You Never Know Who You're Influencing

Influence=the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others

Recently I received a message on WeUsed2bu from an old friend. She said, "Even though many years have passed I just wanted to take some time out to say thank you". Apparently I showed her courage and guidance which God used to help her press forward in her calling. She updated me on how she is involved in ministry and the great work that the Lord is doing in and through her. She said little did I know that it was my influence that helped motivate her along the way. I was shocked and humbled. It had been years since we had spoken. I really I had no idea that I had any influence on her at all. I was in awe and humbled to know that our Lord used me to help her and that it caused such a ripple of effect. The Spirit of the Lord said, “See you never know who you’re influencing”. I have meditated on those words ever since.

This is not the first time that the topic of influencing others has come up. I did a posting called ‘Do You Walk The Talk?’ last year after meditating on 2 Corinthians 6:1-4. However, this letter from my old friend brought this question up again, ‘What influence am I having on others in my life?’ I hope with all my heart that it is good.

This experience is further confirmation to me that whether we realize it or not our conduct and speech is either having a positive or negative influence on those around us. We have the power to either encourage and edify others in their faith, or cause them to stumble. Our influence on the unbeliever can either draw them closer to the Lord or push them further away. So each of us should carefully evaluate our lives and consider how our behavior will affect others. (John 2:10, Psalm 40:3)

Since we bare the name of Christ, “Christians”, many will look to us to identify with Him. Will they see Christ-like attributes in us? Will they see the fruit of the Spirit -love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Or will they see sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and foul talk? (Galatians 5:19-22)

“You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9

We should desire will all of our hearts for others to see the goodness of God in our lives. Our Lord Jesus sacrificed His life to save us from slavery to sin and the consequences of sin which is death. He doesn’t want us still living in darkness, enslaved to our sinful nature, and selfish desires. He has called us out of the darkness and into His wonderful light. This means leaving our former way of life, no longer participating in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or immoral living, bickering, obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes. These are not for us any more. If we live decent lives for all to see and allow our light to shine we can expel the darkness around us, then our Lord can use us to influence those that are hurting, lost, confused, and in need of our Savior. This is the least that we can do considering all that He has done for us. (Romans 13:12-13, Ephesians 5:4, Romans 12:1)

I just love Psalm 40:1-3, especially the last part of verse three

“Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.”

When others see how God has changed our attitudes, filled us with faith through His Word, delivered us from addictions and bondage, healed us, restored our families, given us a new heart that longs to please Him they will be amazed. They will be inspired by the fruit that they see in our lives and our testimonies of God’s goodness. This is the influence that will draw people to Christ Jesus in us, prompting them to want to know more about the Hope we have. Then we can give an account to them of God’s faithfulness and they too will believe and put their trust in Him.

May our lives and conduct be living witnesses of God’s goodness. May our influence empower, edify, and inspire others to draw closer to Him. May we be willing to lay down our self centered desires and lifestyles and instead live to glorify Christ so that we can be a positive influence, a light in the darkness of this world. In Jesus name..Amen!

I Believe Lord Help My Unbelief

Crosspost from WeUsed2bu

God knew what He was doing when He directed the writing schedule for WeUsed2bu and faith was the subject that was decided on for June. I have had a faith testing and stretching month. I am delighted that it was determined that I would write, “I believe, Lord help my unbelief.” This is an on-time word for me for sure. I pray that whoever needs to read this does, and may it minister to whomever God wills it to.

There is a story in the bible about a father who brings his son to Jesus to be healed. His son had been tormented by a demon since he was a small boy. The father heard about Jesus’ healing power, and decided to take his son to what I imagine he must have considered their last hope.

So they brought the boy to Jesus. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.

“How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.

He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:20-24)

Have you ever been to that point? I have! To the point where you have been suffering so long that you cry out to the Lord, “Jesus, please have mercy on me and help me. I know that you can help me! I know that anything is possible if I believe, but I am tired. I want to believe. I DO BELIEVE, but help my unbelief!”

