Immediately after I posted about Lot's Wife, I went to type in someone's name on my facebook and a certain person popped up. T I hadn't contacted that person in a few years nor had I been thinking about them. See in my last post I said, do not reminisce on xyz. You fill in the blank. Well, this is my xyz. Or one of them because we have multiple xyz's. This certain person tried to contact me through another source and so forth and I knew that I was not to be in contact with them. But right then and there I had a decision to make. Keep looking forward or look back? FB is not evil BUT it seeing that person on there jsut could've taken me down a completely different path (please see previous post).
7.30.2012
7.28.2012
Victory comes from Him alone
Didn't there always seem to always be something happening in David's life? Not only that but David had many, many enemies and people were set out to kill him. It's so crazy to me as I was reading this verse (see link to Psalm 3 below) under the dryer at the hair salon today. How often is it true that I complain and worry about "enemies" or "unfavorable circumstances". I can honestly say that I have never had someone try to kill me. Yet I complain when someone makes one rude complaint to me. Ahh! Look at David! I'm currently reading through the psalms now . When trying to figure where I wanted to go and read next through the Word I felt that this was appropriate because I knew that I wanted to be a woman after God's own heart. So why not turn to read of the Psalmists who glorified God throughout the entire Psalms. This is truth : Though his enemies may've been bigger and outnumbered him at times, he was still victorious and successful because he knew :
that he couldn't fight his own battles.
Ouch. That's an ego breaker. Not only are we weak but the entire purpose of our lives is to glorify Him. And we do not glorify Him by making our cause famous but making HIM famous. SO we must know that we cannot fight our own battles but that the battle belongs to the Lord. Success and victory only comes from God; He is our shield and deliverance comes from Him only. If I fight them myself, I will fall flat on my face. He will receive glory when I trust in Him and walk by the Spirit. Our victory glorifies Him. Let us always turn back like the Psalmist, pointing to Him and making Jesus (even more) famous.
7.23.2012
Lot's Wife : How Not to Look Back
But Lot's wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into
a pillar of salt.
Genesis 19:26 (NLT)
So I had written a post before this and I deleted it. So, I'm not going to retype it. We'll just start here. Lot's wife became a pillar of salt. God really was focusing me on this. This account in the Bible always bothered me a bit, I think because I never gave much thought to it. But tonight, God was speaking to me about this. About how she looked back. Why she looked back. Why we shouldn't. And how I do this in my own life! Here God is trying to set me free and here I am trying to hold onto my shackles like some shiny Tiffany bracelets. The problem is, we don't see it like He sees it! And what good is it if He sets us free yet in our hearts we delight and long and savor SIN! Sin in the heart is still sin.
There is no magical formula. I don't claim to give one. But here are some things I will share with what I feel God has outlined for me in hopes that this might also help someone else.
- KEEP LOOKING FORWARD/DON'T LOOK BACK.Take EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE. Do not remininsce on old boyfriends, movies, old friends, old places you used to hang out at, etc that God called out as sin, bondage and delivered you from. And we CAN do something and should do something about those phsycial things lying around that reminds us of these times. Do you still have pictures of your old boyfriend that God said was an unequally yoked relationship? Get rid of the pictures. Still hanging out with the friends that caused you to get put in jail? Maybe it's time for new friends. If you're like me, I have always listened to a lot of music growing up in a musical family. I remember my life in music as in what was my favorite song at that time. There are certain bands or songs that I cannot listen to. It reminds me of specific people or specific times. Rather I CAN but I choose not to. So I cleaned out my ipod and chucked a whole lot of cds. Yes, money down the drain!! But we have to decide what freedom is worth. We are setting our minds, our thoughts, and our hearts against Him when we long after these things. Going back to those places are not for them to be "enjoyed" and "longed after" because that doesn't glorify Jesus to savor in your sin. It does however glorify Jesus if it is for a testimony of His goodness and His mercy and love!
