Hey girls!
It is a Monday morning and there are things I would like to get off my chest today! I just want to use you all as someone to vent, so here goes....
1) I hate it when that girl says one thing and does another. Doesn't she know the Bible says, Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord." Proverbs 12 :22
2) I hate it when that girl uses her words to hurt the hearts of people. Doesn't she know the Bible says, "Don't let any unwholesome talk come from your mouth, but only that which is used to build people up according to their needs." Ephesians 4:29
3) I hate it when that girl judges people about things she doesn't struggle with. Doesn't she know the Bible says to take the plank out of your own eye before you point out the plank in your brothers eye." Luke 6:41
4) I hate it when that girl thinks she is just a little bit better than some people and then the next minute thinks she doesn't measure up to anybody. Doesn't she know the Bible says, "...not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgement." Romans 12:3 and she is "fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:4
5) I hate it when that girl thinks just because other people do it differently doesn't make them wrong OR herself wrong....just different. Doesn't she know the Bible says, "Having gifts that differ according the grace given to us, let us us them." Romans 12:6
6) I hate it when that girl speaks when she should be silent. Doesn't she know the Bible says, "there is a time to speak and there is a time to be silent." Ecclesiastes 3:7
7) I hate it when that girl doesn't listen to the advice of others and thinks she's right all the time. Doesn't she know the Bible says, "The way of the fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice." Proverbs 12:15
8)I hate it when that girl looks at other people's children and says "My kids will never act like that." Doesn't she know the Bible says, "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord." Psalm 127:3
9) I hate it when that girl open her mouth and all it is is complaining and negativity. Doesn't she know the Bible says, "There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Proverbs 12:18
And the thing I HATE the most is.....
10) When "That Girl" is ME! And Yes I do know the Bible says all those things!
I have been wanting to write a blog post for awhile about the "elephant in the room" -The horrible things we, as woman, do and say. Honestly, I was ready to write it a long time ago because I wanted to vent about what I was seeing in other women, but God showed me with each instance I witnessed (and was extremely angry about) that I, too, had done each and everyone of them and it made me sick. We live in a world where we size each other up and then work to tear each other down when God wants us to ENCOURAGE one another, speak TRUTH and GRACE to those around us, don't get so offended when someone speaks WISDOM in your life, BUILD UP our friends, parents, sisters, husbands, AND enemies. He wants us to ENCOURAGE a mom who might be struggling with a child in a store. He wants us to be SLOW to SPEAK when we really want to share what is on our mind right then. He wants us to SEE people the way that HE sees them-with unconditional LOVE. He wants us to be who HE created us to be and NOBODY ELSE. When we compare ourselves to one another, good or bad, we break the heart of God because that means we are not satisfied with who He created us to be.
I really do hate these things that I do and I know that God does too, but HE still loves me and you!
What it all comes down to is we want to be loved and accepted and I am hear to remind YOU and ME that God loves you and He loves me. So....who can we extend that LOVE, GRACE, and ENCOURAGEMENT, that God so freely gives to us, to today?
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Faith of the 3
Each morning before we go to school I read the Bible to the kids and before we go to bed we do a devotion over what we read that morning. I love hearing how their little minds take in the Word of God. It's never quite how we (the parents) think. This morning, we were reading about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown in the fire by King Nebuchadnezzar because they would not bow down to the king's statue. While I was trying to teach my children that it wasn't because of a superhero superpower like on the Fantastic Four that the reason the 3 weren't being burned up, God opened my own eyes to the Faith of these 3 boys. It was one comment that made me look inside myself and ask "Do I have that kind of Faith?"
In Daniel 3:16-18 it says, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the King, "Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
There were a few things that spoke to me and maybe it will speak to you too:) First, they didn't feel the need to defend themselves. Wow! They didn't defend themselves. They didn't try to talk their way out of why God is the one true God. They showed it with their actions. Do you ever feel like you have to defend Jesus in this world? I do all the time. I feel like I defend the Bible, Jesus, my faith and honestly it feels like I am beating a dead horse sometimes. These boys showed me you don't defend your faith with words, but show your faith with actions. You don't defend Jesus, you show Jesus. You don't defend your church, you be the church.
