It’s easy to define ourselves by our mistakes and failures. But that’s the beauty of finding our identity in Jesus. He gives us new life, a new beginning each and everyday. We don’t have to be who we were yesterday or even a moment ago. We can choose each moment to be who we used to be or be who God says we are.
We can’t earn God’s forgiveness, He gives it freely and it doesn’t matter how much we fail. He is always there to pick us back up and give us a fresh start.
But we have to make the choice to die to ourselves and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Finding our identity in Jesus is a daily choice. We can choose to be who we used to be or we can choose to let Jesus live through us.
“You can either run from your past or learn from it” Rafki The Lion King
One of the greatest gifts God gave us was choice. We have the choice to choose our actions and reactions. We can choose to let things in our past dictate how we act, speak and interact with others or we can make a conscious choice not to let our past determine our future.
The amazing thing abut Jesus sacrifice is that he gives us a choice. We can choose to continue to live our lives for ourselves. OR we can choose to believe in his sacrifice and accept the forgiveness he freely gives us. But the choice to follow Jesus means we die to our selfishness, follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and put others before ourselves.
Every moment of everyday we can choose to follow the Holy Spirit or we can choose our own selfish desires. I’ve tried both and for me Jesus is always the better choice. What will you choose?
There is a balance to this. Wives are to submit to their husband and husband are to love their wives. This is because men and women are different and we each need different things to feel loved. Women feel loved when they are protected, supported and encouraged. Men feel loved when they are respected, affirmed and appreciated
Marriage is about serving each other and putting the needs of the other above your own. God gave it to us as a model for his relationship with us. Jesus came to serve, not be served. He was not looking for what we could do for him, but what he could do for us. When we focus on fulfilling the needs of the other then our needs are then met by our spouse.
This song always makes me feel calm and at peace. It’s like when you see a sleeping baby, they are so peaceful and calm, it brings joy to your face.
When I hear this song I think of Jesus as an infant. He wasn’t born in grandeur but in humble beginning, yet his birth was celebrated by angels, shepherds, wise men, the rich, the poor and the heavenly hosts. What a joyous celebration for such a humble beginning.
It goes to show that it doesn’t matter where you start from but how you live. Even if you were born in the poorest of circumstances that doesn’t mean you can’t do great things.
The Holy Spirit works in and through us just as he did in Jesus and anyone can have the Holy Spirt we just have to humble ourselves and allow him to work through us and he will do great things.
So adore him this Christmas and let his peace reign in you.
The trust that Mary had in God to say ‘let it be done to me as you have said’ speaks volumes in her faith in God. To agree to carry and raise the son of God. The faith that took, is inspiring. She had to know that there would be questions from her parents and Joseph that her community would most likely stone her. But she trusted God anyway.
So why don’t we trust God when he asks us to do something for him? Do we think that he’s going to hurt us or harm us? He won’t. But that doesn’t mean we won’t face doubt or hardship. But god will provide through it just as he did for Mary.
Trust God to guide your every step and take a leap of faith like Mary did. You never know what might happen.
‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ heralds what Jesus came to do, to set us free!
How often we forget or even take for-granted the freedom Jesus has given us. The freedom to be free of guilt and shame. To know his peace, his joy, his grace and his love without bounds. Jesus came to set us FREE!
So let’s rejoice! Jump, dance, sing, declare who Jesus is and what he’s done for us all!
There’s something about Christmas that brings a sense of joy to our hearts all you have to say is the word and people get a little smirk on their face remembering fond memories of there childhood or times with family. It’s a time of joy.
When we all gather together with friends or with family and celebrate. Some celebrate with gifts, some with song, some with big meals, but always with joy.
But what if you are having a hard time being joyful this season whether it be distance or change or loss.
Jesus is our joy even in the bleakest of circumstances.
He has always given me joy when I seek it from him no matter what. It could be the worst day of my life but when I turn to him I know that I can find peace and rest and joy.
Find JOY in Jesus this Christmas. He is the reason for the season.
When I think about Jesus birth I’m humbled. He could of been born in a palace or to the leader of the temple. But he choose based on people hearts, not their status or wealth.