It is ok to be in that place, as long as you don’t stop believing. You would be worse off if you had given up trusting the Lord, and run away from the One who does the impossible. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to a mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” But without faith it is impossible to please God. Unbelief will hinder our ability to receive His miracle-working power in our lives. (Matthew 17:20-21, Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 13:38)

No matter how long we have to go through a season of trouble or testing, we need to trust that the Lord will work everything out for our good. Even if we suffer for doing what is right, God will reward us for it. So we don’t need to worry or lose hope. We need to instead worship Christ as Lord of our life, and leave our burdens with Him. We need to truly cast all of our cares on Him, and then we will have peace that surpasses all understanding protecting our minds and hearts even in the middle of our trials. Sorrow will not last forever. One day we will be healed and we will also see the fruit of our longsuffering, IF WE DO NOT GIVE UP and give in to unbelief! (Psalm 55:22, Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 3:14-15, Galatians 6:9)

We need to be like the woman with the issue of blood. I love her story because she did not give up, even after 12 years of constant bleeding. The doctors gave her so many negative reports. I am sure that they told her that she would never be healed. She would be an outcast for the rest of her life because of her disease, and she was broke from spending all of her money on these physicians that could not heal her. Then she heard about the Great Physician, and her hope was renewed! She did not allow unbelief to hold her back. She allowed what faith she had left in her to turn into strength to help push her through the crowds of people, just so that she could touch Jesus’ cloak. She believed that He was so powerful that if she could just touch the hem of His garment that she would be healed. She was right! Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment. (Matthew 9:19-22)

Now is not the time to give up! We have to confess our unbelief to the Lord and ask Him to help us. He will! He will give us the faith we need to make it through whatever our circumstances are. We need to be diligently seeking Him and depending on Him for healing and deliverance, no matter how long it takes. He is faithful and true to His Word. This is what we have to hold on to. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. When we get to the point when we are tired and worn out, then we must cry out, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief!” Be encouraged!

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!” (Ps. 30:5)

Spirit Filled Women of God Needed

Calling all Spirit filled women of God blessed with the ability to give wise counsel who have a heart to train young women and teen girls to live wisely and pure lives. (1 Corinthians 12:8, Titus 2:4-5)

The WeUsed2bu ministry team is currently looking to expand out reach! We plan to begin marketing extensively to area churches, social services and centers, and commercial businesses that might be willing to let us post and distribute our materials at their locations. We want to see our information in the hands of as many young women and girls as the Lord will allow, so that they can utilize our services. Our ultimate goal is that they would know the Lord, and grow in their relationship with Him, and we are committed to that vision and purpose.

In order for this ministry to be successful, we are actively seeking volunteer counselors and contributing writers to join the team. These would be women who are willing to commit their time, talents, and spiritual gifts in service to the Lord and to the young women who visit the site. We need counselors to answer anonymous questions that come in from our readers and writers who want to share their godly insight on issues that pertain to Christian living. Each position requires a minimum monthly commitment, a high level of personal accountability, and a heart to help young women struggling with the difficulties of life in the current state of the world.

That doesn’t just mean locally; the site is being accessed all over the globe. The ministry has reached the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe, as people find the site and are utilizing its resources. It’s exciting to see how the Lord can use WeUsed2bu in that way, but we especially want to be a benefit to our local area, where we know that there is an untold number of young women who are in need of God’s hand in their lives.

If you are interested in coming alongside of us please contact us for more details at advice@weused2bu.com . Please forward this on to any godly woman that you think may also be interested. We are trusting the Lord to raise up the right people at the right time, and are looking forward to co-laboring with them in His name.

P.S.

If you are a blogger or have a site that you feel could help us reach out to potential counselors or writers please feel free to cross post this on your site. On behalf of both the WeUsed2bu ministry team and our readers, many thanks.

