I'm Wishing On A Star

Every young girls dream is to be like that fairy tale story of Cinderella and marry their Prince Charming

        There once was a young girl whose dreams was to meet her Prince Charming and live happily ever after.  This young girl lived in a small 2 bedroom apartment with 3 siblings and her parents. In those days when she was growing up, there were a lot of financial burdens that prevented them to live a lifestyle that every child would have loved to live.  But this never stopped this young girl to dream of one day marrying her Prince Charming and be swept away in a white carriage and into the sunset. Her dreams always kept her wishing on a star that one day it will become a reality.  But, as time went by painful events in her life caused those dreams to fade away

      But one day, as she strolled along the park being captivated by the beauty of creation, she noticed from afar a handsome young man staring at her. She bashfully continued to walk, but was impressed with his smile.  Soon after, her curiosity of his smile made her look back and there he was- still staring and smiling. Embarrassed, she started to walk fast and went home. That night, she sat by the window and looked up to the sky and wished upon a star and hurried into bed in hopes that nightfall will soon become day.   As daylight broke, she hurried and did all she had to do and came home, showered and put on her prettiest dress and left to take her stroll at the park. 

      As she walked the same path, there he was again smiling at her. It was as he was waiting for her to come back. She became very nervous and didn't know what foot to put in front of the other and also the butterflies in her stomach wasn't helping either.  This went on for several days until one day as she walked by and looked to the area where he always stood, he wasn't there; she paused and continued to walk away.  As she walked, she noticed a shadow behind her, so she looked back and there he was; standing there with a smile and a rose in his hand. Shy but happy to see him, she accepted the rose and they walked and talked along the path where he first captivated her heart.  From that day on, they became inseparable. He became her Prince Charming. He said the right things, did the right things and promised her a rose garden full of joy, happiness and everlasting love.  She was living out her dream of the fairy tale of Cinderella and Prince Charming.  Nothing made her as happy as her Prince Charming did.  He showered her with whispers of love, passionate kisses and expensive gifts, everything she ever dreamed off and more.  

      The day of her dream of becoming Mrs. Prince Charming arrived.  Oh how beautiful she looked and how everyone was mesmerize by her beauty as she walked down the isle in her pretty white princess dress.  Her heart leaped with joy as she saw her Prince Charming with the smile that stole her heart, waiting for her to arrive to meet him at the altar to profess his love and be united as one.  As the stars in the sky set the scenery of love, she danced the night away with her Prince Charming, oh how much love was in the air; oh how he made her feel as his eyes penetrated through her beauty; oh how his tender kisses made her feel desirable and his gentle touch made her yearn for more and his soft whispers promising her an everlasting love that made her feel as if she was the luckiest girl in the world.  As she looked up to the sky, she thanked God for her wish come true. 

But nothing could have prepared her for the nightmare that was ahead of her.....(to be continued) 

I'll Always Find You In My Heart

Written by Maribel Castillo

August 8, 2013

The Beauty of Your Presence

"My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" Exodus 33:14

As I sit here and look around, I am engulfed by the beauty of your creation, feeling the warmth of the sun that is surrounded by the intensity of the fluffy white clouds, the calmness of the river that sends out the fragrance of your presence and soothes my spirit to full surrender. As I sit under the tree and look up and watch the leaves as it dances in the essence of your presence, it stirs within me a desire to be part of this beauty. As I close my eyes, I inhale your fragrance of your peace, my spirit within dances and exhales the power of your love. My eyes see the wonders of your hands. My heart beat as one as I hear the whisper of your voice through the breeze that I am also apart of your beautiful creation!!! "Be still for I am here and in the midst of your pain, I bring peace for I have not left you, nor have I forsaken you. Forget the former things; Rejoice, for this is not the end but the beginning of something new !!" 

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past, See I am doing a new thing! " Isaiah 43: 18-19

I wrote this inspiration this morning, as I remembered my time spent in Liberty State Park yesterday. God has a way of doing things in our lives that many around us will never understand or even ourselves for that matter, but one thing for sure - God always comes with a refreshing word to ease the pain and bring things to fall into place according to His will and His timing. 

