Welcome!

Hello there!

I’m so excited and nervous all the same time to get to share this new blog with you! I feel so tremendously strange even calling it that! For several years now I have thought of how cool it would be to start a Christian Blog and share with others about all that God is teaching me and walking me through as life progresses in the hopes that others would feel encouraged and know they aren’t the only ones going through certain things or like they aren’t the only ones struggling to pursue Christ day to day and not feel like a failure when our day isn’t as productive as we’d hoped or life happens and everything is turned downside up. When not enough of the laundry was done and there are still dishes to be washed and there aren’t enough hours in a day to get to all of it and you feel like you can barely keep up with school, work, being a wife, a mom and if you’re single you’re wondering when your days of torture will be over and that man you’ve been praying for night after night will come and wife you up.  And you just know that if the woman in Proverbs 31 could see you, she’d be shaking her head at you right now. Disclaimer: **I should warn you ahead of time, I tend to be a little sarcastic, but don’t worry I won’t do it all the time.** Disclaimer over

In all seriousness, I really am thankful for this new start and I’m thankful to get to share it with you and that you’re willing to take a few minutes of your day to read this. I hope that you find encouragement and that the Lord uses this for His glory and for the purpose of drawing us closer to Himself.

I love you so much,

Braulia

P.S. Can’t wait to share my first Post with you tomorrow! 😉

 

Scared of Roller Coasters

It was a summer night and everyone was excitedly waiting in line to ride the new roller coaster. I stood there terrified with sweat in my palms and unable to stand still. I hated roller coasters. I mean, at that point I had never been on one, but by my observations they moved too fast and they looked threatening to my need of survival. Extremely exaggerated, I know. But I was terrified and I tried talking my way out of it only to fail. I got on and buckled myself thinking this might be it. “This is how I die,” I thought. It took off slowly, but my heartbeat grew in speed as the anticipation of my death increased. Then without warning I am falling, swirling, upside down, going in circles and before I know it, the ride is over. I survived. And it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Do I love roller coasters now? NOPE. But I was able to, with the help of others, conquer part of the fear that makes me go into self-preservation mode. Since then I have sparingly gotten on other rides like that one. Never 100% enjoying them, but I’m slowly learning to let go of the fear that cripples me.

And is that not what happens in our relationship with Christ often times?

I remember four years ago, I was driving in my car, crying out to God asking Him to save me from the sin that had enslaved me all of my life. My cry was desperate and my God heard it and He answered. Christ rescued me from sin and from His wrath and immediately changed the title of my status from His enemy to His daughter. Praised be the name of Jesus.

Prior to this moment I had learned to play church and look like a “good” Christian girl on the outside, but inside my heart were layers and layers of brokenness, hurt, arrogance and evil. But His word was always in the back of my mind. The few Bible verses I knew and the preaching of truth were always in the back on my mind. Reminding me of my Creator. Always wanting to let go of sin, but not knowing how or better yet, not understanding that it had to be a work of God and not my own. Part of it was my fear of letting go of my ability to “control” how my life would turn out. I was terrified of surrendering my life to the Lord because I so wanted to not be asked to do things that were inconvenient or hard. Things that meant my security being placed in jeopardy. I was afraid that maybe He would take away my dream of becoming a wife and make me a missionary or something like that and I’d have to live in a jungle with no Ulta or Target nearby.

Well my friend, as you read this I have to tell you that I have come to find out that my plans are not always the greatest and that I am in fact not in charge or as in control as I thought I was once. I have had to do many hard things and experience hard things, and because of Christ I have survived. That so called security that I protected so much, turned out to be a false sense of security because I have since found in Christ peace that surpasses all understanding. AND IT IS SO MUCH BETTER. And I in fact, have gone on a missions trip and loved it more than anything in the world. And not once did I notice the lack of an Ulta or Target nearby.

I thank God for bringing me to the ends of myself and setting me free! John 8:31-32 says, “So Jesus was saying to those who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Beautiful.

What is this freedom that Christ spoke of?

It is freedom to not sin, it is freedom from fear and from trying to control every outcome of life. And the most beautiful freedom that Christ has given is freedom to not only believe in Him but to be able to love God with all our heart, mind and strength without reservations. And trusting Him to do with our lives whatever He has decided will bring Him the most glory and make His name known all the more to those who have not yet been saved.

