Skyfall (The Movie) :He did All of that to save her...!

Disclaimer: If you have not seen the new Bond movie “Skyfall”  but plan to see it, you may not want to read this post (It’ll give away the ending).

Ok God speaks to me in the most unusual instances. So recently I was watching the new 007 movie “Skyfall”. I won’t go through the entire plot (I’ll assume that you know enough about 007) but I’ll say that Bond had a special relationship and love for M who in the movie plays the head of the Secret Intelligence Service. In this movie a former agent turned on the agency and M and was seeking to kill her. Because 007 loved her so much he went through extreme measures to save her life. There was an intense battle scene at the end and just before the double-crossing agent killed M, 007 killed him. As 007 ran over to M, she said a few words and died. – My friend with disdain said “He did all of that to save her and she STILL die”. At that moment, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said “That is exactly how we (the God-head: Father, Son, Holy Spirit) feel. We sent Christ down to die a brutal death for humanity because we love you SO much, We liberated you from the slavery of sin, We offered you abundant like and yet, they STILL die eternally”. Wow, Oooook Daddy…I hear you!

Yo! Don’t let the death of Christ be in vain. He did all of that to save you…chose life.

For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life! – John 3:16

With love,

Kristin Sarai

When God Hurts Your Feelings

Yes, God will absolutely hurt your feelings but for your own good. Hear me out…

This is where I am mentally/spiritually:

My greatest desire is to do God’s work, to be His hands and feet, to demonstrate His love, to reflect His glory, to be obedient to His plan and perfect will. I say this with all sincerity. I want to do the work that God has for me, I want to have relationships that God wants me to have, I want to spend my money on what God wants me to spend money on, and I want to be righteous. The bottom line is this; I want to govern every aspect of my life according to the will of God. I understand that the only reason that I have life in my body is to make the name of Jesus great. I have asked God to mold my desires to be the same as His desires.

The blessing of that mental/spiritual standing:

God speaks to you! When we become completely focused on Christ and we are interested above all else in doing His work He will began to develop us, speak to us, and the Holy Spirit will be powerfully at work in our lives. Often times God will give us the inside scoop about the task that He is preparing us for. He may tell you a clear picture of what your life looks like in the future, what your life will accomplish, etc. It truly is a blessing to know exactly what God is preparing you to accomplish.

The dilemma:

So God has great things in store for you and he has given you a glimpse of what it looks like and of course, in your human nature you are excited (nothing wrong with that)! The problem occurs when you attempt to speed things up. You want everything to be manifested in “your” time, after all, it’s all for God’s glory. We become anxious and unfortunately anxiousness often leads to fear, doubt, distrust, frustration, disappointment, etc. God calls for us to rest in Him. The scripture that states this most explicitly is Philippians 4:6

“Do not fret or have anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite request), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God”.

God wants us to REST in HIM. Being anxious demonstrates unrest and distrust which ultimately will destroy the blessing. This is seen in James 1:6-8

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

This scripture in James helps us to see the importance of resting in God. To put in it 2012 language God is saying “I’ve got this under control. I created you and your life. I really don’t need your help…I just need your obedience. Who are you to determine the time-frame in which I make something happen??! Did you create yourself? Can you see what’s happening behind the scenes? Can you see into the future? No! You don’t even know what will happen in the next 30 seconds yet, you think that you are an expert on time?! Psssssh! Sit down, shut up, all of the time and WAIT on me to move. Trust my love for you. Trust my purpose for you. And trust what I have put in your heart. Don’t ask me for something and then be all anxious about it. I’m your daddy and I love you more than your finite mind can understand. Just chill out and let ME be God. I love you”. Ok, that, my friends is the “feelings crusher” part of this. God will straight shut you DOWN! And rightfully so, you see, feelings have little place in what God needs for us to have. Feelings and emotions move with the circumstances but God needs for it to be a heart/spirit thing. When everything is for His glory…our feelings should have little influence on our behaviors.  He will knock you to your knees to help you understand that He is God alone. I know it’s hard for us to believe because we are so great but, God does NOT need our help in determining how things should be done. He actually needs for us to just submit and be obedient. What IS fair for us to ask however, is the strength to be patient. And He will provide that, His desire is not to hold any good thing from us but to work His perfect plan in our lives.

Christians, we have a horrible habit of giving things to God and then snatching it back and we get into this vicious cycle of giving and taking back and this does not please God. Don’t we understand that God likes cheerful givers?! We have associated that to finances only, but that is with EVERYTHING (our concerns, burdens, gifts and talents, money, etc.) God’s desire is for us to cheerfully give him our burdens and concerns, hopes and dreams, and finances and gifts with full confidence that He can handle it all. We looked at Philippians 4:6 but there is a beautiful conditional statement in the following verse. Philippians 4:7 says,

“and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

So, IF we do not fret or have anxiety about circumstances but rather ask God with thanksgiving, THEN, the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds through the strength of Christ.

