God's Dreams Are Bigger

Happy Monday, Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Per usual, the weekend was much needed for me. I thank God for weekends with no "must do" plans. It allows me to sleep in,  take my time, and go with the flow! 

It was a great weekend spending time with loved ones. It was an all together great weekend. 

One thing that stuck with me this weekend was from something I heard at church. The pastor said "God's dreams are bigger than our dreams."

I sometimes forget about that. I often look at my situation and lose sight of the fact that whatever my dreams are, God's dreams for me are far above that. 

" Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."- Ephesians 3:20

As often as I hear that scripture, I often don't apply it to my everyday life! I look at where I am, get discouraged if I feel I am not where I am supposed to be, and just get into a negative thought spiral instead of keeping my eyes on Jesus knowing He can do above anything I can imagine, in His perfect timing.

I have been down and out about work- it has been stressing me out- but this weekend at church reminded me that God's dreams for me are bigger than my own, He is concerned with every part of my life, and He sure didn't bring me this far to fail me. 

The enemy will try to discourage us with anything he can. Whether if it's to tell us we will never be as good as others, we will never get promoted, or we won't reach our goals- we have to remember they are ALL LIES! 

He has really been trying to get me to believe that I am incapable of being good at my job. But being reminded of God's dreams for me helped me remember that I can do all things through Christ! I have a secret weapon- & that's the creator of ALL things!

By knowing what God's will is for me, it keeps peace in my heart, my eyes on Him, and helps me stay confident in who I am and what my purpose is. 

I am so thankful for Him because He always knows what we need when we need it.

He will never give us more than we can take. It's such a blessing to know we have a Father that will never leave us or forsake us.

I start my week feeling comforted, renewed, and at peace. I am so happy to be in the hands of My Mighty Savior. With Him is where I feel absolutely safe.

God told me to meditate on scripture that reminds me of His will for us. So I decided I want to share it with you, too, so you can be reminded on how much God loves you, how much He cares about every little thing in your life, and how there is no need to worry because we are all in good hands!

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Have a great Monday!

-A

Putting On A Different Lens

Time For School, Back From A Long Weekend- Whatever it is, Happy Tuesday!

Have you ever heard the phrase "It's like my eyes have been opened!" or "I can see clearly now!" or even "The blinders have been taken off- now I can see"

In my life, I have had many times that I say that. There have been many situations that have happened that have helped me grow, helped me understand better, and helped me see things differently. 

Some things happen unexpectedly that help us see things differently, but Jesus was teaching me this week that often times how we want to see things come down to choice. We can choose what type of lens we want to see out of. 

For example, with my stress at my job, I was looking at things so negatively and with doubt. I was looking out of a lens that was not helping me see the good, the opportunities, or even the positives. I was praying to God to help things come to pass (& He will) but I would find myself still seeing things from a negative perspective instead of with hope, positivity, and faith like Jesus tells me to. 

He said to me " You are looking at your situation through the wrong lens."

I was looking through a negative lens, so I have started trying to view my situation through a lens of gratitude and positivity. In this short time, it has helped me see that though my situation with my job is stressful, it is setting me up for success.

 Sometimes Jesus has us go through seasons that are more difficult because it will build us for the future. It will help us get prepared for what's to come. It will make us better. It will make us stronger. It will make us wiser. 

So now, I am looking at every hardship in my life as an opportunity. To learn, to gain wisdom, to refine me. How I know? God's will is perfect, is timing is perfect, and his plan is perfect. Everything will work out perfectly with Jesus & I know that no matter what, He has a perfect plan for my life! No matter what it looks like! So that is why no matter what, we can choose the lens we want to look out of. 

source

We WILL get there!! :) :) :)

Here are some songs that I love to get positive with :)

Enjoy!

The Power Series: The Jesus Key

Happy Tuesday!

I know, I have been very bad with blogging- pretty much all month. If you have read my past posts this month, you will know that the last couple months at work have been really stressful and busy for me. It has been a struggle, but I know God is faithful and will bring me through stronger and more wiser than I came in this season!

My blog has always been a place for me to just "let loose" and release things that are on my heart, mind and spirit. Sometimes I lose sight of that, but it's time that I get back into just releasing anything my heart desires on here because often times I release things that I look back and am glad I documented. I felt God was telling me to share this on my blog so I am not going to hold back. Here it goes! (This is going to be long- so bear with me!)

With everything that has been going on with work and life in general, I have been feeling almost fearful of what "could" happen. I try not to, but the "what ifs" were always sneaking in my head (although I know they are the enemy, I have had a hard time shaking it.) I just prayed to God that he help give me back the confidence in His plan for my life and help give me a sense of peace during difficult situations. I also prayed that God continue to be my "secret weapon" at work so no matter how I FEEL, I know I have something that can never be defeated- & that's Jesus. 

This last week, Jesus gave me a dream. 
You might wonder why I know it was from Him. Well, usually when I have dreams, I don't remember them or they are super weird and creepy and make no sense. It's hard to explain, but I just have a sense of knowing it was from Him.

Anyway, the dream started with me being in a dark area- I would say room but I didn't seem any walls, it was just dark all around. The energy in the room was weary and dark  w/ prideful, and sadness. But what I could see was a big dark wood door. The doorknob was big but the key hole looked like a regular key hole you would see on a standard door. There was a lot of brass detailing on the door. I could feel people intimidated by it but I didn't think anything of it except that it was pretty detailing. 

People were in line to try to get through this door. I felt that although people were intimidated by the brass on the door, they still wanted what was on the other side of the door. 

