Sunday 13 January 2013

What Is She Reading: Lioness Arising

 
Hey Beautiful,

I wanted to share with you a book I'm reading that's had the cog wheels of my mind turning. An old high school friend and I had recently rekindled our friendship via facebook. She had observed my posts over a number of months and surprised me one day with sending me this book.

I had no expectations and had never heard of the author Lisa Bevere myself. Needless to say, I've been Awakened and hooked ever since. I haven't quite finished it yet, but its been such a blessing.

If any of you have read Lioness Arising, please feel free to comment and share your thoughts. I'll post a full review once I'm done. Thanks for being such a blessing Katrina

God Bless you x





Friday 11 January 2013

Thank You!




Overwhelmed. Its the most accurate word I can use to describe how I'm feeling. I just wanted to thank you all for taking the time to visit my blog page, read and leave comments.

I was nervous in this new venture of expression and wasn't sure what to expect. I'm seeing the fruits so it was well worth it.

Your feedback has been more than I could have ever imagined and will endeavour to post updates as regularly as my schedule allows.If there are any topics you'd like me to cover feel free to let me know and I will do my best to include them.

Remember....Jesus Loves you,

Love Serena x

Monday 7 January 2013

Living Life In Overflow





When thinking about what the content of my first ever blog should be, I thought about the purpose placed in my heart to write one. I've always enjoyed reading and writing and I actually didn't realise how much until I began to declutter my living room and bedroom, preparing for my long overdue home decorating project. What a lot of junk I had amassed....

I’d asked my adorable mother to assist me and she’d brought along an extra pair of hands, in the form of my gorgeous younger cousin Allana... The hidden treasures we dug up were worth far more than rubies! I found Birthday cards, Christmas cards, family pictures, invitations and Journals that were 5 - 6 years old. Everything from non-fiction books, cookery, interior design, autobiographies to educational psychology books (my favourite scientific topic and my current major).

Reading and reminiscing over some of my happiest and darkest moments filled me with a mixture of emotions that propelled me into moments of silence and deep thought. I was saying goodbye to aspects of my past and present. Seeing so much of it flash before me all at once, gripped me quite suddenly.

As Mum and Allana left, I felt off balance. Every “Why did this happen to me” and “Why did I do that” possible floated through my mind. I decided I was going to spend some time with God. Get in His presence, Talk to Him, pour my heart out, read His word, but most importantly allow myself to be still enough to hear what He had to say. I'd had a lot on my mind and needed direction, I knew the only place I was going to get exactly what I needed (not what I wanted) was from Him.

For most of the day, ‘abundance’ kept rising in me. ‘Abundance’, ‘Live in abundance’. I’d hear it over and over and over again. I looked up John 10:10 the Amplified Version and found

 “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it [a]overflows).”

I looked up the word ‘Abundantly’ to understand its true meaning. What did Jesus mean when He said this? Why was it so relevant to me? This is what I found.

Abundance means - Exceeding some number or measure or rank or need
1.       Over and above, more than is necessary, superadded. exceeding abundantly, supremely
2.       Something further, more, much more than all, more plainly
3.       Superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon, pre-eminence, superiority, advantage, more eminent, more remarkable, more excellent

Wow! My Goodness!

Christ came so you and I could have access to the above. A life that far exceeds our expectations. A life that is more than extraordinary! Where we have advantage and superiority over anything and everything that life may present to us!

I'm sharing this with you because I know....I am not the only woman to have experienced moments of heart ache, disappointment, loneliness or pain.  Life happens to all of us. The devil is real and will attempt repeatedly use our past and even our present to cause us to relive depths of despair and loneliness. He looks for moments to steal from us. Taking our focus away from where and who we are right now, to whom we once were and our momentary circumstances. He knows that if he keeps us there for long enough we will die a slow painful death. Full of doubt, insecurity and fear that will eventually destroy the core of who we are.

