Trusting God’s way can seem scary. But he has never failed me.
He always wants what’s best for us and that’s him. His plans for us may not be what we think they should be. But they are what is best for us.
I ‘ve tried many times to serve my own goals and even when I’m accomplished some of them. They have never compared to follow his plan. I’ve tried to accomplish for God what I though he wanted. But being the hard worker that I was raised to be. I have pushed forward to quickly and tried to do ministry on my own knowledge and experience. Rather than following God’s lead for every word and every step.
His ways are not our ways. We need to seek him for his way and his word to accomplish what he has called us to.
God puts us back together at our most shattered moments. The moments when we are broken. When we are nothing a ball of tears, frustrated and have given up. That’s when he can do his greatest work.
In 2008 that was me, nothing but a broken ball of tears. I felt worthless and completely unworthy to be in God’s presence. But God welcomed me with open arms. When I was at my worst he was at his best. I didn’t have to do anything but surrender and let him in.
He lifted me up and enveloped me in his love and forgiveness. I let go of all the hurt and pain. In return he gave me new life, new meaning and new joy.
We don’t need to clean ourselves up. Just surrender. We need to stop striving and let him do the work. Surrender to his love and grace and let him be our strength, endurance, our everything.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
King David expressed his joy and love for God by dancing and shouting. He was honoring God because the Ark was being restore to its rightful place. Dancing to worship God is a freeing experience. Its using all your being to praise God with your words, your mind, your heart and your body. Dancing to praise God isn’t about skill or show. It’s about rejoicing over what God has done and is doing in your life and expressing that though more than your voice but your body too. Think of the some of the most exciting moments of your life. Didn’t you jump for joy?
Dancing to praise God does not have to be public or in front of others. I prefer to dance in worship in private at home or if in a corporate setting I will go to the back corner. For me dancing in worship is freeing but also something very private between me and Jesus. Please don’t misconstrue that you have to dance to fully worship God. A lot of my moments of worship with Jesus are sitting in a corner saying nothing, doing nothing just enjoying his presence. Those moments are just a deep and intimate.
But we shouldn’t be afraid to express our joy in the Lord and to worship him with our whole being. He formed our bodies why why wouldn’t we use them to glorify him.
When I was in Uganda everyone danced and sang for worship and honestly when I got back to home it was hard not to dance.
The point of worship is to glorify God, not ourselves. So even if we are preforming skilled dance for others in worship to God it is about our heart.
Worship is about our hearts.
Its about surrender, humility and glorifying God. However you worship or someone else worships humble yourself and glorify God.
In our current time of social media and constant self promotion it can be hard to be humble.
We can be so worried about how many likes, shares and followers we get that we can lose sight of who and what we represent. As believers in Jesus we are meant to shine Him to others, not ourselves. And we can be discouraged when even our posts about Him get little to no traffic.
But we must remember that what we write/post/share for Jesus, isn’t about us. It’s about Him. And He will use it. Even if we reach just one person with what we share. It could be that one thing that they needed. We may never know the impact we have made. We simply need to be faithful to do what He’s called us to and trust that He will do the rest.
Photo by Joshua Hanks on Unsplash
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. -Isaiah 55:10-11
In lives we seek out love. We pursuit it. We desire it from our friends, family, and others but somehow it is never enough.
No matter who it’s from or how much we love someone. Their love for us will never be enough. This is because we are meant to only be truly 100% fulfilled by God’s love. He created us and made us with a God shaped hole that can only be fulfilled by Him.
My whole life I pursued unconditional love from friends, family and others, hoping that I would find that person that filled the void.
But I never found that fulfillment from a person. And even though I have an amazing husband. What bonds us together the most is that we both came into our marriage knowing that only God fulfill us. That’s why I call my husband the cherry on top of my sundae. He’s the bonus, the blessing above the fulfillment I get from the love of God.
God’s love is the only love that has ever made me feel complete and wanting nothing. In His presence, He is all I want and all I need.