Since that day, my life has been absolutely nothing like what I thought it would look like at 28. I am still not a mom, single and I don’t have a five year plan. Yikes. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. God is doing far more with my life today, then I could have dreamed of on my own, had my life turned out the way I planned. And there are so many things that I am in the process of that only the Lord is and will bring me through.

The life of a sinner turned saint is much like a roller coaster. There are moments of ease and relaxation and there are moments of unforeseen twists and turns and there is the great hope that there will come a moment when the ride will come to an end. Our life experience on earth cannot be compared to the glory that is coming, but it can be a foreshadow of what is to come. My encouragement to you my friend is that you would wholeheartedly let go of any fear or any sin that would prevent you from getting on the roller coaster of faith in Christ Jesus. There is nothing better or more worthy of your heart, mind and time than a life in Christ. Let’s not settle for anything less than this.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21

Until next time, Braulia.

You’re Not Enough

Glad you’re here! Before you decide to not read this post based on its title, I ask that you reconsider and I hope that it not only encourages you, but helps you to maybe un-believe some lies that have been fed to us as Christian women.

In the world, and by world, I mean America because that is the only context I know. We are constantly told that we’re enough. We’re told that we are perfect the way we are. We’re told that we’re a princess. That we deserve all of the things we want and should receive them. We are told that we don’t need anything or anyone to complete us. These lies have crept into Christian churches and are almost mindlessly being swallowed up like a Starbucks refresher.

Listen sis, it is true that we have been fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God, our wonderful Creator. The Bible does call those that have placed their trust in Christ a royal priesthood. And sure, another human being is unable to make us whole. So I guess the thought of not needing anyone or anything has some truth to it. However, it is not complete truth. Having been fearfully and wonderfully knitted in the womb of our mother does not equal perfection on this side of heaven. It does not mean that we were born without flaw. Sin is intertwined in our DNA. We were born into a world that has been tainted with sin and we are not an exception to its touch. We are not deserving of only good things to happen to us. No, we don’t deserve to get all the things we desire even if they are good things. And yes, there are things about us that should change.

When I was younger and a new believer I was told that I was now a princess and that one day I would receive a crown. That made me feel so special. But you know what? It didn’t lead me to love God more. It actually led me to love myself more and to want to exalt myself. I learned how to play church and learned to disguise my “faith” in Christ but it actually was just about me. I was God’s princess. Why should I suffer? Why can’t I do what I want? Why should I restrain myself from selfish pursuits? I was enough and no change really needed to happen. The faith that I claimed to have in Christ was not a genuine one but it was something that I looked at as a way out consequence of sin and as a way to feed my selfish heart. I later learned that although, the person who had called me ‘Princess of God’ meant good, fed me something and gave me no further counsel, no sound doctrine or use the Bible to back up what she told me.

Since then, I have learned that the crown I will one day receive will be cast at the feet of Christ and that I will eternally worship and say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” (Rev. 4:8) And I will also say, “Worthy are You Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” (Rev. 4:11)

This. Is. So. Much. BETTER.

We were created alone for His glory. For His exaltation. Alone for Him. Why? Because it pleased Him to create us. He’s AMAZING. Not only did He create us because He felt like it, He strategically created us with a longing that can alone be satisfied by Him. So to go back to the topic of not being enough. Yes, you and I are not enough. We were created to NEED something outside of ourselves and greater than ourselves. Had we been created perfectly whole and sinless there would not have been any need for Christ to hang on a tree on our behalf. God created us to be NEEDY! He created us intentionally this way. He made no mistake in doing this. He did this with great wisdom and fully knowing what He was doing. Making Himself the answer to our deepest longing, which is permanence and perfection. And those are found in His Being and no where else.

We can try ‘self-love’ all day long and cling to the arrogant lie that we are enough, but at the end of the day we will find that seeking to be self-fulfilled is an empty pursuit. And stamping the title of ‘Christian’ on our foreheads but not really relying on Christ to be our all in all will become tiring and will cause us to give up only to find that we might not have really been His all that time.