I was even thrown into doubt about blogging. "What would people say? I wondered. "What would they think? "Am I even good enough to do this? "Why would anybody care about what me...lil ole "Serena" has to say? But I knew and still know this is not about me about me. Like all of us, I am an instrument. A tool that when connected with others brings about change in the world we live in and eternity yet to come.I'm standing on the promise that Christ came so we could enjoy life. Enjoy it with Him and share it with those we love and who God desires for us to be a blessing to.We cannot embrace all the above if we remain in rooted in what once was.

So this life that you and I are living right now....although it may not be perfect, although you may not be where you want to be. Have the perfect job, house, husband, wife or child, your life has been given to you for you to Enjoy! It is a Gift! What do we do with Gifts??? We receive them, and give Thanks! Live it to the full till it over flows!!!

Here are 6 ways I begin to appreciate and Enjoy Life!

1.       Give thanks for what you already have right now, this very second. Family, friendships, a home, your job, college, University, your health, your life. One way we can begin to enjoy our lives is to appreciate what we currently have. It may not seem like much, but once you begin to call them out you’ll realise you have a whole lot more to be thankful for than you thought! It sounds so cliché ..but there are millions of people all over the world that do not have the most basic things we take for granted day to day. 
2.       Remind yourself of what you have ALREADY overcome. Read this carefully, I'm not suggesting for you to ponder on and uproot your past, but sometimes we forget how much we have already overcome. What has God brought you through? You may have had cancer, survived a horrific childbirth experience, been homeless, jobless, friend of family less. Been lied to or cheated on. Abused mentally, physically or emotionally. But guess what??? Your still here. It didn't take you out! That is something to rejoice about! Life goes on. It does not stop there is renewed strength in you to carry on. Stop being so hard on yourself!
3.      Awaken what Lies Within. You are beautifully, wonderfully and uniquely made. There is no other man, woman or child that has been created like you. In Genesis Chapter 1 at the point of creation,God creates us in His image and then pronounces a blessing over us. He tells us to be fruitful and multiply. There are gifts, talents, purpose living on the inside of you and some of you don’t even know it yet! What have you been called to do? What is the area God desires for you to be fruitful and multiply in? Is it Business, The Arts, Health, Fashion??There is a great joy in tapping into Gods perfect plan for your life. He gives us all things to Enjoy!
4.    Seek out Gods Promises. There are over 3,000 promises God makes to us through His word. 3,000! One new promise to explore every day for years!These promises are a reflection of how much He loves us, is rooting for us and desires for us to excel, have and be the best we can be. This tells us there is more for us to develop, grow and mature into. More for us to Experience and Receive
5.    Make a list of things that you ENJOY doing! Do you like to read? Paint or draw? Do you love hair and make-up  Are you a gem in the kitchen? Love to cook or bake? Do you love to travel and experience other cultures? Are you a fashionista and love shopping it up! (Within your budget of course! No need to get into debt over a pair of cute shoes that pinch your feet!) Do you like to put a smile on the faces of those you love by doing special things for them? Start to tap into that side of you you've been suppressing for far too long....you might just realise there’s a whole lot of fun living on the inside of you.      
6.       Take Care of You. Whether male or female we love to look and feel great about ourselves. But the outward appearance is merely the icing on the cake. What's going on on the inside? When you remove the make up and the cute outfit, are you at peace with you? Do you love or hate what you see? What are you battling with? Often, the outward appearance is a façade and you are fooling no one but you! Jesus tells us in Matthew 4:4 ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’ therefore what we feed our mind and our spirit matters! What you watch, listen to and surround yourself with becomes internalised and you become a reflection of it. Take care of you by reviewing and taking stock of what you expose yourself to. There were some things I just had to say goodbye to because it wasn't doing my soul any good. I'm better for it and God has been able to add more to me as a result.


I'll share that with you in another post but, these are the six things that I have done and continue to do to encourage myself to enjoy and appreciate everything I have been blessed with. I want to live that abundant extraordinary life, that life of overflow Christ died for you and I to have.

Its ours if were willing to receive it...Be encouraged...Keep moving forward!

God Bless You x