Jesus could of had thousands of people worship him from the moment of his birth. Instead he choose to be born in humble surroundings with the very animals he created and honored by those who sought him.
Jesus doesn’t demand our worship. He accepts it freely when its given freely. So this season choose to worship him because he choose to save you.
When we get down about ourselves or our circumstances we have to remember to count our blessing instead. There is always something we can be grateful for. Even if it’s the simple things. Do you have somewhere to sleep? Be grateful. Do you have food to eat? Be grateful. We often take the simplest things for granted but there are many in this world that have an empty stomach and no where to sleep. If we allow ourselves to get lost in our sorrows we only make things worse and solve nothing.
But when we fix our eyes on Jesus he changes our perspective.
I’ve know two people that had the struggle of hunger and a safe place to sleep on a regular basis and they both had the sweetest disposition, were more focused on others well being then their own and they exuded the presence of Jesus. Our happiness isn’t dependent on our circumstances. Its dependent on whether we are focused on Jesus.
Would you act the way you act if Jesus were standing right next to you?
Regardless of the circumstance around us we are to represent Jesus in our words, our actions and reactions.
No one said Christianity would be easy or popular, but it will change you for the better if you let it.
We may be surrounded by opposition but that does not mean it has to change us. One of the biggest ways to witness to others is to let them see that we are faithful to representing the character of Jesus, even in the roughest circumstances.
No matter if people are screaming at us and telling us, we’re wrong, we know the truth. That God loves us and that He loves them too. That truth can move mountains.
When we don’t falter during the hard times we show others what God has to offer. That they can have the same peace in the storm and confidence that they are loved, that we do.
Regardless of the circumstances around us or the lack of support or encouragement. When we know God and His character and we will represent Him to others.
He will give a peace in the storm and the confidence to love others, because we are loved by Him.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. -John 15:1-8
REMAIN IN JESUS. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches, that means that He bears the weight of us, He nourishes us, feeds us, waters us and roots us.
Without Him we are dead branches.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in knowledge that we actually ignore meaning. We become so focused on retaining the information that we don’t think about what it means.
Often, when we grow up in church, we hear phrases like “He is the vine, we are the branches” and we gloss over it.
But Jesus is the vine. That means we can do nothing for Him, without Him. Have you ever seen a branch on the ground bear fruit without being attached to the vine?
Jesus is the vine and He provides more for us then just food, water and shelter. He gives us life, confidence, love, peace, patience. I could go on…
He provides everything for us.
Anytime I’m having a bad day it’s because I didn’t go to Jesus for nourishment. I can have the same exact day and if I started my day with nourishment (wisdom, guidance, strength, patience) from Jesus, I will not have a bad day. Because He is with me, He lifts me up to bear fruit instead of fear.
Life without Jesus produces fear, fear of the unknown, fear of survival. Wondering, how you will provide? Why else would we go to work, but to provide for ourselves and our families.
But when we are in the vine, Jesus takes care of all your needs so we can bear fruit.
When we remain in Jesus, focused on him, letting him live through us. Bearing fruit becomes a bi-product of our relationship with him. Have you ever had a friend that just encourages you to be kinder, nicer and more generous then you would if you were alone. That’s Jesus. When we allow him to be our focus we will help that stranger, pick-up that piece of trash, put others before ourselves, because that is who Jesus is and that is bearing fruit.
It’s easy to be nice to people who are nice to you. But to be nice to people who are mean, rude and completely against you is hard let alone to actually bless and pray for them.
How would you want someone to treat you if they caught you in one of your worst moments when you’re maybe sick or exhausted and irritable. We all have our best and worst moments and our one interaction with the nicest person may be the worst moment in their life and all they need is a smile or a bit of kindness to help them through.
What about the people we interact with regularly that rub us the wrong way. Being rude and mean back isn’t going to make things better. But if we pray for them and ask Jesus to show us how he sees them. It will help us to see the with the compassion he does.
Jesus endured the cross for every single person in humanity and who are we to deny them that free gift of salvation. Jesus changed us when we gave our life to him he can do the same for them.
He will show us how he see each person as valuable, important and loved. If we ask
By sharing that love with those that curse us we shine his light even brighter.