Be entirely His sister. Cling to Him to fulfill you and make you whole. Let Him chip away all of the things that He doesn’t like about you and let Him replace those things with His goodness. Let the fruit of the flesh die and the fruit of the Spirit live in you and through you. Cultivate what Christ has placed in you and don’t look back with longing at whatever He may take away for your good. He loves you too much to leave you the way He found you when He chose to rescue you. In Him is found abundant life, He is the way, the truth and the life and no one will come to the Father but through Christ.

I pray that this is encourages you to seek Christ deeper. Being needy does mean that we are weak and it does make us look incompetent and it does mean that we in ourselves are not enough. And that is a GOOD thing. God meant to do that. He meant to make us desperate for Him. And as our Loving Father, He rejoices in meeting us where we are and supplying what we are in need of.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

I love you so much, Braulia.

Our Shared Ministry

Hello, gals! Glad you’re here. I hope this post is a blessing to you!

2 Corinthians 5:17-21: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Reconciliation is the ministry every believer receives when we come into a personal relationship with Christ. We are given the precious gift of eternal life with Christ via forgiveness of our sin and new life in Him. A fresh start. Can I get a hallelujah?! Then we’re called to action, we are given the command to, “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). We are called to be His witness to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). How is this done?

We are all born sinners, separated from God and in need of saving. We are born with the need to be reconciled to our Creator. So God, being rich in mercy, humbled Himself, left the comfort of heaven and was born of flesh, lived a perfect life on our behalf, He was tempted as we are and experienced suffering of all types making Him the perfect High Priest, and yet did not at any moment love anything more than He loved God. He was obedient to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). On the cross of Calvary, His blood was poured out for the washing of our sin, the wrath of God the Father was poured unto Him. The wrath that rightly should have been ours. And with His last breath, He breathed, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) And if this wasn’t glorious enough, He resurrected from the dead on the third day making Him the Risen Savior. Praise God! Through His death and resurrection, we have been given the gift of reconciliation to God. We now have access to God 24/7. Wow.

How can such a great gift be something that we keep quiet about? How can we say we have been given the greatest gift ever and not share it with others? We don’t do that with our favorite food or books or movies. Why should we not all the more share this amazing gift? Why should we exalt the lesser things of this world that will one day pass away and not the Greater, which is eternal?

We are called as disciples of Christ to tell others of their need to be reconciled to God. How will they know if no one tells them? We too were once lost, blind in sin, and hostile toward God. None of us are born good. None of us are born caring about how our actions may affect others. We are not born knowing that we need forgiveness. God planned that day from before we were even a thought that someone would come and present the gospel to us. When that holy appointment comes, how beautiful is that day?!

When the Holy Spirit opens our minds and hearts and enables us to see our desperate need to be made right with God Almighty. When the eyes of our heart are opened and the kindness of God overwhelms us as we’re led to the wonderful gift of repentance and faith in Christ Jesus. That day is the first of the two most important days of our life. How beautiful that someone would look at us, lost and horrible, and have compassion on us and share their most precious and valuable gift.

The day we come to salvation in Christ is the first of the two most important days of our life. The second will be when we come face to face with our Maker, and hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Let’s not for the sake of worldly comfort settle for anything less than this, Sisters. There is nothing greater or more important than to share with others their need to be made right with God.

In the Book of Acts, we see men and women who took the commandment that Christ gave before ascending to Heaven seriously and began to spread the good news of the Risen Savior to the ends of the earth, but they first started where they were. They believed that Christ would come back in their lifetime and wanted to be found faithful. They wanted not only themselves but their families and neighbors to be saved. Today we are still waiting for His return. But let us not in waiting for our Bridegroom to come be found sleeping. It is not by works that we are saved. It is by grace through faith. But the faith that we cling to calls us to action. How can we easily and comfortably live our lives knowing that there are people in our families and neighbors and co-workers and acquaintances that don’t yet know of their need to be reconciled to God? Or if they know, why should we not make ourselves available to them when they are asking questions in their quest for truth? Should we not extend the same patience that was extended to us? Should we not reason with those who are willing to listen?

I say this not as someone who can easily go up to strangers and begin a conversation. There are people who have been gifted with the ability to go up to strangers and start conversing with others like it’s breathing. That is NOT me. However, my personality or social preferences do not excuse me from the obligation to speak about the One who is able to wipe clean with Living Water and His blood the sins of those who would humbly call on Him. JESUS. It is Jesus who saves. It is Jesus who gives new life. It is Jesus alone where unconditional love is found. Is that not what we all yearn for the most?

