An Interesting Thursday…

So each week in my English class, we get what’s called an “Article of the Week” or “AOW”. Basically, it’s a news article on some random current event that we must annotate and discuss on the Thursday of the week we get it in a Socratic Seminar (aka, a large group discussion about our opinions and views of the article).
Explanation aside, today we got our last AOW of the year and it was on a thing called the Ferguson Effect. Basically, the police and the people in Chicago and other cities with similar trends, are looking for something to blame for the intense increase of crime and murder rates in these cities, statistics that have gone higher than they have been in decades. It’s perfectly plausible that they would want to blame something or someone, even if only to avoid being blamed.

However, what struck me as odd about this article was how it seemed like I knew this was coming. Like I knew what was going on. I thought about, then remembered something I had read a few weeks ago about the six seals when looking in Revelations. I know God made me remember, because I wouldn’t have thought of something that specific. Revelations 6:3-4 says “When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.”
Needless to say…… It’s gonna be a really interesting Thursday…

I will post an update after the seminar to tell you guys how it went.

The Crown of Thorns Revelation

I met a beautiful freshman named “Susan” (name has been changed for privacy) this morning, just talking to her about general things like the weather and our love of Starbucks drinks. I felt like I should invite her to my show, and at first she politely said, “No thanks”. Then a random girl walked over and said, “I’ll go because I’m nice,” taking my poster and walking away.

As the girl left, Susan explained that the girl had been treating her badly and teasing her, trying to make Susan start a fight. She asked what the show was so I explained it, handing her a poster from my backpack. I asked her what the girl was teasing her about, and Susan avoided the question, reading my poster silently.

Suddenly she looked up at me. “You were suicidal??” she asked, disbelief and concern shadowing her tone.

I simply smiled slightly and asked again, “What does she tease you about?”

Realization flashed over her face, and she got very quiet. I took this chance to encourage her to stay strong and have hope, then the bell rang for class and I left, letting her keep the poster.

The sad truth is, bullying has become a ‘normal’ and even ‘acceptable’ part of society. Even when we’re just little kids, we’re told it’s normal to be picked on and teased.

No. It’s not normal.

It’s normal for some people to dislike you. It’s normal for people to disagree with you.

It’s NOT normal to dread going to school in third grade because you are constantly ridiculed every day, to the point of self harm and later, suicidal thoughts. It’s NOT normal to fear being seen, because the bully and their friends will corner and beat you if they see you. It’s NOT normal to resist telling adults when you need help because the bully is never actually caught by them and they believe you are a liar.

This HAS to STOP.

When these things happen to people every day starting from such a young age, they become mentally scarred their whole lives. I know because I am one of these people.

 

However, there is good news in all of this. It DOES get better. I am living proof – literally – that it does get better. That is such a cliche, but it’s so true. I wouldn’t be here without help though. and my help came from Jesus.

I remember one time in particular, I asked Jesus a question. I said, “Lord, I know You were whipped for sicknesses and beaten for physical wounds and stuff, but what about mental damage? What about mental illness or things like suicide and self harm and all of that? Can You really understand how THAT feels? Can You really say You died for that too??”

His answer made me cry…

“Think about the crown of thorns,” He said.

I replied, “Yeah I know, they were mocking Your authority and position as King of kings.”

“Yes, but think about it,” He said gently. “They could have just put it on My head, but they drove the thorns into My skull….into My brain.”

I got quiet, remembering that.

“Lacie,” He said, “each thorn pressed into My skull represented a different mental illness or disease. I died for mental scars too.”

I just cried, the revelation of His truth and love was so amazing….

God is truly God of breakthrough and freedom! He died for you knowing every single pain you could ever experience, be it physical, emotional, or mental, so He could heal you and free you. God loves you so much…you literally don’t understand it. None of us do. We cannot grasp His love. His love is unconditional, you can’t earn it, and it never ends. You can’t lose it or gain it, He loves you where you are. God does not excuse sin, but just like every good father He doesn’t love you any less when you sin. It breaks His heart and He will discipline you, but He still loves you the same.

I AM ALIVE

Oh my goodness…..where do I start?????

I’m sorry. I am so sorry.

