Pushing Through

I just wanted to let you all know that I am on my final academic endeavor of this crazy finals week!! After (hopefully) 6:00 tonight, I will have all of the time in the world to blog for the next three weeks!! Praise God for strength to get through all of my exams and papers and I will be praying for any of you that are, or will be, in the same situation.

One quick thought that I have had over this past week:

I have actually, in some ways, enjoyed this finals week. Almost everyone around me is majorly struggling to prepare for tests and papers, but we are struggling together and that aspect of it has been beautiful. This week is one of the largest opportunities that I have had to encourage others to hold tight to God and to focus on how they can glorify Him through everything that they do... All I want is to be continually worshiping God with whatever I am doing in 10 years.... and I don't think that the score on my bible final is going to affect how I do that (at least it shouldn't). I am not advocating an attitude of laziness towards finals and homework or work, but I do want to encourage you all to just focus on this moment and how you can glorify God to the best of your ability. If he is putting loads of studying or more hours at work on you, then find way's to glorify Him through that. It is not easy but it is a beautiful opportunity because we will all be struggling though that together.

In Him,

Celia

Fighting For Purity

Ello Everybody! The Lord is so good and his provision in our lives is AMAZING so I want to take a moment just to praise Him for all that He is and acknowledge the promptings and blessings He is placing in front of us each day according to our portions and measures!!!!

I have recently had on my heart, a calling from the Lord to gear my studies and academic endeavors towards classes that would prepare me to start my own non-profit organization. Tonight, God kind of whacked me upside the head and told me that my cause to fight for should be PURITY. Boom, the big 'P' word. Yep, thats right, I said purity. But here is the thing... Purity is not only a sexually derived word. Rather, I see purity being to will only one thing. The one thing willed in this case would be a Christ like view towards others in this ever so perverse world. This idea of purity has always been something that has stirred up thoughts in my head and emotions in my heart. The TV and movies we watch, and the material that we choose to read or view in magazines or books is a subtle yet powerful foothold into our minds. I am not saying that I want a 'see no evil/ hear no evil' type of goal/ vision, but I do want to see people shift in their awareness of what is corrupt and what is pure and then use that awareness to create interpersonal changes in action and thought.

First off, I am no pro at avoiding lustful thoughts or subconscious messages, so my intent is not to say that there is only a certain category that struggles with this (I may even dare to say that Christian men and women are those that struggle the most with this idea because of their awareness to it). We are ALL exposed to it most of the day, every day so everybody could jump on board with this.

What inspired me to write this was that when I saw something that one of my girlfriends posted on Facebook about how HOT some guys in a photo were tonight... big deal, right? Actually YES. A large aspect of this movement I want to start is not about preaching to the male choir about what derogatory terms they should't be saying to the ladies, but instead that females too often have a double standard when it comes to their relationships with men in this world. Why is it that many girls get offended when a guy describes a random girl as hot or sexy or fine or whatever other terms are used? Because that is not the value that they want to be seen as... There is no difference for men. When you think about it, I'll bet you'll start to realize just how accepted is is for women to view guys the way that they are not allowed to view us back. Why should the value of a man be found in how many ladies are rating them on a scale from 1- six pack?? I want my future husband to be a man of God that sees me as a daughter of Christ and in return, I want to tell him that his heart for the Lord is my favorite thing about him.

So here I am... a part of the minority in this world that desires for Christ to usher in an army that is fighting the enemy of lust and perversion. For it is not the people but the afflictions within them that are evil. I want to deliver a message of freedom from striving for the perfect image. I want to begin to shift how people of the opposite sex talk about, act towards and describe one another.

I would appreciate prayer for opportunities to kick this organization into gear, as I am constantly praying for protection over all of your thoughts and minds in this spiritual battle that we awake and sleep in each day and night.

A thought....

Adam and Eve didn't know that they were naked until sin entered the world...

In Him,

C

Cleansing in the Lagoon

I figured that I would begin with the first official blog post being a vision I received last night. I couldn't sleep so I decided to spend some time with God just listening to music and working on an art thing... The song Nothing but the Blood came on and I started thinking about cleansing and just how simply it is put that absolutely nothing else is sufficient for us when it comes to making us new and clean except for the blood of Jesus.

As I closed my eyes, I saw myself waist deep in the middle of a secluded and beautiful lagoon. There was a huge and powerful waterfall that was in front of me about 100 feet and I though it was incredibly beautiful, but if I went to try and bathe under it, I would surely get crushed by its power and weight.

I was absolutely alone but I was covered in a thick crusty layer of mud. I was trying to splash the crystal clear water onto my arms to get it off. I rubbed and rubbed but the dirt would just smudge and stay put on my body. After doing that for a while, I saw Jesus wading out to where I was standing. He knew that my method was not sufficient for getting clean and he asked why I wasn't under the waterfall cleaning the junk off instead. I replied with the excuse that I would get crushed if I went under it. He gave me a look that just wasn't having my reasoning and said back

"No Celia, you need to go and walk through the waterfall in order to get clean and you know that."

Well I DID indeed know that that was what I needed to do but at the same time I was so scared that I was going to get crushed under the pressure of the waterfall, so.... I waded over to it and just stood there for a minute. I looked back at Jesus who was where I had been previously standing. He motioned for me to go on with his hand. As I hesitantly ventured under the waterfall, I felt the pure water for what it really was. For it was not just water, but rather a mixture of Jesus' blood and love. It was so overwhelming and joy bearing that I felt like I would fall under the Glory of it any second but at the same time I felt the sensation of it holding me up and sustaining me throughout my walk to the other side.

As I reached the other side, Jesus was waiting for me and he was holding a body-length mirror so that I could see what I looked like clean. Not only was the thick crusty mud gone, but my skin shimmered with speckles of silver and gold. It was the most beautiful way I have ever seen myself. I felt whole and perfect and His soft eyes affirmed that in my inner being.

The whole point of that encounter was for Him to tell me that I need to be going DIRECTLY to His love, blood and forgiveness in order to be clean and perfect and whole in Him. The water I was splashing on myself initially represented the false things I run to when I want to feel forgiven and filled, because submersing myself into the entirety of His love and grace seems so intimidating at times. The thing is, when we do go directly to Him, the weight of His glory is so incredible that it is hard to not feel forgiven and filled back up.

I want to get to a point where I am not only filled up, but overflowing. For to be overflowing, we much be constantly poured into. I am here to grow and grow with all of you which is exciting, so lets keep going deeper shall we?!

In Him,

C

Hello all!

I have been praying about starting a blog for a while now so here it is! I want this blog to be something that can ignite The Burning Ones (us) of this generation to just dig into the beauty of Jesus and what treasures can be found in His word so that we may all be encouraged in the most intimate way. We are The Burning Ones so let us begin to walk in that authority to glorify the Father!

In Him,

C