'Leaf' it up to God.

    I remember being a dirty-faced eight year old little girl filling a bucket of cherries from the cherry tree growing in the open field across from my father's house. The cherries were so good I just couldn't help but to indulge, covering myself in stains that seemed like blood around my lips and all over my summer clothes. I would climb up to the top imagining myself being far more adventurous than I really was, breaking multiple limbs, or dragon necks, along the way. I could care less about the tree I just wanted the mystical princess treasure- the sweet fruit.
    To this day I imagine myself far more adventurous than I actually am. And I still could care less about the tree, I just want the fruit. What kind of cherries, or apples, or mangos, or bananas would there be if there was no tree? There wouldn't be. When a farmer goes to grow the apple tree, he doesn't water and prune the apple itself, he nurtures the tree.
    We want the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, but we're focusing too intently on the fruit itself instead of the One who produces it. We need a source, we need the tree, or in this case, we need the Spirit. We can't conjure up fruit out of thin air, unless we want it to be synthetic and fake. It might taste for a moment like the real thing, but with time it will leave a bad flavor on your tongue and for all who taste it.
    Changing our hearts is the Holy Spirit's job. We can never be our own Savior. All we can do is keep our eyes soberly focused on the One who redeems, falling deeper in love with Him, praying He sanctifies us to become more like Himself. When we take time to properly nurture or relationship with Christ, the fruit will bloom as it should. As it's promised. Then we will be like dirty-faced eight year olds, wearing the proof that the tree exists and the fruit is sweet all over our faces for everyone to see.

-HJ

Stop The Traffic

     Have you ever seen a human being sold on a shelf at Walmart? No? You probably never will either, but does that mean humans aren't for sale? Or does that just mean they are allusively being sold right under our noses...

    Did you know the average age of entry into prostitution for a child victim in the United States is 13-14 years old? Kids are neglected or run away from home, alone and vulnerable they are scooped up by a pimp claiming to want to help. Next thing you know they are being abused in more ways than one, forced to sell their bodies for money. One out of every three of these teens on the street will be lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. Ridiculous.

To make a slight shift in conversation, you'd have to be blind not to see that Hip Hop is one of the biggest influential genres of music we have in this entire world. It's enjoyed in every country by all sorts of people with many different backgrounds. Anyone can see plainly the affect Hip Hop has on a vast range of listeners. So what would happen if we mixed the two? You know, Hip Hop and Human Trafficking. What if there was hip hop that spoke on the topic of human trafficking, people would be sure to listen, right? Okay so we have the "awareness" portion down, but what about the social action? What if this CD dedicated to the haunting topic gave all of its proceeds towards helping END this slavery and give hope?

    King Kulture is the name of the album that will do just that! Embodying both awareness and action, Rapzilla.com put together a collaboration of the hottest artists for a memorable album that will be sure to pierce hearts, bump hard in speakers, and raise money for 'New York City Urban Project' (NYCUP) in aiding the fight against Human Trafficking. (To learn more about NYCUP check out this video.)

    I am especially excited to be one of the the many artist on this project helping to make a change! You can be apart now by preordering the CD from iTunes and grabbing the KK Merchandise which proceeds will fight human trafficking, transform lives, and push towards reconciling them to God. Humans are not for sale!

Lets do this!

-HillaryJane

"Not For Sale"

Thank you toMarkkinho for the song video.

The Gospel is not about what you think..

    The best gift of the Gospel is not the forgiveness of sins, or salvation. The best gift of the Gospel is not eternity. The Best gift of the gospel is seeing and savoring the supremacy of Christ! Everything else is a means to that end. Everything else is an arrow pointing to this truth. Without the forgiveness of sins we would not be able, with our dimmed eyes and heartened, wicked hearts, to begin to understand and explore the Supremacy of Christ. Without a promised eternity we would not have the ample time to continue exploring the bottomless depths of His Supremacy. The gift of the Gospel is being able to see God is Supreme over all, and worshipping Him for that. <3

And this video with that said, this John Piper video explaining the supremacy of Christ will be the best thing you watch all year...

-HJ

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Confidence in Prayer

 When Christ commands us to pray, beckons us to pray, strengthens us to pray, He really does intend to meet our needs and desires. Yes, even our desires, what we want.

 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." -Matthew 7:7-8

   The sad thing is we tend to read scriptures out of context and not read the bible as a whole vessel and truth. This is not a magic formula to get what ever we want from Daddy, this is a promise for the Righteous. He is speaking this to Christians -and despite this western cultured religion we have "made" of Christianity- Christ is speaking about a people who are drenched in God, living and serving Him. This is where the confidence in prayer comes from. 

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4
"May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!" Psalm 20:4

    God has no issue in giving Christians the desires of their heart because of the first part of that scripture- "Delight yourself in the Lord." This articulates that the person praying is so close to God their heart is on one-accord with His. When we are so intertwined with God there is an alignment that happens with our hearts and spirits; we desire what He desires for us and want what he wants for us. His will is our Will. Then, when we pray it's like we're praying with His heart. He is really only doing and giving us what He already wants to do and give. "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us." -1 John: 5:14

  

   When we are flippantly praying out of selfish ambition and our heart is not aligned with Christ's, we shouldn't expect a thing.  "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." James 4:3  

  

   There is no doubt you will know when your heart is aligned with the Lord's. Ummm.. it's somewhat similar to you and your friend/lover being able to 'talk with your eyes' from across the room. Me and my best friend, Lacey, can have whole conversations as we put it. You just have that chemistry and know them well enough to do so. Spend time seeking God, praying, reading His truths, and building a relationship with Him that grows deeper each day! There will definitely be a sort of confidence that comes about your prayers and petitions that you have never experienced when you feel so close to the Source.  

  Disclaimer: We are HUMAN! We are faulty! Also, if we could know the heart and mind of God 100% of the time He would cease to be God, Creator of the Heavens and Earth. Which is why Jesus teaches us to pray "Your will be done." Which in short says, "God, I'm pretty sure this is what you want for me too but please do what you see fit. Even if that means your answer for my prayer is either 'no' or 'not now' because You are most wise." (Not that He needs our permission, this simply displays respect, trust, and submission to The King.) This is another dynamic our hearts should have towards prayer.   

Recap:

1.) One accord produces confidence
2.) Have trust & an open hand

Too Much Love,

HJ                                                                                                                              Facebook & Twitter