We can’t earn His love because He gives it freely.
God loves you! What could you lose by giving Him a chance to share His love for you, with you?
I’m not afraid of the world. I’m not afraid to travel or to move. I’m not afraid to follow God.
Every time I follow God’s leading, his direction, his plan. He has been all I needed. He has provided more then I needed.
When I follow him he give me all I need. The strength to follow his direction. The confidence to walk through the storm and the love to do all that he has asked.
When God calls us to do something, to be something. He gives us all that we need and more. To not just accomplish what he has for us. He give us boldness and confidence to thrive in what he’s called us to.
What has God called you to? Fear not, for he will be all you need and more.
Jesus rescues us. He rescued me and he can rescue you.
So many people think Christians are “perfect.” But we wouldn’t be Christians if we were perfect. The very reason we need Jesus is because we are not perfect.
We need Jesus. We need his grace, his sacrifice, his love, his forgiveness.
We have all messed up in our lives, and that’s why we need him.
We don’t need to try to clean up before we come to Jesus, or fix our mistakes first. We need to come to him at our worst, so that he can makes us our best.
Jesus wants us to come to him when we are at our worst because that’s when we have broken down our barriers and he can come in and make us new. He already knows all the junk and he wants to make us clean and a new creation. He wants to take away the harm of our past mistakes and give us love, joy and confidence because we know that no matter what he will always love us.
I will never claim to perfect because I know that I have a past. A past full of mistakes that I regret. But it’s because of his love and forgiveness that my life has changed. And that’s what I focus on, Jesus and his love and forgiveness.
That’s what he has done for me and he can do that for you too.
God fights for us. He gave up the life of his son just to have relationship with us.
Jesus gave everything. He didn’t come down as a grown man and demand what was owned to him. He came in the humblest of circumstances as a baby born to regular people of no great social standing or of any wealth. He lived a humble life. He served his parents, he served his friends and surrendered every moment of his life even dying the death of a criminal without a single justifiable cause. He gave up everything to pay the price for us, so that we could have a relationship with him and the father.
That’s love. To give up everything owed to him, for us to know his love. Thank him for his love and sacrifice. Cherish the gift we have been given.
God is all around us. He created everything and if we take the time to slow down, look and listen he speaks to us through his creation. Sometimes it’s through nature and sometimes through people.
No I’m not crazy. I’ve just found that if I take the time to ask God to teach me something. He often does it through his creation.
When I first made the decision give my life back to God. I became an intern at my church. At the start of the internship we went on a retreat to a beautiful lodge in the woods. Once we got settled we each took some time to be alone with God.
Photo by Matthew Brodeur
I decided to take a walk in the woods. It was fall and most of the ground was covered in dead leaves. I was walking down a slight hill, having to watch where I was stepping because there was no path. But as I walked I noticed all the dead leaves and broken branches. I asked God where he was during the years I had turned away from him. When I had let so many of the dreams he’d given me die.
He explained that even though I had chosen to ignore him. He was there the whole time for every bad decision and wrong choice. But he helped guide me from some major pitfalls. Just like I was avoiding stepping into some deep holes in my walk in the woods.
Photo by Sérgio Rola
On my return walk back up the hill God showed me all the plants that were growing up through the leaves. He explained that even though I had chosen to ignore him for so long. He had planted seeds along the way and that they would grow and produce now that I had turned back to him.
Photo by Andreas Vendelbo
God will use the circumstances around us to teach us if we simple take to the time to acknowledge him and learn. Slow down look at his creation and ask him to teach you something. He will if we just listen.
What was it that attracted you to God? For me it was his forgiveness and love. He knew all my mistakes but still I felt his love and forgiveness the moment I surrendered my life to Him.
What keeps me in relationship with God, is his never-ending love, grace and beauty. I feel his love each day, his grace when I make mistakes and he shows me his beauty more each day.
We should never stop falling in love with God. Just as we should never stop falling in love with our spouse. Each day we need to see them both in a new light and a new appreciation.
