraham, did.

2While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear(spiritual reverence) 3Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting(braiding) hair, and of wearing gold, or of putting on apparel;

Here Peter is reminding us that we shouldn’t be concerned with what we look like on the outside, because:

4...Let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible(perishable), even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of GREAT PRICE.

A meek, humble, quiet spirit is priceless in God’s eyes. It is like a fine jewel, just like you are to Him. Ladies, we don’t have to wear jewelry or lots of makeup, or have the latest and most expensive clothes. It’s a vain thing, a fleshly longing that, rather than turning to material things, we should be turning to God to fulfill. So the hidden man is the ‘new man’, the person you become when you ask Christ to live in your heart and save you from your sins. He is who are souls long to be, what we want to do but don’t do.

And I’m not saying that You shouldn’t look nice: that’s not the point. The thing is, you should be focusing on God rather than how your hair looks today, or how nice your clothes are, or whether or not this necklace goes with that outfit. Rather than focus on those things, why not focus on your attitude towards your dad today? If you’re married, why not focus on the way you treat your husband? Either way, do you treat the protector and provider in your life with respect?

Sometimes the best way to achieve a meek spirit and humble attitude is to do a job or project that you really don’t like to do.

At all.

Period.

Why don’t you offer to take the trash out tonight? Or wash your dad’s car? Maybe not complain if your dad/spouse asks you something? It’s really not hard at all, if you purpose yourself to have a good attitude.

Dear Heavenly Father, I come before You today begging Your mercy and grace over the readers of this post. Father I ask that You be with every need these readers have in their lives, great or small, important or not, because in Your Eyes, every need is important. God I ask that You help us apply everything we have learned and everything You laid on our hearts as we studied this topic. Thank You for being our Provider and Comforter, and our Protection in times of need. In Your Heavenly Name, I pray, Amen.

ANOUNCEMENT

I am curently working on providing a Prayer Wall to this blog, where anyone can post their prayers, praises, and encouragement/need for encouragement. Hopefully, if it all works out (and my signal/connesction works with me...), I'd like to have it done by this weekend. I'd love for everyone to be a part of it, and would be blessed and encouraged and strengthened by joining with fellow believers and brothers and sisters in Christ, creating a beautiful atmosphere full of reminders of His love.

The Substance of Things Hoped For-Today's Soul Moment

As Mrs. Nancy Campbell and I were working in the office today, she was having me do the numbers so that she could figure up the bills. We were met with a HUGE number that we're short, and she sank down in her chair, very beaten for a moment. Then she popped right back up and said, "Oh well, God will provide a miracle." and went about her work as if nothing had ever bothered her.

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.See, Mrs. Campbell has something that is not easily attained: Faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She can trust her unknown future to Him without a worry or doubt, because time and again He has proved His power. All we need to do is believe.

When you were a small child, maybe 3 or 4, did your parents have to prove to you that they'd feed you every meal? Or did you just believe they would? What happened to the child like faith we had when we were small? Even after God has proved Himself time and time again throughout our lives, sometimes in things as small as just a rainbow during a thunderstorm or a dollar on the sidewalk, we still doubt His amazing power and grace. We doubt His love and provision. We need to be the generation of faith, and believe. We need to be the ones to step out on the waves like Peter, but we need to keep our eyes fixed on Christ rather than the storm around us.

A Negative Thought-Today's Soul Moment

No matter how hard we try, by about 10 am we've probably had a negative thought. If you've looked at the news, and started worrying over the Chinese cyber attacks, you've had a negative thought. If you've broken a dish and gotten frustrated with yourself, you've had a negative thought. If you realize you forgot to pick up coffee when you went to the store the other day and want to cry because you're out, that is a negative thought. (I didn't learn that last one from experience, I promise)

Philippians 4:8 says

Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of a good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

See, instead of finding all of the dark places, looking for the pressure and pain, and crying over the rainstorms, try finding the stars, remembering the diamonds that come from the pressure, and counting your rainbows. You can put all of your energy into finding the bad, or you can use it to look for the good. It's all a matter of perspectives.

