REMIND. REPEAT. REFRESH.

It seems as though my FAITH had to be tested and strengthened once again in even harder way right after I shared the last post with you publicly. I shared what has been true in my life and it had to continue being true after I wrote it. It's as if I was tested after I spoke the words into existence. The devil would send me thoughts, "Oh, maybe all of that was a lie. Or even if it wasn't, you think you will keep those words? You will fail next time."

This time I want to share about FAITH, again. It's FAITH after I thought I had FAITH. Ya see, it's not that I didn't, it's that it's a new challenge EVERYDAY. Each day we have a new day, we once again have to RENEW our minds and our FAITH. It grows daily and the stronger it grows the more the enemy will try to probe you with new ways, thoughts, and ideas to try to stumble you. He will try to convince you that it's all in your head. But, the bible says, "We demolish arguments and every PRETENSION that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) This is one of the most important verses in the bible that we must put into doing in our daily lives. You see, one pastor clarified the following aspect very clearly that the only thing the devil can do is deceive us. Where can he do that? In OUR BRAIN, OUR MIND. The very first story in the bible of the devil deceiving a human was in the Garden of Eden. He deceived Eve and Adam. He didn't actually make Eve take the forbidden fruit. He simply entertained the idea and deceived her, which then she went and made the action herself. He then sits back and laughs. He just chills while you are doing the actual sin. With his deceives he also immediately is able to produce fear in us. Think about it, Eve immediately thought, well, if I don't know something that God knows then it makes me weak, not good enough.... Do you get what I'm saying? It's like peer pressure births FEAR immediately. Therefore, every time he tries to project PRETENSIONS that are pretensions, which are complete LIES, we must arrest these thoughts and demolish them with the WORD of God. And, important to note, it says, DAILY. Just like you eat daily, brush your teeth, shower, tell your beloved I love you, change your kid's diapers, you have to renew your MIND that many times. RENEW means REMIND, REPEAT, REFRESH.

For example, I will share a few personal things I was battling with over the last few weeks in terms of continue to have FAITH for. I had this absence of PEACE for a few days. It was almost as if there was no reason for it. I talked about this PEACE in the last post. It is one of the most precious things we can have. It's this divine fullness in one's heart. Contentment and you just want to praise God for everything and all you do is with ease. All of a sudden, it was gone. I didn't stop reading the WORD, or conversing with my best friend, Jesus, or praising Him.... what changed then? I kept asking God to show me, what's up? After a few days, I finally understood, why. All of a sudden I was once again worried for my future, my financial stability, job stability.... I mean look, how can you just be relaxed when you know it just won't happen because looking at the situation right now you are going down and you will be just laughed at. Maybe you should go get a different career. OKAY, that's when it suddenly hit me, that is not God speaking to me. I once again, SURRENDERED everything to God again in prayer, I praised God for His mercy and faithfulness and renewed my mind in the Word of God. God is always encouraging us. He always supports us, lifts us up, guides us, advices us and loves us. One thing that He never will say that things are just not going to work out and you will fail. They might not work out how we planned but He always works things out according to His plan. The key is that THE THINGS WORK OUT! The devil just straight up says that you will fail, you are worthless, you are not good enough, people don't like you and why do you think anyone will want to hire you. The devil wants you to be in constant FEAR and WORRY. (Which this is for another post sometime in the future how we really don't believe in God and deny Him when we have fear, worry, and have anxiety.)

Once I acknowledged that I started to focus and dwell on these thoughts, there was like a sudden boom to be like, WAKE UP. Who's report are you going to believe????? Where is the FAITH you talked about? What does the WORD actually tell me?

"The Lord is my light and my salvation- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1 NIV Can this be any clearer? If I believe in God and I sincerely search Him, why would I ever worry about my future? All of a sudden the fear was going away because when you understand that you have the most important thing in your life, Jesus, salvation and peace, all worry and anxiety disappears. BOOM. THE LIES is DEMOLISHED that you won't make it.

When everything seems to be going against you.... but you depend on Jesus, "Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident." Psalm 27:3. When you strongly believe and hold to God's truth, NOTHING WILL SCARE YOU OR WORRY you. But, we must read His WORD to remember that to be able to DEMOLISH the lies.