God wants to reveal himself to us more each day, we just have to let Him.
That’s what this Christmas season is about, thinking about and being thankful for Jesus birth. Our relationship with God would be so different if Jesus hadn’t come.But he did and I’m so grateful for the deep intimate personal relationship we each get to have with him.
Christmas heralds us in and reminds us of the humble life Jesus choose to live to give us the opportunity to have that intimate relationship with us.
So celebrate Jesus this season with boisterous applause!
During this busy holiday season take the time to enjoy moments. Watch your kids decorate the tree or play in the snow. Have family dinner with no distractions. Or read a verse of the Christmas story each night before bed.
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Luke 2:1-20
Look for moments to enjoy this season. Don’t just rush through to get to the next. Or you’ll miss the moments you can’t get back. What if the shepherds had been to busy. They would have missed Jesus. Slow down and look for the moments that matter.
As the Christmas season begins. Remember the reason for the season. Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed with the shopping, decorating, gift giving and parties.
Instead keep your focus on Jesus. He is the reason for the season. Make him the focus of all you do.
If your shopping for gifts ask him what gift that person really needs and trust him to help you. Ask God to give you opportunities to share about him to the store clerk or the people in line with you. While decorating sing Christmas songs as worship songs.
The humility of Jesus birth speaks volumes to his character. Jesus is the very creator he is the word that was spoken that created us. And he choose to be born in a glorified cave surrounded by animals, by his creation not by man made structure.
He came to do his fathers work not what we thought he should do. He came to bring peace, joy and gentleness. So that all may know him.
Read about him, really study his words and actions, not what man says about him but he said and did. Learn who he is.
Thankfulness builds joy. Just saying the word brings a smile to my face. There is always something to be thankful for, the sun on your face, the song of a bird near by, the beauty of the trees turning.
Somewhere in some way in your life God is always looking to bless you, to share his love for you, with you.
Thankfulness is about perspective. We can choose to be miserable and focus on what we don’t have or we can choose to find joy regardless of our circumstances.
We all have had times of need and times of abundance, but its how we react that make the difference. We should be thankful in all things big or small blessings. Each day we wake up we can be thankful we have life. Each day is an opportunity to change our perspective.
The deep intimacy we experience when surrounded by God’s presence can only be called holy. Holy by Jesus Culture perfectly describes how his presence can engulf us, how intoxicating it can be, to the point of never wanting to leave it.
I call it the ‘jello effect’
When his presence is so thick in the room you feel as if you suspended in jello.
Don’t you want to experience that? Don’t you want to know and be with a God that can melt all your cares away, who can give you such peace and joy that it feels as if it will never end.
That’s the God that I worship.
Yes, he is Holy!
And he invites us into his presence, to the place where our whole world changes because he is Holy.
All you have to do is open the door and let him into your life, and believe in Him.
Take a moment to listen to this song and open yourself up to God, take down all the barriers and just focus on him.
Focusing on God and heaven may seem like your taking a break from reality. In some ways you are. Being in the presence of God can make you forget about everything else and just focus on him.
But it also helps us to change our perspective.
When we allow ourselves to get caught up in all the things in the world we can lose sight of God and what he has for us.
Focusing your mind on things above isn’t about being disconnected from reality its about changing reality.
This verse is Elizabeth who became pregnant in her old age. She was talking to, Mary the mother of Jesus, about her miraculous conception of Jesus.
This verse gives me strength because we have been trying to get pregnant since we got married in 2015. And even though we have not been blessed with a baby yet. I still trust God, I still love him and I still worship him. Because he is a good, loving God and I know that he has given me the dream to have children and he will bless me with them. But that doesn’t mean that I abandon him or just curl up in a ball and become bitter and angry because I don’t have what I want when I want it.
Instead I ask him ‘What he has for me right now?’ What do you want to teach me through this?’ ‘What do you want me to do in this time?’