- IGNORE PEOPLE'S SO CALLED WISDOM. How many times have I done something that I KNOW God told me not to do but I did it because everyone else is doing it? This usually happens when that thing is not "bad or evil " in itself . But the thing is a personal relaitonship with Jesus involves our heart. So if something just as neutral as a book is causing you to sin...then we must cut it off. We can't follow the crowd. You are not to please them but God. (this is not to say people can't offer you Godly advice, but we know when God tells us to do something and then we're just talking our way out of it! )
- PRAY and SEEK THE LORD. Let's be honest. We cannot make those longings dissappear by ourselves. Because what we truly want is a heart change. Yes, these above things will stop you from feeding them. But only praying and seeking the Lord will be the nourishment we need spiritiually. As a result it will change our hearts and fill us up and satisfy us. Only then will we stop longing after those things we tried to feed off of like the Samaritan woman and only found it was so dissatisfying. When she encountered Jesus she left her water jar and ran off to tell everyone about the Christ. Spending time with Jesus WILL give you new desires and reading His Word will renew your mind. And of course , PRAY. Pray that Jesus gives you His sight and feelings on this sin. Lot's wife looked back like she was missing out on something good but if she saw it like God saw it I'm sure, she wouldn't have looked back. Pray that God transforms your mind to see whatever it is in the same way He sees it! And also because sometimes you just find yourself looking back sometimes, you can even pray for the Holy Spirit to convict you immediately when you start to and for you to be oh so sensitive to it.and make you aware of it.
I have not mastered this myself and do not claim to be perfect. I am walking trying to learn more of Him. I do believe that Jesus will answer this prayer if it comes from a sincere heart and He will see these acts of faith though.
Let us remember Lot's wife.
xoxo Mila
7.17.2012
In bondage to Beauty
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
2 Corin. 4:16
So, I cut my hair....
2 Corin. 4:16
So, I cut my hair....
Earlier this year I couldn't stop talking about how I wanted to grow out my hair. I REFUSED to cut it. I hated trims! I had in extensions for a while too! I was sooo excited. And then guess what? My hair started falling out. In clumps. randomly. And it was weird as it wasn't from the scalp but breaking off midstrand. I knew it wasn't from being dry or damaged or from split ends. So what did I do? Freak out! Big time. And guess what? That did nothing but wasted my time and made me mad and be worried. Why? Because I thoguht I was going to go bald! Now this might sound really extreme but it's true ! It's actually a "legitimate" worry. When I was in middle school the sides of my hair began falling out. It began breaking off from bottom straight on up and eventually on the right side it fell out at the root. And it never grew back. My signature ponytails were ruined. And I wasn't being paranoid either because people would come up to me and say "did your hair fall out?" or "what happened?". Side note: NEVER ASK ANYONE THAT ! I'm sure they noticed the bald spot before you did . But back to the story, it was very noticeable and to "cover it up" I always had to wear a bang pushed over to that side to cover it. I will tell you that I am well in my 20's and I just only really got over that about last year or so. I got tired of worrying about it. Thank you Jesus! And then...this happens again and over the Enemy plants the belief that this same thing will happen again.
 |
| my extensions |
But this time...I was prepared. Yes, I had my mother to calm me down a few times. But God really dealt with me about this. He challenged me : Mila, what would that mean to you if your hair did fall out? I felt God asking me this. He was asking me, what would that mean to you? Would your whole world fall apart? Is your life built around your hair? Is your beauty built around your whole head? I prayed to Him instead of worrying and He answered. I know this sounds crazy but yes, I prayed to God about what to do to my hair as in what conditioner to use. Because each time my hair was falling out so much when I'd shampoo I didn't even want to wash it! If you looked at it, I'd just fall out! Well, in the end my hair is very healthy and I felt that it was time to cut my hair. Totally something I said I would NEVER do. My hairstylist had been saying how I should do a bob and I was like DEFINITELY NOT. But go figure, here I come calling her telling her to chop it all off. God had given me freedom, because I told her she could do whatever she wanted to do to it. WHATEVER. Just chop it off. I went in with no picture. And guess what ? I love my hairstyle! I thought I would hate it but I absolutely loved it. I like not having all that hair.
Let's be honest though, the real reason I didn't want to cut my hair was because of how I would like. Or how I thought I would look. Isn't that always our issue when we change our physical appearance or due to some freak accident it is changed? I was convinced that I would look like a boy. Yes, I'd chop off my hair, and no one would recognize me and start calling me sir. When we're in bondage we think irrational and illogical things like that instead of truth. We as women are often in bondage to beauty (see previous post) ...To the outer, temporary things. But the truth is we are being renewed day by day (2 Corin. 4:16) in the InnerMan. We are so worried about what we will look like we forget that it's the inside that really matters! Our bodies are breaking down day by day. Cutting my hair was probably one of the best things I've done in a while. Shorter hair doesn't change me. I'm still the same Khamila. This scripture is what has been on my mind:
"And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away....Matthew 5:30
Quite literally, cut, remove, and get rid of anything that keeps you in bondage and cause us to sin [it could be anything...clothes, food, money, your kids, etc]. Sometimes it's literally removing those things or people such as friends. But maybe it's just refusing to keep putting that thing or person in the place where God should be. It's the cuting off and getting rid of in His Power that maintains that freedom that Jesus has already given us .
