Tag Archives: christian faith

Presence, Thoughts, Uncategorized

.:Your.Heart.Is.Revealed:.

Your heart and who you are is revealed when the toughest of times has made its way into your life. Which is why I LOVE the story of Paul and Silas in prison! In Acts 16:16-40 we read about these two men who were, stripped, beaten, severely flogged.. then thrown into a prison cell and feet fastened in stocks. Stop for a moment and think about what your state of mind would be. Where many would blame God, or sit and complain about what happened…in agony be questioning God and His plans…  these two men prayed to God and sang hymns. Worship was their response to what was going on, not doubt, or worry, or fear.

In the most difficult time for them, their heart was revealed by their response to a situation. Their heart’s were still for God. They decided that worshiping and singing hymns to Him in that moment…was the best way to handle what was going on, it was necessary and the first thing they could think of. How many of you would be able to respond with prayer and worship after having the worst scenario thrown at you? Because of what they did, BOOM! Ground shook and the all the doors flew open and all the chains were broken off them and the other prisoners. How amazing that God would use the heart and worship of someone else to set others free. No matter what you face, Don’t allow anything to take away your love for God…and your worship!  You have no idea how powerful it truly is. Your story can bring freedom, your worship can break chains, your prayers are powerful that heaven invades! Never doubt the power of God in your life and what He can do in your situations. No matter how messy you think it is, He can still move in your circumstance and work a miracle. Believe.

Prayer:
God you are incredible, you are able to turn around our situations… you are able to take a mess bring healing and freedom. We pray that you would invade our hearts, and cause our heart to always to love you NO MATTER WHAT WE FACE. In our happiest and in hardest of times… be the center, be the joy and strength of our heart! amen! [Psalm 73:26]

-Martha Inez

 

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.You’re Faithful.

“You’re faithful through every season”...
During worship on Wednesday, this one line kept repeating over and over in my mind… and I couldn’t help but cry. I began to think back to all of the different seasons in my life… the really good ones and the extremely hard ones… through some of my happiest moments or heartbreaking moments… God has been faithful. There have been so many different seasons in my life but the one that stuck out to me the most… was this past year and how very difficult  it was for me… I cried a lot. No really, A LOT. My heart hurt and many times I just pushed the pain aside and tried not to focus on it, instead of giving it over to God. Well that wasn’t very smart was it? Because it didn’t fix anything, it prolonged the healing process. Eventually, after being sick of still crying over the same issue, I ended up giving it over to God, and almost DAILY! I think I the only reason I kept pushing it aside, was because I didn’t want to appear like I didn’t have things together. I didn’t want to look like I was an emotional mess, I wanted to believe I was strong and able to handle this with no problem. It was obvious to those around me, that I wasn’t OK, when you’re not able to be yourself… it’s obvious there’s something wrong. When you try and handle things in your own strength, you’re bound to stay in a pit. Friend, get out of the pit… call for help, there are helping hands ready to pull you out!

I’m so glad I have friends in my life that have always checked up on me, that have encouraged me and prayed for me and with me. And how amazing is our God that He is always there through it all!! He was comforting me, pouring out love and peace and bringing the most incredible people in my life that knew how to call the Gold out in me…when all I felt I had was some measly rocks and pebbles… He used others to be my iron  that sharpens iron and show me that there was far more in me than I realized.

I think it’s REALLY IMPORTANT to surround yourself with men and woman of God. Especially when you’re in times of difficulty and struggle. That is a time to be closer to God and those who can help you, that’s not a time to run and hide. Don’t try and hide your “junk” or “mess”… its OK to be messy and not have it all together. We’ve all been there!! Be open and honest with those close in your life and the ones that you know can provide words of wisdom that will help pull you out of a pit. And never forget, that no matter what season you’re in… GOD IS FAITHFUL. Always.

He isn’t intimidated by our junk, or scared to touch it. He’s an expert at healing, mending, restoring, etc. Whatever season you find yourself in right now… remember He is there, His love never fails and His love will carry you through it all. Whether the season is your best or worst 🙂 He is faithful in EVERY season.

