All posts filed under: Musing Moments

Guard Your Heart: Journies of Faith

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“Guard your heart with all diligence for out of it spring forth the issues of life.” ~PROVERBS 4:23 The Lord has been telling me during this season not to allow the enemy to steal my joy. On the cuffs of that admonition, He in His grace, also reminds me that He has also been telling me to “not be nervous but to be expectant.” In all of this, with the ringing of the divine message saying, “guard your heart”, what came to mind was the image and scripture regarding the full armor of God. FULLY ARMED Reading the scriptures about the Armor the Lord calls us to equip ourselves with is how although He has instructed us to be fully dressed in this armor, He doesn’t tell us to fight. In fact, what He instructs us to do is to stand! “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” ~EPHESIANS 6:13 (See Eph. 6:10-20) The Lord wants us to …

Dare to Dream with God by Briana Lassiter

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“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” JEREMIAH 29:11 A few months ago I had an experience with God where He showed me a picture of Himself as a daydreamer and Author quietly sitting in His comfy chair, daydreaming about my character in His story He’s writing. The picture really changed my perception of God and challenged me to stop diminishing my own good daydreams and hopes and start recognizing them as unique desires He has placed within me for a purpose. Sometimes it’s very easy to ignore our dreams and hopes for ourselves based on our own disappointments or expectations not being met in the past, but God doesn’t want that for us, and in fact, says of Himself that He is the One who hopes and dreams up good things for His children! (JEREMIAH 29:11) I challenge you today to stop throwing away your whole dreams and hopes based on past disappointments and …

Start with a Seed: Start Here pt 1

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“…Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” -MATTHEW 20:17b When a person sets out to give life to their dream or vision, or even to undertake a project that is relevant for that season of their life, one thing they do without fail is to take stock of what they have in hand. Our Master and Savior, the King Creator, actually instructs us in His Word that a wise man takes inventory of what he has before he begins, lest when he starts he finds he is unable to finish (LUKE 14:28-29). The one thing that many of us find paralyzing about this is that when we do actually take inventory of what we have, we tend to lean on our own understanding, often stifling the voice of the Lord that is telling us to begin, in favor of believing what our eyes and logic …

Recapture the Wonder by Briana Lassiter

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In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. It’s such a crazy thing to think about, but it can cease to be astonishing if this has been something we learned about as a child and have known for some time. Sometimes it’s easy for us to forget the wonder of our faith. A couple months ago I was praying with a friend and she said something that really startled me, she said: “Briana He wants you to know that He is God.” I was a bit taken aback because of course, He is, I thought! But later on as I began to think deeply about what that meant for me, what that meant for my circumstances that I was praying about and what that meant about the outcome He had promised, the wonder of it all returned as I realized fully that there is nothing too big for God and nothing He won’t do for me. Friends if you are experiencing a struggle or difficulty that God has promised you He will heal, fix …

Abiding Fruitfulness Series Up Until October 13th!

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Hello, Creatives! I don’t know if you had the chance to journey along with us in our first ever recorded series, Abiding Fruitfulness: 40-days of Resting to Success. If you did, that is fantastic! But if not, no worries. We will be having the videos and other content available until SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2019.  Now is the perfect time to spend some time in rest and reflection as you contemplate your ‘start‘ for the coming new year. There also may be some merch available soon to help remind you of the importance of your rest for success. Keep your eyes open!