Lord of the Rings exemplifies how we all struggle with choosing good or evil and the temptation for shortcuts to what we want in life. The ring represents those shortcuts that we are so often are tempted to take in life; it causes us to compromise who we are to achieve what we’ve been working toward in an instant. But the problem is we will no longer be who we are if we choose to compromise to get the power or control or upper hand that we so desperately think we need.
Gandalf, Galadriel and Aragorn all knew this and refused to compromise who they are in exchange. There may be options or opportunities that we are presented with in life that could skyrocket us to what we want out of life. But at what cost? Is it really worth throwing away the journey you’ve taken so far, be it a day, an hour, a week, or years for the moment or that instant gratification that will sullen who you’ve worked to become.
If any of these characters had taken the short cut to increase their power or position they would have ceased being who they were and become something they never wanted or intended.
We have to realize that the quick fix is never the answer.
God made each and everyone of us and he loves us all. He knows who he made us to be and the journey to become that person is how we become who he made us to be. It’s the journey that makes us who we are.
God loves to change our stories from what we think would be likely for us; to blessings beyond our belief.
Mary was an ordinary girl and we would probably know nothing about her in history, if it had not been for her birthing and raising Jesus. God loves to take everyday people and make them extra-ordinary. It wasn’t Mary’s own achievements that gave her the blessing of bearing Jesus but her humility and willingness to serve.
We are not meant to achieve greatness on our own, but to serve God and let him bless us instead. His blessings will always surpass what we could achieve on our own.
No matter what we’re facing in our lives be it internal, external, physical, emotional, mental, spiritual or relational.
Regardless of each of our struggles we can all cling to the same thing, that no matter what our God is good and he loves us and its because of that love that we know that we can depend on him to lift us up and bring us through any and everything.
So no matter how tired or frustrated we may be we can scream EVEN LOUDER that Jesus is our everything.
We are bonded together by our faith in Jesus. It knits us together, creates a common bond that surpasses all else. When we meet strangers and find out they share our faith in Jesus there is an instant connection that bonds us together.
It’s Jesus.
And He should be what brings us together, not pushes us apart. We have divided our faith up, but I can’t honestly think that is what Jesus intended.
He wants us to be one body that fights for each other, not against each other.
So instead of seeking what divides us. Lets seek what unites us.
Leadership can be daunting, overwhelming and a lot of pressure depending on how you do it.
Jesus lead as a servant, counting himself above nothing. He looked to Father God for every step of His path. If even He was humble enough to let God lead, how can we do anything else?
God designed each and everyone of us. He knows what He created us for and how to achieve His plan.
We need to stop trying to figure our how we are going to do everything and let God lead.
We should always be growing in our relationships with God and with others. It’s when we stop that we feel stuck or stagnant. We should fall head over heels in love more and more as time goes by.
Marriage is not the end its the beginning of a beautiful journey of discovery together.
When we begin our relationship with God we don’t all the sudden know everything about him. We still have to build a relationship. And as we learn about him we grow to love him more.
It’s the same with our spouses. Yes, we got to know each other before we got married and that why we got married. But we have to continue that adventure of knowing each others.
Because love grows.
We should be overjoyed to learn new thing about God, because we love him. Just as we should in marriage. We should be learning more and more about each other and falling deeper in love with each other.
That’s why God uses marriage as an example of his relationship with us. Both relationships are supposed to be deep, intimate and always growing.
People do a lot for acceptance. We are all easily influenced when we are searching for acceptance. It’s easy for us to make choices we normally wouldn’t on our own when surrounded by others, others that want us to be like them just for them to accept us.
We can feel welcomed and accepted by a group initially but as time goes by those people will influence who we are, we can make compromises to maintain or strengthen those relationships.
But we if we change who we are, just to be loved and accepted there will always be something in us that is searching for that unconditional acceptance.
Jesus is that unconditional acceptance. He loves us whether we love him or not. He made us and he knows how to fulfill us.
I know from experience. I tried to fill that need for acceptance with the approval of others and never found peace, fulfillment, contentment or unconditional love.
Only once I gave my life to Jesus did I find what I had been looking for. In the moment that I was at my worst, he was at his best. I didn’t have to try to do or be anything he just surrounded me with his love.