Martha.Inez

Prayer:
God, thank you that no matter what we face… no matter what season we’re in… You’re there. You’re Faithful. You’re comforting and pouring out your love and peace. You’re constantly reminding us of how loved we are and you’re bringing the right people in our lives that know how to call out the Gold and help us walk out our destiny and calling. Thank you God, for never giving up on us… we love you SO MUCH! Help us to never be ashamed when we’re in a rut, but to learn to call out for help to those you have put in our lives to be our iron that sharpens iron. amen. 

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Thoughts, Uncategorized

.Be.Happy.

Being happy is a choice. It’s changing your mind on how you see things, for example, seeing an opportunity in a problem or the positive in a negative situation. How we feel about a matter, comes from how we perceive it.

The other day I was speaking with a friend of mine who will be moving back home, she was feeling discouraged with herself and sad. She pointed out all the negative things she was seeing in her situation and most of those were in her mind. Things like, “what will people think of me”.. “I feel like a failure almost”.. “I’m going back with less money than I came with”… as she shared different things she was feeling I said, “Look at the amazing friends you have made though… and your walk with God totally grew!” I reminded her that though she was going back home with less money, that it wasn’t as important when compared to what she’s going back with spiritually. She has had an incredible few months here! She’s made great connections, built amazing friendships, she found a church she can call home when she visits, she’s had God encounters that have left her in awe of Him. After she realized this, she was happy!

It’s all in how we view what is going on. You can choose to see the light in the dark or choose to be scared in the dark.

Last month I was super sad and nearly depressed for not being married with kids yet (side note: It’s not a “loneliness” issue, I’ve never struggled with that, Praise God!) … turning 29 next month was scaring me! (OK it wasn’t just last month..it’s been awhile) This month, after talking with the most incredible people God has put in my life and asking God to reveal things to me that I’m not seeing, I’ve realized a lot of things I wasn’t noticing!

Now, I’m SO HAPPY with my life and where God has me. I really don’t care about being single, in fact, I’ve challenged myself to be the happiest single I know! which hasn’t really been a challenge at all now, weird. There’s a lot this past year that I’ve allowed to affect my emotions, not just the single part, its been many different stuff. My heart is at complete peace right now 🙂 There are certain things I’m not worried about anymore, such as, where my life is going, what I’ll end up doing after this job, when I will be married, am I going to live in SJ forever etc. I trust that God is going to open the right doors, guide me where I should go, provide whatever I need.. the list goes on.  I’m just not placing worry and fear in those things anymore, but rather… placing trust and excitement there instead.

I encourage anyone who is full of fear or worry, to spend time with God and ask him to reveal things to you that you haven’t looked at.. I’m praying that your perspective on things changes… and that you are able to feel peace and joy in your heart by giving Him all the things that have been bombarding your mind and putting weight on you. Take the weight off and give Him the load.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” -1 Peter 5:7
“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:30

I hope this helped some of you. and I hope you can truly Be.Happy. Remind yourself of how GOOD God is… He’s never forgotten about you, He’s faithful!

Prayer:
God I pray for those who are feeling overwhelmed with life, who are feeling anxiety, heavy, a weight on their shoulders, worried, scared, fearful etc. And I pray that you would consume them with your peace and pour out your love on their hearts. I pray that you would reveal to them something they haven’t noticed about their situation, help them to see the light in the dark, to be strong and confident in knowing that you are taking care of them. I declare peace over all of those who are feeling chaos in their hearts, and comfort to those who are feeling alone. God, give them all a big hug and remind them of how much you are madly in love with them. amen.

-Martha Inez-

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Presence, Thoughts, Uncategorized

.LET.GO.ALREADY.

Remember that one time [OK, those several times!] When you told God “I trust you! Here, take this!!”… “This” being: a situation, a bad habit, a relationship/friendship, etc. Whatever it was for you, you knew it wasn’t good for you and though you said to Him “Here, take this!” … you still held on to it like a rope, with a tight grip 😉 I mean, this thing wasn’t going very far from your reach since you held held on to it with a mighty passion! Do you FULLY trust God to take care of you or do you not trust Him? I woke up this morning having to apologize to God for saying I trusted Him in a certain area… yet, with smile had a grip on the rope 🙂 it was easier for me to Trust Him if I knew I slightly had control. That’s not trusting God at all. That was me being confident that I could still have my way if I held on to this thing for as long as I could… though deep deep down.. I KNEW.. this just isn’t for me.