If in Christ is found what we are in most need of and what our hearts most desire, and if we have found these truths to be realities in our lives, then should we not make as much effort as possible to share this with others so that they too may experience a life that is in right standing to their Creator, the Lover of their souls? How wonderful it would be for all of us to spend our lives giving this gift away as much as we are able. How fruitful a life that would be.

Sisters, let’s invest our time in the things that are eternal. In the things that will not pass away. As disciples of Christ, we have been called to share with others their need to be reconciled with God. Starting in our homes and outward. It is not our job to save souls, it is God who does that. We are just called to be obedient to the God who first loved us. Let’s not keep hidden the Light that came to save souls out of darkness.

Love you so much,

Braulia.

Goodbye Mediocrity

Hello! A few weeks late, but happy New Year! I hope that your holiday season was awesome and that you got to spend plenty of time with your loved ones. I would like to first apologize for not keeping my word in regards to writing on the advent study I invited you to join me in. There were life circumstances that prevented me from doing so, but I am back and ready to write more here!

My prayer for us this year is that we will grow in our love for God and people more, that His will be done in our lives and that He will do with our lives whatever it is that will bring Him more glory and honor while we still have breath in our lungs.

John 10:9-10 says: “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to kill and steal and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Jesus Christ is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. These words we find in this passage in John 10 of abundant life in Christ are literally for us. There is life in abundance to be found in Christ!

What does this even mean???!

John 15 speaks to us about our desperate need to abide in Christ, He is the vine and we are the branches. The branch cannot exist without the vine. The Vine is its lifeline, its source of nutrients and stability and His roots are where the branch’s foundation is found. This foundation is the truth that alone is found in the Word of God. It is where we find the strength to keep going, hope for tomorrow, love for our enemies, compassion for the needy, forgiveness when we fall short, grace and life. Life for our stay on earth and life for eternity. The Word is living and active and 2,019 years after the death and resurrection of Christ, it is still in the business of bringing the dead to life. What a marvelous and precious miracle!

The abundant life that Christ has made available to us is a life that is full and inspired, divinely led, full of purpose, God-honoring, and fruit bearing. If that doesn’t stir in us hope for today and the future I don’t know what will! This is something worth singing, praising and jumping around about! It brings me so much hope and comfort and peace to know that this is the kind of life that is available to us in our day to day. It is available to us in our workplace, it is available to us as we raise our babies, it is available to us when we’re doing laundry or washing dishes, it is available to us in our ordinary lives and in an extraordinary way! It is the Spirit of the living God dwelling in us Who has sealed us for that great day our souls are awaiting, it is He who that makes this type of abundant life so available to us in the ordinary.

When difficult circumstances arise or when anxiety comes knocking at the door, when loneliness and misery come looking for company or when giving up seems to be the answer to hardships, we can say NO. We can literally say, “Not today, Satan!” And he has no option but to leave us alone. He has no power over us in Christ and because of Christ. Hallelujah!! We have a perfect High Priest who is more than able to aid us in our time of need and to supply grace sufficient to fight and not give in, and instead find the strength to keep marching forward! Thank You, Jesus!

Wherever you are in your journey, I hope that this post finds ready to surrender all to Christ and live the life that is abundantly found in Him alone.

Cheers to the adventure that awaits us this year!

Love you so much,

Braulia.

Preparing for Christmas

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace.” Isaiah 9:6

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The first of December is upon us and the preparing for the celebration of Christmas will begin. As Christians, it really is the most wonderful time of the year. We get to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! The promised Messiah.

It’s fun to get to decorate our home, light candles that smell like cinnamon and hot cocoa, bake and prepare meals for our loved ones and make memories with them, but this season isn’t really about the gifts under a tree or even so much about all the time we’ll spend with our families and loved ones (although these things are awesome!) It’s about the celebration of the Creator of the universe, the Almighty God, the One who holds all things together in His hands humbling Himself and choosing to be born a baby and experiencing life as we do. 

