worship music – Just Love Them Anyway

Sorry I Have Been Missing in Action…

February 20, 2018by Sophie2 Comments

“I vow to praise you, in the good and the bad,,,, because praise is what I do…”

Hey guys,

I know I know… please don’t kill me! I know I have been away from the blog for some time and many of you have been emailing and wondering where I’ve been ( thank you for all the support by the way 🙂 ) Just hear me out.

2018 started out really challenging for me. A friend of mine was murdered in early January, my father who suffers from focal seizures had 3 major gran Mal seizures which landed him in the hospital for a week and a half, the anniversary of my really close friends murder rolled around ( Feb 7) which always throws me off a little bit and most recently, another friend of mine passed away tragically and unexpected this past Saturday… not the way I expected to start off a brand new year…

It’s been a rough go. But this year feels much different. In years past, all of this would have been enough to send me in a downward spiral of depression/anxiety. This year, I truly feel that God has equipped me to withstand all these trials with a newfound air of grace. Instead of asking, “Why me God?” I have decided to approach each situation with the mindset of faith. If God has brought me to it, He most certainly will see me through it. I told myself that 2018 was going to be the year that I wasn’t going to stress about things I have no control over. I was going to leave every situation, fear, doubt and unforeseen circumstance in His hands. Which is why through all of this I’ve been able remain at peace and confident in my ability ( through His grace) to handle it all.

One song that has really been getting me through the last couple of days especially, is an oldie but a goodie by William Murphy called “Praise Is What I Do” . Some of the lyrics really hit home and served as a reminder ( and a challenge ) to myself:

” I vow to praise you, through the good and the bad, I’ll praise you, whether happy or sad, I’ll praise you in all that I go through because praise is what I do…cause I owe it all to you….”

Even when it seems impossible, I’m going to praise Him. Romans 8:28 encourages me to remember “That God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

Isaiah 26:3 allows me to remember that: ” You (God ) will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

Most importantly, Hebrews 4:16 encourages me to “Come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

I need Him now more than ever.
This world needs Him now more than ever…

In the meantime, I will hold these scriptures and song in heart and continue to trust the journey He has me on right now.

Love y’all so much for your endless support. Things are calming down now around here (kinda) and I will be back to regularly scheduled blogging very soon!

xoxo

#Christian, faith, gospel, gospel artist, gospel music, Uncategorized

Monday Motivation: Touch The Hem…

August 7, 2017August 7, 2017by Sophie2 Comments

Hey guys!

There are some biblical stories that are always talked about; David and Goliath, Adam and Eve, The birth of Jesus and his subsequent Crucifixion and so forth .But there is a story in the bible that is not often talked about. It is the story of the woman with the issue of blood .

In this story there was a woman who was suffering with the condition of constant and continuous bleeding for TWELVE YEARS, Now in biblical times, when a woman was bleeding, it was a sign of being “unclean”. Now imagine, for twelve long years you are basically a pariah in your community. She was prohibited from entering the synagogue and anything she touched became unclean as well. Even if anybody bumped into her and came into contact with her they too became unclean. I can’t even begin to imagine what she must’ve been feeling. Isolated, alone, without hope.

Anyway, she had tried everything to get well. Seen doctors, spent all she had on treatments. She was down to her last bit of will! She was looking for a miracle. She heard Jesus was passing by and decided within herself that If she could only touch the hem of his garment ( robes) that she would be made well.

Now lets put this is perspective for a minute. Jesus drew a big crowd wherever he went. She was deemed unclean…. she entered this crowd. What do you think the people around her were thinking? What do you think they were saying? She didn’t care ! She was determined to just touch his hem and receive her miracle that day!

So, she reached out and touched the hem of his garment and instantly the blood dried up and she was healed. Jesus, feeling the power come out of Him turned around and said, ,”Who touched me?”. He looked down and saw the woman and said to her, “Daughter your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed! ( Mark 5:22)

It seems that there is something new to learn every time you read a story in the bible and here’s what I took from this story this time:

What really inspired me was her faith and determination. No matter what people were saying about her, despite her condition, she was not going to miss her opportunity for healing. She was determined to touch Jesus and be made well! Now Jesus could have felt the power of healing leave His body and kept on walking to where he was going. Nobody would have known what had taken place except for Him and the woman. But instead , He acknowledged her and her perseverance. I say all that to say that Jesus sees and hears you when you cry out to Him! Keep listening! He’s acknowledging your faithfulness!

If only we could have faith like the woman with the issue of blood. That no matter our circumstances, we aren’t going to let any opportunity to touch Jesus pass us by! It’s obvious that while we are unable to physically touch Jesus while we are here on earth, there is another way “touch his hem” and that is…. PRAYER!

Prayer= Communication with God

Hebrews 4:16 states, “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

Whatever it is you need from God whether it be a physical healing or even a mental or spiritual healing, reach out and touch his hem! Don’t miss your opportunity!