Let’s see…..well, life kind of hit me down for a good while there. A lot happened in my family and I’m a senior in high school now, about to do my own music show to share my testimony with some people…. Simply put, this has been the most difficult year of my life so far….and also, we lost internet for a while so that didn’t help.

However; good news! I am back and I am alive!!!!! If anyone still follows me, great! Good to see you’re still around! Thank you so much for being incredibly patient with me. Please help me get more readers, I promise I won’t disappear this time around.

If you’re new, hi! Good to see you for the first time. I hope the little ‘golden nuggets’ as i like to call them help you, I know they’ve always helped me. Feel free to look around and explore!

In general, it’s been a trying season for me, but it’s driven me closer to God than ever before. I have a LOT of new posts for you guys, and rather than bogging you down with all of them at once, I’ve decided I’ll put one out every day until I’m caught up and then it’s all up to God. After that, i’ll try my best to update once a week if I can, but given that these revelations come from God and are told to me by God, it’s all up to Him.

Again I am so so sorry that i vanished off the face of the earth. I’m back and I am alive and I will definitely keep up with this blog this time.

Love you guys if you’re still here!

~~Lacie Shalom~~

We Are A Church; NOT A Business

So…here’s a lil’ thought: why do churches act like businesses? 

What am I talking about? I’m talking about the fact that the church doesn’t act like a church. Instead, they all stay inside their own four walls, without reaching out to other churches and building each other up. Instead, they act like businesses, competing to see who can get the most members and expand faster, who can preach smoother or who has the better worship teams. They ignore the other churches because they’re more concerned with pulling in all the members another church can’t grab. This is only what I’ve noticed in some churches, not all.

Why not instead act like ONE church? ONE body of God? I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll say it again: we are ONE. A body cannot function if any one part acts outside of the whole. The Bible always says that the church is just that: THE CHURCH. As in SINGULAR. Not the CHURCHES, just THE CHURCH. THE BRIDE of God. Now I don’t know about you, but when I think of “brides” I think of Mormons. We aren’t mormons, we are children of God! And you know what else? THAT MAKES EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US FAMILY. Can a family with a common goal get there faster by going different directions? No! Can a family reach a common goal by tearing each other down and competing to see who’s the greatest? No! A family is a team. And “team” is NOT spelled with “I”. Point is, rather than turning the saving of souls into a contest of who can get the most members fastest, why not help each other. If your church isn’t doing anything, but maybe you know of a smaller church (or a big one) that is having a worship night or event of the sort, why not tell your congregation! You aren’t doing anything, so it’s not like you’re ignoring your church. Turn that event into a REVIVAL!!! 

Besides, it shouldn’t matter where God meets his children, be it in your church or their church or even in their own homes! All the preachers are speaking from the same bible right? The Bible says “Where two or more gather, there I also will be”. That “I” is God. And I know for sure that there are no one-member churches out there so what’s stopping you? Just imagine it: God flows in your church? Great. God flows in their church as well? Awesome! Do a joint event! Bring their church to you or better yet you go to their church! YOU DON’T HAVE TO SWITCH CHURCHES TO GO TO A ONE-NIGHT EVENT OR EVEN A CONFERENCE. 

God is never changing. He doesn’t care if you’re from a mega church or a house church. We are ALL His children who He loves EQUALLY. So why can’t the church start treating each other that way as well? 

We are all God’s children. 

We all read and believe in the same Bible and the same God. 

We are all part of the body of Christ. 

We all have the same goal of saving people. 

What do we have to lose by working together and helping each other? 

It isn’t a CONTEST. It’s a CONCEPT. 

We are one church, one body, one bride. Better start acting like one, don’t you think?  

QUICKY UPDATE!!!

HELLO! So here’s a very brief update of my life cause God is opening some amazing doors for me.

1) I was able to start recording an actual CD and we’re releasing one song from it as a single first probably to get up interest in the CD. Which means I need to learn how to advertise. That….will be crazy….

2) I’m on the worship team at church so that is a wonderful thing. I’ve also been invited to be a guest speaker/worshipper (if thats what you’d call it) at a different church so we’re trying to get that scheduled.