In the six years from surrendering my life to Jesus and when I meet my husband. I wanted a husband but God used that time. He taught me to change, to become the woman I needed to be to be a good loving wife. He used me to invest in the lives of others. I could no have done all that I did and learned in those years if I was married. If I had we would of had a lot of issues, we would of fought a lot, hurt each other and I would not of had the time to invest in the others like I did during that time. God knew what he was doing.
Trust his timing. What constraints have you put on God? Are you holding yourself back because you think God can’t do it through you? What does God have for you right now in this moment? Ask him.
We often underestimate the impact of resting in Gods presence. When it’s what we need most.
When we are at our most desperate, when we feel lost or unsure. That’s when we need God most.
We don’t need to fix our problems before we go to him. Going to him is how we fix our problems.
Instead of dwelling and worrying. We should be dwelling in his presence and letting him show us his perspective that melts away the worry and anxiety. For nothing is too big for him to handle.
Just because we don’t have what we asked God for right now. Doesn’t mean God’s not giving it to us.
There is so much to be thankful for in this life. There are the basic needs. Food to eat, water to drink, clothes to wear, bed to sleep in and a home to keep us protected. But God provides so much more than these. He loves to bring joy into our lives even in the little things. Blessing us with our favorite beverage, a smile from a loved one, the warm sun on our face and so much more if we just appreciate him and what he’s already blessed us with.
If we focus on what we don’t have. We will miss all that God has for us each day.
His timing is perfect. He knows what we need and when we need it. Trusting his timing can be hard if we focus on what we don’t have. But if we focus on what he is doing in our life right now. What we are waiting for won’t take as long as we think it will.
Worship crosses all boundaries, language and cultural. We all have the capacity to worship God.
It doesn’t matter if we know the words to a song, if we like the style of the music, if we’re rich or poor, what we look like or where we grew up. We all can worship.
Worship is about putting God first in our hearts. It’s about surrendering to Him and giving Him the glory.
It doesn’t matter where we are or who we’re with we can worship God anywhere anytime, with anyone anywhere in the world. Because we are all His children and He loves each of us.
We worship Him because of His who He is, not what He’s done for us. Just as He loves us not for what we’ve done but who we are to Him. His beloved creation.
We should not be afraid to share our faith in God, we should shout it from the rooftops. There is nothing wrong with it and we should not be afraid to share it. Our faith in Jesus changed our lives and we should share that.
Our fear comes from worry or fear of acceptance, but we are sharing about our God who takes those away from us. He accepts us and that is what defines us and matters most. He came to give us peace, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and joy. Our confidence comes from him and who he is in us and that’s what we should share.
Unknown territory can be scary. When God asks us to venture where we’ve never been or do something new it can be intimidating.
That’s where faith comes in. When we know God, we know His character, we know who He is, we know that we can trust Him.
Jesus asked Peter to get out of the boat and to walk out on the water to Him. Something that we all would have a hard time doing. But he knew Jesus and he knew that if Jesus told him to take that step of faith that Jesus would provide all he needed to do what Jesus asked of him.
It was only when Peter changed his focus from Jesus to the storm around him that he began to sink. Fixing his eyes back on Jesus brought him back upon the water.
What has Jesus asked you to take a step of faith in? Have you taken it and lost your way. Fix your eyes back on Him, and trust that He will provide what you need to walk on the water with Him.
To know the character of God you need only look at the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Who wouldn’t want to be around someone that exudes all these all the time. God is personal and we get to have a deep intimate relationship with him. He is not far off and distant but close and intimate. My favorite moments with him are listening to songs like the one posted below and just letting his love surround me to feel that deep intimate closeness with him. Neither of us has to say anything its just being in his presence that is enough.
He’s sweet and kind, comforting and peaceful with bouts of joy. He’s everything we need if we just surrender ourselves to him. Many people like to have a prayer closet or close the door to the bedroom. But I love open spaces with him. A walk in the woods or at home I prefer to be in our living room. For me I think its mental I don’t like to limit God or put him in a box so I think the spaces I enjoy with him most don’t have those limits. You can encounter God and have a deep intimate moment with him anywhere (more open areas are just my preference.)
