Introducing "His Yes Girls" in a new feature

Dearest readers of my blog, “God is Love”:

I am so excited to share with you a brand new feature coming soon to my blog—seasonal guest posts!

Yes, I said seasonal, which means I’ve invited people who are passionate about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to write one guest post per season (spring/summer/autumn/winter) to be posted on my blog. As I bring in more writers, there will be more introductions. But for now, I’d like to introduce you to two women who love God and want to share the lessons they’re learning in their daily faith journey with Jesus Christ—Austi and Kait, welcome to my blog!

Austi and Kait have co-founded a blog called His Yes Girls: Our Walk with God in Blog Form. They are passionate about helping people come to know and love God and have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I think you will love what they have to say it the upcoming seasonal guests post but for now, I’ll let this introduction continue in a (short bio) message from Austi and Kait:

Meet Austi:

My name is Austi, and I am the co-founder/author of His Yes Girls, which was born of Kait and I’s hunger for the Lord, our love of writing and our desire to share the love and grace that the Lord has bestowed upon us. We firmly believe that God has called us to write and share our findings and revelations of the Word in order to reach out and touch the lives of others.

I recently married the most supportive loving, and handsome man I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and I am blessed beyond words that God brought him into my life (and is letting me keep him forever). I have a huge passion for all things creative: writing, photography, design, etc. I hope and pray that one day (soon) I will be able to focus more on those passions and even have the opportunity to build a career out of them.

Writing for His Yes Girls has not only given me the opportunity to share my faith and belief with others, but has also brought my personal relationship with my Savior to a whole new level. And, it is still growing every single day! I absolutely love discovering new lessons as I [do my best to] walk hand in hand of the Lord. I just pray that the light of the Lord shines through me always, and that I may lead by example so that others may be inspired to seek the Light of His Grace!

Fulfilling His Purpose | Philippians 2:13

~Austi

... 

Meet Kait: 

Hi Y’all!! My name is Kait and I am a co-founder and writer for His Yes Girls. His Yes Girls was created with the belief that when God calls us, we strive to always be obedient and do what He needs us to do. We want to be the ones who God knows He can tell to do anything He needs done and know that we will immediately say YES! 

We want to always say YES to God at all times, in all things! God put a blog on mine and Austi’s hearts so we created His Yes Girls in December of 2013. I am currently a senior Business Administration major at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, TX and will be attending the University of Texas at San Antonio in the Fall to pursue a Master’s Degree in Accountancy. 

My heart longs to help people in other countries, to travel the world and experience different cultures. My heart longs for every girl that I meet to want to know more about God and more about Jesus, for them to want to be His Yes Girl. Every day my walk with God is different but one thing is constant--I am constantly trying to draw closer to Him.I want my life to be an example of how much He loves me; I want His light to shine through me to all I see.

I strive to not just read the Bible, but study it and lean on revelations from God and the prompting of the Holy Spirit to help me understand because The Lord gives us understanding in all things! We will continue writing to share our journey to live a God-filled life and take everything back to scripture because we know God’s word is truth.

His Yes Girls ministry aims to lead people to know who Jesus is and all that salvation is and bring together the entire body of Christ, glorifying God in all that we do. We aim to spread the burning desire to know Him by studying The Bible, seeking Him in all things and being fervently obedient, knowing perfection in all areas of our lives are in His perfect plans for us, and for us all accomplish all the good works God has for us to do.

Fulfilling His Purpose | Philippians 2:13 

His Yes Girl, 

Kait

~*~

There you go! Are you excited about this new feature? I hope so!

Stay tuned for their first guest post coming soon in April!

God bless you!

Sincerely,

Alexis

Powerful message from Pastor Steven Furtick

A New Way to See the Way God Sees Us from Elevation Media on Vimeo.

Thankful Thursday: Tax Preparation for FREE

It's Thursday and I'm thankful for an answer to prayer--FREE tax preparation!

Yes, you read that right the first time, I was able to have my taxes prepared for free! Now the reason this blessing is of special significance to be is because two months ago, I did not know how I could afford to have my taxes prepared by my favorite professional CPA, especially since this year as it would cost over $300.00. So I was trying not to worry about how I was going to be able to afford that cost. I prayed about it and God made a way! He helped me to discover the Maryland CASH Campaign which "was established in 2005 to link asset building programs in Maryland together to strengthen products and policies that promote financial security for families". Simply said, if you make less than a certain salary range and meet a few more requirements, you may be able to have your taxes prepared for FREE!

