Baptised in the Holy Spirit!

Monday night was AWESOME! i went to Strike, which is the Macleod Salvo bible study and we were baptised in the Holy Spirit. my definition of being baptised in the Holy Spirit would be when you once again confess all your sin to God and ask the Holy Spirit to come into you, once again, and renew his presence in your life and body.

I think that we can focus a lot on God the father and Jesus the son but kind of forget about God's Holy Spirit, which is the part of God that lives inside of you and brings about your spiritual gifts and fruits of the spirit. for a complete relationship with God we need the whole Trinity to be active in our lives.

back to monday night, i'm just too excited! lol. when we started i was kind of nervous and i could feel that my heart was slightly closed to God. but then we did this awesome activity where we wrote down all of our unforgiven sin on a balloon and then prayed that God would forgive us and popped the balloons. i got a shock every time someone popped a balloon! lol.

i volunteered to go first and it was strange. me and Sarah were standing in the middle of the circle and every1 was praying over us. At first i felt like there was something stopping the Holy Spirit from entering me and realised that i still had a bit of doubt in my heart and so i prayed that God would get rid of this doubt and enter me. after a while of praying i felt this slight presence pushing me back. it wasn't strong but it was enough to make me start to lean back. it kept on pushing and i tried to stop myself from going backwards. it got to the point where i just fell down and got on my knees and started praising God. HE IS SOOOOOOO GOOD!

while i was there, on the ground lol, a friend told me that they could see the Holy Spirit surrounding me like a tornado and someone else said that they saw God and the angels welcoming me into their family and celebrating. to know that God was welcoming me into his family was wonderful, as my own family has started to grow closer emotionally but is growing more distant physically each day as some of my family members are moving houses and states.

one of the main things that i was praying for that night was that this wouldn't just last that night, that i wouldn't just experience the Holy Spirit and then tuck him away in a corner and go about my everyday life, but that i would continue to live for him and that he would give me the strength that i couldn't find in myself. the next day, which was yesterday, tuesday, was pretty cool! i spent the day fasting, praising God, praying out loud and in silence and reading the bible pretty much all day!

one bible passage i read was were Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and fasted. 40 DAYS! what! i was completely wrecked after just one day of fasting but Jesus did it for 40! man he was definitely relying wholley on God. God didn't just call me to fast but he also helped me to stay away from the television and computer all day and even give up going near my fone for a few hours! i know God was with me giving me strength because i actually survived not talking for a whole hour, twice during the day, which i have never been able to do before. if you know me you'll know how VERY VERY HORRIBLY PAINFUL it is for me to stay quiet! but God does work in mysterious ways! lol.

this is a massive blog and i have so much more to talk about but i will leave it here. lol. just wanted to add that God has been doing some amazing things in my life, like getting non-christian friends to WANT to come to church! yay! GOD IS SOOOOOO GOOD AND GREAT AND WONDERFUL AND DON'T YOU EVER FORGET IT! yours in Christ, alana;P

Stand Firm!

i came across this awesome verse in the bible the other day:

Isaiah 7:9 '...if you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all'.

it made me think that if we continue to water down our faith then we'll be left with nothing at all. who likes REALLY watery cordial? you know the stuff that is just plain gross? that's what i reckon our faith can become if we don't stand firm in it. i've been told plenty of times that people will respect me if i show that i'm strong in what i believe, does that mean that people will think less of God if i let myself and my faith be stepped on by everyone? it can be hard but don't forget that you've got nothing to lose, stand up for God! it says in the bible that we should not let what we believe to be good spoken of as evil. well i believe that God is good so i won't let people speak about him as if he's evil or nothing at all.

hope you all have a great, God blessed day, week, month, year, etc. alana

Tagged?

i'm so confused! I was just 'tagged' by Simon Mapleback, so watch out Talia, Sarah McIver, Naomi, Rhiannon & Liam your tagged too! mwahahahahahah! lol.

The rules of this crazy game: grab the book closest to you. Turn to page 161. Print the 5th complete sentence on your blog. Tag 5 others!

here's mine: 'Jose, too, had worries about his health: he had stomach pains and was eventually sent for some tests.' ('And You Visited Me' by Penny M Wheat)

HOW DARE THEY! :(

i am nearly on the verge of tears. i'm that angry and upset! iwas looking thru people's blogs and found a link to www.blasphemychallenge.com . these people are trying to bribe people to sin! they are trying to get people to denounce their religion and deny the Holy Spirit! and what do you get if you do this? A STUPID WORTHLESS DVD THAT IS FULL OF THEIR PATHETIC ARGUMENTS THAT GOD DOES NOT EXIST!

