Victory is Yours!

Posted on by samanthas

Can we be honest for a moment? 

What do you do when your whole world flips upside down and one that was once filled with hope, dreams, aspirations and plans, is now filled with hopelessness and despair? 

What do you do when your spouse leaves you or when your wayward child, or loved one just doesn’t come home? Or when the Lord asks you to leave the job you love?

What do you do when life happens? When confusion and anxiety sets in, and it just gets hard?

Can I tell you what I did?

Ready for it?

Surrender.

Easier said than done, I know.

If you ask anyone closest to me, you’ll quickly learn that I LOVE to be in control. In control of my life, my schedule, and in control of my time. Every detail pertaining to my life, if I can control it, I’d love too.

But that’s the thing, I can’t control any part of my life; none of us can.

When life happens, and it does, the Bible gives us a clear example of what full surrender looks like. 

In Luke 22:42a Before Jesus was arrested and crucified, he went to the Mount of Olives. There he knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me.”.

Isn’t it encouraging to see that even Christ had a moment in his walk with God where even he wanted to “throw in the towel”. Give up.

And that’s okay.

It’s okay if you and I have those kinds of moments. We’re human! Just like Christ was when he prayed that prayer.

What’s not okay is if we actually throw in the towel, because like Jesus’ calling, people’s eternity depends on us walking out God’s will for our lives.

In Luke 22:42, Jesus continues his prayer to God and says, “Yet I want your will, not mine.”

Similarly, if we call ourselves followers of Christ, our journey has to include becoming like Christ. In our actions and even in our surrender to Him.

This past year, when “life” was happening, and it was for me, I lost control. And the more I tried to gain control, I only lost it some more. It was in that moment when I was reminded about Christ and his surrender, when all hope seemed lost, that I surrendered. 

I said, “Lord, not my will, but your will be done. I surrender everything. My plans, my thoughts, my emotions, my family, my relationships, everything.” You name it, I surrendered it. 

Even as I type this blog post, I’m reminded of the verse from John 12:25, (TPT)

“The person who loves his life and pampers himself will miss true life!

But the one who detaches his (or her) life from this world and abandons himself to me (Jesus), will find true life and enjoy it forever!..”

You see Beloved, God’s ways are not our ways. His ways are higher. (See Isaiah 55:8-9.) But, like Christ, we need to surrender fully to Him and His ways. When we do, victory is Ours through Christ Jesus.

To receive Your victory and fully surrender to His way of doing life, read the prayer:

Abba, (Father)

I am your Beloved. In this moment, I declare that I am not my own. Not only do I want the victory, but through Jesus Christ, the victory is already MINE. I surrender my current ways of doing life. My actions, my thoughts, and my desires, I give them to you. Like Christ, I surrender my will for Your will.

If you prayed that prayer, or even rededicated your life to Christ, making a conscious decision to “not settle”, Beloved, say hello below. I’d love to connect with you personally. -XO

#BelovedDoNotSettle

No. More. Excuses.

Posted on by samanthas

In the present, it is SO easy to make excuses both for others and most importantly, for ourselves.

Excuses on why we haven’t lost that baby weight, why we haven’t started that course we’ve always dreamt about or my favorite, why we haven’t launched into that dream hidden deep in our hearts. You name it, it’s easy to make an excuse. No matter what it is.

If you know even the slightest part of my story, you know that I too, can easily make excuses.

You see, according to medical statistics I should be a woman with no ability to make friends or even formulate sentences- let alone speak them.

“Why?”, you might ask.

Hemifacial Microsomia.

Growing up with this congenital disorder which affected the formation of my ear, mouth and mandible- on the right side of my face meant I was frequently in and out of the hospital hanging out at doctor’s offices and taking every type of test you can imagine.

I remember the doctor’s always being concerned for me. “Is she going to make friends?”, “Is she going to be able to speak properly without a stutter?” “Is she going to be normal?”. (Okay, that last one I just added for laughs, but they might have well said it.) For years, different people tried their best to “remedy” my disability.