So I wrote this simple, sweet and to-the-point blog today to encourage you to stay in tune with as my grandma would say "The Great I Am" (GOD) and trust HIM because He's always looking out for you and will lead you to what's best for you which in the context of tax preparation for me was Maryland CASH Campaign! :)

God bless you!

With agape love,

Alexis

God's Love for YOU is Unconditional

Elevation Creative: Unconditionally from Elevation Media on Vimeo.
In this video from our Creative team, we used the song "Unconditionally" to illustrate God the Father, and His ever-present and unwavering love for all His children.

Special Guest Post: He Loves Me!

Today, I have a special story to share with you, a devotional written by Donna Gaines. Donna is an author, Bible teacher, pastor's wife and she is passionate about making disciples for Jesus Christ. 

As an author, Donna's work is a feature of Inscribed which is the new line of study resources from Thomas Nelson Publishers. Proverbs 3:3  which says, "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart," is the inspiration behind Inscribed which was founded after Donna and her ministry team discovered that women were not finding a study that "suits their needs" and often resorted to combining use of regular books with their Bible in study groups. Donna and her team hope that Inscribed Studies will be the solution. 

Donna's new book Leaving Ordinary: Encounter God Through Extraordinary Prayer, was published and released today (March 4, 2014) by Thomas Nelson. The book was birthed as a result of Donna's ordinary prayer life which transformed into an extraordinary encounter with God and her prayer life has never been the same since. Donna desires to share what she's learned in her faith journey with God, so much that she's written a guest post for my blog just for you, my readers!

May you be reminded of God's love for you in reading Donna's devotional, perfectly titled, "He Loves Me!"

~*~

He Loves Me!

Written by Donna Gaines 

Have you ever felt disconnected from God? Have you ever experienced a dry period in your spiritual life when you despaired of ever hearing His voice again? A time when you were just worn out with the daily-ness of life? We have all been there at some point and have even wondered if God really loves us.

I remember one of those times in my life. I recorded it in my new book, Leaving Ordinary.

Shortly after our fourth child was born, I was longing for my time with the Lord. After the birth of each of my children, there was a significant adjustment period. My orderly world had been turned upside down. Sleep deprived and trying to keep a household going for my pastor husband and four children, ranging in ages from newborn to ten, was proving to be beyond me. I cried out to the Lord as I trudged through my days. I remember walking into my laundry room one day and just turning around and walking back out—too overwhelmed to tackle the mountain that faced me.

A couple of days after the laundry episode, I returned to our Tuesday morning women’s Bible study. My newborn was three weeks old. I was lonely and looking forward to adult conversation. But what I was really longing for was a word from the Lord.

Driving back to the house, I felt somewhat uplifted, but still yearning. I stopped routinely at the mailbox as I pulled into our driveway and found a package. Denise George had sent me her recently published book, A Longing Heart Hears God’s Gentle Whisper. The words jumped out at me as though I had received a postcard from heaven!

About three o’clock the next morning, as I was up nursing my baby, I opened the book. I just “happened” to open to a section where the author was comparing the miracle of prayer to the miracle of a newborn baby. As I looked at the delicate features of our little girl and then back at the book, I read these words:

Imagine! Through prayer, you and I can call upon the One who fashioned our delicate bodies, who gifted our hearts and minds. The One who created us and gave us breath! The One who listens to us, our prayers of thanks and our prayers of complaints. The One who loves us so deeply that He would rather die than live without us.1

At that moment, the presence of The One filled the little nursery where I rocked my baby, and I was overwhelmed by His love. His love! Not reprimand because I hadn’t been having my quiet time. But love, pure and unrestrained. My heart began to pound and tears began to flow. He loves me! He heard and He saw me. I thought my heart might burst right open. His goodness had filled that room, and I was at once both comforted and encouraged.

This same intimacy and awareness are what God desires for each of His children to experience. Perhaps God may seem distant to you, as He did to me. Or maybe you aren’t convinced His promises include you. But I can tell you from personal experience, the only One who can satisfy is seeking you. (Leaving Ordinary, P. 3-4).

Repeat after me: He loves me! Rest in that assurance today.

~*~

Author bio for Donna Gaines: In addition to InScribed’s Leaving Ordinary: Encounter God Through Extraordinary Prayer, Donna is the author of two other books, There’s Gotta Be More and Seated: Living from Our Position in Christ. Donna is also the editor of A Daily Women’s Devotional. She is married to Dr. Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church. Known as “Mom” to her son and three daughters and “Nonna” to her six grandchildren, Donna enjoys Memphis bar-b-que, Alabama football, and anything that you can douse with salsa. Leaving Ordinary is available now. Visit (http://inscribedstudies.com/)