We each need this daily if possible. To have a moment in our day when we forget everything and just be in his presence. No reading requirement, no set time just a moment we steal away and make it all about being in his presence.
Take a moment, listen to the song in the video below and just let the words sink in and open your self up to feel God’s presence.
There have been many times I didn’t feel like worshipping because I was worried about something or didn’t understand why. Because I was too much in my head and in my abilities. Not focused on God and his abilities.
When we choose to ignore our feeling, insecurities ad worries and still surrender to God in worship. He gives us peace that surpasses understanding and tells us not to worry because he will provide. So I worship him anyway because by the time I’m done he’s changed my perspective and I have his peace.
No one is beyond redemption. No one is beyond forgiveness. No one is so lost that God doesn’t want them. None of us are beyond hope. God always want us. He loves us. He always seeks us.
He is constantly in pursuit of each and ever one of us. He pursues us on our best day and at our worst moment, seeking relationship with us in every moment.
Years ago I made a choice to drastically change my life and gave my life back to Jesus. The one thing that has been consistent since is my heart cry to God “Thy Will be Done.”
I tried life without God and I screwed it up royally.
But when I made the choice to follow Jesus and made Him Lord of my life. I now ask Him what he wants, instead of what I want.
Every time I choose to trust God and follow His lead. He provides abundantly more than I could of imagined. The path to get there can sometimes feel uncertain, strange or even impossible, but God always provides.
Many times in the past years His way has proved better then what I would’ve chosen.
He has moved my husband and I all over the country, to multiple jobs, unemployment and through some rough financial patches. One constant reminder that God’s will is the better choice is my husband!
That’s right, I let God choose my husband!
My track record with picking boyfriends for myself was terrible, just ask my friends.
But when I choose to let God take the lead, I stopped dating and waited for God to bring me ‘the One’
I know it sounds crazy, but it worked.
My husband is the perfect partner for me and God has truly blessed me with little surprises in him that I didn’t even know I wanted or needed in a spouse.
It’ all because I said to God “Thy Will be done”
What has God been asking you to take a step of faith in?
Worship is about our hearts, our minds and our focus. Worship is so much more then singing songs. Worship is constant. It’s a choice in every moment to choose to glorify God in our words, our actions and in the attitudes of our hearts.
When you worship through song don’t just repeat the words, read them, mean them, sing them out as a benediction and put your all in it.
When I was in Uganda worship was hard at first, because it was in Swahili or Llungahndan which I don’t speak and they danced (controversial, I know) but they taught me about worship.
We worshiped for hours and I didn’t understand the words and I didn’t know the dances. But that didn’t matter.
Worship is about your heart. So I sang, I sang in English if I recognized the tune of the song or I sang in tongues and I danced, I didn’t know the steps or the movements but I danced. I worshiped with all that was in me. I worshiped with my mouth, with my body and with my heart.
Worship is about appreciation. When you worship God remember it’s about him not you. So if God has done anything for you then jump, dance and shout from the rooftops .
Worship is a choice, to choose to focus our attention on the Holy Spirit and let him spill out from us or to ignore him and let our own thoughts and desires lead us.
It’s letting Him live through us each and every day, all day. It’s choosing to sacrifice our selfish desires the same way Jesus did when he lived on earth and let the Holy Spirit work through him.
We can easily get wrapped up in who we were before Jesus and let that dictate how we act, think and speak. But that’s not who we are anymore. Jesus makes us new and gives us a new life and that is how we worship. By foregoing our own selfishness and letting him spill out through us.
From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.
I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
I always know that I can take comfort in the arms of Father God.
That no matter where I am, whether I feel strong or weak that he is always there to protect, love and care for me. I never have to worry because I know that as long as I trust God and give everything over to to him that he will take care of it.