We all have that same opportunity anywhere, any time, at any moment.
Give God a chance to show you his unconditional love.
Even when it feels like the world is crumbling down around us. God is still God and God is still good. He is the one thing that we can count on to always be there for us. To always be all we ever need.
So when you feel like your world is crumbling, retreat into his presence. Seek him and let him be your all and your everything. Let him bear all the burden and find rest and peace in him.
Because he will never disappoint us if we seek him and he will never let us fall when we put our trust in him.
Paul greets the people of Collassae and immediately reminds them of their identity in Jesus. That they are God’s holy people and that gives them God’s grace and because of his grace they have peace.
We should be the same when we see greet other brothers and sisters in the faith. We should see them as God sees them as his kids. As loved, forgiven and made new in Jesus. We should be encouraging each other to be who God created us to be. So that when we see others distressed we can remind them that God’s grace gives them peace and help them to refocus there attention on who God made them to be instead of their problems.
When we spend our time with other believers, trying to point out their problems instead of the solution. It’s like poking a wound. Instead of trying to help. All we are doing is drawing attention to it and making it hurt worse.
But when we direct others to being made new in Jesus, it like applying ointment to the wound, promoting healing.
It’ amazing the difference of negative influences on our lives verse positive influences.
If we let people tell us lies and influence our every decision.
We can be old and almost dead if we let the wrong person speak into our lives. Like Grimmer Wormtongue with King Theoden in Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers.
I’m sure that King Theoden’s demise was slow and over time as he let Grimmer lie to him about his friends and family, slowly till the point where Grimmer was making all his decisions for him.
We can become like this too, if we allow the wrong influences to be the predominate voice in or lives.
Photo by Victoria Heath on Unsplash
But that doesn’t have to be true of us.
We can choose who we allow to have influence over us. We have a choice of who we listen too, what we watch and how we let those things affect us.
If we let the Holy Spirit be the predominate influence in our lives. He is always with us and always has something encouraging and uplifting to say. Even moments when he correct us can be encouraging.
A few years ago when my now husband and I ere first dating. I was in a book store and the Holy Spirit corrected me in how I was acting towards my him.
That moment was one of the most loving and intimate moments I have ever had with God. Even His correction is loving.
Trust God.
Listen to the Holy Spirit about the influences in your life and trust that if He asks you to give something up that He has something even better to replace it.
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God every time I remember you.In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joybecause of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
The book of Philippians is a letter written to the believers in Philippi. Paul addresses them as old friends saying how he longs for them and prays for them.
This reminds me of the church community I grew up in. Even though we live far from them now I still feel a connection to them and always will. I still care for them deeply, pray for them and desire for them to grow closer to Jesus. Just as Paul does for the church in Philippi.
This is how we should feel about all believers.
When we meet other believers there is an instant bond, a connection we feel when we meet that binds us together.
There are so many things that divide us as believers, but shouldn’t we all have the same prayer as Paul for all believers.
We as Christians can be very judgmental. We see people living life without God and immediately judge them; we even judge each other.
But we need to remember that we all came to Jesus because we needed him. None of us are perfect. Jesus sacrifice covered all our wrong doings and it covers all theirs too.
Instead of judging people we need to see them as Jesus sees them. That He is greater than all they’ve done, all we’ve done and no challenge is too great for Him.
Jesus is the one who changed us and made us who we are and makes us who we are becoming. Everyone is just in a different place in their relationship with Jesus. Some of us are still learning to trust Him, some are still learning to love Him and some don’t even know Him.
The next time you catch yourself being judgmental of anyone. Remember…
Even when we feel we at our worst, God is always all we need.
We tend to want the be alone when at our darkest moment but that’s when He shines most (in the darkest places). That’s when we need Him most and that’s when we should turn to Him.
Only He can truly deliver us from our worst moment because only He can make us new.
We are never beyond Jesus reach, if we let Him in.
The best part about Jesus is that he is what we are not. So when we say we don’t it feel like, that’s ok, we don’t have to, because he is what we are not. He is our strength, our peace, our joy he is all need.
We have to stop trying to be what we think God wants us to be and let him be in us what he is.
