Lifting Hands In the Midst of The Battle

In the book of Exodus, God had placed Moses in charge to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into
freedom so they would no longer be slaves. During this time of traveling from place to place, they ended up camping in a place called Rephidim. Just when they thought they were safe, the Amalekites came upon them and attacked the Iseraelites.  Moses put a man named Joshua in position to choose some of the Israelite men to fight against the Amalekites. So, Moses with Aaron (his brother) and Hur went to the top of a hill and Moses held the staff of God in His hands, as the Israelites and Amalekites were battling. Now this was any ordinary staff, this is the staff that the Lord turned into a snake in Exodus 1-5 as sign to the Egyptians. It's the same staff that the Lord ordered Moses to stretch over the red sea to part it as the Israelites were fleeing from captivity of the Egyptians. The Lord also commanded Moses when the israelites were very thirty, to hit a big rock with his staff and water began to flow from it. So this staff was obviously a representation of Gods hand on earth, helping the Israelites every step of the way.

So, during this battle Moses kept his hands stretched out with the staff of God placed in them. Whenever he had his hands lifted, the Israelites would be winning the battle, but whenever he lowered them, the Amalekites were winning. When he got tired of holding his hands up, Aaron and Hur placed a stone underneath him to sit on (as Moses was an older man at this point). Then Aaron and Hur -one on one side of Moses, one on the other- helped Moses to hold his hands up in order for his hands to remain steady until sunset. Eventually Joshua overcame the Amalekites.

As we go throughout our lives facing many challenges, we sometimes end up in battles of our own. However, these battles I'm referring to are not physical, yet spiritual. According to Ephesians 6:12, "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" So, here it tells us that our battles are not physical but yet spiritual, that we are waging in a war that is invisible. Most of us aren't even aware of the war that goes in the spiritual realm day by day. We have an enemy that is seeking to devour Gods people by every chance he can get. Many things go wrong in our lives because of this and the fact that some of us don't know how to fight back. Well, its simple. Lets look at Moses in this instance, during a time of battle all he did was raise his hands....and the reason he raised His hands is because he knew that the Lord would fight for them. He know that God was fighting against the enemy, that His strength was being transferred into Joshua and the Isrealites. These men were not trained fighters, they were not used to battling in wars they had no experience. However, the Amalekites on the other hand were trained fighters, they were experienced in battling because they always did. So, now were looking at a situation where inexperienced fighters won against experienced ones??? Well, yea. See, when you trust in the Lord to battle for you, you are destined to win.

When you learn to lift up your hands during a season of battle, you will end up on top every time. Lifting up your hands in praise and worship to the Lord, trusting Him, surrendering to Him, expecting a miracle. Also, the great part about lifting your hands in the midst of your battles is that when you get tired, the Lord will step in. When Moses God tired, Aaron and Hur stepped in to help him remain strong until the allotted time. When your in a season of battle Jesus, the  Holy Spirit, and Gods angels will come to your rescue. Jesus is on one side interceding on your behalf, the holy spirit inside of you providing strength, and the warrior angels are appointed to specific destinations to where the battle is. See, When you begin to use prayer, praise, and worship as your weapons, you will become an experienced fighter even. The enemy will flee from you because he knows that he will not win against the Lord.

So I encourage you guys, to lift up your hands in praise and worship. Does this as often as you can during the good and bad seasons of your life. Not only for the Lord to bless you but because HE is worthy of our praise! When you do this, you are pre-ordering victory for situations that you have not even come across yet. God is willing to fight for you but are you willing to praise Him in the midst of your battles?

God is Jehovah Elohim because He is strong and mighty

Love you guys,

xoxo Ariel

Marvin Sapp - Praise Him In Advance 

Saved and sinning?

In the beginning of time, there was Adam and Eve (I'm pretty sure most of you heard of this story). God spoke to Adam and told Him as the garden keeper, to eat free any tree except for the tree of life. So, Adam did as He was told....However, the story doesn't that perfectly. Adam had a wife named Eve and she was tempted to eat the fruit by a serpent (the most cunning beast of the field) said to her, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'? " Eve replied to him saying, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the Garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.' " So as being the cunning beast he is, the snake unsurprisingly says, "You will not certainly die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." eventually Eve fell for his schemes and ate the fruit, when she realized that the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye. See when studying this excerpt from the bible (Genesis 3), we realize why the the serpent, (also known as Satan or the devil) is considered cunning. Since the beginning of time he has robbed Gods children of holiness . He presented falsehood and deceived them stating, "you will not certainly die." The death God referred to was not a physical one it was a spiritual one. The serpent knew that if he could only get Gods people to be disobedient then they would die spiritually, which leads to never receiving eternal life with God. The enemy has "Do what thou wilt" mentality and that exactly is how he is deceiving many children of God today. influencing them think that doing whatever they wanted would not lead to a spiritual death and eternal damnation. He does this music, social media, television, books, rising sub cultures, etc.

