Whole-Hearted

It's been over a year that I have been living on my own. When I first moved my biggest independence worries were learning to pay bills, buy groceries, cook for myself, and navigate around town without getting lost. Though through this process of being independent I have learned that it is so much more than that for me. It's about putting all my hearts dependance on God. It's about not loosing my focus when life meets me with a train wreck. It's about making time to devote time and energy to pursuing God's will, God's love, and God's path for my life. I need God to hold onto my heart, not the world to, the enemy to, or myself to hold onto it. I need to be whole-hearted.
For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. 2 Chronicals 16:9


|Cure for Heart Disease|
When the ground is shaking I can stand firm with You
and though trials will prevail, so will Your love.
With energy at a low and my heart heavy with weight
there's passion, persistence and courage in an envelope to date.
Behold the truth and create a pattern you can submit
for the prescription for disorder is in a healthy heart that envelopes a God
so mighty in love and mighty in peace
So pick up every piece and gather your faith
cause God has the glue to cure this disease.
Smile and rejoice cause He has the cure
the cure to find what you've been searching for.


Whole-hearted my heart will be Yours.

Love you all,
KatrinaMarie 

Never Easy

Where are you standing in your faith?
Personally I strive to stand closest to the front lines, ready to embrace the challenges and blessings God has for me. There will always be pressure to cause you to sway, and the stronger in Christ you become, the more the attacks also seem to come. With that, it will also become easier to hold strong with your beliefs because God becomes more real and more important to lean on in stressful times.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book called outliers. Though I have not personally read this book, yet, I have done some research on his writings. He talks about this 10,000 Hour Rule. To be great, or really master something, he says you must put at least 10,000 hours into the task you're trying to become great at. Think about this, that is 3 hours a day, for a decade! It's obvious, the more time you spend on something, the better you become.
Spending time with God is important in your daily life. If you want to achieve a better understanding of God or want God's love to become more prominent in your life, then spend time with Him. My only question is, how willing are you to put in the effort to learn about God into your daily life? There is so much I want to learn about God, and to put it simply..
I want to know God the way He knows me.
Do you?
Motivation is hard, I completely understand. Start with small daily goals. Goals you know you can achieve. I once made my New Years resolution to read the bible in a year. Yes, it is a great challenge, though I never broke down my daily goals, and never achieved this resolution because I had no direction for goals I knew I could achieve in a timely manner.
 
I love finding music by well known artists that are about God in some way. Katy Perry's first album was a Christian album, though not many people know this. She never hit big until her hit single "I Kissed A Girl." This new album "Teenage Dream" is similar to her type of songs, although there is one song that stands out among the rest. It's called, "Who Am I Living For." When you listen to the lyrics, it's obvious she is talking about her struggle with keeping her faith in her media influenced lifestyle.

"It’s never easy to be chosen, never easy to be called
Standing on the front line when the bombs start to fall
I can see the heavens but I still hear the flames
Calling out my name."

God has chose each and every one of us to be Christ children, and to make disciples of Him. Christians stand on the "front lines" of the battle for Christ to become known. Katy's lyrics mention how she can see the heavens, yet the flames are calling her name. She wants to be focused on Christ, but the influence of satan is strong. I know for a fact that she is not alone in this struggle. Many Christians face this influence on a daily basis, and the more we bask in Christ's love and fellowship the stronger we will be to ignore the negative influence.
In Peter 4:12-19 It talks about the sufferings Christians endure.
Verse 14: If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
Basically when you're feeling attacked, stand strong in Christ, you are being attacked because satan feels threatened by you, and God blesses you for being strong in your faith.


Verse 18: “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
 God does not just want us to be strong in Him, he wants us to ask Him for help to stand strong in Him. We will find strength when we most need it because He is so willing to make sure we can pull through our struggles. In case you did not know, God wants the absolute best for you and your life! He wants you to be healthy, He wants you to succeed, He wants you to feel comfortable in your skin, He wants you to have less worries, He wants you to be happy! Many people have this idea that God is unhappy with them. God is love. Which means He is without hate; He has his passionate, unconditional, and never ending love for ALL of His people.

Listen to this song by Katy Perry. For me I found comfort, comfort that I am not alone in struggles, even if our struggles many not compare the same exact way, we all endure struggles about who we are living for.

May you have a wonderful and blessed weekend. Happy Friday!

Love you all,

KatrinaMarie

With Him

I won't go into too much detail about what this is portraying since it is pretty obvious.
However, I will ask you a question, "When you pray with Jesus/God do you give him the time to respond?"
 When I think about praying, I think about how I'm praying with Him, not just to Him. This video is a great example of someone praying to Jesus/God. When you're talking to someone you're not really expecting a response. So next time you pray, talk with God, and expect His response.

Thanks for reading my blog,
Love you all,
KatrinaMarie

Your Culture.

Hello and welcome to my blog!