Everyone in line trying to go through this door had a key- each of their keys looked like a standard house key that looked like it could fit into the keyhole of the door. 

Jesus gave me my key, and it was the only key, almost like the brass on the door, that was big and visibly looked like it could not fit in the keyhole on the door. I remember feeling like I wasn't going to get through because my key is so different and everyone else had the same key. Here's some pictures that kind of resemble my key:

Anyway, as people would go up to the door and put their keys in, some wouldn't fit, some would fit but wouldn't turn, and some would turn but not unlock the door. That made me more nervous because I thought if they couldn't get in with their keys, I won't get in with mine- especially being so different.

It got to my turn. I had the feelings of weariness, fear, sadness, anxiousness and was so nervous to put my key in the door handle. But when I put my key in the key hole, it fit. And not only did it fit, but when I turned the key, it unlocked the door. I kept turning the key to see if it would lock the door again but it wouldn't, that key permanently unlocked the door.

So I opened the door and it was so bright, and full of light that I could hardly see what was there- but the feelings that had come over me were love, peace, holiness, security, confidence- every good thing. It was amazing.

And Jesus spoke to me that He is my key.

When the dream ended, I it made me realize that no matter a situation looks like, no matter how it seems- Jesus is the key to everything in my life. Nothing can stop me with Jesus. With him locked doors will open and remain unlocked. I am so thankful for that.

When I thought there was nothing more to this, yesterday as I was writing this post, Jesus told me to look up the meaning of brass in the bible (random??). 

  So I looked it up and a few explanations I got was brass signified Gods judgement against sin but moreover gods judgement against sin carried out through the death of his Son. The explanation went on to saying that when we believe on Jesus, we are delivered from the effect on sin.

The most interesting use of it is in Numbers 21:4-9, where Moses puts a model of a snake, made from brass on a pole, and when the people looked at it they were delivered from the poisonous bites of the snakes that had infested their camp as a result of their own sin. John 3:14-15 compares the snake on the pole to Yeshua (Jesus) and when we believe on Him, we are delivered from the effect of sin. Because He took our sin on Him in God's judgement against it - then He can deliver us from it. God judged sin when Messiah died for us - in our place. If He is lifted up (and thus believed upon) then He will draw all men to the Lord.

This showed me that no matter what, with Jesus, I am delivered, I am covered, and I am saved. 

I got through because of Jesus. Because nothing- no wrong key, no person, and no judgement of sin could stop me because I had Jesus. 

It's beautiful to think that the dream goes to the deepest purpose of life but also things that happen in your life- that through Jesus we can do all things- no matter how it looks.

I wanted to share this dream in case you have been going through a season of change, a difficult time, or feel lost/ confused. Jesus is your key- the key that opens every door- & keeps it unlocked!

Have a great Tuesday!

Aisha

Power Series: The Power of Prayer

Happy Monday Everyone! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Mine was very relaxing. I didn't have anything planned and just went with the flow. It was amazing :)

One thing I saw this weekend was a video that displayed an analogy of prayer. It stuck with me so much because it reminded me that prayer isn't something we just can do once, we can pray about the same things as much as we want- it is a way to keep what we need and want in our remembrance and also helps us remember that God is working it out in His perfect timing. 

With work being stressful lately and personal things going on (as everyone does, I am sure), I had started feeling like Jesus wasn't answering my prayers like I was hoping. The enemy started putting in my mind that He wasn't working on things on my behalf and almost made me feel like I was alone in the process.

But then I saw this video. My sister actually sent it to me and I believe it was Jesus working through her to remind me He is always here, always listening, and always working on my behalf- I need only to be still (Exodus 14:14).

Take a look- it'll be well worth your 4 minutes :)

This video shows that prayers are a way of knowing only God can truly change situations for us and bring things come to pass that we could never do ourselves. I love prayer because it's a way to talk to Jesus one on one, but also it brings comfort to me that I am never alone. I have a Mighty God that is going through it with me. It reminds me that only He can do it- I can't. 

One example of prayer I have like this water bottle is one I have never actually shared with anyone. But it's been in my heart and I thank Jesus for it. W and I have been together for a long time (almost a decade now) and since we started dating so young, there were a lot of things we went through. I still can't explain today how we made it through everything, but it's truly because I believe God always had a plan for us. 

I used to pray to God that W and I get to a solid foundation in our relationship- because I often thought of our relationship as being on sand- anything could brush it away and destroy it. I wanted our relationship to be on a solid foundation. I wanted to stop letting things tear us down so fast and I also wanted to stop "those things" from happening. 

I prayed and prayed (I still pray lol) and in the last couple years, I have seen a change in us like I never saw before. I started seeing the deep love W really has for me and the length he is willing to go to show me. 

We went from dishonesty to honesty, lies to truth, hate to love, girlfriend/boyfriend to best friends. And I truly believe it was all because of Jesus changing our hearts and our minds like I had prayed for. Sometimes I cry thinking about how far he has brought us and how blessed I feel to have a man that cherishes me so much- so much that he can put up with my bad side. 

And our solid foundation? We have Jesus. Making Jesus the foundation of our relationship always brings us back together and back to that solid ground that we needed for years. Things sometimes still get rocky and storms roll through, but I not only have a love devoted to Christ, but I have a friend. I thank God for that. But it took time. And God is stilling working out kinks... Because by golly we have a lot of them. But I know it will only make us stronger. 

Isn't Jesus good??? I love Him so much!

Have a wonderful Monday :)