When we surrender our lives over to him we need to fill that up with something but we often make the mistake of filling up on the things that got us to where we were in the first place before Jesus.
We need to fill up on Jesus, to fix our eyes on what draws us closer to him, not further from him. We all have this problem of trying to imitate God instead of letting him be God in us.
We need to get out of the way.
If his intention was to have us fix ourselves, then why did he sacrifice his life for us.
Don’t say well that’s just the way I am. Because when you gave your life over to God you gave up that person, to be the person he created you to be.
That person is loving and peaceful and fearless and joyful.
So stop saying less of me and more of him and say none of me and all of him.
Why don’t we just go straight to heaven the minute we accept Jesus into our hearts?
For this very reason, that we might be there to encourage and uplift each other, but also so that we may take more people to heaven with us.
What better way to reach people then through people. God has a grand intricate design to every bit of creation and we are a major part of that. He wanted to make us part of the process, not just instantaneous zap into heaven.
Think about it, would’t that be scary if every time someone accepted Jesus sacrifice they disappeared. Who would want to follow that person? Not knowing where they went, why, if they were ok.
No, God makes us his witnesses to tell and show others, how he changes our lives, how he heals and restores how he provides and loves us beyond imagination.
We are meant to share him with others, so go out and tell someone!
It is well with my soul, is all any of us want. We want to have peace in us to have freedom from guilt and shame, to stop fighting against everything and everyone and to truly find peace.
Jesus is that peace, because he is peace.
He came to give us his peace in our very souls.
That we would no longer walk in fear or worry, but in confidence and strength, that we would draw that from him. Because no matter how alone we feel when we have him in our lives we are never really alone, he is with us always.
In ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ movie, when Aslan lays down his life in place of Edmond, I can hardly watch and it always makes me cry. Because Aslan represents Jesus and Edmond represents humanity. It reminds me of what Jesus did to give us relationship with him.
Jesus laid down His life willingly for us. All of us and He knew it wouldn’t be easy or quick and that some would even rejoice in His unjust suffering. But he forgave them even as He was dying. He forgave all of us.
Jesus paid the price for everything we have even done wrong. So that He could have a relationship with us. So we could be forgiven and find freedom from guilt and shame.
Thank Jesus today for his sacrifice and find the freedom he paid for.
God loved us from the very beginning of creation, that’s why he created us, to love us.
We praise him because we trust him, we know who he is and that there is no one else like him, he is love and deserves all the glory.
That’s why we praise him, because of who he is, not who we are. Giving glory to God has nothing to do with us or whether we feel worthy to praise him, its about giving honor where honor is due.
He is God and he loves us, so if we love him, we should praise him for who he is, our everything.
When your having a rough day, ask yourself did I put God first , did I talk to him this morning, did I start my day out right? Is he part of what I’m doing right now.
And if he isn’t. STOP. put him first above everything else and let him be your peace, your guidance, all you need.
Restart your day the right way, by putting God first.
I want you to know, brothers,[e] that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard[f] and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word[g] without fear.–Philippians 1:12-14
Paul was in prison when he wrote the book of Philippians, but he didn’t let it affect his witness. Instead he used it to witness to the guards and the other prisoners. And his boldness encouraged the believers outside to spread the gospel further and more passionately. God uses our circumstances, no matter how bleak to reach people.
My husband and I recently went through some rough financially patches, but each time God used it to draw us closer together, closer to him, and to help us see what’s really important in life.
God has been working me towards the goal of writing this blog for a long time, but in the process I wrote and trashed half a book, wrote a second book and have two failed ministry launches to get me to the point of realizing what my ministry would be and how he wanted me to do it.
This blog and having a career as a writer has been a dream for a long time, but God had to take me through a process to make me who I am today, to prepare me to do this the right way. Along this long path I’ve picked up skills that we’re much needed to make this a success and (I’m still learning) but I wouldn’t of had the drive, the desire or the knowledge without going on the journey that he took me on.
Just because you may have failed at what you know God has called you to, doesn’t mean that he isn’t going to use that experience to teach you how to succeed in what he’s called you too.
So keep pursuing the dream God has placed in your heart and don’t be discouraged, we all fail, but it’s how we fail that matters.