So,  when was the last time you have been disobedient to the Lords Word because of something that was "pleasing to the eye". Well, i'm here to tell you that it is not by mistake.  It has been a deceitful trick of the enemy for a very long time; placing Gods people in a state of paralysis, disabling them from growing in the body of Christ. This is why the church has become weak and watered down today, because many are falling for the trick of disobedience and not being fully surrendered to God, whether it be intentionally or unintentionally. Whatever the enemy can do to throw you of course, that's exactly what he's going to do.  1 John 2; 15-16 tells us, "Do not love the world or the things in the world, if anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world is - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - which is not of the father but of the world." The Greek dictionary defines lust as a strong desire, it doesn't necessarily always have to be in a sexual context.

Lust of the flesh refers to the temptation of physical pleasure from some sinful activity. To do something to make the flesh feel satisfied. It can include many types of sinful activity that will bring pleasure to the body. (ex. Sex, Drug, Alcohol, Violence, etc) 

Lust of the eye is the temptation to cast our eyes upon something with desire or pleasure, even though God has told us not to look upon those things (Eve in the Garden). The sin of coveting is a good example of this, which basically means to yearn to posses. ( ex. Pornography, lusting for others, status, material possessions, appearance,etc.) When we covet we are succumbing to the lust of the eyes, which opens the door to sin. We should never desire things more than we want God. 

Pride of life is a sinful temptation for a surplus of greatness or power that one may feel tempted to attain. (ex. wanting glory, desiring power over people, feeling valued more than others,etc)

It's important for us as followers of Christ and those with a desire, to understand the significance of those three sins. As children of God we have been bullied by the enemy into situations that lead us down the path of temptation and into the door of sinning against God. One excuse I always hear is, "well nobodies perfect", "we're all human", "Jesus died for my sins, so i'm always saved".  See the thing that Christians, followers of Christ, need to understand is that Jesus did not die for you to continue in sin. He died so that you may have ever lasting life, through the death of your sins. Which means that, His blood not only washes away our sins after repentance but He has given us the KEY for strength to fight against temptation and to gain deliverance. That key is the Holy Spirit. The bible tells us that there is no temptation uncommon to man, when you are tempted, God is faithful and will provide an escape (paraphrased 1 Corinthians 10:13). See, for so long we have been settling for the excuses of "just being human" or "never being perfect" but that excuse is not valid because God has proven Himself to humanity many times and even by the creation of Life. He has set in stone His commandments and expectations. There is no reason we should continuously living in disobedience.

 Sin, simply means to miss the mark. So, its one thing to commit a sin and miss the mark. However, it's a completely different story when there is a continuation of missing the mark and living a lifestyle in sin. This then is when people begin to deny the power of God by thinking, "I'm only human". Instead of believing that we can be changed, healed, delivered, and set free.  We are shown on multiple accounts throughout the bible, stories of the Lord saving and transforming individuals from past sin. It is not possible, in my opinion, to be a Christian and live a life full of sin. Why? Well because to be a Christian simply means to be a follower of Christ, and when we follow Him, the Fruits of the Spirit should follow that. The fruits of the spirit is, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Now one may not posses all of these qualities but it should be the main objective to work towards them daily (Luke 9:23). We should not dismiss the Holy Spirit by thinking that we can be saved and sinning, it just doesn't make sense. If we are living a life of sin, what are we saved from?? Nothing. To be saved is to be set free of our sinful ways = salvation. The Lord Jesus told us that if any one wants to receive eternal life with Him, let one deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Him. For whoever desires to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for His sake will find it.  It's important to know this key factor, that we are to deny our flesh and walk by the spirit of the Lord daily. In order to do that, we must be baptized with the Holy Spirit, so transformed by a renewing in our minds. We must also trust the power of God to deliver us and help us escape sin and temptations. 

Therefore,  the act of kindness Jesus showed by dying on the cross  is not extending the invitation to continue in your mess but to lead you to repentance. "Just because grace may abound shall we continue in sin? Surely not" ( Romans 6:1). See the thing is God loves us so very much, that He was willing to become flesh and bear OUR sins on the cross for us.  That we may look to Him in the time of need and be delivered. Unfortunately today, many churches have fallen short of keeping His commandments because they don't teach people to walk in the spirit anymore. They are not exemplifying the power of Christ through the laying of hands for deliverance and healing. They are more focused on entertainment and numbers. Some barely even teach repentance and this is a huge issue in the body of Christ. The enemy has infiltrated, again, the body of Christ by manipulating church into believing that they can be saved and sinning. Or that going to church is all you need for salvation. Well, no, it's a lifestyle that continues after Sunday. In order to be successors in Christ we MUST follow His ways because the Word says not everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved but only the one that does the will of the Father. God is looking for people that are willing to step out of their lives of iniquity and walk into a life full of spiritual riches and glories with Him. Jesus intercedes at the right hand of the Father for us, hoping and praying that none of us will perish from sin. 