3) One day I’ve got to remember to share my story with you and then this will make much more sense…..
Anyway, lately God has just been showing me how proud He is and how beautiful I am to Him through people and just peace inside me. It’s so wonderful compared to what I’m used to and like I said soon, I will post my story and you guys might understand that a little more.

BUT FOR NOW I love you all and I hope you’re having a great start of the New Year! You are beautiful and loved beyond anything you can comprehend, and you are royalty. Princesses and Princes, all adored by the One True King. Have a blessed day/night/afternoon/evening/whatever-your-timezone-is-right-now and always remember you are never ever alone. 😀

The Chocolate Pretzel

I’ll admit, this vision is a little silly, but stay with me. 🙂

As we enter a new year, this often means a period of fasting with the church. And while a lot of us are doing food, this might be a bit harder for some than others. …….Namely me. But God gave me a vision that reminds us there is never a time when He isn’t with us.
I was worshipping and I saw something covered in white chocolate. Before I could grab it a fire burned through it, melting away the chocolate and revealing a pretzel. I don’t know about you but I hate pretzels. And through His spirit God showed me two meanings for two different kinds of people. One, God’s fire will burn away the temptation and He will help you resist the urge to break your fast if you just trust in Him. And two, there will be a fire to walk through before the temptation is gone. My dad told me a few days ago that if the Devil can achieve it, he’ll hit us when we’re weakest. At the beginning of a fast or a new season. It won’t be easy but hunger after the Lord, trust in His promise and He will bring you through it. There will be a trial through fire before you see the pretzel instead of chocolate however, but this doesn’t mean it won’t be amazing in the end.

Leaving the “Only” Life

My bus was late so my mom drove me to school. In the car, we heard an ad about leaving the “only” life. It was a cox commercial. The idea behind it was that we say “only” for a lot of things. “Oh it’s ‘only’ a flesh wound” was the one that stuck out to me, it was kinda funny. :3
As Christians, we tend to develop the same mindset. We say things like, “I’m only a kid,” or “I’m only me, God can’t use me”. In other situations, it becomes “It’s only a small lie”, or if He is trying to heal a certIan wound we say, “Oh no God, You don’t need to go there. It’s only a flesh wound, it’s not a big deal.”
All of these are lies.
When you start to think with an “only” mindset, you put God in a box, and we ALL know how that works out. This week, I have a challenge for you. If you hear “I’m only me”, I want you to immediately take action and say the exact opposite. Even if you have to say it out loud. If God wants to heal a wound in you, I promise it’s for a good reason. You have to let Him go there. Some of us believe a wound is too deep for even God to fix, or it’s too important to “keep us safe”. Lie. God wants you to be happy and free. Don’t tell Him it’s “only a flesh wound” when you know it’s much deeper and more serious than that. Trust God. Leave the “only” life and receive the Godly life!!!

An Overflow of the Spirit

Oh my goodness guys and girls, SO MUCH happened last night! This may be my longest post so far, but when I’m done it will be so worth it. As you’ll see, everything – even the tiniest details – has a purpose. While that purpose may not immediately be clear, God will show you right when you need to know and you’ll be like “WHOA!”. Trust me, this is a story you don’t want to skim through. 🙂 