Is not that a beautiful promise?! There is something about having peace that is so sweet. Peace is a universal treasure. Ask a celebrity how important peace is and ask a poor person in Liberia who have absolutely nothing but can still lift their hands with a smile on their face and say “God is good, and I am thankful for my blessings”. The answer is universal, peace is so valuable, its price is above rubies. Peace says, no matter what the circumstances are, all is well with my soul because I know and recognize who is in control of not only my life, but the entire world.

The bottom line is, sometimes God hurts our feelings to get us back on track and put things in perspective and PRAISE GOD for that! It’s all for our good! So, if you have experienced something similar, lift your hands and tell God “Thank you Daddy”! When you ask God to mold you into the image of Christ…we better be in full expectation that God will do just that! Jesus bootcamp ain’t over, he’s molding you into His image. And that my friends, is complete elevation!

Daddy thank you for loving us enough to hurt our feelings. You are amazing and your love is amazing. Our desire is to be more like You. You are our best example because you are perfect, blameless, and without fault. Help us to trust you more and to feast off of your faithfulness. Thank you for giving us a glimpse of what you have in store for our future. Give us the patience to trust You and Your timing fully. We get so excited that we often try to jump ahead of you, but thank you for your divine purpose and plan. Give us peace and patience. Give us Your wisdom. We love you with our whole hearts, purify our love and purify our lives for Your glory. You are everything! Amen.

With love,

Kristin Sarai

The Stress of Plans

2012 is swiftly approaching its end and boy what a year it has been!! I have experience God in such a profound way this year and although it is almost over, I am still pregnant with expectation of what more God has in store for his children. One of most valuable lessons that I have learned this year is that it is critically important for us to allow God’s desires to become our desires, to allow His will to become our will, and to allow His thoughts become our thoughts. Now, this is not new knowledge….I would venture to say that I have had this understanding (God’s plans are higher than my thoughts and His ways higher than our ways, etc.) BUT it wasn’t until this year that I got the divine revelation of that truth.

Often we go through life making plans for our future. We determine what we will accomplish, where we will work, the type of person we will marry, the amount of children we will have, where we will live, how much money we will make even down to the details like how we will celebrate our birthday and what we will eat for dinner tonight. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with planning, planning is actually a wonderful practice however, the danger in planning is doing so without the direction of God. You see, God is the author of our lives and we are merely vessels to carry out the purpose for which He created us. One thing is for sure, we can trust that God is crazy in love with us and He promised that when we submit our lives to Him, He would bring us to an expected end. One of my favorite verses in Psalms 139 gives us an explicit demonstration of the love, concern, and detailed thoughts that God has towards us.

¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!

Psalms 139:16-17

So here is where the confusion begins….We realize that we are NOT the authors of our lives, we do not know what God’s intent was when he placed us on this earth, yet opposed to seeking purpose and developing plans through Him, we decide to create our own path. In the laborious task of developing our life’s plan outside of God, we become weary and burdened. Things don’t seem to ever work out or perhaps they do but even in your plans working, you still don’t have peace or fulfillment. God is calling you to give up your plans and submit to His plans. His desire is to give you Complete Elevation and to teach you how to Live in His Abundance! There is a familiar passage of scripture in Matthew that offers believers a beautiful gift if only we will take hold.

²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ^[o]ease and relieve and ^[p]refresh ^[q]your souls.]

²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (^[r]relief and ease and refreshment and ^[s]recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

³⁰ For My yoke is wholesome (useful, ^[t]good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.

Matthew 11:28-30

God is SO interested in giving us the rest that we need. He is interested in being our helper, our peace, and truly being in control of our lives without our interference. In the arms of God we can be vulnerable; we can express our fears, hopes, aspirations, and be completely transparent.  It is in the arms of Christ that we are fulfilled and where the transformation occurs.  It is at this point that we have run, we are tired, we have planned, we have fail, we are unfulfilled, we are bruised and wounded that God is standing with arms of love waiting for us to wave the white flag and surrender to His plans and His will. After God has clarified our identify, transformed our hearts, breathed the word of life into bodies, molded our desires to His desires, at that point, we can plan with the understanding that our plans must be God’s plans and that they MUST yield honor God.

As you prepare for the holidays, as you continue to make plans for your life….remember the words from Psalms 139:16-17. God is more than capable of handling your life, I’m a living witness. This truth requires sacrifice and relinquishing control but God is saying, “My desire is for you to live in My abundance”. Answer His call today, stop running, stop planning, run into the arms of the Maker of the heavens and earth, the creator of our soul, the ONLY sovereign God. Again,  God’s desire is for you to live in His abundance. And that my friends, is 7 Degrees North, Complete Elevation.

Lord, thank you for your grace and love. Forgive us for the times that we have planned without you, the times that we have doubted your ability to bring us to an expected end, that we have gotten so caught up in life that we forgot that YOU are the only life that matters. Lord, mold our hearts to yours and give us the grace to submit our desires and plans to you. Let our lives be as sweet sounding music to your ears. Our desire is to serve you through obedience and live in your perfect will. Lead us down the path of righteousness for your name’s sake. Lord we love you because you first loved us on the cross of Calvary. Amen.