They're doing this because of the verse from Mark 3:29 'But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin'. are they not aware of how powerful God is? are we as christians so shy and meek that they think that God is like that too?

GOD MADE THIS WORLD! He's brought fire down from the sky to INCINERATE those who have tried to rise against him! He has FLOODED this world! he has sent countless plagues! he has WIPED OUT nations! He is ALL POWERFUL and MIGHTY! and most importantly of all he is the GOD OF LOVE! so why on earth are these people trying to mess with him! Jesus died for us so why on earth are they trying to hurt what God loves most? us?

i've read their websites and they're asking for sientific proof of God's existence! you can't prove or DISPROVE God with science! God Made science! i'd go on but i have to leave it here.

please i beg of anyone who reads this do not fall for the devil's trap, do not give up your faith for a piece of pathetic plastic that will oneday waste away!

yours in God, love alana

what's important

it really is when we draw closer to God that the devil will try to bring us down. i've lately had to come to terms with the fact that what may be important to me isn't as important to those around me, eg. God, honesty, love, soldiership, etc. it's funny when you find out that what you might hold close to your heart others hold as far away from theirs as possible. recently i've found out that a decision that i am making for God hasn't really got all of my friends enthusiam. it hurts, but it's helped me to realise that as i'm drawing closer to God the devil is trying to attack me and the weapons that he is using are my friendships and in the end the only thing that matters is Gopd. i can't wait until all my friends are interested in God and me becoming a soldier to do it, because i'm making this choice for God. so i just thought that i would say that instead of being defeated by the devil's attacks i've grown closer to God! and it's awesome! sorry to blab on. lol.

i'm gonna b a soldier!

hey there everyone!
just thought that i would a blog on ME BECOMING A SOLDIER!
i'm so excited! i can't wait! it's happening on the 3rd of june @ greensy salvos @ 11am!
be the or be a.............rectangle? lol. square! i was talking to a friend the other day and we were just talking about what it means to be a soldier etc, etc. ani feel as if i'm more excited now than when i first decided to be a soldier! if u come on sunday then you'll hear my testimony, if not then here's a little sneak peak: God has put the salvos in my life and the only thing that i'm sure of concerning my future is that they're always gonna b in my life! just like God! becoming a soldier means sharing the news of God to this world, it means holding true to the beliefs of early salvationists! it means that i get 2 wear a uniform, but it also means that when people see me in that uniform then they will hopefully know that they have found someone who will help them the best that they can, that will lead them to God, that will be there for them, that will not judge but openly accept them. i can't wait for this part of my journey with God to unfold, so whoever reads this if u want to come then please do. ither way plz pray that God will use me in the salvos.
thanks all.
love alana;-P

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER! YES HE DOES!

God is amazing.
just thought i'd start off with something we can all agree on. lol. for those who aren't aware that i went to the salvo easter camp...i went 2 easter camp! it was absolutely amazing! although it took a little while for it to get that way. at the start of camp i was in a major rut. i wanted to go home and never speak to anyone ever again. mainly because every where i turned there were friends fighting and i just couldn't find the love of God present. i was even starting to question my future with the salvos. and so i decided to give it to God and see what he could do with my life and present situation. on the first night i wrote down a prayer to God. i forgot about it and found the prayer a day or two later. i was so shocked when i read my prayer. even though it wasn't that long ago so much had changed! it was as if i had fallen asleep carrying a whole lot of burdens and woke up completely free! pretty much everything that i prayed for God has given to me. i prayed for certain relationships to be healed and the other night i found out that they pretty much all are! i prayed that god would help me not to feel so depressed at camp and now that i look back i can see that i came out of my shell in a big way! i can't think of a better way to celebrate easter than to spend it with a whole bunch of christians at camp. i will admit that i am a camp nut. hope u've enjoyed me blabbing on. lol. god bless and never be afraid to bring even the smallest things before god in prayer.
alana.
ps. remember, if you give a problem to God you have to leave it with him. worrying about it constantly is just showing that you don't trust God.