Start Here: Starting Right From the Heart Series Intro

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Do you have a vision? Do you have an ember of hope for something different burning inside you? Have you found yourself frustrated with the predictability of the ‘usual’ and often slip into the imaginative world created by the dream in you? That is fantastic! Christ has given us all seeds or ‘talents’ to work with, but oftentimes we find ourselves lost in the fog of ‘how’. How do we get from where we are to where we dream we can be doing the very thing that Christ has branded in our hearts to do? We start. And we start here, right where we are. This new series, Start Here, will explore what it means to take the first step of faith to go toward your vision, dream, call, or destiny. Sometimes you have to start in the dark, sometimes the mess, but the glory is starting in faith, right where you are. It begins with the heart and the matters that lie within and go to places beyond our imagining. Join us for this …

Who We Are: The Mission of ICFTS

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WHAT IS ICFTS: Welcome to “I came for the soup…,”  a growing community of Creatives, designed to encourage others to dream or dream again, in Christ-centered faith, helping them to discover their unique creative call, identity, and vision and the courage it takes to make them thrive. We create many things in life; art, industry, relationships, legacy. All of which are divinely influenced and require courage, faith, vision, and a plan to go from ‘mental thought’ to manifestation. OUR MISSION ICFTS’s mission is to encourage and guide you to rediscover and take hold of your vision and unique creative voice by aiding you in discovering and applying creative inspiration and information to the areas that you are seeking to flourish in, in order to step out in faith and give life to your vision. Our aim is to aid others in growing through their Vision, developing their Voice, and clarify their plan of execution for each creative endeavor through their Doing. We believe this is achieved through: Strengthening FAITH Becoming deeply rooted in our IDENTITY in Christ Acknowledging the divine …

Jesus, the Oil of Joy: A Poem by Briana Lassiter

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This is a poem about the symbolic oil of Joy that is made from Myrhh and only offers it’s sweet scent once it’s been crushed. Joy on the inside, joy from within. This is joy; the joy you win. Crushed and bruised, this is released, the oil of joy, the oil of peace. The joy You’ve put into me cultivated with care, now is released. It is all you, Jesus my joy. Strength, peace, confirming, fighting, killing, declaring. These are the things that joy enables when crushed beyond belief. This is it! This is the way, this is joy. A heart that is white, a heart that is clean, a heart that is trusting, what is unseen. Friendship and love, never-ending, not losing, This is the oil, pour it over everything *Photo by MI PHAM on Unsplash By Briana Lassiter I’m married to my dearest friend of 8 years and mom to an energetic 6-year-old. My greatest joys come from traveling with my little family, cooking for appreciative recipients, learning herbalism and natural medicine, and every experience I …

Mexican Fruit Salad by Briana Lassiter

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I chose this recipe as the last one for the Summer Salad series because it’s the easiest and most versatile in my opinion, and I know for me at this point in the summer when everyone’s a bit tired and hanging out by the water is all anyone wants to do, easy cooling, and healthy are top priority. This fruit salad reminds me of Mexican candy and gives you a mouthful of sweet, smokey, spicy and tangy all at once! Serve it as a side with just about anything, or enjoy it on its own as a satisfying snack. • 2 cups of diced watermelon • 2 cups of diced pineapple • 2 cups of diced mango • Juice of 1 lime • 1/8 to 1/4 tsp Chile powder (I prefer ground chipotle chile for a sweet smokey taste, but any ground chile pepper is good as long as it’s just chiles and doesn’t have additives like garlic and salt) Combine all fruit and sprinkle with the lime juice and chili powder, serve immediately and …

My Favorite Read by Briana Lassiter: Encouraged in the Wait

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This weeks summer favorite is an article from 2016, titled, ENCOURAGED IN THE WAIT by Candice Coates. I (Briana) had just met Candice and when I saw this post of hers on Facebook, I was in a deep waiting/suffering period and it resonated deeply as I sat and cried over the reminders of the truth about God that my tired heart desperately needed. As I read it over today, I find myself in a waiting period again, and the truths about God are still true, and His comfort is still as powerful as it was the first time I read it. And as Candice wrote, “Our Heavenly Father loves us beyond measure so much so that He would never forget us nor forsake us, especially not when we are distressed. Just as a parent is moved by the cries of their child so too is our Heavenly Father moved by ours.” I hope you are blessed with the encouragement you need today for your own wait as you read this summer favorite! By Briana Lassiter …