With Love,

Kristin Sarai

The Sweetest Mom, The Sweetest Letter

October 17, 2012

My Dearest Daughter,

 As I write this letter to you on your 26^th birthday, I am filled with so many things, thankfulness, gladness, hope, inspiration, great joy, and some regrets. The regrets stem from the fact that as a teacher, I failed a major test: I did not trust God completely. When you were going through the trials, the fire, and the devil was trying to steal what God had intended for you, I hung my head down and wondered if God would do what he said. There were times when it seemed like heaven was silent and that there was no word from the Lord. The promises were far away, it seemed.

 I had to look at you each day when you were sick, but even then God always showed me your heart. You had the heart of a child that loved the Lord. You were beautiful even then because your light was shining so bright.

 It was crazy because I was afraid, but always excited. The scriptures remind us that God intends to do even more that we can comprehend and he has truly been faithful to his word. Not in a million years could I have foreseen this day: a day of celebration of your 26^th birthday and all the blessings that have come our way.

There were others when you were younger that were healthier, thought that they were more beautiful, etc, but a woman that loves the Lord has a value far above rubies. Look at how God gave you an intelligent mind, a beautiful encouraging and body spirit, how he brought you through the valley of the shadow of death, made you beautiful and blessed you with the resources and people that you needed to accomplish things in you.

 He gave you college degrees with such ease that I don’t think that you have even tapped into even half of your potentials. He has gone even further, he allowed you to go to Morehouse School of Medicine and graduate. He gave you a job in a weak economy and has blessed you to be a success in your own right.

 My mother would often say that she was the reason for my success, and to a degree she was right, but as your mother, I will feel that you are the Lord’s child, one of his favorites, and the Lord has only made me privilege to have three wonderful children to watch in my life. You are in this place now because of what God has done, not me. I had the hope for it , but God perfected the plans and dispensed them in his time. He has given you a season of harvest and he is not finished yet. He is going to send the former rains and the latter rains and filled your storehouse with overflows!

I want to tell you about the images that I have of you in my mind, most are not of the young lady that you are now, even though there are some. The most prevalent ones are of you , a little baby kicking your pretty legs in the crib, a baby girl with a winter cap wrapped around your head looking like an anointed child of God, a little baby girl holding her stuffed animal in the hospital, a little girl laughing with your friends, Tonita and Rashell, a little sick girl that prayed every day for another little girl that had AIDS, a little girl that had such a big heart that she would laugh and dance at St. Jude School in a ballet performance despite problems, my daughter that constantly enncourges , loves, and gives to her family and all that she meets.

 I am a proud mother and absolutely no one could replace you for me. I have been emerged in the well of blessings of the Lord and my soul has been saturated. I could write more, but I am just really trying to say that I love you because God has belessed me with my family; I am so grateful. I have the real deal! I don’t have to go looking for love in all of the wrong places.

Kristin, please, continue the legacy that the Lord has begun in you.

I hope this is not too mushy, but when I read 1Corinthians 13 and it says, “Now abideth faith, hope, and charity (love), these three, but the greatest of these is love”, I cannot help myself. I have faith in you because I know that God is in you; I have hope in you because I know how God has operated in your life, and I love you because God is love and His love is in you.

Thank you for this tremendous opportunity to be called your earthly mother. I really treasure this role.

Love, Your Mother,

---

The love of a mother is unfailing. I am so thankful for her strength, her love, her sweet spirit and her love of God. At 26 years old I stand confident knowing that I understand how to be a real woman, what the value of life really is and the fear of the Lord.

 

Thank you mom, I love you more than words!

 

With Love,

Kristin Sarai

 

 

The Unexamined Life (Part 1)

I was talking to a friend yesterday in preparation for a project that 7 Degrees North Ministries is working on. He was sharing with me what his life looked like before coming into relationship with Christ. The theme was that he was self-consumed and habitually “lived in the moment”. It’s interesting because I have heard countless stories with the same theme….”before Christ, I never really thought about life beyond what was happening at the moment. I was only concerned with meeting my needs and enjoying the pleasures of life and sin”. This saga warrants my thoughts about the nature of humanity.

Babies are so selfish right from birth! Haha!! Seriously, have you ever just really thought about the nature of babies? They don’t care about anything or anyone besides them and their comfort and pleasure. Change My diaper so that I can be comfortable, give ME a bottle so that MY belly can be full, hold ME, show ME attention, I’m sleepy so I’m going to make everyone miserable until I go to sleep (I do love kids, I promise ). The forgiving aspect of this idea of selfishness in babies is that it is expected; they don’t know how to love effectively unless someone teaches them. It seems like a simple concept; however, this idea of selfishness becomes more complicated in adulthood.

As adults we have responsibilities, things that we do and say effect other people, the way that we live has implications on people in our lives and even people that we don’t know. With that in mind, if one never takes time to reflect on the past, consider decisions and the outcome of those decisions, and allow a perfect lover to teach them how to love and live effectively, the outcome is almost always a life that is self-destructive and externally destructive. An unexamined life is like a cigarette; it definitely harms the individual but the greater harm is to those who are around them. How often do you take time to really reflect on your life? What do you think will happen when you die? What is your purpose? Why did God create you? What legacy will you leave behind? Who or what will exist because of you? Who are you really?