If your reading this and it truly speaks to you, then God is calling you to draw near to Him. To take a hold of His garment with faith and be healed. To walk with power and dominion over your flesh. He is calling you to rise up amongst your peers and be the one unafraid to change, the one who is willing to live for Him. Then you will become His hands and feet on Earth to Help others to do the same. 

Once you truly taste and see that the Lord is good, you will always desire that plate. Once you surrender to Him and experience His presence, you will no longer desire the things of the world. The Holy Spirit will begin to change your mind and attitude on things, you will become different. You just have to submit to His way, and I promise it is the best way! 

I hope this blog post has given you more insight on what the Lord expects from you. Not that you may live a life of boredom, but freedom, from sin. The Lord is calling you into repentance, will you answer?

I love you all, God bless.

(greek word) Metanoia: result of repentance, a change of mind, change in the inner man.

Galatians 5:13-26
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited,provoking and envying each other.

Revelation 3:21 

"To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne."

Depending on Jesus

After years of seeking for something to fill all of my voids, I finally had a revelation.I had been empty inside for so long, yearning for a missing puzzle piece, in which I didn't know what it was or where to find it. I came to the realization that I was not living right. Not only my lifestyle and the ultimate price I would have to pay for it...but I realized that I was relying on self way too much. I trusted my self in so many circumstances that I shouldn't have..(obviously they went poorly) However, I should have been relying on God. Whenever I was weak, I should have been relying on His strength (2 Corinthains 12:9). Whenever I was sad, I should've relied on his comfort (Psalm 34:17). Whenever I felt lonely, I should have relied on His loving presence (Proverbs 18:24).

The puzzle piece I was missing was God. He had waited so patiently for me to get it, to understand That He was all I ever needed. Nothing in this world was suffice, it wasn't able to heal me and make me whole where I had been broken. The void that had took a toll in my life for so many years was GOD SIZE. Nothing was ever going to be sufficient. and He knew that, God always wanted me right where I am today in order to be whole. It was me that allowed myself to be broken for so long, I'm the one who did not seek His face. I thought knowing of Him was good enough, but it wasn't. So, He waited patiently for me to run to Him and give all of me, to trust Him, to DEPEND on Him. So that's exactly what I began to do. I learned how to have blind faith, which I consider a heavenly gift. Blind faith is a belief without true understanding or perception. Learning to have blind faith came natural for me, because I always knew it was possible..I just didn't exercise it on the regular. However, it is not easy for everyone to do. It's hard for people to have faith in something they cant see nor understand.

 For example, if I need my bills paid and I have no money. I would have faith, blindly, knowing that God would provide for me. Although, I have absolutely no understanding as to how He would provide. However, I would still believe that He would do it.....That is blind faith. it's beautiful but sometimes it can be scary. Only because we're mere mortals, we tend to worry..But why should we? If I know my God to be a provider and I know that He cares for me...He would never leave me nor forsake me. 

"Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. " Isaiah 41:10

There has been so many times when the only solution I had was God. I had no other choice than to believe and know that He would work things out for me (Romans 8:28). Even when it felt as though there was no solution, God would always prove me wrong. Every time I depended on Him the outcome would always be miraculous. I would praise Him just for being mindful of me. God is so loving and He wants to take care of all of us. but we do have free will. If you decide to live outside of His will, you are bound for disasters and destruction. However, if you die to your flesh and live in the spirit trusting God, you will prevail!

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.." Matthew 16:25 

So ask yourself, do you have a missing puzzle piece, or a God size void? Is your situation looking hopeless and impossible to fix? or maybe you just want to become a better person? my suggestion, Depend on Jesus. He is always there when we need Him. He may not be on our time, but He is always on time. I speak from a place of experience. People always ask, "How do you believe in God when you cant see Him?" I simply respond saying, " I can see Him, everyday I watch Him move in my life. He never ceases to amaze me." Why live without Him, when you can live with Him? I truly pray that you will begin to trust God like never before, that He will show up and show out. I believe God will open doors for you that no man can close. Jesus is able and His arm is never too short to save. I will leave you all with this last scripture below. Please, meditate on it and believe with all your heart that Jesus does care for you.

1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."

Check out this song Cant Live Without, by Hollyn, a christian musician.

God Bless,

 xoxo  Ariel