CONTEXT is important!

So I'm pretty sure everyone knows the "popular" verses in the bible. John 3:16, Philippians 4:13, Jeremiah 29:11, to name a few. There is a small problem with just the individual verses, they are taken out of their context. Don't get me wrong, each of those are very powerful verses but I believe they are much more powerful when you read them in the context Christ intended them to be in!

Take Jeremiah 29:11 for example. Many people hold true to this verse when struggling to find answers for a job, relationship, career, etc. Have you ever read the verses surrounding it though? Let me break it down or you:

     29:10 states that God will attend to us and confirm His promise for our lives therefore, *que verse 11*

     Then it follows by saying in 12-14 "you will call to me and come pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all of your heart. I will be found by you and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you, I will restore you to the place I deported you from."

Now how about the power behind that now! There is so much more God wants us to learn about Him by reading His word the way He wrote it. Not by picking and choosing verses that fit how we want to feel. Try reading those other verses I mentioned in their full context and see the new perspective you have on them!

How Comfortable are You?

It's so important that we never become comfortable. I believe that the devil works in people that are comfortable. People who wake up, eat, go to work, come home, eat and then go to bed. Just to do the same thing over and over. He works in people like that in the church too, especially with worship. 

I laid down tonight after a long day of working, just to relax and get comfortable while listening to some music. I heard God say, "how can you worship me if you're trying to be comfortable?? In order to know me and worship me truly, it must be intimate and you must be vulnerable so that I can work in you!" Talk about a wake up call!! Worship shouldn't be comfortable! It's a time for you to be vulnerable with yourself in front of Christ so that He can do wonders in your life!

Stay hydrated!

So I will be honest, I like working out! BUT... I will not be put into the category of a gym rat haha (you know, the ones who throw the weights down after a set or grunt like a wild boar!) One thing that I have come to realize is that the more water I am intaking, not only during the workout but during each day, allows me to have a more energized and successful workout. Plus just drinking plenty water is health in itself. 

Imagine me trying to workout each day but not consuming water?! 1. I would be very tired and 2. I would become dehydrated quickly. And when I finally drink water, it tastes so refreshing, right?!

I feel that many people become spiritually dehydrated way too often. God says his word and life is the living water, so why aren't we staying hydrated with it? Sunday ends up becoming our "finally drinking the water" day to feel refreshed. Well I believe it's important to stay hydrated on God's word and life. No matter what goes on during the day, you still want to drink His water (trust me, it's tough to drink the amount of actual water I do a day, but I know it's important!) So that when we want to become stronger, our workouts will be more energized and successful! So I encourage everyone to stay hydrated! Both physically and spiritually!

My Journey to NYC

Hey Everyone! 

This is my first experience with having a blog, but I have been highly encouraged to give it a try! I have been in NYC for just over a year, but my experiences getting here and the time I have been here has been one for the ages. So let me tell you my story of how I ended up in NYC!

It was the summer between my junior and senior year at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. My church was holding a revival in which the Holy Spirit was moving like wild fire! Being that it was coming close to the start of my last year of college, I had slowly began the process of thinking about graduate school (thinking is the key word haha). During the revival, a couple of friends, along with myself were prayed over regarding having an impact on our campuses for the coming year... At this point, let me give you a quick background of my college situation: I was going into my senior year and my second year as Student Body President. I had a vision for the campus to begin to transform it into a stronger spiritually on fire community. It became a strong passion of mine actually. 

Ok, back to the revival. While being prayed for, the evangelist, the pastor and other pastors surrounded the small group of students and began speaking life over us. Long story short, I was praying and asking God to give me words for the future of my campus and for myself. That's when it hit me like He was standing in that circle! I heard God tell me, "I want you to go to NYC, it will be a time for growth" Ok... well I didn't know what that meant, but at that point in my walk with Christ, I knew that when I felt the Holy Spirit move, all I had to do is say YES. So I did!

Now I said that I had slowly started thinking about graduate school. I had filled a profile out on a grad school website with my interests, but that was it. Well one day I got a notification of a program that may be of interest to me. And it was in NYC! I felt great about this program but continued to pray about God's calling in my life. My senior year went on and I took the G.R.E (gross...) and began applying to schools. I got accepted into the one in New York very quickly and I thought, well God, if this is where you want me, I believe that you will make the way for it to happen.

Now came the logistics of NYC, mainly living there haha. As one of my current friends would say, "Lord knows its tough out here!" Graduation came and the next week, I traveled to NYC to visit the school and begin to look for housing. I continued to pray for God's provisions because I truly believed that He wanted me to be in this city. My dad and I stepped on campus and felt an instant peace about it, and the housing situation worked out so I could live with a family my dad knew for many years! 

So now I am in NYC and have loved every part of it! There are more details to my journey out here but I already talk to much haha. Please ask away if you would like to know more. I say this to let everyone know that when God has a plan for your life and you are willing to take the leap of faith and say YES, He will set up favor for it to happen, because let's get real, ain't no stopping God! My prayer for most of the time being here has been for opportunities to bless anyone for Christ's Kingdom and I hope that this may have blessed someone. I hope you enjoy my first blog and I am sure there will be many more to come!