In my last post, “More Than a Hashtag”, you read that in 2012 I found myself in a place of brokenness. What should have been a routine procedure that previous year turned into hours under anesthesia and an appointment that went completely wrong! You see, during that procedure, I caught an infection. An infection that literally caused deterioration in both my physical body and spiritual body.  

My identity was stripped. Who I thought I was, was stripped.

So you see, by this alone, I could have found it easy to make excuses for moving on with my life.

But what good would that have produced?

1 Timothy 4:12 says,

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

In that moment where everything that could go wrong did go wrong, I had to make a decision. A decision to stop making excuses.

When my last ER visit went completely wrong, I no longer had an identity to hide behind. I was exposed. There was no place and no person to run to other than God.

Beloved, my God has a race marked out for you. No matter your past, no matter your present. No matter the excuses you can conjure up.

But, it takes you throwing off every excuse that is hindering you in order to run your race.

No matter what “it” is, may you throw it off today because Jesus died for it all.

To stop making excuses and run the race marked out for you, read the prayer below:

Abba, (Father)

I am your Beloved. I receive your plan for my life. Today I throw off every excuse that hinders me from running the race marked out for me. I invite you into my situation. Help me to run the race marked out for me in Jesus name.

If you prayed that prayer, or even rededicated your life to Christ, making a conscious decision to “not settle”, Beloved, say hello below. I’d love to connect with you personally. -XO

#BelovedDoNotSettle

More Than a Hashtag

Posted on by samanthas

I was 21 years old.

Sitting at a funeral to a woman I knew little of. All I knew was that she attended my church and that she served in the church choir.  I sat there in that funeral feeling broken, alone, with no sense of direction for my life.

When news broke out that Christen was fighting for her life, the entire church, myself included, rallied alongside one another to call down the healing, resurrection power of God. But it never came. At least not on this side of eternity. Rather, her purpose did.

Romans 8:28 says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

As the funeral continued her husband stood in front of everyone. With every eye on him, he began to share from Christen’s journal. In the midst of tears, in the midst of sadness, in the midst of loss, he read the words she once journaled : “Beloved, do not settle.”. And that’s when He spoke.

I wish I could tell you what else was being shared by her husband but I can’t.

The only thing I could think of was my situation at the time. I was young, lost, alone and stuck in a four year toxic relationship. While I knew not what was happening at that moment, years later, I see now how God through the loss of Christen’s life, did indeed save a life- mine.

That year in 2012, I died. Died to myself. I decided that I would no longer “settle” for the things of this world. Not in life, not in love, not in relationships. (Cue, my infamous #BelovedDoNotSettle hashtag.)

You see, to me, it’s more than a hashtag.

It’s a way of living. It is my life’s motto.

Had I not accepted the call to “not settle” who knows where life would have taken me.

I probably would’ve continued to travel down a path of brokenness and loneliness with no end in sight- but God! By His grace and mighty strength, I gained the power to say “No” to the temptations of this world and “Yes” to his will. As I did, He began to strip away things that did not bring him glory. Including that four year toxic relationship.

From speaking engagements, to raising up the next generation of victorious children as a Ministry Director, I truly believe that NONE of these opportunities would have been possible had I not opened up my heart to God and obeyed his word as He spoke: “Beloved, do not settle.”.

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

(John 12:24 NIV)

Beloved, (dearly loved, worthy of love, favorite)

My God has impeccable plans for your life. Plans that you cannot even begin to imagine. No matter what you have done or what has been done to you, you just have to receive His plans for your life.

But it starts with a decision. A decision to follow Him and die to self. I promise you, you will not be disappointed.

To receive all that He has for you, read the prayer below:

Abba, (Father)

I am your Beloved, dearly loved, and worthy of love. Today I admit that I fall short and I am a sinner. Because your blood is greater than my past, I open up my heart to you and ask you to be the Lord of my life, my mind and my heart. Wash me by your blood. Thank you for receiving me as I receive you. In Jesus name, amen.

If you prayed that prayer or even rededicated your life to Christ making a conscious decision to “not settle”, Beloved, say hello below. I’d love to connect with you personally. – XO

#BelovedDoNotSettle