Pray For Me Please

"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. " 1 Timothy 2:1

To all Consecrated to Him readers please forgive me for not posting as frequently lately. I have been inundated with our other ministries WeUsed2bu and Out of the Miry Clay. Between them and of my course my number #1 ministry my family, I have been busy. I have been praying for our Lord to help me manage my time and not allow me to feel overwhelmed. Thankfully I don’t feel completely overwhelmed because our Lord has brought gifted and capable men and women to help fulfill the visions for these ministries. I hoping to start posting regularly again within in the new couple of weeks.

My request to each of you is that you would cover me in prayer. Also pray for these ministries. Our Lord is doing an awesome work with all of them. We have seen God’s hand moving ever so clearly and His favor and blessings are undeniable. Glory be to God!

I have talked about these ministries before but here’s a recap. WeUsed2bu is a Girl Advice site. I co-founded this ministry with two of my closest friends almost one year ago. The Lord laid it on our hearts to reach out to girls on MySpace. We were to let them know that they are not alone in their cares, concerns, questions, insecurities, troubles, and in so many other things. We wanted them to know that we used to be just like them in so many different ways. We may have even experienced similar circumstances, thus the name WeUsed2bu.

Growing up we never had some where we could turn and really receive true godly advice. Had we have been given godly counsel and direction perhaps we could have made better choices. Today we know the Word of God changes and renews our mind and gives us direction for daily living. We decided that we wanted to give these girls a place to go where they can seek godly advice for their questions and problems.

We began friend requesting and encouraging the girls to contact us if they needed advice or encouragement. We then created a separate blog site where the girls could go to seek advice anonymously since on Myspace we could see who they were. The girls responded immediately. They were so receptive to the idea and the concept. Just as the Holy Spirit showed us they did need some where to turn where they could ask questions without fear of judgment, where they talk honestly and most importantly anonymously.

Almost a year later we have approximately 750 friends and we receive questions almost daily. We are counseling these girls with the Word of God. WeUsed2bu is planting and sowing many seeds into these young women’s lives. Glory be to God.

Our Lord is now leading us to officially incorporate WeUsed2bu ministries and has expanded the vision. We are in the process of partnering with Calvary Chapel Ft.Lauderdale. We are planning to start a magazine and will be publishing our first book hopefully before Christmas. There will be conferences and so much more!! It’s exciting!! So PLEASE pray for WeUsed2bu Ministries.

Now about Out of the Miry Clay.. This ministry has a great big peace of my heart. Out of the Miry Clay is a ministry formed by ex-offenders for ex-offenders. We realized that our Lord was merciful and lifted us up out of our horrible mess, out of the miry clay. He has established our lives in Christ Jesus, changed us, and blessed us above and beyond what we thought He ever would. We want other ex-offenders and those who are still incarcerated to know this. We want them to know that God is no respecter of persons. What He has done for us He will do for them.

We have a monthly support group for ex-offenders. When we come to together there is godly fellowship, accountability, encouragement, and edification. The Holy Spirit is present in those meetings. It’s amazing!!

For Christmas we had the privilege of going into a juvenile center along side of Prison Fellowship to minister and fellowship these children and their families. We shared our testimonies and lives were changed. We are still reaping blessings from that event. Now our Lord is showing us that He wants to expand our territory. In fact that He already has. So you can imagine that that we are full of joyful expectation.

This why I am asking each of you to please commit to praying for me, WeUsed2bu, and Out of the Miry Clay. We have many battles ahead as a ministry and as individuals. But we know that our Lord has equipped us with every spiritual gift, authority, and weapon to overcome and persevere through Christ Jesus.

I thank you in advance for your prayers..Blessings to all of you in Christ Jesus name.

Ephesians 6:18 "Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere."

For more information on these ministries or to make a donation please click the buttons below. Thank you again..

Sincerely,

Lisa aka Trophy of Grace

A WeUsed2bu Woman's Testimony-Melissa's Story

Continued from "A Soul is Saved! Rejoice!"

