It Is Well In My Soul

The blood of Christ covers, heals, redeems, and sets free! In Christ we are made a new, complete creation. Through Christ we are able to come before the Father as holy and pure. God's grace covers us and his mercy and joy is available everyday. He loves us and designed us so specifically yet wonderfully. Not one person is the same; there is no other you! You are called by God to an adventurous future with him and to declare his gospel with the abilities he has blessed you with. Holy Spirit was given to us as a gift and promise that our Father would always be among us. He dwells within us, leads us, and whispers the very words of the Father into our spirits. We are a gift! A love gift God made to himself. He has placed desires in us to be loved, to love, and to treasure relationship. The very same desires he has within himself because we are created in his image. There is God... and then there is us; two separate beings. Both with an urge for relationship, only coming to realize the one true relationship which can bring absolute completion is to be formed between us and God! We become one; we are one. Remain in his love and he will remain in you. How beautiful this relationship is! How miraculous his unending, never failing, lavish love for us is.

Today's post is just a random thought. I sat down and got to thinking of all the wonderful things of God and this list (if you would call it that) came out.

My conclusion: To know all this I say... IT IS WELL IN MY SOUL.

2nd Corinthians 5:17
If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new!

Happy Saturday! 

❤ Ariel Christine

With God, You Can Finish Your Wall!

In the book of Nehemiah....

2:17
Then I said to them, "You can see the trouble we have here. Jerusalem is in a pile of ruins, and its gates have been burned. Come let's rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so we won't be full of shame any longer."

4:1-3
When Sanballat heard we were rebuilding the wall, he was very angry, even furious. He made fun of the Jewish people. He said to his friends and those with power in Samaria, "What are these weak Jews doing? Will they rebuild the wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in one day? Can they bring stones back to life from piles of trash and ashes?" Tobiah the Ammonite, who was next to Sanballat said, "If a fox climbed up on the stone wall they are building, it would break."

6:9
Our enemies were trying to scare us, thinking, "They will get too weak to work. Then the wall will not be finished." But I prayed, "God, make me strong."

6:16
When all our enemies heard about it and all the nations around us saw it, they were shamed. Then they understood the work had been done with the help of our God.

● ● ●

Well that was a shortened version of a few chapters in Nehemiah. Through out the process of building the wall, Nehemiah and the people were criticized and attacked. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem constantly made fun of Nehemiah saying he would not complete the wall; that is was a foolish goal. As it reads in chapter 6, Nehemiah and the people did complete the wall. When the wall was completed all who made fun of it were ashamed of their behavior and disbelief in the rebuilding of the wall. Finishing the wall gave glory to God because with his help it was done. Within the chapters, Nehemiah comes to God first at anytime he encountered trouble and an attack. In chapter 4, Nehemiah prays to God to protect the wall and the people because Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were planning to attack. God comes through protecting the wall and his people. The word says in verse 15, "God has ruined their plans." In verse 20, Nehemiah makes the confident statement, "Our God will fight for us." I was just amazed reading this book at how faithful Nehemiah was in God to protect and strengthen him with finishing the wall even though three men were constantly reeking havoc during the process. God desires to see us succeed. He wants to be our provider, protector, and our healer. Come to him with your every need and he will move on your behalf just as Nehemiah came to the Lord! The enemy can set up a multitude of arrangements for your life to shove you off the track God has destined you to be on. Just as the enemy threw criticism, hatred, and malicious humor in Nehemiah's tracks he could be trying to do the same to you. But fear not for Satan's power is no match to the power of God! Let it be known to you today that God is for you and has great plans for your life! Just as Nehemiah finished the wall, God will constantly strengthen you as you look towards him and you will succeed! Whatever "wall" in your life you are trying to build, the Lord will invigorate your spirit to finish it. Also, do not forget to only come to God in your deep valleys, but even in your moments of mountain tops. He is 24/7 present and desires for your heart to see him as your everything.

Proverbs 3:6
Remember the Lord in all you do, and he will give you success.

Lord, even before I say a word, you already know it.

You are all around me 

- in front and in back - 

and have put your hand on me.

Psalm 139:4-5

Have a great Thursday night!