It is not yet time for the message to come true, but that time is coming soon; the message will come true. It may seem like a long time, but be patient and wait for it, because it will surely come; it will not be delayed. Habakkuk 2:3 

One of things that I have learned in my process is to surrender it all and not ask questions. Letting go and letting God has been my greatest achievement in my walk with God. I may never know all the answers to my questions, "as to why it had to happen? or why things have to end this way? "But, I trust God enough to know that He is the Author and Perfecter of my life.  God has never given me more than I can't handle. Though there are times that the pain and sorrow may be unbearable but I always come out of it stronger and more determined to serve God with the intensity of obedience and a willing heart to serve him and go wherever He asks me to go. I don't know how this chapter of my life will end and who are the people that God will allow walk this journey with me, but again, I trust God enough to lead the way. 

And He said unto me, My Grace is sufficient for  thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest up me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

I have learned to be still and listen to His sweet whispers as he gently soothes my spirit from all anxieties and worries. His presence casts away all fear. He leads me from crooked paths and into the path that leads to his heart. I have learned that through my weakness; He has shown himself stronger. While others walk away, casts stones and judges my flaws; He gets even closer, picks up the stones to lift me higher and uses my flaws to set others free. When I feel alone and abandoned; He reminds me, I have never left you, nor have I ever forsaken you. When I have fallen into the deep waters of despair; He throws at me His life saving anchor of Hope. When I feel I have lost the battle; He tells me, this battle is not yours, but mine! When I feel defeated by the works of the enemy; He reminds me, I have given Power and Authority to put the enemy under your feet. When I hear others cursing me; He tells me, I turn those curses into blessings and yesterday again he tells me; Rejoice, for this is not the end, but the beginning of something new!!

 As my Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love..This things I have spoken to you, that my joy be in you and that your joy may be full. John 15:9,11

In Conclusion: I understood what God was telling me yesterday, not everyone that has been in my life, will be or is part of God's plan for my life in this new season. Like the Word of God says in Matthew 12:30; Anyone who isn't with me opposes me and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me. As painful as it is, decisions have to be made "BUT GOD" has a better plan, this much I know. As I look forward with anticipation and with much expectancy, I will continue to seek God more than ever. Kneeling at the foot of the cross, laying at the threshing floor and receiving words of wisdom and setting the table to those who are also hungry and needs to be fed the word of God. Allowing the Holy Spirit to fill me with God's living water so I in turn can quench the thirst of others that are now living in a barren land.  So as of now, I will continue to run this race, looking forward for the price that will lead me to an everlasting life. And to God be all the Glory !! 

Here In Your Presence -New Life Worship

Written by Maribel Castillo

August 5, 2013 

Inspired by: The Beauty of God's Presence

God's Grace Covers Me

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of GRACE, that we may receive mercy and find Grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

My blog is about my journey of brokenness and blessings. It is about finding treasures in the darkness. It is about growing in my faith when it is hard and the darkness wants to consume me. It is about my hope in God and finding him faithful and learning to praise him in the good times and the hard times. 

Yes, my journey has been and is of brokenness and blessings, I have found treasures in the darkness and I have been surprised by Grace and my life has never been the same. In times of brokenness, I began seeking God in a new way and He began to show me what I would call treasures in the darkness. God's word became a wonderful place of healing and a source of strength for me.  God began to whisper into my heart " Be still and know that I am God. I began to listen to His voice and I began to recognize it. Verse after verse would begin to flood my soul like torrential rain. In Deuteronomy 32:2 it says: "Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, life showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants" That's what God's word began to do in me. 

As God began healing my brokenness, I realized that the pain would never go away, but that God would instead use the pain in a new way in my life. As I have begun to move through the difficulties and the ashes of these past few months, I realized that I had been surprised by Grace. I had found treasures in the darkness. In Isaiah 45:2 says: "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name" I began to hear His voice above the sounds of the storm calling my name. The promises of God would take my brokenness and show me blessings!! 

God was also showing me His Grace in many new ways. It seemed as though God was offering me a gift and this gift would be new eyes to see, a new heart to love, a new mind to understand. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and He saves those who are crushed in spirit. Yes, that was me....broken and crushed! I am learning that He uses my pain, trials, suffering, brokenness-whatever you want to call it, to invite me to experience his Grace.  He wants us to tell our stories. He is not looking for perfect people. He is looking for transparency, having an open heart to let Him move in. He wants our raw, broken, but yet gutsy and bold stories. You see, we all have a story, God is writing stories in each of our hearts. He is writing a story in me. Each time, I wonder exactly what He wants me to learn and do with it, but I am excited more than ever that He is always up to something good! I am being surprised by Grace each and every day and that is a good thing because: The Lord, My God is with me, He is mighty to save. He delights in me, He quiets me with His love, He rejoices over me with singing ~ Zephaniah 3:17.

