His Promises Will Be Seen In 2013

I can't believe today is the last day of 2012. What a year it has been. When I think back to how my year started, it was completely awful. There were tears and heartache like no other. It was horrible. Now it is the end of the year, and I am left feeling victorious. God took all the attacks the enemy threw against me and made something beautiful out of them. These past few months have been incredible and so much has happened! I can't stop praising God! He truly turned 2012 into a banner year.

And the victory isn't stopping here. I am declaring it into 2013! His promises will be seen in 2013! I have many prayer requests and hopes for the year, but Ephesians 3:20 brings me such joy! It's a verse I mentioned in a post at the beginning of December, but it has just been dwelling in my heart.

With God's power working in us, 

God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. 

Ephesians 3:20

God can do greater than anything I have already asked of him or even imagined doing! He can do bigger and greater! Nobody knows the thoughts of God, but I'm pretty confident in that they are plans to make his children prosperous; to give them hope and a good future.

As we enter into 2013, have faith in God that he wants to make this a banner year! If you're at all worried about anything, throw the worry out the window. It won't get you anywhere, but prayer will! Declare good things out of you mouth because there is power in words. Speak life into the atmosphere and those around you. Always stand firm in your faith and on God's word. Let his scripture marinate in your mind and heart. Let his Spirit guide you day-to-day so you may be aware of divine appointments and encounters of the Lord. God is crazy about you and wants only to set you up for success. And if you find yourself in the midst of adversity and tough times, remember God can make ANYTHING into good. Just as Jesus' name, Emmanuel, states: God is with us.

Talk to ya next year...
❤ Ariel Christine

Be Determined

I am so happy to announce Eternal Bride is now its own website! My brother, Aaron, purchased the domain name for me this Christmas. He's the best! I cannot wait to see the progress Eternal Bride makes over 2013. I pray people are touched by the posts and always feel encouraged. Thank you for taking the time to read. Please feel free to always leave a comment if you feel a post has encouraged or inspired you. I am always growing as is everybody else so we are walking this life of faith together!

Speaking of 2013, I can't help but to vision what God has in store! There's such a wide range of possibilities! I'm already forming new goals, schedules, and planning. Thinking about the future, it reminds me of a verse I absolutely love in Isaiah:

The Lord helps me, so I will not be ashamed. 

I will be determined, and I know I will not be disgraced.

Isaiah 50:7

The Lord is my help; He is my strength. I try my best to walk in obedience with God everyday and my hope is that I will always be led in his direction. When I am led in his direction, I know I will not be ashamed because it is the Lord's path. I believe he has plans for me that are prosperous and of a good future. Trouble and trials will come my way, but I will not be ashamed because I am in the Lord's will! I am right where he would have me. Rather than getting kicked down, beaten, or discouraged, I will be determined! I am more determined because God is my help! I will not be disgraced because I am covered in his grace! 

My hope is that from this verse you'll take away that you should not be ashamed or feel that you will be disgraced because God is your great helper! If anything, you should be more determined because you have the One on your side who is more powerful than anything else. Be determined; work hard at what you are given and God will take you to new places. Don't fear what people can do or say to bring you down because nobody can prevail against our great Father!

Happy Thursday!
❤ Ariel Christine

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY

What an exciting day it is to be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ! I see Easter as a time to take thanking Christ for giving His life on the cross. Christmas, however, I see as a day to celebrate the entire life of Jesus! He walked the earth for 33 years and this day is taking time to acknowledge and celebrate those years! His life was and still is significant, miraculous, and extravagant. He is so wonderful! He is our Prince of peace, counselor, lover of our souls, heavenly groom, and most importantly our savior.

Matthew 1:21
"She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

Father God,

Thank you so incredible much for the life of you Son. Thank you that you sent Him to earth that through His life your children may be saved from death, redeemed, made holy, and given an eternity with you. Thank you, Jesus, for hearing every prayer, every cry, and knowing me. A life with you is a life complete and you alone are all-sufficient. How could I ever praise you enough for loving me and wanting to dwell in me? I am yours; completely yours. I pray my life would be a sacrifice to you. The old Ariel is gone and a new one is risen in you. Fill me with your life and you word, God, so I may walk in faithful obedience to you. I love you Jesus. You are my everything and I am so in awe that you would come to this earth for me and every other child our heavenly Father longs for. Because of you, all of us can now once again be friends with God. Thank you Jesus for sending your Spirit to comfort us after you left this earth. Holy Spirit, walk with me and guide me. Lead me in the way of the Lord and stir desires in my heart for the things of God. Continue to mold me into a bride fit for Christ. A bride always ready and with the purest of hearts. A bride ready for an eternity with Christ. 

Merry Christmas Jesus. In your name, amen.

If you do not know Christ or maybe you do, but don't have a relationship with Him, let me say this: Jesus wants to have relationship with you. He wants you more than anybody could ever and His love will fill every hole you have in your heart. He loves you enough to give His own life for yours. By doing this He saved you from an eternity in hell with forever pain and torment. He wants you to experience love so furious it covers every sin, guilt, and shame that would send you to hell. He took this pain for you so you can have freedom. This freedom is in Christ alone and to receive it all you have to do is call upon His name and confess your sins. The Bible says everybody was born a sinner and the only way to be redeemed is through Christ alone. Let Him fill your heart and life. The only reason Jesus came to this earth was for YOU. His life's purpose and mission was to save YOU. He is crazy about you. I can tell you from personal experience, nothing else in life is worth as much as the eternal freedom in Jesus Christ I have received. He's my best friend and the world to me. Once I grasped the concept of what He did on the cross for both you and me, how could I not give Him my heart?