This verse was a BIG reminder for me. Instead of worrying about tomorrow, or months or a year ahead, TAKE HEART. "Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14 How do you stay strong? You continue reminding and believing what Jesus promised. "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." John 14:13-14

"Don't let your hearts be troubled!!!!!!!!!! TRUST IN GOD." John 14:1-2
"I am leaving you with a gift- peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid." John 14:27 Peace is a gift because the only way to have TRUE everlasting PEACE is through CHRIST. So, it clearly says that when we worry or are troubled, it is not from GOD!!!!! THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. This is one of the biggest aspects we miss and misunderstand. I used to even take pride in my stress and my worry. It is so wrong. Anytime you have fear, anxiety, worry, troubled heart my friend, remember that it is not from God. Run to God and renew your mind. Refresh it in His WORD. It is simply the devil keeping you busy with his lies. The result of it is that you are not focusing on your day and what you need to accomplish that will advance your physical life and relationship with God. That is his goal is to side track you and that you will loose hope. When you renew your mind, he has NO POWER over you when you are in the WORD of GOD and not believing what the world tells you. The world cannot give you peace because the devil is the ruler of the "world." So if you believe the  FEAR the WORLD dictates to you with all the current events especially, he will have control over you but if you STAY in the WORD of GOD AND ACTUALLY BELIEVE IN THE WORD NOT JUST IN GOD's EXISTENCE, the devil then absolutely has no power over you. You will have no fear, but only complete confidence in CHRIST. (John 14:30-31)

I cannot stress the importance of prayer enough!!! That's where most of my victories were happening. Prayer and the WORD! And, remembering how God saw you through in the past. I reminded myself of what God did for me just recently. I asked God that I really want to be in Italy again this summer to strengthen my fluency in the language, and be among the culture I love so much and then a few weeks later out of nowhere, I get an invitation to be in Italy this summer. That was a MIRACLE and answer to my prayer. I said, God I surrender my worries about my career to you (I know I'm in God's will for this career anyway, so why would I worry when I know He is guiding it) and as I am doing one job, I get a call for another. SEARCH HIM FIRST... "Seek the kingdom of God above ALL ELSE, AND LIVE righteously, and HE WILL give you everything YOU NEED." Matthew 6:33 NLT Can I get an AMEN?! THIS IS the truth, you guys. It really is. When you attend to any relationship and love and understanding grows, everything seems to workout. With God, it is definitely true. The truth shall set you free. John 8:32 Then, I had a troubling tooth. As a former dental assistant, I could tell that there is a chance it has a crack and I could spot a possible decay. I prayed for God to give me a miracle and heal it or work out a way financially. What do you think..... a few days later I walk into a fine dental office, Downtown Columbus, OH, they see me for free, and two days later I have the most expensive crown there is with no complications, in my mouth, for $500 total. (Exactly what I had in my bank at that time.) I leave the office in tears because GOD GAVE ME A MIRACLE. The dental office actually lost money doing that. They made zero. How did that happen? Prayer and FAITH! (This was also during a time right before a major performance I had coming up.) So, why would I not continue having FAITH that GOD WILL PROVIDE and SEE ME THROUGH???!! I then was in a crazy scary car crash walking out WITH OUT A SCRATCH. HELLO!!! That's a miracle.

"Come to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3 THIS IS WORD! Come on..... how can I believe the lies... If I asked, and I have FAITH, and I continue to WAIT, God will answer even beyond what I asked!!!!!!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 If your mind just cannot rest, go to Jesus. Speak to Him. Try not to focus on the problem itself but just spend time with Jesus. PRAISE HIM, search Him, meditate on HIM and things will start melting away. I'm speaking from EXPERI|ENCE. This is not just some mumble jumble.... I'm actually telling you what I personally experience. Jesus is REAL!!!

"Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4. This to me spoke as I continue searching Him. Praise Him. Be content with him what He has already done and continue waiting, He will give you the desires of your heart. Take delight in Him. HE ALREADY PROMISED THAT YOU WILL GET TO THE OTHER SIDE. I was at a wonderful prayer service in the middle of Manhattan and I was so refreshed and encouraged. (I was in awe of how many hundreds of people came to pray together!) I was just crying non stop happy tears. When you are speaking to God and you are in HIS presence, everything melts away and you just want to abide in it forever. The thing is, that you can be in HIS presence DAILY! Anyway, the pastor pointed out that when Jesus said, let's go to the other side of the lake, that means he COMMANDED it. There was no maybe, or let's try, it was a SPOKEN COMMAND we are going to the other side. That means it will happen NO MATTER WHAT. Yes, there was a storm. IT DIDN'T MEAN THAT IT WILL STOP YOU FROM GETTING TO THE OTHER SIDE. NO MATTER WHAT, if you keep your FAITH IN HIM, YOU WILL GET TO THE OTHER SIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!

You want your MIND to also be in SHAPE.... REMIND, REPEAT, REFRESH ... the moment you stop, you disintegrate

I know... my posts are probably too long.... I'm sorry, but I have to share when I share.


I pray that this serves as encouragement and fellowship to you and may God be praised through this!

With great love,
Antonina

xx