In Conclusion: I have come to full understanding that God does not waste my pain, but I am not a bit surprised by that, because it becomes a blessing. Blessings that I never looked for. I have had many opportunities to share my story lately of my journey of brokenness and blessings to so many women that God has put in my path, it seems to spill out of me what I least expect it. So, that is the gift, the treasure and the blessing " The Grace of God" 

Grace..... by Laura Story

Written by Maribel Castillo

August 3, 2013 

Inspired by Isaiah 45:2

Hello God, It's Me

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3

Hello God, it's me Maribel

I called  You again tonight, to talk a little while before I get ready for bed and want to share with you my today's anxieties and worries. I also ask you to give me another good night of restful sleep, Father give me the peace of mind and the ability to relax. 

Fulfill my needs for mental and physical restoration so I may wake up ready for another beautiful day, which I hope You will allow me to enjoy.  I want to ask you to please keep my family safe and sound, that you may fulfill their lives with your purpose and protect and guide then through their life's journey.

Give me faith, Heavenly Father, when I wake up in the morning and face the world and not to worry over things, I can not change in anyway.  I thank You for being home and listening to my call and for giving me such a good advice when I stumble and fall.

Your number, My Lord is the only one that answers every time; I never get a busy signal and never goes on voice mail.  So thank You, My Lord for listening to my troubles and sorrow....Good Night...I love You, too and I will call again tomorrow and in peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, My Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

Nicole C Mullen - Call on Jesus 

My Love Letters To God

You show that you are letter from Christ...written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. {2 Corinthians 3:3}

Many times when I’m overwhelmed, it’s hard to know what to say to God or how to even begin.  I tend to spend a lot of time thinking about things and sometimes, when I can’t think things through, I get quiet inside.  Knotted up, I would push through my day and just get things done.  So, a few years ago after reading the Bible I decided to write a letter to God and ever since my intimacy with the Lord has grown and I began my own personal scrapbook journal.  I now address Him in my journal as “Dear Abba Father.”

Something intense happens when I write a letter to God, before I know it, I’m writing him a letter and I can’t stop the words from flowing. My mind has so much to say, but my writing can’t catch up to my thoughts, it’s amazing! My emotions poured forth, spilling over from my heart’s reservoir of love. Somehow the very act of writing—my thoughts on paper— releases an outpouring of feelings before unexpressed.

Yet, this experience really should have come as no surprise. After all, God is our supreme Lover, our great Romancer. He knew that a wonderful way to woo His beloved and express His emotions was through a love letter, the Bible. He knew that “letters mingle souls,” and He gave us His heart-print in ink so that we would have the joy of reading, pondering, and tracing its testimony over and over again. Because the spoken word is temporary, God blessed us with a lasting testament of His passion.

    

Every time, I read the bible, I cherished the love letters I receive, and I wait with excitement to receive them. I would read and reread them. I would sprinkle them with perfume, cut it and paste it in my journal. I enjoy them because they make me feel loved. — because someone thought enough of me to write to me, because someone took the time and effort to reveal his inmost, passionate thoughts, because someone trusted me with the greatest gift of all, his heart.

It is the gift of my whole heart that God most desires—a heart without pretense or vanity; a heart in all its honesty, beauty, passion, and brokenness; a heart beating with love, joy, sadness, delight, doubt, pain and even anger. True love expresses all emotions, and true love—God’s true love for me. The most beautiful way I have found in which to wrap the gift of my heart is within a letter. Love letters are “our heart on our sleeve, our battle standard, our essence, our un-erasable signature, our emotional fingerprint, our private well of memory…our true secret self.”