There is a song by Fred Hammond called “Let Me Touch The Hem” that is so fitting for this post. The lyrics are simply:

Let me touch the hem of His garment
touch the hem of His garment
and I will be made whole
(Repeat)

For the Lord is passsing by
Yes the Lord is passing by
His wondrous healing virture just take hold
So as He’s drawing nigh
Don’t let this moment pass you by
He can heal your body, your spirtit, and your soul
(Repeat)
Read more: Fred Hammond – Let Me Touch The Hem Lyrics | MetroLyrics

You can find the story of the woman with the issue of blood in various parts of the New Testament: Matthew 9: 19-22, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48

Be blessed guys! Have beautiful and blessed week!
xoxo

#Christian, Uncategorized

Monday Motivation: I Just Want You…

January 30, 2017January 30, 2017by Sophie2 Comments

Hey loves!

Quick post today!

Today’s post comes from a total place of submission. This wasn’t the post I was going to post today. But in my quiet time with God this evening, He dropped the song ” Just Want You” by Travis Greene into my spirit. ( BTW Travis Greenes Album The Hill has been blessing me for almost 2 years now, If you haven’t listened to it, please get it! Trust me. It’s right there!)

The lyrics of the song are so simple. They simply say:

So take everything
I don’t want it
I don’t need it, God
Won’t you take everything
I don’t want it
I don’t need it, God
I just want you
I just want you
I just want you
I just want you
We just want you
We just want you
We just want you
We just want you

Not only am I learning to be content with what I have, God is molding me to be content with what I don’t! That’s huge!

What is the actual meaning of content? According to dictionary.com, the adjective content means to be in a state of peaceful happiness. To be content in the season in that God has placed you in, is something a lot of people have a hard time with.

Thinking about being content leads me to think of the story of Job. ( If you get a chance , read all about him in the Old Testament section of the bible:) )

Job was a man who God allowed to have everything taken from him, yet in his state of grief and pain and despair, never allowed his faithfulness to waver. He lost his health, he lost his children and yet still he worshipped! His very own wife told him to “curse God and die” ( Job 2:9) How, may you ask, could someone who has lost everything precious to him still find the heart to worship…. Because he was content! Not content with the fact that he was losing everything, but content in knowing that God he served had already written his story and exercised his faith to trust the season he was experiencing was for a purpose!

Its hard to be content with something or in a troublesome season when you don’t know why it’s happening. Let’s face it, we are humans, and sometimes our flesh takes over and our spiritual side takes a back burner. We are not always able to see the big picture and are often impatient to let God’s plan play out without meddling somehow!

How many of us Christians can say that if God decided to take everything we have away from us right now, that we would still trust him and serve him? Food for thought…

I pray that God gives me ( and humans in general ) a heart like Job . A heart so wrapped up in the grace of God to not give up on Him, no matter how hard life gets, because if you look at the end of Job’s story, everything he lost, he got back two-fold! Sometimes the blessing is at the end of the storm, but are you strong enough to weather it…

Take everything! I just want You Jesus!

Have a blessed Monday!
xoxo

#Christian, faith, Uncategorized

Monday Motivation: First…

October 10, 2016by SophieLeave a Comment

Hey guys!

Happy Monday! First and foremost let me say Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers! I hope you are surrounded by family / friends and loved ones today!

Let’s think back to elementary school. Can you remember a time when in gym class, the teacher picked two captains and those two people got to choose the teams? Do you remember the anxiety you may have harbored not wanting to be picked last? Thankfully, because of my stellar athleticism (lol) I was hardly, if ever picked last . However, even now in my career and in my ministry I have become the teacher who sometimes makes captains and lets the children pick their own teams and I have seen the emotion on the faces of the ones who seem to always get picked last. It’s actually heartbreaking! So I tend to stray away from that method of team picking!

That really got me thinking about how something as trivial as that can relate to God. Just as we don’t like being chosen last, neither does God!

God desires to be first place in our lives. Often times we put other people and things before Him and that sometimes can lead to unnecessary disaster.

Proverbs 3:5-6 it reads, Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight… I love this verse, especially the part that says and he will make your paths straight. When we put ourselves first in lieu of God, our paths sometimes tend to become crooked. Our plans for ourselves may not be the best option !

Here are my three benefits of putting God first:

He’s the author of your story: He wrote every line of your story. He created you. Don’t you think that the author knows the best direction of your story. I’m positive He does!
He is the most genuine friend you’ll ever have: He absolutely has your best interest at heart. He wants to see you succeed… He created you to succeed ! He won’t lead you astray.
Your life will have direction: With this however we need to remember,just because we are going in the right direction doesn’t mean that there won’t be roadblocks along the way. Life isn’t perfect. But choosing to put God first in your life will make it easier to navigate through those roadblocks.

Another scripture I love that really brings this post together is Matthew 6: 33 and it reads:³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (NKJV)

Seek….
God….
First….

Contemporary artist Lauren Daigle’s song “First” really inspired this post. I was privileged to see her in concert last year as she was opening up for Hillsong Worship. She is an artist on the rise! Her voice is hauntingly beautiful and really encapsulates the true essence of worship. Take a listen to her the song “First” down below and remember in all things to make God a priority and put Him First!!

Have an amazing Monday!
xoxo