I submit to you a challenge today. Take some time to reflect on the above questions. I would say that this is one of the most critically understandings that you will ever have to unfold. An understanding of this is foundational for the development and highest success of your life. I’ll give you a hint, ready? You didn’t create yourself…seek this knowledge in the creator of Your life…the creator of all Life…Jesus Christ. You won’t regret it, I promise. J

More to come.

With Love,

Kristin Sarai  

Trusting His Love

Well friends, I shared with you all earlier that I have been in Jesus boot camp since October 2011 (Happy One Year Anniversary to Me haha). Today I am confronted with more molding and pruning and as always, it is uncomfortable, yet extremely beneficial. I am so thankful that the Lord takes time to shine light on the areas of our lives that do not look like His character for the purpose of purifying and sanctifying us. At the moment that we truly give up our attempt to run aspects of our lives and allow the creator of our destiny and purpose to lead the way, is the moment that God becomes the personal trainer. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a trainer but usually while training is in progress you are in pain BUT, the more you press forward, you began to see the results of the training. The same is true with Jesus boot camp, the more you stick to it, you began to see the results displayed in all areas of your life.  

Today’s boot camp session that God specially designed for me was about faith and fear. I am almost embarrassed to say this but, this is a reoccurring area where God wants me to understand that I have to FULLY trust Him in order to do my life’s work and that He IS in control. You must understand this, I have seen God do some pretty miraculous things in not only my life, but in the lives of others (not to mention that the same God of the bible is the same God of today), I have seen the power of prayer in a very explicit way. Yet, there are moments in my life where I am easily fearful of what will or will not happen EVEN THOUGH God has explicitly told me what my life will look like and accomplish.   

God spoke to me through a familiar passage in Matthew 14 where he called Peter to walk on water to Him. Let’s take a look at the passage below:

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:22-32

Just like Peter experienced, God has demonstrated His power, His love, and His ability to do supernatural works in our lives. In this short passage, we can identify a few things that translate to our lives today (I’ll highlight a couple). 1) Often we are not truly in expectation for God to do supernatural things in our lives. This is evident as we see that Peter and the others, although having experienced the power of Christ, were not truly in expectation of what God would do. They were terrified and experienced disbelief as Jesus walked across the water. How often have you read the bible and promises of God, God’s desire for those who Love Him (not just saying it but love Him through obedience) and are called according to his plan but not really expected for those things to happen in your life? God’s desire is that we will be in expectation for him to move according to His word in our lives. 2) The circumstances of our lives often cause us to lose focus and faith. Peter started out with his eyes on Christ (Good job Peter!!), then the waves began to crash and all of a sudden Peter took his eyes off of Christ (ahhhh!!! Come on Peter!!) and fixed them on what was happening around him. How often can you share the same experience with Peter? God has already told you (repeatedly) what the plan for your life is, He has directed your path, opened some doors and closed some doors, told you yes to some things and told you no (for your good) but the things that you see happening around you (or not happening) causes you to doubt what God said or become fearful.

Will you trust me? Do you truly believe the depth of love and concern that I have for you? When circumstances in your life don’t look the way that I have told you your life will be, will you STILL trust me? When everything that you see tells you not to believe, will you trust Me? These are the questions that God is posing to His children. To trust that He IS a loving father and that He WILL bring us to an expected end when we are operating in obedience and committed and submitted to His will.

I’ve heard it said (I didn’t say this, I just heard it said J ), “The most difficult task you will ever have to accomplish as a Christian is to believe that God loves you as much as He says He does”. This is the only reason why Christians ever worry, doubt, stress, or become weary. If we could just grasp hold of the depth of God’s love for us, our circumstances would never dictate our outlook on life. Daily we must challenge ourselves to trust God’s love more.

Ok Lord, I hear you. I’m pumping my faith weights and making conscious decisions not to pick up fear. Your word is true.

Lord thank you for your supreme authority and your long suffering love. Thank you for your patience in dealing with us as we strive to become more like you. Our desire is to live in your perfect will and for our lives to yield the highest amount of glory to YOU. Help us to keep our eyes fixed on you and never on our circumstances. Thank you for taking time to teach us more about you and ourselves. Thank you for the grace to endure until the end. Reflecting on your sacrifice and love on the cross for our sins fuels our fire to love you more and to trust you more. Lord you are everything. Thank you for your love. Help us to “Be still and know that you are God” (Psalms 46:9). Amen.

With Love,

Kristin Sarai

Consuming Fire...Indeed!

For our God is a Consuming Fire. Hebrew 12:29

Consuming Fire in the greek à Katanalisko pyr

Literal translation: To consume for the purpose of purification.

 

This scripture is SO powerful to me. Each time that I read it or it comes up in my mind is as the first time I read it. This is one of those scriptures that I feel…. it comes alive and I am like “forrel Lord!! You really are a consuming fire”.