Week 1 of Project Leap of Faith

As you all may have read in my last post, my adventures into the 'wilderness' of Primm Springs, Tennessee (you may want to google earth it-may be a little easier to see than an atlas) were a complete leap of faith. If you have the time and would like, you can go read the full story in my last post.
Anyway, I've so enjoyed my time here! I've met so many amazing people, made so many cool friends, found my tiny 'shadow' (her name is Ember Breeze, or 'Breezy' for short, and she's 5), went to a movie with an aspiring singer and amazing role model, and fallen in love with the scenery. There are trees, as far as you can see, and sunsets like you wouldn't believe, and beautiful flowers and creeks and streams.
I'd almost move here.
Almost.

I love the adventures God has been giving me too. My very first day, I was given a four wheeler ride home by one of the older boys. There is nothing much more fun than sitting on the back of a four wheeler goin 45 mph with a skinny little 10 year old in front of you and a fearless country boy driving! Even the more quiet, 'boring' times at home with the younger children have been so much fun! Learning to dance with Cherish and Chalice, 15 year old twins by adoption, playing card games for hours, singing as loud as we can, talking with Jurassic Park in the backgroud (hey, that was entirely the boys haha!), it's always so blessed and fun. I'm excited to see what He has in store for me this week!

Yesterday morning, our stand-in preacher, Jack, spoke about doing everything unto the Lord. He said 'We can even praise the Lord and glorify Him while drinking coffee! As long as you are thanking Him and keeping Him at the forefront of your mind in all that you do, you will be glorifying God, because you will be focusing on that which is Holy and Pure.' Glorifying God in all that I do has been something of a struggle for me for a long time, due to the fact that I have never really known how (or so was my excuse). I am now making it a point to live solely for my King, and to give Him the love, devotion, and respect that He ultimately deserves.

As you may be able to tell, I'm REALLY enjoying being able to focus so strongly on Christ and His will in my life. So much that I've taken quite a few things, such as my longing to be a wife one day and my dream of going to college, and given them all over to God for safe keeping. He will show and make known to me all that He desires to have in my life. I don't want to be in control of my life. I want Him to be.

Sadly this post will be short, but I'm going to include part of the song that I've written. Here ya go:

God, You're showing me

That sometimes all it takes
Is just one leap of faith
You're holding my hand,
God I'm learning Your plan
Can be, can be
So much more for me
So very much more for me.

May blessings and peace be poured over you all!

The Beginning of Project Leap of Faith

My goodness gracious life can be so crazy! If you had told me 3 months ago that I would be sitting on the couch in the home of Above Rubies editress Mrs. Nancy Campbell, I would have called you a liar and gone back to my planning out my future. Which had a lot of college plans. Aaaaaand dreams of maybe being married next year. Instead, God has been taking me on a journey of faith, excitement, new friends, and stepping outside my comfort zone. Being of a more introverted personality, I never DREAMED that I'd be going to live with a family I didn't know for 2 months with zero cell phone service, doing office work with a wonderful, Godly woman who is always losing her glasses, answering phones and... making phone calls?!?!?!?!? Unheard of for this introvert! Another thing was being so tired that I have fallen asleep by 10:30 every single night. Rare for me.

But I know that God has something amazing in store for me. I can see the ways He has moved in my life so far. By the way He has turned my can'ts into cans. He has made my dreams His plans.

I was looking at a song that I had written earlier this year when a dear friend's son died after he was born prematurely.
God I'm crying out to You now
It's times like these I don't understand
But I know I've got to have faith
And believe You have a greater plan
May be days, May be weeks
Until at last I will see
All the little fears I have, they are
In Your hands
I'm not going to lie, when I was invited to do this internship, I was terrified. I didn't want to go. I would be leaving the comfort of my home. And you know what? I still have a hard time believing that I really signed up for this. I'll wake up in the morning and hear people talking, and it takes a bit to realize that it's not my family.

But then... Then I'll run into Cedar, or Vision, or Arrow or Saber, or one of the many other young boys and I'll feel so at home. I'm constantly thanking God for everything He has blessed me with, from the incredible view to the friends I've already started making. I'll be happy to be home, but for now, I'm happy with my current home.