❤ Ariel Christine

Persistance Breaks Resistance

I've recently had an incredible prayer request answered that I felt I have been praying awhile for now. A good friend of mine began to ask question about God: Who is he? Who is Jesus? Where did the Bible come from? My prayer has been for the salvation of her soul. Although she was just asking questions, I couldn't stop praising and thanking God! These questions are a door opening; the first of an incredible journey for her to come! She wanted to know more of who her creator is! Before this moment, the hard part was keeping consistent in prayer. That sounds bad coming out, but I'm being honest. As humans we mess up or we get tired. I was busy during the school year or honestly forgot at times! Our current culture has things happening so fast we can get into this mindset of if it doesn't happen right now, it probably won't. We like things to happen quick and now. But what if now is not God's timing? In anything really; not just this specific situation with my friend. I do believe though this was God's perfect timing when the moment happened and I was able to allow Holy Spirit to lead me in answering her questions. Oh, how long I have been praying for her! And how sweet it was to see all those prayers answered! How faithful God is! But I know I must continue because I'm still hoping for her salvation. Consistency is the key. Be encouraged today not to give up on your prayers! No matter what the prayers are for; size is no hurdle for God. Matthew 21:22 states, "If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer." No matter how big or small too! Even the silliest of things to you, God still cares about. God hears, he knows, and he sees. He knows your heart and your prayers because he created, loves, and cares for you. So today I present to you my recipe for prayers: Faith + consistency = God moving! One of my most favorite verses in the Bible is one of the shortest! 1st Thessalonians 5:17 simply says, "pray continually." Do not give up; persist on! He wants to hear from you. He's waiting to hear from you. God wants you to be able to trust him with your everything.

Remember to push on! I'm cheering for you.

❤ Ariel Christine

You are Important! You are the Unlikely!

"I don't feel important... I don't feel like my abilities are being used or even seen." These are the things that were playing over and over in my head this morning. Then in my alone time with God, I came across these scriptures:

1st Corinthians 1:26-30

Brothers and Sisters, look at what you were when God called you. Not many of you were wise in the way the world judges wisdom. Not many of you had great influence. Not many of you came from important families. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and he chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose what the world thinks is unimportant and what the world looks down on and thinks is nothing in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. 

1st Corinthians 2:9

But as it is written in the Scriptures: "No one has ever seen this, and no one has ever heard about it. No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." 

I felt that God was reminding me to not despise small beginnings. I've always heard people say,"God uses the unlikely." And how true it is. At first I thought: God wouldn't use me. I like to be organized, a perfectionist, and detail oriented. I hate failure. The unlikely is the person in the back of the classroom who never says a word. Yet I still had my fair hand of failures and heartaches that came with them. They're not the type of events I desire to be repeated in my future. I had to take a moment and step back... Look at where I've come from, where I am at, the incredible things I've done, and still plan on doing... I am the unlikely! In a way, we all the unlikely. Five years ago I would not of believed the path that I am on today. It's an unlikely path I would of thought for my future. I feel as if most people would say that as well. God can do amazing things with our lives if we're just willing to surrender ourselves and trust him. He not only will use you, but he WANTS to use you, and if you let him he already has the plans of how he wants to use you! You are the unlikely. The unlikely will happen in your life if you let go and let God come in. Then you'll be blown away at the miraculous events which unfold before your very eyes. Not only will you be amazed at his greatness, but I'm pretty sure it'll cause you to fall further head-over-heels in this lavish love affair he desires with you. For all his faithfulness and goodness in my life he has shown me, I love him more. Remember that nothing is impossible with God! In Jeremiah 32:9 God himself says, "I am the Lord, the God of every person on the earth. NOTHING is impossible for me." What's impossible for us, God makes possible. Do not think you are unimportant or will not be used. God has big plans for your future; plans that'll surpass your wildest dreams! If our dreams are already so wild, imagine what else could be bigger than that (or even that could be hard to imagine)! And God plans on doing it!

Those first thoughts I began this post with were lies from the enemy. He is out to get you; he fears you will succeed and advance God's kingdom. Tell him he has no power in your life because he does not. The enemy is under God's feet. And at times if you feel at all that you do fail, don't fret because God will still prevail!

Have a beautiful day!

❤ Ariel Christine

Hello Beautiful Masterpiece!

A creation. A masterpiece. Time, effort, and intricate details were used in the process of creating both me and you. We are a fabrication of God's very fingertips. All of mankind was made by God. And for what purpose? He has no need for us. But his heart yearns for relationship and so begun the formation of man. He desires to dwell with us. We are created in the image of God, and being that we have his very characteristics. We also desire relationship. Through relationship we find our true identity in God; we come to know him and see himself reflected in us. That is where we can find our value, our worth, our purpose. He sees us as his children who he loves and created to fellowship with. However, there's one thing which can separate us from our papa. That thing is sin. Yet God's love and longing to be with his children was so great he sent his very own son, Jesus Christ, to the earth to be killed by the very hands of mankind so there could be a path back to God. Do not think for one moment God pulled himself away from us. Sin is the thing that blinds us from him. Sin is not of God and so we were separated, but Christ gives us redemption from sin. Through this whole obstruction God has loved us. It's even why he sent Christ; his love was so great for us that something must be done so we could be with the Father once again. Be encouraged today that Christ's love for you is so wide, deep, and great. In Him, you are whole. He is satisfied to dwell with you. Find your worth in God because he created you and knows every detail about you. You are a masterpiece of the most high and he longs for you; desperately longs for you.

Romans 8:38-39
Yes, I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate is from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Your feet are beautiful in sandals,

you daughter of a Prince.

Songs of Solomon 7:1a

Have a great week ahead!

❤ Ariel Christine