So, how about we learn to LET GO of things that we KNOW we shouldn’t be holding on to. YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT IS… today, let’s FULLY TRUST GOD and actually mean it when we say “God, I trust you… I know you will take care of me..” .. and let go of the rope.. if you have tied a knot around your wrist with it, get the scissors or a knife.. sometimes I feel like I took a rope and tied it around my whole body.. haha! or If I did let go.. I quickly ran after it as it flew away, jumped up on and started to climb right back to it. Let’s be wise with our heart ♥ and know that God has never failed us… so we needn’t have any fear or worry, He’s got our back. He will provide, He will comfort, He will make a way, He will restore, He will look after your heart 🙂 Has he ever given you a reason NOT to trust Him? He knows what’s best for us and can do some amazing things in our lives if we fully trust Him and surrender wanting to know ALL the answers.

Let’s let go together 🙂

Prayer:
God, you’re amazing… we love you and we surrender wanting all the answers or feeling like we need to know what’s going to happen next. We fully trust you, we fully let go and trust that you are going to take care of us… that you’re going to make sure our heart is save.. you have our best interest in mind… God we let go of fear, worry, doubt, and we say I TRUST YOU GOD. I LOVE YOU.
yup, amen  

-Martha Inez

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.FEAR is a monster.

Let me tell you something people… FEAR is ugly and robs you of your future and the gifts and desires inside of you. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT LET FEAR STOP YOU from ANYTHING. I know you are passionate about something, or curious about trying something, or wondering if you’d be good at such and such. [You fill in the blanks]. Stop with the “what if” and thinking of what could go wrong, cross that bridge IF you get there. Don’t feel sorry for yourself or complain about what you lack or compare yourself to someone else. Stop That! FEAR is a nasty monster and it wants you to give it power. Give fear NO PERMISSION or AUTHORITY in your life. Take control, you have been given AUTHORITY OVER FEAR. YOU have been given a spirit of POWER [2 Timothy 1:7] Remember WHO’s you are and WHO you are… you’re mighty and you know it 

Prayer:
Fear is ugly and stupid… God, help us to see that and truly KNOW it deep down in our hearts. We want to passionately go after the desires and gifts you put in our heart WITH OUT FEAR holding us back. We cut the ties to fear and bury it in the ground..never to be dug up again. Help us to stand tall and strong and confident in knowing we can and will reach our goals. Amen.

-Martha Galvan-

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.Just DO IT.

[My FB status posted 5.10.13]

I’ve been having moments lately where I JUST DO IT! “It” is different for all of us. Most likely “It” can be taking a risk. This past month is exactly what “It” has been for me  and I just did it!! More than once, I’ve taken that leap WITHOUT thinking long and hard about it, WITHOUT consulting with myself first, because too many times when I do that I TALK MYSELF OUT OF IT! So this time I just did it!! I feel nervous now…BUT I’m not listening to the thoughts of doubt and fear, ok sometimes I do haha! Not for too long though, I flush them out of my head because I know who I am.. I know who God has created me to be.. I know what HE says of me… and His words alone… are all I need to move forward.Take the leap! Jump! Hop! Skip to it! Just DO IT!! Sometimes we’re the ones holding ourselves back from things we desire to pursue. Stop it!! A risk is no guarantee that things will work out… oh but what if it does?! If ur heart is in it… n you’ve got the passion… ??!! I just can’t say no to something for the FEAR of FAILING… I know about some people who failed a few times at something they ended up being great at. *caugh* Michael Jordan. Fear is a dream stopper… and I give fear the boot  it doesn’t have my permission to hangout in my life  I’d rather take a risk then live in fear or constantly wonder “what if”. 