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” Hebrews 2:9-11

Christ chose to experience this life with us and for us so that He would be our perfect High Priest who is able to sympathize with us. How beautiful is that?!? To know that we are so loved by God that He chose to live among us and then reconcile us to Himself by dying on a cross and rising from the dead defeating sin and death! That’s worth celebrating!

This year as I prepare to celebrate in remembering that my Savior was born I will be following an Advent Study leading up to December 25th. It is the first time I will be doing a study like this, and my hope is that it will increase my love and freshen my gratitude toward my Lord this holiday season. If you also haven’t done an Advent study I encourage you to follow one and that you too will be refreshed in the great joy of Our Savior’s first coming! I will link the study I’ll be following below in case you would like to do this study together 🙂

desiringGod.org/great-joy

P.S. If you download the EBook version of the study it’s free 😉

I will be trying to post weekly this month regarding the coming of our Savior and I hope that it will be encouraging to you as we grow together in Christ this holiday season. God bless you!

Love you so much,

Braulia.

His Glorious Beauty

Welcome back! Today I just would like to share a part of my heart if that’s ok. 

Psalm 27:4 One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.

How often we forget that He is gloriously beautiful and that all beauty that exists is just but a glimpse of His majesty. Whether we live in the city, in the suburbs, in a desert, in a forest or out in the country somewhere we can catch glimpses of the glory that one day will be openly displayed and draws us to worship for all eternity and will have us in awe for the rest of our existence. Oh, that day would come quickly! My soul longs for the day that my King will be recognized for who He is by all and that every tongue will confess that He indeed is Lord.

I wish that my heart and mind were this focused on Christ’s return all the time. I wish that my heart and mind would be focused on Christ alone, period. But it’s not. Moments of inspiration come in the most unexpected of times it seems. There are days that I don’t even reflect on the fact that if I die today I will come face to face with the maker of my soul. There are days that I find myself getting caught up in things that truly don’t matter and to somehow justify myself I will think, “I’m saved by grace, not works”. As much as that is 100% true, it is not an excuse to spend my time, think or love things that have no real eternal value. How can we as CHRIST followers live in the world, but not be of it? Or how can we live in this world and yet not love it?

I find myself in this constant battle daily it seems, and I hate it. I hate that although God is all beautiful, all glorious, all precious, worthy of every part of who I am. Worthy of all my worship, praise, adoration, attention, and affection. I hate that knowing these truths, they somehow don’t seem to catch up to my heart. But in this daily battle, I ask God to help me. I ask Him to renew my mind and heart so that maybe one day before I go home to Him, I can say that I at least one day had a day in which I didn’t allow anything to keep me from thinking of Him or from loving Him more.

I know that I’m that I’m not alone in this fight. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says that no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. And at the end of Ecclesiastes 1:9 we find that there is nothing new under the sun. That brings me some comfort, but that also just reveals how frail the human heart it. How magnificently faithful God is to us, who he calls His sheep, His flock. How right He is to compare to such animals. Not that we are animals. But we truly don’t know how to choose the better thing which is ultimately Him 100% of the time. The only way to do that is to be in constant contact with Him. I’m not saying that we should become monks and go live on a mountain somewhere. But we should have a heart check from time to time to examine ourselves and where we are in our relationship with Christ. 

Christ is better. There is no better than. He just is better. 

I want to end this post with some sort of encouragement and not just leave you feeling guilty if you like me felt convicted as I type this. God’s mercies are new each morning, and because of that, we can start new with Him each day. He is not like us, He doesn’t hold grudges once we’ve asked for forgiveness. He doesn’t make mistakes. And He doesn’t become unfaithful to us at any point because things get hard. 

He is gloriously beautiful in every way. 

Now to Him who is able to you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

I love you so much,

Braulia. 

 

 

Change is Good???