The second thing I learned was no matter what the outcome was going to be, they chose to see the goodness of God for who He was not for what He could do for them. They believed God was the all-powerful, all-knowing God that was able to save them, but even if He didn't save them, their view of Him never changed: God was still the great God Almighty. Can we say the same for our faith in God?
"God, I believe you can heal my mom, but if you don't you are still the Great God Almighty"
"God, I believe you can save my marriage, but if you don't you are still the Great God Almighty"
"God, I believe you will make me a mother someday, but if you don't you are still the Great God Almighty"
"God, I believe you will provide a new job, but if you don't you are still the Great God Almighty."
I want to have the kind of faith that my circumstances do not change how Great our God is!
Last God showed me its easier to stand up for the things of God when you have people to stand with you! The Bible says in Ecclesiastes, "Two are better than one for they have good return for their work. For if one falls down, they have someone to pick them up, but pity the man that falls and has no one to pick them up."
That is what is so amazing about having a spouse, a friend, a mom, a sister etc. You can pick each other up, spur each other on, encourage one another and when your faith is tested you have someone to stand with you to fight, fight, fight!!
We need to surround ourselves with people that love the Lord and who are willing to walk into the burning furnace with us for the cause of Christ!
When your faith is tested, will you get burned?
In Daniel 3:16-18 it says, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the King, "Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
There were a few things that spoke to me and maybe it will speak to you too:) First, they didn't feel the need to defend themselves. Wow! They didn't defend themselves. They didn't try to talk their way out of why God is the one true God. They showed it with their actions. Do you ever feel like you have to defend Jesus in this world? I do all the time. I feel like I defend the Bible, Jesus, my faith and honestly it feels like I am beating a dead horse sometimes. These boys showed me you don't defend your faith with words, but show your faith with actions. You don't defend Jesus, you show Jesus. You don't defend your church, you be the church.
The second thing I learned was no matter what the outcome was going to be, they chose to see the goodness of God for who He was not for what He could do for them. They believed God was the all-powerful, all-knowing God that was able to save them, but even if He didn't save them, their view of Him never changed: God was still the great God Almighty. Can we say the same for our faith in God?
"God, I believe you can heal my mom, but if you don't you are still the Great God Almighty"
"God, I believe you can save my marriage, but if you don't you are still the Great God Almighty"
"God, I believe you will make me a mother someday, but if you don't you are still the Great God Almighty"
"God, I believe you will provide a new job, but if you don't you are still the Great God Almighty."
I want to have the kind of faith that my circumstances do not change how Great our God is!
Last God showed me its easier to stand up for the things of God when you have people to stand with you! The Bible says in Ecclesiastes, "Two are better than one for they have good return for their work. For if one falls down, they have someone to pick them up, but pity the man that falls and has no one to pick them up."
That is what is so amazing about having a spouse, a friend, a mom, a sister etc. You can pick each other up, spur each other on, encourage one another and when your faith is tested you have someone to stand with you to fight, fight, fight!!
We need to surround ourselves with people that love the Lord and who are willing to walk into the burning furnace with us for the cause of Christ!
When your faith is tested, will you get burned?
Friday, January 14, 2011
One Down Payment you can be excited about!
Do you like to shop? Oh I do! It doesn't matter what it is for I love to shop! I love to shop for my kids, for other people, myself. It doesn't matter if it is a new vacuum sweeper (which I just got and was so excited) or going to a garage sale, I love to shop. And even though I love to shop, I am also very very frugal. I have read the books, watched the Dave Ramsey videos, and done all my home work on how to be a good steward of my money so when today I read these words in my quiet time with God they just jumped off the page: God gave us a down payment for what is to come. Down payment? That is like a dirty word for those who follow the rules of becoming debt free. You aren't suppose to have a down payment, you are suppose to pay it in full! So I read the verse in its entirety and those dirty words fired me up!
"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a down payment, guaranteeing what it is to come." 1 Corinthians 1:21-22.
