The Old Testament Part 1…

Hello! I hope you are having a great week! The Old testament is not often talked about so if you are reading this you are already taking a step of faith haha! I would tell you why you should read the Old Testament however, I would rather give you places to start in this post. I love to give advice to help others but, Gods word speaks for itself. I know most of the Old Testament can be intimidating so let’s start simple!

First if you haven’t read all of Genesis... Start there! There are 50 chapters which sounds like a lot but it goes pretty fast. It also has everything!

Second – The Wisdom Books – Some of my favorites any time of life. These would be Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. If you are being technical a couple other books would be considered wisdom books. However, for the purpose of beginners I would start with these three. Even if you know nothing about any of the books of the bible this is another great way to get warmed up. A Proverbs a day keeps the Devil away! Haha I love each of the books for different reasons. They all have different great things to offer! To explain them further I suggest this video :

Third – Pick a person 🙂 – There are SO many different great believers. My favorite right now is Moses, especially in the wilderness. Joshua took over after Moses and I adore him too. Job, Esther, Ruth, all have their own books. However, there are so many others that don’t have their own books. They all have different things to teach us that are so valuable!

Forth- Minor Prophets – There are twelve. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. I hope this picture isn’t blurry 🙂

These are typically only a couple chapters long and will always teach you something!

Fifth- Read the whole Old testament.… Some of it will seem point less at the time. However, as someone who has read it multiple times I can say it is full of purpose. I have been encouraged by the Old Testament more times than I can count. I have been encouraged as a follower of Christ, as a leader, as a women, and encouraged to do more. One of the things that I am convicted of every time is we don’t set enough time apart from other things to worship God.

I hope this encourages you to open your bible. PERIOD. Hahaha! The God of the universe and my bestest friend Jesus wants to hang out with YOU! If that means you trying something I suggest … YAY! If not thats ok too! Just spend time with Him 🙂

HE loves you SO MUCH! Dm me prayer requests. Much love and God bless- Isabel 🙂

Confidence

Why God should be your Confidence

(If you haven’t seen frozen 2 go look it up)

Anyone who knows me also knows I am absolutely in love with Jesus.  Anyone who knows me also knows that I am a huge Disney fan.  No shame!  Yet, when I watch Disney, I can’t help but find Jesus, since I want to find him in everything. So when I watched Frozen 2 a thousand times with my baby sister (who decides on movies she wants to watch and then that is all she will watch) I began to see parallels between frozen and my faith. I ended up sharing a couple of these Disney/ Jesus connections with some friends. I said, “When I have my own church one day, I will have a whole series on Disney movies and Jesus.” My friends were super pumped. They said, “Why wait?? Start now!” At first, I was like NO,  but shout out to Kari and Chinerye for convincing me. Without further adieu here is: 

Why the song Show Yourself from Frozen2 should move you to tears….. because God is so good.

Here’s a little intro to the movie in case you didn’t watch it.  In Frozen 2, Elsa reflects on being insecure about her purpose for her life. If you watched the first film, this is basically the problem the whole movie. Her fear and the actions she takes because of it are related to insecurity. In Frozen 2, Elsa starts to hear a voice. She believes this voice will tell her what she needs to know about who she is. She goes on a journey to find the voice, which leads her to a place called, . Atahala. This is where everything should make sense. This should hold all the answers.

The Lyrics

Are you the one I’ve been looking for
All of my life?
Show yourself
I’m ready to learn

As she is singing, Elsa learns that the voice was her mom calling her to come to Atahala. At this point, I have probably lost you.  You are questioning how this has anything to do with Jesus.  Just WAIT. Let me explain! 

Elsa’s story is a beautiful reflection of our relationship with Christ. We all start out with the idea that we need more. What that “more” is looks different for each person, but we pray for MORE. I have talked to many young women who struggle with insecurities and self-worth. I have met guys who don’t have motivation or direction. These issues are amplified if these men or women don’t know Jesus, but even those that do know Jesus still pray for God to give them more to fill that place of insecurity. Yet, what we fail to realize is that when we accept Christ as our Savior AND walk with him daily we come to find our truest self. We ultimately find what we have been looking for our whole life.  Elsa sings, 

You are the answer I’ve waited for
All of my life

Come, my darling, homeward bound

I am found

Show yourself
Step into your power
grow yourself
Into something new

You are the one you’ve been waiting for

Jesus is truly the answer that you have waited for all of your life. He is calling us to himself so we can walk in HIS power. You are not lacking.  You do not need more. I understand that insecurity is something that we all fight, but in high school I began to see how God’s power in me is bigger than anything I face. 

Yet in my senior year, I was talking to some girls about life, and I realized that insecurity can still become consuming for many people, especially those who are insecure in their relationship with Jesus. A freshman in the group said she was very insecure almost every day. She wanted everyone to like her. She wanted to look perfect. I told her that this need would go away by Senior year and she just needed time. However, all the other girls in this group were Seniors and they all looked at me. Then, one by one, they said, “No, I still feel that way.” I was so confused. I have never considered myself a confident person, so why didn’t the other girls feel the same way I did? I realized that, in this particular group, I was the only one who had a close relationship with Jesus. While the others had been introduced to Jesus or had gone to church a little, none had a deep relationship with him. 

Out of that experience, I realized that when you know Jesus well, the rest of the world matters a whole lot less. Without Jesus, it is so easy to feel purposeless, but with him we can be confident that HE has a great purpose for each of us.  My hope is that you understand that your life has purpose and you don’t need more.  The rest of the world may seem to make you feel like you lack something, but your purpose is already in you.  Stop looking for more.

Here are some verses that I hope give you hope and confidence of who you are in Jesus: 

2 Timothy 1:7 – For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.  

1 Peter 2:9  – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Proverbs 3:26 – For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

Romans 15:13- May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Psalm 62:8- Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

A reminder that God forgives your sins : 

Romans 5:8- But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Titus 3:5- He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Romans 8:28 – And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

1John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

As Elsa finds her purpose in Frozen 2, I hope you are encouraged to see your own purpose.  If we walk in God’s love and pursue Him, we are directed to the things that we need to pursue Him further. If you don’t know the confidence that God’s love brings, I would love to talk to you more about it. Feel free to message me on Instagram. Thanks for reading!

Much love and God bless – Isabel