Forever and a Day

I cannot wait for the day I meet Him face to face!

My beloved, I'm in desperate need of you.

You turned my wrong to good, my sadness to joy.

You took my broken pieces together and held them in Your hand.

Your embrace is what I long for every morning, every dawn, every night, every starry sky.

I miss you.

I cannot wait till the day I meet you, constantly praise you.

Oh, Holy King, I wait on you patiently.

I wait on You quietly.

Whisper to my heart, I want to hear you.

Praise be to the One who loved me first.

I was made for LOVE.

Brokenness Into Beauty: He rescued us. His Love. I am Yours.

He has rescued you. He has won the victory for you!

All because He loves YOU!

Exactly who you are, not for what you will do, do or have done.

He has called you His.

Knows you by name.

Wake up, and thank Him! Praise Him! He's the same forever!

"I am Yours and Yours forever..."

Brokenness Into Beauty: God's Voice

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

Continuing from the previous post, I must remind you that God uses our brokenness for the Great! He turns our messes into beauty!

When we're the most overwhelmed,

when our hearts are the heaviest,

when the storms of life seem to never cease,

when He feels the furthest away...

He faithfully longs to embrace us. To love us.

He created YOU to LOVE YOU!

Believe.

Choose Faith over fear, feelings, loneliness, brokenness, sadness, pain.

(Aside from the facts, the pain; Abide in His love, through faith, and obedience.)

And Peace will be granted!

His Peace is His Word.

He whispers it softly, until we're still enough to hear Him.

Be still my mind and know Peace.

Be still my soul and know Peace

Be still my body and know Peace

Be still my heart and know comfort.

"...I will never leave you or forsake you. I know your name and have engraved it on the palm of my hand. I hold your tears in a bottle and ache with you. My grace is sufficient and I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. I'm right here"

-Your Loving Father

(Deuteronomy 31:6, Psalm 139, Psalm 56:8, 2 Corinthians 12:9, John 16:33)

Above the circumstance, the problem, the storm; Let yourself be washed and cleansed by the waters. He will not let you drown! He knows you, He created you, and He is with you from the day he formed you and now. So do not fear, He has redeemed you and called you by name; He has called you His.

(Isaiah 43)

With Love,

Estefania

Brokenness Into Beauty: Pain

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18). After reading my daily devotional, but right before feeling like crumbs and very much broken, God could not have spoken any clearer. His embrace. His love. His voice. He loves me. He wanted me to know that. He is working on something. For the best. And so I felt, I thought, I knew, I believed: That without this ache in my body and soul, I would be in the same position I was not long ago. The brokenness, loneliness, this painfulness, drew me closer to Him. He changed my view from the pain to Him. I was brought to redemption once again. I was brought to the hands of love. To eternal peace. Brought forth to humility, for what I am not, but ALL He is. Believing that through my brokenness, blindness, my pain, the exhaustion, He still reigned. His love never fails. He is still working for my good. He has promised so. And He has called me His. When your heart is so heavy, and your whole body aches. When you are exhausted, and the pain in your chest wont go away. When the doubt and confusion in your mind fog His voice at once. When His heart's whispers are no more. When you feel alone and without hope. When being broken is all you know. When peace and joy have left you, and pain wont go. When nothing matters, and you've let everything and everyone go ....He is with you. Right next to you. He's holding on. He wont leave your side. He's right by your side. He holds your heart, and aches with you. Every painful memory, every situation, all the tears you've released, He knows them. He holds them. If you only let go your burdens, He'll provide the peace. He'll carry them for you. Throughout your transgressions, He never left you. This world is temporary, and it brings loneliness, pain and sorrow. Believe in Him, He has conquered the world. Trust Him. He loves you. Before the thought of you was conceived in your mother, His heart had thought of you. His plans for you are good. He knows why things happen, just trust in Him. He wants to be with you, He longs to make His love known. He longs to be intimate with you. To hold your hand and be your strength. To share His plans and thoughts for your life. There will never be a perfect man. For He sent the only righteous man, His Son, to die for you. That's how much He loves you. That's how much He longed to have a relationship with you. While we were still powerless, full of sin, damaged goods, He gave His life for you and I. For our brokenness, for our mistakes, for the foolish, for our past, present, and future. In our brokenness, He is glorified. He's attracted to the broken hearted and low in spirit. Because through them He is everything. So when your heart is overwhelmed, humble yourself, look up! He's about to do great things. He's about to make Himself known. He's going to be greatly magnified! Embrace the pain. Rejoice! I hope this helps you too: "I know that you are desperately clinging to the broken and mismatched remnants of your life, wondering how you can go on. Whispers of the enemy creep into your heart, soul and mind, taunting you with the lie that you are just too dirty and broken for God to love or use. It seems as if nothing and no one can change that reality, so you might as well give up, throwing your life away. Nothing could be further from the truth, girlfriend. In fact, God is drawn to broken people, choosing the most broken to do His highest work. His light shines best through broken people. Never underestimate the power of one, tiny broken seed. Placed in the right hands, it will surely grow into an expression of His beauty for all to see. Let's Pray Father, I come to You, broken and desperate for Your love and grace. Please heal the broken places in my life. I surrender my hurt and pain to You and ask You to transform it all into something beautiful that glorifies You. I choose to trust You - not my feelings or human understanding. I choose to walk by faith and not by sight. In Jesus' name,Amen. Now It's Your Turn If you really want God to change your life and teach you how to embrace your pain, you must be willing to make several choices: I choose faith over doubt. I choose to believe God's Word over man's wisdom or logic. I choose to stand firm and trust God when the storms of life come. I choose to count on God's holiness and perfect plan for my life instead of my effort." www.girlfriendsingod.com *I will be posting a continuing post for this

Happy 100th birthday Lucille Ball :]

"I Love Lucy!"

