I’m changing it up!  I have to admit I have a lot on my mind.  As a somewhat of a new single I know I am not the only one who has had life slap them in the face.  One day I had this great marriage (or so I thought) only to be left abandoned by the one and only person I gave myself fully to.  Someone I thought was the closest to showing me real unconditional God like love.  Now, I am ready to share my story, my road and God’s love through all of this.

Along with that I would like to share stupid stuff people say that they think will make you feel better. Slogan’s we live by that really aren’t biblical and leave us wondering what the heck did they just say to me?  People mean well, trust me I get it but I think sometimes we aren’t sure what is really biblical and what is true when people say stuff that just doesn’t make sense.

I will also walk through the scriptures that God has thrown at me.  Seriously, God does speak through his scriptures.  Over the last 6 years I have saved all the scriptures that God has tried to reach me with.  This is going to be both interesting to you all and me as well as I look back at them.  Hopefully, a few will touch someone else’s life.  I don’t want to be greedy and keep them to myself.  LOL!

Lastly, you will see posts about my somewhat art business called Painted Praize.  Because....well, I believe it God's direction and there's even a story around that.  I love the thought behind helping other women.  You don’t have to buy, share or look at anything but I do want you to keep a few things in mind.  You would be helping me as a single lady struggling to make ends meet from time to time but you would also also be helping other women who have been hurt, abused, left behind, abandoned.  If you are single you should totally relate to other women’s struggles.  So please don’t get annoyed when you see a few personal ads about Painted Praize.  I have high hopes in blending my business with ministry.  Please keep in mind that my logic is just that.  My logic.  I may hit the nail on the head or drop it on my foot.  I'm not always going to be right.  I'm just me sharing my life in hopes of helping other people.  That's pretty much all I know.  Ministry has been in my blood since a child.  You'll learn more about that down the road.  So....here's to a new ministry blog starting all over.!

Standing on this verse today!

This is a reminder that power lives within me and my strength comes from God's leading. I am not alone but covered by the one I follow, the one I have chosen to give my life to, the one who believes in me and makes me who I am in him.

God is my all in all! There is no battle too big that will cause me to fall. God is my protector, my comforter, my healer. He along is my shield and I will stand with him.

Again I Say Rejoice!

REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE!

Life isn't always going down the road we would like.  Things get in the way of our happiness, and sometimes we are just plain caught off guard.  But in everything we can still rejoice.  It might not come overnight, it might be hard to find reason to rejoice but God clearly wants us to remember him through our rough patches and difficult times.  The only way I know how to keep him fresh in my mind is to talk to him and rejoice 

Fantastic Friday - Bring Jesus With You

FANTASTIC FRIDAY EVERYONE!
Whatever you might be going through, have gone through and still holding on to, I just wanted to remind my friends that Jesus truly is there for you. There is real amazing joy ahead of you as you walk through whatever it is you are walking though with Jesus.  So today, if you haven't already done this, pick HIM up along the way and take him with you!  1 Peter 1:6

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Sweetest Name I Know!

WOW, I found this in my collection of pics I have and boy did my mind go back to my childhood.  This song brought back so many memories.  I remember singing this song at the church I attend and grew up in.  It reminds me of my grandma, my church, the friends I had/have and a lot of fun times at my church.  This songs takes me back to a time where I was learning to trust God as a child and grow in him.  I can truly say that Jesus is the sweetest name I know and that he fills my every longing, and keeps me singing as I go.  This song is one of many that set the path for me in music ministry.  So many, many memories.

What song brings back memories for you? Post on my blog, I'd love to read your stories!

Leah

Psalms 46:10

Do we really even know God the way this verse reads? I mean there aren't that many words here and they are simple. Be still and know that I am God.

Christianity can be a very confusing, mixed up word for being followers of Jesus, believers of God.  The word falls under a big umbrella that covered a multitude of dysfunctions within our faith and our society.  Years ago I stopped using "I'm a Christian" unless I had to and moved to "I'm a follower of Jesus".  To me, being a Christian was too general and over used.  I wanted people to understand I had a relationship with Christ and not just some fly by night religion.  I wanted people to see a difference in my life through what I believed, who I was following, what brought JOY in my life and how I got through the journeys in my life. How did I get to this place of being a follower and handing over my whole life to the one I was following and really having a relationship with Jesus?

By being STILL and allowing Him to show me who he really was!

At 5 I asked Jesus in my heart! I truly had the faith of a child. Some people trying to tell me later in life that there was no way I could understand salvation.  They were right, I didn't understand Salvation.  I did understand God's love for me in bringing His son down to earth who died for my sins and rose again.  I did understand I had sin in my life and that I could confess those sins and I would live eternally.  All the other stuff came later and that is how God works.

Somewhere down the road I lost that child like faith.  Not over night, but small pieces over the years.  I was running from stillness and losing sight of who God was.  I was blending into what I call is a bland Christian.  I looked, acted and resembled the same weak version of what the world thinks Christianity is that so many Christians fall into. I had stopped listening for God's voice and I didn't really know Him in my life the way he wanted me to know Him.  I was shallow and not a good representation of who He was.  Then one day he caught up with me.  BE STILL! BE STILL!

God stopped me because he wanted to give me a chance to know who He was again.  I needed to be still and listen to what he was trying to tell me so he could change my path and pull me back to my child like faith.  I needed to know who he was from inside out and get back to being in a relationship with Him.  When he finally reached me I became a follower of Jesus and not just a general christian who was weak, faithless and living in hopelessness.  I began listening to him, talking to him and gave him my whole life and not just parts of it.  I didn't just see Him in my turmoil but every day.  It changed my life and how I know Him today.

Read Psalms 46:10 today and stop, sit and listen.  Listen to see if God is trying to break through and share something within you that you could be missing.  Have a BE STILL moment and see if God changes you.  I know he will!  I know because he has changed me!

www.leahmartensen.com
Not a gifted writer just my logic for the day!

Some things just don't need a explanation!