Tonight I got off work at five pm. I was excited, even though I pretty much love my job. I was mostly excited because I was able to make the Saturday night service at Discovery. The worship rocked, as usual. But not only did the worship rock, but the preaching was wonderful too!
The youth pastor spoke tonight and he was talking about being an influence on your culture. One analogy he gave us was really vivid and easy to understand.
His point was about how many Christians just go to church, and then go home and don't live out what they've learned or heard.
He said for example..
Imagine going to a football game, for those of you who LOVE football you may paint your face, or have the fun foam finger and be all excited for it! And the team is excited too! They have warm ups with chants, and then they get in the huddle, talk about the play they're going to make. They're all pumped and they even hit each other as a way to show they are excited.. or something.. haha.
Though, once they release from the huddle, they go sit on the bench.

...
....
.....
......uhm..? what?


Now as a fan, wouldn't you be a little disappointed?

Well, they get back in the huddle to talk about the play and are getting all excited again! "Hey man, this one's really gonna get them! Yeahh!"
They're encouraging each other..
They break..

and once again, they go sit on the bench..

...
....
.....
......uhm...? really??

Do you want to continue watching this team? A team who gets rowdy and excited about what they plan to do. Though they never follow through and even try to play the game...
Chances are, you're not sticking around for this game...

Now look at this in comparison to Christians.
You go to church, hear a great sermon that gets you all kinds of pumped up!
"The service was great today!" "That message really spoke to me!"
But they go home, and go on with life. As if they never heard the message!! 

I am not condeming you, trust me on this. It's a habit many, including myself have been guilty of.
They say people will know you by your testimony. So if someone was to go to your work, or your school and talk to the people you encounter daily. And mention, hey, did you know so and so is a Christian?
What would their response be?
"HAHAHA...funny joke!!"
"Is that why they're so happy all the time?"
"Yeah, I know! They won't shut up about it!"
"I think you have the wrong person here..."

Those are just examples.. So when you're going about your day.. are you hiding the fact that you know a God who can change the lives of your culture? Or have people noticed something different about you? Maybe the way you carry yourself, the way you treat people, the way you act. From another message I heard a long time ago. This lady mentioned how sad people in this world are, if you've people watched, you'll agree with this. Though if you know Jesus, you should be able to smile and rejoice, even in the midst of trails. So if you know about God, the happy God who absolutely adores you and everyone else on the earth. Tell your face about it! Let His joy show in your life! Even in the worst of days, you can smile because you know your God is holding you through it. So next time you get excited about the service you attend, or the right words from God you hear. Do the best you possibly can to let that live through you!
Now I know we're not all perfect, and we're not always going to get this step right! Though the more you try, the easier it becomes to let God live through you. People will know you by your testimony. So when you face hard times, and you make it through easier then most expected, they'll notice. 
So think about it, what can you do to influence your culture? Will you get out there and play, or will you sit on the bench?

Thank You for reading my blog,
God Bless!
Love you all,
KatrinaMarie

King

Who or what do you think of when you hear the word King?

There's so many different things the work King represents. Dictionary.com's first definition says: a male sovereign or monarch; a man who holds by life tenure, and usually by hereditary right, the chief authority over a country and people.
Who or what are you thinking of? For example I know about thirteen different ones.
- Cards, King of Hearts, King of Diamonds, King of Spades, King of Clubs.
- Burger King, not only the restaurant, but the ever so popular mascot.
- Chess King. He's not the very best piece to hold, but he is pretty important.
- Checkers King. This of course is great to have in checkers, you know you're doing well when you've got a few of these stacked up.
- King Tut, if you enjoy learning some history about the Egyptians you know who I'm talking about. If not, please go back to 6th grade and pay attention when your teacher is teaching history.
- King Arthur. The movie was released in 2004 receiving three awards and seven nominations. Or the legendary British leader who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defense of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early sixth century....Yeah.
- Motorcycles, the Suzuki B-King, the ultimate street bike!
- Lion King. Yes, Disney has tons of Kings, but I think the most famous of them is the Lion King. [come on, it's in the title of the story, all the other kings are just there because of the princesses]
- King Crabs! Also called Stone Crabs or Paralithodes Camtschaticus. [I totally know how to pronounce those words... O_o ] They're pretty scary, Google them!
-King.com! It's a website for games! Free Games, and they give out 300,000 in daily prizes...*Cough*in Euro money*Cough*
- For you avid readers out there, Stephen King. He wrote over one hundred and fifty written works! That's amazing!
- King Instruments! Trombones, Saxophones, Trumpets, Tubas, etc...