A WeUsed2bu Woman's Testimony: Melissa's Story

My New Year's Resolution was for me to do whatever it took to be closer to God this year. The other day I went from searching different websites to being saved last night. For some reason God brought me to your website and gave me the strength to take me out of my comfort zone and contact you. I am so blessed that he did.

I am truly blessed and grateful for you (Lisa) walking up there with me and sharing that moment with me. I admire the both of you and what you guys are doing. I was raised in a Catholic home. Although, I never understood his word I always believed in God. He has truly been my Savior throughout the years.

At 18 my father shot and killed my mother and then pulled the gun on himself. At 19 I was in an abusive relationship with a drug addict. I was beat pretty much every other day. I used to cry to God and ask why was He putting me in this type of a situation when I had lost my parents? I felt hopeless. I went from having everything to losing everything, to losing everything including my dignity.

What I didn't realize is that I had him. God was always there. For some reason I had to go thru what I went thru to become the strong woman I am today. God didn't make my life easier He made me stronger! He gave me the strength to leave that relationship in the middle of the night with 2 bags to my name and never look back. It wasn't easy having no one to turn to but Him.

I went from living house to house and having my closet in the trunk of my car. I saved up enough money and purchased my first home at the age of 21. I worked all day and went to school every night. He gave me the strength to get up every morning and accomplish everything I have. I have everything because of Him. I am truly blessed that I had Him there every step of the way. He never left me. He was next to me the whole entire time. I could have strayed but He kept me moving forward.

With everything He has given me I hadn't thanked Him until yesterday. I know in my heart I was destined to meet you guys. I want to thank you so much Lisa for giving me that courage to walk up there last night and be saved and to finally say thank you from the bottom of my heart to God. For I have everything now. I am grateful that Jesus has brought you to me. If this website was to touch one woman, well then the job has been accomplished. Thank you so much ladies! I hope we stay in contact. Keep up the good work! May God bless the both of and your families.

Love Always,
Your new sister
Melissa

A Soul Is Saved! Rejoice!

"There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:9

My whole being has been rejoicing since last night. I am overflowing with joy and standing in awe of our God's majesty. When the Lord is calling you and looking for you He will find you. He does not leave us alone without hope. He answers us when we cry out to Him. Our Lord will never reject a broken and repentant heart. He accepts the sacrifice of a broken spirit laid down at His feet. Thank you Jesus!!

As many of you know I founded a ministry called WeUsed2bu. It is a Christian girl/woman advice site. I have been co-laboring in this minsitry with my partner and dear friend, Deana Colon aka Saved by Faith, for almost a year. We get questions from women seeking advice and counsel for their lives all the time. We had no idea how much our Lord would use this site to impact and influence other women's lives.

Recently a young women found us online and befriended us on our WeUsed2bu MySpace. She explained that she lived in Ft.Lauderdale and that she just recently started attending Calvary Chapel Ft.Lauderdale. She went on to say that she found the church big and felt a little lost and asked if we had any suggestions. I emailed her and encouraged her to get involved in small groups and women bible studies. I also explained that I too attend Calvary and would love to meet her there this Wednesday night. So last night I had the priviledge of meeting up with her at church.

We got to talk and listened to the service together. It was very apparent that the Holy Spirit was working on her heart and confirming to her what she already knew, that she needed to lay her life down at Jesus feet. At the end of the study when Pastor Bob gave the altar call we immediately went right up rejoicing and crying tears of joy and excitement. I am so honored that the Lord allowed me and WeUsed2bu to be apart of this divine appointment. Glory be to God.

Melissa sent us her testimony and I will be sharing that here with you tomorrow. Please keep our new sister in your prayers and if anyone has anything that they would like to say to her please post it here.

Enclosing I would just like to encourage whoever it is that is afraid of stepping out and doing what our Lord has put on your heart to stop making excuses. He has given you a dream and a vision to help change the lives of others around you. You were saved to be used by Him to be a blessing to others. Don't despise small beginnings because that is where He will teach you to be faithful and diligent in your service to Him and others. You just have to be courageous and step out in faith.