It is our hidden self we most long to reveal. My love letters reveal my truest essence—my soul made visible in all its intimacy and complications. I cannot help but love God because He loves me; I cannot help but write to God because He has written to me. I take the time to write because my Lover is worthy of my efforts. I write because, though physically unseen, God is real, and writing draws me closer to Him. I write because I desire to offer Him more than a hurried “I love You” on the run. I write because I long to embroider my passion with a flourish of my pen, an embellishment of my heart. I write because my spoken sentiments are passing, and I desire a permanent way to preserve my thoughts. I write because God values my prayers so much that He says He sprinkles them with incense and saves them in the “golden bowls of heaven.”

Conclusion: My ups, my downs, my victories, my defeats, my adoration, my apathy, my faith, my doubts, my questions—and God’s responses—are recorded in my journals. These entries are love letters from my heart to God’s—messages from His heart to mine—letters sent special delivery to and from heaven that have changed my life on earth. I sign my letters in ink that will one day fade. But God signs His in permanent ink—the blood of His Son shed for me, blood that covers my imperfection and allows me to pray openly to Him.

Whitney Houston - Jesus Loves Me .

Written by Maribel Castillo

August 2, 2013

There Is No Other Love

Amarte Solo a Ti

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. (Jeremiah 31:3)

I remember a few years back when I first heard this song, it was a time that I was in such a desperate need of being loved and accepted by someone who clearly was not able to give me what I needed. It was a time that I didn't understand who I was in the eyes of my Heavenly Father. I didn't know that I was a Daughter of a High Ranked King, The Great I AM!!  The One who sits on his Heavenly Throne, who set me apart to do greater things and to be loved and honored as such - A Daughter of a KING!! 

As far as I can remember there was always a feeling of void in my life and at my early teens I realized what it was. I met my daughter’s father and what I thought was love opened in me a hunger to seek and want more of it. We were both young, inexperienced and definitely it was not love but it felt good, it felt like a high that you didn't want to come down from, but soon after this feeling became a painful reality that escalated to adulthood; “The need to be loved”.  This reflected in my personal life, especially when it was being involved with a man. What I didn't realize back than, but what I have learned today is that no one can love you like our Heavenly Father does, but it took me years of seeking in all the wrong places and to all the wrong people. I was at the lowest of the bottomless pit of low self-esteem, and oh my the insecurity was sucking me dry, and to top it off the feeling of being rejected was a constant reminder of the worthless feeling that came with all those tormenting parasites that was eating within me the Love that I posse in Christ.

The day I heard this song, I was on my way to humiliate myself to a point of accepting unfaithfulness just to have a least a drop of love- and as I was driving, this song started to play and I sang it from the top of my lungs, and a desperate cry for help came from deep within my soul, asking God to make me strong,  to not allow me to belittle myself every again, to teach me how to love him and him alone and again I started to replay that song and I kept singing it until I felt the presence of God come upon me and I made a U-turn a block away from where I was going and never looked back – I mean NEVER , EVER looked back!! My life was NEVER the same!! I put closure to that relationship and that’s when God became my first, my last and my everything!

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Proverbs 8:17

The feeling of being loved and wanted is an emotion that God blessed us with from the beginning of time. God has chosen women to play an important role in the past and He continues to do so today. God intended for all of us Women to be loved, honored, respected and treated like a Queen.  Like the bible tells us - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her {Ephesians 5:25}- Wow that is the most amazing feeling to be loved like that - because that is "Unconditional Love."  God didn't intend for us to be limited or conditioned by the love of a man.....For the Word of God tells us in Genesis 2:22  - "Then the LORD God made a WOMAN from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man."

You see ladies, when God created man, He formed man himself and breathe life into his nostrils. "BUT"......for the woman, HE fashioned us after he breath the breath of life into man. ..WOW!! God..."Fashioned US"....because our nostrils are too delicate. God didn't want man to interrupt His perfect creation, so He put man to go into a deep sleep, so HE can patiently and perfectly "FASHION US". God choose the rib, which protects the man's heart and lungs and supports him, as we are meant to be. God shaped us around this bone, He modeled us, and He created us perfectly and beautifully. He formed us strong, yet delicate and fragile, he provided protection from the most delicate organ in a man, his heart. We were not taken from his feet, to be under the man, nor were we taken from his heard, to be above him, We were taken from his side - to stand by man and to be held close to his side.   When God sees us, he sees a perfect creation, his beautiful splendid woman of excellence!!  He fashioned us by his holiness, His strength, His purity, His love, His protection and support. We are an extension of GOD!!  WE represent the totality of God, so that is why man is commanded to treat us Women well, to love us, respect us, for we are fragile. Because when a man hurts us, he hurts God, when a man crushes us, he crushes God and damages his own heart.  