It’s hard to believe that this year is almost over, right?!  At the beginning of the year I did a 21 day fast for the purpose of surrendering my life completely to Christ. I mean, yea I was a Christian prior to that but there were some areas of my life that I was still holding back from God. I wanted His hand of protection, His favor, His best, His perfect will, etc. but I didn’t quite trust that he could handle the areas that I was holding back. In some instances I thought that maybe he didn’t care about some aspects of my life. Perhaps God was only concerned with the big things like my career and my family because I could see the gratification in that area. I mean,  He did a great job of allowing me to get an education, protecting my family from danger and surrounding me with people who I could demonstrate His love to and who also demonstrated His love to me but in other areas I could not “see” his provision. In certain areas I just had to trust that he was also in control and being completely transparent, although I said I did, my actions did not say the same. So, the fast was my “white flag”, my surrender, my “Lord I’m going to truly give you my life and whatever you decide to do with it is what I’ll roll with”. That has truly been the BEST decision of my life. That is the point that I first experienced this verse in Hebrew 12:29, Our God is a consuming fire.

This entire year has been “Jesus Bootcamp”. I know God now more than I ever have before but it seems that each day I know Him better. Over the last year I have experienced God in a way that makes honoring Him with my life a top priority. God’s desire to mold us into the image of His son, Jesus Christ is dependent on our willingness to say “yes”…Yes Lord to Your will and YOUR way. God will began to consume you in such a powerful way. Things that you didn’t even consider a problem will become evident. God will search your heart and show you all of the things that are preventing you from being like Christ. Jesus clarified what exactly I was feeling and referring to as “Jesus Bootcamp” in John 15.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch

in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that

bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit…Abide in Me, and

I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides

in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine,

you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him,

bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

(John 15:1-2, 4-5 NKJV)

Think it’s a game?!?! This scripture is packed with implications for our lives as Christians striving to give God more, love and honor Him with our lives, and be salt and light to a world molded in sin and iniquity. The pruning process that God takes us through is NO JOKE! It requires you to be vulnerable, it requires for you to rely on a source that is greater than you, it requires you to completely give up power. But while it’s painful, in the midst of the tears shed, in the midst of making mistakes and learning, God will continue to sanctify you and mold you. As Christians we are constantly on the potter’s wheel. Although molding is not easy it is necessary for the clay pot to operate in the purpose for which it was created. Friends, God wants to be a consuming fire for you…he wants to be your potter. In order for this to happen we have to submit to the process of purification. The beauty is…the purification, although not an easy process, is the BEST time of my life. There is so much freedom and liberation in knowing that you are being molded into the image of Christ, that you are operating in the purpose for which God created you, and that God is pleased with your obedience. Christ came so that we might have abundant life and His greatest desire is just that. He desires for us to live in His presence, live in His peace, His Love, His abundance. His greatest desire is for YOU…yes YOU! Amazing right?! The perfect, justice, HOLY, sovereign creator of the entire world is crazy in love with you (sinful, rebellious, and a host of other things)! I’m not worthy of a love so great and you aren’t either…but as Christ took nails in His hands and feet, thorns on His head, and a sword through His side while being spit upon and mocked…he redeemed and justified you and I if only we would accept Him. There are NO words that would adequately describe this love. That my friends is 7 Degrees North, complete elevation. May God bless you.

Lord, thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for the process of purification. Thank you for being a consuming fire. Thank you for being patient with us….unfortunately it takes us soo much to submit to you but you stand with your arms opened wide waiting for us to submit. That is amazing and my human mind cannot even comprehend that time of love. I think that is why people have a hard time trusting you and accepting you…because we haven’t experienced that love anywhere on earth so it’s just not a part of our human reality. But thank you for Your Holy Spirit that confirms the reality of you to me. I am 100% sure that you are real and that you are even concerned with the details of our lives here on earth and beyond. Thank you for putting so much thought into our lives. Thank you that your love NEVER fails. Thank you that we are already victorious through you. Search our hearts and show us, us. Your molding is a continuous process, grace us to endure to the end. It is our reasonable service to give you our lives Lord. I Looooovvvvveee Youuuu!! Amen!

With Love,

Kristin Sarai

Letter to the 7 year old me (Kristin Sarai)

First of all let me say that I love you sooooo much. You are such an innocent, sweet girl. I know that sometimes you feel really scared as you endure pain and treatment. I know the doctors don’t think you are going to live long but let me tell you, God says that YOU WILL live. Even more exciting is the fact that God is SO very interested in your life. He loves you more than you will ever understand. Keep your eyes on him and hold on to His unchanging hand. Another thing,  listen to your parents! They love you more than life and they will not lead you in the wrong direction. You will start to think that they are too old school but the principles they are teaching you are correct. Don’t be upset with them for not letting you go to parties and go out with guy (you actually need to seriously thank them for that).

As you grow up you will start to see things that are designed to distract you from the purposes for which God is sparing your life. You will be introduced to profanity, alcohol, sexual temptation, hypocrisy, gossip, lying, etc. You will feel pressured to take part in these things for the sake of fitting in with your peers but you will never feel comfortable in that lifestyle….it’s just not the way that God designed you so embrace the person that you REALLY are! You see, you are in the world but you are NOT of the world. You are the daughter of the most high God child! You are loved beyond measures. You struggle with your confidence not because you don’t know your worth but rather because you are trying to fit into an environment that was never designed for you. Realize that the only reason you have life in your body is to do God’s work, to demonstrate His love to all of those who cross your path, to have compassion on those who are hopeless and to be a reflection of God’s glory to those who are watching. The theme of your life should say to the world “God’s way DOES work”. Therefore, don’t engage in things that don’t give glory to God…that not only hurts you and your relationship with God but it will also diminish the glory that he wants out of your life.