Hello there! Hope your October has been good thus far. I can’t believe that it is almost halfway gone then November and December will fly by and BOOM the New Year will be upon us. I’m the first to express my love and excitement for the weather change. The crisp air in the morning. Getting to wear warm clothes and drink warm drinks. I love the change that happens each year, but I actually don’t like change. New things scare me, not knowing how things will pan out, or knowing that making a certain change will be beneficial but having to take that first step frightens me, the thought of meeting new people makes my palms get clammy. TMI I know. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and 11 says: To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, a time to pluck what is planted, a time to kill, and a time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up, a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance, a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones, and a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to gain, and a time to lose, a time to keep, and a time to throw away, a time to tear, and a time to sew, a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, a time to love, and a time to hate, a time of war, and a time of peace…He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts…”

Everything that is listed in this passage are things that we will experience throughout the course of our life here on earth. And in order for us to experience all of these things whether we want to experience them or not will require change to take place. A lot of those changes will require us to have to make choices and the older I get the more I realize that there are choices I need to make at some point or another that won’t be as easy as choosing what outfit I’ll wear today. Change is one of the inevitable parts of life, and just like each season change, each stage in life will have its ups and downs.  In the passage we just read toward the end it says that God has made everything beautiful in its time. He’s made EVERYTHING beautiful in its time. WOW. The word everything not only includes joyous occasions, it includes the seasons where we cry, mourn, lose someone, or have to let go of something or someone, it includes the seasons where our hearts ache so much we could just burst. All of those seasons that we go through God makes beautiful. 

How? 

In every season whether great and full of ease or difficult and foggy, we are in the same desperate need for Christ. Whether we are at the highest peak or the lowest valley, our necessity for Him doesn’t change. Our need to be in relationship to Him doesn’t change. Our helplessness does not go away. God, the beautiful and glorious and perfect Creator of the universe allows us to experience change and will allow us to have to make choices that will force us to draw closer to Him because He will show us our inadequacy to do anything apart from Him. How loving is He that in every season He creates opportunities to grow in intimacy with Him. 

I know that change and the unknown can be scary and our skepticism can get the best of us sometimes. But glory be to God that there is no such thing as the ‘unknown’ to Him. Praise His glorious name that He has worked out everything already for us. Our part is to walk by faith as He leads into each new season of life. 

John Wayne said, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” There is a lot of truth in that. Joshua when he saw how big the people of Canaan were I’m sure he experienced some sort of fear but obeyed God anyway and overtook the land because he chose to obey God over his fear. We are not Joshua, but we have been saved, redeemed, purchased and sealed by the same God. And because of that, we can walk into each new phase with full confidence that our God already knows what will happen and how He’ll grow us through it. He will not just get us through, but He will grow us and in that, we will produce resistance, maturity, endurance, strength, bravery and deeper roots in Christ which is the best part of it all. 

I hope this post is encouraging in some form to your hearts and that the Lord encourages your heart to trust in Him more and more each day. God bless you guys!

Love you so much,

Braulia.

 

 

Do We Need Feminism?

Hello again! I’m glad to have you back. Hope you all are doing well and that you’re as excited about the Fall season as much as I am. Although in California we only have two seasons it seems, hot and cold, it’s still my favorite.

Anyway, today we will be discussing a little bit of the oh so popular topic of feminism. Do we really need it? The simple answer is NO. The why is what we’ll be looking at today.  

Genesis 5:1-2 He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. 

We are living in a society that is rapidly turning into an anti-men culture. Sad. And as much as feminists say they love women, this movement is not only anti-men but anti-women. They believe that in order for a woman to be heard, to succeed or to truly be happy and be her authentic self we have to do away with masculinity and the important role that men have in society. 

To not be a feminist today makes women look as if they are somehow weak, we are considered anti-women if we decide to stay home with our children and raise them, we are viewed as anti-woman because God forbid we place someone else’s life above our own. We are viewed as closed-minded, anti-career or anti-self-sufficiency among many other things. They believe that as women we have the right choose whether we will allow our unborn children to live or if we will end their lives without their consent, which funnily enough feminists say they’re all for. What it actually means to be a feminist is to completely give into a self-centered and self-absorbed narcissistic lifestyle in where a woman chooses to live not in true liberty but in licentiousness. 

Harsh words? Yea. But the truth of the matter is that we don’t need feminism! Praise God! We don’t need this horrific movement to give us a voice, to give us worth or to empower us. Not one bit do we need it. We don’t need it because of CHRIST. 

Christ is the Creator of both men and women. Every person to ever exist has been created in the image of God, therefore making us image bearers of the One and Only true God, the God of the Bible.