Don't you just love that verse?!! The Joy that we feel as a follower of Christ, knowing and trusting that God ALWAYS has our best interest in mind and is in complete control of our everyday lives is just a down payment for what is to come. The Hope that we feel as a follower of Christ, that even when things are not going so well, He will work all things to the good of those who love Him is just a down payment for what is to come. The Comfort that we feel in knowing the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is the same Spirit that lives in us is just a down payment for what is to come.
In 1 Corinthians 2:9 it says it this way, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."
So whatever you are facing today, good, bad, and everything in between I pray this is an encouragement for you. You can have Hope, Feel Love, and have Comfort because You were paid for in FULL by the blood of Christ, but these are just a down payment for what is to come! Now that is a down payment I can be excited about!
"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a down payment, guaranteeing what it is to come." 1 Corinthians 1:21-22.
Don't you just love that verse?!! The Joy that we feel as a follower of Christ, knowing and trusting that God ALWAYS has our best interest in mind and is in complete control of our everyday lives is just a down payment for what is to come. The Hope that we feel as a follower of Christ, that even when things are not going so well, He will work all things to the good of those who love Him is just a down payment for what is to come. The Comfort that we feel in knowing the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is the same Spirit that lives in us is just a down payment for what is to come.
In 1 Corinthians 2:9 it says it this way, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."
So whatever you are facing today, good, bad, and everything in between I pray this is an encouragement for you. You can have Hope, Feel Love, and have Comfort because You were paid for in FULL by the blood of Christ, but these are just a down payment for what is to come! Now that is a down payment I can be excited about!
Monday, January 3, 2011
My Word for 2011
I hope you each had an awesome Christmas and New Years Day!!!
I don't know about you, but usually every year about this time I always think about how I am going to be different. You may call them New Year's Resolutions or life changers, but it is always the same: work out more, eat better, be healthier, spend more time with God and on and on and on. Every year it starts the same, but every year it ends the same too- I have failed.....miserably.
But 2010 was different (the workouts-not so much). I challenged myself last year to just spend time reading the gospels. Soaking all I could of Jesus' red letters through the eyes of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I also picked a word to focus on 2010 and it was humility. Yep-I was humbled. My eyes were opened to how big God is and how small I am, yet He still uses me.
My word for 2011......Fearless. Ironically, this is one of the topics I speak on at Women's events all the time and yet I still am so fearful. I don't walk around looking like I'm in a Wes Craven horror movie all the time. If you were around me you probably wouldn't even know. My fear resonates as worry. I am a worry wort and I am tired of it. Worry is just fear that God isn't in control. I worry about my husband. I worry about my children. I worry that I am not hearing God. I worry about money. I worry about loved ones. I worry about what the world is coming to. I worry about the ministry God has given me in FCA. I worry that I can't do it all and when I can't what will suffer. I worry about being a good wife, mom, friend, sister, daughter, minister. Yep-I worry, but not anymore.
My verse for the year will be Psalm 27:1-3:
I don't know about you, but usually every year about this time I always think about how I am going to be different. You may call them New Year's Resolutions or life changers, but it is always the same: work out more, eat better, be healthier, spend more time with God and on and on and on. Every year it starts the same, but every year it ends the same too- I have failed.....miserably.
But 2010 was different (the workouts-not so much). I challenged myself last year to just spend time reading the gospels. Soaking all I could of Jesus' red letters through the eyes of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I also picked a word to focus on 2010 and it was humility. Yep-I was humbled. My eyes were opened to how big God is and how small I am, yet He still uses me.
My word for 2011......Fearless. Ironically, this is one of the topics I speak on at Women's events all the time and yet I still am so fearful. I don't walk around looking like I'm in a Wes Craven horror movie all the time. If you were around me you probably wouldn't even know. My fear resonates as worry. I am a worry wort and I am tired of it. Worry is just fear that God isn't in control. I worry about my husband. I worry about my children. I worry that I am not hearing God. I worry about money. I worry about loved ones. I worry about what the world is coming to. I worry about the ministry God has given me in FCA. I worry that I can't do it all and when I can't what will suffer. I worry about being a good wife, mom, friend, sister, daughter, minister. Yep-I worry, but not anymore.
My verse for the year will be Psalm 27:1-3:
The Lord is my light and my salvation
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
whom shall be afraid?
