Author: isabeljohns

Lately, I have been drawn back to the idea that we do not need new truths. We need to go back to the basics. This will be a series on my Instagram but I wanted to make sure all of the thoughts were in one central location.

What is a Christian? When I really think about it and examine it biblically I thought this:

• A Christian is someone who believes in Jesus. At the most basic level that is all, it is to believe in Jesus. If you believe that Jesus is who he says then you are a Christian.

I have found that different churches can hurt a lot of people so much that they say  “I use to go to church” or “I use to be a Christian”. If you believe in Jesus but do not agree with a past denomination (or church) I invite you to wrestle with this. Humans are broken and can hurt others. But God is not human. He is so much more. I hope that this can encourage someone who has been hurt by people to reconsider their relationship with God. 

One of the most well-known verses in Christianity is John 3:16-17. It says: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him”.

God didn’t wait for the world to notice or want him, he moved first. He sacrificed for us in a way that only he could so that we might have the opportunity to be with him one day. He loved us so much that he wanted to give us a profound hope that only comes through salvation. 

In verse 17 John goes on to write that God did not come to condemn the world but to save it. At this time the Jews believed that they were God’s chosen people. While that is true it also meant they believed that God’s favor only rested on them. However, this newfound promise of Jesus meant that anyone who choose to believe in him would be saved. 

Takeaways:

1. God loves you so much that he would give anything to be with you

2. God didn’t want to be limited to one people group. Your Christian friends aren’t the only people God cares about. His heart is for more. It is great to have a solid group of Christian friends. I would even go as far as to say it is NECESSARY, however, we are called to more. We can not simply stay in the group that makes us feel the most comfortable. (This may look different for different people. My main point is that God didn’t create us to judge others but rather God delights in us when we love others)
3. There should be no guilt when it comes to Jesus. We as humans mess up but God knew that. He loves you so much that he does not want you to live in sin but wants you to live life to the fullest.  

John 8: 12 – When Jesus spoke again to the people he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

A lot of times people will say that they dont feel the “light” that is Jesus. One thing I have found is that many times when this is the case the person may not have had much time to actually hang out with Jesus. Without relationship and fellowship with God, how will we have his light? With that in mind here are some ideas on how to start your week 🙂 

-Start every morning with worship music 

-listen to a new podcast/sermon 

• -the porch 
• -bridgetown 
• -VOUS church 
• -WHOA thats good 
• -red church 
• -midtown church 
• -southside community church 

-Have a bible study with a friend

– Read a passage in the bible and go deeper(look up commentary or journal about it) 

-John is always a good place to start 🙂

-Start a new bible plan on the bible app

-Plan out what you want to do for the sabbath this week 

-Memorize a new piece of scripture

-Go on a walk and meditate on a piece of scripture 

( These are all spiritual disciplines that help us stay intune with Jesus! If you want more information lmk and i will make another post about these) 

This will be added to weekly 🙂 If you don’t follow me on Instagram check back here! Much love and God bless ~ Isabel (:

I’ve collected a list of podcasts that can help you find Jesus again if you need to. Maybe you have been through a hard time recently and your pastor said something insensitive about it. Maybe your grandma just died out of nowhere and it has left you broken. Maybe you walked away from God years ago for so many many reasons. This is a starting point for healing. I hope it helps – Isabel

You can start here or go to the topic you need

Unanswered prayers

Justice …or lack thereof

finally

I am hoping to add to this as I find more resources 🙂

As we roll into the new year, I wanted to share some of the books I read this year! I hope there is one you can pick up a book that can bring you some more wisdom this new year 🙂 Toward the end of this post, I will also spit fire some of the books I want to read in 2022! Let’s get started!

1. The Women of the Bible Speak

I had never heard of the author until I read this book. I wasn’t expecting much of it however, I was pleasantly surprised when I actually found some great wisdom in the pages. This book covers well known and overlooked women in the bible. I appreciate that because in modern day America we overlook some real rock stars of biblical times. At the beginning of each of the 16 chapters the books of the bible they are located in. That makes this book is great for a new believer or if you want to get into reading more of the bible in general.

2. Crazy love by Francis Chan

I think Francis Chan and I would be friends. Haha anyway, this is my second time reading Crazy love and I adored it even more! In America we tend to get really comfortable in our faith. The sad part is that Jesus loves us with a radical love. Chan calls out all of the normal comfort and calls us to be more in love with Jesus. It is great if you are a new believer in Jesus or if you have been walking with him for a while. I 100% think that everyone should read it at some point.