In our instant gratification society, everyone wants everything immediately, people are rarely willing to wait for anything.
But what compromises have we made for convenience. We eat lower quality food because its cheaper and faster. We spend extra on shipping to get things one day sooner. We get annoyed if an email or download isn’t instant.
What has this done to our relationships? What compromises have we made?
We make snap judgments and quick commitments without giving much thought to it because its easier. But at what cost?
Lust is about ourselves, it’s about instant gratification of hormonal desires, it’s about me and what I can get.
Love is selfless. Love puts others before themselves.
When was the last time you were solely 100% focused on making everything about the other person?
Love waits because it sees the other as valuable. Love sees the best in the other and seeks to encourage them to be who God made them to be. Love keeps you grounded during the hard times and makes the good times better.
Love never fails, lust does.
Lust fulfills our selfish desires. Love fulfills the desire of our love.
He is is my everything and it’s because of him that I write. He put the burden in my heart to write, he called me to it and encourages me in it, he is who I want to bring light to and draw our focus to.
I don’t write this blog for myself for my glorify or to be heard by others, I write it to draw people closer to Jesus, to help them see that he loves them and that he wants to be with us every moment of every day.
So if you get anything out of these devotionals I hope that it is that you see Jesus, grow closer to him and know him better each day.
The Love Dare is a fantastic book that helps you to put your spouse first before yourself as all good marriages should. But I will be the first to admit that it is easy to put the other first when your feeling good, and things are going well. But it is so much harder when things are hard and your not at your best.
Marriage isn’t about just the good times, it about how you handle the hard times. It’s about sticking together and loving one another even when you don’t feel like it or even want to. Marriage is a commitment for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. That means you don’t bail when things get tough or you don’t care for each other at the moment, because the moment will pass and things will get better.
But that doesn’t happen by accident you have to have God at the center of your marriage. Because if your happiness and well being depends on another person you will never be fulfilled. Only God can do that. Only he can truly make you feel 100% fulfilled.
When you get your identity from God, you draw on him for strength, perseverance and perspective. To see things from the perspective of the other opens the barriers you may have put up as a defense, and when you trust God to guide you, you can drop those barriers to bring reconciliation.
Life today is so much about appearance; we only show what we want others to see, we crop out the reality of life to project what’s expected, we add effects and filters, but often feel no one really knows the true us. .
Deep down all seeking a relationship where we can be ourselves, raw, open, vulnerable and unfiltered.
God is that person, He knows us, the good and the bad, the raw, the ugly. He knows it all, every little moment, every thought, every emotion, He knows us inside and out and He love us still, He held back nothing to know us. He gave His whole life; just to show His love for us.
Because of this love we can be open, honest and vulnerable with Him, He can handle it, in fact He loves the moments when we just surrender to Him. That’s when He can reach us the most, when we have no barriers with Him, He can express His love for us the most.
Go to Him with your problems big or little, go to Him with your worst, most broken moments and let Him be all you need. Let Him put you back together and build you up stronger.
I’m different then I used to be. Growing up I was shy and insecure, but knowing God changed that.
Knowing who is and who he made me to be gives me confidence, boldness and fearlessness, because I know who he is.
No matter where I go, he is with me. I’m never alone because he is with me, comforting me, inspiring me, teaching me, guiding me, protecting me, he is always with me. So I am never alone, and he is where I draw my confidence from, because I know who he is.
He loves each and everyone of us and he wants to do the same for us all. To show us who he is and who he made each of us to be.
Worship can change everything, our attitude, our demeanor, our perspective and our mood. Worshiping God shifts our focus from our problems to his possibilities, his strength, his power and his provision.
God changes everything and that why we worship him. Because he saves us, he changes us and turns all thing out for good.
We are supposed to be different, so that people can see our witness in our words, our actions and reactions. We are to lay down our lives for Jesus as he did for us.
Sounds impossible, but it isn’t.
I can’t tell you how many times I didn’t want to get out of bed and go to work, like I’m sure many of you have too. But I did it anyway.
But just because I started my day off rough doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.