When evil doers assail me to eat up
my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is
they who stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear; though war arise
against me, yet I will be confident.
I will not worry because that is fear and I will not have fear because the Lord is my light and my salvation. I will not fear what the world has for me this year. I will not fear what the enemy has for me this year. I will not fear the unknown of 2011 because my God is the God of the stinkin universe. My confidence will come from God and God alone. I will live like my God is in control. I will live like the King of Kings is my father. I will live like I am co-heir of the throne with Jesus. I will live like the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me. I will live fearless!
So....What's your word?
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Great I AM
Do you ever just get in those ruts? You just kinda feel blah. Nothings really going wrong, but nothing is really going great either. I don't know if its the colder weather or the lack of sleep (my baby boy is not sleeping so well right now), but what ever it is I don't like it! I am clawing my way out of this rut and what better way to do it than taking my focus off me and turning it to God. So...That's what I have been trying to do. I read a book by Louie Giglio called "I am not, but I know I AM." Wow! It was an awesome book and I totally recommend it. In it, it talks about Moses at the burning bush. In Exodus 3, Moses asks God, "God, suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me. 'What is His name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God says to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: "I AM has sent me to you."
God's name is I AM! I love that!
God is so awesome, He doesn't even have a name. He's just I AM. I started looking in the Bible about all the things I AM is and the more I did, the smaller I got and the bigger God got. The power of I AM is so overwhelming.
When YOU are overwhelmed...........I AM parted the Red Sea
When YOU feel powerless................I am created the universe and yet knows your name
When YOU are sad............................I AM raised Lazarus from the dead
When YOU get frustrated...................I AM went through rejection from man so you would never have to been rejected from God
When YOU start to lose hope.............I AM is Hope
When YOU don't feel love......................I AM is Love
When YOU don't feel accepted.................I AM is Forgiveness
When YOU don't feel purpose.................I AM is your purpose
When YOU feel insignificant.........................I AM created you for significance
When YOU feel underapprciated.................I AM looks at you with proud Father eyes
When YOU feel inadequate......................I AM uses the inadequate
When you feel I AM is No Where..............Remember, I AM is the Alpha and Omega, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
There are so many times when we get in these ruts that we don't feel I AM in the present so we must go back and be reminded of who I AM was in the past. The past gives us hope and power that I AM is working in the present for the future. May you be encouraged by I AM today!
Just for a little extra encouragement, Go listen to Nicole C. Mullen's song I AM and get your praise on:)
God's name is I AM! I love that!
God is so awesome, He doesn't even have a name. He's just I AM. I started looking in the Bible about all the things I AM is and the more I did, the smaller I got and the bigger God got. The power of I AM is so overwhelming.
When YOU are overwhelmed...........I AM parted the Red Sea
When YOU feel powerless................I am created the universe and yet knows your name
When YOU are sad............................I AM raised Lazarus from the dead
When YOU get frustrated...................I AM went through rejection from man so you would never have to been rejected from God
When YOU start to lose hope.............I AM is Hope
When YOU don't feel love......................I AM is Love
When YOU don't feel accepted.................I AM is Forgiveness
When YOU don't feel purpose.................I AM is your purpose
When YOU feel insignificant.........................I AM created you for significance
When YOU feel underapprciated.................I AM looks at you with proud Father eyes
When YOU feel inadequate......................I AM uses the inadequate
When you feel I AM is No Where..............Remember, I AM is the Alpha and Omega, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
There are so many times when we get in these ruts that we don't feel I AM in the present so we must go back and be reminded of who I AM was in the past. The past gives us hope and power that I AM is working in the present for the future. May you be encouraged by I AM today!
Just for a little extra encouragement, Go listen to Nicole C. Mullen's song I AM and get your praise on:)
Monday, November 29, 2010
Being Different
We've all heard the saying "Be in the world, not of the world." I have heard it my entire life, but I believe now more than ever, He is not just asking me, He is calling me to be different from the world. At first I thought, "Different? Are you crazy, God?! I have worked my entire life not to stand out, but to fit it. Nobody wants to be different. The "different" kids got made fun of. The "different" kids rode the short bus. The "different" girls weren't cool. That is not the life I want God!"