No matter what your facing today. Know that God is always there for you. Give him your worries, your concerns and your cares and let him bear your burdens.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Following the leading of the Holy Spirit can sounds scary and intimidating. But all it really is, is simple small choices that lead to the big ones. Even small choices can have a big impact.
For years I asked the Holy Spirit which way to drive to work as I had a few routes that would get me there. Every time I followed His leading I arrived on time. But when I didn’t I arrived late. Little decisions can make a big difference that we may not see in the moment.
A larger scale example is from a friend of mine that was driving to an event across the state, it was something he attended yearly and never usually needed a restroom break in the two hour drive. But this one time he needed it; completely out of the norm for him. Later he found out that had he not stopped he would have mostly likely been on the highway at the spot where a massive car pileup happened.
The Holy Spirit gives us little prompting, even something as simple as bathroom break. We may never know the impact, but we need to trust that he has a reason and a purpose for everything, even the small stuff.
What has the Holy Spirit been leading you to do? Take that small step of faith and follow His leading.
Love is powerful, it drives us. We seek it out wherever we can, but even when we find it through others it’s not perfect.
I love my husband more then anyone else and he loves me. But our love for each other pales in comparison to the love of God.
Gods love is what drives me, it’s what fills me up, his love is the one thing in life I cannot live without and that I know I can count on one hundred percent. God loved us before we were even born and he sacrificed everything to share his love with us.
His love is unconditional, we can’t earn it, and he will never take it from us.
We are the ones who choose to abandon his love, because we think we don’t need it or we don’t understand it.
His love is untarnished, overflowing and unending. Letting God love you where you are at will be the greatest decision of your life.
God doesn’t ask us to go without having planned and provided for us in advance. Walking in faith isn’t about knowing what he has planned for us but trusting that he has already provided for what he asks of us even if we can’t see it.
God goes before us and lays the ground work. We each build on the work of each other and provide for each other. He uses each of us to support the other. Going forward to who and what he calls us to, makes us who he made us to be.
He’s called me to write so I write. He’s called me to preach so I take any opportunity given. He’s called me to encourage and uplift others and I pray I do that for with each of these devotionals. I hope I encourage you to see God working in your life. That you grow closer to him and learn to love and trust him more each day.
Trusting God isn’t about knowing where or what your going to but about who your going with. The God who created the universe. If he has called you to something or someone. Know that he is with you and he will give you the words, the means, the knowledge and the wisdom in what and where he has called you to.
God will never stop running after us. He will always be there for us when we need him or when we want him. God will always be there with us through everything, if we let him.
God’s will and his plan for us is always for our good. That doesn’t mean we won’t face hard things but that he will be there with us through it. He will be with us through the trials and he will use them to draw us closer to him.
As long as we keep our focus on him in the storm. Like Peter walking on water. Peter only sank when he turned his focus turned off of Jesus and he let the storm surrounding him influence his faith instead of his faith in Jesus influencing his surroundings. It’s when we fix our eyes back on Jesus that he is our strength when we are weak, our joy when we are sad and our peace when we have none.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. –Matthew 6:25-34
Have you ever thought I can’t worship God right now I need an answer to this thing I’m worried about. I have. I’ve let my worries and concerns deter me from spending time with God. Because I’m trying to fix it on my own.
But what I really need is to spend time with God. It’s in our worship that we fully focus on him. And when we do, he can provide the solution we have been trying to achieve on our own.
Worship is an act of surrender when we lay down all we are worried about and give it all to God. It’s in that surrender that he can provide. It’s when we trust him despite our concerns that he can move. How do we expect him to fix it if we won’t give it to him.
Listen to this song and lay it all down and let him provide the solution.
Just because you don’t have what you asked God for right now, doesn’t mean he’s not going to bless you with it later.
His timing is perfect. He know what we need, when we need it.