You think you’re going to be a medical doctor… that is not the plan that God has for you BUT it’s cute because in a sense you will be a doctor. God wants to use your life to bring life to those around you. He wants you to use the gifts that he has given you to point the broken to Him, to heal people who are spiritually sick…it will one day become your biggest passion. He has wired you with an analytical mind, you are creative, you are a dreamer, you are optimistic, you love to laugh, you love the arts, you think about things that you think are “weird”, when you read things come alive, you are sensitive yet courageous, you are fragile yet strong, and you have huge heart…hold on to that…in your 20s you will unfold how to use all these things to do your life’s work. It’s also funny that you wanted to be an elephant (lol) well guess what…you will be an elephant. Elephants are extremely smart animals and they are known for their social nature. They are very affectionate and they feel the pain of their fellow elephants. When an elephant dies other elephants go through a mourning process and even bury their bones. This is the type of passion that you will have for people. You will be passionate about their lives on earth and beyond. When you see people dying spiritually you will experience unrest…you will feel a need to help them and the love that God put inside of you WILL help point them to Christ.

You will have some guys that you think you’re interested in…but let me tell you…don’t waste your time. Your daddy is right. Boys and girls have no business in romantic relationships. You don’t even fully know what love is yet…God will teach you love more and more as you grow…God will mold you into the office of a wife. Until then…don’t give any special attention to any boy. You don’t even know what type of man you need so stop trying to figure it out and let God show you the details. One other thing you need to know on this subject is that boys don’t always play on the monkey bars….they are also in college, they drive, they have careers….sometimes boys never grow into men. Grown boys do not deserve your time…they are just a distraction from your relationship with Christ. The scars that you let them put on your heart will take you some time to heal from but the good thing is…You WILL heal through the leadership and counsel of Christ. Don’t invest too much too soon.

College will be interesting for you. That will be the period in life where you will be the most distant from God but it will be the period that allows you to understand the grace, mercy and need for Christ. The people that you are working to impress and seek the approval of there won’t even be in your life as an adult so girl chill out and be who God created you to be unapologetically.

You’re going to move to Atlanta and get your masters degree…but don’t get puffed up in education or popularity…all that you are is because of Christ. At 23, with a masters degree you will go through a period of unemployment. Although you will feel helpless…that is exactly what God needs for you to feel. This is an opportunity for Him to show you how much he loves you and how he will supernaturally provide for you. This period is when you will hear clearly and accept your call to ministry. This is the season which God will give you the vision for your life. God will have you all to himself at this time and will speak to you and teach you about his love, grace, mercy, provision, protection, etc. He will give you a job in a way that will give you NO room to take the credit…don’t forget to reflect the glory to him. Don’t get comfortable here though…He had work for you to do in this season but this isn’t the end of the journey. You will start a ministry that will allow others to have what God has given you. God is going to you use more than you know. I am so excited for you get to that point.

You will go through a period of intense sanctification…it will feel like bootcamp and although sometimes uncomfortable, God will use this season to rapidly mold you into His image. He will use this period develop your character to a standard that will yield Him the highest glory. You’ll still fall short but He will show you all of the areas of your life that have to die and all the places where you need to put on the character of Christ. Even things that you thought didn’t matter will become important. God will begin to download His heart into yours. It’s going to be a very exciting time for you girl! You’ll feel like nobody understands you but keep praying and God will send people into your life who are also set apart. They will inspire you and give you a better understanding of your purpose. You will see God do many amazing things…you’ll get excited but I promise you…that’s nothing compared to what will show you in the future. Hey…keep your head up…walk with extreme confidence…not in yourself alone…but in yourself Through Christ. Keep smiling…it will give life to others. I love you soo much precious girl. You are powerful beyond measures (through Christ)…when you recognize that in full…then you will be well on your way to being an internationally effective warrior for Christ. May your life be as sweet music unto the ears of God. I love you!!

Yours, Truly,

Kristin Sarai 25.9 (Sept. 2012)

Flawed

I am flawed. I probably always will be-

But I. Am. Beautiful. I am a perfectly imperfect natural beauty.

Shaped and Molded by the hands of the sovereign author of all-

The summation of my beauty is not fully expressed externally

 it’s not full in my smile, my eyes, my lips or my hips;

it’s full in the sweet spot where my heart is intertwined with the heart of Christs’

and where I am liberated by the blood shed and the love demonstrated on the cross-

You see, I love with love that was downloaded into my heart by the perfect lover.

The lover of my soul, to Him I will always be true.

It is in Him that my flaws became beautiful. In Him my weakness became strength.

It is in Him that the beauty of His love restored life to my sin sick ugly and turned it into a beautiful masterpiece.

I don’t have to be perfect because He embodies perfection.

I am free to love.

I am free to live.