"If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing even to give up their lives to follow me." Mark 8:34
As a follower of Christ, I must be willing to give up the things I want, the worldly things, for the things of God. I may not get to have all the clothes I want or the house I want or the trips I want or the car I want and having these things are not wrong But the Love of those things is. And I Loved those things! (and sometimes still do:)) My deepest desire is to know God more and more so that I can become less and less. Because when that happens people start noticing the "difference" and that difference in Jesus and I do have Love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Can you see these things or live in them or wear them? Nope, but you and everyone around you can feel them. It's different:)
I had the opportunity to have lunch with Miss Oklahoma the other day and she was such an amazing young woman. She was absolutely beautiful inside and out. Her face lit up when she talked about her relationship with Jesus and I loved it! She said a statement that someone had told her before she went out to Hollywood that just stuck in my head. She said, "Something is wrong when our lives (as Christians) makes sense to unbelievers." I love that!
We are called to be different from the world!
The world says love those who love you. Jesus says love those who hate you and pray for them.
The world says have the most and then you will be the best. Jesus says the last will become first.
The world says live so that you can have servants. Jesus says live to serve.
The world says do what makes you happy. Jesus says do what makes you Holy.
The world says what you wear, live or drive makes you happy. Jesus says if you have me, I will make you happy.
The world says you can love God plus love things. Jesus says you can not serve two masters, you can not love me and money.
So how do we do it? I can't tell you how to do it because I don't know where your weakness is, but I can tell you what mine is and how I am working on it. Yes, working on it! I am still a work in progress. I read a verse in Luke 11: 34 and it says, "Your eye is the lamp of your body. when your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness."
If my eyes are the key of making my body full of light then I had to be different in what I watched and looked at. For me, I had to stop watching the TV dramas like Desperate Housewives or Greys Anatomy. For me, I had to stop reading US Weekly and People and OK magazine because I was obsessed with the Hollywood world. I am not telling you this to show how great I am, but just the opposite, I am that weak. I can't watch and read anything and everything and not be affected. Comparison kills contentment and when my eyes saw these things my contentment with Christ and Christ alone was gone. Now, have I obtained this being content 100% of the time? Nope but my Light is getting brighter and brighter every day.
I read this devotion by Max Lucado the other day and loved it! And it says exactly what God has been putting on my heart and hopefully yours too: To be different.
"If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing even to give up their lives to follow me." Mark 8:34
As a follower of Christ, I must be willing to give up the things I want, the worldly things, for the things of God. I may not get to have all the clothes I want or the house I want or the trips I want or the car I want and having these things are not wrong But the Love of those things is. And I Loved those things! (and sometimes still do:)) My deepest desire is to know God more and more so that I can become less and less. Because when that happens people start noticing the "difference" and that difference in Jesus and I do have Love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Can you see these things or live in them or wear them? Nope, but you and everyone around you can feel them. It's different:)
I had the opportunity to have lunch with Miss Oklahoma the other day and she was such an amazing young woman. She was absolutely beautiful inside and out. Her face lit up when she talked about her relationship with Jesus and I loved it! She said a statement that someone had told her before she went out to Hollywood that just stuck in my head. She said, "Something is wrong when our lives (as Christians) makes sense to unbelievers." I love that!
We are called to be different from the world!
The world says love those who love you. Jesus says love those who hate you and pray for them.
The world says have the most and then you will be the best. Jesus says the last will become first.
The world says live so that you can have servants. Jesus says live to serve.
The world says do what makes you happy. Jesus says do what makes you Holy.
The world says what you wear, live or drive makes you happy. Jesus says if you have me, I will make you happy.
The world says you can love God plus love things. Jesus says you can not serve two masters, you can not love me and money.
So how do we do it? I can't tell you how to do it because I don't know where your weakness is, but I can tell you what mine is and how I am working on it. Yes, working on it! I am still a work in progress. I read a verse in Luke 11: 34 and it says, "Your eye is the lamp of your body. when your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness."