3.Enjoy the silence by Maggie and Duffy Robbins

This one is a devoritonal and is so good. I am kind of obsessed with finding Jesus in everything. As an extrovert it has always been hardest to meet with him in the silence. I have been learning this for two years now that Jesus shows up in the silence. There is something really beautiful about just hanging out with him. There are some ‘meditation’ type devotions in this which I really enjoyed. I think Christians tend to think all meditation is bad. However, it can be deeply rewarding to meditate on meeting with Jesus. This book could be harder for newer believers to enoy initially. None the less I think it is beautiful. It could be really rewarding if you wanted to try something new with you personal time with Jesus.

4.Plan B: Further thoughts on faith

I started to read this from another book that mentioned it. It was super interesting! There are so many life lessons that you can take from this book. However, I would not suggest reading it if you are new to knowing Jesus. Anne Lamott is super comfotorable and secure in her faith. With that she ends up bringing other religions into the book that might make it confusing to follow if you are new.

5. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

Last but NOT least! John Mark Comer is my favorite pastor. In this book he addresses how our world today will encourage us to be busy all the time. Maybe even to busy for God. Comer gives lots of information in an easy to read way and always gives you something to apply to your life. If Im honest, I might end up reading this one again in 2022. This is also a great book to read with others. I read it with my friend and it was a lot of fun! If you are new to your faith or if you have been walking with Jesus for a while you can find this book helpful.

Books I want to read

The first two books are apologetics type books. I have always found apologetics fascinating. I am really excited to start to dive into apologetics more. ..

This one is something I was given randomly over a year ago. I found it again and realized we could all grow in grace. If anyone wants to read it with me let me know :))

I have several of these types of books and I adore them. I read half of the one on John and half on the one on Matthew! They are great if you want to focus on one book and really get to know it. I cant wait to read another (or finished one of the previous ones)

Finally, I am reading this book for a class soon and I can not wait to start!

I hope you found at least one new book to read in 2022! As always much love and God bless! :)) dms are open for prayer requests

-Isabel

What to say to the girl whose life is falling apart

I don’t know if anyone has been long awaiting this but, I have been waiting to write it. As someone who has a roller coaster testimony, I can safely say that people don’t talk to me. All of my friends who read my blog are confused by that statement but let me explain further. When someone goes through hard times, most people tend to distance themselves. I don’t know if people do this consciously or unconsciously, but it is definitely a trend. While I do not fault anyone for it, I don’t think it’s necessary. Fun fact: when no one talks to you about their problems, it makes it seem impossible to ever talk about yours. At least, that’s how I think.

I am writing this because I took away all of the go-to Christian phrases if you read the last post on this subject. I mean, how dare I say those things, right? Hahaha, so here are new things that may help you talk to the person who is falling apart.

Number one: I have never been through anything like that but that sounds really hard.

I am here if you need to unpack that.

Number two: You are so strong and are handling this with grace. But if you ever need anything I am here.

These two might sound really weird to some people. However, it can be so helpful. When you have a lot of crazy things happen to you, there are a lot fewer people who can relate to you. Eventually, you end up with confidants that have legit never been through whatever you are describing. That’s ok! The main thing is saying that you are there for the person. To talk, to laugh, to cry, all the things!

Few people can execute this one genuinely. However, I had to include these as my top suggestions because of how healing it is to know you have people. They might not understand the hardships, but they are there to help you figure out your emotions.

Number three: Be ok not talkig at all.

At the end of the day, we all need different things, which sometimes means not talking. Sometimes that means talking about what is going on and coming up with distractions from grief. Sometimes that means being a confidant that they can text every other day “Can you pray for ……” but not asking for more.

Number four: Your feelings are valid.

Now some people will stop reading after this one because they think this is dumb. However, stick with me, and you will see there is an excellent point to be made.

I once read that “not all of your feelings are true.” I thought that was very interesting and kept reading. Someone whose husband just left might feel all alone in the world. They might feel like nothing will ever be ok again. They might think their husband never loved them. Those feeling are valid. However, are they true? I would venture to say no.

At the very least, everyone has Jesus, and if they have Jesus, Christ-followers should support them. So in Jesus name, I am hoping even if someone doesn’t feel they have community at that moment, they will. By the grace of God alone, I believe they will get through it one step at a time. As for their husband, I am sure he loved them but, the world is a dark place. He was led astray by some other idea that this world gave him. However, that doesn’t mean he never loved her.