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who loved Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

The Old Me

I know I said I wasn't going to write this week, but I just have to share this..

Saturday night was movie date night. We went on a triple date with my brother in law and his wife, and one of our best friends and his date. We arrived at the mall where the movie was playing more than an hour early. The plaza was full of teenagers. I thought to myself this is the perfect place to hand out WeUsed2bu cards. I quickly pulled out about twenty cards that I had in my bag and immediately headed toward the first group of girls that I spotted.

I walked up all happy and said, “Hey girls check out our site! Visit out MySpace.” The first girl I handed the card to read it and said, “O this Christian ****! **** this!” She crumbled the card. I seriously thought she was going to throw it at my face. There was a young boy near by taunting and also making rude comments. I became so bothered. I immediately felt my old nature rise up inside of me. The old me tried to resurrect herself. I wanted to retaliate so badly! I managed to maintain my composure while I passed out the rest of the cards.

I walked back to our group so shocked, not only by the way the girls reacted but by how I internally reacted. The love that I felt when I walked up to them was overcome now by emotions of anger, rejection, hurt, confusion, disappointment, and nervousness. What happened to me? Here I am giving them cards that say WeUsed2bu; however what used to be me wanted to present its self all over again. Although I did not retaliate I wanted to. I hated that feeling. I felt guilty and ashamed within myself. This was a reality check for me that the old me will try to come back any time if I allow it to. I have to be careful of it.

We must never let our guard down because our enemies are real, the devil and our old sin nature. The enemy will try to set traps along the way to trip us up. He provokes the war within us between our old sinful nature and our new nature Christ gave us. If given the opportunity he knows that our old sinful nature will rise up and attempt to enslave us all over again. When we give in to our old nature we can make a mess of everything that God is trying to do in our lives. I do not need any unnecessary set backs because of lack of self control and submission to the Spirit of Love.

Thank God for the Holy Spirit who reminds us that we are new creations in Christ Jesus, the old has gone, and the new has come. We are no longer slaves to sin or our old sin nature. Therefore we don’t have to surrender to those sinful desires. We are living a brand new kind of life that is continually learning more and more what is right, and trying constantly to be more and more like Christ who created this new life within us. Through the power of Christ we can live and act in a way worthy of those called to such blessings. (Romans 6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:1, Colossians 3:10)

I thank God for giving me strength in my moment of weakness. It was truly by His power that I did not act out in foolishness. To God be the glory.

Lord, thank you for power to help us overcome our old sinful nature and desires. Without You we are weak and small. You make us strong and powerful. We are glad to be slaves of righteousness. May our lives always bring your glory. In Jesus name..Amen.

Partner With Us

The Lord has given us a vision and dream for the Consecrated To Him and WeUsed2bu Girl Advice ministries. Over the past months we have received confirmation through our readers and from the Holy Spirit that these ministries are being used by God to help change other’s lives. Glory be to God!

We have been praying and fasting about where our Lord is taking these ministries. It is clear to us that we are to continue to fervently press forward sharing the love of God and edifying one another in the faith.

We have determined that in order for us to fulfill the calling that God has on these ministries we must ask our readers to partner with us financially. Just like any other business these ministries have financial expenses and obligations that need to be met in order for the ministries to grow.

Some of our goals are to:

- Search for a new platform to support the expansion of our sites. (Open forums, social networking, live chat, etc.)
- Start a newsletter
- Ministry Magazine
- Writing and publishing books
- Brochures and pass it along cards
- Ministry Events
- Ministry Apparel (T-shirts, tote bags, etc.)

This is just the tip of the iceberg. We know that the Lord has great plans for these ministries and we have dedicated our lives to serving the Lord and all of you through Consecrated To Him and WeUsed2bu.