If my eyes are the key of making my body full of light then I had to be different in what I watched and looked at. For me, I had to stop watching the TV dramas like Desperate Housewives or Greys Anatomy. For me, I had to stop reading US Weekly and People and OK magazine because I was obsessed with the Hollywood world. I am not telling you this to show how great I am, but just the opposite, I am that weak. I can't watch and read anything and everything and not be affected. Comparison kills contentment and when my eyes saw these things my contentment with Christ and Christ alone was gone. Now, have I obtained this being content 100% of the time? Nope but my Light is getting brighter and brighter every day.
I read this devotion by Max Lucado the other day and loved it! And it says exactly what God has been putting on my heart and hopefully yours too: To be different.
On one side stands the crowd. Jeering. Baiting, Demanding
On the other side stands a peasant. Swollen lips. lumpy eye. Lofty promise
One promises acceptance, the other a cross
One offers flesh and flash, the other offers faith.
The crowd challenges, "Follow us and fit in."
Jesus promises, "Follow me and stand out."
They promise to please. God promises to Save
God looks at you and asks, "Which will be your choice?"
Monday, November 8, 2010
One Thing
Do you ever read stories in the Bible over and over and then one day you read them and something jumps out at you that you never noticed before. It happens to me all the time and today was no different. I was reading Luke 18:18-30 about the Rich man who asks Jesus, "What must I do to inherit the Kingdom of God?" Jesus talks about the commandments and the man insists that He has kept all of them since youth. But then the statement that crushes the man: "There is one thing you lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." The man walked away sad because he was very rich. I had always read this story and thought do we really have to sell everything to follow Jesus. It was one of those things I didn't understand.....until today (it sometimes takes me awhile to get it). The statement, There is one thing you lack, is what made it all click for me.
It wasn't the money that was the problem, it was the love of the money that was the problem. It was the one thing that the man loved more than God. It was the one thing that the man put before God. It was the one thing that became an idol in his life. It was the one thing he wasn't willing to give up to follow Jesus and Jesus knew it.
We have to know that God is a jealous God. He is jealous of anything that comes between us and Him. He longs to have all of us, all of our heart, mind, and soul.
Do you have a one thing? Is there one thing that keeps you from going all in? Is there one thing that gets in the way of you and your relationship with God? Is there one thing that keeps you from following Jesus with everything in you?
I encourage you to ask Him today!
I have been praying this verse and I encourage you to do it too, "Search me Oh God and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. If there be any hurtful way in me (my one thing), lead me to the everlasting way." Psalm 139:23
Maybe its a relationship you don't want to give up. Maybe its the love of money that is an idol to you. Maybe its the shame of a past sin that you can't let go of. Maybe its a current sin that you aren't willing to let go. Maybe its pride and/or selfishness . Maybe its laying your own dreams and desires down for God's. Unfortunately for me, I'm not sure it is just one thing, but maybe a few things. I am praying through it and asking God to reveal them to me and more importantly give me the strength to change.
Here is to laying down our "one things" in order to have the life that God intends us to!
It wasn't the money that was the problem, it was the love of the money that was the problem. It was the one thing that the man loved more than God. It was the one thing that the man put before God. It was the one thing that became an idol in his life. It was the one thing he wasn't willing to give up to follow Jesus and Jesus knew it.
We have to know that God is a jealous God. He is jealous of anything that comes between us and Him. He longs to have all of us, all of our heart, mind, and soul.
Do you have a one thing? Is there one thing that keeps you from going all in? Is there one thing that gets in the way of you and your relationship with God? Is there one thing that keeps you from following Jesus with everything in you?
I encourage you to ask Him today!
I have been praying this verse and I encourage you to do it too, "Search me Oh God and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. If there be any hurtful way in me (my one thing), lead me to the everlasting way." Psalm 139:23
Maybe its a relationship you don't want to give up. Maybe its the love of money that is an idol to you. Maybe its the shame of a past sin that you can't let go of. Maybe its a current sin that you aren't willing to let go. Maybe its pride and/or selfishness . Maybe its laying your own dreams and desires down for God's. Unfortunately for me, I'm not sure it is just one thing, but maybe a few things. I am praying through it and asking God to reveal them to me and more importantly give me the strength to change.
Here is to laying down our "one things" in order to have the life that God intends us to!
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