This weekend I took some BIG steps of faith, overcame some of my own fears and obstacles and i am ready for what God has around the next corner.  I hope this video will provide some encouragement to you on overcome your own fears and obstacles and to take some steps of faith.

We must prepare ourselves to live for God no matter what life brings us. This is something that we should learn to do from a young age. Because, the fact is no matter how young you are, or no matter how old you are, life is not “a bed of roses”. Life will slam you with many things.

You must be firmly planted. In order to face life’s challenges, in order to stay strong come what may you must have faith. Faith, as Scripture says, “Comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) After we have accepted through faith, Jesus Christ into our lives we must then begin the process of “growing” in our faith. This is what will allow us to be “firmly planted” come what may.

As Ephesians 4 states,

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8This is why it[a] says:
“When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men.”

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4: 7-16

Therefore, this growth is important it is what prepares us to be able to stand firm, “come what may”. So, begin now no matter what your age to grow in your faith. If you are not already doing so begin a daily quiet time with God, spending time in prayer and in Bible study. Seek out a mentor and spend time with them, someone who is Godly and more mature spiritually than yourself. Regularly attend worship services, becoming actively involved in the church through service. These are all things that will help you to grow in your faith and as a result not be shifted like sand when life’s challenges come about you can stand firm, “come what may”.

Photo Credit: Martin LaBar

Alyssa looks back over the past year of hiatus from the show and then looks back on the past 10 years and what God has done. She shares her heart, her testimony and encouragement for you and your daughter as she looks back maybe you can too. Then look ahead to what God can do in your life and in the life of your daughter.

God can do some amazing things. Reflect on what he is doing in your life. Listen as Alyssa shares what he has done and is doing in hers. God has a journey for you just like he has one for hers.

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

If you have ever struggled through any situation in life, and you’re a Christian, then you probably understand the process of faith. It is by faith that we come to know and believe in Christ. It is by faith that we walk, not by sight. Does anyone besides me find this a difficult thing to do sometimes? I think that we all struggle. Without struggles, valley experiences in our life, we would never be able to soar above the mountaintops. Don’t you agree?

My faith has gotten me through many things in life, financial difficulties, and family illnesses. My first experiences with it that I remember I was around 13 or 14 years old and dealing with the severe illness of my grandfather, who we lost to cancer, at the age of 56. I then experienced it more and more throughout my teen years, dealing with friends, parents, making decisions about my future. God always seemed to make me wait on that next step. I always wanted the big picture, a road map, a completed puzzle, not just one piece, but he was faithful to reveal his plans to me piece by piece. He is still doing that today.

Since marrying, I have been through many difficult times financially, not certain where the next dollar would come from, but it always came sometimes 10 or 100 fold. Yes, I have actually had someone hand me a $1000 for nothing, a blessing yes, a miracle, no, just God’s work! I like to call it God’s miracle math. His math sure works better than mine.
With this comes learning to be faithful as well. I had to be a faithful servant and give back to God. I also had to be conservative with what God had given me. Those blessings of love offerings I have always tried to use to God’s glory. It has been through those blessings that I have been able to attend Seminary, debt free!

I could honestly go on and on about faith, not placing any importance on me, however giving GOD the glory! If you are struggling, keep walking in faith, and remember “we live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)

Photo credit: hamed

Dear Readers:

I am looking to guest blog on the blogs of other Christian women whether your blog is a mom blog, a business blog or a ministry blog I’d love to come and make a guest post for you.

I would like to volunteer to blog about the following topics:

Faith
Family
Ministry
Mom-Daughter Relationships

If there is something you’d like to see me blog about on your blog that isn’t listed just suggest it and I’ll see what can do. To have me guest post on your blog simply leave a comment with your information below or contact me by email at alyssa @ beautybydesignonline.com (no spaces). I look forward to hearing from you.

It is unlike anything else you will do with your life. Having faith is something that takes a long time to understand and even longer to truly feel that you have. As the Bible says,

“Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

Faith begins with a relationship with Jesus Christ, the man who gave everything, even His own life for our sins. So, why do we feel that we can hold back, keeping things from Him, especially our lives and what we COULD be doing for Him. Yet, we aren’t we’re keeping them for our own use and selfishly trying to please our own selves more than we are trying to please Him.

Maybe it is due to a “lack of faith”, after all Hebrews 11:6 says that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (NIV) That is what often keeps us from truly doing for Him, truly living for Him, our own lack of faith.

For some people don’t understand why they need faith in the first place. Faith is needed for several reasons.

1.It takes faith to begin your relationship with God. Because God is someone we can’t see, touch, or hear audibly it takes faith even to come to know and trust Him. Once you do the other parts of faith become a little more manageable.

After all faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We may not hear God audibly but we do hear his word. Faith is also an act of “belief” we all have the ability to believe. Just like you believe that a chair in your home will hold you up, you believe that God is real. You must believe that God is real and that He had His one and only son Jesus die to save us from our sins.

2.You also need faith to truly enjoy the benefits of being a part of the family of God. As Christians, we walk in our own assurance and faith that God is who He says that He is and will do what he says He will do. Everyday life takes faith. And with that faith we enjoy the blessings that God has promised to us.

3.We need faith to point others to Christ. Without the evidence of our faith, many times it is hard to show others the way. God commands us to “go into all the world” without our own faith assured we will not be able to do that effectively.

4.Faith also allows us to grow. We can experience growth as a person and as a Christian through faith. Reading God’s word, spending time in prayer and with other believers in fellowship helps us to do this.

We may think that it takes a great deal of faith to truly accomplish something, however, be reminded that the Bible says if you have faith as small as a mustard seed that you can tell the mountain to move from here to there and it will.

It may not take a large amount of faith to act, but sometimes we feel that it does. Sometimes we feel nudged to take action but we hesitate. Taking our own leap of faith is often scary. Do you need help taking a leap of faith? Check out “Faith Leaps” and see if we can help you with your “leap of faith”.

Photo Credit: C@rljones

This morning in Sunday School class we were asked to describe God in one word.  The word that immediately came to my mind is “love” and He is that, however a friend of mine used the word “faithful”, which I can more than agree with.  God is faithful.  Lately this is a description I have seen evident in my life.  God’s faithfulness is evident in each and every day.

Though it is often difficult to live each day by faith, and though it doesn’t seem to get any easier with each day that passes, God doesn’t seem to have the same difficulty being faithful to me.  In fact, He seems to provide for me, be there for me and guide me with ease.  I guess that’s why He’s God and I am only human huh?

These are just my random thoughts today, as I try desperately to provide something for you to think about.  Regardless, I hope that you will think of what God is to you, today, tomorrow, always.  Leave me your thoughts in the comments below.