I remember waking up every morning of my middle school years watching this; getting ready and laughing at Lucy's amazing humor. Childlike, bright, and funny. All of it made me laugh.

The black and white screen captivated me from beginning to end.

Looking back, I remember crying at parts of it, but always laughing at the end. I can barely remember some of the episodes, but snips of it definitely stuck with me.

Enjoy!

In Search of Wisdom

In chaos, when my thoughts feel out of order, when things are not getting anywhere, I fail to ask for wisdom. Instead, I go about my day keeping the mess that invades my mind, and it projects through out my day. Recently, I have faced times where I am hungry for more of God's Word, Presence, and Wisdom. Where moments of chaos are unacceptable, and His wisdom is necessary.

Truth is, searching could only lead to revelation. Not just any revelation, but a revelation that is satisfying. One beyond myself, my agenda, my thoughts. I am relentless until my eyes are open to what is truth. In fact, not only through His word do I find it but through those around me. What I may not see in me, those before me, ahead of me, do. It is only supernatural how God makes each individual part of a bigger picture, a puzzle piece. Key people in my life pour into me this truth, and make this revelation clear.

About three days ago, someone dearly to me (definitely a spiritual guide and example), had to resume and make a book report on leadership qualities. One of them was integrity. After reading his responses, it lead me to look it up.

Integrity: "...the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness," "...the state of being whole and undivided," "internal consistency or lack of corruption...".

At that moment, I felt to put my life under a microscope and align it to this word. I asked for God to search me, and show me where I wasn't standing firm on all biblical principles, where I was not honest, where there was corruption. A prayer I thought was my everyday cry, but at the mention of this word, it became so real, an exact measure of life. I desire to be a person of integrity.

He speaks loud and soft, but always clear. Undeniable is His voice. I cannot deny the works of His Holy Spirit in me. These past few days since the time I read that, have been nothing but His Spirit saying, "See? Do you see that?" All of them pointing out things I was blind or even numb to. From actions filtered through my past, to present thoughts and emotions. There's no doubt in my mind, the things I find impossible to change, will.

Today God wanted me, and you, to know that the process is not by our own strength but through His power, which is His Spirit. The same spirit that dwells in us. As we seek, the puzzle pieces come together. Everyday they become more obvious. In search of wisdom, I found that the process began with a step essential to gain it. A divine wisdom that would illuminate dark, forgotten, and areas of my life that I considered messes. And that step was to address my integrity. My perception of it was blunt, but in order to gain the wisdom I long for, it needs to be addressed though God's power. Only then will it be evident in my thoughts, my actions, and my surroundings. Today God spoke. Using this quote found though Bill Johnson speaking about the nature of wisdom, that goes along with 2 Chronicles 9:3-4;

"Divine wisdom springs from integrity, and becomes manifest through creative expression with excellence as its standard. Wherever we find ourselves operating in any of these three expressions we are being touched by divine wisdom. " -A Life of Miracles. Published by Destiny Image

Why Deny Love?

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.
Andwe ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters" 1 John 3:16

Something I have notice when it comes to denying true love, a love that only God can give, is that it is stopped at the head which wont let it reach the heart. And as we are command to do so, love doesn't just flow through our heart, but our entire being. (Deuteronomy 6:5; Mathew 22:37)

So what is preventing our mind to accept such love?

Our mind just might be in these two states:

A mind closed against what the truth is because of ignorance and prejudice and cannot tell the difference from right and wrong, truth and lies, light and darkness. (This may be caused by: not searching God's word and presence, not feeding your spirit, practicing your faith, or laziness and comfort all around in your life.)

A mind closed against it because of pride, arrogance, vanity, ego, and stubbornness; willingly living against it. So the mind refuses to admit the truth. (This may be caused by admitting defeat, making your life bigger than your God, indulging in what the world has to offer, by admitting that by your own strength you have accomplished where you are now. Believing these things lead to a dead spiritual life, a chance of increase in pride and perversity.)

First we must know that such love contains all truth, nothing less (John 1:14, 14:6). That it can only increase and bring light once accepted, and it is undeniably stronger than any other force in this planet (1 John 4:4). But it is a sacrifice in itself. To gain it we must destroy all other loves (Mark 10:21), all other habits against it, and give all of our lives entirely to pursue love

To love is to obey. To love is to be whole in Christ alone. (Deuteronomy 11:13; John 14:24; 1 John 2:5) And until that day, we can love one another in truth, in all love. Real Love. God's love.

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have
sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart." 1
Peter 1:22

With Love,

Estefania Villarreal

7/24/11: Second baseball game together & first Night at the Ballpark with Calvary Church. (:

Introduction to Myself

"Dear self,

You shall write a lot more often.

Sincerely,

-yourself."

Truth is I have a lot to say, very little time, and not many words to describe. I believe there's a lot more in me that leads me to write than I care to admit. As for my first post, I would like to share a bit of me on a list; with no order of importance, or importance in itself.

1. I cannot deny a scoop of fresh cold vanilla ice cream.
2. Usually always compared to every other nationality in the planet, except for what I am: Mexican.
3. Which makes this sad; I can't roll my tongue. So my R's sound like D's.
4. Recently visited Austin, Texas. [and I fell in love]
5. Currently in college

I think that's enough random stuff.

So, unto things that matter:

1. In love with a loving, powerful, merciful God.
2. My family is composed of all those who consider my mother their mom. [plus three dogs]
3. I am the oldest of the three biological children, and I'm still trying to figure out why me.
4. Currently work at a building maintenance company and serve/intern at Calvary Church.
5. I have an amazing best friend, who recently became my boyfriend.