We ask that if you are being encouraged and edified by these ministries please pray about showing your support and partnering with us. Your partnership would be a decision to financially and prayerfully support our ministry.

Thank you for your prayerful consideration. Your support will make a difference in many lives all over the world, now and forever.

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"Happy and fortunate are you who cast your seed upon all waters [when the river overflows its banks; for the seed will sink into the mud and when the waters subside, the plant will spring up; you will find it after many days and reap an abundant harvest], you who safely send forth the ox and the donkey [to range freely]." Isaiah 32: 20

Rate WeUsed2bu Girl Advice Site

RealTeenFaith.com creates resources (blogs, books, speaking, articles) to help teens strengthen their relationship with God, as well as resources for youthworkers, parents, and those who love teens.


Suzanne Eller the author of Real Teen Faith recently did a posting on her blog called Real Link: We Used 2 B U. The post is telling her readers briefly about WeUsed2bu and asking them to rate our site: 1 to 5 stars (5 stars is amazing). Our rating is currently 4.5 stars.


Take a moment, read the reviews, and rate our site. You decide, is WeUsed2bu a shining star? Rate WeUsed2bu Now

Updates on WeUsed2bu Girl Advice

Many of you know I started a Christian Girl advice site called WeUsed2bu with a couple of other faith filled sisters. WeUsed2bu is an advice site for Christian girls as well non-Christian girls that are searching for godly advice for their situations. I wanted to share with you what God is doing with this ministry.

When we first discussed starting this ministry the Lord laid it on our hearts that we needed to start by reaching out to girls on Myspace. Since we had our own Myspace sites we saw all the time how these girls would express themselves and knew this ministry was needed. Many of them looked so desperate, confused, and influenced by the wrong crowd. Their friends look so “out there” and lost. It was sad. We felt lead by the Spirit to let them know that we are here for them if they need any advice or encouragement. So we have started doing that!

WeUsed2bu Myspace Ministry

We created a Myspace for our ministry ( www.myspace.com/weused2bu ) so that we could begin friend requesting young women and start getting the Word out there. On myspace they can send us questions via message privately or via comments where everyone else could see.

We have almost three hundred friends and over a hundred pending friend requests. The girls on myspace have been very responsive. Most of the comments we have received have been positive, encouraging us to keep doing this and confirming that this is something that has been long needed. We have had girls reject us, call us weird, and one girl even cursed God publicly on our page. She did not delete us as her friend. So we decided to leave her comment for others to see and pray for her. We know she was just hurt terribly.

We realized that there would be girls that would want to ask us questions anonymously so we decided to create a blog for WeUsed2bu.

WeUsed2bu Blog Ministry

The blog allows our girls to leave comments, ask questions anonymously, and even provides resources for them such as:

Building UR Faith- These are sites that help edify and encourage our readers

Teen Help Resources-These are sites that they can get help for drug addiction, suicide, teen pregnancy, abortion, homosexuality, etc.

We are always looking for Christian sites that fall under these categories to help our girls. If you know of any ministries or organizations that could benefit our readers please email them to weused2bu@hotmail.com .

Christian Living Articles

Every week we have a featured article on Christian Living for teens written by us as well as other strong women of God who we invited to become contributing authors. If you are interested in becoming a guest author and please review our guidelines.

Girls Seeking Advice

Below are some of the questions that our girls have asked. Click on the title if you would like to read the question and answer.

I Don't Want To Wake Up Any More
My Friend Becomes My Boyfriend-Everything's A Mess!
Getting Married To Another Girl..What Do You Think?
What Does The Bible Say About Partying & Clubbing
He's Back What Do I Do?
In A Relationship For 3 Years, But I Like Girls
Is He The Guy For Me?
My Smoking Friend

View All Questions Asked

God has put big hopes and dreams on our hearts for this ministry. Please continue to pray for us. If the Lord lays it on your heart to give to WeUsed2bu please visit http://www.weused2bu.com/ and click our donate button.