I am flawed. I probably always will be-

But I. Am. Beautiful. I am a perfectly imperfect nature beauty.

 

“I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well”.  Psalms 139:14

Don't Take Your Life!

YO! First let me say this -à Jesus LOVES You!

Let’s clarify: I don’t mean the same way that people who have hurt you or used the word love to manipulate you mean. The love of God is liberating. The love of God is complete…there is NO lack in His love!

This is what is happening in your Life:

Satan comes ONLY to steal, kill and destroy you. You think it’s a game?! The feeling of depression, hurt, worthlessness, bitterness, hate, fear, etc. are the tactics that Satan is using in his attempt to destroy you! Satan has magnified whatever you are feeling to make you feel hopeless in your situation. Satan has taken your free will and chokes the life out of it. He is using it against you, manipulating you to take that free will and take your own will. He has one goal in mind…to destroy you and send you to HELL for eternity. He will laugh at you once it’s over…honestly he is laughing at you now.

You should be offended that he would come at you like that! I’m offended for you!   This is more of a reason to seek the hope that is in Christ! The reason that you are giving up is because you don’t trust that God is with you in this season of your life. You think that you are worthless, you feel guilty about your sins, you feel like no one loves you, you are broken hearted and you have a broken spirit. The good news is that Jesus died on the cross for all of this! He paid the penalty so that WE wouldn’t have to. Our responsibility is to accept this truth! Your life is not accidental…God has a divine purpose for YOU! His desire is that He can drown you in His love, peace, joy, purpose and teach you TRUE LOVE! God has invested in your life and He desires a return on His investment. He wants to teach you HIS meaning for your life. We did not create our lives so we can’t expect to know how to live it…God is the creator and knowledge of how to live comes directly from Him. I PROMISE…He has a plan for you. Don’t listen to the enemy…don’t listen to your circumstances…seek the hope in Christ and open your heart to allowing Him to alter your perception of life. It’s worth a try right? You’ve tried everything else…try Christ..He is the way, truth and life! May God bless you!

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:44

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 11: 37-39

Lord thank you for your LOVE! WE accept your love! Thank you for the opportunity to come to you and that you have a place for people who are broken in spirit and broken hearted. Thank you that you died on the cross while we were still in sin to give us a hope and future. We could never pay our own debt. Lord, sometimes the burden of our circumstances and our sins make us feel so low but right now we accept repent of any sins and we ACCEPT your forgiveness. Lord, allow your love and truth to shine bright in our hearts. Lord, help us to see ourselves the way that you see us. Instill purpose and meaning into our lives. Thank you Lord that according to Matthew 11: 28-30 you are calling us…us who are weary and tired, us who are depressed and feel defeated, us who have sinned and fallen short…Lord thank you that you’ve called us with the promise of giving us REST! Thank you for the peace that only you can give! Thank you that you make ALL things new! We want to be new in YOU Lord…come into our lives now Lord. We need you now more than ever, we open our hearts to YOU and YOUR will. We rebuke any attacks of the enemy…we rebuke his claim on our lives because our lives belongs to you Lord. Make us whole, fill us with YOUR love. We ask this in faith through Jesus Christ. Amen.

May God bless you, keep you, and grow you!

With Love,

Kristin Sarai

In the Words of Satan

One of my friends introduced me to this video and I thought that it was really good for people to see!

"The theif comes only to kill, steal and destroy; I have come that they may have life and life more abundantly". John 10:10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYDCMg4d7ks

Let me know your thoughts!

With Love,

Kristin Sarai

...Or Die Trying

“The thief comes ONLY to steal, kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and life more abundantly.” John 10:10

The scripture above was the only appropriate way to start this blog post. I say this all the time but I can't say it enough...Satan comes to destroy us! The problem is often times we don't realize the attacks because we are looking for a big red dragon with a name tag that reads "I am Satan and I come to destroy you". NOOOO! That is not how Satan attacks us; he has too much swag for that. Satan’s preference is to be very unassuming about his motives. The “Satan tactic” that I would like to focus on here is “pride, personal strength and effort”.

It is almost imputed into our hearts that in order to be successful we have to work hard, work harder, work harder, work harder! We start learning this almost immediately after entering the world. Infants have to try walking several times before they succeed, students have to study harder to improve grades, athletes have to practice harder before they can win the championship game, etc. In those instances, I would say that “try harder” is probably an appropriate response but when it comes to living a life of fulfillment and success (true success- NOT worldly success) that approach is all wrong! Satan has taken that approach and perverted it to keep people in bondage to this world system and ultimately keep people from ever reaching the abundant life that is offered in Christ. After all, why would he tell you the truth?!

How many times have you set out to try to be a better person? Or maybe you were in search of love and happiness? maybe peace? Perhaps you thought if you just work a little harder, get a little more, do a few more things, you would eventually reach true happiness and joy. You are constantly grasping at peace but never quite experiencing it. Let me tell you…It will never, ever work using that equation.

 The things that you are searching for are completely unable to be reached through your strength. No matter how hard you “try”, unless you go to the proper source, your efforts are in vain. It’s actually pride that makes us think that we can handle it ourselves. The problem is, you didn’t create yourself and you aren’t the author of your life. God created you with a purpose in mind and how prideful is it that instead of asking the author of our lives, we decide to just “go for it”.  The bible is clear on what the true success in life is and that is life in Christ which yields the fruit of the spirit.