Any person going through hard times will question if God loves them. It does not mean that He does not love them, but rather that is how they feel. How many people have felt invalidated by the church when they are struggling and are now unbelievers? Please do me a favor and validate the person. If they slander God, by all means, correct them, but if they say, “I am angry at God. I am so confused by what He could possibly want from me in this situation,”. Meet them with “That’s ok. Your feelings are valid. I am sure when you’re ready, God would love for you to talk to him about it.”

Number Five: It’s ok to be mad at God right now

This relates to the last one. While I am well aware the evil in this world isn’t God’s fault; I know he is big enough to take it. There is something healthy about coming to God angry. The anger that says, ” I don’t know why you let this happen, God, but I know you have more. I don’t see it yet, and I’m angry that you let me get hurt”. The best part about it is He sees you and feels your pain too. God can take it, and trying to hide that is silly. Nothing is hidden from God.

Not everyone was raised to believe that it is ok to be angry at God. However, I pray that you would search out why that is. God is the king of kings, but He is also supposed to be your best friend. Stop tip-toeing around your best friends and be honest with them.

Number six: Message them things that remind you of them

This one is just fun! Maybe it’s a bible verse about peace, or maybe it’s your inside joke. Memes, art, quotes, pictures of dogs, anything! The little things go a long way! This doesn’t have to be an everyday thing, but a check-in shows you care. When a son just lost his dad, or someone just got diagnosed with a chronic illness, sometimes they don’t want everything to be sad. Sometimes they want to feel normal and feel like it’s ok to be themselves still.

Number seven: you can always just ask them what they need

This seems obvious, but sometimes it isn’t. People get so nervous about saying the wrong thing they say nothing. Knowing someone wants to be there is a lot less isolating than debating on who you should talk to about grief. While the person in grief might not know what they need at that moment to follow up with them. Either way, you showed you care, and that’s the best way to show Jesus’s love

Overall, it is important to give the person room to feel sad or mad. Many times sadness and anger aren’t welcomed in life or the church. However, it can be hard to handle all of the emotions that come with hardship by yourself. Biblically, we are NOT supposed to do life alone. Come alongside your friends that are hurting with humility and love.

I hope this can help someone connect better with their friend who is hurting :)Always feel free to message me if you need any clarification, and look out for the video form of this post on Instagram soon !!! Much love and God bless! -Isabel 🙂

We are halfway through 2021! Wild right?? While you could just let the year go by and let all of your resolutions disappear, I think you can do better. Maybe you started some of your 2021 resolutions, but they didn’t pan out. Perhaps you didn’t even get to start working on those goals you set. Whatever the case may be, what if you began to now?

I always have believed there is no time like the present to start something. However, maybe you dont know where to start. My suggestion is to start small! Try a SMART goal or write down the baby steps you need to get to your goal. Plan out what it would look like if you had a successful rest of 2021. You have six months left of this year; what are you going to do with it? Are you going to start reading your Bible every day? Do you want to learn a language or save more money? Maybe you want to try more new things or want to be more organized. Or perhaps it is giving up something. The things that don’t help you grow don’t serve you any longer. Dont waste your time.

Whatever it is, don’t be afraid to push yourself to become better. We all have places to grow, and if you aren’t intentional about it, it won’t happen. It is a hard truth but a truth nonetheless.

Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Do your best becasue Jesus has called you higher. Do your best because Jesus has called you worthy.

As always, feel free to message me if you have any prayer requests. If you need help planning out your goals, that is probably one of my most favorite things to do so; please feel free to message me about that too, haha. Also, if you are looking to grow personally, my last post was about growing as well. After AAPI Month covers these questions: Are you considerate of others and their feelings? Are you aware of other cultures and honor them as much as your own? Do you have a diverse friend group, or do all your friends look like you? If you feel you need to work on any of those, I give small tips on them.

Along with that, the following videos/podcasts have helped encourage me to stay on task with my goals going into the second half of the year. I hope they may inspire you to choose something new to add to your year.

https://www.facebook.com/midtownchurch.sac/videos/finding-our-identity-in-christ-i-am-called-wk05-bob-balian/953742298813558/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yJqK1XmbXp4

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5seLsqQtMEERHNWftXDj2q?si=bz-BFeeMQlOAcNmXH0la2w&dl_branch=1

Anyways 🙂 Much love and God bless -Isabel