**my response to someone who said: I COMPLETELY agree with you! I just wanted you to remember that taking a risk doesn’t necessarily mean success since I seem to have that delusional logic in thinking…**

aww.. you’re not delusional! its called hope. and hope is good to have. Healthy Hope! Any decision we make… I think they should be made from a healthy heart and with wisdom. If we make decisions solely off emotions, we may find ourselves standing in a place we didn’t envision for ourselves. I don’t think all impulse decisions are bad.. every case is different.. but I do think if you’r going to “Just do it” and take a risk.. then monitoring your heart and knowing where you are mentally and emotionally is wise. They go hand in hand. Healthy mind and healthy heart. Wisdom is so important. my recent risks weren’t done without having considered my hearts health and where my heart stood in the situation. These were both decisions that I feel were for the best, one was something I’ve been passionate about for a long time.. and I KNOW I haven’t done anything in that area because of fear. the other decision was an opportunity for me to grow as a person and to help families out too… both things I really want to see in my life. So they were risks and changes I took knowing that my heart is in a good place, mentally Im in a good place.. it was a decision off impulse but definitely soaked in wisdom and knowing where I am in life to do just say yes to them  ya know? But yeah, making decisions without considering certain things in your life.. probably not the best thing to do. We’ve all been there.. done that..and learned from it

Papa God:
Help us to just do it ..and go after the things in our hearts… as simple as that 🙂

-Martha Inez-

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.Keep Loving.

[My FB status from 5.9.13]

Sometimes it’s VERY DIFFICULT to love people that keep hurting you… and sometimes those people aren’t hurting you intentionally but they have some deep rooted issues that cause them to act and think a certain way. Continue to love them and pray for them. Declare that breakthrough is coming. I know, don’t we wish it came years ago for them? Yes! But don’t give up on the ones you love… when they are at their low and worst… that’s when they need your love the most  plus, we’re not perfect either… we all need some more work and growing from time to time ♥♡

Prayer:
Lord, you KNOW how difficult it is for us to LOVE people unconditionally… especially those close to our hearts. God please help us stretch out grace to them.. and to not give up on them… when they need us most.. I pray our hearts be moved to draw closer to them and not push them away. Your love casts out all fear… I pray your love would consume those close to us.. because we loved on them non-stop! amen!

-Martha Inez-

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Thoughts, Uncategorized

.Peace.

[My FB status posted: 5.6.13]

sometimes I’m not at peace… and if my heart is not at peace… my day is not looking too happy. “Let the PEACE of Christ rule in your hearts…” [Colossians 3:15] Just read this right now… and it was a reminder to me… to always allow peace to RULE my heart, not uncertainty, confusion, frustration, anger, doubt, insecurity… etc. I could keep going… I’m sure many of us can  whoopsy daisy  We often allow situations and circumstances to rule our hearts… forgetting that we can just call upon God and cast all worries off… and let the PEACE of Christ rule in our heart. Lead and love and live from a heart that IS Peace   Remember that Jesus brought peace to the storm… so don’t worry about your storm, Let Peace rule your heart  and allow God to work things out… 

Prayer:
Jesus… you ARE peace, help us remember that YOU rule our hearts.. that no circumstance or situation will ever take your place or remove peace. We choose to operate out of a peaceful heart.. a heart in love with your presence.. amen

-Martha Inez-

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.Unskilled.

[my FB status I posted on 4.30.13]

I had some thoughts today that assured me of how insanely unskilled I am to accomplish certain things. Then I flushed them out of my head, they don’t belong there and I give them no power or permission to hangout up there  If you have the same thing happen to you, FLUSH those suckers out!! Think highly of yourself, even if you don’t feel it, trust me, other’s see how amazing you are when you don’t see it. Be Positive. Speak life over yourself. Like Dory from Finding Nemo once said “Just keep swimming” 

Papa:
Remind us of who we are, and help us to we speak life over ourselves. We do NOT want to submit to feeling sorry for ourselves or making excuses about our lack of skill. You qualify us, and what you say about us in a still quiet voice is what our hearts pick up over the loudest lie about us… that’s our prayer lord… that we learn to hear YOUR voice above all others. amen!

-Martha Inez-

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