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No better place to start than at the beginning! As I was on my way to church with my mom, I was a bit sleepy. I assumed that it was from the warm chai tea latte I had only a few minutes before- sugar actually makes me tired- but I knew that even from a Starbucks latte there wasn’t enough sugar to make me that tired. I let it pass, not thinking anything of it.
Fusion (my church’s high school division) started to head into our building and we walk up the stairs to the Fusion room. The moment I hit the landing and was inside, I had an unexplainable happiness that I couldn’t contain. I acted very hyper, but I knew it wasn’t the latte that gave me the boost. As I said, sugar puts me to sleep. No one could explain it and while I am normally happy, this was almost…”I’m-about-to-explode-and-I-have-no-idea-why” kinda happy. Ever felt that?
This strange happiness lasted the entire service and I had no clue what made me so happy. (Later I found out what was going on, but that’s at the end of my story. :D)
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While having this unexplainable joy, I was worshipping with a smile. During worship they played the song “open up the floodgates”. God showed me the same picture He showed me at Illes des Cannes, of the reason why there’s so much rain here in Louisiana lately. It’s overflowing from the spirit and we don’t have to ask God to rain His fire or His presence down, it’s already here! (If you’ve no idea what I’m referring to, read my last post. ;D) I felt like God was telling me to tell Pastor Elijah (my youth pastor), and I still get terrible stage fright when He tells me to do something like this. I have been singing on stage in choirs and solos all my life but something about speaking in front of people makes me nervous. However, I was sure it was God, so I obeyed. Pastor Elijah said ok and told me to wait a minute and if he felt like there was a time for it then I could share. I said ok and returned to my seat, resuming worship.
He didn’t call me up or anything, and the first time this happened, I was upset. I thought to myself, “Was I mistaken? Perhaps the voice I heard wasn’t God and I was wrong to tell the pastor?” Now I realize what it is. When God tells us to do something, it isn’t always about bringing someone to Him or helping someone. Sometimes it’s a mere question: Will you obey? It wasn’t that I was wrong, the voice and words I was compelled to share were God’s but, He was testing my obedience.
Like I said, I still get scared when He says to share. As I returned to my seat and kept worshipping, the next song the band played was “You Make Me Brave”. I immediately heard God’s voice. He told me, “Trust Me. When I ask you to step out and speak, I am with you. I will give you courage.”
We need to remember that when God says go- even if it is a test of obedience- He already has everything set out for His plan to succeed. We don’t need to worry about the details, we just gotta go. He will make sure everything works out.
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I will do another post describing this story, but recently I was on Instagram and I came across a man calling God a “mythological creature” and insulting Him. I was and always have been angered by these sort of things, so I had to reply. After the gentleman and I had gone back and forth a few times, I ended with “God loves you so much.” and I left. (I will put this in a separate post I promise).
During the sermon, Pastor Elijah spoke about reaching one person at a time and how there are 6 places a lost person may be, and 4 a saved person may be. The lost may be one of the 6, but the first is “Resistant”. Immediately I thought of the man from Instagram, and God gave me clarity that he was resistant right now. Then, the 4th place a saved may be is “Sharing”. God showed me that this is where I am right now, with my blog and with stepping out of my comfort zone and speaking. I am sharing in this season of my life and recently I’ve lost the desire to serve as much as I used to. That’s ok though, because a few months ago one of my Spiritual Mentors told me God wanted me to be Mary, not Martha. I’m often the second, running around trying to do everything and serve everyone, but God was saying for me to just sit at His feet and listen. You can’t share what you don’t hear, can you?
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This wonderful night ended with me talking to my other Spiritual Mentor, Makayla. I was only telling her what I’ve told you, and how God had touched me that night, and before she even spoke I was drunk in God’s presence. Telling other people about what God is doing in my life brings the unbearable joy back, and sometimes I can barely finish my story! She said something that led to me seeing where the joy was from, and what God was doing by giving it to me. “Look at how you’ve grown though,” she said, “a few months ago you were pretty down about life in general an now look at you! You’re so happy, and that’s just from then to now look what God has done”. When she said ‘then to now’ my mind exploded! God showed me the reason I felt so happy when I climbed up that night. The bottom was where I was, and each stair was a different turning point where I encountered God. The top is what He wants me to be; childishly giddy all the time! Right now, I’m about in the top of the middle. I was so receptive at that point that I stayed on the ground laughing myself to tears for the next 15 minutes. I literally felt the Holy Spirit in me. I saw an image that inside my body there were no bones, no flesh. If you had cut me open in that moment you would have only seen pure white light flowing from me because God’s spirit was in me. I couldn’t think of any words and spoke very slowly because I had a hard time describing it to Makayla, and I couldn’t stop flailing my hands or arms. It was because there was so much of God in me I literally had no idea what to do with anything. Forgot how to speak, how to stand, almost how to do everything but breathe basically!
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So you see? Sometimes we may not know why things happen, they may seem random or pointless, but everything has a purpose and it will be revealed to you when God knows you need it. It may be a while, but when He shows you the reason, the action makes much more sense!!!