“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law” Galatians 5:22-23

The fruit of the spirit is the true treasure of life and the bible is clear that one can only receive it through the transformative power of the Holy Spirit that is given through grace. Consider why you want to be a “better person”, why you want to fall in love and get married, why you want to make lots of money, why you want to indulge in activities that make you laugh and engage your sense…I can almost guarantee that the root of that desire (if you are honest with yourself) has everything to do with your desire to possess the components mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23.
Clearly stated, in order for you to have the life that you desire, you MUST turn to God. It’s not possible in your own strength but through Christ all things are possible! Don’t fall victim to falling into the cultural viewpoint of what success looks like. True success is found in Christ. Jesus is madly in love with you…His desire is for you to have peace, joy, love, be a “better person”, and give you abundant life! Satan on the other hand, wants you to Die Trying. Pick a team, the choice is yours. Chose Christ and you are on your way to experiencing 7 Degrees North; Complete Elevation!


Lord, thank you for life and purpose! Help us to be perceptive to the tactics of the enemy. Thank you that you came to give us life and life more abundantly. Lord forgive us of any time that pride or ignorance has kept us from submitting to your will and your view of success! Starting today, let us know you in a new way; transform our hearts by the renewing of your Holy Spirit. We love you! Thank you for access to the finer things in life (You and Your Love)! Amen.


With Love,

Kristin Sarai

Not Just Another Day...

Dealing with the daily task associated with living can become overwhelming and extremely frustrating.  We often fall into the mundane routine of going to work, paying bills, attending meetings, calling 500 people to “catch up”, having surface conversations with people in an effort to be socially accepted, grinding, networking, and the list goes is never ending.  It’s difficult to imagine that after all of the time invested and all of the energy expelled, one can still have an unfulfilled life.  One can feel as if their life has little significance and/or little impact. Unfortunately, many go through life never understanding the depths of God’s purpose for their lives. One thing is for sure, the highest yield of life is granted when one lives life according to the purposes for which God designed. When we operate and make decisions outside of God’s authorization it damages us because we are operating outside of the appropriated use.

Take food for example; food is good and necessary for human life. When used properly it provides us with a source of energy, allows us to grow and maintain life. When used improperly it depletes our energy, causes dysfunction in the body such as weight gain, high blood pressure, kidney failure, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and a host of other illnesses. When used for its purpose, we can see the positive manifestation in our bodies and when used improperly, we can see the negative manifestations. The same way that food manifests in our bodies physically is how the way we view life and purpose manifests in our spiritual lives (and physical circumstances).

God instructed His believers to be the light and salt of the earth (You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot- Matthew 5:13 NIV). God created you with great purpose and the capacity to develop into something greater in the future. Failure to live out your full potential is actually robbing God on his investment (your life). You see, long before 2012 God thought about you and what your role on the earth SHOULD be.

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day has passed.  Psalms 139:16

It is time for us to wake up and live! It is time for us to experience the fulfillment offered in living in our purpose (God’s purpose for all people- Love God, Love People). One of my favorite things about God is that He gives us free will- the ability to make our own decisions (It is the very thing that puts us in the likeness of Christ). Although God created us with specific roles in mind, He allows us to decide if we will do the work or not, live in His love or not, give Him the glory from our lives or not. The work WILL get done but the reward that was meant for us, because of our resistance will be forfeited.

The beautiful thing is that the grace of God IS REAL. Even when we miss the mark, He allows us another opportunity to get in line with His word and His will. Towards the end of my college career when I started to feel like I needed to take my life as a Christian much more seriously I remember praying the prayer “Lord, I want to live for you but it’s not interesting enough for me. Please increase my desire for you”. I felt bad asking my creator to make me want Him…I felt like it was a slap in the face (umm daddy help me to love you and like you O_o ). But thank God for His perfect love and grace towards His children! He answered my prayer in such a powerful way!

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Philippians 2:13

God is ecstatic about your desire to know him more intimately…he has been waiting on the moment that you would pray the prayer “Lord, increase my desire for you”. Don’t allow this to be Just Another Day. God is waiting to speak life into your spirit. He is calling you closer to Him. He wants to give you a future and a hope and He wants to be your example of perfect love and He EVEN wants to teach you how to do it (love him and love people)! God is interested in every single detail of your life. I pray that you make a decision to allow Him to transform your heart. You won’t regret it! Wake up and Live!

Prayer for Today:

Lord, thank you for your perfect love, your attention to detail, your perfect timing and your grace and mercy. We repent of any time that we have lived as if our life is about us. Our desire is to honor you with our lives. Teach us your love, your word, your will for our lives and guide us into your perfect plan. Lord there is no failure in you! We pray that any strongholds that are enslaving us to a life beneath our potential be removed and that any fear or anxious thoughts in trusting you be obsolete. Jesus your love is amazing!  Help us to know you more, show us your heart, and increase our desire for you. Take us deeper. We love you. Amen (and so be it).