Or maybe you've had a relationship with Jesus before, but walked away from it. Hear this... He is always waiting for you. No matter how many times you've turned away or even shut Him out, He's still crazy about you and loves you so much. The beat of His heart is you. He wants you. God wants you. He wants you to have eternity with him because of how much he loves you!

Matthew 1:23
"The virgin will be pregnant. She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel," which means "God is with us."

There's a lot to think about this Christmas season. I pray you find yourself blessed today and surrounded by great company. Praise God for the life of Jesus today! Merry Christmas!
❤ Ariel Christine

Getting Caught Up

Isaiah 42:7

You will help the blind to see. You will free those who are in prison, and you will lead those who live in darkness out of their prison.

Sometimes I tend to get caught up in my own future.

"Where am I going, God? What is the right path? Where do you want me to be, God? I'm just trying to be obedient to you!"

And those questions are not wrong to ask at all, but Isaiah 42:7 came up when I began to become selfish with my own life. It's easy to become consumed with what I am doing and where I am going. This verse reminded me that ultimately in whatever I do and wherever I go... my purpose of life is from God and for God. My life is more than just about me because this life is really not my own. I gave it to Christ when I surrendered my heart to Him and left the old Ariel at the cross. A new Ariel was risen with Christ. This Ariel has incredible plans for her future written by God, but her ultimate call is to reach others in all that she does including those plans.

Philippians 2:4

Do not be interested only in your life, but be interested in the lives of others.

In everything I do I am to show Christ. My purpose, as is every Christians, is to be Christ to those who are blind so they may see; to show freedom to those who are in chains so they may experience true freedom. We are the eyes, ears, and hands of God here on earth. Through us he can encounter his children. This is how we are the body of Christ! 

That is our call and duty to our Father in heaven. We are to be His light and hands to everybody you encounter. Sometimes I just need to reread over Isaiah 42:7 to remind myself not to get too caught up in all that I am doing and what I want from God. My life needs to be centered on him and what he wants. Everything else will then work itself out, as it says so in Matthew 6:33, "Seek first God's kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well."

4 More days till Christmas!

❤ Ariel Christine

I Am With You And Will Go Before You

Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you.

Isaiah 45:2
I will go before you and make the mountains flat. I will break down the bronze gates of the cities and cut through their iron bars.

I remember finding these two verses back in August when I was away at retreat. I was so nervous and excited for the school year to start! Nervous because I did not know what was ahead, but excited because I knew God was with me. I knew God had a plan for me, and if I were to follow that plan it would lead to a great and prosperous future designed by God himself.

Isaiah claims that even through I may pass through thick, deep, rough streams of water God is with me! He will not let me drown. I may be in the pit of a furious fire burning all around me, but I won't be burnt because is with me! He is with me so much, in fact, that he has gone before me and made the mountains flat! He is with me and for me, and he does the same for you too! God can do anything and when his children come to him, learning to rest and be dependent on him, he will lead the way.

Trying to control our own lives only results in our vision becoming fuzzy and unclear. God is our loving Father, and he wants to help us! He wants us to depend on him so that he can rightly direct us. He cares; he cares a lot. Begin to look at life through these verses: If there's a job interview before you, he has gone in front to flatten the mountain! If there are tests and trials all around you, fear not; you will not drown. If people are hurting and attacking you, God will protect you that the flames will truly not burn you!

Be encouraged today that God wants to direct your footsteps in the plan he has for your life so that you can be prosperous! He is with you in it! He will lead you through every mountain high and valley low. He will go ahead of you and clear the way for his child to be victorious. Yes, there will be hard times. Nobody promised living for Christ will be easy, but only that it'll be worth it. God will help you through every single thing when you turn to him!

One more Friday till Christmas!
❤ Ariel Christine
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God Can Do Greater

Today has been incredible! At my church, we had our Christmas production and so many lives were changed! As it nears the end of this year, I can't help but to reflect on how incredible the past few months have been. God has done so much in my life and taken me to new places with him I've never even imagined. I want to take the rest of this month to post verses that gave me strength and power in the Lord over this past semester at school. He's been so good. He has been SO, SO good. Being in this mountain top season, I'm not going to forgot how I got here and who got me here. I've definitely had my fair share of trials and testing times, but I feel through Christ I am coming out of 2012 and into 2013 victorious!

My hope is that this verse would bring you encouragement today:

Ephesians 3:20

With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine.

► This verse has been stirring in my heart since I came upon it last week. It has really spoke to me through this time of wondering what to do or where to go with my life after graduation in May.

I have dreams. I have desires. I have goals both spoken and unspoken. Things that seem possible and some unreachable. We all do. I also know sometimes I pray to God about these things (or really anything else in life) and leave my prayer time still feeling uneasy. Sure... I've given it to God, but why do I still have that unsteady feeling?

Reading over Ephesians 3:20 honestly took away that extra fear of the unknown. So I've lifted my prayers and wants to God, and they're in his hands. He can do much GREATER than what I'VE ALREADY ASKED FOR. He can do things beyond what I've even imagined!! How exciting is that? God knows my prayers before I even speak a word and he already has the plan to get there. He can take what I've given to him, and do more than I've asked for or imagined. That's brings such joy and hope to my soul. I've always said that I want to be completely satisfied in life with Christ alone if He was all I had; He is all-sufficent. Anything else is a blessing and above what I truly need. And that's what God does... above and beyond what I need which makes him such an incredible Father.

Be uplifted today in knowing that God can do more with the prayers you have already have given him. He can do greater than you've imagined and loves you so dearly that his wants to bless you. Your prayers are in his hands.

Happy December!
❤ Ariel Christine