That is why today and I pray that as long as I have breath, I will speak of God’s mercy and grace and most of all HIS Unconditional Love, a love that has set me free; the love that has shown me the value of who I am. God’s reflection of love is all over me. A love that created within me “self worth”; a love that makes me stand in confidence and walk in freedom, a freedom to Love myself!  I love MY GOD… Call me crazy, because I am crazy in love with my living God!  

To Conclude: Throughout the bible, we read and experience the Love God had for women and how he valued them and He is still urging us women today to value ourselves and take our place and allow him to love us, to transform us, to make all things new within us.  There are many of us even today, that are probably reading this that are still searching, yearning and desiring to be loved, but I came to bring Good News; God’s love is not measured on our size or appearances or our status quo. God's love is based on his own LOVE for us when HE gave up his ONLY son to redeem us. And as I mentioned before throughout the bible, God used his beloved creation WOMAN to show humanity HIS heart. God’s love is eternal, everlasting and all YOU have to do is call on him and allow him to restore and make you whole again.  And once you experience this kind of love, this AGAPE love, you will never, ever accept or settle for mediocrity love.  It is all or nothing!!

I thank God that today my life is a testimony and a tool that GOD uses to reach out to women that are where I once was.   

Written by Maribel Castillo
June 27, 2013

Mercy said NO

Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more." John 8:10-11

I will never forget the night the Lord opened my eyes to who and what I really was and how is Love and Mercy set me free; it was while I was listening to this song, “Mercy Said No” by Cece Winans. But I mean I really listened to the lyrics and it all came together “God’s MERCY was over my life,” as I fully engulfed myself to the understanding of how merciful My God is, it brought me to my knees as the flood of grateful tears pour down uncontrollable. I felt in my spirit the immense love that God has for me. I saw the weaker side of me and how life was without him.  

As I continue to hear this song, I saw how sin had control over my life for years and how it felt it had dominion and power over me, as if I belonged to it!! I felt the Lord leading me to feel and understand how his Mercy and Grace followed me all the days of my life, how he was always the wall that stood between me and sin.  And from a distance he always kept a watch over me not allowing sin to over take my soul, but he needed me to understand that my life without him was worthless, that my life would be filled with the emptiness and void that sin offers, a world full of darkness, lies and hate, but the glory of his GRACE penetrated through those walls that kept me in bondage, but sin demanded justice for my soul, but as the lyrics says: “Mercy said No!”  I’m Not going to let you “{Maribel} go; I’m not going to let you {Maribel} slip away – Sin will never take control” So Life and death stood face to face and from the cross he built the bridge to set me Free!  In His wonderful mercy and amazing grace He poured out His unspeakable gift of a new life” 

He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, "Remove the filthy garments from her." Again, he said to her, "See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes." Zechariah 3:4

What a moment to remember! How could I ever forget the moment that the precious blood of Jesus Christ washed me clean and pure? How could I ever forget the moment that all my sins were forgiven and forgotten? How could I ever forget the moment God gave me His peace, the “peace that surpasses all understanding”? How could I ever forget the joy of the new life in Jesus Christ! Thank you Jesus!!  Also, this song lead me to write “The Doors to my Purpose” which one day I will post it in my blog.

Behold, I am making all things new. Revelation 21:5

I tell you from my very heart and soul that I am forever thankful for that precious moment when God spoke to my heart and saved my soul! He has given many, many more things in my life for which I continually give Him thanks. I could easily make a list that would fill a book. But if it had not been for that one precious moment, I would never have known what it is to be truly, eternally thankful.

I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:8 

Loving Father, you have sacrificed so much for me and you have given so much to me. I do not have enough words to express my thanks, my appreciation, and most importantly, my love for you. But please receive my words knowing the commitment and passion of my heart when I say, "Dear God, I love you and as {Psalm 63:3} says:  Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.  In Jesus' name I praise and thank you. Amen.

Cece Winans- Mercy Said No

Written by Maribel Castillo 
June 26, 2013