In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither man nor woman. What does this mean? It means that we are all made of equal worth. Based on that truth alone we have no need to go to an outside source in order to prove we have value or that our voice matters based on the fact alone that God chose to create us in His image. We bear the image of the lover of our soul, the image of the One who chose to give each individual soul a fingerprint that no other person has. You want to feel special? Look at your fingertips and then at someone else’s. We are each uniquely made, same in worth, but different in function. 

Both men and women were made for the purpose of carrying out different tasks. Is that bad? Not at all. How productive would we really be if in society, in our churches, in our jobs, and in our homes we had the same functions? 

The solution for corruption that does in fact exist, is not feminism. Women don’t need more power than men. We don’t need to raise our boys to be weak or passive in order that girls feel like they’re strong and valuable. Feminism doesn’t offer true equality, if it did it wouldn’t need to bash men at all. The cause of all the hurt that exists and the abuse that does happen is all rooted in sin. And the solution to overcome sin is a life completely yielded to Christ. 

In Christ, both men and women not only are of equal value but are able to truly care and love for one another. In Christ, we are able to honor every human life from womb to tomb. And each individual can flourish if their God-given gifts to edify and build up others without the need to stomp and crush others. Easy solution huh? 

As long as we strive to live life in our understanding and allow our emotions to lead us in action we will absolutely always fail in our worldview. As Christian women, we must live a life completely under the submission of the Holy Spirit. Only then will we be able to not fall for the lies this world has to offer us like feminism. We don’t need anything outside of God to give us meaning, worth, power, liberty, beauty, and the list goes on and on in order to be satisfied. That is what these women who have believed the lie of feminism are really longing for, their longing for their souls to be satisfied and are looking for it in the wrong place. So for us, since we have been given the gift of not only salvation but of truth, let’s share these truths with the women we meet that don’t know they were made in the image of God and don’t know their true value. 

I really hope this post blessed you in some way, or at least gave you something to think about. I would really like to know your thoughts on the topic of feminism, please feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts. 🙂 

I love you so much, 

Braulia. 

 

The Longing of the Soul

Proverbs 13:25 The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul, but the stomach of the wicked shall be in want.

Yikes! Harsh words for the first post? I promise there is encouragement in this. Here we go!

We live in a fast food, microwaveable, instant gratification type of society. All people long and crave for a satisfaction that penetrates the deepest part of our soul. For those that are not in Christ, the solution for this aching unfortunately can only be solved with the temporal things of this world only to find themselves feeling more empty and with a deeper longing that can’t be quenched regardless of how much money they earn, property they own, no matter how great a marriage they have or how well behaved their kids are, or great friendships, no amount of sex, education, and acts of service can truly fill the hole that is the heart.

But what about the person who does belong to Christ?? If all of those things are true of the unbelievers’ struggle, then why do we as believers also struggle with the same longing at times??

We know that He alone can satisfy, so why do we not run to Him when we start to feel like the things of this world start looking more appealing than Him, knowing that all this world has to offer are vain pursuits?

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me…..you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light”

Jesus says to us, to go to Him and He will give us the rest our soul needs, He says to take His yoke and learn from Him. Learn what? Learn how He handled things when life got too crazy, or when He was abandoned by those closes to Him, how He loved and served those who couldn’t give anything in return. In every circumstance He found Himself in, Jesus would run to the only One who could help Him and comfort Him and strengthen and lead Him and FILL Him. He would go His Father, who is also our Father because of Christ. He is the only One who fills us and recharges us and gives us literal life, a fulfilled life regardless of circumstance can only be found Him.

We don’t have to run to anything or anyone else when life starts feeling dull, routine-like, or when life is so hectic that we just want to run away or hide in our room and not be bothered.

It is not a sin to acknowledge that we’re feeling dissatisfied or that we are struggling hard or that on the inside we feel like we’re drowning, it’s what we do about it that matters.

We have the wonderful gift of knowing the ONE and ONLY TRUE GOD. Because of what CHRIST has done we have access to GOD  24/7 and can go to Him about absolutely everything.

In Christ, we have that all that our soul is in desperate need of. God is the only Being who is in need of no one and of nothing. All that exists, exists out of His abundance. He is the most fulfilled Being in the universe and He invites to drink from His own water to the satisfaction of our soul.

Let’s not deprive ourselves of what has been made 100% available to us!

I love you so much,

Braulia