My husband and I didn’t meet until later in our adult lives. We were both looking for our spouse for years but the right person never came along. When we did meet we realized there were many times in our lives when our lives could have intertwined but they didn’t. During the waiting time we each focused on healing us from past hurts and growing closer to Jesus. If we had met sooner we would of caused each other pain because neither of us was really ready to be in healthy marriage. But because we took the time to heal and come to know that complete dependence on God is what we need. We don’t look to each other to fulfill us. We know that Jesus must be the center of our marriage and only he can fulfill us.
Trusting his timing can be hard if we focus on what we don’t have. But if we focus on what he is doing in our life right now, what we are waiting for won’t take as long as we think it will and will be better then if we’d had it when we thought we should.
It’s easy to feel alone and like no one understands, because no one really knows what every moment of your life is like.
But God does…
…He knows because he is there with us whether we realize it or not. God is the only one who can and does understand. But we often feel afraid to go to Him because we’re worried about what He would think. But He already knows it all so there is really nothing we can hide from Him.
Even in knowing everything He loves us still.
We don’t have to be afraid of Him, because He is love. Nothing about God is something that we should ever fear.
Because God is love, He is joy, He is peace, He is patience, He is kind and He is good. So what about that is scary?
He is the one that we can always turn to no matter what.
So no matter what is running through your head or your heart you can’t surprise God. But you can let Him in.
God is the one we can always count on. We don’t have to do or be anything to come to him.
We can be in our worst state and he is there for us. No matter how tired or exhausted we are, he is not looking for deeds to earn his love and attention, just our hearts surrendered to Him.
Don’t worry about accomplishments. Just go to Him, He’s happy just to spend time with you.
When we’re at a loss and we don’t know what to do. We can always turn to God. He is the creator of the universe he created us and he knows us. He knows the little things that bring a smile to our faces and what can change our whole mood.
But we have to turn to him in those moments when we get in a funk and don’t know what to do, where to turn or just don’t want to keep doing what we’re doing.
It’s that knowledge of us that he uses to comfort us, bring us joy and hope and remind us that we matter and that we are loved.
In our current time of social media and constant self promotion it can be hard to be humble.
We can be so worried about how many likes, shares, hits, retweets we get that we can lose sight of who and what we represent. As believers in Jesus we are meant to shine him to others. And we can be discouraged when even our posts about him get little traffic.
But we must remember that what we write/post/share for him isn’t about us. It’s about him. And even if it reaches just one person, it might be what that one person needed more than we could ever know.
We all need a place where we can go to refresh, a safe place to let go of all our worries and concerns and just feel restored.
The presence of the Holy Spirit is that place.
In God’s presence we can let go of everything (because he already knows everything) just let his presence refresh and restore us, energize us and renew our passion.
No matter what’s going on, how, stressed or busy we are, we need to make time for his presence.
Because the presence of the Holy Spirit is that place of vulnerability where we can be real and raw. We don’t have to hide anything because he knows everything and we can pour out our souls and be made whole in him.
The beauty of the kingdom of God is that’s its infinite and we don’t have to strive to bring his kingdom to this world.
When we accepted Jesus into our hearts, when we accepted his loving sacrifice, he came to live in us. When we allow the Holy Spirit to flow thru us and stop trying to do it on our own. Peace and joy can abound through us.
God’s presence is amazing and beautiful, peaceful and joyful all at once.
When we bring God into a situation he changes the atmosphere.
When we allow him to build his kingdom in and through us, nothing can hinder us, when we give him full freedom in our lives he gives us freedom.
When Jesus said he would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, he did. He destroyed the temple and tore the veil so we can all experience his presence. When he rose from the grave he built his kingdom in our hearts, so that he can be everywhere and in all of us.
No matter where you are, if you have Jesus in your heart his kingdom is always with you. Share his love and peace, his grace and beauty, his peace and joy with everyone around you, because he is always with you.
Even in the trials of life God has blessings for us. Jesus said:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
To find peace in the trials of life we have to keep fixed on Jesus, not our circumstances.
God always wants to bless us and provide all we need and more but if we get lost in our suffering we block him out.
It’s only when we fix our eyes on Jesus despite our suffering that he can be the peace beyond understanding for us and help us find joy.