We just must be willing.
Let's be honest though, the real reason I didn't want to cut my hair was because of how I would like. Or how I thought I would look. Isn't that always our issue when we change our physical appearance or due to some freak accident it is changed? I was convinced that I would look like a boy. Yes, I'd chop off my hair, and no one would recognize me and start calling me sir. When we're in bondage we think irrational and illogical things like that instead of truth. We as women are often in bondage to beauty (see previous post) ...To the outer, temporary things. But the truth is we are being renewed day by day (2 Corin. 4:16) in the InnerMan. We are so worried about what we will look like we forget that it's the inside that really matters! Our bodies are breaking down day by day. Cutting my hair was probably one of the best things I've done in a while. Shorter hair doesn't change me. I'm still the same Khamila. This scripture is what has been on my mind:
"And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away....Matthew 5:30
Quite literally, cut, remove, and get rid of anything that keeps you in bondage and cause us to sin [it could be anything...clothes, food, money, your kids, etc]. Sometimes it's literally removing those things or people such as friends. But maybe it's just refusing to keep putting that thing or person in the place where God should be. It's the cuting off and getting rid of in His Power that maintains that freedom that Jesus has already given us .
We just must be willing.
recent picture
xoxo Mila
xoxo Mila
7.05.2012
A girl's guide to being Beautiful
Lately, I've been doing a study on beauty (see below for link for this fab book I'm going through) and God has been renewing my mind and reminding me of the true source of beauty and how the world distorts it.
How and where to obtain beauty...
True Beauty comes from Him
If we keep believing that beauty comes from somewhere other than from God's hand we will always be dissappointed and let down. Always. We must know that God is the Creator and He says you're beautiful BECAUSE He created you!
Psalm 139:14 :"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
True Beauty is Internal
1 Samuel 16:7 : "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
1 Peter 3:3-4 : "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."
True beauty has absolutely nothing to do with what your appearance. God's not against wearing makeup but instead challenges us to look at our hearts. Do I For long for physical beauty more than God's definition beauty? Do I find my worth in Jesus or in how "attractive" I look? Am I controlled by [trying to achieve] physical beauty or the Holy Spirit?
This bondage to beauty is a common struggle for most women and the truth is being set free only happens once we let go of the lie that true beauty lies in the external appearances.
Oh how He loves us Part 1
This is what the Lord had me reading over today: Isaiah 43:1-7.
How I love the book of Isaiah! The Holy Spirit often reminds me of something from this book. This past week or so I have made it a point to meditate on the Love of God. That includes me reading certain books, handpicking certain sermons to listen to while at work, even song playlists, etc. Basically things to help my mind be set on this beautiful truth.
There's something so very overwhelmng about this very fact. That we were created. Sometimes we forget that we are finite beings. Some people think they were created out of the blue. We evolved. There was some big bang. whatever. But here the Lord tells us Truth...He says we have a beginning. And God declares right here that He Himself is our Maker. This is a very basic truth but it is so rich when we look at what this all entails.
What a wonderful Maker! He knows us inside out, He formed us with His very hands. He didn't mess up one bit. He did it all perfectly. What an intimate relationship that is! He knows me better than I know myself! He knows my potential! He knows my future! He literally put me together! When no one had a clue that I would even exist He had already thought me up! He knew when I was to make an appearance. He knew what color my skin would be. My hair. Everything. It's really basic but so rich. You are beautifully and wonderfully made. (see Psalm 139)
And God says that He ransomed us. To be ransomed is to be redeemd.He redeemed us by paying a price. We were captives, now set free! Praise God that today, I am reconciled FULLY to HIm by the Blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ - God Himself here on Earth - died for me, Khamila. Bam. I used to believe Jesus' death was for all of us as a whole. And it is! But, I never thought of it as Jesus Christ dying for Khamila. For me personally. And He did! For me! For you! His love is still very personal! Just as personal as how he created us one by one.
to be continued...
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