Ok, seriously..
When I hear or read or whatever of the word King. I think of the Jesus. The one who died for all of mine, and the worlds past, present, and future sins. Although the very typical "King" reference is of a man in royalty who is in charge of a kingdom. He wears a fancy red robe, wears a fancy golden crown, and gets only the best of the best castle, food, and servers waiting on him hand and foot.
Jesus is King, but he wore a different type of crown.
The Crown of Thorns is mentioned four different times that I am aware of in the bible: Matthew 27:29, Mark 15:17, John 19:2, John 19:5. All of them being incidents where Jesus was either being mocked or was on his way to getting crucified. I mention this because King is such a powerful position. I think of Jesus as my King because He is he ruler of my life, He is in charge! Jesus is not King just to be a ruler, He is King because He Loves us, and wants only the very best for our lives. When we make Him the ruler, Him the one to make the plans, then we live in His will. God's will. God's will isn't about following a set of rules and regulations, it's about creating a relationship with God and through getting to know His character and His personality for yourself and then you will eventually overflow with God's character.
Matthew 23: 25-28 says:
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.
In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

So my question for you is. Who or what have you made King in your life? And I don't ask this to see how clean your outside is, I ask to see how your heart is doing? Are you willing to give God your heart and mind so He can live through you? So he can comfort you, bless you, protect you, provide for you, heal you, etc..

Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

God wants nothing but the absolute best for you! And since He is a gentleman, He will never force anything upon you. Which means you may have to reach out to God, let Him know you want Him to help you, you want Him to have control, you want to live in His will. It's a promise that He'll be there when you seek Him. So I ask again, Who or what is your King? And how important is your King to your life?

Thanks for reading my blog,
I appreciate is mucho lots!
Love You All,
KatrinaMarie

Post.Script.
Thanks to Google, Imdb.com, and Wikipedia for some interesting facts about King's. Oh, and of course the Bible(NIV). =]]]
Also, I painted that painting at the top of this blog. Like it?

Support in the Wind

What do you think of when you see a kite?

Does it remind you of your childhood. Young, Free, Happy, Amused...
When I first think of a kite, I think about the times I would go to Bodega Bay, California when I was young. [For those of you who don't know, I grew up in Sonoma, California, and moved to Florida when I was 13.] It was about an hour drive to this beach. On the way there we would always stop at this little souvenir store that sold tons of colorful kites. [not to mention the BEST salt-water taffy...yummm]
Now when I see kite's, I see a whole new perspective.
I look at the structure of the kite, what holds the kite together in the heavy wind. The cross. The cross that holds the diamond shape together, so it is not getting beaten up in the wind, and is able to sustain momentum even in the strongest winds. [Are you getting the comparison?] Sometimes life has some really rough winds that try and tear us apart. Whether that be stress within school, family, relationships, employment, ourselves, etc... Yet when we rely on His strength that sustains us, His peace that comforts us, His love that surrounds us, His life that is in us, or Him dying on the cross so His blessings and promises could be possible for us. To life happy, to live abundantly, to live Free! When I think of a kite. I think of Jesus, I think so how I have to rely on His strength to hold my head high, no matter what I'm going through. No one is perfect, minus Jesus, but we can strive to be as close to the God image we were meant to be. And we don't have to do this because it's what God expects us to do, we can do it because we want to, because we want God's life and His fruits to be coming through every pore or our being. Because within God's presence we share a unearthly happiness that not one human or worldy thing could replace.
The scripture in Habakkuk 3: 17-18: Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
I think about how, no matter how messed up life is [or how strong the wind tries to tear me apart] God is always there and because of that I can rejoice! So...

Be free, free like a kite. Relying on the cross for support in the wind.

Love you all,

KatrinaMarie

Desperate.

[This is my first blog, so I suppose it's quite typical for me to put a small message here about...stuff. First off, one of my best friends, BrittanyRose, inspired me to start writing blogs. Our blog names start with the same word. Yes, I did this on purpose. [Hope you're okay with this Britt!] For weeks I had been wanting to start writing, and now when I get the time [when I say time, I mean I'm putting aside sleep for a short bit.] I don't feel as inspired with as much words. Though it will be a process. For now I'm going to my roots of a original blogging norm for myself.  Poetry.]

This poem was written Monday March 29, 2010 while I was listening to worship music at Revolution Church of Arcadia. God told me to get a pen and some paper, this is what came out...

There's a spirit inside of you,
So very desperate to move.
Forget the pain, there is love covering you.
His love, full of compassion and grace,
Wanting to break through.
Through your walls,
Through your anger,
Through your fears,
To set free your dreams,
And prove the Christ in you.
Child be calm,
There's peace readily available for you.
Your flesh was forgiven,
And now it's time to let His spirit show through.
Show through and begin the Revolution in you,
Because there's a movement in you.
A movement that praises your Redeemer.
A movement that reflects your Savior.
A movement that is steadfast.
And declaring the whole of you.
Declaring to the world who lives in you.
So stand up,
And share who died for you,
Will you?


God is seriously infatuated with you. [when I say "you" I mean every single human being on this earth, no matter who you are inside and/or out.] He really does LOVE all of his people. He sent His son to die for you and then He sent His Spirit to live in you. His spirit was sent to comfort you when you're sad, to help you when you're struggling, and guide you to make wise decisions. Though as awesome as it is to know His spirit is inside of you, it's ever more awesome to tell the people who do not know Christ's spirit is inside of them. Revelation is a beautiful thing, and when a mass amount of people get a revelation it starts a movement, which creates a Revolution.