“I could sing of your love forever” is a classic worship song from my youth. It’s one that I sing often, it’s kind of my happy song, whenever I’m having a moment of spontaneous worship this song often comes to mind.
It reminds me that no matter what. I could sing of His love forever.
He has never abandoned me, never left me and never stopped loving me, even in my darkest moments. He was there and He was there is my happiest moments. Whether I’m in a valley or on the mountain top I can always sing of His love, because His love never changes.
If this is challenging to you. Pray and ask him where he was during one of your hardest moment and one of your best. Listen and I know he will show his love in both moments. He’s always there. It’s us who sometimes choose to ignore him.
Do your words and your actions reflect Jesus? If you looked in a mirror and a list of your characteristics appeared what would it say? Would you use those words to describe Jesus?
This may seem like a lot of pressure. No one’s perfect, right. But Jesus is
God doesn’t ask us to reflect Jesus on our own, but to die to ourselves and let Jesus live through us by listening to the guiding of the Holy Spirit.
Reflecting Jesus to others is not meant to be following a list of rules in the Bible, but listening to the Holy Spirit and testing what he is saying against the word of God given in the Bible.
Following Jesus is a relationship built by spending time in the word of God and in prayer getting to know the character of God. So that we know who he is, how he would react and what he would say. Then being a willing vessel to do and speak as he directs.
Reflect Jesus by knowing him, not by trying to imitate him.
When you love someone you want to spend all your time with them. That’s what I love about God. I never get tired of spending time with him and he never grows tired of me.
To have someone that you can always go to no matter what, whether your weak and tired or thrilled beyond belief. The one you love is who you want to share that with.
God is that one.
He is always there, always waiting, wanting to spend time with you. He rejoices in your successes and comforts you in your sadness.
Our worship should be ingrained in us, so much that everything within us cries out to God. Every fiber in our body should be yielded and shout out to him “you are HOLY.”
King David danced because he wanted everything within him to praise God. “Who decided that reservation is worship? God gave his everything for us. Why shouldn’t we do the same in our worship?
Photo by David Calderón on Unsplash
What will happen if you lift your arms. Will the world end?
If you jump for joy, will the ground fall out underneath you? No. God gives a firm foundation.
If you dance for joy. Will God turn from you in shame? No, he will dance with you!
I want encourage you to make the same decision I did years ago; to surrender your life to Jesus. It can sound scary and intimating but it is truly the best decision I ever made.
I lived for years trying to do everything on my own, striving to try to achieve what I thought I wanted. But even when I achieved some of my goals they fell short of what I thought they would be.
But when I surrendered my life to God he changed everything. He gave me love and the confidence to be who he made me to be. He gave me career opportunities I never would have picked for myself that turned out to be just what I needed and he picked the perfect husband for me, one that I never would of picked myself but is the perfect match for me. God has blessed me in so many other ways in my life in ways I never thought I needed or wanted but were just what I needed when I needed it.
When we try to achieve our own goals we are influenced by others that have the same thing, but when we let God guide us he has already prepared a path for us that we probably would never of expected but is better then we ever could of thought.
Give God your dreams, your desires and your life and let him bless you beyond your belief.
The one thing I always know to be true, beyond a shadow of a doubt is that I can always come to God for anything.
No matter how bad my day is, or what I have done. I can always go to him.
We can always turn our hearts to God. He is always there. He always wants to talk to us, be near us, comfort us and love us.
So no matter how your day is going just take a moment, close your eyes and listen to this song. Let his love melt over you and take a moment to love him back.
Resting in the presence of God is what gives you the trust to walk on water.
You wouldn’t do something deemed impossible without some sort of faith in the one who asked you. But where does that faith come from.
It comes from spending time with God, from resting in His presence, from just being content to be with Him. Because you know Him, and you know His character. You can trust Him when He asks you to take those big leaps of faith that to others seem impossible.
Listen to this song and take some time to rest in His presence, and let Him lead you to walk on water.