I’ve found that using my drive to work as a time to fix my eyes on Jesus makes a big difference by the time I get to work. I usually have worship music or sermons from podcasts playing as I get ready in the morning and on my drive to work. I call it Driving with Jesus. I ask Jesus to teach me something and He always does. Sometimes He uses a song or a sermon, and sometimes He uses people walking on the street or the landscape of my drive.
But He always changes my perspective and attitude by the time I get to work, if I let Him give me a perspective change. See many of our problems and issues stem from just seeing the problem from our own earthly perspective. But when we allow Jesus to show us His perspective He changes our view of things.
Photo by Anika Huizinga on Unsplash
When you surrender your life and your day to God he changes your perspective and transforms your mind to see like He sees and think like He thinks. So let Jesus drive and enjoy the passenger seat of life’s road.
Jesus makes me brave. The love and protection I know He has for me, makes me know that I can move mountains and nothing can stand against me because God is for me.
If He has called you to something or someone nothing can stand in your way God will protect and provide for you to do what He has called you to.
No matter what your facing or how impossible it seems or even if you feel surrounded, remember the God of heaven is backing you, He surrounds those that surround you, He is on your side.
David knew he could defeat Goliath because God had anointed him to be king and he wasn’t king yet, he was still just a shepherd boy. We can stand on the promises God has given us.
He calls each one of us to a mission, He has deemed for us, and nothing can stop us as we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in the pursuit of that which He has called us too.
No matter how impossible a situation, if God has called you to it, He will make a way.
That’s why He make me brave.
That’s why I stand up for God, because he stands up for me.
When you feel defeated, knocked down, like no one is in your corner. Jesus is always there for you. He always has your back. He will go to bat for you because He already did when lived a sinless life and died to pay for our mistakes.
He’s forever on our side.
Jesus is always there for us.
We can always talk to Him. He will always listening, because He loves us.
He loves us so much that He gave everything for us. He gave every second of everyday for us. He gave up His life for US!
Why do we have disagreements within the church body? I’m not talking about the big theological debates. More about the simple things like how the Christmas decorations get set up.
Why do we let these things bother us? Was it really our decision in the first place or are we giving our opinion. If it is our opinion, is that what we should be focused on?
Isn’t our role in the church to be the body of Jesus to help each other, not hinder.
Have we asked Jesus His opinion on the matter? Or are we just blazing forward without regard for God’s opinion.
You may think He doesn’t care about the little things, or that your perfectly capable of making that decision without Him; but should we be doing things without Him? Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.
Jesus can make the simplest thing simpler or the most boring thing enjoyable.
Make every moment a moment to deepen your relationship with Him.
If doing something simple and boring is more fun with a friend; and He is the funnest friend ever. Then shouldn’t we want to do everything with Him.
Jesus is always seeking you, always pursuing you, always longing for you. He is always happy to see you, speak to you, share His love for you, with you.
You don’t have to clean up your act, or get to a better place to come to Him.
Go to Him anywhere, in any state; because He will go to you anywhere, in any state.
Just surrender to Him and let His love wash over you.
He is always there longing to be with you. He always wants to have relationship with you.
If we have found encouragement, comfort, love, tenderness and compassion from Jesus.
Then we are supposed to bring joy to Him by being liked minded with Him. By sharing that same love with others. By following the Holy Spirit. By humbling ourselves and valuing others above ourselves.
If you haven’t found these things in Jesus. then I ask have you been seeking Him?
We cannot be these things to others if we do not first know them from Him. Its hard to give out what you haven’t received.
Seek God, learn His character, know His words and His actions. If we know Him we can tell others about Him, but if we don’t know Him how can we expect to show others.
Star Wars is a great example of the battle of good and evil we all face.
Selfish choices, even if they are for someone else, they change who we are for the worse are not worth it. We devalue the person we are trying to protect because we compromise ourselves to do it.
Anakin changed the selfless path he was on, to save Padmé but his decision to compromise actually ended up being what harmed her.
Even in what seems to be the worst circumstances we need to trust God to lead us out of it.
God knows us and knows what best for us, His plans is not to harm us but to give us a hope and a future.
I can’t even count the number of times God has brought me through valleys.
Losing our faith in Him is what got us into the valley and it will never help us move forward.
